Five Nights at Freddy’s fans are used to being confused. It’s part of the brand. But when Steel Wool Studios dropped the teaser for FNaF Secret of the Mimic, the community didn't just get confused—it went into a total meltdown. We’re finally going back to 1979. Honestly, it’s about time. For years, the "Mimic" character has been this polarizing force in the lore, mostly because a huge chunk of the player base didn't read the Tales from the Pizzaplex books and had no clue why a random endoskeleton was suddenly the big bad in Security Breach: RUIN.
The Mimic isn't just another robot. It’s a legacy-ruining or legacy-defining piece of software, depending on who you ask.
Why FNaF Secret of the Mimic Changes Everything We Knew
The timeline is a mess, right? We’ve spent a decade arguing over 1983 versus 1987. Now, Scott Cawthon and Steel Wool are dragging us back to 1979, a year that predates the "Missing Children’s Incident" and potentially even the founding of Fazbear Entertainment as we know it. This game isn't just a spin-off. It is a foundational pivot. By positioning FNaF Secret of the Mimic in the late seventies, the developers are signaling that the Mimic program is the literal "Patient Zero" of the franchise’s digital hauntings.
Most people think William Afton is the center of the universe. He’s not anymore.
The Mimic was created by a man named Edwin Murray in the book lore. If the game stays faithful to that—which it seems to be doing, given the 1979 date—we are looking at a story about a grieving father who built a machine to play with his son, David. The machine was designed to "mimic" what it saw. When David died in a tragic accident, Edwin lost his mind and beat the robot with a lead pipe, infecting it with his own agony and rage. That’s the "Secret." It’s not just code; it’s a digital imprint of human suffering.
The 1979 Problem and the Pink Box
Did you see the jack-in-the-box in the trailer? It’s important. It looks nothing like the polished, neon-soaked aesthetic of Security Breach. It’s grimy. It’s tactile. This is the era of wood paneling and CRT monitors. The game's teaser shows a pink box with a jester-like figure emerging, which many fans immediately linked to the "Mimic01" program.
✨ Don't miss: Why the Clash of Clans Archer Queen is Still the Most Important Hero in the Game
Here’s the thing: people keep trying to fit this into the Afton family tree. Stop.
The Mimic is its own entity. In the teaser, the surroundings look like a factory or a workshop, likely Edwin’s workplace. The fact that the game is titled FNaF Secret of the Mimic suggests we are going to see the exact moment the program transitioned from a harmless toy to a lethal predator. We’re moving away from the supernatural "remnant" of the early games and into something more akin to rogue AI—but AI fueled by supernatural trauma. It’s a blend that Scott has been perfecting in the background for years through the books, and now it’s hitting the mainstream.
What the Teaser Actually Tells Us
You have to look at the details. The "Secret" isn't just that the Mimic exists. We knew that. The secret is likely who was using it before the Pizzaplex was even a thought. If the Mimic was active in 1979, it means it saw the very first Fazbear locations. It saw the first murders. It saw how Afton operated.
Imagine a machine that has been "watching" every tragedy in the timeline from the shadows. That’s terrifying.
Breaking Down the "Afton vs. Mimic" Debate
If you talk to any die-hard fan, they'll tell you the "Glitchtrap" debate is the most toxic part of the fandom. Was Glitchtrap actually William Afton’s soul? Or was it just the Mimic program copying him?
🔗 Read more: Hogwarts Legacy PS5: Why the Magic Still Holds Up in 2026
FNaF Secret of the Mimic is the final nail in the coffin for the "Afton is back" theory.
The game seems designed to prove that the Mimic is responsible for the modern era of FNaF. By showing us the 1979 origin, the developers are explaining how a program could become so obsessed with Afton. It didn't just happen by accident. The Mimic was likely fed data from old circuit boards, as seen in Help Wanted, but its capacity for evil started decades earlier. It's basically a sponge for violence.
- The Year 1979: This predates the Crying Child’s death. It means the Mimic is older than the animatronics we saw in the first game.
- The Costume: The Mimic is known for wearing costumes. The jester/jack-in-the-box theme in the trailer suggests it has been "performing" for a very long time.
- The Voice: Fans are speculating about the voice lines. If the Mimic can copy anyone, who was its first "template"?
It’s easy to forget that the Mimic isn't "haunted" in the traditional sense. It’s not a ghost in a suit. It’s a sophisticated learning algorithm that was traumatized at its inception. That makes it more unpredictable than Afton ever was. Afton had motives. The Mimic just has... patterns.
The Visual Evolution of the Franchise
Steel Wool is clearly moving toward a more "analog horror" vibe with this one. The teaser lacks the bright colors of the previous few entries. It feels claustrophobic. This is a smart move. The community has been vocal about wanting the "scary" back in FNaF. By stripping away the high-tech security systems and the massive malls, FNaF Secret of the Mimic can focus on the raw horror of being hunted by something that learns your every move.
Think about it. In a 1979 setting, you don’t have a smartphone. You don’t have a high-def map. You probably have a flashlight that flickers and a heavy door that barely locks.
💡 You might also like: Little Big Planet Still Feels Like a Fever Dream 18 Years Later
How to Prepare for the Lore Drop
If you want to actually understand what’s happening when the game releases, you should probably look into the Tales from the Pizzaplex story titled "The Mimic." It explains the Edwin Murray backstory in brutal detail. While the games often tweak the book details, the core beats usually remain the same.
The most important thing to remember is that the Mimic is a shapeshifter. It’s not just the endoskeleton you saw in the basement of the Pizzaplex. It can be anyone. It can be anything.
The "Secret" might be that the Mimic has been hidden in plain sight in previous games. Was it the "unfilled" suit in a backroom? Was it a character we thought was someone else? The implications are massive.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Theorists
Don't get bogged down in the old timeline yet. Focus on what this game is trying to tell us about the future of the series.
- Watch for 1979 Easter eggs: Look for branding that predates "Fazbear Entertainment." We might see "Chica’s Party World" or other early iterations.
- Listen to the sound design: The Mimic’s main trait is its voice. If you hear a familiar character speaking in a slightly "off" way, it’s a red flag.
- Focus on Edwin Murray: If a character named Edwin appears, or is mentioned, he is the key to the entire plot. He is the "Henry Emily" of this new arc.
- Re-examine Help Wanted: Go back and look at the "tapes" in the first VR game. There are references to scanning old circuit boards that we now know likely belonged to the Mimic.
We are entering a new era. The "Afton Saga" is functionally over, and the "Mimic Saga" is in full swing. FNaF Secret of the Mimic is the bridge that connects the two. It’s the origin story we didn't know we needed, and it’s likely going to be the darkest entry in the series since FNaF 4.
Get ready for 1979. It’s going to be a long night.