History Headscratchers / FiveNightsAtFreddys

* Camera through which Mike is "babysitting" animatronics seems to be recording everything he sees ( red dot in left upper corner is usually sign that camera is recording )... umm... okay... then why Managment didn't picked that up? Considering that camera is always recording and that it was recording even before Mike became security guard, they cannot think he Photoshoped anything. Not EVERY person has Photoshop ( or any other editing software ) so... why didn't they realised that pizzeria has murderous animatronics?

** They have body cleanup procedures written into their company policy, they probably already know about the killer animatronics. If they don't know exactly what's doing all the killing, they're at least apathetic enough to not try to investigate anything, so showing them the tape would probably warrent, at best, a "Oh, so that's what's been doing that. Well, see you tomorrow". Also, using the assumption they somehow don't know, while not every person has photoshop, it's not at all a stretch to believe a string of people do. The actual problem there would be that everyone "photoshopped" the same thing, but that could be written off as the animatronics not actually standing in the same places every time in-universe.

* Why are the animatronics trying to kill you? The reasoning why makes '''no sense''' when you actually stop and think about it. Look at it like this. The whole "they're malfunctioning robots" only works if they actually were malfunctioning robots, but they're not! They're haunted souls stuck inside animatronics trying to kill the night guard cuz a night guard killed them. Which means, as souls, they have free will. They should be perfectly capable of realizing "Oh, hey, this guy or girl who's the new night guard can't possibly be the same dude that killed me, he doesn't look or sound anything like him!" I would think you'd recognize the voice or face of the man that killed you, that it would haunt your very being for eternity and you'd never forget! They can't possibly think every single night guard who signs up is the one that killed them! And keep in mind, they've been dead for years and most guards don't last longer than a week, which means they've no doubt killed HUNDREDS of night guards. Why? They're not the ones that killed you! It would make some sense if the whole "criminal database" thing was real and maybe, in FNAF2, you actually are a criminal, because then they might think "Oh, this guy's a former crook? KILL HIM TO KEEP HIM FROM THE KIDDIES"! But there's no way every single night guard would be a criminal. Not to mention those models are done away with by the time the original FNAF rolls around. And you can't tell me that the reason they want you dead is cuz you're Purple Guy. If so, then why did they kill Phone Guy? You can't both be the guy that killed them. If Phone Guy was Purple Guy, it would make sense to kill him off, but that's very unlikely given how he behaves, and the fact they STILL try to kill you by Night 5, after he's already been killed. FNAF3's setup is the only one that makes sense. The soul in the animatronic is a murderer who doesn't give two craps about you. So of course he'll kill you. But the others? They have no reason to do so. You're not a murderer. So then, plain and simple...WHY are they doing this when you've done nothing wrong, and they have no excuse to not realize you're not the guy that killed them? It makes no sense! MAKES! NO! '''SENSE'''!

*** Even if we bought the idea that they've got no autonomy whatsoever and they honestly can't recognize that you aren't Purple Guy (which doesn't make sense, the games take place in the 80's and 90's when such software wouldn't exist whatsoever), this raises one big plot hole in your theory. Because this means there's one very important person who clearly DOES have a soul and clearly has a pretty good measure of free will, enough to misguidedly stick children's souls in animatronics in an attempt to help them get even with their murderer. Yes. The Puppet. Who, I remind you...is also trying to kill you. CLEARLY at least the Puppet would have free will. And you can't be Purple Guy in Fnaf2 since there's two different people who you play as in that game, yet the Puppet's still trying to get you. Is it Jeremy, who presumably lost his frontal lobe, or Fritz, who fiddled with the animatronics? Both of them get harassed by the Puppet on their nights. So how does that make sense? Puppet ought to know you're not Purple, and he should be the only animatronic in there who, according to your theory, has free will. But he's trying to kill you. So it still makes no sense.

** One more possibility to throw out: Ghosts, in fiction, are sometimes depicted as indiscriminately attacking anyone in their territory at certain times (almost always night, but sometimes 24/7), regardless of who the mortals may be. You know, the whole "vengeful ghost" concept. (This was deconstructed in ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}''.) In this case, since the robots are haunted, it would follow that pattern that their territory is the restaurant and the haunting time is between midnight and 6 AM. For the rest of the day, the robots are, for all intents and purposes, behaving in the way the builders intended, while during those six hours, they will attack any living human still in the restaurant, no matter who it is. As for the free will of vengeful ghosts, it doesn't come up often, but I do see excuses for their behavior. The most common ones I see are (in no order at all): "[[LonersAreFreaks I don't feel comfortable with anybody in my territory except myself and maybe other ghosts]]," "[[WellIntentionedExtremist I am protecting this territory, and everyone who enters is an enemy]]," "[[WithUsOrAgainstUs Anyone who isn't obviously one of us is an enemy and must be destroyed]]," "[[DisproportionateRetribution I was wronged in the past and I want to take it out on everybody else]]," "[[CycleOfRevenge I was wronged in the past and I want everyone else to experience it too]]," and "[[JerkAss I'm just a jerk and I take pleasure seeing other people suffer]]." Not sure how well any of these could apply to the animatronics at Freddy's.

** The different animatronics seem to be based on a single default endoskeleton, but it might be that these endoskeletons can be customized. Want to have one with moving ears? Slap some ears on it's endoskeleton. That sort of thing, only done enough times that they're basically completely different by now.

** Because if an intruder DID get in to the building they wouldn't want the animatronics to have no idea that the intruder was there.

* With the fourth game being out, it shows that [[spoiler: The bite of '87 WASN'T the first time it happened. The first time something like that happened was in 1983, and the kid died, with his soul implied to have been "repaired" ala being put inside the original Fred Fazbear animatronic]], aka Golden Freddy. That's one death counted for. Then, in the second game, through the mini-games, we see one kid get murdered outside of the fast food building, which presumably became the Puppet. Than the Murderer killed five children and stuffed four of their bodies in the main animatronics. In total, that's '''seven''' children murdered. One in Golden Freddy, one in (presumably) the Puppet, and four in Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, and Foxy. [[FridgeHorror WHERE'S THE SEVENTH KID'S SOUL?]]

*** Two reasons. The first is, the animatronics are presumably haunted, and you would need a new ghost for the haunting. Secondly, it works at night, so nighttime is the equivalent of day mode for the killer animatronics. If it really has a quirk in the daytime, either take the guard's paycheck(+$$$) after making the animatronic(-$$$) and cut the fan to lock it in with the animatronic-proof doors in the daytime, since no one else has to take shift, or program it for two functions, wait(er/tress) and guard. It serving two roles gives you even more money to throw at the problem of hypothetical killer security guard.

** Probably the suits themselves. Not only is there Golden Freddy, who is among the most dangerous of the enemies in the game, but there are two unsuited endoskeletons in the two games. The first one merely watches what's happening, and may only be partially active. The second acts as a living barricade, blocking off attackers by holing itself up in the vents. The suits are the ones possessed of murderous will, the endoskeletons are neutral or even helpful. The endoskeletons are still weirdly-super advanced technology that may not be particularly debugged, but modifying their AI allows them to fight back against the haunted suits more, though it's obvious that the suits are ultimately in control, since it's not possible to simply set them to a neutral or non-active setting. This is also probably why the guards are fired after modifying the settings. The endoskeletons fight back against the possessed suits, damaging them and requiring repairs to be performed.

** Its most likely the former, the dialogue with Phone Guy suggests that the animatronics' programming automatically switches between standard mode and free roam mode after closing hours.

** It's also entirely possible, given the [[StealthSequel reveal]] of the second game, that the animatronics are aware of and have wised up to this trick. In ''Five Nights at Freddy's 2'', you survived by tricking most of them into thinking you were one of them. In ''Five Nights'' 1, you act more directly, locking them out of your office when they get close. They may, by now, be aware if they see a second Freddy running around something isn't right.

** SuperpoweredRobotMeterMaids. This is a common thing in fiction, where robots designed for non-combat purposes always seem to have absurdly powerful weaponry or brute strength. I don't have a Watsonian explanation though.

** One more possibility to throw out: Ghosts, in fiction, are sometimes depicted as indiscriminately attacking anyone in their territory at certain times (almost always night, but sometimes 24/7), regardless of who the mortals may be. You know, the whole "vengeful ghost" concept. (This was deconstructed in ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}''.) In this case, since the robots are haunted, it would follow that pattern that their territory is the restaurant and the haunting time is between midnight and 6 AM. For the rest of the day, the robots are, for all intents and purposes, behaving in the way the builders intended, while during those six hours, they will attack any living human still in the restaurant, no matter who it is. As for the free will of vengeful ghosts, it doesn't come up often, but I do see excuses for their behavior. The most common ones I see are (in no order at all): "[[LonersAreFreaks I don't feel comfortable with anybody in my territory except myself and maybe other ghosts]]," "[[WellIntentionedExtremist I am protecting this territory, and everyone who enters is an enemy]]," "[[DisproportionateRetribution I was wronged in the past and I want to take it out on everybody else]]," "[[CycleOfRevenge I was wronged in the past and I want everyone else to experience it too]]," and "[[JerkAss I'm just a jerk and I take pleasure seeing other people suffer]]." Not sure how well any of these could apply to the animatronics at Freddy's.

* What kind of animatronic has jaws that can produce the 520 pounds of pressure needed to crush a human skull, and by extent their frontal lobe?

* [[Music/TheLivingTombstone Is this where you wanna be?]]
** I just don't get it...
*** ...why do you want to stay... Five Nights At Fredyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy's?[[note]]oh[[/note]]

* How exactly do the animatronics know about ''Autobiography of a Yogi'', haunted children or not? It's not even a text about machinery or metal; it's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin and is fairly esoteric. While it's not out of the reach of plausibility that Phone Guy might have known, [[HiddenDepths or any of the FNAF employees if they happened to be well-read]], just, why that text? Wouldn't any of Creator/IsaacAsimov or Creator/RayBradbury be more relevant given their fiction on robotics?

*** ...why do you want to stay... Five Nights At Fredyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy's?[[note]]oh[[/note]]

*** ...why do you want to stay... Five Nights At Fredyyyyyyyyyyyyy's?

** I just don't get it...

* [[Music/TheLivingTombstone Is this where you wanna be?]]

* What exactly happens at 6am when the player is relieved of their duty? Are the robots programmed to automatically revert from free-roam mode back to their standard entertainment mode (and vice-versa at 12am) or are the owners manually changing them back every morning? Or does 12am-6am simply mark the character's shift with the onus on them to navigate their way in and out of a building still filled with hostile robots?

** Management makes a comment in the pink slip about your odor. [[BringMeMyBrownPants I guess frantically trying to keep track of homicidal wandering robots distracts a man from his bladder and bowel control.]]

** (Not quite sure what to spoiler, so feel free to spoiler behind this troper.) These are presumbably haunted animatronics, the ghosts being children who presumably have PTSD. PTSD is triggered by similar circumstances to the traumatic event, such as being stuck in the manner of your untimely demise? The intelligence of the creatures is therefore a combination of failed facial recognition(?), A.I of an entertainment animatronic, and children who are deceased and possibly hallucinating/panicking. Combine that with the fact that the murderer used a suit and FNAF2 had the guard use a mask, the theory that PG=PG and the guards don't speak, but there's Phone Guy talking, plus you and Phone Guy are presumably security guards(or he's filling in and probably wearing the same uniform) ''and'' that Purple Guy hid in a safe room and that's what the doors make the security office in FNAF the first...

** (Not quite sure what to spoiler, so feel free to spoiler behind this troper.) These are presumbably haunted animatronics, the ghosts being children who presumably have PTSD. PTSD is triggered by similar circumstances to the traumatic event, such as being stuck in the manner of your untimely demise? The intelligence of the creatures is therefore a combination of failed facial recognition(?), A.I of an entertainment animatronic, and children who are deceased and possibly hallucinating/panicking. Combine that with the fact that the murderer used a suit and FNAF2 had the guard use a mask, the theory that PG=PG and the guards don't speak, but there's Phone Guy talking, plus you and Phone Guy are presumably security guards(or he's filling in and probably wearing the same uniform)... You'd think he

** Seeing as he's a security guard, it's possible he's simply trained himself to hold it, so he can stay and watch the cameras the entire time so that nothing gets in or out. Something can do that if you just leave the places practically unattended for at the very least ten minutes. Mike at least seems to have nerves of steel, so it's possible he has a pretty firm control. The note about odor, while it could refer to BringMyBrownPants, could simply refer to body odor from nervous sweating or from being in close proximity to a rather dirty office with smelly animatronics; the pizzeria doesn't exactly look like it's a very clean place; it has no debris lying about except in the office, but the place looks rather grimy. Jeremy and Fritz, like Mike, seem to have never known fear, where the Fazbear's Fright guard is at least an acquaintance of fear as he actually freaks out, unlike Phone Guy, Mike, Jeremy, and Fritz who could not be more calm if they tried. Seeing as it's possible to hold it when you're in a long car ride for hours on end and possible to hold it when you're at school for the entire day (school being seven hours), it's not out of the realm of possibility for someone who knows no fear (or has made fear his bitch) would be just fine without needing the toilet until his shift is over. The Fazbear's Fright guard is different, but he probably makes it through on adrenaline alone, no sustenance needed.

** Or Mike Schmidt (from the first game) and the others all have an overabundance of determination as a personality flaw. There are some situations where a person can be overdetermined can be a good thing, as it leads to being able to accomplish tasks they set their mind to and even some success in a career. In Mike's case (as well as the other guards that turn up in the sequels), it's being overdetermined that is a flaw, as it keeps bringing Mike and the others back to go this place where they could be killed at any time during the week. They made the promise to work there and they're so determined to make it work that they're willing to keep coming back and risking their lives. They don't have the listing for Determinator in all three games as a part of each of the game's pages applied to the game's faceless protagonists for nothing.

*** Firstly, there's no proof that it's a Crapsack World, nor is there a hint that the police are idiots. Secondly, if a bunch of people repeatedly disappear in one place, it WILL spark an investigation, and given that they specifically warn of potential harm, it's gonna become clear pretty quick that they're covering SOMETHING up. Even two or three people disappearing in a row would be enough to cause an investigation. Don't try to justify the creator being lazy by reaching to absurd heights to justify the situation's lack of realism. MST3K Mantra.