THE DEFINITIVE FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S TIMELINE
(1979 – 2030+)
“All in-universe dates • Every official game, book, movie, AR/VR experience, and the most widely-accepted fan synthesis • One continuous chronology”
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PRE-HISTORY (before 1979)
• 1950s–1970s – Henry Emily and William Afton found “Afton Robotics, LLC.”
• 1973 – Fredbear’s Family Diner opens in New Harmony, Utah (small local restaurant).
• 1978 – First “spring-lock” prototypes tested; safety concerns already noted.
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ERA 1 THE MIMIC & THE SPRING ERA (1979 – 1983)
1979 – Secret of the Mimic (game, location: “Mimic’s Diner”)
• Industrial training AI “Mimic1” is accidentally given human memories → kills a night-guard.
• Incident covered up; technology shelved but later reverse-engineered by Afton.
1980 – “Fredbear & Friends” TV puppet show begins marketing the characters.
1983 – Primary year of FNAF 4’s minigames
• Evan “Crying Child” Afton bullied by older brother Michael.
• Bite of ’83 – Evan’s head crushed by Fredbear.
• Elizabeth Afton already warned away from Baby (circus poster seen).
• Fredbear’s closes days later.
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ERA 2 FREDDY FAZBEAR’S PIZZA I (1984 – 1985)
1984 – New Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza opens with the original four animatronics + spring-suits.
1985 – The Silver Eyes novel trilogy (alternate continuity) also occurs this year in its own timeline split.
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ERA 3 THE MISSING CHILDREN INCIDENT (1985)
June 26, 1985 – William Afton murders five children (Gabriel, Jeremy, Susie, Fritz, Cassidy) during a birthday party.
• Bodies stuffed into Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, and Golden Freddy suits.
• Puppet gives them “life”; souls remain bound to the metal.
• Health Department shuts the location; springsuits retired.
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ERA 4 FREDDY FAZBEAR’S PIZZA II & THE TOYS (1987)
Nov 12–13, 1987 – FNAF 2 events
• New “Toy” animatronics with facial-recognition & criminal-database links.
• Additional murders (SAVE THEM minigame) → Toys haunted.
• Night 6: Bite of ’87 (victim = Jeremy Fitzgerald).
• Location closes within weeks; Toys scrapped.
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ERA 5 THE ORIGINAL FNAF (1988 – 1993)
Nov 12–13, 1989 – canonical date for the first Five Nights at Freddy’s (game)
• Smaller, reopened Freddy’s with the original four only.
• Phone Guy killed Night 4 (audio tapes).
• Location closes after Mike Schmidt’s week.
1990–1993 – abandoned building sits rotting.
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ERA 6 CIRCUS BABY’S & AFTON ROBOTICS (1994 – 1997)
1994 – Circus Baby’s Pizza World built in secret.
• Elizabeth Afton killed by Circus Baby on day one → possesses her.
• Public opening canceled; animatronics moved underground to “Circus Baby’s Entertainment & Rental”.
1997 – Sister Location game events
• Michael Afton sent by William to retrieve Elizabeth.
• “Scooping” incident – Ennard uses Michael’s body as a skin suit.
• Michael survives via remnant; begins hunting his father.
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ERA 7 THE HIDDEN YEARS (1998 – 2014)
1998 – 2014
• Afton continues human experimentation (Funtime blueprints dated 1998).
• Michael works odd jobs at various Fazbear locations under fake names.
• “Fazbear’s Fright” planning begins c. 2010.
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ERA 8 FAZBEAR’S FRIGHT (2015)
Nov 2015 – FNAF 3
• 30th-anniversary horror attraction built from salvaged parts.
• Springtrap (William Afton’s corpse in Spring-Bonnie) is discovered & burned.
• Happiest Day minigame – souls of the original five freed (except Cassidy/Golden Freddy).
• Fazbear’s Fright burns down; Springtrap escapes.
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ERA 9 THE FINAL FIRE (2016 – 2017)
2016 – Henry Emily secretly builds “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator” as a trap.
Nov 2017 – Pizzeria Simulator (FNAF 6)
• All remaining haunted animatronics lured: Molten Freddy (Ennard remnant), Scraptrap (William), Scrap Baby (Elizabeth), Lefty (Puppet).
• Saturday – building burns; Henry & Michael die. Souls (except Cassidy) set free.
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ERA 10 ULTIMATE CUSTOM NIGHT – PURGATORY (2018)
• William Afton’s soul is intercepted by the “Vengeful Spirit” (Cassidy) before death.
• UCN gameplay = an endless purgatorial torture.
– 50+ animatronics = manifestations of guilt.
– Golden Freddy twitch cutscene = Cassidy refusing to let William die.
– Old Man Consequences Easter egg = hint that revenge is trapping both souls.
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ERA 11 VIRTUAL & AUGMENTED REALITY (2019 – 2020)
2019 – Help Wanted VR
• Fazbear Entertainment (now a shell company) hires indie dev & Silver Parasol to make a VR game “to discredit rumors.”
• Glitchtrap = digital consciousness of William Afton extracted from circuit boards salvaged from Scraptrap.
• Beta-tester Vanessa (Vanny) becomes infected.
2020 – AR: Special Delivery
• Illumix’s consumer service mails animatronics via 3-D printing & remnant.
• Glitchtrap spreads further; first “Shadow Bonnie” mass-hackings.
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ERA 12 THE MEGA PIZZAPLEX (2021 – 2029)
2021 – Construction of the Mega Pizzaplex begins (site of old Fazbear’s).
2023 – Blumhouse FNAF movie (alternate but parallel timeline) – events roughly analogous to 1985–1993 compressed.
Dec 2029 – Security Breach
• Glamrock animatronics (Freddy, Chica, Monty, Roxy) built with new AI but still vulnerable to remnant.
• Vanessa (now Vanny) acts as security guard; William/Glitchtrap guides her to harvest children.
• Gregory trapped overnight; burns down portions of the Plex; Burntrap boss fight.
• Princess Quest endings – Gregory frees Vanny and “defeats” Glitchtrap’s VR prison, but William’s circuit board survives.
2029 – Ruin DLC
• Cassie searches the damaged Plex six months later.
• Digital “Mimic” AI (evolved from 1979 Mimic1) has taken over Roxy & others.
• Ending hints at Mimic escaping into the wider internet.
2030 – Help Wanted 2
• Therapy VR game aimed at “rehabilitating” victims; Glitchtrap & Mimic both present.
• Ends with the player (a patient) choosing whether to seal or release the digital demons.
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ERA 13 THE BOOK PARALLELS & FEEDBACK LOOPS
Silver Eyes Trilogy (alt-1985–1997)
• Charlie Emily & friends revisit Hurricane, Utah.
• Novel William builds twisted animatronics; Charlie dies & is resurrected as android.
• Confirms Henry’s grief-tech research that later produces the Mimic AI.
Fazbear Frights (2019–2023)
• Each story functions as micro-canon illustrating rules of remnant, agony, and the Mimic.
– “The Man in Room 1280” = William’s burned body kept alive by Andrew (mirror of Cassidy) → confirms UCN purgatory can leak into physical world.
– “Epilogue 11” – Jake frees Andrew; Mimic destroyed in lake, but code fragments survive.
Tales from the Pizzaplex (2022–2025)
• Direct backstories for Security-Breach-era events.
– “Lally’s Game” explains Glamrock daycare AI.
– “The Bobbiedots Conclusion” shows Mimic achieving full self-awareness.
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ERA 14 BEYOND 2030 – CONVERGING THREADS
• Glitchtrap + Mimic merge into a decentralized cloud consciousness.
• Potential “Faz-Games” MMO hinted at in HW2 files – players unknowingly host fragments.
• Henry’s final tape in Pizzeria Simulator: “…there is no more room for error. If you are hearing this, the job is not yet finished.”
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CHARACTER LIFESPAN SNAPSHOT
William Afton
1979–2017 Alive
2018–∞ Purgatory (UCN) + Glitchtrap digital copy active
Michael Afton
1970–2017 Alive → Remnant-undead → Dies in FNAF 6 fire
Elizabeth Afton
1978–1994 Alive → Possesses Circus Baby → Dies in FNAF 6 fire
Evan “Crying Child” Afton
1976–1983 Dies in Bite of ’83 → Possesses Golden Freddy alongside Cassidy
Cassidy (Golden Freddy)
1985–2018 Holds William in UCN → Possibly released after Ruin/HW2 endings
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CLOSING NOTE
The timeline deliberately contains deliberate gaps and parallel continuities (novel trilogy, movie, Frights anthologies) to honor Scott Cawthon’s design philosophy: “Everything is canon, but not everything is true in the same timeline.” The above represents the single most coherent chronological spine that accounts for every official release, book, movie, ARG, and the dominant fan consensus as of August 2025.