FNaF: Elizabeth Afton’s “Character” “Arc”
I was pretty sure for the longest time that she straight-up didn’t have one. In the voice lines in Sister Location that play through Michael’s head between nights, we really only see a bratty, disobedient, whiny, and entitled side of her, and by the end of the series, she wants to kill people with her dad.
Not the most flattering look, I’ll admit.
Some argued “but she’s corrupted by Baby’s programming! That’s what makes her want to kill!” Unfortunately, this would mean Elizabeth’s only appearance in the games that we can definitively say is 100% her and not corrupted in any way is the bratty annoying girl bugging Purple Guy in Sister Location. If this theory’s true, not only does Elizabeth not really grow throughout the series, (contrast with both victim!Mike and bro!Mike having interesting development in their respective theories,) but there’s no change. There’s no time for change if there’s only a solid thirty seconds of pure, raw, uncorrupted Elizabeth action.
(And, no, I’m not including FNaF 4′s Pigtail girl. I’m not sure how much of a difference that would make if I did, though.)
These two seem to coexist, but not in a contradicting way.
When Circus Baby tells the story of how she “was on stage once,” she speaks from the animatronic’s perspective and refers to the little girl, Elizabeth, in the third person, leading many to assume the girl Baby “still hears sometimes” is a separate intelligence.
However, I believe this is a manipulation tactic - first, because that totally lines up with Baby’s motivation and other actions, making Eggs think she’s totally not haunted and definitely trustworthy - but second, because Scrap Baby seems very much like she’s speaking from Elizabeth’s perspective after dropping the facade of Sister Location, saying things like “it feels like home” and “it feels like my birthday.”
Animatronics can indeed speak from the perspective of the robot and the child. Withered Chica, in Ultimate Custom Night, says “I was the first” as Susie, and “Let me show you how to break your face and look like me” as Chica.
Henry addresses Scrap Baby as “Elizabeth” - I’m not claiming he knows exactly how possession of this lot works, but being a character in this universe that was friends with William for a good while, he knows Elizabeth better than we do, and I trust his judgement that this is really her.
SL’s Fake Ending also seamlessly flows from Circus Baby’s lines to Elizabeth Afton’s voice saying a lot of those same lines, but more innocently. And, yes, this could very well be Funtime Freddy’s voice mimic at work, but that’s the exact kind of manipulation I was talking about earlier with Baby referring to Elizabeth in the third person. Y’know, to trick you.
So in other words, it’s not that Baby’s AI talks to us and we only get a small glimpse of Elizabeth; it’s likely all Elizabeth, including Circus Baby.
Elizabeth is aware of Baby’s AI. We definitely see Baby’s programming overtake her in the mini-game when she devours Elizabeth, and it seems Elizabeth acknowledges this programming.
It’s also seems as though Elizabeth hates it.
Something bad happened yesterday. Something bad always happens. I don’t want it to happen again. There is something bad inside of me. I’m broken. I can’t be fixed. I’m going to be taken to the Scooping Room soon, but it’s not going to fix what’s wrong with me. What is bad is always left behind. Will you help me?
There are a few ways to interpret the “bad thing” that happened, and “bad thing” that’s inside of her that can’t be fixed.
This is spoken on Night 5, and only two things really happened on Night 4: she kidnapped Eggs Benedict, and killed the technicians. And if so, this would definitely seem like Baby’s programming forced Elizabeth to do it, meaning Elizabeth is speaking from the heart here. I doubt this is an AI talking about how she has a little girl telling her to do evil shit.
However, I think the bad thing inside her... might be Elizabeth. Hear me out.
Either it’s Baby’s killer-robot programming, or Elizabeth’s spirit. Thing is, it seems like Elizabeth is aware that the Ennard plot won’t get rid of the problem. Her going to the Scooping Room won’t fix what’s wrong with her.
But, I’d argue Baby’s programming is most likely gone by Scrap Baby. I definitely don’t think Baby, the robot, would by physically functional if it weren’t haunted by a child. So narratively, it seems most appropriate that the thing wrong with Baby, the thing that can’t be fixed, is that Elizabeth’s bound to the animatronic.
And if that’s all the case... that’s incredibly tragic, isn’t it? That what Elizabeth wants more than anything else is to finally be at rest?
Hell, she has to scoop out the insides of a loved one and use their body as a hiding place in order to escape an endless cycle of torture and anger. It makes sense she’s hesitant to do this, and feels remorse that there wasn’t a better solution. That she couldn’t just make the souls disappear.
So if Elizabeth’s consciousness isn’t being overwritten, or destroyed, or corrupted, by evil robo-programming, then what’s her story?
Well, I think Elizabeth considers Baby a separate entity. Baby was made just for her, as a friend, a playmate. Someone who was designed for her to play with. And I think Elizabeth’s arc comes down to a conflict between wanting her friend to be happy, and wanting the approval of her father.
It makes perfect sense that Elizabeth would have the interests of Circus Baby in mind, and the acknowledgement of her programming would only reinforce this. Hence the conflict here.
According to Michael, Baby thought Eggs was William. In Elizabeth’s mind, she isn’t scooping out her brother’s organs, but her father’s. The father she loves, and seeks the attention and approval of. That’s why she insists he won’t die; she’s reconciling with herself. It’s not that painful, right?
She’s torn between her father’s love, and the friend she died for.
Which is why the ultimate conclusion to her character is...
You played right into our hands, did you really think that this job just fell out of the sky for you? No. This was a gift, for us. You gathered them all together in one place, just like he asked you to. All of those little souls, in one place, just for us, a gift. Now we can do what we were created to do, and be complete! I will make you proud, Daddy! Watch, listen, and be full.
Elizabeth thinks that Freddy Fauxbear’s was an excuse to get all the souls in one place, (which was dead-on,) but more specifically gathering the souls so she and William could... be complete?
If Elizabeth’s inner conflict is between the interests of her father and the Baby animatronic, this is the perfect end goal for her. She wants to be reunited to William - to earn his forgiveness. In order to be complete, Elizabeth feels she and Dear ol’ Dad need each other.
This conflict began when William took back his promise that Baby would be a gift just for Elizabeth. She loved him, and wanted to be the best daughter she could be, but a single act of disobedience tore William’s heart, and most of Elizabeth’s organs, in two. By the end, she went from a sweet girl putting her desire for William’s attention aside and being bad for one crucial tragic moment, to embracing being bad and pretty much downright evil through her love of her father. From complaining about not having something she wanted and neglecting what she did have, to finally getting... or thinking she got...
Everything.
