Huge Fnaf Rant... Theories abt game Michael vs. movie Michael (mostly)
I saw somebody use the bite of '83 as evidence that game Michael, in their words, was "evil all along". So here's this giant rant.
I think Michael in the movie is so evil because he doesn't have to deal with the guilt of the bite of '83, (since it was replaced by the kidnapping of Garrett in the first movie; Not to mention, Fredbear's Family Diner doesn't even exist in the movie because the first ever location in that universe was said to be the Fnaf 2 location). Without that guilt, there's no extreme turning point in his life to give him any character development, therefore leading him to grow up to be willingly subservient to William. On the other hand, Michael in the games does have to deal with that guilt, and from what you can tell about him from the little we have, he might be following his father's orders almost out of obligation, or maybe guilt for killing his brother; and it's obvious that he doesn't really want anything to do with Freddy's, (if you read into the tone of his speech, it's very obvious that he has this lethargic tone with a hint of sarcasm, and is overall very tired of his father, especially after figuring out the last bits and pieces of what he was doing back in the 80s, [Circus Baby/Elizabeth implies his ignorance throughout the entirety of sister location]. You can also reference the logbook, since it has notes and doodles that lead you in the direction that implies he's not a fan of the franchise, himself, or his past actions; and it takes place during the events of sister location. It also displays his coping mechanisms and further develops him as a character in general). After sister location is a definite point where Michael starts flat out refusing to do anything else for his father, and threatens to come find him; which begins the 'righting of their wrongs'. Now, I'm not saying game Michael is this saint or that he was ever a good person, he's actually a pretty good representation of a morally grey character. But to say that the bite was done with malicious and premeditated intent from Michael, when in reality it was a terrible prank on his brother because he was an asshole teenager who liked to cross the line and had no idea it was going to end that way, is an unfair assumption or judgement. Now, does that excuse the fact he was bullying his brother to a horrific point and traumatizing degrees? No, absolutely not. But does he spend the rest of his life trying to redeem himself for the things he did and the things he did for his father, (and not to mention clean up and put an end to his father's actions)? Yes. On the other hand, movie Michael shows no interest in redemption for himself or his father; he seeks the exact opposite and doubles down. I think, instead of looking at movie Michael for a parallel to game Michael, and assessing game Michael's character based off that, we should look to movie Michael as a parallel for game Elizabeth.
Now in this next bit, I'm going to explain a few parallels and mirrors between characters, and how I think there are multiple parallels per character linked to another singular character.
In the first movie, we already have a representation for the Afton siblings through the Schmidt siblings, (now bear with me here, I'm going to tie this back to the movie Aftons in a minute). Those siblings are Mike as Michael, for he's painted as "responsible" for Garrett's kidnapping, like Michael with the bite of '83. Then, Garrett as C.C., because he was the victim in the kidnapping, subbed for bite. Then, finally, Abby as Elizabeth. They are all more physical/visual representatives in my mind. I think Mike and Garrett are supposed to be more aligned to Michael and C.C., but Abby is more up in the air, since she's missing a big part of Elizabeth's character, which is the undeniable hunger for parental approval. Which, this hunger is what leads Elizabeth to carry out William's wishes, even in death. There is nothing she wouldn't do for her father, including betray her own sibling; like movie Michael. In the movies, Michael assumes the role as Elizabeth; for Vanessa is seen as the "good sibling" who goes against William's grain. Elizabeth in the games is characterized with this craze and obsession of reuniting with her father for the opposite reasons of Michael, she wants to help him because she believes what he's doing is right no matter who tries to convince her otherwise, or save her. In her voice lines, she constantly has a tone that makes it seem like she believes she's above the protagonist, who is Michael, and says things like: "You played right into our hands, did you really think this job just fell out of the sky for you? No. This was a gift... for us.", (Pizzeria Sim), "You gathered them together all in one place, just like he asked you to.", (Pizzeria Sim; teasing Michael about his task in sister location). "Now we can do what we were created to do, and be complete... I will make you proud, daddy!", (Pizzeria Sim). "I'm curious what events would lead a person to want to spend their nights in a place like this, willingly... maybe curiosity... maybe ignorance...", (Sister Location; even when appearing innocent she still takes a jab at Michael, alluding to the fact that he doesn't really know what's going on or the real reason he's down there). "You're in the scooping room. Do you know why they call it the scooping room? It's because, dummy, this is the room where they use the scooper. I thought that would be obvious. Isn't that a fun name for something? The scooper. It sounds like something you would use for ice cream, or custard, or sprinkles. It sounds like something you would want at your birthday party, to ensure that you get a heaping portion of every. Good. Thing. I wonder though, if you were a freshly opened pint of ice cream, how you would feel about something with that name... Thankfully, I don't think a freshly opened pint of ice cream feels anything at all.", (Sister Location; she is actively teasing Michael for being naive enough to believe her, and talks to him like he's a toddler. She then uses the pint of ice cream as foreshadowing and an obvious allegory for Michael, saying she doesn't really care how he feels about the situation. When she says "every good thing", I believe she's pretty much referring to 'every good thing' that keeps Michael alive, as in his organs, or 'every good thing' that's about to be inside of him the next night, which is no other than Ennard. I think it's less likely to be the latter just because of her referring to Michael as the ice cream, but I'd take either interpretation; especially since it doesn't effect the outcome or the connotation of it; or the secret third option, which I also enjoy very much, a double meaning). Elizabeth in almost all of her dialogue is abrasive towards Michael, or talking about how proud she wants her father to be of her. She antagonizes Michael not because that's what she wants, exactly, but because it's what her father would want. Elizabeth, no matter what, will always choose her father.
Now, movie Michael also talks to his sibling, Vanessa, in a similar tone of superiority, and talks about his father in a good light and what they're 'supposed' to do for him. He talks about family, and William's right to them, and how he wants to carry out William's legacy, despite Vanessa trying to tell him they could have a normal life, (which is similar to Michael trying to help Elizabeth and 'free' her, even though in the end she uses him and his literal skin). This all shows that same craving for parental approval that Elizabeth has, especially the legacy shit. Another thing that movie Michael does is deliberately drawing in innocent people because he knew what would happen, and Elizabeth does similar things to other Fazbear Employees, (reference the hung technicians you see during night 5 of sister location and the many implied deaths before that by hand unit), and game Michael himself. Movie Michael talking about carrying out his father's legacy is something I want to discuss further. He is obviously obsessed with doing exactly as his father would, implied by his Dave Miller-esc introduction, (which I believe is supposed to serve as another parallel as a small nod to The Sliver Eyes), with the Spectral Scoopers crew. He shows them around and then smiles with a beam of pride as horrible things start happening to them; that is until Charlie, or the movie's version of the vengeful spirit, (which I might elaborate upon in a different post), gets involved. He acts just as his father would, because that's what his father would want; just like game Elizabeth. Elizabeth uses words like 'our' and 'us' when she talks to Michael in Pizzeria Sim, and movie Michael does the same when giving Vanessa his whole family speech, which goes, and I quote: "Is that what you thought, Vanessa? You thought you could just trade us in, betray us, get yourself a shiny, new life? You are his child. You have a purpose. We will always be his. Come home.". Which this line is extremely similar to an aforementioned Elizabeth lines: "You played right into our hands, did you really think this job just fell out of the sky for you? No. This was a gift... for us.". and "Now we can do what we were created to do, and be complete... I will make you proud, daddy!", and additionally: "It feels like home...". Their dialogue is far too similar for movie Michael to be a parallel to game Michael, when Elizabeth is right there. Everything about them is far too similar for game Michael to be the true parallel to movie Michael, the only thing they really have in common is their names and that they worked for their fathers at some point, (even if it was for entirely different reasons).
Elizabeth in sister location talks about the other animatronics, and implies they are not as smart as she is. And she is right, they are obviously not as conscious as she is, especially if you hear her dialogue when actually talking to the other animatronics. She talks to them as if she's explaining something to a child, "He is here to help, Ballora. He is not here to hurt us. Ballora, he is here to help us.". She consistently uses them and their aggression towards Michael as an orchestrative and manipulative tactic; not only putting Michael's life at risk, but using the guidance she gave him to build trust just to ultimately turn it around and stab him in the back by the end of the game. Movie Michael uses the toy animatronics and later Charlie's anger to continue his father's work; using them and orchestrating them to his will, just like Elizabeth.
The only thing that differentiates movie Michael and Elizabeth is that Elizabeth is a little girl who died idolizing her father no matter how much he ignored her, (and probably suffered from his manipulation), and movie Michael is a grown ass man who decided to carry out his father's legacy instead of end it.
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