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The story of the obsessed AI, the Mimic from the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise.
History[]
Backstory[]
The Mimic1 program was created in 1979 or earlier by Edwin Murray, an employee at Fazbear Entertainment to entertain his son David by learning from and replicating his behavior. For several weeks, everything went as intended with David and the Mimic playing together, the latter learning from the former. Unfortunately, David dies in a car accident. After several weeks, Edwin sees the Mimic mimicking the gesture David did when he wanted ice cream. He loses it and attacks the endoskeleton, destroying his head with a metal rod. After seeing what he's done, Edwin breaks down in tears, his agony and murderous thoughts infecting the Mimic's knowledge.
Nine months later, a group of Fazbear Entertainment employees arrives to clean up everything from Edwin that belongs to the company. They find the Mimic and decide to upgrade him with a pair of legs. He comes to life and massacres all of them while hiding their corpses by mimicking what David's done to innocent items like his pajamas or leftover food. A new team shows up some time later, and the Mimic massacres them the same way he did the previous employees.
Eventually, Fazbear Entertainment decides to use the Mimic1 program for their own purposes. They made several Mimic endoskeletons and linked them all to Mimic1 as a big hive mind so they could watch performances and learn of them. Eventually, one of the Mimics saw something it shouldn't have, similar to a "hide and seek game", and all the endoskeletons began to mimic it, causing the endoskeleton line to shut down.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic[]
The Mimic returns in this prequel game taking place in 1979. After the disappearance of Edwin Murray, Fazbear Entertainment sends a bunch of retrieval specialists to claim the blueprints for the Mimic, hoping to replicate it and its revolutionary AI. Unfortunately, all are killed by it until the game's protagonist, Arnold is sent. He spends the game retrieving codes and keys for the Data Diver to unlock various doors of increasing clearance level, all whilst avoiding the Mimic, who is hiding in various suits throughout the facility, in addition to the various killer animatronics. If Arnold collects all the collectibles and stashes them in the inventory, he can enter a secret level under the facility where, collecting the last item, he plays the Moon.Exe game and obtains the Glitched Permission.
Eventually, Arnold obtains the schematics from Edwin's office and heads back to the security office, where he's prompted to send the Data Diver over to Fazbear Entertainment. If he accepts, he returns to his truck and drives off, only to be notified by the dispatcher that the company hadn't actually sent him at all, firing him when he tries to protest his innocence. Suddenly, the Mimic bursts out of the back of the van and kills him.
If Arnold refuses, he will enter a secret vent into a prototype location of the original Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria layout, where it's revealed that the "dispatcher" was actually Mimic1, otherwise known as FIO-N4, who was trying to prevent Fazbear Entertainment from retrieving her late creator's schematics. The Mimic will follow Arnold down here, where he will have to hide from it using various springlock suits and drain the power, allowing him to escape the place. Seeing as Arnold evidently isn't working with Fazbear Entertainment anymore, FIO-N4 lets down her guard and tasks him with fixing the Mimic, giving him a program called Cradle.EXE. He's sent to Edwin's house to convince him to help, only to find him nowhere to be seen and the Mimic still trailing him. What's worse, an audio recording reveals that the Mimic had caused an explosion while upgrading itself, grievously wounding Edwin and leaving him for dead. Along the way, he finds recordings of Edwin and his family, as well as Mimic1's life posing as his wife Fiona.
From there, based on Arnold's actions, two endings can result:
- If Arnold hadn't collected all the collectibles, he uses the numbers on the recordings to unlock Edwin's security room, uploading Cradle.EXE to the mainframe before getting chased by the Mimic back to the Costume Manor, which burns up with the house. He drives away but runs over the Mimic, causing the van to tip and crash. The Mimic steals his Data Diver, schematics still inside, before leaving Arnold for dead. This is presumably the "canon" ending for the game.
- If Arnold obtained the Glitched Permission, he instead opens previously inaccessible rooms and gathers multiple tapes around the house to unlock a secret door. Inside, he finds David's bedroom and an automated bedtime story reader, which he rests David's tiger plushie on. The Mimic emerges from the closet and tries to attack, but as Arnold reads the story, it begins to mimic David and become passive. Finally, Arnold uploads Cradle.EXE directly into the Mimic, pacifying it as it mimics David's bedtime, rendering it harmless.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted[]
Decades later, sometime post-2023, a re-established Fazbear Entertainment hires an indie game company named Silver Parasol Games to make a VR game called The Freddy Fazbear Virtual Experience. While trying to speed up the development process, they scanned several circuit boards to upload their knowledge into the game; this included Mimic1, which appeared in the form of Glitchtrap, a sapient virus taking on the mantle of William Afton. As seen in the collectible tapes, Glitchtrap has been trying to escape before the player showed up; he tried to transfer himself onto a beta tester called Jeremy, but the attempt ended with failure as Jeremy presumably self-mutilated himself. Glitchtrap then encountered another beta tester who created the tapes; Glitchtrap attached himself to them, causing her to split them around the game to weaken him. She is then replaced by a young woman named Vanessa.
Glitchtrap behind a curtain in FNaF VR: Help Wanted.
Glitchtrap originally appeared in the main menu as a pair of purple glowing eyes. As the player, Vanessa, collects more tapes he gets closer and closer, mostly waving at her. At the end of the "Night Terrors - Pizza Party" level, Glitchtrap beckons her behind a curtain.
Once Vanessa collects all tapes throughout the game, Glitchtrap will attempt to transfer itself onto Vanessa as it attempted to do so with Jeremy and escape into the real world at a random point. However, he does not actually possess her but instead enters her mind as a voice only she can hear and influences her to take on the persona Vanny that only serves him. Following its transference from the game to Vanessa's mind, Glitchtrap's avatar is reduced to a plushie-like husk.
Curse of Dreadbear[]
In this Halloween DLC, Glitchtrap appears in the background next to the FNaF 4 house, dancing. Upon getting a bunny mask and the plushie Glitchtrap was transformed into, a conversation occurs between him and Vanny. She tells him that she made the mask (later revealed to be an entire cloth suit), she'll be ready for his plan and it will be fun.
Mobile Port[]
The tapes are removed from the mobile port and replaced with a minigame called Princess Quest. Throughout the latter, various types of glitching green rabbits try to attack the titular princess as she explores a castle. At the end of the minigame, locked behind a large door that needs to be unlocked with a purple key, the Princess encounters a gigantic, purple, glitching rabbit, which appears to be the Mimic’s true form. It says "I always come back. Let me out" in an unreadable speech bubble with a strange noise, then envelops her with shadowy tendrils as the screen increasingly glitches, followed by the game crashing.
Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery[]
What is presumed to be Glitchtrap in the Special Delivery trailer.
Vanessa/Vanny is promoted to being an employee at Fazbear Funtime Service, a delivery service that brings animatronics into someone's house. Once the animatronics turn aggressive due to a virus' influence (more than likely Glitchtrap), she seemingly deletes it, only for all employees to be locked out of their accounts. This was all done under the Mimic's orders so animatronics could enter people's homes and kill them, and he appears to be officially in full control once Vanny hacks into the Service.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Tales from the Pizzaplex[]
Stinger 1[]
At the time when the Mega PizzaPlex was only at the beginning of its construction, a team of construction workers were given the task to clean Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place of old endoskeletons. Gil, a lazy worker, gave that task to a rebuilt Mimic endoskeleton who got delivered by Fazbear Entertainment. Unfortunately, the Mimic started to brutally slaughter the workers by tearing them apart limb by limb, including Gil, after running out of endoskeletons to dismantle, with the only survivor being a worker named Danny.
Stinger 2[]
Eight teenagers named Lucia, Jayce, Adrian, Hope, Kelly, Nick, Joel and Wade decide to explore the construction site of the Pizzaplex. At the end of the story, after seeing at least eleven dead workers, they hear footsteps belonging to the Mimic and go hide, realizing they're not alone.
Stinger 3[]
The teenagers split up to find a way out of the construction site. Suddenly, the Mimic rips off Nick's arm and then decapitates him in front of Hope. After hearing her scream, everyone runs to her to see what happened. After Hope reveals Nick is dead, she speculates that the Mimic can hide in animatronic suits, and is proven correct when the endoskeleton, dressed in a dog costume, appears and kills her the same way it did with Nick, causing everyone to scatter.
Stinger 4[]
Following Hope's death, the selfish Joel takes Wade with him and ditches the group, while Adrian is traumatized his girlfriend's death and Kelly admits she always felt overshadowed by her. While searching through a cabinet with files on endoskeletons, Lucia points out that the endoskeleton chasing them is a Mimic1 model. Despite his expandable and retractable limbs allowing him to fit inside any costume, he was deemed unstable, and that he should be dismantled if encountered.
Meanwhile, Joel and Wade hatch a plan; since the Mimic seemingly has an effect on electricity, he would disable the electric fan in the ventilation shaft if brought close enough. On Joel's orders, Wade lures the Mimic to him in hopes that the plan would work. While he managed to get far, almost outrunning him, Wade is still killed when he lures the endoskeleton into the furnace room where the ventilation shaft is found. Upon seeing the fan stop, Joel tries to make a run for it, but is cleaved into pieces when the Mimic leaves and the fan starts up again.
Stinger 5[]
Lucia and Kelly manage to find a radio and get it working, and find out they're not the only ones trapped in the PizzaPlex, and that the second group is behind the stage in the old pizzeria. The group manages to find a way backstage, but when they open the room, they only find the Mimic in a monkey costume. He injures Adrian, but the heroes manage to get away before he's killed. A bandaged Adrian and Jayce decide to go through the vents to find Joel and Wade, unaware that they're dead, while Kelly and Lucia try to find more information about the Mimic models.
The Mimic briefly finds Adrian and Jayce, but walks away instead of attacking them. After wandering throughout the vents, the duo eventually finds the severed heads of Joel and Wade. At the same time, Lucia finds out that the Mimic has a deactivation switch on the back of its neck. The endoskeleton attacks Adrian and Jayce in a dog costume, and the former orders the latter to hide while he tries to find a way to stop the fan in the vents. Adrian tries sticking a severed endoskeleton leg inside the fan, but it only causes the leg to shoot out and hit Adrian, sending him flying out of the vent and into the Mimic's hands. Jayce cries as he hears Adrian being killed.
Stinger 6[]
The Mimic keeps trying to lure out the kids by calling them through the radio, but all of them - including Jayce, who has returned to the rest of them know better than to listen. Eventually, they form a new plan to escape and defeat The Mimic, and Jayce agrees to be bait. However, the Mimic realizes what they are trying to do and ambushes them, injuring Lucia in the process. The three continue with the plan regardless, with Jayce catching the Mimic's attention. While he managed to get far, he is eventually caught and killed.
Stinger 7[]
As Lucia and Kelly keep trying to find a way out of the Pizza Place, they hear the Mimic trying to find them. Lucia guesses that, if they're wearing costumes, they won't be found and killed. She puts on a rat costume while Kelly puts on a blue dog costume. After putting them on and trying to use the endoskeleton arms to open up a door, they realize the endoskeleton was hiding in a mushroom costume. Once the Mimic leaves the costume, it's revealed it transformed itself into a spider-like form with nine legs, one eye on its leg and one foot on its mouth. Kelly tries to run away before being stopped by Lucia, but her movement makes the spider-endoskeleton realize something is inside the dog suit. It tears up the costume from the back before entering it, painfully and slowly crushing Kelly to death, as well as destroying Kelly's corpse. Once the Mimic turns into a presumably more humanoid form, allowing it to walk with the suit on, he leaves the scene while Jayce watches the pool of blood left.
Stinger 8[]
Lucia reminds herself of the springlock jester suit she saw earlier on, and thinks she could trap the Mimic inside it, but she first needs to destroy all the other suits so it has nowhere left to hide. She soon realizes it's in the room with her as the suits start to move, before it enters the rat costume she hid in. She manages to escape it at the last second and hides behind the jester costume. Lucia manages to trick Mimic1 into entering the jester costume, and starts beating it with a metal rod in hopes of activating a springlock failure, which eventually works. Midway through the springlock failure, Lucia presses the shut-off switch on the Mimic, thus deactivating it.
After several hours, Lucia destroys a window and finds a construction worker that helps her, finally free.
The Storyteller[]
The head chairman of Fazbear Entertainment, Mr. Burrows, decides to introduce a story-making computer program called the Storyteller. Upon creation, the program is put inside a gigantic, yellow, artificial baobab tree in the middle of the Pizzaplex that has wires leading to all of the venues in the building, which can also give instructions to the Glamrock animatronics. Edwin sneaks into the Pizzaplex at night to check out the Storyteller, and sees a head belonging to a white tiger animatronic which looked just like the plush toy David had before his death. This causes him to have a panic attack over an unspecified event from the past which involved the Mimic. He then sees the head be attached to the rest of Tiger's body, and upon asking Mr. Burrows what program was used for the Storyteller, he's given a vague answer.
As the days go by, the Storyteller's influence heavily affects the Pizzaplex. Glitches and malfunctions appear everywhere making the Animatronics act as exaggerated, childish versions of their worst personality traits; Glamrock Freddy acts like a spoiled brat, Glamrock Chica becomes starved for attention, Roxanne Wolf becomes a cruel bully and Montgomery Gator gets violently aggressive. Upon entering the baobab tree, Edwin sees Tiger with four mechanical limbs and mismatched eyes. After seeing a computer which runs the Mimic1 program, Edwin is proven correct when he realizes that whatever traumatized him is happening again.
Mr. Burrows, who decides to pin all the glitches of the Storyteller on Edwin, locks him inside the tree when he enters it. As the chamber starts losing oxygen, Burrows expects to hear something from Edwin, but gets no response. After entering it a few days later, he sees his corpse with numerous drawings next to it, including one that reads "I'm sorry". He then tries to leave, but everything malfunctions and he dies from lack of oxygen inside the tree, next to the white tiger.
GGY[]
While not explicitly said, the Mimic is more than likely the reason behind Gregory's evil alignment in this story, hacking the Glamrock animatronics and killing Vanessa's therapists to cover any loose ends, with the boy possibly being yet another brainwashing victim. He is possibly the "wizard" mentioned by Gregory, with the boy being his "most favored apprentice".
Tiger Rock[]
Just three weeks after being established, the Storyteller's tree is being shut down due to a glitch (presumably a cover story to Burrows’ and Edwin's deaths). A boy named Kai decides to enter a VR booth that lets him see the PizzaPlex ten years into the future. After meeting a futuristic Glamrock Freddy, he encounters Tiger Rock, a white tiger animatronic with mismatched eyes. The tiger brings him around for a tour around the new PizzaPlex while claiming he can be anywhere and will learn anything. Kai becomes uncomfortable due to Tiger Rock's strong grip on his arm, but is seemingly released from the VR booth.
As he continues with his life, he keeps being stalked by mechanical animals resembling Tiger Rock, with white fur and mismatched eyes. He realizes he never left the VR booth in the first place before five plush animals appear and try to rip his limbs off while Tiger Rock watches. He forces himself into leaving the VR booth by screaming to wake up, and he realizes he was stuck there for five hours. After coming back home, he is attacked by Tiger Rock, who rips his arms off before leaving with them. It is unknown if Kai ever left the VR simulation, or if the Tiger Rock animatronic is real.
Nexie[]
The Storyteller's Tree is briefly mentioned, causing glitches by constantly turning on and off. Additionally, the main character of the story - Astrid - is mentioned to have been watching a boy in a glass dome alongside her doll, the titular Nexie. Combined that with Tiger Rock mentioning a little girl with a deformed doll, this means the two stories are taking place at the same time.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach[]
The Mimic discreetly has Princess Quest imported to arcade cabinets to keep Vanessa's real mind trapped in the digital world. An endoskeleton controlled by the Mimic1 program - the same one that has appeared in the Tales from the Pizzaplex stingers - starts mimicking Afton's Springtrap form by wearing Afton's corpse and his withered Spring Bonnie suit, this form known only as "Burntrap".
Under his orders, Vanny kills nine children. However, Gregory turns against the Mimic for unknown reasons (most likely freed from his brainwashing), thus making him decide Vanny needs to kill him. Fortunately, the child gains Glamrock Freddy as an ally. Under the influence of the Mimic and Gregory's own hacking, Glamrock Chica, Roxanne Wolf and Montgomery Gator hunt for and try to kill him.
True Ending[]
Glitchtrap in Princess Quest.
Gregory and Glamrock Freddy eventually realize the key to defeating Vanny is the Princess Quest arcade games. Gregory plays all three games, fighting the digital Mimic and his minions. While Vanny manages to disassemble Freddy with the S.T.A.F.F. Bots, the boy still manages to beat all three arcade games, resulting in the purging of the Vanny persona from Vanessa's mind. The now-freed Vanessa and Gregory, along with Freddy's decapitated-yet-living head, leave the Pizzaplex, the Mimic temporarily defeated.
Burntrap Ending[]
Tangle dragging away Burntrap.
In the non-canon Burntrap Ending, Gregory and Freddy enter Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place, where Burntrap awakens and decides to kill the boy himself. He tries to take control of Glamrock Freddy and sends out Chica, Roxy and Monty to kill the boy. His plan fails as Gregory fends them off and reactivates the incinerator, causing a fire to break out. The Mimic attempts to pursue Gregory and Glamrock Freddy, but Tangle attacks and drags him away, leaving his fate unknown.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2[]
After Gregory defeats Glitchtrap and Tangle tunnels out of the Pizzaplex, causing it to fall into ruin, Glitchtrap downloads himself into the V.A.N.N.I. network of the Pizzaplex; he presumably also starts mimicking Helpi, the AI companion of the V.A.N.N.I. network. A stylized icon of his head sometimes appears on the console the player uses to select the levels they intend to play and Helpi appears on a screen in the main lobby, urging the player to continue their progress.
The game has two endings:
"Normal" Ending[]
The player collects the six Faz-Force minifigurines, with a box appearing and Helpi urging the player to open it. If the player does as such, they are transported right in front of Burntrap's recharge station with Glitchtrap's hand coming out of it, before they are attacked by corrupt S.T.A.F.F. bots. The scene then cuts to the perspective of the Mask Bot from the beginning of Ruin, proving the game is a prequel to the Security Breach DLC.
Princess Quest IV Ending[]
If the player collects the plushies of the main four animatronics and the Puppet and gets the purple token from Mystic Hippo, they can play the Princess Quest IV minigame. After playing long enough as the game's Princess, they will find themselves in one of the rooms. The Princess then comes to the player and gives them her sword, urging them to do the rest themselves. They will eventually find an old bearded man with a sceptre (represented by a reddish sprite), which takes their V.A.N.N.I. mask and gives the player the Glitchtrap plushie in exchange.
After going down an elevator, they find themselves inside a claw machine, with Vanny watching them from outside the machine. When the player gives the Glitchtrap plushie to Moon, who acts as the machine's claw, it flies over and gives it to Vanny. The Glitchtrap plushie then turns into the actual Glitchtrap, who waves towards Vanny before beginning to panic once she crushes him in her hands, seemingly killing him. Vanny then waves at the protagonist before walking away. Once the player returns to the menu, Helpi is gone.
This ending is dubiously canon due to the implications it killed Glitchtrap, when he's presumably still alive in Ruin under the assumption he's Helpi. That said, it could mark the symbolic end of the Afton persona, as after this the Mimic acts like an original threat and not Afton copycat.
Free Update[]
The Tiger Rock plush.
As part of the free December 10th, 2024 update, a render of the Mimic in his Scooper Ending costume appears in the Animatronic Gallery. It is unlocked if the player inserts the code 1-9-7-9 into the keypad in the Puppet Master level, then they will be given a white tiger plush based on Tiger Rock, the one owned by David Murray.
The update also comes with promotional teases to the upcoming release of Secret of the Mimic, including two puzzles - one in the AR world and another in the real world - that when completed will reveal two things: in the AR world, it's a whimsical candy-themed gift shop owned by a company named MCM, presumably from Fallfest, with the numbers 4625 (presumed to tease to an April 6th, 2025 release) written on its mailbox.
Meanwhile in the real world, it appears as a van with its doors open, revealing the M.X.E.S. machine with a keypad attached to it. If the player enters the numbers seen in the gift shop mailbox, the M.X.E.S. entity will come out and try to attack the player, however the van speeds off to the distance before it gets the chance to do so.
The final piece of new content in the update is a render of Jackie, the animatronic presumed to be inhabited by the Mimic in Secret of the Mimic, being unlocked in the Gallery after completing the puzzle.
Ruin[]
Following the true ending of Security Breach, Gregory (likely with Vannesa's help) somehow imprisons the Mimic in a sealed-off room in a sealed-off underground room, below even the Pizza Place. Looking at some background details, such as claw marks, it becomes clear that Gregory managed to lure out Burntrap out of his recharge station and then imprison him, with the Mimic ditching the costume and corpse at one point. The M.X.E.S. program is put into place to make sure the Mimic is never freed, though it's unknown if Gregory and Vanessa made it or if it's a pre-existing security system. However, Gregory seemingly leaves his walkie-talkie behind, and the Mimic gets a hold of it.
After Tangle tunnels out of the Pizzaplex, destroying it in the process, the physical Mimic impersonates Gregory and, using his walkie talkie, lures his friend Cassie into the building to free him, while "Helpi" hacks a nearby Mask Bot, giving the V.A.N.N.I. mask to the little girl. Though M.X.E.S. tries to stop her, even ordering the destroyed but still active Glamrocks to kill her, Cassie manages to shut down the security system and free the Mimic from the prison that kept him hidden. He immediately tries to kill her, but is suddenly stopped by the redeemed Roxy, allowing Cassie to flee. After presumably getting Roxy out of his way, the Mimic begins chasing after Cassie, who is being helped by the real Gregory in escaping.
Elevator (True?) Ending[]
The Mimic attacking Cassie in the elevator in one last attempt to murder her.
When Cassie enters and activates an elevator, the Mimic tries to grab her but fails losing its right arm in the process.
Gregory reveals to Cassie that he doesn't know what the Mimic is but that it's dangerous, and that M.X.E.S. was made to keep him imprisoned. While he understands why she did it and assures her that it's not her fault, the Mimic is now free and Gregory cannot risk being followed. Because of it, he drops the elevator with Cassie inside, her fate left unknown after it crashes (some speculate the Mimic hijacked the radio mid-conversation and was the one to actually drop Cassie, though that's unconfirmed). After the credits, Roxy calls out Cassie's name, implying both are alive.
Brazil Ending[]
The player can choose to ignore the real Gregory's orders and go down a different path in the tunnels. At one point they will find a Fredbear cutout in one of the dead-ends. If they choose to put on the mask, the scene cuts to an animated drawing of Gregory and Helpi lying on the cliff from Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator, with Vanessa in the background. "Gregory" says he found a spot to hide before we hear Cassie hyperventilating.
The name of the ending is a reference to the 1985 film Brazil, and it's implied that the ending is an illusion/hallucination Cassie has, with the Mimic either killing her or trapping her mind in the simulation. It's unknown if this ending is the canon one.
Scooper Ending[]
The Mimic about to get scooped.
In an alternate ending (achieved when Cassie uses all the hidden cameras in the PizzaPlex), the Mimic will be wearing a lion costume and another path will open leading to a scooping room. There, Cassie presses the scooping button and locks the Mimic in. The Mimic attempts to kill her, pounding on the glass, but the scooper picks it up and wrecks it, presumably destroying him for good, avenging all of his victims and ending his reign of terror. However, it's unknown if this ending is canon. Furthermore, its physical destruction in this ending doesn't mean the Mimic is gone, as the Mimic1 program is presumably in control of multiple mimic endoskeletons and other devices, not just the one Cassie encountered, and Glitchtrap is still around (possibly).
Other Media[]
Dead by Daylight[]
In Dead by Daylight , The Mimic in the Glitchtrap form appears as a skin to the Animatronic.