The Cliffs

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The Cliffs
Information
Appears in	Fazbear Frights 7: The Cliffs
Author	Elley Cooper
Genre	Tragedy
Pages	54
Chronology
Series	Fazbear Frights
Previous Story	Hide-and-Seek
Next Story	The Breaking Wheel

“Robert, an exhausted single father, gets a crash course in parenting when he buys a fancy new teddy bear to watch and entertain his young son.” — Summary, Fazbear Frights #7: The Cliffs

The Cliffs is the first story in Fazbear Frights 7: The Cliffs and chronologically the Fazbear Frights series' 19th story. It's also the third story in the fourth graphic novel collection and chronologically the graphic novel series' 12th story. It was written by Elley Cooper, with illustrations done by Benjamin Sawyer and colors done by Eva de la Cruz.

Characters

Humans

• Stanton Family
  • Robert Stanton
  • Tyler Stanton
  • Anna Stanton
  • Mrs. Stanton
• Jess
• Miss Lauren
• Noah
• Detective Ramirez
• Officer Cook
• Unnamed Neighbor

Animatronics

• Tag-Along Freddy
• Freddy Fazbear (T-shirt)

Locations

• The Cliffs
• All Mart
• Tiny Tot Academy

Plot

Robert and Anna met in his junior year in college and they got engaged right after graduation, getting married a year later. Their parents helped them move into a little house, with the only downside being located right next to the Cliffs. The highest, “Jumper’s Cliff,” is notorious for being a common site for suicides over generations. Two years into their marriage, Anna got pregnant with their son, Tyler. The couple were thrilled, but two months before the baby was due Anna got swelling in her hands and feet. At first they’re told that it’s normal, but after a regular checkup revealed her blood pressure was high she was rushed to the hospital. Anna’s blood pressure failed to go down, and in a desperate attempt to save her life they decided to deliver the baby early by Cesarean. When she suffered a massive stroke on the operating table, Robert was left a single father.

It’s been two years since Anna died, and Robert is struggling. He’s managed to hold down his job with a magazine company, but he’s withdrawn himself from his friends to devote his time to raising Tyler. With many similar features to Anna, Robert can’t stop worrying about losing his son. One day, he’s approached by his old friend Jess, a copy editor who was hired around the same time he was. She wants to reconnect, and as a single mother herself she thinks they can support each other. Robert considers her offer as he goes to pick up Tyler. The teacher tells Robert that they were asked to draw pictures of their families, and when other kids noticed Tyler didn’t have a mom he got upset. Robert hasn’t talked to Tyler about his mother, and he’s upset to see that kids are taking notice.

On the way home Robert goes shopping at All Mart, and when they pass the toy aisle Tyler spots a Tag-Along Freddy toy. Robert begins to feel guilty, as he knows Tyler most likely learned about Freddy while he made him watch cartoons. According to the box, Tag-Along Freddy will watch over a child and send live updates through a Tag-Along Time wristwatch that comes with the toy. Seeing it as a win-win, Robert buys the toy for Tyler. He tells Tyler to play with Freddy while he cooks spaghetti, and the toy works as intended. The rest of the evening goes by smoother than usual thanks to Tag-Along Freddy, and the rest of the night is one of the more relaxing ones Robert has had in a while.

Tyler refuses to part with Tag-Along Freddy, and while Robert’s at work he gets messages telling him what he’s doing at day care. One day, while Tyler is playing in the sandbox, Robert gets a call from his phone inside the house. A voicemail reveals that it was just a recorded message from a sketchy company trying to sell him unneeded homeowner’s insurance, but when he goes back outside Tyler is no longer in the sandbox. Robert looks at the open gate, not remembering if it was closed before, and sees a white van he doesn’t recognize drive away. He gets a message on his Tag-Along Freddy Time wristwatch simply saying “Gone.” The police arrive quickly and Robert explains the situation, mentioning the white van. After giving them Tyler’s physical description they go out to look for him.

By 5:00 p.m. there’s still no leads. The police assure Robert that they’re asking around about the white van, but they haven’t gotten anything useful yet. Suddenly, his wristwatch has a new message for him: “Why don’t you go to the Cliffs?” He was already beginning to consider going to Jumper’s Cliff, but quickly shakes the thought off. Robert carries the Tag-Along Freddy outside and throws it away. Back inside, he gets a call from one of the officers from earlier, Detective Ramirez. She tells him officers are out all over the entire city, and asks if he has some of Tyler’s clothes for a dog to sniff. Robert goes into Tyler’s room and pulls out a blue-and-white striped shirt Tyler wore the day before. The smell of the shirt makes Robert sob, and when Detective Ramirez arrives she comforts him by promising they will do all that they can and advises him to get some rest. Once she’s gone he gets another message telling him to go to the Cliffs. Angered, Robert stomps outside and brings the bear back inside.

Robert setting Tag Along Freddy on fire.

Punching and putting a match to Tag Along Freddy doesn’t work, so Robert douses it with lighter fluid and burns it. Once the fire is extinguished, he tries to rest only to get another message on the Tag-Along Time wristwatch. Robert retrieves the charred Freddy doll, blaming it for Tyler’s disappearance, and runs it over with his car, pinning it beneath the tire. Back inside, he gets a call from Detective Ramirez letting him know the dog has Tyler’s scent, and they also have the tag numbers of every white van in the area and are checking them for a criminal record. She tells Robert to stay close to his phone, rest, and stay hopeful. Robert gets another message on his wristwatch and breaks down. The thought of Tyler being dead makes him sick and he takes a shower, thinking of Tyler’s first birthday and his and Anna’s first anniversary, with Freddy’s words echoing in his head. Robert grabs scissors, yanks the doll out from under the tire, and repeatedly stabs it in the chest, exposing bits of stuffing. He gets three more messages on his wristwatch and rips it off, smashing it against the pavement. Robert’s anger and pain turns into a numbness, and he decides they’ll go to the Cliffs together.

With Tag-Along Freddy in hand, Robert walks towards the Cliffs, stopping at the summit of Jumper’s Cliff to look down at the teddy bear. He realizes that Anna wouldn’t want him to give up on himself and Tyler, and she would have wanted him to enjoy fatherhood and the company of other grown-ups. Robert looks into the bear’s empty eyes, then draws his arm back and pitches it over the edge of the cliff, screaming that Tyler wouldn’t want him to. He spits over the ledge in defiance, looks down at the rocky grounds, then looks up at the rosy pink clouds. As the sun rises, Robert hears a small animal crying in one of the holes in the rock face. He realizes it sounds human and makes his way to the underside of the cliff, yelling for Tyler and finding him in the hole nearest to him. It’s not wide enough for Robert’s arms to fit through, so Tyler crawls until his head and arms poke out and Robert scoops him into a hug.

Robert reuniting with his son Tyler.

Tyler explains that he saw a doggie, and Robert pieces together that he tried to follow it but got lost. The two begin to head home to eat, with Tyler asking to be carried. When they reach the lower cliffs, Robert stops and peers down to where he threw Tag-Along Freddy only to see the little bear gone. Tyler asks what he sees, so Robert points to the sunrise and tells Tyler that the color of the clouds match a dress Anna used to have, deciding to no longer keep silent about her. Tyler calls his mother pretty and Robert decides that he will take her photos down from the attic tomorrow and tell Tyler stories about her, like how pretty, smart, and nice she was. Tyler tells Robert that he’s nice too, and they both tell how much they love each other as they walk toward home together.

Graphic Novel Differences

• Jess has more scenes, including a flashback while Robert is grieving Tyler's disappearance.

Speculation

"I was the first! I have seen everything!" 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.

• On March 21, 2021, Dawko theorized in his discussion video about The Cliffs that Robert's reunion with Tyler did not actually happen. After his insanity and near suicide on the Cliffs, he imagined Tag-Along Freddy as Tyler to cope, while the real Tyler was still missing or dead.
• The Ultimate Guide draws attention to the fact that the way Tag-Along Freddy monitored Tyler is similar to how the Fredbear plush would monitor the Crying Child in FNaF4.

Trivia

• The Cliffs was originally the second story of the book, hence its short length of just underneath 60 pages.
• This is the fifth story to have a happy, uplifting ending. The other stories are Into the Pit, Out of Stock, Coming Home, and Blackbird.
• This story features an All-Mart, this is the same type of store in Dance with Me where Kasey uses a stolen credit card to buy clothes from.
• The plot of The Cliffs is similar to the Tales From The Pizzaplex story The Mimic. Both feature a father in grieving taking care of their son, both have the father give the son a robotic companion, both have the son involved in a tragic event and the father take their anger out on said robotic companion.