The horror video game franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s, exploded onto the scene in 2014 and became an overnight sensation after its gameplay exposure on YouTube. The game uncovered deep-rooted childhood fears of harmless animatronics and even instilled a new fear in millions of viewers and players. The franchise has evolved to have a book series, many different kinds of merchandise, and eight games.
With Five Night’s at Freddy’s: Security Breach being the subject of popular YouTubers’ “Let’s Play” videos since its highly anticipated December 16th, 2021 release date, it’s left many fans to go back and revisit past games and think about which animatronics truly scare them the most.
Withered Bonnie
Withered Bonnie appears in the second installment of the Five Nights at Freddy’s series and is the damaged version of the original Bonnie from the first game. Withered Bonnie’s face is missing, leaving two sets of teeth, wires, and two beady red lights in place of his eyes (which stare into the soul of the player).
This animatronic hides in the vents and even appears in the main office, flickering the lights and distorting the audio when he appears. Creator of the franchise, Scott Cawthon, considers Bonnie to be the scariest animatronic in the game and has said he’s even had multiple nightmares surrounding the rabbit.
Shadow Bonnie
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 also introduces Shadow Bonnie, a dark silhouette of new animatronic Toy Bonnie. Shadow Bonnie has glowing white eyes and teeth and stands in the back left corner of the main office. Staring at this ghostly figure for too long will cause the game to freeze or completely crash.
Adding to the ominous spirit of this character, some Five Night At Freddy’s fans might not know that the official name of Shadow Bonnie is actually RWQFSFASXC. It’s also been widely debated if Shadow Bonnie is a protagonist or antagonist, however, his appearance doesn’t make him any less bone-chilling if he was a helpful figure.
Circus Baby
Circus Baby makes her debut in the fifth game, Five Night’s at Freddy’s: Sister Location. With the appearance of a clown, Circus Baby was built by co-founder of Fazbear Entertainment, William Afton, with the intention to trap and kill children. Much reminiscent of Pennywise the Clown from the movie IT, this animatronic has a claw in her stomach which opens up and pulls in the child when it’s alone with Baby.
Many fans are creeped out by the softness and childlike quality of Circus Baby’s voice. According to some gamers on Reddit, the animatronic killed William Afton’s daughter, Elizabeth, and her spirit haunts the contraption (which makes Circus Baby’s painted on smile more menacing than intended).
Scrap Baby
The recycled version of the original Circus Baby, Scrap Baby appears in the sixth game Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator. While Circus Baby’s regular appearance was more than enough unsettling, Scrap Baby is even more terrifying. Her right arm has been replaced by a giant claw and is now wearing a pair of roller-skates.
Scrap Baby still has her original whisper-like voice and provides plenty of jumpscares to players who aren’t fast enough to shock her character back into submission. Fans agree that Scrap Baby would be the last thing they’d want to see rolling towards them in a dark alley.
Golden Freddy
Golden Freddy is one of the original five characters in the first game. Golden Freddy has built a legendary reputation of conspiracy theories around his scarce appearances, but still shocks and scares players whenever he appears. This version of the game’s title character Freddy Fazbear is yellow and is missing his eyes.
Randomly appearing in the player’s office, Golden Freddy appears to mumble something and the audio becomes distorted. The screen also flashes with the words “IT’S ME” on and off before the player is jump scared. Whenever the player is jump scared by this animatronic, the game completely crashes without giving a “Game Over” screen. Players dread and fear the unpredictable presence of the gold-encrusted Freddy Fazbear.
Ennard
Ennard also makes his debut in Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location. Ennard is made up of a bunch of different wires from other animatronics in the game, just a clown mask covering his face. He also has animatronic eyes littered throughout his body.
Standing at 6’2,” Ennard’s main mission is to take over the player’s body by scooping out their innards and taking the place of their bones to escape the restaurant. With his already creepy appearance and terrifying goal at hand, Ennard also provides a plethora of jump scares throughout the game to all players and his voice sends chills down fans’ spines.
Springtrap
The story behind the animatronic Springtrap is one of the most intense and gruesome in the whole series. Springtrap is a broken down and tattered animatronic rabbit that has the corpse of its creator, William Afton, hidden inside of it. Appearing in the third game, Springtrap is the only animatronic the players see in the third installment, but the jumpscares make up for the lack of animatronics.
The most terrifying thing about Springtrap is his human-like movements. Fans find it terrifying how Springtrap seemingly just walks up to the players with the corpse of William Afton inside still being in the back of their minds. There are even some promo images from the third game that show William Afton’s decaying corpse peeking out from Springtrap’s mouth.
Nightmare Mangle
Nightmare Mangle appears in the fourth installment, Five Nights at Freddy’s 4, and is the nightmare version of Mangle who first appeared in Five Night’s at Freddy’s 2. Nightmare Mangle has razor-sharp teeth, a completely exposed endoskeleton, and only one glowing yellow light in the place of its left eye. The only thing that remains from regular Mangle is their head and bowtie.
One of the most startling things about Nightmare Mangle is the loud, garbled radio static they emit whenever they’re near and them randomly appearing in the closet in the bedroom the player is set in. Nightmare Mangle never appears in the hallway like the other animatronics, always giving the player a sense of impending doom that they’re always behind them watching them.
Nightmarionne
The nightmare version of the Marionette who made his debut in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, Nightmarionne in Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 greatly differs from the first puppet. The long, thin, and sickly appearance of Nightmarionne reminds fans of the infamous creepypasta Slenderman. The beady glowing white eyes, permanent smile, and razor-sharp teeth send shockwaves of fear through players when he appears in the hallways.
Nightmarionne can attack from any spot he chooses in the game, players never really knowing where he’ll come from next. A few things that scare fans besides his ominous appearance are his laughs that let them know he’s near. Nightmarionne’s voice is deep and vengeful and is amplified with creepiness each time the voice malfunctions.
Nightmare
The fourth installment of the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise has some of the scariest animatronics in the series. The nightmare versions of the animatronics are blood-curdling, but most fans agree that the scariest one is Nightmare. Nightmare is a recolored version of Nightmare Fredbear from the same game. This animatronic is all black with bright red human-like eyes and plenty of sharp teeth.
The scariest thing about Nightmare is that he’s translucent so the only thing seen in the darkness are his red eyes. Like Nightmarionne, Nightmare can appear anywhere in the game at any time which makes for multiple scary discoveries. In the game Ultimate Custom Night, Nightmare even describes himself as “wickedness made of flesh” in a monstrous-sounding voice.