A look back on the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, Part 1

Was that the bite of ‘87?! -Markiplier

So the way I come up with article ideas varies from week to week. Sometimes it’s from YT shorts, sometimes it’s from the news, sometimes it’s even help from my fellow journalists. Other times (like this one), it’s from a sudden realization. I realized that there is a chance that the FNAF 3 movie could be the final installment in the whole franchise (will be discussed in a later article). So why not look back at the franchise as a whole?

The first four games have us playing as a security guard (aside from the 4th game), where we have to fend off animatronics. To the normal player, this just seems like a fun horror game but there is a dark story behind it. That story starts to show in the third game.

8/8/2014- FNAF 1, the game that started it all

This is the game that kicked off one of the biggest horror franchises of them all. Released on August 8th 2014,“The game was an instant hit, and it spawned a franchise that includes nine main games, as well as several spin-offs and merchandise.” (Nivard)

Despite the game being out for over 12 years, it still holds a big mystery: Who caused the bite o

f ‘87? (In my opinion I think the culprit was Golden Freddy).

Probably the other biggest mystery was the lockbox in FNAF 4, but that got solved a couple of months ago (will be discussed in the FNAF 4 section). Who do you think did the bite of ‘87? You can put your guesses in the comments. Ok, ok, I am getting off track here.

Aside from this game being a major success, it also had some intense gameplay. Keeping an eye on the cameras, closing doors, checking the lights, all to stop killer animatronics from coming into your office, grabbing you, and stuffing you into an animatronic suit. This was a great game, and little did Scott know what this franchise was going to be.

11/10/2014- FNAF 2, the sequel, or the prequel?

Just three months after the first game came out, the second game was released. It is bigger than the first game. More animatronics and more mechanics. The doors in your office are gone, though. Despite this game coming after the first, it happens before the first game on the timeline. This can be proven because, according to the phone guy, during our week as the

security guard, the animatronics can still move around, so the bite of ‘87 hasn’t happened yet. The phone guy calls us at the beginning of our shifts throughout the week, helping us with tips to beat the night. Just like the first game, you have to fend off animatronics, but there are about 11

animatro

nics this time. The max mode is known as 10/20 (11th animatronic also at max level). It is probably the most RNG-heavy night in the whole FNAF series. Scott himself even admitted that he couldn’t beat 10/20. The lore is starting to show, but FNAF 3 was about to put in more lore.

3/02/2015 FNAF 3, the introduction of Spring Trap

In the FNAF 3 game, there is only one animatronic that can actually kill you, but that doesn’t mean this game is any easier. This game gives us our first look at the man

behind the madness, William. But he is trapped inside the spring lock suit. In this game we have to avoid spring trap. Between each night, there is a mini-game

we play, and each of these mini-games adds to the lore. At the end of the game, the Fazbear Freights burn down with a spring trap inside. But as we know, he always comes back…

7/23/2015- Fnaf 4- Was it the bite of ‘87?

In my opinion, the 4th FNAF game is the scariest of them all. You play as Dave (Aka crying child), fending off nightmare animatronics in your bedroom. Between each night, we see a cut scene with CC being haunted by animatronics and his brother Michael scaring him

. When we saw the CC being bitten by Fred Bear, people thought that it was the bite of ‘87. But this game takes place in 1983 so it was the bite of ‘83. Now this game ends with a final cut scene.

It shows a lockbox with the text “Some things are better left forgotten”. That lockbox remained one of the biggest mysteries in fnaf for 10 years until the Fnaf 2 movie December 2025. Vanessa opened a very familiar lockbox and pulled out children's toys. Probably representing the 5 missing children. But even though one of the biggest mysteries was solved, one remains unsolved: who caused the bite of ‘87?

What’s next?

Well this is only the tip of the iceberg. In the next article I will be continuing with the next few games. My plans for this will be to cover the majority of the fnaf series all leading up to the movies.