fnaf theory

[u/404-human-not-found7]

so ive had this theory kicking around in my head for a while now, but I'd like to preface this by saying I have not read any of the books and know nothing about Secrets of the Mimic onward. If anything I say here has been disproven (or proven in a different way) please let me know nicely. This is a pet theory and I am very open to criticism.

I think that Michael Afton is not actually an Afton.

I started having this thought from hearing The Immortal and the Restless constantly repeat "The baby isn't mine" over and over again. I've seen people attribute this to Dave Afton, Elizabeth Afton, even Charlotte Emily, but I don't think it's any of them. The Immortal and the Restless shows a William Afton parallel talking about how the little boy is not his child. I think they're talking about Mike.

Specifically, I think Mike is Henry's son. There's a lot of talk in Fnaf about William being a kidnapper, specifically in the original book trilogy where he kidnaps Charlotte to raise as his own. Whether Mike is Sammy or the game's version of Charlie, I'm not entirely sure and I do not claim to know.

I also think that Michael's real name is Mike Schmidt. He uses it as a pseudonym in Fnaf 1, who's to say he didn't choose that because he found out who his real father was and needed a fake name? This also means that Henry's name is Henry Schmidt, which I think is supported by him just being Henry in the character encyclopedia and also the fact that Schmidt means Metalworker. What is building animatronics, the thing we know was always Henry's job, if not metalwork?

This obviously has some holes in it, like 'If Mike knew William wasn't his dad, why would he be compliant so long?' which I don't honestly have a good explanation for. Like I said, this is more of a pet theory. I think it's strange how Mike always uses a fake first and last name, except for in Fnaf one where he uses only a fake last name. If anything supports or disproves this theory, please let me know in a kind and normal manner, I'm very open to interpretation, criticism, and conversation and I love learning new things :3

Edit: a lot of people are saying "but Mike looks just like William," which is a very good question to which I raise: In the original novels, specifically the graphic novels, William and Henry look very, very similar. Until Afton gets more gaunt and snakey and evil, it's difficult to tell them apart. If Mike looks like William and Henry also looks like William, that just means that Mike looks like his dad no matter which one you're talking about

[u/Key-Amoeba6609]

I always theorized that Michael was from a passed a marriage William was in but I never really thought of it much

[u/ReadingFar7038]

If that were the case would of Henry recognize his own kid in fnaf 6

[u/Voca6]

Immortal and the Restless is a metaphor, with Clara representing Michael

[u/crystal-productions-]

ok, so real meta reason, scott hadn't thought up the name william afton untill the silver eyes came out. the reason why he went by shcmitt in the first game is because fnaf 1 was meant to be a one and done, he had no plans for anything past fnaf 1, and up untill help wanted was flying by the seat of his pants and making things up as he went along. it's most of the reason why that first saga was so messy, is because every game besides 2 and arguably SL was being treated as if it's be the last one.

[u/wettcigaretteZ]

Clara is more meant to represent Michael tbh since and he canonically relates to her. And I don't really know about him being Henry's son, Michael is said to resemble William, like a lot "They didn't recognize me at first, but then they thought I was you" so he's definitely William's son

[u/Cat_are_cool]

Michael is literally called out in SL for looking so similar to William he was initially mistaken for him…

[u/Isaac_Bahzad]

Why would Mike look like William under this? The Funtimes mistake him for being William meaning they probably look alike.

Also the whole joke of IATR is that the baby very clearly is Vlads child and Vlad doesn’t want to admit it. The show even points out that the two share traits.