The Truth Behind FNAF 4 Part One: It's NOT the Bite of '87

I've been seeing it referenced, described, and "revealed" all over Youtube and the endless corners of the internet. Exactly why almost everyone (even long loyal inquisitive fans) immediately jumped to this conclusion that the terrible tragedy revealed at the end of Five Nights At Freddy's 4 was The Bite of '87 is beyond me. While something so obviously not is being taken for fact, we are missing out on the true story behind this incident, and its overall placement in the FNAF world.

I hope to set this wrong to right and shed some light on what really happened that day in the FNAF 4 minigame, but there is so much to cover. I am breaking it down into sections, with this section detailing why this is not the Bite of '87, and where the true bite took place.

Let's start with the most obvious fact about the Bite of '87: It takes place in 1987. If you follow the details of the FNAF series, we know that 1987 happens in FNAF 2 because of the date on the check the player receives when finishing a night watch.

So, who is to say that the incident in FNAF 4 isn't happening sometime during the time of the FNAF 2 events? To answer this question, we must take a look at the bigger picture. The underlying story and world that these four games create.

Despite the sequence of the game's releases, the stories and times these stories take place in the games are not always as easy to sequence. The Game Theorists do a great job of laying this timeline out for us, but I will do my best to summarize and simplify it in this hub.

When FNAF 2 was released, we all got quite a shock when we learned it wasn't just a sequel, but a prequel to FNAF 1. This meant that the Pizzeria Franchise in the first game wasn't the first location, and that a previous installment had been built and shut down before it. But that's not all that was revealed. Phone Guy's recording for Night 5 mentions the restaurant's original owner, and a certain "Fredbear's Family Diner" that had been closed for years.

The mention of an original owner to the restaurant franchise immediately places Fredbear's Family Diner as the very first restaurant that was built.

Now add in the first phone call you get from Phone Guy in FNAF 2, he mentions "Uh, now, I want you to forget anything you may have heard about the old location, you know. Uh, some people still have a somewhat negative impression of the company. Uh… that old restaurant was kind of left to rot for quite a while..." This location was the location the missing children incident takes place. The location those secret newspaper articles are referencing, which later closes down.

Fast forward to the year 1987 and Freddy Fazzbear's opens again in FNAF 2.

For what reason exactly fans believe the incident at the end of FNAF 4 is the Bite of '87 still eludes me. Aside from coincidental numbers of 8 and 7 appearing in the source codes of the teaser images, and a child getting their head injured in an animatronic's mouth, there really is no defining evidence to say this was THE bite.

But rather, the obvious evidence has been forgotten. Lets start with where we first learned about The Bite of '87.

Phone guy plainly states the animatronics used to be able to walk around during the day, but this was quickly put to an end after the bite occurs. This section alone tells us that the animatronic responsible was moving on its own and attacked someone. It was because of this attack that the ability for the animatronics to wander during the day was dismantled. Additionally, in FNAF 2's night 1 recorded phone call, Phone Guy mentions "They’ve spent a small fortune on these new animatronics, uh, facial recognition, advanced mobility, they even let them walk around during the day. Isn’t that neat?" This indicates that any of the previous franchise installment's animatronics never had the ability to walk around during the day on their own, if even at all. On top of that, Phone guy is talking about the new animatronics; the ones the company spent a "small fortune" on: Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica, and Toy Foxy/Mangle (and possibly also referring to Balloon Boy, and The Puppet. They do walk around, but I don't know about facial recognition?).

The incident with the kid in FNAF 4 clearly shows us that the yellow Fredbear animatronic is stationary (not walking around). In fact, the only way these animatronics can move around at all, is if someone is inside them. Additionaly, the child's head is forceably placed in the animatronic's mouth; the animatronic did NOT come after the child and attack him. We also know that Yellow Fredbear/Golden Freddy is not one of the new animatronics.

Phone guy also details "It’s amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe". Key phrases here: live, and without the frontal lobe.

Take note that the child's ENTIRE head is being CRUSHED in the mouth of Fredbear. There are no missing lobes involved at all with this incident. This kind of blunt force trauma would either kill a person, or put them into a comatose state. In this case, the latter of which happens, followed by death (more of that to be explained in Part 2)

One of the biggest clues to the time this game takes place can be seen on the TV set in minigame 4. When the TV set is interacted with, a short commercial depicting the main cast of characters appears, followed by the text "Fredbear and Friends 1983"

This short little commercial only lasts a matter of seconds, but it tells us many things: We all know Fredbear in FNAF 4 is the yellow version of Freddy Fazbear (also dubbed Golden Freddy by fans). Fredbear's "Friends", as portrayed on the TV commercial, consists of Freddy Fazzbear, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. Fredbear was the original character, which explains why he (and Spring Bonnie) are the only two animatronics seen in this restaurant. This is before Freddy Fazzbear and the gang took over the spotlight, and the yellow Fredbear suit was decommissioned.

The Date in the commercial also clearly shows "1983". If it wasn't obvious before, it is now: This game takes place before the events that occurred in FNAF 2, meaning we are playing in one of the older establishments Phone Guy mentions in the call of night 1 in FNAF 2.

Relisten to the phone call on night 5 of FNAF 2. Did you catch the hesitation when Phone Guy says "we may move you to the day shift, a position just became…available."? If an employee quit, was fired or termed, that is something that happens normally within businesses. Phone Guy is obviously hiding something when he mentions a position opening up.

Did you also catch that he's referring to a day shift position that opened up suddenly? Tie this back into the details we outlined in Fact #1: A Toy animatronic that walks around during the day attacks an employee and bites off their frontal lobe in 1987. Who is our culprit?

Of all the Toy models in FNAF 2, Mangle (or Toy Foxy) is the only one with a mouth big enough, and able to open it wide enough, to bite off a person's frontal lobe. Also note the placement of its gaping maw when it comes at you for the kill. All the other animatronics have their mouth's either at face level or below. But Mangle's is positioned much higher, aiming for the top of the face, right where the frontal lobe sits.

The Bite of '87 happened in 1987, which takes place in FNAF 2. Mangle is the Toy Animatronic, which could walk around during the day, and attacked an employee, biting off their frontal lobe. Said employee survived the attack, as stated by Phone Guy in the FNAF 1 night 1 phone call.

FNAF 4 we know takes place in or around 1983. Our victim is a child whose head gets crushed by a stationary animatronic. The child falls into a comatose state, and unfortunately succumbs to his injuries and dies.

_{I plan to detail more about our child victim and the underlying story of FNAF 4 more in The Truth Behind FNAF 4: Part Two. I will link that hub here when it is completed.}