WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Five Nights at Freddy’s.
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Summary
What happened to Mike’s younger brother, Garrett, traumatized the main character and now motivates him. William Afton, disguised as Steve Raglan, killed several children, who now possess the animatronics in the pizzeria. Garrett’s ghost does not appear in the movie, but there are theories that he may be possessing the Puppet or have some connection to Balloon Boy. A potential sequel could explore Garrett’s fate further.
Garrett, being Mike’s younger brother, played an important role in the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie due to his shocking fate. Adapted from a popular video game series that began in 2014, Five Nights at Freddy’s focuses on eerie animatronics that reside within an abandoned family entertainment center. The protagonist, Mike takes on a new security guard role in the pizzeria to keep everything in check, including watching the animatronics and keeping trespassers out. Unbeknownst to the man, the friendly-looking machines come to life because of a very haunting reason that is only fully revealed during the Five Nights at Freddy’s ending.
Throughout the film, audiences learn more about the entertainment center and meet Five Nights at Freddy’s characters like Vanessa, Abby, and Steve Raglan. As the narrative unfolds and Mike experiences his nightmarish dreams while on guard duty, the truth about Garrett eventually comes to light. Since Five Nights at Freddy’s is a horror movie, it doesn’t fail to maintain a haunting but upsetting theme. The chilling theme revolves around children and possessed animatronics, but the true fate of Mike’s younger brother is revealed near the end of the film, and it can be a lot to digest after the horrifying plot twist.
Related: Five Nights At Freddy’s 2: Release Date Prediction, Franchise Plans & Everything We Know
Garrett Was Kidnapped When Mike Was 12 Years Old
On the first night of Mike’s new job in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, he dreams about his younger brother’s kidnapping, which is something that has traumatized the protagonist ever since. The dream sequence showed Mike’s parents enjoying a picnic in the woods, but as Mike turned away to fetch a toy, he noticed his brother, Garrett, in the back of an unknown car. The suspect wore black clothing and clearly couldn’t be seen as they drove off. Although Mike attempted to run toward this car, he had lost his brother forever. This haunting moment took place when Mike was 12 years old and Garrett was around 4.
The movie soon reveals that Mike purposely takes sleeping pills to dream about that traumatic moment, as he wants to find hidden details that could lead him to Garrett’s kidnapper. One prominent concept in the film involves the Five Nights at Freddy’s dream theory, which is an idea that everyone can remember an exact experience using subconsciously ingrained details. By lucid dreaming, Mike is able to return to Garrett’s kidnapping to look for clues and gain some kind of closure. However, the more Mike dreams about his brother’s fate in the woods, the weirder things get as he interacts with five unknown children.
William Afton Killed Garrett Many Years Ago
It turns out that William Afton, disguised as the career counselor “Steve Raglan”, kidnapped and murdered Garrett many years ago. The exact reasoning for this is unknown, but William also confessed to murdering five other children in the pizzeria, who were now possessing the animatronics under his evil influence. His Five Nights at Freddy’s villain twist makes Garrett’s fate more gut-wrenching since Mike had met his kidnapper when looking for a new job, suggesting the evil man always had a way of killing people who got too close to discovering the truth.
Not much was revealed about Garrett’s significance to William all those years ago, but a second film could delve into that narrative. Theories suggest that William knew Mike’s parents and purposely grew closer to them in order to kidnap the youngest family member. A general reason would be that the Schmidt family was in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, it’s obvious that William is a psychopathic serial killer who enjoys manipulating and murdering innocent children while stuffing their bodies inside the animatronics. This eventually led to their souls taking over the friendly mascots, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy.
Garrett’s Ghost Does Not Appear In Five Nights At Freddy’s
Although the ghost children possessing the animatronics were present throughout the film, Garrett’s ghost never appeared. This could potentially set up a future narrative with Garrett’s soul being stuck inside another machine, especially with the “come find me” message hinting at a Five Nights at Freddy’s sequel. There are theories about Garrett possessing the Puppet, which is an animatronic who focuses on freeing the other children’s souls and helping them find peace, rather than seeking revenge. It’s also possible that Garrett has an attachment to Balloon Boy, the small figurine that scared Mike in his locker and appeared in the unnamed man’s cab in the Five Nights at Freddy’s mid-credits scene.
Even though audiences don’t actually see Garrett’s ghost, it’s possible that he was in the film somewhere. Director Emma Tammi gave a cryptic response regarding Garrett in Five Nights at Freddy’s, saying that she doesn’t want to shut down the idea of his ghost lurking in the movie out of sight. Saving his ghost reveal for the second film could create a compelling narrative since Mike has no choice but to return to the pizzeria and free himself. For now, audiences must wait for any upcoming sequels in the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise to learn what really happened to Mike’s younger brother.
Will Garrett Appear In Five Nights At Freddy’s 2?
Garrett appearing in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 would make sense when bringing back Mike and introducing other potential characters like the Puppet. Although it’s unclear whether a second film is even happening, there is room to show what happened to Garrett on that fateful day and why his ghost didn’t appear to Mike in the family entertainment center. He could also appear in flashbacks and extended dream sequences, depending on whether the directors want to revisit his kidnapping when delving into his tragic backstory. Regardless, there are plenty of elements Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 could tackle.
Aside from Garrett making a potential appearance, there are other character predictions that could come to life in the next film. Some Five Nights at Freddy’s Easter eggs referencing the video games reveal Circus Baby, another creepy animatronic related to Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location, which could leave room for a potential spinoff movie. It’s even possible that Garrett possessed Circus Baby since the film doesn’t follow the exact lore from the video games, but this still remains a theory. For now, it is established Garrett was kidnapped and murdered by William Afton, also known as the “yellow rabbit”, who lured children away to murder them in Five Nights at Freddy’s.