The TRUE STORY Behind Midnight Motorist - FNAF Theory

[@IDsFantasy]

NOTE: In the bit where I show the private room while talking about Rory getting the walkie talkie, he wasn't actually in the private room, he was in the main central location. I got thrown off mentally while editing thanks to the walkie talkie association. Anyway, what do you guys all think of Midnight Motorist, and did you enjoy the FNAF movie since that's now out?

[@sonicplayz14official]

Yes I watched The FNAF Movie And Welcome to the Sonic Crew!

[@Lizard_X999]

enjoyed the movie but almost cried 3 times

[@confused_cc.0]

I LOVED the movie!! Are you doing a theory on it soon?

[@witheredbonniez]

The fnaf movie was really good and I enjoyed it very much.

[@TheCollector2401]

This theory matches up with my ideas on the lore that I’ve thought of for years

[@shinobu3617]

I would honestly go a bit further, and say Michael probably didn't know the extent of his brother's fear for the animatronics. I think he was just playfully teasing him, as older brothers do, and it never crossed his mind that his brother was genuinely terrified of them (due to the fear-gas).

[@IDsFantasy]

Probably!

[@QueSeraSeraaaa]

The terrible thing is that his little brother was hospitalized even, so how CC died is beyond me.. The kid was clearly alive in FNAF 4 and could still move very well. It's annoying when there isn't any confirmations..

[@victoriawhitcomb6475]

​@Tacorikit but we know how CC died? He passed away later in the hospital after the bite. The cutscenes in fnaf 4 are past tense, and are explaining events that already happened

[@LucianBittner]

I honestly agree with this, as an older sibling who has pulled pranks like this on my younger siblings when we were kids, this feels very fitting.

[@Lisa_Flowers]

Sticking his head inside of a giant animatronic while he was crying his eyes out was just 'playful teasing'? 😂

[@MichealAfton1983]

What if Scott made MM just to make people go insane trying to solve it

[@IDsFantasy]

Then he succeeded lol

[@Mr_Mirko]

Hello Michael how is the plan to burn them all going?

[@MichealAfton1983]

@@Mr_Mirkooh that failed, dw tho William is in his retirement home atm but he’ll probably escape again in like an hour, he does that like 20 times a day

[@philipp04]

I think that's the purpose of the entire lore

[@crookie7656]

This applies to basically ever fnaf game 😭

[@ZyraZain8243]

I haven't seen anyone connect Charlie's death and the Puppet's embrace with CC's fear of animatronics. And I have to say, that is a very nice way to tie those threads together.

[@gaventovar5820]

And if you think about it Charlie Emily and CC/Evan Afton would probably know each other and have probably been around each other enough to consider each other friends or best friends which is why Charlie says "I am still your friend, do you believe that?" when CC/Evan is dying. So making sure that CC/Evan got his happiest.day could've been really personal to Charlie as compared to the other spirits, CC/Evan was someone she actually knew and played with when she was alive.

[@vivianjordan7776]

It ties up something else in FNaF 4 as well, the line "remember what you saw." The motif pops up a few times in the fnaf 4 mini games. I've never had a good idea what it could be, but a child's corpse with an animatronic would easily scare me, let alone a kid. Something like that could easily be what the Fred Bear plush (or Afton, when he uses this to his advantage) would reference to strike more fear about animatronics in general.

[@syweb2]

I've seen it a lot. It's funny how vastly different experiences we can have in this fandom.

[@cathygrandstaff1957]

I think it’s possible CC saw Afton, in his Bonnie suit, kill Susie. CC being a young child wouldn’t differentiate between Bonnie the guy dressed in a character suit and the Bonnie animatronic on stage and would be likely to assume the animatronics kill children. If you look at the animatronics on stage Chica is conspicuously absent and that could be explained by the animatronic being removed for maintenance after the presence of a large amount of foreign organic matter caused her to malfunction.

[@smt64productions40]

@@cathygrandstaff1957That would require the MCI to be in 1983 or before then given Susie is part of the MCI, unless you wanna say there was a victim before them that possessed the lone suit in the back with the wires

[@RoyalKingOliver]

I appreciate this theory being talked about just as the movie was released. Minor spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet but hey there’s a very clear nod to Midnight Motorist with the car that takes Mike’s brother away.

[@Person-hl5ur]

Also spoilers: The guy who had his face eaten by the cupcake had the midnight motorist mini game on his shirt

[@hamcheese3532]

​@@Person-hl5urNot a spoiler it was in the trailers and multiple people covered that a few months ago

[@MattTOB618]

​@@Person-hl5ur You mean Carl? I only remembered his name because it's the fanbase's name for the Cupcake, and he got his face eaten _by_ the Cupcake.

[@Einsteinmusic]

@@MattTOB618I only remember hank because of controversy it caused and Carl for your reasoning 😂😂

[@AnimaWild]

Also spoilers Im surprised people arent talking about how golden freddy tped into abbys home to take her away with her which reminds me of ModnightMotorist with the animatronic footprints :0

[@GrimmysReviews]

This theory gave me another thought. Did the Crying child and Charlie know each other? Given how their parents were business partners, it would stand to reason they would have at least met at some point. If the two were friends, it would explain why the animatronic went to the Crying Childs window specifically.

[@IDsFantasy]

Probably

[@testerwulf3357]

This is interesting! Maybe this is what the CC saw? Maybe a shadow animatronic lead him to the restaurant and he saw Charlie dead? Which caused him to be afraid of the animatronics because of something known as trauma through association..the shadow one lead him to the body so now he associates the animatronics with death. He may even think the shadow did it..which on top of the rumors we hear in the FNAF4 minigames about the animatronics (and the body in the suit in the suit in the closet..maybe a springlocked employee? Could of been the shadow animatronic) he probably is TERRIFIED of them because of that all. That’s actually a good idea 😯 as I never really bought the line was referring to stuffing..as no MCI had happened yet.

[@aromaladyellie]

I think they were cousins. Think about it- Henry and William open Fredbear’s FAMILY Diner. What if they were brothers in law? The name of the place they open implies it’s a family business. So they’d have to be family. They’re not brothers, Henry calls him “old friend”. He could do that for an in-law tho especially if they were friends before either of them got married. They’re weren’t married to each other, since they had two sets of biological children and Charlie didn’t have the British accent William’s kids have. I think Henry could have a sister who is William’s wife, since we know nothing about Henry as he is in the games except that he was a father and he didn’t take his own life after Charlie’s death like in the books. It’s also possible that their wives were sisters, but if it’s just Henry and his sister, that could explain “a wound first inflicted on me” and explain William’s attitude. William having a sister who is Henry’s wife wouldn’t really mean much, but Henry having a sister married to William would.

[@blitzes3177]

Using newer characters like Vanessa to inform us more about older characters like Elizabeth is a very interesting idea! Usually people do it the either way around, but it feels more natural your way! I wonder what else we could glean from using the newer games as a parallel for the older games.

[@UrosFred]

Technically the story was supposed to end at fnaf 4 I think, so in the first 4 games there is enough information to piece a lot together

[@GoldPikmin]

Once again I'm blown away by what looking from a new angle does for an old mystery. Especially talking about roughly the 8:07 to 8:58 area, my personal thoughts are very similar. I always believed the "play as Crying Child" and "Mike was haunted" idea even when we had little reason to believe it would be the case. The "play as Mike" theory never caught on to me, I guess due to bias, but I also thought the phone call easter egg never meant anything cause I'm pretty sure you can also hear a dog bark during the nights even though there is no sign of the family owning one. Either way, incredible video.

[@IDsFantasy]

Thank you!

[@SJ-ch6yv]

I love how you have an explanation for what the CC may have seen that made him so scared in the 4th game. I feel like that is such an important part of his character considering that he went from loving the animatronics to fearing for his life around them. In one of MatPat's theories, he theorized that the CC was the first to be killed, but I just can't get behind that. To me, the only way he would have been scared of the animatronics is if he saw (or thought he saw) one kill someone (most likely a kid like him, which made me think of Elizabeth). Don't get me wrong, I love MatPat's theories, but your idea that he went and saw Charile's body, and that's made him so scared, makes so much sense to me. I also don't necessarily think that William needed a reason or revenge to kill Charlie (basically the theory that he killed Charlie because he had a child that was killed). I think it was a kill of opportunity; he saw his frenemy's daughter left alone and in a dark alleyway, and he probably just used the opportunity to express his anger toward Henry and killed Charlie. After that, he found the "thrill" of murder and created his signature of using the Spring Bonnie costume to lure children away to their deaths. Again, awesome theory and I'm excited to see what you come up with next!

[@IDsFantasy]

Exactly! And thank you :D

[@xgcsurreal2608]

If Jr’s is a bar then I like the idea that William had gotten so drunk (probably due to the divorce and or death of his wife) that they threw him out. He then drunk and angry drove the the location where Charlie was (maybe to go and give Henry a piece of his mind, blaming him for his current situation) and saw an opportunity to make Henry really hurt. Then when one of the Shadows was created by the murder of Charlie it went to the CC and lead him to Charlie’s body where he saw the puppet hunched over her and that’s what made him terrified of the animatronics

[@madamplatypus313]

Y’know, now that you mention it, I’m reminded of a different GT (the one Scott confirmed was mostly correct but MatPat seemed to immediately forget about?) about CC witnessing his sister’s death. Either or both, it’s the same outcome: Mike has no clue just how messed up his brother really is until it’s too late.

[@orangeinkius7257]

My personal interpretation is that this minigame exists to show the Afton family in the direct aftermath of the Crying Child's death, that's why it exists, as a flashback and window into how the story started. This is mostly thought up by Sire Squawks. The family is in shambles and coping in different ways. William just killed his first kid probably in a fit of drunken rage to get back at Henry for making the suit that killed his son, and likely not being great to his family. Michael is breaking out, and probably being abused. It's a rough day because Crying Child was buried in the woods that day. He's also seeing apparitions out of his window, his brother appearing inside the suit golden that killed him, possibly saying good ol' "It's Me" and luring Michael to his own grave to communicate that he's still around. Finally, Mrs. Afton is just weakly watching TV and pretty checked out on the whole situation, this is a matter of opinion but "Leave him alone tonight, he's had a rough day." Sounds a lot more like an adult talking to another adult than a kid talking down his terrible abusive drunk murderer father, Michael's bullying aside, kids aren't always the best with such nuances of things like empathy. According to this theory the ending of fnaf world with the three blobs in front of a rainbow screen is Mrs. Afton watching TV with her two remaining kids, Michael and Elizabeth, and sharing a moment, the last time they were together. Michael liking watching TV later on is more of a coping mechanism or nostalgia to that point. No clue where Lizzie is though, not sure about the timeline but maybe she wasn't born yet? I'm not sure

[@CottonCandySharks]

I agree with pretty much everything you said. It makes more sense for it to be Micheal breaking out to go to the grave, or to jrs, because of the guilt he feels over his brother. Seeing Golden Freddy. It would tell us a lot.

[@stnkbug7533]

Yeah, after hearing Sire Squawks explain it I just can’t buy Crying Child being the runaway or Micheal being the one watching TV lol

[@legoghostyoda]

completely agree. charlie dying first, to me, completely ruins the entire theme of the games. if crying child dies first, the entire tragedy of the franchise is spawned from a mostly innocent mistake and creates a very interesting narrative that is very unique to fnaf. charlie dying first just makes william evil and a murder because the story wants him to be that but doesn’t want to put the legwork in to make him so evil. it goes from an interesting and unique story to something incredibly lazy, cliche, and contrived

[@Hadeks_Marow]

So wait, you think the person in the chair. . . is the wife?! And that Michel is the one that ran away through the broken glass?! Crazy if true. That's a wild angle to look at it from. I def like the idea.

[@stnkbug7533]

@@legoghostyoda Yes! Very well put. I also feel like it gives Crying Child a bigger purpose, the inciting incident for the whole story, instead of only potentially Golden Freddy lol

[@Victor_Nova_56]

I really liked MatPat's timeline, so I look forward to seeing yours! Always interesting to see differing interpretations of events!

[@IDsFantasy]

Heck yeah!

[@captaincyoomin]

Midnight motorist has amazing sound design as well, the songs are great and the way the rain gradually gets louder towards the end is really unsettling

[@IDsFantasy]

Real

[@alexthegs2624]

The problem with jr's being the pizzeria is that at this point, he hasn't killed any kids yet. There would be no need for any investigation, and also it can't be charlie's body being found because if your theory is correct, the crying child just came off to see it, so it can't have been discovered yet. I think this minigame needs to be viewed through a more literal perspective, considering fnaf 6 was meant to "tie up loose ends". When sister location came out, everyone was theorizing that ballora literally has william's wife in her. I think this minigame was scott's way of saying that the grave belongs to her. Also it would make sense for the crying child to go visit the grave. Why is william getting drunk in a bar? Because his wife is dead, and it would make sense why it would piss him off that the crying child is going "there", because it's reminding him of the fact that she's dead. Something he's trying to forget by getting drunk. Then that begs the question, what did the crying child see that made him afraid of the animatronics? I don't know man fuck this minigame

[@ricardomonteiro870]

I've always liked the theory that CC saw elizabeth getting scooped by baby and thats why he got afraid of them

[@alexthegs2624]

@@ricardomonteiro870 that has always seemed as intended, but at this point afton has no reason to make the sister location animatronics, because at this point he still doesn't know about the whole "souls possessing robots" thing. Additionally you can't even make the argument for charlie because it's "later that night", even if william knew about what happened, there's no time window for him to make the animatronics nor for elizabeth to get scooped. There is simply no candidate that could have influenced him into making them yet, which would mean elizabeth is still alive, and yet she isn't present in the minigame, classic

[@ricardomonteiro870]

@@alexthegs2624 Ive also liked a theory that elizabeth was an accident. Baby simply malfunctioned after being given ice cream and scooped elizabeth. Tho in this time line I would say the other funtimes (besides belora) are made much later and were never actually in babys resteraunt

[@istvankeri6688]

​@@ricardomonteiro870 I mean it's very much possible that Baby and the funtimes were made early, and were later retrofitted with the killing/abducting mechanisms. And were infused with remnant even later. I'm a very big believer of the idea that Baby (and probably the other funtimes too) were made somewhere in 1983, before Fredbear's closed but after Freddy's opened. The problem is how and when exactly Elizabeth died and when the Funtimes were redesigned to kill children.

[@alexthegs2624]

@@istvankeri6688 the problem is then by this theory, baby wouldn't need to have a mechanism to capture a kid, as that would only be added to the funtimes later

[@Tacobellcramps]

Whether or not Mike is the one watching TV, you are absolutely right about it being possible despite conflicting behavior seen from the older brother. I was raised by an abusive father, so I was less than kind to my little brother, just as he was less than kind to me. Still, I was older and angry from the abuse. Still, I wouldn’t let anyone else harm my brother. I would rather take the heat from our father than let my little brother take it. Humans are complex, siblings struggling in an abusive home being a very complex relationship on top of that. I’m not trying to vent, I apologize, but I am more saying I relate. I would scare and tease my brother in a similarly cruel way as Mike did in the game, but I would also try to deter or soothe my father’s anger when it came to my brother as well. I suppose if you didn’t grow up fearing your parents or as a single child, I could understand why some people might be confused about those seemingly conflicting actions. Great video!

[@IDsFantasy]

Yeah. People don't always understand the nuance behind the way someone acts. I'm glad you like the video!

[@thecraigs6788]

THANK YOU I've been saying for forever chair guy had to have been Michael. The siblings relationship being layered explaination is right on the nose. I often scared my little brother and he often scared me. Of course it wasn't as extreme but my mom told me about how more extreme she was with her siblings and seeing as she was born in the 70s her stories actually fit pretty well with what we see in game at what is confirmed 1983. They were way more brutal back then. When I was a kid, if I made my younger brother cry constantly I would have gotten the sense beat into me, but back then parents were more....unphased.

[@IDsFantasy]

Exactly!

[@GendoRokabundi]

I really like this breakdown. I originally thought the ‘crying child is the runaway and the experiments are to keep him from going to Fredbear’s’ was related to Elizabeth, since that could have been ‘what he saw’ and also, would be why Afton wanted him afraid, since Elizabeth’s curiosity is what caused her situation. However, the ‘CC thinks the puppet killed Charlie’ works perfectly. It ticks the box of the ‘misunderstood’ clue in FNaF World, it makes sense why Afton, through the plush, would want him to remember, since it reinforces the story that Afton wants CC to believe. It explains how CC was both a fan of the characters and scared of the animatronics, etc. One thing I always worried about was, like with ‘why Circus Baby’, is ‘why the experiments’. There would probably need to be some time between: killing Charlie, noticing the puppet is possessed, building a bunker to run experiments about how to study that phenomena, etc. But MM is so vague in how it shows Mike and CC, there may have been months or even years between Charlie’s death and the bite of 83. JR’s being the diner we see in FNaF4 might also make it the location of the murder. Midnight Motorist then isn’t him coming back from the murder, but trying to establish an alibi by going far away from the scene of the crime before it is noticed. Green Guy may be someone playing mediator between Henry and William. There may have been some kind of business argument or disagreement that preceded Afton’s first kill, and the Green Guy is warning William from trying to talk to Henry right after he found his daughter’s body. Not the right time to resolve an argument. Complete shot in the dark: what if Afton believed that Henry might be trying to cut him out of the business? He may have already started Afton robotics and building the bunker, but originally, as a fall back in case Henry cut him out, and also to try to become better than Henry. They perhaps disagreed on next steps, with the cartoon and toys, etc seeming like a pretty fast expansion of the brand. Maybe Henry didn’t want to ‘sell out’, so Afton was considering either going off on his own, or somehow convincing Henry to see his side. In killing Charlie, he basically ends up breaking Henry’s spirit, and Henry probably retreats from the business, losing his passion somewhat, allowing William to take a leading role, and start monetizing the heck out of it. Along the way, he notices weird stuff with the puppet, begins experimenting and keeping CC in line (he may have even escalated, starting with the gaslighting plush, and moving on to locking him up in the nightmare gas house, etc.) William as gaslighter seems to be a recurring theme. The Fredbear plush and crying child. The cassette and Rory. His hold of Micheal that would lead him to go to the sister location. Elizabeth (especially via Vanessa therapy) seems to have similarly been manipulated by Afton. His luring of the kids, and in the Silver Eyes novels, he’s able to ‘fool’ the MCI kids into seeing him as a friend. That might even be part of his love-hate relationship with Henry. He sees Henry’s ability to be a puppet master and envies it. But also Henry is perhaps one person he can’t seem to dominate in the way he does the other people in his life. (Until he harms Henry in such a way to render him so broken that he is finally able to control him too) So, Afton is basically a narcissist that takes the step up to serial killer, and all his children suffer as a result (in addition to everyone else’s kids). I think that basically gets over the hurdle of Afton needing a motivation to start killing. Charlie was clearly a crime of passion, but it may have been motivated by something as mundane as arguing over signing a deal to make toys and a cartoon. And then everything spiraled out from there.

[@IDsFantasy]

Really solid analysis!

[@grizzlebees007]

this was an awesome analysis, i really like your view, you should do a video about it, never seen the angle of a constants gaslighter that could be already planning to go solo in everything, really frees up the timeline

[@alexandergeorgegrauwiler7981]

I know that one of the big complaints about 'Mustard Man is William Afton' is the choice to randomly make him a colour other than purple. But I wonder if it's meant to be more symbolic, the purple is used to portray William more as when he's in his Springtrap/Killer persona, and the orange for when he's presenting as the normal 'innocent' William. Just thought that might be a good way to explain away that one little annoyance because I think your theory here is perfect and makes so much sense and ties everything together so nicely.

[@bpsara]

I agree with this, especially now that the movie is out. Him being yellow with hints of purple actually makes sense with his color scheme when looked at in context. Being a mustard person with a purple car, or a ‘friendly’ golden bunny with a purple bow, a guy wearing a yellow shirt with a purple tie who turns into a purple (or shadowy) villain stabbing a kid in an alley, disassembling the animatronics possessed by his victims, etc

[@IDsFantasy]

Thanks! And technically he is yellow when associated with Spring Bonnie so it works fine for me lol

[@gtblade2806]

Someone said he's yellow because of a raincoat lol

[@happyfellowship4291]

I mean, we know from FNAF World that the purple is just the sprite color, because he's a killer in the shadows who has to be colored differently to stand out. And all those old-style games always did that trick with the color purple.

[@jaimesmexia-santiago3252]

My head canon to explain the change is that when he is “purple guy”, he’s the mysterious killer and you’re not supposed to know who he is. However, you play as him in the mini game. He knows who he is (and as a fan base, we would theoretically know it’s him if we actually figured out all the hints), so there’s no reason for him to be atari-purple-to-represent-shadows anymore. Just my take away 😂

[@CommodoreRayne.IMP.C-1824]

In my opinion, the whole JRs thing is indeed a bar. So I think William was there earlier in the day, drinking heavily to cope with something. Possibly his divorce or just his jealousy of Henry and that eventually got him kicked out. He went to Freddys as a sort of safe space that he made and was in control of. Then he saw Charlie locked outside and killed her in a drunken rage, after which he sped home (the intoxication explains why he drives so erratically). He went back to JRs and was turned away at the door since he drank a lot there earlier that day. He then went home and went to pick a fight with CC. And the rest as they say, is history. Sorry if this paragraph is all over the place, im very tired 😂

[@hwalnut7202]

GiBi's good idea bad idea made an 8 hour video on the lore and his theory did really good at tying this together. Basically yellow guy is the father of one of the original 5 missing kids, and the broken window + footprints are signs of afton in the suit luring yellow guy's son away. It explains the green guy intervening, and explains why the kid had gone to fazbears before and wanted to go there again (an escape from his abusive father)

[@orang9134]

@@hwalnut7202 That is by far the worst theory i've heard

[@yazcona13]

​@orang9134 how?! It makes more sense than the damn afton theory. You guys be running in circles just to prove something that doesnt make sense.

[@orang9134]

@@yazcona13 Why would Scott try to tie up loose ends by having a whole new character be introduced

[@yazcona13]

@orang9134 ? He Literally did that in fnaf 2...

[@stocktonjackson8551]

I really like how logical the theory is. Usually Fnaf theories tend to start off with more interpretive deduction.

[@IDsFantasy]

I'm glad you like it!

[@charajaznao2829]

I usually feel the same i felt when the game came out and we as a community couldnt figure out what was what, is like we have some piece or pieces of information wrong from the start that any more information we add takes a different form in a exponential way, like a snowballing effect of our own misconceptions. And this is the biggest example, a minigame in the game that has the role of giving closure and explanation to the saga being so misunderstood that even in 10 years of further games we are still talking about it like its the box

[@IDsFantasy]

Yep

[@FairlySadPanda]

The main problem with linking JRs with being the original second location that JRs is shown to be a building out on its own near the Afton house, and the Charlie death minigame shows the Puppet see the death (with rain going down right->left), with a signposted exit door, then be heading left->right against the rain to find the body. That indicates the Puppet is exiting into an (the FNAF 6?) alley. FIngers crossed HW2 has help on this one.

[@hwalnut7202]

im pretty sure jrs has nothing to do with freddy fazbears, I saw a theory that it's a bar and the yellow guy is an alcoholic father (hence the green guy keeping him out) of one of the original 5 missing kids, lured away by afton

[@GrandSenseiDarreth]

One belief that I have about the shadow animatronics is that shadow Fredbear is a representation of Cassidy’s anger and revenge as you follow it in the end of night FNAF 3 mini games and it leads to William Afton, who is then chased around a room by Cassidy until his death.

[@IDsFantasy]

Interesting!

[@g3mkn1ght60]

Sometimes I wonder when making this lore, what parts was Scott sober when making, midnight motorist reeks of green

[@IDsFantasy]

XD

[@Hlast1]

The main issue I have with CC as the runaway is that broken window. I just can't fit the idea of him breaking it. I can see Michael doing that, but not CC. I guess the shadow animatronic that you suggest being present could do it (if it's real enough to leave footprints then it can break glass), but I don't think we've seen them physically interact with the world before

[@gabriellockwood2780]

Well, Shadow Freddy physically was leaning up against the wall in FNaF 2. It leads the robots to the back room where Afton was. Shadow Bonnie (RXFWQ) was much more ghostly, and would just float around. I think Shadow Bonnie might be connected to the MXES Entity. Given the two are the only "True" Shadow characters, and only of them physically is connected with "Leading people/characters to other locations"... I think it's safe to assume that it was Shadow Freddy. It would fit the pattern from FNaF 3, the 3 toe pattern in the mud in MM, and even reflects Garrett's eventual death--as Purple Freddy is a shadow OF Golden Freddy/Fredbear. It wouldn't fit to have a dark Spring Bonnie show up, even if it was Charlie's Agony or a reflection of Afton's death, as Shadow Bonnie does become helpful later in the series...

[@Katzenklo._.]

What about the fact that the room of CC doesn't even have windows, as we see in fnaf 4? It's cool that you considered that CC wouldn't dare to damage a window, but is this really your MAIN issue? I don't believe that this is the room of CC in the first place except William moved him to another room, after he ran off again which I think is unlikely. I've never included the personality und behavior in my theories, but it's nice that you thought of this. I'm definitely going to use this point next time I need to tell people that I don't believe that CC is the runaway.

[@hamcheese3532]

​@@Katzenklo._.Because thats not the Crying child's room, you see his room in the fnaf 4 minigame its not the same as the one you play in, its been theorised that its either Michaels since he draws the nightmares and the fnaf 1 phonecall or its one of the test subjects

[@CottonCandySharks]

​@@Katzenklo._.I will say that crying child could have had a room with windows before he ran away again. Mustard man said he'd be sorry when he got back, and moving him to the testing chamber/room with no windows and door that don't stay closed would be a definite punishment.

[@Katzenklo._.]

@@hamcheese3532 What about all those toys? When the gameplay is of Michaels room while getting influenced by the ghost of CC, then it must have happend after the bite of 83 and at that time, he would have already grown out of these toys. It could be the room of one of the test subjects, but that feels kinda random since CC seems to has been a test subject. Also we don't see any sunlight on the floor of the minigame room which could imply that there's no window either.

[@krismg_21]

17:16 that actually makes a lot of sense, i inmediatelly gasped as i realized. I really think you have completely pieced that part of the puzzle and im picking that as head canon thank you very much

[@IDsFantasy]

Nice! Glad I could help :D

[@Sigma_SP]

Honestly, this is the most coherent theory I've heard on midnight motorist so far.

[@ddok907]

have you seen "Midnight Motorist: FNaF's Final Mystery"

[@rubenvb1835]

It's coherent but it doesn't make sense for the runaway to be crying child. He has to be dead at this if following her theory that this is right after the death of Charlotte because why would William murder her without motive.

[@IDsFantasy]

I'm glad it made sense!

[@IDsFantasy]

I address William's motive in the video. He did have one

[@CountingPrimes]

i like the reasoning surrounding the pile of dirt potentially being the grave of mrs afton, it makes sense to me that the kind of person who would kill a child out of his own jealousy and rage might have shown similar violent behavior in his past especially towards a spouse. regarding the crying child finding/seeing charlie's body. i always found it strange that while william and henry are widely considered to be close friends and business partners that their children would have no relationship to one another and not be impacted by the others death. if the two families really were as close as the fathers relationship and proximity in housing implies, i concur with your reasoning that the crying child would have a sufficient relationship with charlie emily that finding her body would be narratively satisfying and make sense in the context of his other behavior. i would also like to submit that, regarding michaels behavior, if his father is truly the type of abusive man who would (potentially) murder his mother and definitely murdered several children i could see michael as the eldest wanting to protect his brother from that violence and also ending up emulating it. while crying child seems to be the primary target of his abuse michael was still a child in an abusive household and so some of his erratic behavior might be explained by the results of being raised by a man like william afton

[@IDsFantasy]

Sounds about right

[@g4m-3r]

I like the theory, is certainly an answer to the whole "who died first" dilemma, my only kind of issue would be the experiments Afton used on CC, since in the books is established to be created in the SL bunker, which meant the experiments happened after William discovered remnant,agony, etc. but then again I do think some of the books are parallels to the main game's timeline so maybe I'm overthinking it lol, great video

[@IDsFantasy]

Thanks!

[@revenge3265]

I love how everyone is STILL trying to solve MM and they each have their own unique variations of what is happening, even if the variations are small LMAO. It's very entertaining. As another comment said, I'm convinced this mode was mad to drive people mad. I personally think it's just the Aftons, but who knows at this point.

[@IDsFantasy]

Sounds about right lol

[@boltshooter2349]

Damn you might be the next theorist Scott plays mind game with "you're close but yet so far"

[@IDsFantasy]

Dude, if it gets me acknowledgement from Scott I would be elated

[@WWFanatic0]

Very wholesome of you to give your younger brothers a shoutout! Definitely spot on with siblings being a united front when it comes to parents. Yeah, you might get on each others' nerves and argue sometimes, but if mom and/or dad are being unfair, you always gotta stick together.

[@IDsFantasy]

Pretty much lol

[@WWFanatic0]

@@IDsFantasy Hopefully they enjoyed a shoutout from their older sister!

[@--Cat--]

Honestly I see the light yellow text as Cassidy, the vengeful spirit from ultimate custom night and the other soul inside Golden Freddy. The lines of "We are still your friends" and "I will put you back together" fit wonderfully in this context. We know very little about Cassidy, but if she was a regular at Freddy's then we can assume she's at least acquainted with the Crying Child, so the line of "We are still your friends, is them comforting the dead or dying crying child. And my favorite part, "I will put you back together" is not William saying he will rebuild the family or even just the Crying Child. It's Cassidy grabbing onto their friend's spirit and rebuilding them as the other soul inside Golden Freddy.

[@IDsFantasy]

My issue is Cassidy doesn't die until 1985, after CC

[@--Cat--]

@@IDsFantasy I didn't think about that. I always felt like Cassidy was killed separately, like Charlie was. Does that mean that the original spirit inside Golden Freddy was the Crying Child, and that after they were killed Cassidy just appropriated it, becoming the dominant spirit? It's also strange that Cassidy is represented by Golden Freddy, even though the rest of the missing children are in the more modern non spring lock suits. It's kinda poetic in that way that Cassidy, the one William should not have killed, is represented by the counterpart to his old Spring Bonnie suit.

[@grandempressvicky6387]

​@@--Cat--I had just assumed that Cassidy's murder was particularly brutal or tragic, which is why she is described as "the one you shouldn’t have killed" i.e. maybe it was her birthday or William was very violent in his murder of her.

[@-Jimini-]

Okay, here’s my thing: I already have trouble believing that the mound is a grave because it’s unmarked and in the middle of some random woods vaguely close to the house. However, I can *kind of* get the CC and Elizabeth angles. The former’s death was public, but I guess maybe there was some cover up in the specific way he was murdered, as only a few people actually saw it so maybe they tried to keep it hidden? I also regardless still think Mike Ran Away so to me CC would make the most sense even though I still don’t really his actual body is in the mound. [Oh also I agree that Couch Person caring about his brother is weak evidence for it not being Mike but I also feel like them watching TV is weak evidence that it is Mike] The latter should be inside Baby and I think it makes the least sense timeline wise but it was the most covered up so I guess if William literally took her mangled body out of it I guess it could be there. And, just to be clear, any frustration I have about this is not directed at people who believe it, only at the narrative decision: What my brain quite literally cannot comprehend is the idea that the adult woman Mrs. Afton is buried that way. We have no reason to believe there was any cover up in her death (assuming she is dead at the time), and, more importantly, she had family of her own. Are you we also assuming that all of her extended family are dead, because I don’t know why they would let William, even if he as her husband, be the one to decide both where she gets buried and how to messily bury like that without any marking. Now, do I have any good counter explanation for what the mound would be? No, and I also recognise that, other than for maybe order of events reasons, whether or not the mound is a body is pretty inconsequential, it’s just one of those things I can’t help but focus on.

[@mariecameback3741]

I agree with you 100% 😭 Maybe the mound is Mrs. Afton's grave and the reason it's unmarked and seems covered up is because William murdered her??? Why would William do that, you ask? Idk, maybe William was just feeling quirky.

[@silentshade7975]

Of all the MM theories, this one seems reasonably plausible with arguably the fewest loose ends (all theories and FNAF itself will have loose ends). So I’m down with this explanation. I love the mystery of FNAF.

[@IDsFantasy]

Awesome!

[@Chrome166]

The "we are still your friends" part makes me wonder if Charlie and crying child were friends before their deaths, and perhaps he was even one of the kids at the party. "He had a rough day" because one of his friends went missing from the party. The situation at JR's during MM makes me think it wasn't exactly a crime scene, so what doesn't make sense to me is how Charlie's body could have been missed by everyone at that point. The only thing I can think of is maybe William dug the shallow grave to hide her. An unmarked shallow grave doesn't make sense for anyone else really, so maybe there's something to that. And then everything else played out like you said, crying child was led to the body by a shadow animatronic, but perhaps William mistakenly thought he just went back to JR's to try and look for his friend, but "he would regret it" because there's nobody to find.

[@IDsFantasy]

Possibly!

[@ImmortalKombatPanda]

This actually made me think about something and makes sense. Since Cassidy is the one in golden Fred bear what if Cassidy is the one saying I'll put you back together meaning giving life. Idk if that makes sense I'm confusing myself now

[@TalixZen]

I really like this theory, but I don't think it is possible for the runaway to get to the scene of Charlie's death as the entire beginning of the mini-game (that you failed to mention) is driving on the highway, and if "later that night" implies that he is coming home after killing Charlie, then it has to be driving distance,(quite a bit of driving) not walking distance. If JR's is the site of Charlies death, then where is Mustard Man coming from in the first place? The whole driving part of Midnight Motorists to me has always felt like him driving home after having killed Charlie. Also I just now realized why Golden Freddy is floppy/has no endo-skeleton: Since it was the animatronic that bit the Crying Child, then the endo-skeleton might have been seized by the police for evidence during their investigation.

[@IDsFantasy]

I think he killed Charlie on his way somewhere else. She just happened to be there so he stopped, killed her and continued on his way. What we then play is his return trip

[@TalixZen]

@@IDsFantasy That is a reasonable explanation.

[@emmaahlquist1786]

This is actually my favorite explanation I've heard. A lot of it just clicks. I'd like to add a quick suggestion. Based off of the 'the baby isn't mine' immortal and restless show, it could be possible that William believes that his wife was having an affair with Henry, which would increase his jealousy and rage and lead him to violence against Charlie. It also could mean that William murdered his wife in a fit of rage and buried her in the pile of dirt we see.

[@IDsFantasy]

Possibly! I'm glad you like the theory

[@connorcraft5455]

I love the way you are able to speak both clearly and quickly. Most youtubers either speak so fast that its completely incomprehensible what they're saying, or try to speak so clearly that they over annunciate everything like they're talking to kindergarteners. I've had all my youtube videos set to 1.5x speed for so long I had forgotten I had put it that way until your video. I personally believe you should be the standard other new youtubers should be looking to. Thank you so much for all of the effort that you put into this platform.

[@IDsFantasy]

Thank you! That means a lot to hear :D

[@LeCryx]

Regarding the motive it could be argued that his motive wasnt anything to do with william losing a kid. Its clear that William went to Jrs often due to the person at the front recognising him and telling him to go home (which, if jrs is a bar, could imply that william may be an alcoholic), i also think that Michaels comment on william to "leave him alone today" could imply that William isnt a good father and could possibly even be abusive (which would also explain the massive reaction to the locked door). All williams first murder could have been was a abusive man/father who killed someone while in a drunken rage and that he directed that rage towards the daughter of someone who he knew and was relatively close with, his business partner henry. The motive for the alcoholism/abuse/rage could be whoever is in that grave. Someone who was close to william passes away and in order to deal with the grief william resorts to alcohol, which just amplifies his rage into him becomming abusive towards his family.

[@IDsFantasy]

Possibly!

[@shopnil4]

This does seem to make the most sense. I honestly dont have the time to read the books, so im glad to see that it could possibly be tied in to solve this.

[@shanesaxton707]

I remember seeing your channel mentioned a couple of times from GameTheory and even there for the live talk but this is the first time stumbling upon your channel and I'm prepared to binge through a ton of videos just off of this one alone! Thanks for the great FNAF content, one of the easiest subcribes ever!

[@IDsFantasy]

Thank you!!! I really appreciate it

[@Nartymer]

What I think may also confirm that Midnight Motorist also happened after Charlie's death is Henry putting emphasis on "THAT day" when saying "I'm sorry that on THAT day" in the true ending. Later that night now mildly makes more sense since "that" has an actual reference

[@IDsFantasy]

Yep!

[@Garanseho]

This is definitely a new way of looking at Midnight Motorist, with Charlie/the Puppet being the cause of CC's animatronic fears, and Mrs. Afton being in the grave, but I really like it! Can't wait for your timeline video!

[@IDsFantasy]

Thank you!

[@ANewPrometheus]

Great video! Random but funny coincidence, last night I had just begun writing a theory based on similar conclusions I came to that you pointed out in your video. Such as Mrs. Afton being the grave, the night it takes place on (which is pretty widely accepted), and the characters involved being William and Michael. The only separate conclusions we came to were surrounding the JR's building, and I hadn't yet found a conclusion to the Animatronic footprints. Great theory though, I definitely agree with a lot of the points you make, and feel from a narrative point of view, it makes sense for this minigame to be giving backstory on William and his motivations rather than what I see most other theories suggest Midnight Motorist being. I think with it being the final game in the series, you need to be looking for what this is trying to fix, rather than what new context this brings.

[@IDsFantasy]

Thanks!

[@themythicalgamer8954]

i love your theory videos, i started watching them yesterday, and my perspective of some points of the games have been completely changed! keep up the great work!

[@IDsFantasy]

Thanks! I'm glad you like them

[@Yumais]

Honestly the fact that he’s orange in this might allure to William before he becomes ‘purple guy’. There’s also the Pizza sim man with an orange suit, and a purple one. Almost representing William before and after his descent into madness.

[@poppunkrock141]

just as bonnie started yellow until they rebranded him into being blue

[@MidnaNightengale]

Gosh, I really like theories that make you think! But also, *OBJECTION!* The lore hint, "What is seen in shadows, is often misunderstood in the eyes of a child" was a clue to fire the Chekhov's Gun, of a purple security guard, helping an entertainer into a mascot suit, instead of stuffing a body in the animatronics. The intention of what FNaF 4 was trying to say, had changed three times before Pizzaria Simulator. There's no way of knowing if that clue is even still valid, but it's a very interesting theory.

[@IDsFantasy]

My thing is why would he be scared of the costume since it wasn't a person in costume putting someone in a suit. But fair, it is hard to know where intentions have changed

[@jaydapugpug]

I have an idea what if the “I will put you back together” text is both William and the puppet, it makes the most sense, as william makes sister location for the crying child’s revival ,and the puppet literally brings him back to life in the form of golden Freddy

[@Xainos28]

It feels like some of things don't add up. For instant you say charlie would have died first before CC did, but it's shown more that CC died in the spring time as flowers/green grass were blooming, leading more he died in the beginning of the year while Charlie died in the fall in the same year cause not only for it's raining, but both Help Wanted (Fall fest 83') and the Silver eyes (Halloween party) point out she died in October, meaning it be REALLY close to winter for CC be dying if flowers are still blooming. For a while, I think the MM scene lead more of the Grey is Mrs. Afton who fits for more of being depressed over the lost of her child and the one who breaks out is Michael and to explain the footprints is of Golden Freddy as he is the only one who can have an actual physical form to leave prints, and the ability to teleport away, this also a good reason of Michael keeps returning to the place over again as haunted by his brother. The problem with the first four games and fnaf world for color text, the phone guy background noise, and such, was all set up for fnaf 4 being the "Final Chapter". Sister Location sadly retconned stuff to make it no longer accurate, example the grandfather clock chime for 3 games but not the 4th. I know the encyclopedia is debatable, but they do say we play as CC in fnaf 4 which also backs up of the steam page saying we do play as a child, but Michael can also be tortured by them as CC's death is on night 5 but the gameplays do continue on with Night 6 and 7 leading we can still play as Michael follow up after CC and him still seeing Nightmare (Fredbear?)

[@LittleBitWeird]

The thing is Scott made it clear that fnaf 6 was basicslly tying up loose ends, and in sister location we see Mike do exactly what this person is doing in MM, they're at the TV watching it, having it be Mrs. Afton is very random as we haven't seen her at all throughout the game and to randomly introduce her like this when the color scheme matches Mike would be very odd

[@Xainos28]

@@LittleBitWeird but it also doesn't make sense it being Mike, why would he bully his brother but now cares for him? Cc afraid of the animatronics and pizzeria, but runs to the place again? That doesnt make sense for the end results.

[@LittleBitWeird]

@@Xainos28 she explains it in the video....? Or at least her take on that specifically

[@LittleBitWeird]

@@Xainos28 you have to remember he's afraid but also still likes the franchise, he wouldn't watch the show or have the plushies otherwise

[@Xainos28]

@@LittleBitWeird but he doesn't, he likes his plushies but any feature with the pizzeria he tries to get away from it and the animatronics.

[@WilliamTaylor-bk7xi]

This channel and The Game Theorists brought me into my favourite game ever gameplay wise and lore

[@IDsFantasy]

Awesome to hear!

[@Ripp816]

The shadow animatronics be leading them to their canon events 💀💀💀

[@FloundFahrdienst]

The lines "you are broken. I will put you back together" said by Charlie as the puppet is actually mind blowing! She is the one who wants to save and help the other kids, so it fits well that she said that and give CC a new body. The Fredbear Springlock suit aka Golden Freddy. It makes ALOT more sense than William saying this and trying to rebuild his son. Also what bothered me for YEARS is "what you saw". Him seing a dead Charlie with the puppet and Scotts hints during the livestream make so much sense! I hope Mattpad reacts to this on GTLive!

[@IDsFantasy]

Exactly! That would be awesome lol

[@br2891]

I still think Mike being the runaway and Jr's being a bar make more sense, but this is not a bad interpretation. Thought it doesn't make much sense for Shadow Freddy to help Charlie's body be found when he helps William destroy the animatronics in Follow Me, as implied by Henry. Shadow Bonnie wouldn't make sense under this theory, since Charlie died at Fredbear's and Shadow Bonnie looks like Toy Bonnie, implying he was created by the DCI.

[@fhiyweFVGIY]

“Remember what you saw” could then be in reference to the Crying Child seeing Charlie’s dead body, hence him being scared of the animatronics because of the idea that in his eyes he saw the puppet as the murderer.

[@IDsFantasy]

Exactly

[@meh8704]

Didn't Scott say something about Nightmarionne being canon during the Halloween Update, if so, that could be added evidence of Mike's brother seeing the Charlie and the Puppet, as Nightmarionne is the fill in for nightmare, it would make sense that the worst nightmare is what he believed to have killed Charlie.

[@IDsFantasy]

I don't think Nightmarrionne was in FNAF 4, but it was in UCN

[@meh8704]

@@IDsFantasy Nightmarionne was the Halloween Edition stand in for Nightmare, I did however mix up the canonicity of this appearance, as Nightmare BB was the only character Scott called canon, though with the inclusion of Nightmarionne in future installments, I'm wondering if he actually changed his mind. Also just wanna say this is probably one of my current favorite theories, not just by you, but like in general, it's really well put together while not being overly complicated. Legit you're doing an amazing job.

[@ridtom6055]

Got so excited to see a post! For the Shadow Animatronic stuff, also note that there was story about a woman who had VR goggles that allowed a woman to see a holographic Ballora dancing. Except she notices that the Ballora actually influences reality, with her dancing kicking up leaves on the ground. Reality seems malleable by those from the Virtual World/Digital Aether/After Life I'd also recommend GiBi's FNAF timeline, which has a decent argument for this actually being a victim of the MCI from Afton, with Afton wearing his Glitchtrap costume

[@IDsFantasy]

I'm pretty dang convinced Mustard Man is William but it's an interesting idea

[@ridtom6055]

@@IDsFantasy valid! Here’s a theory: is there any evidence against Vanny being Tape Girl from FNAF VR, and Vanny/Vanessa being twins?

[@hypemugen]

The bigger question for me in this minigame was always, why yellow? The villain that had been portrayed this entire time to us as purple is suddenly yellow? I feel like there has to be a reason, since Scott is always all about the details.

[@nvidiaanimemugen5628]

Well, sometimes I've seen springtrap being mustard color

[@qualitytimewithted5160]

Probably just to cause confusion (Scott did stuff like that before like with Mike turning purple). William is tied to Spring Bonnie closely though, who is golden, so the color connection is there.

[@ystacalden]

A theory I've seen raised recently, particularly with the movie putting yellow lighting and a yellow shirt on Matthew Lillard during his "Nice Guy" scenes as the cover identity, is that yellow is William when he's masking for the public/putting on customer service face/gaslighting etc, linked to Springbonnie's yellow, and purple is the rotten core revealed when he drops the pretence and goes full murder.

[@istvankeri6688]

Well, he talks in yellow in Fnaf 4 and in Fruity Maze, and SpringBonnie/Springtrap is yellow. But yeah, I've heard the explanation that since Mike was purple in SL it would be confusing, but that doesn't really make sense to me.

[@hwalnut7202]

I saw a really good theory that yellow guy is actually the abusive (jrs is just a bar) father of one of the original 5 missing kids, and the kid was lured away from his house by afton. It also pairs with the scene of susie and her dead dog as a backstory behind the missing children incident

[@ghostlyoak]

I never comment on theories really, or even on videos. But this theory is the only one that makes full, 100% sense. Awesome job. Subscribed.

[@IDsFantasy]

Thanks!

[@syweb2]

9:15 Do note that text colors can be kind of arbitrary, since they largely use the main color of the associated character's sprite, and several text colors are actually shared between characters in FNaF 4. Also, watching TV isn't really a great key trait to associate characters. 19:54 Mike's freaking skin color changes in this minigame, I think a slight change to the color of the text doesn't indicate a different character speaking. Plus, there's an easy explanation for the "friends" term used - he's speaking _as Fredbear,_ who the Crying Child considers a friend, instead of as William. He's assuming the role of a character.

[@grandempressvicky6387]

Your 2nd point doesn't work when lines from the end FNAF 4 are repeated almost word for word in FNAF World.

[@nicktara9812]

This is a really interesting way of seeing the events in Midnight Motorist and the deaths of the characters make sense in a timeline. The rain, JR's, the grave and footprints do line up with this interpretation. I also find it strange and funny that this is what we use to find a certain timeline of events and yet end up with multiple views and theories but I guess it wouldn't be FNAF if it'd be too easy. Also, I love the FNAF movie. It has funny moments, scary moments, emotional moments, and an crazy moments. Overall, an amazing experience

[@IDsFantasy]

Thanks! And yeah, that tends to be common with FNAF lol Totally agree. It was such a cool experience

[@bananaboy2371]

Henry says “First, a wound inflicted onto me” which I feel could make him the green man at Jrs. I don’t think there is an active police investigation going on because there are still multiple cars at the restaurant, none of which are police cars. If Henry was the green man, then he likely found his daughter’s body and called William to inform him of it, though he didn’t contact the police in fear that it could get the business shut down and cause him legal troubles as the parent. He may not have believed it was William because William drove off somewhere else to have an alibi for when Henry found his kid. That’s why, despite Jr’s (Or the first Freddy’s location where Charlie has died) being walking distance from William’s house, he is driving down the highway to get there in the former half of the mini game. This perfectly describes Henry’s inability to speak out against the death of his kid and possibly the others, as well as create that secret that William had about killing Henry’s daughter until Henry found out that William killed the kids later on. A perfect build up to a compelling betrayal.

[@IDsFantasy]

TRUE

[@TheUnkGamer]

im excited to see your take of the timeline! i always enjoy watching your theories

[@IDsFantasy]

Thank you!

[@literaryloser4470]

The movie makes an interesting point regarding this, spoilers ahead: Golden Freddy actively visits Abby at her house. Like a ghost he can disappear and reappear at will, but is still tangible to interact with the world such as climbing into the taxi and killing Jane. So it gives credence to this being Michael running away. GF (his brother) stands outside his window and vanishes as Michael tries to get close to him, leading him to Freddy's. If we want to delve further into the references in the movie, Abby was born after Garrett had died, so who's to say if Elizabeth was also born after CC died? And Michael is constantly trying to chase after him in his dreams? Maybe the Dream Theory is Michael taking jobs at the pizza place to try and find traces of his brother. He knows he gets warmer each place he visits as the dreams get vivid, he learns what happens to the other kids, then dreams he's his brother fighting the nightmares that he contributed to. At some unknown point in time he could shift focus to making the kids rest and killing his father for good. The box could've contained a passage from the Dream Theory book read in the movie, maybe even the one the guy reads aloud. Michael keeps visiting these places and the memories and agony infect his dreams, and he's letting them do it, he wants to know what happened, ever since That Night. Tl;dr The Movie provides some crazy context to a lot of previously unexplainable pieces of lore, which I feel starts to make some interesting connections.

[@diskonnekt1313]

This needs more likes.

[@miniespeon158]

I loved the bit about the actual gameplay of fnaf 4 being his punishment, good observation! I like where this theory is going!

[@IDsFantasy]

Thanks!

[@ASwitchDog]

I think you did a great one laying out the facts with this one! The timing and characters involved have always been debated but I think the initial reaction to MM was always on the right track and we kind of muddied it up later on. And oh boy are we gonna have a field day with the movie... I have a LOT of thoughts.

[@IDsFantasy]

Thanks! And oh yeah the movie was awesome

[@s1nisterxd]

I really like the theory! Only one thing, I don’t think that Scott’s teaser from fnaf4 about shadows is still relevant seeing as Scott was pointing towards Dream Theory back then which he redconned (presumably). I really enjoy watching your video’s and keep up the great work!

[@IDsFantasy]

Thank you!

[@mintagenart]

I wasn't on board at first, but you've convinced me. That does make make a lot of sense. I like that this implies William cares even less about his children than we would believe if he was the one who promised to put CC back together, and the motives for the MCI was much more selfish. And also Charlie makes more sense to be the light-yellow voice as she actually followed through with that promise, unlike William who seems to be moving away from putting him back together. Maybe the extended experimentation with Remnant was not to bring back someone from the dead but to prolong someone who's still alive? It would explain why he's looking for Remnant in general and not CC's soul specifically.

[@IDsFantasy]

Yep! Honestly I think William was interested in Remnant for himself primarily

[@madamplatypus313]

I’m gonna say this is probably my favorite Midnight Motorist interpretation, I think it covers a lot! I admit I’ve never seen your channel before, but I already really appreciate a lot about it! You aren’t afraid of parallels/symbolism across the FNAF universe! And personally, I can never get behind any child dying before Charlie, it would minimize the Puppet’s role which is one of the only things we’ve always been sure of.

[@IDsFantasy]

I'm glad you like it! Agreed

[@PeanutButtervr22]

Great video I’m glad someone finally used the shadows to explain the foot prints

[@IDsFantasy]

Thanks!

[@zelz3011]

ID FANTASY!!! I've been gone for a long time. I still have to watch that one stream you're on.

[@stocktonjackson8551]

I can vouch for the sibling thingy. I tease my younger sibling relentlessly, but if anyone else were to hurt them, I’d defend them to the dying breath

[@IDsFantasy]

Yep lol

[@MidasGold]

I really enjoy this theory, and it makes a lot of sense in a lot of ways. I've been trying to write my own theory and the hardest part so far is taking what I find and laying it out in a way that makes sense, and you do that perfectly.

[@IDsFantasy]

Thank you!

[@shadowcross4813]

I definitely agree with you on this video! You lay the information and facts out beautifully in a combining the details into a timeline of what happened. Though don't think too much about people arguing that the books don't count, Matpat references them in all his theories and if I recall it is widely accepted to interpret details of the book with the in-game universe since they are the same universe, even though they are different stories in the same franchise. Also I'm pretty sure "Tales from the pizzaplex" is just a title to make it clear it's a separate book lineup, like goosebumps, not meaning they take place when the pizzaplex is active but I could be wrong lol

[@ransack_knight]

what helps also is the movie, it shows that William has always been abusive, so I wouldnt be surprised if he abused/experimented on ALL his kids

[@func_e]

I've literally never once in my life heard someone so accurately describe my thoughts and theories on a piece of lore

[@IDsFantasy]

Nice XD

[@func_e]

@@IDsFantasyyou straight up knocked it outta the park with this one :D

[@Handlelesswithme]

I do have a theory but it involves assuming CC is a robot resurrected(Mikebot) What if the dirt mound was a grave of CC and the place the new CC is going is Freddy Fazbear’s since that is the safest place from William In Fnaf 4 he refers to the plushies as his friends and in the night 6 minigame the puppet says “we are still your friends” showing the plushies as he said it. Perhaps the Puppet did something to the CCs mind where he associates the possessed animatronics as his friends -It would explain how after the bite he would want to go there often

[@andrewkelley9405]

Have you seen GiBi’s 8.5 hour breakdown of the entire FNAF timeline? Don’t wanna spoil it but there’s a lot in it to think on.

[@hwalnut7202]

I was so surprised by the end to see such a coherent timeline, it's crazy how pretty much every loose end and inconsistency was given a plausible explanation

[@brookolson2194]

"I can bully and tease you but no one else can" is definitely a sibling way of life lol. My older brother and I used to throw hands, but we'd never let anyone else talk shit to the other. He always made sure that even family members didn't hurt me, physically or emotionally.

[@IDsFantasy]

Sounds about right

[@Khanmanlol]

Super tight theory, though I do have a bit of an issue with how you characterize Michael in the FNAF 4 minigames and him in Midnight Motorist (if that really is him). It's one thing for Michael to defend his brother while occasionally picking on him. It's another for Michael to defend his little brother while simultaneously terrorizing the poor child non-stop well-past the point of tears and locking him in a room... *twice.* Then again, as you said, if Midnight Motorist happened before CC got chomped, the boy's non-stop crying could very well have annoyed the hell out of Michael, so much so he'd lock the kid in a room to get some peace and quiet.

[@IDsFantasy]

I actually am not sure it was Mike who locked him in areas, and once again, it does not seem far fetched to me since older brothers can definitely take things too far multiple times and the nightmare experiments would have happened in between/we don't know if it was actually non-stop. But yeah lol

[@Carpe_Noctum20]

Regarding CC being locked in rooms, it’s at least likely that Mike was the one to lock CC in his room, William does state it and tries to tell CC that Michael hates him (however we’re talking about William, it’s entirely possible and likely this is just him creating a wedge between the two) however I think it’s more likely William who locked CC in the animatronic storage at Fredbears - for one, I doubt Michael has the means to lock his brother in there, and secondly, it’s one of the only instances where Fredbear Plush - aka William - does not talk to CC, implying that CC has made William angry somehow and has been locked in there as punishment.

[@Khanmanlol]

@@IDsFantasy Another issue I have: If William got so angry at CC for running off to "that place again" (assuming it's the restaurant CC eventually gets chomped in) and punished him for doing so with experiments and such, why is CC seen at the restaurant at numerous points over the course of several days? You'd think being on the receiving end of his father's cruelty for disobeying him and witnessing a death, CC would stay as far away as possible from said pizza place. Is it because it was his birthday? One of the children CC talks to remarks something along the lines of, "You coming to the birthday party? Oh, wait. You *have* to. It is *your* birthday, after all." Is it punishment from his father? Did his father go like, "Since you want to go to the restaurant so bad, why don't you stay there?!" Maybe it's a part of William Afton's twisted experiments? Seeing what kind of effects his experiments would have on a child at a pizzeria location?

[@archieharrodine3925]

Amazing video!!! MM videos often have a tendency to derail but this one was done so so insanely well!!! My one sort of gripe with the theory is if the crying child walked all the way to where charlie was killed, why did William have to drive there? The point of midnight motorist was he was driving back from some place, and it must have been some distance. If we assume the most obvious, he was driving back from just after murdering charlie (it could be he killed her at jrs and then drove around for a bit but extra complication) which implies that restaurant was not close. This has the baggage that the cc then has to walk this full distance, which is not impossible, but the line of “he must have gone to that place again” implies this is not the first time… this small bit doesnt derail the whole theory, but it does throw a little bit of awkwardness into it There is one other part which doesn’t contradict the theory, but doesn’t necessarily flow with it too nicely and that is the “remember what you saw, you know what happens if he catches you”. This totally could line up with him seeing charlie’s death, and then boom cc has a fear, but 1. The puppet is far from a normal looking animatronic, maybe not even seen as an ‘animatronic’ 2. The cc has 0 nightmares about the puppet. This one is a real head scratcher for me because if he saw charlie die to the puppet, which gave him his fear, then why would the puppet not appear at all in his nightmares? (Perhaps could be explained by michael experiencing fnaf 4 but not a perfect explanation still could explain it) However those two nitpicky points sort of come from the retroactive rewrite that scott did on fnaf 4, so they could be intentional for us to gloss over. Either way, favorite take on MM so far, and probably the theory I think has the most legs to stand on !!

[@IDsFantasy]

Thank you! Okay okay. For the driving, William didn't have to drive super far to get there. I'd say that would be about a 10 minute walk given it's a 30 second drive. It reminds me of the distance I walked to the Little Caesar's down the street from me. Okay! That's where the nightmare experiments come in. William made it so he was scared by ALL of the animatronics, and not just the Puppet through the experiments. That way, if CC saw William pull anything, people would just know he was scared of all the animatronics and think he was making stuff up Hopefully that helps explain my thought process. And thank you!

[@archieharrodine3925]

@@IDsFantasy Thank you for elaborating!! The second part about the nightmare animatronics being used to make him scared of all the animatronics is valid there! And does mostly explain away the absence of the puppet from the nightmares, and does seem to be what the implications are. The one thing that I’m not entirely sure on is the driving argument. So this partially bleeds into the fact that I think Jrs and the place where Charlie was killed aren’t the same place. My justifications for this is that If this is ‘later that night’, then the murder happened on that night, which means that either: - the murder has been discovered that night, which means that there would very likely be police there (which aren’t there at jrs) - the murder has not been discovered that night, which means there would be no reason for the guy at Jrs to turn William away Additionally there is the ocam’s razor aspect of The minigame section before we slow down and can get out of the car, where we are driving high speeds down the road, is implied to be still part of William’s actions that night (as you have to turn in to a road and then it leads to the cutscenes), which means William was driving back from *somewhere*. If the murder was at jrs, he would have driven to jrs, then driven away from his house and jrs, then driven back round to jrs, and then to his house. The alternative take is that The start of the minigame we are driving back towards william’s house from the pizzeria that william killed charlie at, and jrs is over there. While the first one is plausible, its a lot simpler to say the minigame depicts him driving back to his house after the deed. If we then go with the idea that freddy’s is not jrs, and not close to jrs, then it would be hard for the cc to have seen the murder. Sorry Im not sure if that was fully clear! But the overall crux of it is taking into account the idea that the gameplay section of the minigame is some representation of the drive that william actually did, and hence is somewhat representative of the distance he travelled by car Hence less likely that the cc would have walked there. Hope that makes sense! Plz do lmk if you have an explanation for the small issue tho! Maybe im missing smth

[@Zambles]

it just hit me. we all know OG purple guy wasent litteraly purple., but that he was just purple to represent him being in shadows (becuse he had to stand out against the black background of the minigames) however that actualy explains mustard man. If purple guy steps out of the shadows into broad light, what color would you represent him with? His golden best of course, he is the one human character directly connected to a gold color/suit after all. He was never mustard man, he was golden man.

[@IDsFantasy]

Exactly!

[@flamingphoenix1425]

My headcanon is that CC died first, and while my mind is not changed, this is a pretty good theory. ID's Fantasy is pretty good when it comes to that.

[@Jam-og1km]

I think the Puppet explination being the root of Crying's fears make sense when you consider Nighmarione. Yes he wasn't canon in Fnaf 4 but he also is in UCN, which is canon. He says something along the lines of "I am a dark reflection of what you created". Which makes sense as the agony of the first murder. A dark entity of mallace that some believe represents death itself haunting William's personal hell which is then able to escape into the real world through the glitchtrap virus, hencs it's appearances in Help Wanted and it's cameos in Security Breach. Since Cassady is most likely the one who orcestrated UCN yet Nightmarione is the face of the game this would make sense

[@synapse6140]

Really well explained, just for a bit of clarity though, if you are saying charlie got CC possessed in fredbear / golden freddy that would imply the 5th MCI kid who Charlie would have also put in the golden freddy suit shares it with CC (basically two spirits are in golden freddy similar to what we see in fazbear frights)

[@IDsFantasy]

Yeah I think it's two spirits in Golden Freddy

[@personismaybe0610]

I 100% believe that William Afton’s motivation to kill is the death of his wife. In a Fazbear Frights story called “The Cliffs”, we hear of a man who lost his wife after giving birth to their only son. The man would later give his son a Freddy plush to watch over the kid, just like how William gave CC a Fredbear plush to watch over CC. It even shows that the kid would later go missing and is revealed to be alive, meaning if the boy is meant to parallel CC then it would also confirm that CC wasn’t the first death. Also the big problem with his motivation being out of jealousy is that William Afton has a different motivation in every interpretation of the character. For example, in Fazbear Frights (again) William Afton motivation to kill is to simply just create pain and agony for other people. This version character goes out of his way to kill people for no real reason, but to cause them pain. He even tries to attack one of his previous victims despite being extremely weak himself at the time of doing so.

[@IDsFantasy]

Possibly!

[@mralabbad7]

It seems to me the random employee springlock deaths were the actual first deaths in the series and the thing that caught Afton's attention to want to make a machine that is truly alive to finally beat Henry's creations. And that's how he knew how to "put back together" the crying kid. We can infer that Sister Location was already established, from the secret camera room back in 1983, and was only open for 1 day, so we can assume Baby already killed Elizabeth by then. So i'd say it goes like this 1-Employees die and possess the diner. 2-afton notices it and tries to recreate it with children and kills his own daughter by accident. 3- One night, he sees Charlie alone outside and kills her in a drunken mourning rage and she possesses the puppet. 4-willie kills 5 kids to experiment and puppet puts them in the suits which would start the rumers we hear in fnaf4 minigames. 5- Crying kid is bit, and William knows exactly how to bring him back by then now that the puppet showed him how remnant is made unintentionally. 6-tells Michael about SL and goes to collect some remnant to bring his son back, only to be attacked by ghosts and springtrapped.

[@existentialselkath1264]

Could this not simply be one of the MCI kids? Random drunk abusive father gets come to find his kid missing, lured away by a guy in a Bonnie (3 toes) suit? 'Gibis good idea bad idea' made a whole 8+hr video on his fnaf timeline. Nobody got time for that, but this was one of a few really good points brought up and it fits with the chica anime cutscenes too.

[@smt64productions40]

Wouldn’t William die then because, it was raining tho? You can argue he took off the suit but if he took of the suit, the kid would have to be carried and the SpringBonnie suit, or he put it in his car but it would still be cover in water, and if he is using SpringBonnie in FNaF 2, which would probably dry off tho not certain, not to mention the timing of Charlie’s death and the events of the MCI, of Mm is connected to Security Puppet (rain and tire tracks) that could lead some problems with again timing

[@existentialselkath1264]

@@smt64productions40 why would it have to be the Spring Bonnie suit? Could be a Bonnie mascot suit. Williams very first Bonnie suit is unlikely to be the only one, AND a springlock from the getgo. As for the rain... It's rain, it's a moody atmosphere. Idk, it's just a theory...

[@smt64productions40]

@@existentialselkath1264 Because that would be the suit he would use, as seen in Fruity Maze?

[@existentialselkath1264]

@@smt64productions40 it's a suit he has used. Is it a fact that it's the only suit he ever used?

[@smt64productions40]

@@existentialselkath1264 The only thing I can think is a “cartoon suit” mentioned in FNaF 1, and a yellow suit in FNaF 2, but those could be scottconned or repurpose to Spring Bonnie, we don’t know what the suit looked like in FNaF 1 other than maybe the animatronics as a reference, even if you wanna argue Glitchtrap, do we know it is a real costume and if Glitchtrap is the mimic, then that makes me doubtful of that being the suit, another problem for MM is why leave the restaurant, if this is indeed the MCI, why not target the kids in the restaurant? That aways seems to be like, a big problem for “MCIMotorist” atleast to me

[@JermoMetGames]

This is a good one. The puppet talking through the plush is interesting with the light yellow text

[@akialastorlawliet]

Your explaination makes sense. Nice video as always 👍

[@IDsFantasy]

Thank you!

[@NaraMidnight]

I'm really happy to see how much your channel has grown. I was a fairly early sub of around 8-10k if I'm remembering correctly? Great content, big fan lol

[@IDsFantasy]

Thank you! It means a lot that you've stuck around this long!

[@wat_omy]

Another thing that could be assumed is that as co-owners Henry and William are together a decent amount, and sometimes you have to bring your kid with you to work. So it’s entirely plausible Charlie, the crying and Mike have interacted and possible became friends because of how much their fathers worked together.

[@IDsFantasy]

Yep!

[@darkestcarving8735]

I love how your theories actively clicked together as you explain. just goes to show how accurate a well critically thought-out idea can go.

[@IDsFantasy]

I'm glad! Thank you :D

[@randomericthings7506]

“It was me Barry! I created Midnight Motorist! I knew you’d become so obsessed with solving it that you would begin to drift away from all your loved ones just to try and solve it!” - The Reverse-Flash (Eobard Thawne)

[@IDsFantasy]

Lol

[@SpectreBagels]

I think thats an interesting angle that the person saying they would put C back together was Charlie and not William, it also kinda makes sense too

[@the_realconspiracydino]

I think it was good ol’ shadow Freddy. Known for his famous conga lines, who could really resist?

[@IDsFantasy]

XD

[@jakeblitzcoffie4859]

4:25 Don't forget the fact that when you brighten up the section of the mini game with Charile and the Puppet, you also see tire tracks leading away from the scene, meaning after Charlie's death comes Midnight Motorist. It's pretty clearly Afton.

[@Ace_Valley]

Omg yay new upload 😁 I haven't seen the new movie yet but I'm sure its great and midnight motorist is honestly one of my favorite mini games 😁

[@IDsFantasy]

Nice! Same to both lol

[@flippieswanpoel1870]

the rain is such a unique connection, haven;t heard it before now

[@SOULular]

Overall good video! I agree with most points about the Crying Child, although I'm not quite sure about the dirt pile though, also special announcement?! Merch perhaps?!

[@IDsFantasy]

;)

[@shane_kai1983]

Loved this video! I had no idea that we were playing as Michael in FNaF 4 but it makes a lot of sense given the context of the security logbook. Midnight Motorist has always been the piece of the puzzle that stumped me but I think your interpretation of it fits very nicely. Personally, I’ve never liked the concept of shadow characters, so the idea of them being even more important is a bit of a shame, but either way it’s nice that we finally have a possible answer to this minigame!

[@IDsFantasy]

I'm glad you liked the video!