#like... “captain obvious”... “captain boomerang”... “captain springlock”...

[tortillaneedshelp]

So… I have a theory from SotM.

One of the most interesting parts of the game to me was Foxy’s puppet show. Like… we got a whole entire cutscene/minigame featuring Foxy and his pirate crew (and none of the other core four). Huge! This is the earliest we’ve ever seen him!

The thing is, though, I pay extra attention whenever Foxy's around because I am a Michael Afton enjoyer (understatement), and Michael has always been connected to Foxy. It's the mask he wore in FNAF 4, Funtime Foxy is the one who canonically jumpscares Mike in SL, Foxy was the main animatronic in the Fazbear Frights story that helped us confirm Mike's identity once and for all... the list goes on. So when I see an undamaged Foxy getting screen time in 1979, a year we know Michael was alive, and in a game that set up so much of the origins of Fazbear, I have to theorize about it.

First of all, it’s the first time we get to see Foxy undamaged. He’s not technically whole since he’s just a puppet, but he’s probably as whole as he’ll ever be! Second of all, it’s the first time we meet Foxy’s crew. A crew which consists of First Mate Foxy, Roxy (WHO IS ANOTHER CAN OF WORMS BUT THAT'S FOR LATER), Kit, Bawson, Renard the cook, and the captain, an early—perhaps the earliest—springlock suit, called Captain Springlock.

During the cutscene/minigame, Foxy is running around trying to organize a surprise birthday party for the Captain, trying to get the perfect gift and everything, but the Captain is not entirely pleased. Foxy keeps breaking all the Pirate Rules, and the party summons a Rocktapus. Finally, the crew defeats the Rocktapus, Foxy finds the perfect gift, and wins back the Captain’s favor--though the Captain still points out that Foxy got the date of his birthday wrong. After this, the Captain is sent away to the Animatronic Hospital to by worked on by Nurse Dollie.

So, what to make of that?

Remember, Foxy usually points us to Michael. Here we see an interaction between Foxy and his captain who he seems very eager to please, but only ends up frustrating. Roxy even accuses Foxy of waking up the Captain. And even though Captain Springlock is a pirate dog, not a yellow rabbit, I’m almost completely convinced he’s meant to represent William. A Captain is a leader, the one in charge of the ship. The title evokes the idea of "the man of the house"—I'm reminded of Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music specifically. At any rate, he’s Foxy's primary authority figure. And Foxy is the first mate, which is very likely how an oldest son would think of himself in relation to his father.

Now consider this—it’s 1979. Fazbear Entertainment is an entity, but hasn’t really gotten off the ground yet because they still need Murray’s animatronics and costumes. Which means that nobody has died yet and the Afton family is completely whole. William hasn’t become a murderer yet. Michael hasn’t started tormenting his little brother yet. Fredbear is a prototype and the Funtimes only exist as a whisper of style in some of Edwin Murray's work. Everyone’s fine.

Foxy is whole.

Perhaps this scene is a window into the last shreds of normalcy in the Afton family before William launched Fazbear Entertainment, and became a workaholic and an even worse father, and, of course, a murderer.

Even though the pirate crew ends up saving the day, in the middle of the chaos the Captain expresses extreme displeasure with Foxy, going so far as to curse him. It's pretty widely accepted that William despised Michael after the Crying Child's death, but who's to say he wasn't already finding fault with Michael before that? We know what kind of man William is. He's greedy, he's cruel, he only cares about his kids when they can be of use to him. Look at the way he treats Vanessa in the movies, and Elizabeth in the books and games. He's never been a good dad. Even his oldest child—his firstborn son, his supposed pride and joy—would get on his nerves. After the bite of '83, his displeasure would only increase.

Also: It’s been heavily speculated that William might have survived a few springlock failures before the one that ultimately traps him. This mostly comes from the novel trilogy, where William is described as having scars in the springlock pattern all over his body. And Dollie tells us that Captain Springlock has had to visit the animatronic hospital several times because of his springlock failures. Just food for thought.

Another interesting detail is that even though Foxy technically earns the Captain's respect by the end of the show, the theater is still trashed, and the Captain still suffers a springlock failure—and that's the last we see of him for the rest of the game. Foxy's actions still technically lead to the Captain's demise. Much like how even though Michael initially does his father's bidding to please him, he's still the one who ultimately brings about William's final death.

Anyway... that's one of the biggest theories from this game bouncing around in my brain like a rubber ball. For what it's worth. :P