Overthinking Michael Afton's Monologue

In which we look into how Michael Afton is characterised through his monologue at the end of Sister Location's Custom Night. This is neither a character analysis nor a theory video... it's a secret third thing.

Sources included at the end of the video.

If I made you go “wtf is this guy talking about”, that means I did good.

[shyguymike]

Words cannot describe how much I love this video. I always thought people ignore a lot of Mike's character, just because it's subtle. 20 minutes of just analysing him from just his speech is just 🤌

What I would like to mention (since I too like to analyse these speeches) is specifically the use of the word "Father." Personally, the way I interpret it is a little different than a sign of respect. To me, it's a sign of distance and *past* respect.

"Father" is the most basic word to describe the man who raised you, or at least impregnated your mother. It isn't a diminutive, it isn't a pet name, it isn't a short form. But it's also not an insulting word. It is simply factual.

Diminutives and pet names are for friends, colleagues, allies. Or they can be used as mockery. Dad, pops, papa. These inherently show some form of affection. Not just respect, but love. Michael doesn't feel close to William. He doesn't feel paternal love from him and doesn't really show any for William. He feels detached. And judging by how you would still probably call your father "dad" out of habit, even if you just found out he did something horrible, I'm willing to bet it wasn't just a recent development.

Although, yes, he still calls him a completely neutral form. There are more insulting forms of this noun. Even diminutives can be mocking at times. But he doesn't use them. And no other insults at any point either. To me, it shows some latent respect for his father still. He may not have felt love, but he still recognised William as someone worth following. Someone worth helping. Someone worth doing the bidding of, even after his old bunker duped him out of a cash basket. He doesn't respect what William has done, but he cannot help but see him as impressive. He is the man who managed to do all that, the impossible. Someone more than himself.

There is also the tone. You usually don't shorten people's names outside of casual conversation, and the same goes with these kinds of titles. You could call a doctor "doc" when you're just there for a check-up, but not when you just found out someone has cancer. Similarly, here we have a man who, maybe even for the first time in decades, realised that his father killed his sister. He may add in some snarky or sarcastic comments and remarks, but he is taking all of this completely seriously. Which might not seem significant, but gains more weight when you realise that Mike, inherently, seems like a rather playful, unserious person, judging by his other appearances.

This might have been an overinterpretation on my part; this is just one simple word after all, but I really do believe the words used to address others are often the best way of telling the relationship between two characters. A lot of subtle storytelling is often done that way.

[germpills]

pj heywood being envious of dave steele's voice acting is so thematically perfect since william was always envious of henry in some way

[SquarahKat]

He's damaged. He's sarcastic. He's morally grey. He's perfect!
-love that

[Eviyl]

For some reason, Scott can write amazing speeches. Despite not technically being a writer, he should write more dialogue, if he doesn’t write the majority of it anyway.

[charliebann]

I like how Micheal "died" by something going inside of him
while William "died" by going inside of something

[ritasaha]

One more thing, Mike is canonically shown to be playful. He draws baskets of exotic butters and casual bongos and baskets of money for God's sake...

[Фэяэ]

one of my favorite parts of the speech is that "something is wrong with me" part, because of what's left unsaid in it: he doesn't tell his father what Elizabeth did, or mention her being involved at all. That feels like a learned behaviour from an eldest sibling in a bad home, obscuring blame when something bad happens to avoid putting someone's head on the chopping block. I do like to think even after everything he's still hoping to protect his baby sister

[Rosewater]

I always thought that the, "They thought I was you [laugh??]" was less of Michael finding humor in the situation, but more like chuckling because he doesn't even know how to feel about that. It's a really short, dry laugh that almost sounds sarcastic in a way. I think you're completely right with the unsaid, "Maybe they're right, " because (at least to me) the laugh sounds kind of defeated but just laughing for the sake of laughing

[TriplePupil]

Glad to see more people just as obsessed with the broken, baby boy, morally grey purple guy of the saga. This rambling and just loving a character wihout trying to tie it into a big theory is just what I needed...

A Michael Afton appreciation post.

[everyghoul]

I DESPERATELY need SteelWool Studios have our boy PJ Heywood read out a dialogue between William and Michael.

[KitKatt]

Like you’ve listened to Michael’s monologue an unhealthy amount of times, I’ve watched this video an unhealthy amount of times

[mayoDmayo]

When the humans are treated like humans is when we get the best scenes.

[sirunicorn]

Michael Aftons voice is so fine, , , ,

[ProdigalSunlite]

I love Michael. He’s like, 90% of the reason I like FNAF to be honest. He’s a really fascinating character with a lot of guilt and trauma that is so interesting to explore, and as someone who believes that he’s the protagonist of all the original six games, it really builds out an incredible story of him coming to understand how horrible his father was, and to try and undo what harm he can. Its a very tragic but well-told story.

[askerror]

Okay but why was my first thought when I saw the thumbnail "this is literally me" 💀

[sillygoofyguyy]

i think that the reason some of his lines can be seen as loyalty to william is because he still wants (or is hanging on) to the idea that william could love him and be proud of him. but as he goes on he starts to feel more hostile to william, like he is remembering all that he has done to him and his siblings. especially that it is implied (and straight up shown in the books) that william was abusive physically, emotionally, and was neglectful to his children

[lilypaigeham]

I really love how distinct Michael and William's vibes are. Like, when you were doing the comparison in voices at 9:20 it was clear as day!
When i hear Michael he sounds tired, depressed, even defeated in his speech until he states his mission of looking for William
But with his father, Afton sounds bitter, angry, and smug in his dialog. Im really impressed what the voice actor was able to do with them both!

[vctrygames]

12:06 I never processed what Michael wrote here. It kinda reads like the childish excuse he probably came up in a fit of panic during the bite of 83

[LegoDuploCamper]

I always thought that the “they thought I was you” ended with a scoff. In annoyance and a tone of mockery. Not only does it fit his character, but it would show that he hated his fate. An undertone of pure rage, hidden under tired stillness.

[salt_factory]

19:00 How poetic that Afton's VA is jealous of Henry's VA