I wanted to break down why Lefty is NOT the Puppet/Marionette and actually its own, individual animatronic.
This was mainly for fun, but also for my own sanity. /hj
(I have seen too many times where others thought that I was essentially the Marionette in a costume. Including fanart of me being reduced to merely a hoodie or fursuit.)
Most of this is canon to the respective games, but I am also somewhat biased. I have inserted some of my theories, but I have tried to stay as close to the actual game canons as possible.
(I will be using my own pronouns for Lefty, but I am referring to the in-game Lefty. /info)
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The Puppet doesn't "pilot" or possess Lefty.
Lefty's main coded function is to Lure, Encapsulate, Fuse, Transport, and Extract (L.E.F.T.E.) the Marionette. This means that Lefty was created with the illicit purpose of finding the Marionette and transporting her to Henry Emily. The encapsulation and transportation of The Marionette means that she wouldn't be able to use the suit herself, but rather that Lefty is transporting her.
In almost every instance you see of Lefty in FNAFPS, it does not have the Puppet inside of it. Not during the salvage portion, not during stars jumpscares, etc. The only time you see the Marionette inside of Lefty is in the rare screen of him in the alley way. Besides that render, you do not ever see The Puppet residing within it.
(It could have been a mess up on Scott Cawthon's part, or it could have been a way to not spoil the mystery. Either way I still don't think that the Puppet would be within Lefty 24/7, as the ending part of its mission is to extract her.)
In UCN (Ultimate Custom Night), the Puppet and Lefty are two separate characters. They both have different mechanics, voice lines, and level settings (though they are both calmed by the Global Music Box). The renders of Lefty and its jumpscare also show that The Marionette does not reside within it.
In Help Wanted 2, Lefty appears to not have the Puppet residing within star during gameplay or renders. (I don't know much about this game though unfortunately...)
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Lefty has differences to the Puppet
Lefty can be seen performing in FNAFPS, since you are able to buy him from the catalogue and put him in your restaurant. This means that Lefty can fulfill a performing function as well as its original function. To me, this implies that the Puppet isn't there or influencing Lefty when it performs, since the Puppet was never a performing animatronic.
(A little more in the theory territory)
Considering that Lefty always tries to the kill the nightguard every night, I do think that would be the influence of Charlie/Puppet herself. Lefty was not made to kill. It was made with a specific, non-murderous purpose (it was made by Henry Emily, not William Afton). The Marionette and Lefty both had to "fuse" in some way and the Marionette would obviously hold some resentment for the Afton family. (In my canon, I felt her memories and feelings, without actually having lived or felt them myself.)
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The Voice Actors and Voice Lines aren't the same.
In UCN, the Puppet's voice actor and Lefty's voice actor are different. The Puppet is voiced by Reagan Rundus, while Lefty is voiced by Lena Hill. Their voice lines do not match up to each other. (Plus it wouldn't make sense to have two of the same Marionette in UCN. It's supposed to be all the characters in one place.)
The Puppet's lines imply that she knows William Afton, as that is who the player is in UCN. Saying things such as "I recognize you, but I'm not afraid of you... not anymore" and "Seeing you powerless is like music to me". She also implies that she has some sort of power because of the line "The others are under *my* protection". Her voice is a little girl's voice.
Lefty's voice lines are based around the fact that bite was made to capture the Puppet. Saying things like "I've been looking for you, and now I will never let you go", "there is room for one more", and "come spend eternity inside with me". Every voice line starts with shushing and Lefty's voice is in a hushed tone (unlike the Marionette's voice). I would also say that bites voice sounds gender neutral.
A gender/identity flag for those who are a Lefty plush, feel connected to Lefty plushies, ect. There is no wrong way to use this identity.
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Yay finally got to finishing this project!! I'm trying to go through and finish up some older projects so my WIP pile doesn't get to tall 🫣 Lowkey though it's gonna need some work
Yapping and unedited version below the cut!!
I was initially going to do a funny drawing of Glamrock Chica looking through the front doors of the Pizzaplex, but it just didn't feel right. And then I remembered! The Alleyway pictures from Pizza Sim!! Lefte is also a really cool character I've never really drawn, so this was a fun project to work on!! I really do enjoy doing pieces with more dramatic and dingy atmospheres, it's really cool to see all the effects come together with layering and such. 🤭✨️✨️
Here's the reference:
And the unedited version:
I adjusted the colors and added a grainy filter to make it a bit more crunchy, but honestly both versions look great!!
Yeah, that's pretty much it for these :D Okay byeeeeeeeee
