| NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Golden Freddy from the 2023 movie. The mainstream version can be found here. |
| “ | If we show you, what will you give us? | „ |
| ~ Golden Freddy proposing a deal with Mike. |
| “ | Golden Freddy: You're lying. You want to save Garrett, that's why you're really here. To change what happened. To go back. Mike: But I can't. He's gone. They're all gone. Golden Freddy: Really? You can have this dream every night. You can be together with him again. Like before. Mike: How? Golden Freddy: You said we could have anything we wanted. We. Want. Abby. |
„ |
| ~ Golden Freddy revealing his true intentions. |
Golden Freddy is the secondary antagonist of the 2023 supernatural horror film Five Nights at Freddy's, based on the popular video game franchise of the same name.
He is a mysterious, golden variant of the titular Freddy Fazbear who is haunted by a dead child that was murdered by William Afton and now seeks to have revenge. He is also seemingly the leader of the Missing Children.
He was portrayed through puppetry by Artie Esposito and Amanda Maddock as an animatronic. As a ghost child, he was portrayed by Grant Feely.
Appearance[]
Just like his video game incarnation, Golden Freddy is an animatronic ghost with an appearance quite similar to that of Freddy Fazbear, but with minor elements added. He is a golden-brown color and his muzzle, stomach and paw pads are a lighter shade of his main color while his inner ear is a darker shade of his main color. His left ear seems to be missing much like his video game counterpart from the second game as it leaves wires to stick out while his left eye is also missing, with the eyelid being damaged. Instead of having empty eyesockets with white pinpricks, his right eye looks black with a blue pupil while his left eye is missing. Similar to Freddy, he sports a black bow tie and top hat, except his hat seems to have holes and tears while it is leaning on the left side of his head.
As a ghost child, he has white skin, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. He also wears a long-sleeved brown shirt with yellow horizontal stripes, along with grayish blue jeans and light brown shoes.
Personality[]
Golden Freddy is somewhat mysterious and among the deceased children, he is the one who interacts the least with others. He can even be quite aggressive and brutal, shown when Mike refused his offer, he quickly began to attack him along his friends in an attempt to kill him. He was also shown murdering people in cold blood.
He demonstrates traits of a deceiver and manipulator. Knowing he misses them, he took advantage of Mike's suffering by offering him an opportunity to "reunite" with his deceased family in order to make him give them Abby. He also lied to Abby saying that her aunt Jane was just sleeping when in truth he had actually murdered her, even though Jane deserved it. He shows deep hatred for his murderer and former brainwasher William Afton as he watches over him as he agonizes within his springlock suit.
However, Golden Freddy, like the others, isn't a bad person and is instead a very tragic individual. In the past, he was once an innocent child who had his life cut short by William Afton, who abducted and killed him before stuffing his corpse inside the Golden Freddy suit alongside his friends. It's also mentioned by Vanessa Shelly that he and the others don't want to hurt anyone as they are influenced by Afton into committing all of their murders for him.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Golden Freddy was originally one of the five kids murdered by William Afton at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place, leading to the establishment's closure. Through unknown means, he fell under the control of his killer and remained ignorant to the truth of who he was obeying for several years. During this time, he murdered people while serving Afton.
Five Nights at Freddy's[]
While working at Fazbear's as security guard, Mike falls asleep as he continues to go back to his memories of his brother's kidnapping. However, each night he is repeatedly confronted in his sleep by the souls of William's victims who initially only run away from him. Eventually he realizes they are the children who were murdered in the local and gets to talk with Golden Freddy.
Unlike before, the kid remains still in a squatting position as he draws a figure in the ground. When Mike approaches him, he confirms his suspicion about their identities and says they can tell him who took his brother. Nonetheless, he is unwilling to speak for free and demands something in return. Mike desperately replies he'll give them anything but they make no agreement before Mike wakes up. Before he wakes up, however, it is revealed that the figure he was drawing was a rabbit suit.
The day after his fourth shift Mike goes back to the pizzeria in an attempt to finally get answers. Golden Freddy however instead offers him dreaming each night of being with his deceased brother and parents who he dearly misses. Refusing at first, Mike is enticed by the idea and Golden Freddy demands in exchange that he gives them his sister, Abby Schmidt. Mike initially agrees but ultimately refuses, leading Golden Freddy and the rest to retaliate and nearly kill him.
With negotiations having failed, Golden Freddy decides to go himself for Abby. He arrives at her house and promptly kills her Aunt Jane. Attracted by the noise provoked, Abby comes out of her room and mistakes him at first for Freddy. He corrects her, tells Abby her aunt is just sleeping when she sees the body, and tells her to come with him. They both then get in a taxi to go to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. As they arrive, Golden Freddy stays outside and watches as Abby enters the building, disappearing as soon as Abby turns around.
In the film's final scene, he observes an agonizing Afton who lies in a backroom within the restaurant. When the man reaches out to him from within his suit, he closes and locks the door on him.
Quotes[]
| “ | IT'S ME. | „ |
| ~ Words written on a mirror in a brief shot, possibly from Golden Freddy. |
| “ | Not Freddy... They’re all waiting for you. It’s time to go play. | „ |
| ~ The boy revealing his identity to Abby Schmidt. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Curiously, Golden Freddy and Jane were the leaders of their groups and Golden Freddy was the one who killed Jane while the other animatronics killed the vandals.
- It's unknown whether the soul possessing Golden Freddy is an already existing character from the franchise or a completely new one made exclusively for the film, as this version of Golden Freddy seems to take aspects from previous iterations of the character.
- His appearance seems to be based off how his videogame counterpart appears as The One You Shouldn't Have Killed, both having blonde hair and a similar hairstyle. Grant Feely had to dye his hair for the role, which evidences that this similarity was intentional.
- His blonde hair could also be a nod to how Michael Brooks is portrayed in the Silver Eyes graphic novel.
- Meanwhile, his borderline sadistic and vengeful personality might be based on Andrew from the Fazbear Frights anthology series.
- This version of Golden Freddy has notable differences to the one shown in the mainstream videogames.
- In the games, its possessor's gender is left ambiguous, while in the movie he's clearly a boy.
- This version of Golden Freddy is never confirmed nor hinted at to be the previous mascot of Freddy's before Freddy Fazbear. Similar to Spring Bonnie, it's never stated if his actual name is Fredbear, or even as much as Golden Freddy, like in the games.
- While in the games he was in a better shape in the first game, he seems to be in his "Withered" state in the movie, evidenced by the lack of his left ear and eye.
- It is commonly theorized that there's two or more souls in control of the animatronic in the game continuity, while nothing hints at this in the movie.
- The actor for Golden Freddy, Grant Freely, shared a complimentary post for his performance on Instagram, which addressed his character as Cassidy. Some have taken this as confirmation that Cassidy is his name in the film, which is not directly stated.
- The ghost possessing Golden Freddy is the only one of the Missing Children who doesn't wear any accessories related to the animatronic he possesses, implying he's more self aware than them and could be the only one who remembers what William Afton did.
- This is also somewhat supported by Golden Freddy's ghost being the only one who talks, with the other Missing Children being mute or emitting animalistic screeches.
- Unlike the other animatronics, Golden Freddy doesn't appear to be part of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place.
- It's never made clear if he redeemed himself like the other animatronics, as he wasn't with them when they prioritized dragging William away while allowing Mike, Abby and Vanessa to escape from the pizzeria as it fell apart.
- It's unknown how Golden Freddy knew the location of Mike's house unlike the other animatronics, but it's possible that he found out where he lived because he was in Mike's mind.
