Five Nights At Freddy’s is filled with terrifying animatronics that leave everlasting nightmares, but which are the scariest in the franchise? While not the true villains of the FNAF, these animatronics serve as some of the main antagonists, and each one is scary in its own right. Some hide their horrifying nature behind a furry sense of cuteness, while others’ mangled and wired bodies do little to hide their murderous bloodlust. Given the right timing, the games’ atmosphere can even help their odds, making even the mischievous Balloon Boy an inconvenient fright.
Every title in the series has added horrific new animatronics to haunt players’ nightmares. The 2021 game Five Nights At Freddy ‘s: Security Breach went towards a more modern look, making them a little less visually frightening thanks to their glam-rock aesthetic. However, the gameplay changes assisted in remedying this as more atmospheric and gameplay events added to the fear levels. Regardless of which game you play, though, there are characters in the franchise that will give anyone a fright.
15 Circus Baby Is Animatronics Meets Clowns
First Appears In Five Nights At Freddy’s: Sister Location
Circus Baby is the mascot of Pizza World in FNAF: Sister Location and is one of the creepiest characters in the franchise. The character combines two tried-and-true horror tropes: creepy children and clowns. Throw in the animatronic and robot appearance of the character, and this is one nightmare-inducing creation.
The robotic clown baby is haunted by the soul of Elizabeth Afton, William Afton’s daughter. She lowers players’ guard with her soft voice and fond recollection of playing with children, but she soon shows her true colors. Circus Baby is programmed to make ice cream and kill children, and she’s a truly terrifying FNAF character.
14 Molten Freddy Combines All The Terrors Into One
First Appears In Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator
If one twisted animatronic isn’t enough, Molten Freddy is an amalgamation of a number of the creepiest FNAF characters. Molten Freddy appears in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator, and is a combination of Freddy, Enard, Funtime Freddy, Ballora, Funtime Foxy, and Bon-Bon.
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The creepy monster is made almost entirely of a mess of wires in the shape of arms and a body. It hangs from wires like a puppet and its body ends in a root-like mess on the floor. Its face is made up of disconnected bits of Freddy’s face, staring emptily at players, and its one glowing orange eye may distract from the numerous other eyes attached to wires on its body at odd intervals. It’s said that some might feel sorry for the pitiful remains of Freddy, until it tries to kill you, that is.
13 Prototype Glamrock Freddy Has Lost His Head
First Appears In Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach Ruin
Glamrock Freddy is a character who appears in the Ruin DLC of Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach, and is a rockstar version of Freddy. However, the Prototype version of the character is much more disturbing, appearing in a dilapidated, worn-down state.
The animatronic model is covered in holes and is missing its exoskeleton in some spots, revealing monstrous claws and one robotic foot. Perhaps most unsettling is the fact that Prototype is completely missing its head, with its neck erupting into a mess of cut wires. Instead of threatening the player with their scary face and head, the Prototype uses the jagged, mouth-like hole in its stomach to growl and attack.
12 Mini Music Man Is The Scariest Of The Music Men
First Appeared In Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach
Mini Music Man might not be one of the main antagonists of the series, but these little wind-up animatronics are just as creepy. There are several versions of Music Man who show up throughout the series, but the Mini Music Man’s broken-down state makes it much scarier than its original counterparts.
First appearing in FNAF: Security Breach, the Mini Music Man is a small robot with many spider-like legs who chases the player around. It’s fear-factor comes from its skin-like exoskeleton, complete with a realistic nose, a perpetual huge smile, and hollow black holes for eyes. In Security Breach, many of the Music Men who attack the player have broken teeth and deformities, making its jump-scares even more effective.
11 The Tangle, Also Known As The Blob
First Appears In Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach
If Molten Freddy weren’t scary enough, The Tangle from Security Breach is even more grotesque. The Tangle, also known as The Blob, is a huge mess of melted and tangled wires and animatronic parts. Throughout The Blob’s body are parts from various other characters, including Circus Baby, Chica, Bonnie, and many more.
In the middle of this mess is the deformed faceplate of Freddy, the only real “personality” that remains intact within the monster. The animalistic scream that The Tangle lets out when it attacks is enough to give even the bravest player nightmares.
10 The Marionette/The Puppet Is Like A Creepy Clown
First Appears In Five Nights At Freddy’s 2
Widely accepted to contain the soul of Charlie Emily, daughter of Henry Emily, the Marionette or “The Puppet” is one of the core antagonists of FNAF 2. The Puppet has an eerily simplistic yet menacing design that, coupled with its music box mechanic, makes for a frightening jump scare. The clown-like face with tear stream marks contrasts the small black body of The Puppet but makes it simply terrifying.
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The Puppet is considered the caretaker of the series’ original possessed animatronics and, seemingly, the reason they are possessed in the first place per the Give Gifts, Give Life minigame in FNAF 2. The power The Puppet has over much of the early part of the franchise is a massive part of its overall scariness, especially when coupled with the knowledge the Puppet is home to Charlie.
9 Springtrap’s Glare Will Keep You Up At Night
First Appears In Five Nights At Freddy’s 3
Springtrap is the withered remains of Spring Bonnie possessed by William Afton himself, one of the core antagonists of every ending in Five Night At Freddy’s, and is primarily encountered in FNAF 3. Easily the scariest thing about Springtrap is the person controlling it, as William has the least self-control and the most intelligence of the animatronics.
However, the design for Springtrap is also terrifying, using the rusted remains of Spring Bonnie, coupled with the aging remains of William stuck inside the suit. The fact players have to stare at a walking corpse with FNAF 3 providing them little defense makes Springtrap a terrifying foe.
8 Ennard’s Writhing Mass Of Wires Makes Him Unnatural
First Appears In Five Nights At Freddy’s: Sister Location
Ennard is the final antagonist of Sister Location and is a collection of all the Funtime animatronics put together. This amalgamation was formed in the group’s attempt to escape and was successful by hiding in the scooped-out body of Michael Afton. That alone is a terrifying act and shows the intelligence of the animatronic.
Ennard’s simple design, similar to FNAF: Security Breach‘s Blob, showcases horror in the clump of wires that make up all of its body, save for the face that used a leftover metallic mask. Ennard did not have many gameplay opportunities and could be avoided easily, but it remains one of the franchise’s more terrifying animatronics in design and lore actions.
7 The Daycare Attendant Is Two Monsters Rolled Into One
First Appears in Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach
One qualm with the most recent addition, Security Breach, is the lack of scary animatronics, save for The Daycare Attendant Sun and Moon. These two take scary clowns to another level with their intricate jester designs themed after night and day. While their actions in the game are few after the daycare level, the impact they have left on the game is immense.
Both personalities are also a bit unhinged, and their sporadic movement across the daycare makes for a terrifying experience. Simply having to see FNAF Security Breach‘s Sundrop and Moondrop’s glowing eyes slowly spider crawl at the screen in the dark is enough to make many look away. Sun may not be an enemy to the player, but he and Moon make for a frightening experience of a duo.
6 Glitchtrap Has A Terrifying Smile
First Appears In Five Nights At Freddy’s: Help Wanted
William Afton appears again and is now in the more frightening form of Glitchtrap in Help Wanted. Glitchtrap is another variation of the yellow Spring Bonnie but made even worse by William’s twisted personality. The body is simple, but the face is where the true terror lies, with occasionally purple-turning wide eyes coupled with an unhinged smile that sends shivers down the spine.
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Glitchtrap mainly watches and follows the player in an attempt to merge into their body, but this behavior, coupled with a few animated scenes that creep even the more hardened payers out, makes Glitchtrap a horrifying entity.
5 Nightmarionne Is A Scarier Form Of The Puppet
First Appears In Five Nights At Freddy’s 4
Nightmarionne is one of the non-canon entries into the now AAA video game FNAF franchise, but that doesn’t make its appearance in FNAF 4 any less terrifying. Added during the Halloween update, Nightmarionne takes The Puppet’s design and makes it even more terrifying.
The mask changes to full black makeup with sharp fangs, while its black body is made a bit bigger with sharp claws and protruding ribs. The Nightmarionne takes an already scary design in The Puppet and makes it even more horrifying, even if it is non-canon.
4 Nightmare Chica Is Pure Nightmare Fuel
First Appears In Five Nights At Freddy’s 4
Nightmare Chica continues the trend of animatronics from FNAF 4 having the scariest designs in the franchise. Even though all the animatronics in this game are believed to be only the imaginations of a child, which does help their fear level, they continue to be excellently designed. This is doubly important in this case as the previous Chica interpretation, Toy Chica, far missed its mark in the fear department.
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Unlike FNAF Security Breach‘s Glamrock Chica, the body of Nightmare Chica is just worn down, and no claws are added, making the face where the true terror comes through. Its jaw becomes practically unhinged and filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth. The miscolored eyes, one of which doesn’t work, add another layer of fear while showcasing the wear. Even the cupcake, which grows an evil smile filled with matching razor-sharp teeth, adds another level of terror to this notorious pair.
3 The Mimic Had A Taste Of Bloodlust
First Appears In FNAF Security Breach Ruin
The Mimic serves as the main antagonist of the FNAF Security Breach Ruin DLC, as well as the Tales From The Pizzaplex book series. The terrifying Mimic was created by Edwin Murray, designed to keep his son Edwin occupied while his father worked.
There’s still more to see from The Mimic in the
FNAF
series, but so far, it’s definitely one of the more chilling villains.
After David dies in an accident, The Mimic – whose sole purpose is to mimic – is attacked by Edwin, learning those behaviors and thus becoming evil. There’s still more to see from The Mimic in the FNAF series, but so far, it’s definitely one of the more chilling villains thanks to its skeletal design and horrifying backstory.
2 Withered Bonnie Is Unsettling Without Its Face
First Appears In Five Nights At Freddy’s 2
Withered Bonnie has a simple design, but one that makes it one of the most terrifying in the franchise. Its entire face is removed, leaving two soulless red bead eyes to stare at the player with two rows of teeth attached to the bottom of its mouth. Along with getting all its fur ripped off its right hand and left foot, Withered Bonnie is missing its left arm entirely, leaving a mess of wires to dangle.
Withered Bonnie, one of the recurring characters left out of Security Breach, has no complicated game mechanics, but is still a troublesome enemy – and definitely one of the more frightening jump scares.
1 Nightmare Fredbear Is The Scariest Form Of Fredbear
First Appears In Five Nights At Freddy’s 4
Easily one of the scariest, if not the scariest, animatronics in the franchise is Nightmare Fredbear from FNAF 4. This creation takes the Golden Freddy form and becomes a terrifying monstrosity. First, it can move around now, with razor-sharp claws and an extra jaw in its gut. The face also gets an extreme rework with terrifying red eyes complimented by another razor-sharp mouth often forming a creepy smile. Nightmare Freadbear was also a trickier animatronic, as he could appear from anywhere and had two different methods to deal with him.
Luckily for the franchise, the majority of Five Nights at Freddy’s animatronic monster designs stoke some fear in the hearts of players, and the ones that don’t are forgotten about. This fear factor was a large part of why the series became one of the scariest game franchises, starting as a small indie game and now reaching the level of AAA. Much of that credit can go to these ten scariest animatronics spearheading the way for the Five Nights At Freddy’s franchise.
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