Something that's always bothered me about modern FNaF is the constant Nightmarionne imagery. From plushes hidden around the Pizzaplex, to Nightmarionne-based STAFF Bots with "IN YOUR DREAMS" inscribed on their chests, to Nightmarionne apparently being recognized as "from that VR game". What on earth does he have to do with any of this? Well, today, I'm going to tell you. And I'm going to do it by connecting it not just to the Mimic...but by copying John FuhNaff's theory from two months ago.

If you didn't see that theory, PLEASE go watch it yourself. It's excellently crafted, and it's kinda necessary to understand what I'm talking about here. But if you don't have the willpower for whatever reason, I'll give a brief summary. Essentially, Henry is the Secret of the Mimic protagonist, and he brought M.X.E.S. to Edwin's factory to contain the Mimic. Watch the theory to see how that conclusion was made.

Another thing I do want to add to that theory quickly that I don't think was added in that video was that I think Henry actually *made* M.X.E.S. We already know he's qualified by 1979, based on the fact Fredbear's exists and is well-established enough for Fazbear Entertainment to contract people, and if John's theory is correct, it lines up with Fazbear sending him in as the last resort.

But back to my theory. How does this have anything to do with Nightmarionne? Well, throughout Security Breach and Ruin, there are several reminders as to this guy's existence, ie, the plushes absolutely everywhere. But Nightmarionne isn't the only one that's here that really shouldn't be. In Ruin specifically, various Plushbabies show up all over the place for...seemingly no reason. And they seem to be possessed in some way, as they can appear and disappear at will and have a child's laughter attached. And coincidentally, both of them have AR plushies in Ruin.

Plushbaby and Nightmarionne are the only characters to have plushies of them that aren't either the core four or of someone who has a role in Ruin. Plushbaby's description is literally "What is she doing here?", again adding a layer of mystery that we'll get back to. But Nightmarionne's? Cassie specifically calls out that Nightmarionne is "from that VR game".

That's when I remembered something. Nightmarionne, at least the FNaF 4 version, isn't canon. Scott confirmed that Nightmare BB was the only one of the Halloween Update trio that was canon to the games. So then why is a non-canon character showing up now? Simple. Nightmarionne as a character is canon, but only his VR counterpart. In the canon world of Five Nights at Freddy's, Nightmarionne is nothing more than a video game character, just as he is to us.

But why does this matter? Well, now's the time we start making some connections. Nightmarionne is an evil version of Charlie. And in the Silver Eyes trilogy, there's an evil, robot version of Charlie. That robot version of Charlie also doubles as the trilogy's version of Circus Baby. Can you maybe see where I'm going with this? Yet another case where Baby and Nightmarionne are paired together in places they really shouldn't be in. But there's even more parallels to be made with Evil Charlie. And here's where the Mimic comes in.

In the books, when Henry beats the fourth Charlie bot, the book says this: "He \[Henry\] seethed as he soldered her skeleton together, pouring his anger into the forge where he shaped her bones." And when Edwin is beating the Mimic in Tales, the book says this: "He \[Edwin\] could almost feel his murderous thoughts pouring through his muscles and transfusing through the metal into Mimic's systems." 

It's near exact. Pouring feelings into something cold, a grieving father, all of it near identical. But the connections don't stop there. Going to another John theory, Security Breach and Ruin are both parallels for The Silver Eyes and The Twisted Ones respectively, but it doesn't seem like we've gotten a Fourth Closet parallel yet. Keyword: yet. If you recall the unused dev text in Ruin for the Mimic chase sequence, it says that there was a teaser intended for "Carnival" in the mascot costume room, which we now know was the developer codename for Secret of the Mimic. And guess what Circus Baby's Pizza World, a location itself filled with mascot costumes, looks very similar to? *A carnival.*

And the similarities STILL aren't over. There's been a lot of connection between the colors green and blue recently; Monty and Bonnie, the glitchy color scheme of M.X.E.S., and perhaps the most obvious, the heterochromia of Tigerrock. And remind me, who does green represent in this series again? Ah, yes. Elizabeth and Charlie. Baby and Nightmarionne. And while blue doesn't really represent a defined character in this series, I have a feeling that it's soon going to represent David. So thus, when it comes down to it, Tigerrock, the Mimic, is a fusion of Charlie and David.

But perhaps the biggest one, the one that truly convinced me of this theory, is that the Mimic program has already done this. In Ruin and Help Wanted 2, Glitchtrap almost always shows himself as Helpi, a distorted version of the physical Helpy. The Mimic program is intentionally disguising itself by hiding behind another character so it can't be detected. So what's stopping the physical Mimic from doing the exact same thing with Nightmarionne?

The Mimic is Nightmarionne, both in a literal and metaphorical sense. It is the agony spread throughout the Pizzaplex, the plushes hidden around every corner, the discarded STAFF Bots used by Mimic1, the anger and rage within the very *wires* of the building. Edwin may be dead, but he does continue to live on. In a bit of an unexpected way.

  
Alright! That one took way too long to type. I'm really proud of this one, and I don't think I've seen anyone else come to this same conclusion. Admittedly, Elizabeth's involvement in this whole concoction is a bit of a loose thread, but if Secret of the Mimic allows this theory to flower, then I may make a follow-up post if the game gives us some more details. (And I swear, if there's a Nightmarionne plush on Edwin's desk somewhere...)

Thanks for reading!

The True Secret of the Mimic: Nightmarrione