So, you’re trying to wrap your head around the latest Fazbear mess. I get it. The lore for Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic is, honestly, a lot to process if you haven't been living and breathing the Tales from the Pizzaplex books for the last two years. Basically, Steel Wool Studios decided to take us back to 1979 to explain where that terrifying, shape-shifting endoskeleton from the Security Breach: Ruin DLC actually came from.
It's a prequel. But it's also kinda the foundation for everything that's happening in the "modern" era of the games.
If you’ve played the game since its June 13, 2025 release, you know it feels different. It’s less about sitting in an office checking cameras and more about exploring the creaky, unsettling hallways of Murray's Costume Manor. You play as a guy named Arnold. He’s a fixer, essentially, sent in by a redacted corporate briefing to retrieve a "prized prototype." Spoilers: it goes about as well as you’d expect for anyone working with Fazbear Entertainment.
What is the Mimic, anyway?
The big "secret" isn't just that a robot exists. It's why it exists.
Before the Pizzaplex, before the glamrock animatronics, there was an engineer named Edwin Murray. He was a contractor for Fazbear back in the late 70s, and honestly, the guy was a genius who just wanted to keep his kid happy. He built the Mimic—originally called the M1—to be a playmate for his son, David. The thing was designed to observe and copy. It learned how to play with a ball, how to use sign language, and even how to hold a white tiger plushie exactly like David did.
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Then tragedy hit. David died in a car accident.
Edwin, fueled by grief and what the lore calls "Agony," basically snapped. He beat the robot to a pulp with a metal pipe. Because the Mimic was programmed to learn from everything it saw, it didn't just feel the pain; it learned the violence. It absorbed Edwin’s rage. When Fazbear Entertainment eventually recovered the remains of the workshop, they found a machine that wasn't just a mimic anymore. It was a killer that could reshape its body to fit into any costume—like Jackie, the terrifying new jack-in-the-box animatronic we meet in the Manor.
Why Secret of the Mimic matters for the timeline
Most people get the timeline wrong. They think the Mimic is just a replacement for William Afton. It's more complicated than that.
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- 1979: The "Secret of the Mimic" events happen. This is the origin of the M1 software and the physical endoskeleton.
- The 80s/90s: Fazbear tries to use the Mimic programming to speed up animatronic development. It goes poorly.
- Modern Day: The "Mimic1" software is used to scan old circuit boards for a VR game, which creates Glitchtrap.
The game does a great job of showing how Fazbear's corporate greed turned a grieving father's invention into a multi-generational nightmare. When you’re navigating the Costume Manor, you see the "Product Showcase," where Edwin’s inventions—including an octopus on drums and various proto-animatronics—are still standing. It’s a graveyard of good intentions.
Survival tactics for the Costume Manor
If you're stuck, you've gotta master the Data Diver. It’s your main tool for hacking into the manor's old security systems. Unlike previous games where you just click a button, here you’ve actually got to physically turn the device and match frequencies. It makes the stealth sections with Jackie way more stressful.
Jackie is relentless. She doesn't have a traditional walking cycle because she's technically a jack-in-the-box, but her long, spindly arms let her pull herself through crawlspaces and over catwalks. When you hear that music box winding up, you’re basically already in trouble. The trick is using the environment—pulling levers to drop machinery or closing gates—to create distance.
The game also confirms some massive theories. Specifically, the connection between the M.X.E.S. security system from Ruin and Edwin’s wife, Fiona. It turns out M.X.E.S. wasn't just a random firewall; it was a program modeled after her to keep the Mimic contained. It’s a literal battle between a father’s creation and a mother’s protection.
Actionable steps for completionists
If you want to see everything this game has to offer, don't just rush to the end. The real story is hidden in the "redacted" files scattered around the factory floor.
- Check the Manager's Office: There’s a recording from Edwin that explains the "agony" infection process in detail.
- Watch the Sundial: In the theatre, the way the animatronics move during the musical number hints at which ones the Mimic has already "learned" from.
- Upgrade the Data Diver early: Look for the toolboxes in the warehouse section. Higher clearance levels let you access the secret "Blue Room" which contains the original David Murray sketches.
The ending is pretty definitive. It bridges the gap between the 70s era and the underground "sinkhole" we see in Security Breach. You realize that the Mimic wasn't just trapped down there by accident—it was a decades-long cover-up.
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Once you've finished the main story, go back through the "Free Roam" mode to collect the remaining Faz-Tokens. They unlock 3D models of the proto-animatronics that give even more insight into how Steel Wool designed these "human-like" horrors. Understanding the Mimic is the key to understanding where the franchise is going next, especially with the Dead by Daylight collab and the second movie on the horizon.