Prankster | Kids at Play | Find Player Two!
"You have a choice to make, Birthday Boy. You can flee the building with the confidence that you will live to see another birthday even though your friends won’t. Or you can try to save your friends. If you take this option, you have thirty minutes. The longer you take, the worse shape they'll be in when you find them. Now, what is your choice?”
Jeremiah is one of the few employees still remaining at a small game development company, along with kind Hope and fun-loving Parker. The three of them are working on a new game, one that their new manager, Fazbear Entertainment, has requested they complete: a VR game based on the rumors their franchise has spawned. One night, Hope and Parker go in to beta-test the game, while a jealous Jeremiah heads home early. When he returns the next day, he finds that they've set up a surprise birthday party for him. The birthday cake spelled his name wrong, but that's okay. Then he hears Parker's voice over the intercom. Parker's started one of his famous pranks, it seems: Jeremiah has to find him and Hope, or else they will "die." Tired of Parker's annoying antics, and wanting to win against him for once, Jeremiah agrees... and soon finds out that it may not be a prank after all.
The thirty-first Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights story, and the first of the tenth book. It is intrinsically connected to what had been at the time the most recently released Five Nights at Freddy's game, Five Nights At Freddys VR Help Wanted. The book itself was released only a month before the next game, Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach.
Tropes related to “Prankster”:
- All Just a Prank: Jeremiah suspects this is what the strange search is building up to. It's left unclear if he's right.
- Ambiguous Ending: The ending leaves it unclear if the Jigsaw-esque game is really one of Parker's pranks or the work of a malevolent entity, to say nothing of what was in that closet at the end...
- Birthday Episode: This short is themed around some kind of twisted birthday party for Jeremiah.
- A Birthday, Not a Break: As Jeremiah comes into work for his birthday, he finds either a very cruel prank or very sinister setup.
- Birthday Party Goes Wrong: Played for Horror.
- Bland-Name Product: The show Kingdom of Bones that the boys enjoy but Hope finds too gory sounds a bit familiar.
- Body Horror: As Jeremiah continues through the office, he finds more and more severed body parts. First, seven human teeth, then a jar containing whole removed fingernails. Thirdly, three removed eyes; fourth, a bunch of chopped fingers; fifth, a strange box that seems to have flesh inside; sixth, and finally, the stripped-off face of Parker.
- Call-Back: This team seems to have gotten the job to develop Help Wanted after the first one, as Glitchtrap is already familiar with the name "Jeremy" and the idea of removing people's faces.
- The idea of Glitchtrap being the antagonist would also explain how Parker's face was removed, yet he was able to speak over the intercom, as it could be a Call-Forward if you interpret Glitchtrap as the Mimic1 program.
- Deadly Prank: Possibly; Parker jokes that he and Hope will have to go to the hospital.
- Demonic Possession: Possibly, assuming Glitchtrap took control of Hope and Parker. That would explain the video they made beforehand, and their seeming readiness to chop their own limbs off.
- Died on Their Birthday: Possibly, if Glitchtrap is what's in the closet.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: For Hope, who's caught the interest of both Jeremiah and Parker.
- Extreme Doormat: Jeremiah, who's never really able to stand up to Parker or ask out Hope.
- Facial Horror: When Jeremiah opens the final box, he finds Parker's ripped-off face.
- Grand Theft Me: If the villain is Glitchtrap, it's very likely that Hope and Parker were possessed before being dismembered.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Hope, the kind and beautiful coworker of Jeremiah.
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: The mysterious voice tells Jeremiah that the longer he takes to find his friends, "the worse shape they'll be in."
- Jealous Romantic Witness: When Hope and Parker go into the testing room, Jeremiah goes nuts just hearing them giggling and chatting and decides to head home early.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's left unclear if this is a prank or not. There's a medical supplier office above them, which is where Jeremiah thinks they're getting the body parts from. But at the same time, Hope was always really against Parker's pranks, so why is she so cool with this brutally gory one?
- Meaningful Name: Okay, when is "Hope" not a meaningful name?
- Monster of the Week: Everything here is heavily implied to be the work of Glitchtrap, but never confirmed, and he never makes a direct appearance.
- Nice Guy: Of Jeremiah's two coworkers, Hope is the one who genuinely cares about him. Parker just likes to make a joke out of him.
- No Full Name Given: On anyone.
- No "Police" Option: Jeremiah is told that if he calls the police, Hope and Parker will immediately die.
- One-Person Birthday Party: With Hope and Parker seemingly "hiding" during Jeremiah's party.
- Prank Gone Too Far: Hope tells Parker that one day he's going to reach one of these. He may have, depending on your interpretation of the story.
- The Prankster: The short's title is seemingly given to Parker, who is a notorious prankster and apparently unable to help himself from making jokes of the people around him. So Jeremiah doesn't suspect a thing when it seems that Parker's pulling another joke on him... only for the prankster to be someone else after all.
- Real After All: Jeremiah is convinced the whole time that this is all one of Parker's pranks, though each box makes it harder and harder to convince himself. When he finally sees Parker's ripped face, and realizes someone else has been talking to him this whole time, he's horrified.
- Spit Take: Directly named by Parker after he slips vinegar into Jeremiah's coffee.
- Stealth Sequel: Heavily implied to be a prequel to Help Wanted, given that it's heavily implied that Hope and Parker have been infected by Glitchtrap.
- Uncertain Doom: Jeremiah doesn't seem to be in a good spot by the end. Despite the video of Hope and Parker claiming it's all a prank, there's a lot of evidence to suggest otherwise. Even without considering the dismembered body parts strewn throughout the office or the suspicious backdrop of the video, there's the thing in the closet... it's likely that Jeremiah didn't survive much longer after that door opened. The fact that the table ahead of him is filled with weapons isn't a good sign.
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Word of God: The Ultimate Guide is the only piece of media that's confirmed Glitchtrap's involvement. Nothing else has ever explicitly said that this is him, though anyone with knowledge of FNAF VR's events could probably figure that out.
