Nightmare Chica

Nightmare Chica is an antagonist in Five Nights at Freddy's 4 and one of the seven nightmare animatronics (ten if the Halloween Edition animatronics and Plushtrap are counted) in the game. She is the nightmarish incarnation of Chica and similarly to her original counterpart, she hunts for the player exclusively from the right side of the building. Failing to take key actions against Nightmare Chica will result in a jumpscare either by her in the doorway or by the Cupcake in the Bedroom.

She was later reskinned to become Jack-O-Chica in the Halloween update, along with her cupcake who is replaced by a jack-o-lantern.

Physical Appearance

“If you thought her yellow feathers and orange beak made her sort of cute before, think again! Nightmare Chica appears shredded from head to toe, and has mismatched eyes alongside monstrous claws and teeth.” — The Freddy Files, page 98,

Nightmare Chica is a severely deteriorated and extensively modified version of the original Chica animatronic. Although the damages to her upper body are relatively minor, her suit's lower torso is completely severed from her hips. Her bib is tapered off at the bottom, almost entirely reduced to shreds. Nightmare Chica's lower legs are painted entirely orange opposed to yellow with orange feet, and her kneecaps appear to be missing. The hands both have a similar design as Springtrap and the other nightmare animatronics. She has orange feet featuring multiple tears, with most of her toes being covered in black paint, as if the color was chipped off.

As with all the other nightmare animatronics, Nightmare Chica's head appears to be separated into two parts. Nightmare Chica's head bears a striking resemblance to that of the original Chica model from the second game, as both are large and seemingly split from the upper jaw down. Her beak is much larger than that of the first game's Chica. Her beak is also filled with long sharp teeth with roots colored in green tint. The top right side of her mask is greatly torn, exposing much of the endoskeleton's frame and wiring. Both of her puffy cheeks appears to have holes. Her eyes are gray and metallic. Her eyes are also mismatched; her left eye possesses red iris with a glowing white pupil while the right one seems to be lacking both a pupil and iris, to make her look like she is half-blinded. Nightmare Chica also has four seemingly identical "tufts" of feathers on the top of her head with few small pieces missing.

The Cupcake

The Cupcake, called Nightmare Cupcake by fans, is a nightmarish counterpart of the original Chica's cupcake. It is held on top of a tray by Nightmare Chica.

It has been modified with a mouth of razor-sharp teeth and is seemingly autonomous. Its eyes are orange with glowing white pupils. Its pink-frosting is slightly darker in hue. The candlestick is thin and pale brown in color with a large vinyl candle-light.

Appearances

Five Nights at Freddy's 4

Nightmare Chica is an incredibly active antagonist in the first few nights. She behaves similarly to Nightmare Bonnie, except that she approaches the Bedroom through the Right Hall rather than the Left Hall. She starts in an unviewable area that connects the two halls. Then she can be seen peeking around a corner at the end of the hall or, if right next to the door, during her first jumpscare.

While standing in the right doorway, it is necessary for the player to listen for breathing, as turning on the flashlight will trigger Nightmare Chica's jumpscare should she be present in the doorway, with the added incentive of there being no visual cues as to her presence. If breathing is heard, the player should hold the door closed for two to three seconds until she leaves. Should the player fail to do so, her Cupcake will sneak in while the player isn't looking and jumpscare them when the player turns around. Should audio cues be heard, it is advised to flash the hall, as if Nightmare Chica is at the end of the hall, her approach will be delayed slightly.

Occasionally, metallic clanging and rustling can be heard coming from another room. This usually indicates that Nightmare Chica is not in the Right Hall, though flashing the light in the hall is still advised as a safety measure.

As with the other animatronics, Nightmare Chica is nowhere to be seen on Night 5, and is less active on Night 6 and Night 7, with Nightmare Fredbear or Nightmare/Nightmarionne effectively taking on her role instead.

Ultimate Custom Night

Nightmare Chica returns in the game mashup Ultimate Custom Night as one of the several non-selectable characters spawned by Dee Dee.

Behavior

Nightmare Chica will only become active if she is selected by Dee Dee. When she becomes active, she will try to chomp down on the player's point of view by showing her sharp teeth closing in on them. To fend her off, the player needs to turn on the Power A/C, which will successfully send Nightmare Chica away. If Nightmare Chica fully closes her mouth, she will jumpscare the player and end the night.

Five Nights at Freddy's VR: Help Wanted

Though Nightmare Chica did not directly appear in the main game, her cupcake does appear in two modes on Blacklight Difficulty: FNAF 1 where it replaced the normal cupcake next the monitor and Parts and Service where the player observes and fixes Chica, also replacing the normal cupcake as part of the activities to complete the task.

In the Halloween DLC Curse of Dreadbear, Nightmare Chica returns alongside Jack-O-Chica, she appears in the Hallway level where she pops out from the right door, reaching towards the player.

Five Nights at Freddy's 4

• Nightmare Chica is one of the three nightmare animatronics who doesn't appear on the main menu screen; two others are Nightmare Freddy and Nightmare themselves.
• When attacked by Nightmare Chica inside the bedroom, her cupcake will perform the jumpscare.
  • Nightmare Chica is not seen at all during this jumpscare, suggesting that she throws the Cupcake into the room rather than entering it herself, or that the cupcake somehow sneaks in on its own, supported by it seemingly hovering in midair during its jumpscare.
    • This is the Cupcake's only appearance in the entire series that affects the player, such as attacking them and ending the night.
• The behavior in which Nightmare Chica approaches the Bedroom via the Right Hall is similar to that of her counterpart, Chica, who approaches the Office through the East Hall in the first game.
  • This behavior also correlates with Chica's crawling through the Right Air Vent to enter The Office in the second game.
• Nightmare Chica and Nightmare Mangle are the only nightmare animatronics to have mismatched eyes.
• On occasion, Nightmare Chica can be heard knocking around pots and pans in the house's kitchen, which is possibly a reference to how the original Chica could be heard in the Kitchen knocking around pots in the first game.
• Nightmare Chica appears to have five fingers on each hand, as opposed to the four-fingered hands of the original Chica.
  • This also applies to the other nightmare animatronics, with the exception of Plushtrap. The reason for this is unclear though it may simply be an aesthetic choice to give the Nightmare animatronics a more menacing appearance.
• Nightmare Chica does not seem to be holding the cupcake during her first jumpscare.
• Nightmare Chica has three rows of teeth, giving her the most out of all the animatronics in the series.
  • This is an exaggerated and expounded reference to how Chica has the most visible endoskeleton teeth, even when in good condition, as seen in the first game.
  • This was changed as of Ultimate Custom Night, with Nightmare Chica (and to that extent, Jack-O-Chica as well) having two sets of teeth, just like the other nightmare animatronics.
• This is the only counterpart of Chica to have a torn-up bib.
• Nightmare Chica has a rare chance of attacking the player at 5 AM during Custom Night, without her even being active. It is unknown how or why this occurs.
• Nightmare Chica is the only nightmare animatronic to carry any type of equipment.
• Nightmare Chica is one of the few nightmare animatronics to fully close their mouth.
  • This can be easily seen in the mobile version.
• Nightmare Chica is one of the two antagonists in the series to have both of their jumpscares in the Extra menu, the other being Springtrap.
• In Nightmare Chica's teaser, her eye color is orange, but in the game, it's red.
  • This is most likely a change in development or the lighting.
• Along with Jack-O-Chica, Nightmare Chica is one of the few nightmares in the game to have a completely different-style for her endoskeleton feet. The others being Nightmare Foxy and Nightmare Mangle.

The Cupcake

• This is the Cupcake's only counterpart to be hostile and being able to jumpscare the player.
  • It is also the Cupcake's only counterpart to have an ability to physically move its mouth, as it was given to fit the nightmarish design.
• On Nightmare Chica's teaser, her Cupcake was seen sitting on her right shoulder. This is never seen in-game.

Ultimate Custom Night

• Nightmare Chica has her own mugshot seen in the game's last teaser. However, due to lacking any customizable AI, she does not have a mugshot in-game.

Five Nights at Freddy's 4

Gameplay

Brightened

Teasers

Extra

Ultimate Custom Night

Five Nights at Freddy's VR: Help Wanted

Merchandise

Miscellaneous

Five Nights at Freddy's 4

The sound Nightmare Chica makes when attacking the player.

Warning: Loud!

The sound Nightmare Chica's cupcake makes when attacking the player in the extra menu.

Warning: Loud!

The breathing sounds Nightmare Chica makes when right outside the right door.

Ultimate Custom Night

The sound Nightmare Chica makes when attacking the player.

Warning: Loud!

Five Nights at Freddy's 4

Errors

• Strangely, the cupcake while attacking the player plays the same sound byte as the other nightmare animatronics during its jumpscare, but on the Extra menu, Plushtrap's higher-pitched jumpscare sound byte is heard instead.
• When Nightmare Chica retreats once seen, her chin appears to clip through her shoulder. This is easier to see on the brightened image.

Bugs

• Nightmare Chica can sometimes attack the player before hiding behind the wall and/or closing the door in fraction of a second, as seen in this video starting at 8:00.