If you spend a lot of time on the internet, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed some cursed, out-of-context images and memes of a terrifying animatronic bear in a top hat. That would be Freddy Fazbear. If you’re unfamiliar with Five Nights at Freddy’s, there’s a lot of lore to catch you up on. Five Nights at Freddy’s is a popular survival horror video game series that was first released in 2014, and features the sort of animatronic characters designed to entertain children at a pizza restaurant. Think Chuck E. Cheese. The game’s protagonist is a security guard who must survive five nights while being stalked by these animatronics that malfunction after midnight and become homicidal. 

The game’s lore has become incredibly complex over the course of the series, with many hidden clues and Easter eggs that hint at a deeper story. The first game takes place at a pizza restaurant named Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. The animatronics, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, all malfunction and wander around the restaurant at night. The player takes on the role of a security guard who must survive five nights by monitoring the animatronics through surveillance cameras and closing doors to keep them at bay. In Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a sort of prequel to the first game, we learn about an incident known as the «Bite of ’87,» when a child’s frontal lobe was bitten off by one of the animatronics, causing public outcry and leading to the restaurant’s eventual closure. In Five Nights at Freddy’s 3, we learn that five children went missing at the restaurant and their bodies were never recovered. It’s strongly suggested that the animatronics were responsible for their disappearance and that their spirits are somehow trapped inside the animatronics. In Five Nights at Freddy’s 4, we learn about a mysterious character known as «The Puppet,» who is responsible for giving life to the animatronics. It’s also revealed that the main character of the game, a child named «Crying Child,» is the victim of a tragic accident involving the animatronics. In Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location and subsequent games, we learn about the Afton family, a group of individuals involved with the creation and maintenance of the animatronics. William Afton, the patriarch of the family, is revealed to be the true villain of the series, responsible for the creation of the animatronics and multiple murders. 

Because, the Five Nights at Freddy’s lore is a complex and intricate web of interconnected stories and characters, many memes hinting at the game’s lore have been produced by its fanbase. Whether you’re a longtime Freddy fan or just want to know what the hell all the memes are about, keep scrolling for some classic Five Nights at Freddy’s content.