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The Haunted Copy of Five Nights at Prototype Fredbear’s (also known as Five Nights at Prototype Fredbear’s is Haunted and often shortened to FNaPF is Haunted) is an urban gaming legend, similar to Polybius and the Lavender Town Syndrome. It features numerous reports from people discussing a strange version of the first game, specifically the one updated to Version 4.0.
This legend originated on May 5th, 2023, from a poll created by the game’s creator, JosephTheSnail.[1] The poll stated the following, shown here without any grammatical corrections:
"Dumb Question, but do you think fnapf is haunted lol [sic]
There must be one person who thinks it is, and no, I haven't seen anything weird in my fangame, this is just a dumb question [sic]."
Surprisingly, the poll results shocked the creator, as 33% of voters said “yes,” making it the highest-voted option.
The other results were:
- Maybe (25%)
- No (17%)
- Eh, it’s a normal FNAF fangame to me (25%)
Initially, these results seemed like a joke or troll votes, but as time went on, multiple posts started appearing on Tumblr, detailing strange experiences from players who had played the game. One well-known example was a post by a user named TobyBlogger on July 19th, 2023, at 10:05 PM, where he described a bizarre encounter with a strange version of the game, downloaded from a sketchy site mimicking Game Jolt.
Toby described how the game played normally at first, but after completing the first night, he went to sleep and had a deeply unsettling nightmare. In the dream, everything seemed ordinary as he fed his pet cat and washed dishes, until he noticed something staring at him through the window. He went outside to investigate, but upon returning, he found his cat lying in front of his desktop, with a chunk of its torso bitten off.
He tried to call the police, but there was no signal. Backing away, he suddenly saw Prototype Fredbear standing behind him. When Toby attempted to grab a knife, the bear slashed a wound across his waist. He woke up immediately afterward. As he continued playing to unlock the custom night, he noticed the game behaving more strangely—characters appearing in incorrect locations, graphic violent images flashing on the cameras, and other odd occurrences that didn’t align with JosephTheSnail’s usual programming style.
Toby’s account inspired others to share similar stories, expanding the myth of Prototype Fredbear as a cryptid who doesn’t attack humans unless provoked, much like The Rake. Prototype Fredbear is said to have a particular fascination with cats, and when this cursed version of the game is played, Fredbear allegedly manifests in reality and kills the player’s cat.
Although Prototype Fredbear doesn’t kill directly, he’s believed to emotionally torment players through the loss of their pets, driving some to suicide. Many believe that TobyBlogger is one of the few survivors, as other players who posted similar stories have gone inactive on Tumblr shortly afterward, sparking rumors of their deaths.
The legend has also become associated with the SCP Foundation mythos. In this context, the game is said to be housed on a haunted gaming computer, designated as SCP-2023. Prototype Fredbear himself is classified as SCP-2023-1. A well-known post titled My Cats Has Gone Missing popularized this connection, featuring photos of dead cats supposedly found in the game’s files. SCP personnel reportedly noticed that images of cat corpses had embedded themselves into unrelated files.
Whether this is truly a haunted copy or simply a hacked version from an unauthorized site, there’s definitely something strange about it. Below are more accounts of unusual experiences with the game—not all of them involve a haunted copy, but many include bizarre happenings linked to it.
Stories Involving the Legend[]
Written by JosephTheSnail
and made up by multiple authors.