Nightmare Fredbear, Nightmare Bonnie, and Nightmare Foxy from the title menu of Five Nights at Freddy's 4.
Alongside the twisted animatronics from the novel trilogy's universe, the nightmare animatronics appear as the most menacing out of all animatronic classes.
Most of the nightmare animatronics are featured with a deteriorated appearance with a big series of rips and holes all over, sporting a total of ten fingers with spike-like claws/nails, an excessive amount of long dangerously sharp teeth (found in both the structure of the animatronics and the endoskeletons), and small metallic eyes. Their endoskeleton heads look suspiciously similar to that of a human skull, with a line of indentations down their forehead.
The usage of the Nightmare animatronics are to scare children who have been kidnapped by William Afton and put into his cruel experimentation of testing fear level in children. While they appear as moving animatronics in game, they are in reality illusions as the result of the hallucinogenic gas that has been put into the chamber.
Their true forms are mounted suit parts on rolling mechanical stands to emulate animatronics hunting someone.
“A nightmare animatronic with a Freddy Fazbear design; three miniature animatronics, called "Freddles", are attached to his body.”
— The Ultimate Guide, page 277
A nightmare counterpart of Freddy Fazbear and accompanied with miniature versions of himself known as Freddles. He first appeared in Five Nights at Freddy's 4, where he spawns from the Bed.
“The Nightmare form of Foxy, like the other Nightmare forms, is larger and more tattered than the regular version, with huge sharp teeth and spikes at the end of his fingers. He also doesn't have an eyepatch, leaving the hook as the only hint of his pirate origins.”
— Five Nights at Freddy's Character Encyclopedia, page 100
A nightmare counterpart of Foxy. He first appeared in the fourth game, where he spawns from the Closet, starting on Night 2.
“Not to be confused with Nightmare Freddy, Nightmare Fredbear has longer, sharper teeth and claws. He has teeth in his torso (which we don't even want to think about), plus he wears a purple hat and bow tie.”
— Five Nights at Freddy's Character Encyclopedia, page 22
A nightmare counterpart of Fredbear. He first appeared in the fourth game, where he becomes active on Night 5.
“How could you make Nightmare Fredbear scarier? We didn't think it was possible, but turns out it was. Nightmare is basically the same as Nightmare Fredbear apart from his coloring (note he also has a yellow hat and bow tie). Additionally, his endoskeleton can be seen, and his jumpscare is different.”
— Five Nights at Freddy's Character Encyclopedia, page 23
A mysterious, shadow variant of Nightmare Fredbear. He first appeared in the fourth game, where he becomes active on Nightmare mode.
“This toy version of Springtrap first appears in Five Nights at Freddy's 4, as part of the mini game Fun with Plushtrap. You can earn a boost on the next level by shining your flashlight on the X spot as it runs through the hallway.”
— Five Nights at Freddy's Character Encyclopedia, page 153
A nightmare animatronic based on the Spring Bonnieplushie. He first appeared in the fourth game, where he appeared in the Fun with Plushtrap minigame.
“The Halloween edition of Five Nights at Freddy's 4 replaces Nightmare Foxy with Nightmare Mangle. Since the original Mangle was pretty grotesque to begin with, Nightmare Mangle isn't actually much different from him! Although his main head is more battered and has the classic double jaw of Nightmare Animatronics. Oh, and his secondary endoskeleton head is more skull-like.”
— Five Nights at Freddy's Character Encyclopedia, page 175
A nightmare counterpart of Mangle. They first appeared in the fourth game's Halloween Edition update as Nightmare Foxy's replacement.
“Nightmare Balloon Boy is another of the distorted, sharp-toothed Nightmare Animatronics terrorizing the Crying Child in Five Nights at Freddy's 4. He has really disgusting hands, which is emphasized by the fact he doesn't hold any balloons or even a sign that says BALLOONS!-so his hands just hang there... horribly.”
— Five Nights at Freddy's Character Encyclopedia, page 127
A nightmare counterpart of Balloon Boy. He first appeared in the fourth game's Halloween update as Plushtrap's replacement for the Fun with Plushtrap minigame.
“Nightmarionne is the Five Nights at Freddy's 4 version of The Puppet released in the Halloween update. It has a skeletal look with longer fingers and sharp teeth. But at least it only has one set of teeth-unlike the other Nightmare Animatronics.”
— Five Nights at Freddy's Character Encyclopedia, page 120
A nightmare counterpart of the Puppet. It first appeared in the fourth game's Halloween Edition update as Nightmare's replacement.
This section archives a lot of theories and speculation, which usually occurs from pre-release media, or just things that are still unknown, so please keep that in mind while reading. The page will continue to be updated with the most accurate information as more solid evidence is supplied.
The following information contains spoilers. To view them, click the [show] tag.
There was controversy within the fandom on whether the nightmare animatronics on whether if they were real or just nightmares, until Dittophobia confirmed that they were real animatronics, at least at some point.
In The Twisted Ones, it was revealed that the Twisted Animatronics appear in their twisted forms due to Illusion Discs, which change a person's perception of what they see. This is somewhat of a connection to the nightmares which could hint that they are illusions. Supporting this further is that both sets of animatronics possess the same monstrously feral behaviors and appearances. This is further supported by Midnight Motorist where grave dirt can be seen behind what is assumed to be William Afton's house; this could indicate that the nightmare animatronics buried themselves during the day like the twisted animatronics did. The footprints could also belong to the nightmare animatronics, further supporting this.
In Sister Location, by typing 1-9-8-3 in the keypad before the night begins, all three screens change from static to angles of the Bedroom and Hallway from the fourth game.
This could possibly mean the nightmare animatronics were created by William himself, like how his novel counterpart created the twisted animatronics.
Also, the Fredbear plush from the fourth game can be seen alongside a remote control or walkie talkie.
This easter egg is absent from the Custom Night, as the keypad is used for fending off Lolbit.
Despite Scott saying that the Halloween Edition nightmare animatronics are non-canon (except for Nightmare BB), they have appeared in more than one game; although Scott may have meant that the non-canon Halloween Edition nightmare animatronics never existed in the lore, but were only there mainly for Halloween purposes.
It is also believed that the nightmare animatronics, specifically Nightmare Freddy, Nightmare Bonnie, Nightmare Chica, and Nightmare Foxy are a metaphor to the Older Brother and his friends tormenting the Crying Child in the real world.
It's possible that Nightmare symbolizes the Crying Child's death.
Evidence to support this is that Nightmare's jumpscare audio is actually an ambulance's siren or the heart monitor still beeping.
Also, hence Nightmare's name, it's possible that he's named this because the Crying Child is presumably having a nightmare while in the hospital.
In recent times, the Survival Logbook implies that the Protagonist of FNaF SL Michael Afton was the one experiencing the nightmares, as he made artwork of Nightmare Fredbear and labelled him a "recent dream".
This is further supported by one of Phone Guy's calls from the original game that can be heard playing in the background throughout Five Nights at Freddy's 4.
Since it has been established the Nightmare Animatronics were at one point real experiments and not just dreams, it has been theorized that Michael experienced them in the form of dreams due to either the influence of Shadow Freddy, being injected with Remnant from the Scooper in Sister Location or having been subject to the experiments and re-experiencing as dreams later on.
Trivia
Nightmare Springtrap's MyMoji sticker.
When the nightmares were added as virtual MyMoji stickers to Quidd, there was a Nightmare Springtrap included with the others, although Springtrap does not canonically have a nightmare counterpart outside of Plushtrap in the series' universe. It was taken down after being notified that the character and design was based off of fanart.
Similar to the phantoms, the Puppet, Mangle and BB are the only toy animatronics to receive nightmare counterparts.
When asked if Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica will receive their nightmare counterparts for the fourth game's Halloween add-on, Scott denied it.[1]
Aside from the DLC Halloween characters, most of the nightmare animatronics seem to bear a resemblance to their withered counterparts from Five Nights at Freddy's 2, aside from the teeth and eyes. The only exceptions are Nightmare Fredbear, Nightmare, and Plushtrap.
From the files for Security Breach, one of the unused collectibles is "Nightmare Helpy", implying Helpy was intended to have a nightmare counterpart.
Weirdly, in the Character Encyclopedia, it's stated the Nightmare Freddy, Nightmare Bonnie, Nightmare Chica, Nightmare Foxy and Nightmarionne appear in Five Nights at Freddy's AR: Special Delivery.
