It happened in broad daylight. Most people forget that part. When you think of the Five Nights at Freddy's universe, you probably picture flickering flashlights and the claustrophobic terror of a midnight shift. But the most infamous event in the entire franchise—the Five Nights at Freddy's The Bite of 87—didn't happen in the dark. It happened while children were eating pizza and parents were likely looking at their watches, waiting for the party to end.
Then, a frontal lobe was gone. Just like that.
Scott Cawthon, the creator of the series, is a master of the "red herring." He drops a crumb, lets the community bake a whole cake out of it, and then reveals the cake was actually a brick. For years, the Bite of 87 has been the centerpiece of the FNAF lore, a mystery that defined the early days of the fandom. Yet, even with several games, a movie, and a library of books, people still confuse it with other incidents. If you think the Bite of 87 is the one where a kid gets his head crushed in a golden bear's mouth, you're actually thinking of the Bite of 83. It's a common mistake. It’s also one that changes everything about how we understand the timeline.
The Evidence Left in the Pizzeria Rubble
To understand the Five Nights at Freddy's The Bite of 87, you have to look at the "Toy" animatronics from FNAF 2. These weren't the rusty, leaking husks from the first game. They were sleek. Plastic. Advanced. They had facial recognition software tied to criminal databases. They were supposed to be safe.
Phone Guy, our trusty (if slightly suspicious) narrator, mentions the incident during the first game. He says the animatronics used to be allowed to wander during the day, but then "there was the Bite of 87." He notes that it's amazing a human can live without the frontal lobe. This isn't just flavor text. It's a massive clue about the biology of the victim and the mechanics of the animatronics.
In FNAF 2, which is actually a prequel despite the "2" in the title, we see the lead-up. The restaurant is failing. There's an investigation. On Night 6, Phone Guy tells the player—Jeremy Fitzgerald—to stay close to the animatronics during a final birthday party. He tells him to wear his uniform. He tells him to make sure no one gets hurt.
Then the restaurant closes.
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The "Toy" animatronics are scrapped for "possible malfunctions." It doesn't take a detective to connect the dots here. Jeremy Fitzgerald, the night guard who was moved to the day shift for that final party, is the most likely candidate for the victim. He was right there. He was wearing the purple uniform that the animatronics' facial recognition likely flagged as a threat due to the actions of the "Purple Guy," William Afton.
Why the Frontal Lobe Matters More Than You Think
Neurologically speaking, the frontal lobe is the seat of personality. It handles impulse control, planning, and social behavior. By specifically mentioning the frontal lobe, Cawthon wasn't just being gory. He was grounding the horror in a very specific medical reality.
Imagine surviving that.
You lose your ability to regulate emotions. You might lose your memory of who you are. In the context of a haunted pizzeria, it's a fate worse than death. It also separates this event from the 1983 incident seen in FNAF 4. In 1983, Fredbear crushed a child's entire skull. That child—often referred to as Crying Child—died in a hospital. Jeremy, or whoever the 87 victim was, lived.
This distinction is the hill many theorists die on.
People often point to Mangle as the culprit. Look at Mangle’s jumpscare in the second game. It doesn't scream at your chest; it swings down from the ceiling, jaws open, aiming directly for the top of your head. It’s a perfect surgical strike for a frontal lobe. While other animatronics like Toy Bonnie or Toy Chica are suspects, Mangle’s mangled state and erratic behavior make it the prime candidate for the bite that ended the "Toy" era of Fazbear Entertainment.
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The Financial Fallout and the Cover-Up
Fazbear Entertainment isn't just a backdrop; it’s a character. A greedy, negligent, corporate character. After the Five Nights at Freddy's The Bite of 87, the company didn't just apologize. They pivot. They scrapped the expensive, high-tech Toy models. They went back to basics.
This is why, in the original game (set later in the 90s), the animatronics are confined to the stage during the day.
The Bite of 87 was a PR nightmare that nearly sank the brand. It’s the reason for the "free-roaming mode" restrictions. If you look at the legal disclaimers throughout the games, the company is obsessed with avoiding liability. They don't care about the guard; they care about the lawsuit. This corporate cynicism is what makes the lore feel so greasy and real. It’s not just ghosts; it’s ghosts trapped in a system of late-stage capitalism that refuses to admit it has a body count.
Clearing Up the 1983 vs 1987 Confusion
Let's get this straight because it gets messy.
- The Bite of 83: Occurred at Fredbear's Family Diner. Involved Fredbear (a golden animatronic). The victim was a young boy. It was caused by a "prank" gone wrong. The victim died.
- The Bite of 87: Occurred at the FNAF 2 Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Likely involved a Toy animatronic (possibly Mangle). The victim was likely an adult (Jeremy Fitzgerald). The victim survived, albeit without a frontal lobe.
Why does it matter? Because the 1983 incident is the "inciting incident" for the Afton family's personal tragedy. The 1987 incident is the "death knell" for the public's trust in the brand. One is a family secret; the other is a public scandal.
Scott Cawthon famously trolled the community during the lead-up to FNAF 4. The source code of his website was filled with "87"s. Everyone thought we were finally going to see the Bite of 87. Instead, he showed us 1983. It was a bait-and-switch that still frustrates parts of the community today, but it forced us to look deeper. It forced us to realize that history at Freddy’s repeats itself in increasingly violent ways.
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Actionable Insights for Lore Hunters
If you're trying to piece together the full story of Five Nights at Freddy's The Bite of 87, you can't just play the games. You have to be a bit of a digital archaeologist.
Watch the "Save Them" minigame closely. In FNAF 2, the "Save Them" minigame shows the layout of the restaurant. Notice where the bodies are. Notice the blood pools. This tells you the state of the restaurant right before the Bite occurred. The chaos was already building.
Listen to the background noise. In some versions of the games, the static and the garbled radio noises from Mangle actually contain distorted police chatter. This reinforces the idea that the animatronics were malfunctioning and reacting to a "criminal" presence—which they might have mistakenly seen in Jeremy.
Check the paychecks. The dates on the checks at the end of the games are the only way to anchor these events. In FNAF 2, the check is dated November 1987. That is your smoking gun. Anything that happens in that building is part of the 87 saga.
Ignore the "Was it Me?" teasers. During the hype for the fourth game, the Nightmare animatronics had "Was it me?" in their teasers. This was largely marketing fluff to build hype. Focus on the in-game newspaper clippings and Phone Guy’s dialogue instead. Those are the "hard" facts of the universe.
The mystery of the Bite of 87 isn't just about "who bit whom." It's about the moment the franchise shifted from a quirky indie horror game into a massive, multi-layered tragedy. It's the moment the "innocence" of the 80s pizzaria vibe died, replaced by the cold reality of a frontal lobe sitting on a checked tile floor.
To truly understand the timeline, your next step is to examine the Night 6 phone call in FNAF 2 again. Don't just listen to the words. Listen to the panic in Phone Guy's voice. He knows the building is on lockdown. He knows someone is going to get hurt. He sends Jeremy in anyway. That is the true horror of Fazbear Entertainment: the bite was preventable, but the employee was expendable.