Board Thread:Clean up Concerns/@comment-34097347-20160924191552/@comment-29644557-20161210204617

They were thought to be ghosts at first, but they are actually hallucinations that occur when the oxygen supply is cut off and were implimented into the game to serve as jumpscare reminders to reboot the vent system (as well as increase the horror). They serve no purpose in the story as a whole and are simply visions that occur in the oxygen-deprived mind of the gaurd. They look like Freddy and co. because of influence from the gaurd's surroundings (a haunted attraction based on Freddy Fazbear's Pizzaria). The Nightmare animatronics from FNAF 4 are imagined by the child as personifications of his pains and fears, being twisted versions of the usually child-friendly characters he feels betrayed by. However, they are not actual beings.

Come to think of it, Freddy and co. are fictional character animatronics that are posessed... we'll bring that one up later.