The FNAF Movie Ending's Letters Spell A Creepy Message - But What Does It Mean? (2024)

Movies

Blumhouse Productions

ByCameron Roy Hall/Nov. 14, 2023 9:30 am EST

Everyone who sat through the "Five Nights at Freddy's" credits learned two things. First lesson: Balloon Boy gets around. The mid-credit sequence sees the Funko Pop-sized mascot character mysteriously appear in a taxi, a joke which prompted numerous articles to speculate whether he'll be the next Big Bad of the "FNAF" franchise. Second lesson: Scott Cawthon loves to obfuscate lore behind cryptic hints.

The gamers in the audience will already know this because they've been dealing with Cawthon's shenanigans for years. Any new fans, though? This brand of exposition delivery might be new to them. As the final credit rolls across the screen, a robotic and distorted voice mutters a string of letters. It's hard to realize what's happening in real time but a message becomes apparent upon a second or third listen. The voice is saying "Come find me."

But who's saying it? Who are they saying it to? And what in the name of Fazzbear does it mean? Since this is Cawthon's world, chances are good that one or both parties involved are child murderers or murdered children — but that doesn't really narrow things down. Like, at all. Blumhouse must be a little kinder than Cawthon, though, because there's an important clue playing in the background just before the mysterious voice makes its demands.

The song is called "My Grandfather Clock." Though perhaps not by name, the tune will also be familiar to gamers because it's directly connected to the Puppet. In "FNAF," the Puppet is a terrifying mascot-character possessed by the soul of William Afton's (Matthew Lillard) first victim. Canonically, it attacks anyone it feels endangers the other children's souls, including the player character.

Blumhouse Productions

Assuming that the Puppet is the character saying, "Come find me," then it's likely that Blumhouse Productions and Scott Cawthon are completely altering the character's backstory. In the games, the Puppet is possessed by Charlotte Emily, the deceased daughter of William Afton's ex-business partner, Henry Emily. Two of those three names did not appear in the "FNAF" film whatsoever, despite one of them engineering the main animatronics. No, if the Puppet is saying, "Come find me," then the marionette is probably possessed by Mike's (Josh Hutcherson) younger brother, Garret (Michael P. Sullivan).

"FNAF" is almost certainly getting a sequel. Aside from the fact that Matthew Lillard has signed a three-picture deal, the film literally made over ten times its budget at the box office. If Blumhouse and Cawthon are setting up another project with this code, then it wouldn't make much sense for the creepy message to reference multiple new characters at once. There has to be an anchor somewhere in the familiar, especially for audiences that haven't played the games or explored the lore. And making Garret the Puppet keeps the narrative focusedon a core cast of characters.

If Garret is the Puppet, then saying "Come find me" is his way of pleading with Mike. Remember, Mike discovers that Afton kidnapped Garret, but he never actually located his little brother's body.Both brothers need that closure and it gives Mike an excuse to dig around Afton's history, which in turn gives Blumhouse and Cawthon an excuse to dive into some deeper lore pulls.

Blumhouse

While it would be a fun departure from Scott Cawthon's lore for the Puppet to deliver the message, it most likely is William Afton. Mr. "I Always Come Back" ends "Five Nights at Freddy's" trapped and dying in his malfunctioning springlock Golden Bonnie suit. And no one is more creative than a group of dead children, because Freddy Fazzbear and friends lock the dying serial killer in a windowless room. Gamers, and anyone who's ever watched a franchise before, will know that Afton doesn't take defeat lying down. In the video games, he's sent to hell where all his victims are gifted the chance to torture him for the rest of eternity, and even that doesn't stick.

Assuming that Afton is the character saying, "Come find me," then we've got a few different options because every single soul-ridden animatronic owes its ghostly possession to the guy. But why would any of them come to Afton's aid? Well, at least one of the animatronics in the video game series is possessed by the soul of his daughter, Elizabeth Afton. In the video game series, Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) isn't related to the Big Bad, she's a security guard that his digital ghost brainwashes into violent servitude. His daughter, Elizabeth, however, is killed by Circus Baby, the very animatronic she goes on to possess.

If Cawthon and Blumhouse Productions intend to streamline the film narrative, then it would be a solid move for "FNAF 2" to introduce Circus Baby and the animatronics from "Sister Location" as a group trying to rescue what's left of Afton. But, again, there's no evidence of Elizabeth in the films. Just Vanessa — and she's a bit old to fit inside Circus Baby.Look, it's just a working theory, okay?