The Puppet

"So our temporary solution is this: there's a music box over by the Prize Counter, and it's rigged to be wound up remotely. So just, every once in a while, switch over to the Prize Counter video feed and wind it up for a few seconds. It doesn't seem to affect all of the animatronics, but it does affect... one of them."

- The Phone Guy talking about The Marionette "IT'S ME"

- A quote that may be referring to the Marionette

The Puppet (or the Marionette) is one of the three major antagonists in the Five Nights at Freddy's games (along with Freddy Fazbear and The Killer), and is the main antagonist in Five Nights at Freddy's 2. He is located in the Prize Corner, and will only start moving if the music box's music stops.

He will kill the player, regardless of the Freddy head without warning, and will move when the Music Box has stopped playing.

Appearance
The Puppet seems to have a white face with black eyes with white pupils. Purple stripes connect from its eyes to its mouth. It also seems to have red blush on its cheeks, as well as red lipstick on it's mouth, which is always seems to smile (in a sinister manner). Its torso is dark blue with white stripes on its arms near it's hands. It has white buttons going down the front of its torso, of which have blue insides. It's legs are also blue, and it has no feet. it does not seem to have any hair on its head.

Behavior (Five Nights at Freddy's 2)
The Phone Guy mentions that the player needs to keep the Music Box wound, as the animatronics have a feature where having no noise will cause them to try to find sources of noise or potential customers; the source being, in this case, The Office. Keeping the Music Box wound is vital; if it is left unwound for too long, the Puppet will exit the Prize Corner and the player will be attacked, resulting in a Game Over.

The Music Box can be wound remotely by going to CAM 11. As it unwinds, a warning sign will appear next to the CAM 11 box on the camera map, as well as on the bottom right of the screen when not using the Monitor. The warning sign starts out orange, signalling that the music is about to end. If it is blinking red, the music is about to end, and the Marionette is seconds away from beginning its attack. Once the red exclamation mark disappears, it is too late, and the Puppet will begin to move towards The Office.

Regardless of what happens after it begins its attack, even if the Music Box is wound up after it has left the Prize Corner, the Puppet will make its way towards The Office, attacking in a manner like Foxy. There is no way to stop it once it has begun its approach and will kill the player even if they are wearing the Freddy Fazbear Head. Its attack can be identified if the tune "Pop! Goes the Weasel" begins to play. Another hint the Puppet left is the disappearance of the danger sign. The player will be unable to find The Puppet on any camera once it has left the Prize Corner to attack, except in rare cases of briefly seeing it (for one frame) on the Main Hall and Party Room 2 cameras.

Behavior (Five Nights at Freddy's 3)
The Puppet reappears in Five Nights at Freddy's 3 as Phantom Puppet, who is merely a hallucination. However, its mask is hung ominously on the wall in the CAM 08 room.

Role in the Missing Children Incident
The Puppet was presumably the first victim of the Killer (Purple Guy), and somehow gained extreme paranormal powers. During an unconfirmed point in time, the Killer murders five other children. The Puppet, as shown in the Death Minigame, "Give Gifts, Give Life," places the children into five different animatronics (Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, and Golden Freddy). The Puppet acts as some sort of leader or guide for them, (even though Freddy Fazbear is the main leader) apparently directing them, possibly due to its paranormal powers and superior knowledge, and they all follow it, hoping for their revenge.

Trivia

 * Before the 3rd game, The Puppet was theorized to have killed the children.
 * The Puppet cannot leave the Prize Corner as long as the player views CAM 11 and winds the music box, but, as soon as they lower the Monitor and the music box hasn't been wound for a certain amount of time, it will begin its approach.
 * It's unknown how this character is even able to move around and enter the room, as it cannot be seen moving on the cameras.
 * The Puppet is one of two characters that will attack regardless of whether the player dons/wears the Freddy Fazbear Head, the other being Foxy the Fox.
 * When looking out of Freddy's eyes in the cinematic after Night 4, The Puppet appears in front of Freddy, staying near the player's face as they look around, possibly hinting that The Puppet was somehow around at the second restaurant.
 * Like Toy Chica, The Puppet doesn't appear in the sequel's trailer.
 * The Puppet will also cause a jumpscare in the "Take Cake to the Children" Death Minigames. As soon as the player completes it, The Marionette will lunge at the player, sending them back to the Main Menu.
 * The Puppet, similar to Foxy, can attack the player even if another animatronic is inside The Office.
 * The Puppet is one of the few characters that does not have an unlockable plushie on the Custom Night, along with Toy Chica, Toy Freddy, and Mangle.
 * There is a theory that The Puppet was the cause of The Missing Children Incident, as implied by the Death Minigames in Five Nights at Freddy's 2. This was proven wrong in the third game, although it still played a role in it.
 * The only times The Puppet can be seen with white dots in its eye sockets are during the cutscene after completing Night 4 and its jumpscare. Strangely enough, the white dots seem to appear in the eyes of other animatronics, possibly signifying possession.
 * The Puppet is one of the animatronics who does not appear in the hallway before attacking (save for the rare hallucinations), with three others being Toy Bonnie, Chica, and BB.
 * Since the Puppet's attacks on the player are dependent on a box that is wound up and attacks by jumping at the player, it is possible that its mechanics are based on that of a jack-in-the-box.
 * It is arguably the most dangerous enemy in the second game as when it escapes the music box nothing will stop it from killing the player (unless the 6 AM mark is reached).
 * Similarly, in Five Nights at Freddy's 3, it is arguably the most dangerous Phantom animatronic, as it, unlike the others, stands in front of the player, prohibiting them from using the System Reboot and Camera Panels, as well as causing a Ventilation and Audio error, providing easy vulnerability to Springtrap.
 * It was officially given the name, "The Puppet" in Five Nights at Freddy's 3, due to its phantom counterpart being named "Phantom Puppet".
 * The Puppet was confirmed as one of the six victims in Five Nights at Freddy's 3, shown ascending to the afterlife with the other children in the minigame, "Happiest Day." (Which it is the playable character in).