Summary
TheFive Nights at Freddy’sfilm adapted key elements from a wide variety of sources. While many of the film’s narrative elements were taken fromFNAF’s Clickteam series, one figure, Vanessa, stood out. Vanessa is a key player inFive Nights at Freddy’smodern era, or Cooperative series, making her inclusion a unique divergence from the source material. Throughout the film, Vanessa plays a critical role, ensuring Mike’s time at Freddy’s goes according to plan. However, her true role has yet to be determined, as a major third-act reveal sees the character’s origins altered. While Vanessa’s future is left ambiguous byFive Nights at Freddy’s ending, her role in the source material and new origins have major implications for the character’s future.
TheFive Nights at Freddy’sfilm was received poorly by critics. However, fans are elated with its deep reliance on the series' lore, which sees references and crucial narrative elements adapted from thegames, books series, graphic novels, and even internet legends. Vanessa plays heavily into fans' theories surrounding the film, as her inclusion has been questioned since Blumhouse first revealed the character. With most, if not all, hardcore fans having seen the film, Vanessa’s future is chief among fans' discussions.
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The FNAF Film’s Vanessa is More Than She Seems
Vanessa is a core character inFive Nights at Freddy’smodern era. She is heavily featured acrossFNAF: Help Wanted, The Curse of Dreadbear,FNAF AR,Security Breach, and RUIN. The games detail her corruption by the Glitchtrap virus since revealed to bethe mimic1 virus, which she then uses to become a lead Security Guard, before taking over the Mega Pizzaplex. Vanessa, as Vanny, nearly succeeds in releasing the Mimic, after eliminating every staff member of the Pizzaplex and corrupting its animatronics. However,Security Breach’s true ending sees a child, Gregory, free Vanessa from the virus, and both escape the Pizzaplex.
In theFNAFfilm, Vanessa first appears as a Security Guard, a role she uses to get close to Night Guard Mike Schmidt and his young sister Abby. It’s quickly apparent that Vanessa knows more than she is letting on, as various moments see her display a deep knowledge ofFreddy Fazbear’s Pizzeriaand its possessed animatronics. Eventually, Vanessa reveals the devastating truth. She is William Afton’s daughter and, as an adult, ensures that Afton’s cycle of murder goes according to plan. Deeply traumatized by the things she’s seen and done, Vanessa rebels against her father in the film’s climax. However, she is mortally wounded and left in a coma by the film’s close, leaving her future in question.
Vanessa’s Trauma May See Her Become Vanny
Various moments oftheFive Nights at Freddy’sfilmsee Vanessa replay traumatic moments in her head. At one point in the film, Vanessa stands alone in the Pizzeria, staring at children’s drawings while the sound of screams drowns out the environment. Following the increased trauma of being stabbed by her father in the film’s climax, her mind may be left broken. If so, theFNAFfilm has laid a solid origin for her alter-ego, Vanny.
TheFNAFgames imply thatVanessa and Vannyare split personalities, with the latter operating independently. In fact, until the canonization of the Princess Quest ending, many fans believed the two to be different people. When the film’s Vanessa awakens, she could feasibly exhibit the same duality, with a core plot point revolving around the identity of a new killer, Vanny, in addition to the return of William Afton as Springtrap. However, her origins hint towards an even bigger role, as she replaces a pivotal figure from the series' lore.
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Vanessa’s Origins Replace Those of a Major Villain
The reveal that theFNAFfilm’s Vanessa is William Afton’s daughter sent shockwaves through those fans well-versed in the series lore. The film had already made a massive departure from popular theories, revealing Mike and Abby to share no relation to Afton. In the games, Mike is revealed to be Afton’s eldest son, creating the core narrative arc of the early titles, in which he seeks to find his father.Afton’s children are key players inFNAF’s lorewith his youngest son’s traumatic death seemingly launching the villain’s early arc, and that of his daughter, Elizabeth, creating one of its most crucial figures, Circus Baby.
With theFNAFfilm’s Mike and Abbyunrelated to Afton and Vanessa seemingly replacing Elizabeth, the latter becomes an incredibly crucial figure in the series' future. Elizabeth’s death not only provides the origins for Circus Baby, who has since become the chief antagonist of various book series, but is intrinsically tied to one of the series' most important forces for good, Charlie aka the Puppet.
According to theSilver Eyestrilogy of novels, William Afton murders the daughter of his business partner Henry Emily, Charlie, whose profound grief then brings her Ella doll to life. Believing the doll to house Charlie’s soul, Emily creates a series of robotic bodies through which she can seemingly “grow up”, with the youngest being an animatronic designed to resemble the Ella doll.
Following Henry’s death, Afton steals the adult-form body, repurposing it into Circus Baby, a robot created to lure and murder children. Shockingly, Circus Baby’s first victim is Afton’s youngest daughter, Elizabeth, whose soul then possesses the animatronic.
Whilethe Ella animatronicis heavily featured in theFNAFfilm, implying the death of Charlie, Elizabeth has seemingly been replaced by Vanessa, creating a bit of a paradox. Vanessa has survived to adulthood, diverging from the Circus Baby narrative, but the elements are still present for the character to make an appearance. The presence of the Ella animatronic, Charlie’s youngest form, implies the existence of the Circus Baby animatronic, her adult form.
While Vanessa will likely never become Circus Baby, the case can be made that the character’s origins are a further manipulation of Afton’s, which opens the door to Elizabeth’s existence. Vanessa may bean early victim of Afton’s. Whereas other victims were assaulted physically, Vanessa could have been the subject of physiological traumas, through which Afton created a replacement daughter and accomplice. This theory aligns with critical points in the lore, as it not only creates the psychological condition through which Vanny could manifest but also further defines Afton’s motivations and influence in the film canon.
Afton suffering the death of a child has always been the motivation for his killing, and the death of a yet-unconfirmed Elizabeth in theFNAFfilm canon could explain his actions. Likewise, his psychological influence over the children’s spirits, which sees them forget their pasts, could easily extend to Vanessa, who was present for their deaths but displays no history before that period.
The nextFive Nights at Freddy’sfilmcould see Vanessa fill several critical roles. Until more details are revealed, though,Five Nights at Freddy’sfans will continue to theorize about the character’s history and how the film’s ending informs her potential shift toward villainy.
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a first-person survival horror and resource management game from Scott Cawthorn that raced to popularity thanks to its creepy animatronic enemies and its array of panic-inducing jumpscares. Bringing life to a cavalcade of well-known characters like Freddy Fazbear, Chica, Foxy, Bonnie, and more, Five Nights at Freddy’s has seen immense success, spinoffs, and fan games.
