u/Perihaaaaaa

William is in the deepest pit of hell, equivalent to the Ninth Circle of Dante’s Inferno (the medieval vision of Hell), or perhaps comparable to Gehenna, the ancient Jewish valley associated with destruction and condemnation. He is being eternally tortured for his crimes and sins.

Paraphrasing the grabber from Black Phone 2, hell took away everything good that was left in him. He is no longer truly a man, but merely a pit of sin and suffering (possibly similar to “The Agony” from the books? I’m not fully caught up on that lore).

I used AI to translate this into English.

Art by Azoinab

William Afton… now that’s a really interesting character. One of the most loved (and hated, for obvious reasons) characters in Five Nights at Freddy’s. But what exactly is he?

I mean, is he a monster by nature, a man broken by grief, or a bit of both?

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be an attempt to “justify” him or paint him as innocent. Because William, from everything we know, has:

• Kidnapped and murdered children.
• Psychologically tortured his own family.
• Killed his best friend’s daughter.

This isn’t meant to be a moral judgment video about the character, because I don’t think one is necessary for us to know he’s a monster. What I want to do is explain why I personally think a villain with a motivation — especially in this case — is usually far more interesting than a villain who’s simply evil by nature.

Can naturally evil villains work? Absolutely. Characters like Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, the Xenomorph from Alien, and even William from the books all work perfectly well. But game William… feels different.

There’s one detail that changes everything depending on the version:
His family.

In the books, William seems driven almost entirely by his obsession with immortality, as if nothing else in his life really matters. He wants to defeat death. Control it. Escape it.

But in the games… it feels more personal.

And all of that goes back to FNAF 4.

At the end of the game, while the Crying Child is on the verge of death, a line appears:
“I will put you back together.”

And that sentence changes everything.

Because it suggests that, at some point, there may have been a genuine attempt to save someone.
To bring someone back.

What if William’s obsession with immortality didn’t begin out of pure ego?
What if it began because he couldn’t accept loss?

That completely changes the way we see the character.

William is still a murderer.
Still cruel.
Still a monster.

But now he stops feeling like someone who is simply “evil for the sake of being evil” and instead becomes someone consumed by his own obsession.

That’s exactly the direction Enigma’s incredible song takes with the character:

“I lost my son because of my own creation…”
“Henry, this is your fault too.”
“Feel what I felt.”

In this interpretation, William doesn’t seem driven solely by the pursuit of eternal life.
There’s resentment there.

Resentment toward Henry and his “perfect” family.
Resentment toward Michael, who killed his own brother.
Resentment toward a world that kept moving forward while his family fell apart.

With that kind of background, even the “scientist William” idea — something a lot of people hate — actually makes sense. He had a reason to pursue immortality, and that was the beginning of his descent into madness.

But obsession never works out the way people want it to.

In trying to conquer death, his own creations kept taking more and more away from him.

(audio of Baby capturing Elizabeth)

And maybe that was the moment William finally broke.

Another child lost.
This time because of him.

So he returns to Freddy’s and destroys everything.
He tears apart the animatronics he once built with pride, almost as if he’s trying to erase it all from existence.

But in the middle of the destruction… something appears.

Voices.

Small, angry voices.

The children came back.

And in William’s mind, that probably made no sense at all.
How dare those children turn against him?

William Afton.
Father.
Husband.
Scientist.

In the corner of the room, an old costume.
The same costume used to take those children’s lives.

And even surrounded by the ghosts of his past… William still smiles.

Because until the very last second, he believes he’s in control.

(springlock audio)

And maybe that’s what makes William so interesting.

Because in the end… he succeeded.

He defeated death.

But lost everything else in the process.

His family.
His humanity.
His own mind.

The man who wanted to control death ended up trapped inside his own obsession.

And maybe that’s exactly why game William works so well for me.

Not because he’s innocent.
Not because he deserves sympathy.

But because unlike an empty monster… William feels like someone who was slowly consumed by the very thing he feared most.

It is not for nothing that some call her a queen, what a holy womb it was made.

I'm sure this skin was from the Star Wars battle pass; if this continues, could we see Palpatine returning?