| “ | They all knew there had been other children, but Michael’s death had loomed so great in all their lives, that they had never even talked about the other victims. Now, Charlie felt a pang of guilt. To someone, those little girls and boys had been as vital as Michael. To someone, their losses had meant the end of the world. She closed her eyes for a moment. I can’t mourn everyone, she thought. No one can. | „ |
| ~ Charlie pondering on the deaths of the five children. |
| “ | Carlton: You’re a sick bastard, and you’ve created monsters. The kids you killed are still here. You’ve imprisoned them! William: They are home, with me. Their happiest day. |
„ |
| ~ Carlton condemning William for his act of murdering the five children. |
| “ | They don’t remember, They’ve forgotten. The dead do forget. All they know is that you are here, trying to take away their happiest day. You are intruders. You are grown-ups. | „ |
| ~ Afton explaining why the animatronics are so violent. |
The Missing Children are major characters in the Five Nights at Freddy's Novel Trilogy.
They are a group of children who were lured away and murdered by a man named William Afton at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Afton stuffed their bodies into the animatronic suits causing them to haunt the mascots. After Freddy's was closed they were dwelled inside the abandoned for ten years until being rediscovered by Charlotte Emily and her friends. The animatronics however had a deep mistrust and hatred for adults and ended up trying to kill them. However, Golden Freddy stopped them from doing so as he recognized them as his old friends. One Afton was killed in a springlock failure they dragged him into the depths of the pizzeria.
One year later they were salvaged by Police Chief Clay Burke and helped Charlie and her friends defeat the Twisted animatronics. However afterwards they were captured by Afton and merged into one endoskeleton so he could discover the secrets of immortality. The spirits were fragmented into the Funtime animatronics and were brainwashed into thinking Afton was their friend and were thus subservient to him. However, Carlton Burke managed to remind them that William was the one who killed them causing them to turn against him and drag both them and their killer into a furnace burning them both. With Afton's death their souls were finally set free.
History[]
The animatronics were originally created by a man named Henry Emily for his restaurant Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in Hurricane Utah. However in July of 1985, Henry's business partner, William Afton used the Fredbear suit to gain the trust of and lure away five kids named Gabriel, Cassidy, Fritz, Susie and Michael Brooks to the backroom of the pizzeria and murdered them all. Once the act was done he stuffed their corpses into the restaurants animatronics; Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Fredbear (the latter would later be known as Golden Freddy). The police arrested him but since Afton hid the bodies in the animatronics they did not have any physical evidence to convict him. Afton was let go by the authorities and skipped town while Henry committed suicide. The pizzeria and it's animatronics would then be built around a mall but the place never actually opened as the owners felt a strange presence emanating from Freddy's. Freddy's was left abandoned but little did anyone know, the animatronics were haunted by the souls of William's victims.
The Silver Eyes[]
Ten years after the murders Henry's daughter Charlie and her friends, John, Carlton, Jessica, Lamar, Marla and Jason return to Hurricane for their old friend Michael's memorial. During the memorial Michael's mother also makes mention of the other kids who lost their lives ten years ago noting the importance of their deaths as well. Afterwards the gang decide to sneak into Freddy's for old times sake. They attempt to use to use the control panel underneath the stage to get the animatronics to preform but it doesn't work. Charlie and John decide to play hide and seek with Charlie choosing to hide inside Pirate Cove. However, Foxy ends up activating and nicking Charlie with his hook. The group assumed it was an accident due to their inexperience using to control panel to operate Foxy and leave to patch up Charlie's wound.
When they come back they are confronted by the malls security guard "Dave Miller". Although Dave wants to kick them out at first after some convincing he allows them into the pizzeria. "Dave" activates the animatronics so the gang can enjoy their show like old times. In the meantime Jason spots something on the walls; a series of children's drawing depicting a yellow rabbit kidnapping a child with blood even dripping from the pages. Jason tries to tell Marla about it but she doesn't listen to him. After a while the animatronics begin to glitch out and move in sporadic motions. They then begin to break free from the stage. The gang leave in the chaos but realize that Carlton is not with them. Jason claims he was kidnapped by a Golden Bonnie (Spring Bonnie). Although the gang takes up the matter with Carlton's father who just so happens to be the police chief, these claims are taken as a joke. Jason takes matters into his own hands and goes to Freddy's to save Carlton.
In the meantime Carlton is trapped inside a springlock suit and soon see's a yellow bear (Golden Freddy) in the corner of the room. The bear recognizes Carlton, and twitches in the darkness saying the words "It's Me" multiple times. In the end Charlie and the gang manage to get inside the restaurant through the vents finding Jason under the stage in Pirate Cove. They ten spot on the camera that Bonnie is missing from the stage. Bonnie then chases Charlie into the bathrooms and smashes the stalls one by one to find her, but she manages to escape. When Charlie rescues Carlton and free's him from the springlock suit he tells her that the children that were killed are still here inside the animatronics. He then points to Golden Freddy and claims that Michael is in the suit. Dave ends up confronting them but Charlie knocks him out. Later on Foxy breaks into the control room under Pirate Cove and drags Jason away into the darkness.
Later on Carlton and Charlie try to catch back up with the group go into the kitchen only to be confronted by Chica. They manage to escape her and regroup. They then interrogate Dave and Carlton reveals that he was the man behind the slaughter of the children all those years ago. Dave Miller is actually William Afton. Afton claims that the animatronics are indeed haunted by the souls of his victims and claims that they are home with him calling it their "Happiest Day". He then reveals that the spirits hate adults and will murder any and all they see even Charlie and her friends because they looks adjacent to adults. He claims that he'll survive the animatronics wrath as via his Spring Bonnie suit he is one of them. Later on Jason wakes up and finds himself inside Pirate Cove with Foxy standing in front of him. Instead of Foxy attacking him he just stands there looking at him. Jason leaves the cove and finds Lamar and Marla. They hide under the table to escape Foxy but Freddy himself soon enters the room and knocks over the table. Before he can attack John tackles him away. The gang tries to hide inside the office but William has locked the door. Chica confronts them from but Charlie electrocutes her with a live wire.
They return to the dining room where Charlie is chased by Foxy who tears apart several arcade games to get to her. John kicks Foxy and saves her. Charlie and her friends are then surrounded by the animatronics but before then can pounce they are called off by Golden Freddy. Since, Golden Freddy is haunted by Michael he recognizes his old friends and saves them. Lamar then realizes that Foxy was not attacking Jason he was trying to protect him due to the fact he too is a child like they were. Ultimately in the end the animatronics were not evil but poor little souls who lost control of themselves. Clay breaks into the restaurant and saves them. As the gang are about to leave Afton appears in his Spring Bonnie suit and takes Charlie hostage. Charlie manages to trigger the springlocks inside the suit which causes the suit to crush and slowly kill William. Once he collapses on the ground the animatronics drag their dying killer into the depths of the pizzeria.
The Twisted Ones[]
TBW
The Fourth Closet[]
TBW
Trivia[]
- In the Fourth Closet, the spirit who haunts Freddy, is not actually given a name. However the graphic novel adaptation reveals his name as Gabriel like in the games.
- Jeremey, the spirit that haunts Bonnie does not exist in the novels and the character of Cassidy haunts Bonnie instead. In the games Cassidy is the one who haunts Golden Freddy whereas Michael Brooks does not exist.
- According to Arty in the second book, outside of the town of Hurricane the murder of the five children at Freddy’s is openly considered to be an urban legend.
- The ending of the first book in which the animatronics drag away William following his springlock failure was later referenced in the 2023 FNAF film adaptation where the animatronics do the exact same thing.
- Additionally the ending of the Fourth Closet where the spirits turn on Afton by being reminded of his evil nature via a kids drawing is also used in the film.
- It's implied that the animatronics can be fooled by humans wearing their suits to pretend to be one of them as this is what William believed he could do by wearing his Spring Bonnie suit. This may have been inspired by FNAF 2 where Jeremy Fitzgerald uses an empty Freddy head to fool the animatronics into leaving him alone.
- Speaking of which the animatronics hostility towards adults and desire to protect children is also taken from the second game.
