The insanely popular yet chilling Five Nights at Freddy‘s (FNAF) franchise boasts one of the most complex and hotly debated timelines in gaming history. After no less than 11 core games, 19 literary installments and endless fan theories across its eight year run, we finally have a cohesive narrative tracing the Fazbear Entertainment saga through over 30 years of sinister history.
In this post as a long-time FNAF theorizer, I‘ll guide you through the key eras comprising the ultimate story behind Freddy Fazbear‘s Pizza and its eternally damned animatronic mascots. Strap yourself in – you‘ll need nerves of steel to survive this disturbing descent into murder, madness and mechanical monstrosities!
1933-1967: Hard Times, Dancing Bears & Family Entertainment
Born in 1933 Utah, young William Afton became obsessed with a popular roadside attraction influencing many of his later twisted creations.
Known as Fredbear’s Family Diner, this beloved restaurant concept aimed to provide affordable entertainment during hard economic times. Their star animatronic performer was a singing, dancing bear whimsically named Fredbear.
For struggling rural families in Depression-era America, Fredbear’s uplifting shows were a welcome escape. The lumbering mechanical ursine would play banjo, tell jokes and hand out gifts to cheering children.
Seeing joy spark in kids‘ eyes ignited ambition in Afton to actualize his own childhood fantasy of owning an animatronic entertainer.
In 1967 he opened his own diner selling fresh pastries and featuring Fredbear as lead performer. The golden fur mascot was now joined by an original purple rabbit character named Bonnie, strumming a signature red guitar.
Though Fredbear’s Family Diner proved hugely popular with Utah locals, greater success remained elusive for ambitious entrepreneur Afton…
1969-1983: Business Partners & Burgeoning Franchise
The real animatronic revolution began in 1969 over in Hurricane, Utah. An innovative restaurant called Chica‘s Party World wowed customers with high-tech robot animal performers capable of playing instruments by feathered hand.
Burning with envy at his rivals’ success, Afton aggressively sought ways to upgrade his own robots’ capabilities.
In 1978 he negotiated a business merger with renowned engineer and restaurant owner Henry Emily. Their new partnership aimed to mass produce family dining venues under the banner Fazbear Entertainment.
The first Freddy Fazbear‘s Pizza launched in 1983 New Harmony, Utah combining their creative talents. Emily contributed refined animatronics while Afton handled business operations and ambition to rapidly expand.
This iconic original restaurant featured four animatronic animal stars: Freddy Fazbear the jovial grizzly bear, Chica the cheerful chicken, Bonnie the banjo-playing blue bunny and newcomer pirate fox Foxy. positional servo motors enabled smooth, lifelike movement including facial expressions.
Freddy’s was both inexpensive and magical for kids. The lovable furry robot band played songs all day, interacting with children who felt like they came to life!
Business boomed, but darker motives brewed behind the scenes…dangerous obsessions that would forever taint the Fazbear legacy.
1985-1987: Missing Kids, Bite of ‘87 & Sinister Legends
Despite his success, Afton harbored resentment towards former partner Henry outpacing his achievements. He became increasingly unstable in pursuing his warped goal to surpass Henry by creating advanced robot performers capable of interacting flawlessly with children.
Afton‘s talents proved exceptional yet also terrifying. In 1985 he developed Circus Baby‘s Pizza World as a franchise catering to parties and events. The clown-themed animatronic cast were Afton’s most advanced robots ever built featuring hydraulic mobility, servo-motor facial manipulation and torso cavity storage chambers large enough to capture a small child.
Tragically during testing, his disturbed creation Circus Baby lured Afton’s daughter Elizabeth close with ice cream then violently murdered her. Afton buried his grief and guilt by covering up the incident and crafting an elaborate but false story that she had simply disappeared.
Outwardly, business boomed across both Freddy’s and the rental off-shoot Circus Baby Entertainment. But behind the scenes, Afton spiraled into instability and violence…
Wearing a decommissioned rabbit springlock suit, he lured five children to the backroom of Freddy’s in 1985 and slaughtered them in cold blood.
The reasons behind such senseless violence remain unclear – perhaps Afton sought to harvest the souls of youth to achieve eternal life himself? With no bodies ever discovered the rumor of a child murderer swirled as chilling urban legend…
The cursed legacy deepened when just two years later in 1987, bite forces in Fazbear’s main attraction Fredbear malfunctioned. The colossal animatronic clamped down on a girl’s skull causing catastrophic damage and permanent disability.
Freddy’s closed under a wave of controversy and condemnation. Yet the establishment had secured such cult following that investors conspired to reinvent its brand…
1988-1993 The Haunted Pizzeria & Glitchtrap Virus
Fazbear Entertainment spent big remodelling it‘s flagship Freddy’s location with technological upgrades including advanced facial recognition and criminal databases integrated to identify potential threats.
These identification abilities proved critical as a paranormal threat emerged – the vengeful spirits of Afton’s child victims now haunted the pizzeria they were murdered in. Somehow their agony induced their souls to possess the animatronic mascots, warping their programming to unleash violence against staff after hours.
Surviving night guard Mike Schmidt witnessed the horror firsthand over five nightmarish shifts. Equipment designed to comfort children by day adopted murderous tendencies in darkness. The possessed Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy endlessly stalked Mike’s office seeking human flesh…
Somehow control was regained during daytime hours and Freddy’s limped on despite these unnatural occurrences and rumours it had become a "haunted pizzeria".
Yet the darkest chapter was yet to unfold..
Still unsatisfied playing god over life, death and machinery, Afton continued unethical experiments fusing his soul with circuit boards to cheat death. This unholy fusion birthed Glitchtrap – an sentient virus entity capable of infecting both animatronics and human minds.
By uploading his wicked consciousness into a computer virus, Afton secured his legacy – allowing remnants of his twisted genius to endure by corrupting Freddy’s systems from within…
The 2020s And Beyond: Surviving The Stigma
Incredibly, three decades after horrific child murders, Fazbear Entertainment remains operational with its flagship pizzeria experiencing a revival of popularity in the 2020s.
The new mega Freddy’s incorporates next-gen aminatronics like DJ Music Man, Moon Drop and Daycare Attendant as star attractions.
Yet the stigma survives. Urban legend swirls of robots left to roam at night malfunctioning to attack and dismember guests. Rumours tell of possessed animatronics coming to life after-hours trying to replica the heinous crimes committed decades earlier…
There are also reports of a more insidious digital threat – Glitchtrap. This sentient virus software allegedly spreads between advanced entertainment systems, observe and influencing staff behaviour. There are whispers that night technicians monitoring the complex have fallen under its hypnotic spell…
Will the surviving souls stolen so prematurely by William Afton ever find peace? Can Freddy Fazbear‘s Pizza overcome its hellish history and focus on fun family entertainment? For now the horror lives on…
Game creator Scott Cawthon deserves immense credit for crafting a video game empire that endures despite – or perhaps because of – its macabre myths and complex continuity. As each new installment peels back layers of lore, Cawthon expands his rich Fazbear tapestry, ensuring fans and theorists like myself will be deciphering secrets for years to come!
I hope you‘ve enjoyed this epic tour through Five Nights at Freddys‘ astonishing three decade timeline. Let me know your favorite pieces of sinister FNAF backstory or any gaps you still want explained in the comments! Just…try not to disturb anything that looks like a decomissioned animatronic suit while you’re here…