u/Hamsti_Manent

A common interpretation of the FNaF 1 newspapers is that they say that all 5 of the MCI victims were lured to the backroom at the same time, and a common argument for this theory is that "we see all 5 kids lured at the same time in every continuity". I believe that this is incorrect, and I wanted to go through every version of the MCI to prove why this argument is, at best, unreliable.

Part 1: The Games

The FNaF 1 newspapers are the first and only time we are explicitly told what happens with the MCI. So what do they say?

"Two local children were reportedly lured into a back room during the late hours of operation at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza on the night of June 26th. While video surveliance identified the man responsible ... the children themselves were never found and are presumed dead."

"Five children are now linked to the incident at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where a man dressed as a cartoon mascot lured then into a back room."

This information already disproves the idea that all 5 kids were lured at the same time. Only two of the victims are actually stated to have been lured to the backroom. They were seen either by other customers or security footage. The other three dissapearances are only linked to the lurings, and if they were lured at the same time, they would've been seen by whoever saw the first two. There's nothing that actually says that all 5 were lured.

'But what about other continuities?', I hear you ask. 'Surely those agree with my theory!' Well, let's take a look at them

Part 2: The Movies

The movies are the easiest to disprove a 1:1 connection to the mainline series, given that I've already disproven it with Part 1. In the movie's opening credits sequence, we see all 5 children taken by William Afton into a backroom at the same time, which, as we have already stated, cannot be the case in the games continuity. As well as that, the most common interpretation of the Golden Freddy spirit, a black-haired girl named Cassidy, is replaced by an unnamed blond boy.

Part 3: The Silver Eyes

The Silver Eyes has a very different interpretation of the MCI than other continuities.

a) Rather than the 5 kids being Gabriel, Jeremy, Susie, Fritz & Cassidy), Cassidy is once again replaced by a boy named Michael. Cassidy ends up taking Jeremy's place as the spirit who (presumably) possesses Bonnie, assuming that the other three line up 1:1 with the games.

b) The MCI takes place over months, not in a single day.

"As we all know, Michael was not the only child lost during those terrible few months"

c) William used the Golden Freddy suit to lure the MCI, not the Spring Bonnie suit.

"There was another mascot" "A bear"

"No, not Freddy"

Part 4: Into The Pit, & Frights As A Whole

One again, Into The Pit's version of the MCI is very different to the other continuities. In both the original short story and the game, rather than five kids, there's now six. As well as that, the children aren't missing, they are killed very publicly in a party room, not a backroom. (Can they even be called "the Missing Children Incident" if they aren't missing?).

Now, I'm not very familiar with Return To The Pit, but as far as I'm aware, the only difference is that there's 5 kids, not 6. The other points against this still stand.

Part 5: Conclusion

Now, what does this mean for our understanding of the MCI overall?

The strongest conclusion we can draw is that we cannot take any other continuity's version of the MCI as strong evidence for what happens in the main continuity. All of them are very different from what we know for sure about the games continuity, and they're all very different from each other. So while we could take hints from the other continuities as long as they aren't contradicted, we need to prioritise what the games actually tell us, rather than what other, different versions tell us.

If we accept that the MCI wasn't 5 kids lured to the backroom at the same time, then that opens up a lot of theories that can explain a lot of long-standing mysteries in the series (for example, Midnight Motorist). But I've talked about those before, and it's fun to draw conclusions for yourself, so if you want to see what I think about those, you can check out my other posts, or you can come to your own conclusions.

Happy theorising!

Okay, so this is going to be very speculative and a bit rambley, but I've been thinking about DavidTOYSNHK and how he could connect to Golden Freddy, since Golden Freddy is undeniably relevant to UCN. There were a couple of different theories and ideas that sort of fit together in my mind, and I wanted to see what other people thought about it:

1. GoldenIllusion: Golden Freddy isn't a physical machine, he's a sort of apparition that takes in the form of Golden Freddy and moves by teleporting, not by walking. This is also an ability that White Tiger has, as we see in SotM.

2. Threadbear: Golden Freddy changes his form to fit in with the band around him. For example, he's a Withered animatronic in FNaF 2, and he's Nedd Bear in FFPS.

3. PlushVictim: BV possesses the Fredbear plush, not the physical machine of Fredbear. This is something that happens in a couple of other continuities, with Charlie and the Ella doll in The Silver Eyes and Jake and the Real Jake doll in Fazbear Frights, so I think it's an idea that Scott likes and would be willing to introduce to the main games timeline. Plus, in SotM, we see that BV dies in the hospital next to his Fredbear plush and not anywhere near the Fredbear animatronic, so I think it's a reasonable assumption to draw that BV would possess the doll.

4. CassidyBV: The name "Cassidy", that we get from the Logbook is actually referring to the BV, not a fifth MCI victim. This also implies that "Dave", the other name we get from the Logbook, belongs to David Murray.

So here's the idea:

David Murray dies, and his spirit takes on the form of his beloved toy, the White Tiger. At some point post-1983 and pre-1987, David comes into contact with a new toy, the possessed Fredbear Doll, and BV's spirit combines in some way to the White Tiger apparition. This causes the apparition to begin manifesting as Golden Freddy, but since there are now two spirits in the apparition, it becomes confused and its physical appearance becomes inconsistent, taking characteristics from the other mascots around it.

Like I said, this is very speculative, but it very well could be the missing link that connects David to Golden Freddy. I just wanted to see what other people thought of this theory. I don't think it's too out there, but what do y'all think? Is this anything at all? Let me know.