my problem with fnaf lore

posted on: august 8, 2025

happy 11th anniversary to fnaf! unfortunately, this is going to be more of a rambling rant about the five nights at freddy's lore. don't get me wrong, i LOOOOVE fnaf lore, and i've always really been into fnaf. the lore is actually the number one thing i love about it. i'm obsessed with the story.

however, i have one big issue with it... the story of the first three games are, for the most part, pretty good for being haphazardly tossed together with each new installment. it gets more interesting in the next three games. while it also gets more convoluted, i can't say i hate it. there are some aspects in games 4-6 i don't particularly like, such as the concept of remnant...? but these games also introduce the human characters (the part i love the most) and establish the dynamics between them. now. the games after pizzeria simulator.

i'm forever a huge fnaf fan, so i DON'T hate the new games. i actually really like secret of the mimic! it's among my favorite fnaf games, i'd say. security breach is fine, and the fnaf vr games are cool, too. what i hate about them is that they CONTINUE TO ADD TO THE STORY LONG AFTER IT'S BEEN COMPLETED. the original fnaf story ends at pizzeria simulator, or ultimate custom night if you want to assume william is burning in hell. so why do they keep retconning and adding more and more lore to a story that's ended already? in secret of the mimic, it's revealed that edwin was kind of a third business partner to will and henry. we really didn't need this added to the preexisting lore. nor did we need to have burntrap.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that i don't like that they keep beating the dead horse. the story ended, and it ended pretty well, too. everyone burning together was satisfying and makes sense for the story. william doesn't need to keep coming back, they should just make more room for new antagonists in the fnaf universe. i just want the original story to be left alone.

my personal solution (if i was steel wool, or something) would be to create games in-universe, but not exactly related to the aftons or the emilys. like, maybe instead of edwin murray being a costume maker for fazbear entertainment, he had his own restaurant chain that was a major competitor to the fazbear restaurants. or maybe he could still be a business partner, but in an alternate universe that ISN'T CANON TO THE ORIGINAL GAMES.

fazbear entertainment was HUGE. there are so many stories you can tell about the employees, smaller restaurants, companies trying to copy them, etc... what about a game where you play as an arcade game maker, an animator, an engineer, a dumb teen exploring an old restaurant, or literally anyone who doesn't function as a night guard? i guess the newer fnaf games are a step towards that, but again, the secrets in these installments are still trying to expand the old lore. so steel wool, please just create new lore! explore new characters!! that's all. thanks for reading this silly ramble :P