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“ | I always come back! | „ |
~ William Afton's most famous quote. |
“ | You may not recognize me at first, but I assure you - it's still me! | „ |
~ William Afton as Springtrap. |
“ | I-It's only now that I understand the depth of the depravity of this...creature - this monster that I unwillingly helped to create. As if what he had already done wasn't enough, he found a new way to desecrate, to humiliate, to destroy. As if the suffering wasn't enough, the loss of innocence, the loss of everything to so many people. Small souls trapped in prisons of my making now set to new purpose and used in ways I never thought imaginable. He lured them all back. Back to a familiar place. Back with familiar tricks. He brought them all together. | „ |
~ Henry calling out William in his secret recording. |
William Afton (also known as the Purple Guy) is the main antagonist of the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise, and the arch-nemesis of Charlotte Emily and his son, Michael Afton.
He was the co-founder of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, who murdered the daughter of his business partner Henry and later dressed up as one of the kid-friendly pizzeria mascots to lure five children into a back room without camera surveillance and murder them.
Afton then hid their bodies in the animatronic suits that they would go on to possess, making him indirectly responsible for most events in the games as well as every person they killed while looking for revenge against him.
He was also founder and owner of Afton Robotics, and creator of Circus Baby and the Funtime animatronics. He later becomes Springtrap after dying in the same suit he used for his murders. With Springtrap being destroyed in Pizzeria Simulator he may have become Glitchtrap.
He was voiced by PJ Heywood, who also voiced his son Michael Afton, and his alter-ego Springtrap.
Appearance
Since William Afton is only ever seen in some of the flashback minigames, it is hard to pin down his exact appearance. In these minigames, he is represented with the size and height of an adult man about as tall as the Fazbear animatronics, with his sprite color ranging from various tones of purple depending on the minigame.
Sometimes Afton is depicted as wearing a yellow accessory on his chest, presumably a badge. It has been speculated that the reason for this is that he may have been a security guard at some point.
The only confirmed aspect of his appearance is that he has a cleft chin, as shown with his decayed corpse inside of Springtrap in 3 and Pizzeria Simulator. This has led to some speculation, as Fazbear Entertainment is represented by a man dressed in a purple (and in one case, orange) suit and hat in various cutscenes of Pizzeria Simulator, a man who also has a cleft chin. Whether or not this man actually is William has not been confirmed, but it is very likely.
Personality
“ | Although for one of you, the darkest pit of hell has opened to swallow you whole. So don’t keep the Devil waiting, old friend... | „ |
~ Henry talking to William Afton. |
William Afton's background is mostly told via silent actions within retro-graphics, or by reading between the lines throughout the games. Between his mini-game presence and piecing together information gleaned from the phone calls as well as the posters in Five Nights at Freddy's, the community has been able to piece together some information about William. He seems to be malevolent, sadistic, and cruel, ominously smiling as he kills children. He is also increasingly psychopathic and demented, as he is able to hide his true nature under a mask of politeness, judging from the intro of Sister Location, and also psychologically manipulates his son, Michael, by presumably using his guilt over unintentionally causing his younger brother's death in 1983 (if Michael is the older brother), in order to force Michael to obey his every order. Despite his sadistic and dangerous tendencies, he is shown to genuinely love and care for his daughter, Elizabeth, and does express grief over her death, though Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator implies that he is responsible for influencing Elizabeth's bloodlust and sinister behavior, and may have even wanted her to continue his murderous legacy, and carry on his experiments for him.
William Afton's motives for his actions as of Sister Location remain unknown. He is seen dismantling the animatronics at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza twice, which appears to be linked to the spirits within the animatronics being released.
Relationships
† means that the character is deceased/destroyed (in case of animatronics) at the time of completion of any Five Nights at Freddy's games. †? means that the character's fate is currently unclear or unknown.
Family
CounterpartsWilliam Afton has three counterparts:
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Allies
Enemies
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Quotes
“ | She can dance, she can sing. She's equipped with a built-in helium tank for inflating balloons right at her fingertips. She can take song requests. She can even dispense ice cream. | „ |
~ William Afton talking about Baby in the opening of Sister Location. |
“ | You can't. | „ |
~ Afton after attacking Withered Freddy in SAVE THEM. |
Trivia
- His actual motivation for killing the children is still a mystery, although many people assume he did for his own enjoyment, or as part of an experiment to create life from the dead.
- Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator implies the latter, as a blueprint reveals the Scooper's purpose; to transfer remnant, a substance that gives a soul its ability to remain after death, into the animatronics.
- YouTuber, Lewis Dawkins, theorized that he was upset at his other son's death, causing him to seek revenge, he also theorized William is trying to protect his kids.
- In the novel series, Afton is confirmed to be stealing life essence from victims and animatronics, experimenting on it to attempt to find the secret to immortality.
- In the final Custom Night cutscene of Sister Location, Michael's voice becomes robotic near the end of his dialogue. The franchise's creator, Scott Cawthon, eventually confirmed that Michael's robotic voice was an error, and was unintentional. This error caused debate over whether William or Michael was killed inside Springtrap, until Scott's response to MatPat's final Five Nights at Freddy's theory video, as well as the credits of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator, confirmed William as the spirit possessing Springtrap.
- In the 1.031 update of Five Nights at Freddy's 3, Scott added the sound of William's groaning.
- Until Sister Location finally gave him a name and voice, the killer's true identity was widely speculated to be the Phone Guy from Five Nights at Freddy's 1 and 2.
- He seems to have a British accent, with his son and daughter having one as well.
- It is speculated that the TV show, The Immortal and the Restless, that Michael watches between the nights of Sister Location, where Vlad denies being the father of the baby, is a parallel between the relationship between William and Michael. It is speculated, since Vlad shares similarities with William, while the baby looks similar to his father like Michael does with his father.
- He is implied to be the main protagonist of Ultimate Custom Night. However, some lines hint that we play as Michael Afton.
- William could have been inspired by:
- Aaron Fechter, a engineering entrepreneur who created the Showbiz Pizza Place's animatronics. Scott Cawthon actually met Fechter in person.
- Nathan Dunlap who after being fired from Chuck E'Cheese, he shot four of the five employees killing them, and injuring the fifth in the 1993 Aurora, Colorado, shooting.
- The creepypasta which tells the story of a mascot of Chuck E'Cheese, who had severe mental problems, and begun thinking that he was the real Chuck E'Cheese. However, he begun killing children and using their meat for pizza.
- It is theorised that Toy Chica in her cutscenes in UCN, represents William due to Toy Chica choosing one of her classmates to be her boyfriend, but ends up killing them, while William seems to also choose a child and then kills for his experiments.
- In the last cutscene, Chica is seen under a tree atop a hill, with her bag full of the remains of her victims. The tree seems identical to the tree in the Lorekepper Ending of Pizzeria Simulator, which is near the graves theorised to be those of the original kids killed by Afton.
- In UCN, when talking to Old Man Consequences, the background sounds when modified seems to be a voice, either declaring his hatred towards Mike and Henry, or asking them for help. It is speculated that this voice belongs to William.
- It has been heavily speculated that Glitchtrap is the digital manifestation of William Afton/Springtrap due to his mannerisms and how he tries to lure the player. However, it is unclear whether Glitchtrap is truly William, or a digital copy modeled on him.
- There is a possibility that the remains of the Springtrap animatronic were scanned into the game when it was being made, due to how Afton physically and spiritually bonded with the suit he was trapped in, and freed Afton from his torment when being uploaded into the game.
- There is another theory which states that Glitchtrap is a piece of William's soul, being the manifestation of William's evil.
- In general, Afton serves as the overarching antagonist of Five Nights at Freddy's, Five Nights at Freddy's 4, and Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, a major antagonist in Five Nights at Freddy's 2 (in the minigames), the main antagonist of Five Nights at Freddy's 3 and Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator, a playable character in FNaF World, a supporting antagonist in Ultimate Custom Night and Five Nights at Freddy's VR: Help Wanted, and the secondary antagonist of Five Nights at Freddy’s AR: Special Delivery.
- Freddy in Space 2 is so far the only game that has absolutely nothing to do with William.