Jumpscares (FNaF1)

The original Five Nights at Freddy's Steam screenshot of Bonnie jumpscaring the player.

This is a list of all jumpscares in Five Nights at Freddy's.

Overview

The Game Over screen, brightened. (The "Game Over" text omitted.)

There are many deaths the protagonist Mike Schmidt can experience while working at his shift. They all occur in the form of a jumpscare and end in the player receiving a Game Over screen (except Golden Freddy, who closes the game instead, or freezes it in the mobile version).

Running Out of Power

This is a very common way to die, especially for newer players, as they tend to waste a lot of power during the night. If the player happens to run out of power, the room will go dark, any Doors that have been closed will open, the HUD will disappear, and the player will be forced to wait in the dark for a few moments. In some beta stages, the doors were planned to switch their states (open → closed, closed → open), rather than closing up. In the next build all doors shut, which almost always cut off Freddy Fazbear's jumpscare. From the final version of the game (v1.0) on, the doors were opened, no matter what state they were in.

Freddy Fazbear's footsteps can be heard out in the West Hall during this brief period. Then, the player will see Freddy's illuminated face flickering in the left door. As his face flashes in the darkness, a playful, music box-like version of the song "Toreador March" will play.

The Office when the power runs out, with Freddy in the doorway, animated.

After a short while, the screen will go black for a random amount of time before Freddy jumps up and screams at the player, ending the game. Before Freddy's jumpscare, his footsteps are audible, which can prepare the player for the jumpscare.

Freddy's jumpscare was thought to be able to be postponed by sitting still and not moving the cursor to look across the screen, but this was proven false as the time between Freddy's Toreador March and Freddy's attack are completely randomized, with no connection between player input and Freddy.

Animatronics

The animatronics (Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy) can all come after the player, wandering around Freddy Fazbear's Pizza until arriving at the Office doors. If the player leaves a door open while a character is outside, that character will go into the office. the next time they put down the Monitor, the character will be in the player's face screaming as the background shakes violently, resulting in a game over. Bonnie appears to be the most aggressive of the three main animatronics. They take different paths, with Bonnie approaching from the left and Chica approaching from the right. As such, Bonnie always appears in the left door, and Chica always appears in the right door. If the player is viewing the Monitor and hears the faint sound of breathing/moaning, it means that either Bonnie or Chica will be waiting to attack when the screen is lowered.

Unlike the other three animatronics, Foxy stays in Pirate Cove until he is triggered to attack, which happens when the player watches the cameras too little. It was proven that looking too much at the cameras doesn't actually trigger Foxy - he will keep missing his movement opportunities until the camera is down. He will then sprint down the West Hall toward the Office. To determine whether Foxy is or will shortly be attacking, the player can check on CAM 1C; if the curtains concealing Pirate Cove are open and Foxy is missing, he is already on his way (Rarely, when checking on CAM 1C and Foxy is on his way, the sign in front of Pirate Cove will say "IT'S ME," instead of saying "Sorry! -Out of Order-") However, whether or not the camera is viewed does not determine whether he's coming; he can and will attack the player if neglected.

Viewing the West Hall once Foxy has left will trigger his sprint animation, leaving the player with only a few seconds to close the door. If Foxy reaches the room and the left door is closed, he will simply bang on it four times before returning to Pirate Cove. Whenever he bangs on the door, some of the player's power is drained as a result. The percentage of power drained follows the equation 5n-4%, where n is the number of times Foxy has attacked, including the current one. He would, therefore, drain 1% the first time he comes to the door, 6% for the second, then 11%, 16% and so on. If he were to show up 7 times (which is impossible), he would drain the remaining power completely. A method commonly employed to delay Foxy's attack is to view Pirate Cove, and if he is missing, immediately shut the left door, then view CAM 2A to trigger his sprint. He will then simply bang on the door and reset.

Despite being able to view Pirate Cove to temporarily stop Foxy's attacks, it is not possible to stop them completely, meaning that Foxy must always be of a high priority.

Further into the game, Freddy will begin to advance towards the player. He is more direct when it comes to reaching the player, staying in the dark and out of view as he beelines toward the Office. It should be noted that he never backs away, unlike the others. He never appears in the right-side door's blind spot, but can sneak in while the player is not looking. His movements are accompanied by a low-pitched, slow laugh. It should also be noted that when Freddy is at the East Hall corner (CAM 4B), he can move from that position by one room over.

Keeping a heavy eye on him will backfire, so it's better to close the right door and check for Bonnie and Foxy. If Freddy is in the Dining Area or Restrooms or on the Show Stage, it's safe to open the right door as long as Chica's not there. Freddy's movements will be slowed down when the player views him on the cameras, so arguably the best way to counter him is to check the stage alongside Pirate Cove until he moves. Then the player can simply check his new location alongside Pirate Cove.

Bonnie does not appear to possess the ability to run like Foxy does, as shown in the trailer. Instead, he has the ability to seemingly teleport directly into every area along the left side of the building, except the Office. It is possible that Bonnie can run, but is not seen, as whenever he moves the cameras go out for a brief moment.

Once a player sees Bonnie or Chica in the doorway, the doors and lights will be disabled if the player continues to stare at them. Then, if the player goes back to looking at the cameras, the animatronic will attack as soon as the cameras are put away, prompting a game over. This can be avoided by simply closing the door immediately after noticing Bonnie or Chica at the entrance.

Golden Freddy

Golden Freddy attacking the player, animated.

Golden Freddy is a secret fifth enemy that appears under certain conditions: on any night, especially Night 1 and Night 3, there's a small chance that the poster in the West Hall Corner (CAM 2B) can change from a picture of Freddy to the picture of Golden Freddy.

If the player then exits the Monitor without switching cameras, Golden Freddy will be sitting in front of the player. Images of the animatronics and the words "IT'S ME" will rapidly blink on the screen accompanied by a distorted robot-like voice and a flashing image of Freddy Fazbear’s face staring directly at the player. After a few seconds of staring at Golden Freddy, the close-up of his face seen on the special poster will cover the whole screen, however instead of being taken to the normal Game Over screen, the game will forcibly close. This can be easily avoided by pulling up the Monitor quickly.

Game Over Screen

Game Over screen. The player's eyes and teeth can be seen coming out of the suit.

In the event that the player is caught and attacked by an animatronic, an ominous Game Over screen is shown, depicting the player's gruesome death, with their corpse stored in the Backstage. A Freddy Fazbear suit now sits on the table where the endoskeleton was originally located. The eyes and teeth of Mike Schmidt can be seen inside the suit.

Interestingly, if the player is attacked by Golden Freddy, the Game Over screen will not show. Instead, the game will forcibly close, possibly implying that Golden Freddy intends to outright kill the protagonist, or indirectly dispose of them through other means.

Tips

• It was once believed that staying still during the blackout would delay Freddy's attack, possibly due to Phone Guy's "play dead" tip, but nothing in the game checks for whether or not the player is moving.
• It is interesting to note that, either before Freddy plays his jingle or when the player's screen is completely black, they can hear Freddy's footsteps getting closer to them. This can help prepare the player for the jumpscare.
• If a player is unable to close/open and use the lights on either of the doors, that means Bonnie or Chica (Bonnie, if the left door stops working, and Chica if the right door stops working) is in the Office and will attack the next time the player uses the cameras. This can prepare the player for the jumpscare that lies ahead (it is possible to survive if 6am is near).
  • It is recommended that if the door or light is disabled and the player has zero chance of making it through the night without utilizing the cameras that they quickly flip the camera up and down as to end the game quickly, and then try again.
  • However, if the left door and lights are unusable (which means that Bonnie is about to attack the next time the monitor is used), if at the time the camera is used Foxy's sprinting animation is shown, Bonnie will not attack and instead will let Foxy attack the player.
• There is a 1 in 10,000 chance that instead of returning to the main menu, Golden Freddy's jumpscare can appear after the Game Over screen, resulting in the game being closed.
• If Freddy is in Cam 4B, it is safe to open the door as long as Chica is not there when the camera is down. Freddy can only sneak inside when the camera is up.
  • The only way it is possible for Freddy to get into the office is when three conditions are met simultaneously:
    • The right door must be open.
    • The camera must be up.
    • The camera must be viewing a room other than Cam 4B.

Trivia

• The unedited scream originates from the science-fiction film Inseminoid, from the scene where a woman screams while giving birth to an alien baby.
• Whenever the player is attacked by an animatronic, the monitors in the background seem to show a reflection of them from behind. This can be seen clearly when Foxy and Freddy attack.
• Foxy is the only animatronic that can attack without the player utilizing the cameras first.
• Foxy and Golden Freddy are the only two animatronics with unique killscreens. Neither of them jump in the player's face; Foxy appears in the doorway only, while Golden Freddy simply appears as a still-image close-up.
• Freddy and Golden Freddy are the only animatronics that are able to attack the player after the power goes out.
  • It's worth noting that Freddy only appears to approach the player from the left doorway if the power goes out, meaning if the power goes out while he's right outside the door in the East Hall, he would theoretically run, or perhaps teleport, considering how he almost seems to instantly travel across the building, all the way to the West Hall to attack the player.
    • It is unknown why Freddy only attacks from the left door when the power is out when it would seemingly be easier if he was already on the right side.
• Freddy is the only animatronic in the first game that has two different jumpscares: one when the power goes out, and another if he enters The Office while the power is still on.
• Freddy and Golden Freddy are the only animatronics in the first game that jumpscare the player with black eyes.
  • Bonnie can also be seen with black eyes in one of the game's rare screens, but does not jumpscare the player with them.
• Even after a power outage, the game over screen still has light coming from outside the room. this probably means that the body was discovered the following day or whenever the power resets.
• In the game's original trailer, Bonnie uses a different jumpscare from that used in the final game.
• Golden Freddy's jumpscare image is an edited version of one of Freddy's hallucination screens.

Bugs

• With the exception of the power going out, there is a glitch with the animatronics which allows the XSCREAM sound byte to play in its entirety instead of it being cut off.
• The player is able to pull up the Monitor when Chica or Bonnie is attacking, if performed at a specific time.
• When the player is attacked by Bonnie or Chica, the screen will shake, but they can still look left or right, and if one of the doors is closed, the doors won't shake.
• Sometimes, when the power goes out, players can still view the Monitor. When this happens, they will see their point of view through the Monitor, like a camera feed, with the static and the movements of the normal cameras. However, they cannot move with their mouse and will die by Freddy in the end, regardless of the bug or not.
• There is a glitch where the player can be attacked by multiple animatronics either at the same time or consecutively. This occurs most frequently when the animatronics' A.I. levels are set to a high level on the Custom Night.
• When the animatronics attack, a small in-game glitch causes the light and door button to disappear.
• It is possible to still be attacked by Bonnie or Chica even if the power goes out. Their jumpscare animation cannot be seen but their scream can be heard.
• It is very rare but when the player has very little power when Foxy jumpscares the player, it can be interrupted by power going out.
• During Bonnie's jumpscare part of the left door is visible floating above the ceiling for a few frames.

Gallery

Freddy Fazbear attacking the player when the power is active, animated.

Freddy Fazbear attacking the player after the power goes out, animated.

Bonnie attacking the player, animated.

Chica attacking the player, animated.

Foxy attacking the player, animated.

Golden Freddy's death screen when attacking the player, non-animated.

Audio

Audio	Description
WARNING: The audio is loud and/or startling!	The sound an animatronic makes during its attack. This is reused in Ultimate Custom Night and Five Nights at Freddy's VR: Help Wanted.
WARNING: The audio is loud and/or startling!	Golden Freddy's kill scream. This scream is an edited version of the normal kill scream, slowed down and with a lower pitch.
	The sound effect that plays in the static death screen.