Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Explained: Understanding the Lore Behind the Sequel
From the end credits scenes to the Easter eggs, we break down the second film adaptation of Scott Cawthon’s cult video game series
by Alex Secilmis 7 December 2025
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
After hitting theatres this Friday, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 earned a record-breaking $63 million opening—the highest ever for the post-Thanksgiving weekend. Like its 2023 predecessor, the film’s critical response hasn’t matched its considerable financial success, with a consistent gripe being that Emma Tammi’s sequel is too bogged down in its own lore to appeal to casual viewers.
Whatever your stance on the Blumhouse film, FNAF 2 is the kind of Easter egg-heavy film that is better enjoyed if you get the references. To do so requires a knowledge of the dense, cryptic backstory underpinning the indie horror video game phenomenon created by Scott Cawthon—who penned the script for the latest movie adaptation—and as its sprawling fanbase will attest, this is no straightforward task. With companion books and nearly 20 games in the series, including spin-offs, FNAF’s central narrative, centring on a haunted Chuck E. Cheese-style family restaurant, is told out of order, and much of it unfolds in the background of the main gameplay.
The story’s enigmatic nature is part of the charm, inspiring a horde of YouTubers to dedicate hour-long videos to their interpretation of the events, where they cite or discredit their peers with all the passion and skill of full-fledged academics.
Whether for the novice, the casual moviegoer, or the die-hard fan, here’s a foolproof guide to understanding all the lore referenced in the new film:
Warning: major spoilers for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and the wider film and video game franchise below
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Where does the video game’s story begin?
Though the precise timeline is debated, the story of Five Nights at Freddy’s begins in the early 70s with William Afton and Henry Emily, who open a restaurant named Fredbear’s Family Diner. To entertain its customers, the establishment has two singing animatronics, Fredbear and Spring Bonnie, which were notable for their “springlock” technology. By turning a crank, the animatronic’s endoskeleton is pushed into the lining of the suit so that a human can inhabit it and perform as one of the characters. The books suggest that Henry would occasionally perform as Fredbear, but we know for certain that William Afton donned the Spring Bonnie suit—something that viewers will be familiar with from the first film’s climax, when Afton (Matthew Lillard) attacks Mike (Josh Hutcherson), Abby (Piper Rubio), and Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail).
With business booming, registered under the company Fazbear Entertainment, Fredbear’s Family Diner evolves into a chain of restaurants (the in-story franchising offers a neat excuse for sequels) dubbed Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, first opening in 1983. The new line-up of animatronics introduces the core four seen in the 2023 film: Freddy (not to be confused with Fredbear), Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy.
Who is William Afton?
William Afton is the main antagonist in the series. By 1987, the year when the flashbacks in both the original game and its film adaptation take place, he is a serial child-killer who stuffs the bodies into the animatronics, which are then possessed by the children’s ghosts.
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What happened in the first film?
Set in 2000, Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023) tells the story of Mike Schmidt (Hutcherson), an out-of-luck security guard who gets a night shift job at a now-abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Mike is initially hesitant to accept the position after his career counsellor, Steve Raglan (Lillard), proposes it, but when social services threaten to take custody of his younger sister, Abby (Rubio), he reconsiders.
Satisfying the demands of a movie adaptation, Mike’s role is dramatically expanded, with his core arc revolving around both his struggle to be a guardian for Abby and the trauma of losing his younger brother, Garrett, who was kidnapped years earlier. As the security guard tries to unlock the hidden memory of who took Garrett, Abby befriends the pizzeria’s animatronic mascots (Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, and Mr. Cupcake). There’s no parallel for Abby in the games, but she’s a logical addition given the central theme of missing children. Meanwhile, police officer Vanessa Shelly (Lail) tells him about the building’s history: it closed down in the 80s after five children went missing.
Mike discovers that it was William Afton who kidnapped Garrett—and that the animatronics are possessed by the ghosts of his other victims. In the climactic fight, Afton, who had previously posed as Mike’s career counsellor, Steve, dresses up as Spring Bonnie and tries to kill them before a “springlock failure” (ie, the animatronic components snap back into place even with a human inside the suit). Ouch.
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Who is Charlotte Emily? Meeting the Marionette
In a scene that’s sure to have its fanbase salivating, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 opens with poor Charlotte’s demise. Along with the “Bite of 83” (more on that later), hers is one of two crucial deaths in William Afton’s origin story.
In the film, Charlotte is an unpopular kid keeping to herself at a birthday party, which takes place at the flagship location of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. When Charlotte (Audrey Lynn Marie) spots Spring Bonnie taking a kid into the restaurant’s backrooms, she alerts several uncaring parents before deciding to save the boy herself. He survives, but she doesn’t, ultimately collapsing into the arms of the Marionette (think “No-Face" from Spirited Away, but as a creepy, lanky puppet).
Was Charlotte William Afton’s First Kill?
In the games, in Afton’s first recorded killing, Charlotte is murdered after she’s locked out of the restaurant, with her mean-spirited peers refusing to let her back in. The death is one of the most crucial and hotly contested moments in all of FNAF’s mysterious lore, in no small part because of its connection to…
The Bite of '83
1983 is a pivotal year for the FNAF story, marking the death of two children. William has three kids: Michael, Elizabeth, and Evan, and he loses the latter in a gruesome incident known as the “Bite of 83”. While not official, the name Evan has been agreed upon by the fandom after enthusiasts have extracted the name from puzzles in the Five Nights at Freddy’s: Survival Logbook and other sources. Evan, widely speculated to be the youngest Afton child, is terrified of the animatronics, so as a cruel prank, Michael and his friends forcibly take Evan and stick his head in Fredbear’s mouth. Michael taunts him by saying, “I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss!” Fredbear suddenly malfunctions and bites down on Evan, killing him. In a particularly tragic detail, an incident in FNAF 3 implies that water and moisture can cause springlock failure, and fans believe that Evan’s frightened tears ultimately triggered his demise.
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Who does Skeet Ulrich play?
While only appearing in one scene, Ulrich’s turn as Charlotte’s regretful, grieving father promises an exciting future for the franchise ahead (and a potential Scream reunion). In a voice-over during the end credits, the character is revealed to be William Afton’s business partner, Henry Emily.
Why did William Afton kill his business partner’s daughter?
Since Charlotte’s death in 1983 is Afton’s first kill, many fans believe that the death of his son Evan with the “Bite of 83” drove him mad, prompting him to subsequently and spitefully murder his business partner’s daughter so he could feel his pain. Or perhaps, since the “springlock” mechanism was supposedly created by Henry, William killed Charlotte as an act of revenge. Others believe that William killed Charlotte before his son’s death, and that the loss was not the inciting factor that made him a serial killer.
The new movie complicates these theories, firstly because the opening scene takes place in 1982. Granted, since the “Bite of 83” is yet to be referenced in the films, the incident could still take place before or after Charlotte’s death. However, the manner of her demise all but confirms the theory that William was already a killer—at least in FNAF’s cinematic universe. Rather than dying outside the restaurant, she is killed while trying to save another kid from Afton, and the murder doesn’t appear to be calculated on Afton’s part.
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Is Vanessa Shelly Elizabeth Afton?
Elizabeth, the daughter of William Afton (Matthew Lillard), is killed in the games by the animatronic Circus Baby. The film franchise has given Afton a new daughter, Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), but in an eerie dream sequence where Lillard and Lail face off, Circus Baby makes a brief but memorable appearance.
Why the “Spectral Scoopers”?
First seen on Mike and Abby’s TV, paranormal investigators “Spectral Scoopers” (McKenna Grace, Teo Briones, and David Andrew Calvillo) are brutally dispatched after a security guard named Michael (Freddy Carter, not Josh Hutcherson) lures them into the original Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza location. While their name implies that they’re getting the journalistic “scoop” on ghosts across the USA, the name is loaded with another meaning for FNAF fans. First seen in Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location, the scooper is a machine that strips animatronics of their endoskeleton, “scooping” out their insides. As you might imagine, it ends up getting used for more nefarious purposes…
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Mike or Michael?
The ill-fated Spectral Scoopers have booked a tour at the flagship Freddy’s via a security guard named Mike. Naturally, a casual viewer might suspect that the creepy, grinning man is impersonating Mike Schmidt, but he corrects the Scoopers to specify that his name is “Michael”. At the film’s climax, the man reveals himself to be Michael Afton, William’s son and Vanessa’s brother.
The script’s play on the Mike/Michael dynamic has its roots in the games, where many fans have decoded that Mike Schmidt is an alias for Michael Afton.
Behind the mask
Mike Schmidt’s unfortunate return to a Freddy’s restaurant sees him hiding from animatronics as he tries to track their escaped robotic colleagues on a computer. Borrowing a survival method directly from the FNAF 2 game, Mike has to cover his face with a broken-off Freddy mask whenever Freddy and friends stop by so that they register him as a fellow animatronic.
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Who is Balloon Boy?
A balloon vendor at the refurbished 1987 location in the games, the not-so-charming Balloon Boy is a non-lethal animatronic who becomes a nuisance to the player, disabling their flashlight amongst other things. After a mid-credits cameo in small form in the first instalment, his effect in the film is similarly annoying as he tries to blind Mike with bright lights from his eyes, but our favourite security guard promptly twists Balloon Boy’s big head off his round body.
Who is Mangle?
An unpolished, disassembled version of Foxy that’s mostly just an exoskeleton, Mangle isn’t quite a sight for sore eyes. Elizabeth certainly isn’t happy to see him when he attaches himself to the hood of her car.
Who plays Toy Bonnie?
FNAF 2 features the “toy” variations of the popular animatronics, and Toy Bonnie is played by Internet personality and former YouTuber Matthew Patrick, also known as MatPat. Patrick’s videos on the FNAF lore for his YouTube channel The Game Theorists made him immensely popular with the fandom, earning him a cameo in the first film as a waiter, a voice role as Toy Bonnie in the sequel, and securing him a spot on the new film’s press junket as a Blumhouse correspondent.
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
What does the mid-credits scene mean?
After the credits roll to the tune of another popular song fan-made song by The Living Tombstone (“It’s Been So Long”), we return to the pizzeria from the first film. Looters discover Spring Bonnie, noting a foul smell because William Afton’s decaying corpse is still trapped inside, and his eyes light up, suggesting his supernatural return as “Springtrap”, the main antagonist in the FNAF 3 game.
Henry Emily’s end credits voicemail: explained
In a clever reference to the source material (known in-game as “Cassette Man”, we only ever hear Henry), Mr. Emily leaves a message for Mike’s voicemail. Henry confesses that he was Afton’s business partner before warning Mike that Charlotte/the Marionette, using Elizabeth as a host body, is out for blood. Unfortunately for Henry, at the end of the message, ominous noises suggest that the Marionette has broken into his house.