Golden Freddy's TRUE Identity - FNAF Theory

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Golden Freddy is one of the Five Nights at Freddy's animatronics that has the most mystery around it, but also has a decent amount of consensus in different areas of the FNAF theorist community. For years, many people have believed that Golden Freddy is possessed by two spirits, the FNAF 4 Crying Child, who died after Michael Afton stuck his head in the Fredbear animatronic, and one of the kids William Afton stuffed in the animatronics, named Cassidy.

However, a recent theory video from the channel Dual Process Theory ( we solved fnaf and we're Not Kidding ) suggests that we got the identity of the spirits possessing Golden Freddy and its role in the Five Nights at Freddy's timeline, particularly in the case of being the Ultimate Custom Night Vengeful Spirit.

So who is possessing Golden Freddy?

00:00 - Were we wrong about Golden Freddy?
00:49 - On the topic of Fazbear Frights and Andrew
01:58 - What are our options?
10:24 - Dissection of DPT's evidence
19:26 - Could there really be two in Golden Freddy?
24:10 - The state of the theorizing

Video Credits:

Check out some of my other videos if you're interested!

What REALLY Happened to END Security Breach - FNAF Ruin Theory -

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#fnaf #fivenightsatfreddys #fnaflore #fnaftheory #michaelafton #ultimatecustomnight #cryingchild #cryingchildfnaf #goldenfreddy #cassidyfnaf #williamafton #charlieemily #henryemily #fnafcassidy #fredbear #fnaf2 #fnaf4 #securitybreach #fnafsecuritybreach #fnafsb #pizzeriasimulator #fnafpizzeriasimulator #ffps #sisterlocation #fnafsisterlocation #intothepit #fnaf3 #fazbearfrights #idsfantasy

[IDsFantasy]

Who do you think is possessing Golden Freddy? Is there any evidence I didn't talk about in the video that you want me to address? Let me know in the comments! (Heads up, making your own comment and not a reply to this one will make it easier for me to see and respond, though I can't guarantee I'll respond to everything. I technically have been on vacation while finishing this video lol. I do plan to try to read them all at the very least and interact when I can)

I hope you all enjoyed the video, and continue to have fun theorizing :D

[Sharkdude]

One thing I do appreciate about Duel Process Theory's video is that it serves as a reminder that next to nothing in this franchise is 100% confirmed or known for a fact. While I may not agree with all of their takes, I think it is still important to remind the community that we really don't know that much for certain and that a LOT of the things that people claim to be "fact" in this franchise is really just speculation on steroids. It's good to have that reality check every once and awhile, especially in the FNAF theorizing community.

[silverbullet]

Is this right or wrong?
Scott Cawthon: Yes

[jorjebear]

Ten years later and we’re still arguing about what the fuck golden Freddy is. Nothing has changed.

[wolfwalker]

I like bouncing around from Game Theory, FuhFnaff, ID Fantasy, and now Dual Process to see what everyone comes up with. It’s just fun to see different perspectives on how the lore is interpreted.

[cosmicbreath]

Frankly I don’t think there IS a way to completely solve FNAF, especially if focusing on the details.

Scott is likely what we in the writing community call a “pantser” (someone who writes by the seat of his pants, so to speak), or, at most, a “plantser” (pantser+planner). Pantsers excel in short-form writing, but their stories start to suffer if they focus on writing the same series for long periods of time. By writing as you go, you forget plot points and end up contradicting yourself on small details in the story that you forgot you had written years ago. Thus arises inconsistencies and plot holes after a while.

Because of what Scott has said and how his games’ narratives are laid out, it’s likely that he just writes a game’s story with, at best, some vague ideas or short-term thoughts of what he might do in the future (he’s admitted he had no plan beyond FNAF 1 when he made it). So there’s no physical way to “solve FNAF” because there is no solution that can take all the little details from all the games and the supplementary materials (like the logbook) into account.

So, as a storyteller, I find myself asking, “What’s the most satisfying solution from a narrative perspective? What feels the best?” Because, in cases like this, finding the one answer to everything when you’re talking about a ten-year series that was written by a pantser is a rather Sisyphean task.

So I really enjoy the theories that go “Assume nothing!” and “Everything you know is wrong!” because they often bring fresh interpretations and narratives to the table that can be incredibly interesting (that’s actually how I started watching your videos, ID), particularly because I don’t think it’s possible to have one satisfying right answer for this story that doesn’t contradict itself somewhere.

[eesakhan]

the math aint mathing the fnaf ain't fnaffing my brain aint braining

[-Jimini-]

You only briefly mention it but I still think:
“He tried to release you. He tried to release us.”
Is meant to refer to two different people. He [Michael] tried to release (just) you [in FNAF 3]. He [Henry] tried to release (both/all of) us [in FNAF 6].
And that’s why they say “They burn us.”

[remingtonfiore]

To see the fredbear jumpscare in ultimate custom night I believe you need to death coin golden Freddy, which sort of implies that you only death coin one of the spirits, while presumably cc remains to jump-scare you as fredbear as that’s what technically his soul possessed originally

[geckokid]

I just thought (sorry if this is stupid or has been said before) what if the reason Charlies mask is the last to fall is because she's staying a little bit longer to make sure everyone else has moved on safely and she's up on the hill so she can still watch over the others (also because that's where her parents decided to bury her)

[hsfhanaa]

I think what I liked most about DualProcess Theory was the way it seemed like they took everything we have at once and created it. As opposed to assumptions being made from fnaf 1 that the next games have to fit into. I like the points you made that I never considered. Fnaf theorizing is so fun

[venomfan]

3:05 I like to think that, before luring Cassidy into the back room, William put the Fredbear animatronic in suit mode to make space for Cassidy's body. And a little while after he "murdered" Cassidy (I put the word in quotation marks cuz maybe Cassidy was still unconsious, not dead when William put her in the Fredbear suit), Cassidy woke up in the Fredbear suit after-hours (when the pizzeria was closed), and tried to get out of the suit, but setting off the springlocks in the process, subjecting Cassidy to a slow, painful death, and since the pizzeria was closed for the night, nobody would've heard her cries for help. No wonder she has a personal grudge against William

[dreacranford]

I feel like the Cassette Man's (likely Henry's) words are misinterpreted or over interpreted to mean that Charlie was first. Here's the full speech for context: 

[Spoken: Cassette Man]

It's only now that I understand the depth of the depravity of this creature. This monster, that I unwillingly helped to create. As if what he had already done wasn't enough He found a new way to desecrate, to humiliate, to destroy. As if the suffering wasn't enough, the loss of innocence, the loss of everything to so many people.

Small souls trapped in prisons of my making, now set to new purpose. And used in ways I never thought imaginable.

He lured them all back, back to a familiar place. Back with familiar tricks. He brought them all together.

Are they still, aware? I hope not. It keeps me awake at night. I could make myself sleep, but not yet.

Not until I undo what he has done and heal this wound. A wound first inflicted on me, but one that I let bleed out to cause all of this.

He set some kind of trap. I don't know what it was, but he led them there, again. He overpowered them, again. And he robbed them of the only thing that they had, again. I don't know how those tiny breaths of life came to inhabit those machines, but they will never find rest now, not like this.

I have to call them all back, all of them. Together in one place.

Here's the line in question: "Not until I undo what he has done and heal this wound. A wound first inflicted on me, but then one that I left bleed out to cause all of this."

In the most popular interpretation, this "wound" is a metaphor for the victims being murdered/possessing the animatronics and by extension, its effect on the families of the victims.

Thus, the wound being first inflicted on him would mean that he and his family were the first to be victimized.

This would tie back to the line, "The loss of everything to so many people." This could theoretically encompass both the victims and the families.

 It's a valid interpretation, but it's definitely not the only one because the "wound, " here isn't clearly defined. Let's look at some other context clues.

He says that this wound was first inflicted on him. If your child were brutally killed, would you really center yourself and say that it was a wound inflicted on you? I know no one in FNAF is getting a father of the year award, but Henry is supposed to be one of the better ones.

He says it's a wound inflicted on him, not his daughter, not his family. Him.


Throughout the speech, Henry distinguishes his pain from the anguish of the victims', referring to them in the third person (so many people, lured them, overpowered them, called them, etc). This detachment tells me that his sees himself and his "wound" as separate from what happened to the victims.

Healing this "wound" involves undoing what Afton has done. Clearly it doesn't mean bringing them back to life. Putting people "back together " and using remnant as a form of immortality is Afton's deal.

So undoing what Afton has done means putting the dead to rest. In this case, the "wound" would be how the children are stuck and aware inside their animatronic that he discussed immediately before the "wound" line.

However, we're again stuck with the fact that, as far as we know, this is a wound he has never had inflicted on himself, but on his daughter.

And even then, Alton didn't "inflict" any life or awareness on the Puppet. It happened accidentally after the murder.

In fact, the Puppet wasn't even part of the incident he was talking about (lured to a familiar place and robbed again). Charlie's experiences aren't alluded to at all anywhere in this speech. It's all about the MCI and possibly confirming the molten MCI. 

So what could be "a wound first inflicted on me, but then one that I left bleed out to cause all of this" if not the death of Charlie and her subsequent existence in the Puppet?

The first time Henry uses the first person in this speech he says that, (presumably) Afton, is "this monster, that I unwillingly helped to create."

Later he says that the murder victims are "small souls trapped in prisons of my making..."

Throughout the speech, Henry's pain and guilt are tied more to his culpability as Afton's former partner and the creator of the animatronics than to his daughter's death. 

In many ways, Henry WAS Afton's first victim. Like the MCI victims, Henry was deceived and lulled into a false sense of security. He was the first person Afton tricked into doing his bidding. 

If Phone Guy's lines ('Whatever is happening, however tragic, has nothing to do with our establishment.') reflect the general disregard of the Fazbear leadership, then Henry might have defended Afton or delayed the police investigation into the MCI. His blind trust in Afton could have allowed more children to be killed, including his own. 

Henry was there at the beginning. As he says in the first line, he helped create a monster. He should have realized what Afton was up to, but he didn't.

That's what I believe this "wound" is. It is Henry's role in creating the circumstances that allowed Afton to kill.

Alternatively, Henry is a robot/remnant monster/nightmare gas/sound disc victim and the first person Afton experimented on. Maybe Henry allowed it because of his guilt that the Crying Child died in his animatronic. Maybe Henry was an actual accomplice.

But whatever this speech means, it's not the smoking gun that Charlie died first that people claim it is. It's just as ambiguous as everything else and up for interpretation.

[LadyOnikara]

A couple things I know for sure about Golden Freddy:
He's one of my favorite characters along with Lefty.
The kid who represents him in the movie is a GREAT actor. That kid was super creepy and I loved it.

[k.amik.o]

Nothing like a FNaF video to confuse myself with on a tranquil Saturday evening. ❤

[Shyruni]

While I do think there is a lot of room to debate Dual Process, the part I actually like a lot and hope the devs go for in the future IS exploring "the one you should not have killed". The fact that at best we have a name for the only kid with this severe level of personal vendeta with Afton is super unsatisfying for me. I'm not generally one that thinks everything in FNaF needs a connection, but the fact that such an important role is just some random kid has always bothered me, and I appreciate that Dual Process tried to help that a bit. I only hope future games can add more context to the person.

[edgarallanpoelagusmarjorita]

i appreciate the genuine interaction with the dual process theory video. i've seen a lot of people post clickbait-y videos with titles like, "did they SOLVE fnaf?!?" with little to no analysis of the contents. it's refreshing to see someone genuinely break down the evidence and discuss what works for and against the theory!

[nathanielh]

I remember how in the Dual Process video when they introduced this idea the first thing they said was “Time to get mauled by the entire fanbase!”. Nope, instead their theories are just getting picked apart piece by piece to see what works and what doesn’t, because at the end of the day that’s just how this community does it

[Flipsidetheories]

It's honestly pretty shocking to come back to the fandom and see just how much duel process theory absolutely turned the theorist community on its head. I have to give them credit, they definitely left an impact.

[jonathanhibberd]

The reason I like DPT's theory is because it simplifies so much. There's no Afton child that is one of the major deaths in the franchise but also completely unnamed. No 5th victim named Cassidy who is somehow completely unknown and yet one of the most powerful entities in the entire franchise. Every victim has a name.

And it gives Vengeful Spirit motive, means, and opportunity. The reason why this entity is so powerful and so full of hate for William is because of everything we've seen Michael go through - seeing his brother get killed by his dad's invention, being tortured by his father, attacked by ghosts for years, getting killed, and living as an undead being sustained by Remnant for years/decades. That gives motive, and the remnant empowering him gives him means.

We know from the Easter Egg model that only 4 of the 5 MCI victims were taken to Sister Location to become Ennard/Molten Freddy - the victims in Freddy, Chica, Foxy, and Bonnie. No Golden Freddy. Scrap Baby is Elizabeth. Lefty is Charlie. And Scraptrap is William. The only other person killed in the Pizzeria Simulator fire was Michael. So Cassidy (either as crying child or MCI#5) wasn't there. Then how did he end up attached to William's soul? Where's the opportunity for Cassidy to be the vengeful spirit of UCN? There isn't. But there is for Michael to be.

Also, the name in the book doesn't make sense if it's "random 5th victim". It's the Altered Text and Michael that provide the clues. Not Faded Text. How do Crying Child and Michael know Faded Text's name in order to set up the puzzle? There are zero context clues to who Faded Text is, so how would Michael know in order to put that clue in? And for that matter, why use clues at all? Why doesn't Faded Text just write it? They can do that if it's actually Faded Text trying to introduce themself. It's Altered Text who can only change text, not write.

Likewise, how does Faded Text know so much about Crying Child if it's just some random kid who got killed? How does this random kid know that Crying Child had a purple phone toy? You know who might know that? The child of his father's business partner, who was around the same age and likely spent time with their family.

Take a look at the good ending of Happiest day. The first frame shows four victims at a party, all wearing masks - Freddy, Chica, Foxy, and Bonnie, as well as the puppet. And a 5th CRYING victim who gets the Golden Freddy mask. "The party was for me." Altered Text. The Crying Child. Cassidy Afton.

There are several reasons to remove CC's body from the springlock Freddy suit. First, Henry would probably notice the body of his partner's dead child inside the suit he routinely wore. That's going to lead to him calling the cops, probably searching the other animatronics, and uncovering the whole thing. Maybe even discovering enough evidence to tie it to William. Second, even if Henry doesn't get in the suit, the police are going to check it as one of the two possible suits used by the killer. And then we're back to finding the other kids.

Every theory has evidence that doesn't fit. If there was a theory that fit all the evidence, we wouldn't be here. But what this theory does have is a clean timeline, no loose ends, and a narratively satisfying conclusion that just makes sense in a way no other theory has come close to so far.