Charlie looked at the man, considering him: the ill-fitting uniform, his peaky, almost exhausted-looking features. He really could kick them off the property or even have them arrested for trespassing, but still, she could not really fear him. His inadequacy shone through him like a kind of negative charisma. He would always be shoved to the back of a crowd, always shouted down in an argument, always picked last, forgotten, ignored in favor of those who were simply more vital, more vigorously attached to life. (TSE)
This is the way The Silver Eyes introduces William Afton (at this point using the fake identity of Dave Miller). Later, when he begins to drop his mask and become an active threat, he's described like this:
But then there was the other kind of petty tyrant, those who grew spiteful with their small scraps of power, feeling more and more abused by the year—by family who did not appreciate them, by neighbors who slighted them in imperceptible ways, by a world that left them, somehow, lacking something essential.
Before him stood someone who had spent so much of his life fighting like a cornered rat that he had taken on the mantle of bitter sadism as an integral part of himself. He would strike out against others and revel in their pain, feeling righteously that the world owed him his cruel pleasures. The guard’s face, with its malevolent delight in Carlton’s pain and fear, was one of the most terrifying things he had ever seen. (TSE)
Afton was the original co-owner of Fredbear's Family Diner, alongside Henry Emily. Henry is a genius inventor with two children he loves. Afton has one child, who he hates. Afton lives in Henry's shadow, and his jealousy builds up, eventually to the point of overflow.
The restaurant. The closet, hung full with costumes. She and Sammy, there safe in the dark, until the door opened, and the rabbit appeared, leaning over them with its awful face, its human eyes. (TSE)
At a costume paty at Fredbears on Halloween of 1983 (originally 1982, but retconned by TFC), he finally lashes out at Henry. He dresses as the yellow rabbit to lure and kill Charlotte Emily.
Henry goes into grief. He cries into Charlie's doll, Ella, and a piece of his soul is imbued in it.
“He cried over that cheap store-bought rag doll for two months,” Elizabeth snarled with disbelief. “He cried into it, he bled into it, he poured his grief over it. Very unhealthy. He began to treat it as though he still had a daughter.” (TFC)
“Henry somehow got a piece of himself into you, and that’s something we haven’t seen before. That’s … unique.” (TFC)
Henry builds 4 robotic recreations of Charlie, imbuing unique emotions into each one, and uses the doll to bring them to life.
“He made us one, two, three.” Elizabeth touched Charlie’s shoulder lightly, then brought her hand back to her own chest. “Four.” Her eyes flickered, and the silver glow faded until her eyes looked nearly human.
“Charlie would be a baby, then a little girl, and then a sulky teenager.” She looked Charlie up and down with a pointed sneer, then her expression cleared as she continued. “Then at last she would be a woman. She would be finished. Perfect. Me.” Elizabeth’s face tightened. “But something changed, as Henry labored, racked with grief, over his little girl.
“The littlest Charlotte was made with a broken heart. She cried all the time, day and night. The second Charlotte he made when he was at the depth of madness, almost believing the lies he told himself; she was as hopelessly desperate for her father’s love as he was for hers. The third Charlotte he made when he began to realize he’d gone mad, when he questioned every thought he had, and begged his sister Jen to remind him what was real. The third Charlotte was strange.” (TFC)
Illusion discs smooth over the innacuracies, letting each of the new Charlies pose as a convincing, lifelike human.
“That was Henry’s idea not to try to reinvent the wheel. Why try to create the illusion of life, when your mind can do it for us?”
“She’s more than an illusion, though,” Jessica said plainly.
“Quite right,” Afton answered thoughtfully. “Quite right. But that’s why we’re here—to discover the secret of that last ingredient, what you might call the spark of life.” (TFC)
Afton was already maniacally jealous and spiteful toward Henry, but this turns it into an even deeper obsession. His attempt to cause pain, though successful, only resulted in Henry proving his brilliance to a level never seen before.
Afton wants to be better than Henry. This informs essentially all his actions throughout the story.
A search of his house had found a room crammed with boxes of mechanical parts and a musty yellow rabbit suit as well as stacks of journals full of raving paranoia, passages about Henry that ranged from wild jealousy to near worship. (TSE)
The man who had once been Dave cried the name with a hoarse glee, then scrunched his gnarled face back into a glare. “I’m more than Afton ever was, and far more than Henry.” (TTO)
Specifically, he wants to recreate what Henry did. First, he steals the fourth Charlie, turning it into his own creation- Baby. He recreates Henry's illusion technology to make the Twisted animatronics, meant to kidnap people, presumably for experimentation. Things change in 1985, when Elizabeth is killed in an accident, and her soul lives on in Baby.
Afton has an important revelation.
“The spirit follows the flesh, it would seem, and also the pain.” (TFC)
Henry, in his love, found a unique spark which allowed him to create a new family for himself. Afton, having discovered the mechanics of possession, now wants to prove himself by creating a family of his own. He lures and kills 5 children at Freddy's. He stuffs their bodies in the suits, binding their spirits.
“You killed them,” she said, and he made an impatient sound. She met his eyes again, not flinching from the empty socket. “They died in the suits,” she said hoarsely. “Their bodies were bound inside, along with their souls.” (TFC)
“We both wanted to love,” he said in those melodious tones. “Your father loved. And now I have loved.” (TSE)
“There isn’t a way out anymore. All that’s left is family.” (TSE)
It's clear that Afton is guilty, but nothing can be proven in court.
But there had been no evidence, there had been no bodies, and so there could be no charge. William Afton had left town, and there was nothing to stop him. They did not even know where he had gone. (TSE)
Henry begins to see through his delusions, and comes back to reality. Horrified with what's happened, he recaptures Baby and the Twisteds, sealing them underground beneath his house. Then, he commits suicide.
Afton goes into hiding, using fake identities. He stays close to Freddy's, dressing as Spring Bonnie and pretending to be friends with the children.
“They are home, with me.” Dave’s voice was coarse, and the large mascot’s head slid forward and tilted as he spoke. “Their happiest day.” (TSE)
This sets the status quo for the 10 years following the missing children incident. Things finally change in 1995, when Charlie and her friends get trapped in the pizzeria.
He locked eyes with Charlie for a moment, struggling to lean in closer. “Oh,” he gasped. “You’re something beautiful, aren’t you?” Charlie recoiled as if he had touched her. What’s that supposed to mean? She took another step back, fighting a surge of revulsion. (TSE)
“If you want to be one of them, then be one of them!” she shouted, and she tripped the spring locks. Dave’s eyes widened, and then he screamed. Charlie jerked her hands free, barely evading the locks as they snapped open and plunged into his neck. She took a step back, watching as Dave crumpled to the ground, still screaming as the costume released. Part by part, the animatronic insides pierced his flesh, ripping up his organs, tearing through his body as if it were not even there. At some point he stopped screaming, but he still writhed on the floor for what felt like long minutes before he was still. (TSE)
He becomes Springtrap, and is filled with energy.
“I’ve accepted the new life that you gave me. You’ve made me one with my creation. My name is Springtrap!” (TTO)
A storm destroys Henry's house, and the Twisteds are released. Afton uses them to attempt to kidnap the third Charlie (which houses the Ella doll, the thing he really wants). After he fails, he starts to become exhausted, overwhelmed by the pain of being one with the suit.
“When I called myself Springtrap I was ecstatic with power, delirious over my newfound strength. But pain changes all things, as does time.” (TFC)
Now, with Elizabeth (Baby) having returned to him, he's set to a new purpose. He still wants to recreate Henry's spark, but for a different reason.
“I have faced my own mortality, Jessica. I knew I was dying and through every broken fragment of my body, I was profoundly, immeasurably afraid. I fear it more than I fear life like this, even when every waking instant is pain, and sleep is possible only when induced by enough medication to kill most people.” (TFC)
With Elizabeth's help, he steals and melts together the endoskeletons of the main five animatronics, creating an amalgamation. His goal is to put his spirit inside of it, so he can live forever in his creation. To achieve this, he has Elizabeth transplant his organs into it, one by one.
“If I wish to become my own immortal creation, my body must lead my spirit to its eternal home. Since I am still … experimenting … I move my flesh piece by piece.” (TFC)
As he says, this is not the ideal way to go about things. It seems he intends to haunt the amalgamation the traditional way, by killing himself inside of it, but he wants to stick around in human form for a while longer so he can continue experimenting. It's possible what he really wants is to put himself into the amalgamation the way Henry put himself into Ella. Hence why he's still after the doll.
But again, he fails.
“We both know he won’t be able to re-create you, either.” (TFC)
Unlike Henry, he can't pour himself into his creation. This seems to be because, as Jessica says:
“William Afton never made anything with love.” (TFC)
And that's where it ends. Carlton helps the children realize Afton is their murderer, and they turn against him, dragging him into the fire and killing him for good.
He twisted wildly and saw: the creature from the table was standing, and its two melted metal arms were now gripping William from behind, pulling him away from the boy. Its skin contorted and moved like molten metal, its motions jerky and unnatural. Its joints popped and snapped as it moved, as though each movement should have been impossible.
“No!” William cried, hearing the crackle of flame as his hospital gown caught fire, pressed against the burning creature.
Carlton opened his eyes and took a breath, a real one; he clutched his chest and tried to remain motionless, lifting only his eyes to watch as the amalgamation of metal and cords pulled William Afton backward into the massive furnace. Smoke and fire erupted from the thing with a roar, and then the room was still. The creatures and parts that had been wriggling on the floor stopped at once, and did not move again. (TFC)
Notes
-
Afton is a narcissistic, misanthropic control freak.
He feels that the world has personally failed him, and he takes pleasure in lashing out and causing pain, to 'get back' at others.
Henry is his primary object of spite, as the shadow of Henry's accomplishments looms over Afton throughout his whole life.
Afton says he loves the missing children, but is endlessly manipulative and abusive toward them. He acts oddly respectfully toward those he holds power over (eg Carlton in TSE), until they become a threat to him, at which point he tends to attack and degrade them.
In TFC, he chooses to spend his last moments inflicting suffering on a child. He treats it sort of like an experiment, but also makes it clear that what he's really interested in is simply causing pain. This is how he self-soothes in the face of death.
“I’m running out of ideas,” William said, failing to hide his anxiety. “But if I’m not going to survive this, then you certainly aren’t, either.” William pressed down on the boy’s chest, and the boy struggled to free himself.
“Ouch!” the boy cried as his elbow touched the table below, where the orange glow was spreading. He jerked his arm up and cradled it, sobbing, then shrieked as his foot pressed onto the table and began to hiss. He yanked it back, howling.
“We will see where this takes us,” William said. (TFC)
It seems that most of Afton's character can ultimately be tied back to these qualities. -
Afton is obsessive, particularly with regard for Henry's achievement, the Ella doll and Charlie robots.
He wants to recreate it for himself, and this desire forms the cornerstone of all his work.
Baby, the Twisteds, the MCI, the Funtimes... everything is ultimately an attempt to study and recreate Henry's "unique spark".
Note that his specific goals with respect to the spark evolve over time. First, he acts purely out of jealousy, simply wanting to cause Henry pain. Then, he wants to create a family of his own, through possession. Later, after being nearly killed, he comes to fear death, and wants immortality. Each era of his life adds a new layer, reinterpreting his interest in the spark in some new way.
And in the end, he fails. He cannot recreate what Henry did, at least not to a level which satisfies him. (Though, I get the feeling he wouldn't be satisfied regardless.)
Henry is incredibly emotional, loving, and that is reflected in his creations, with his "spark of life". Charlie (the robot) is the culmination of that, as an entirely convincing lifelike machine. Afton, in contrast, is cold and unloving- inhuman -which is also reflected in his creations.
There was something sick about the creature, a weirdness that gripped her at the most basic, primal level and cried, This is wrong. Charlie closed her eyes for a moment. Her skin felt strange, like something was crawling all over it. (TTO)
“My father wouldn’t have used this. He always put stops so that the joints couldn’t do things humans can’t do.” (TTO)
The TFC amalgamation is treated as a kind of body horror, an aimless and disgusting mass of suffering, a perversion of life.
The plastic tarp slid from the table, and Jessica startled and stared at what was underneath, but her terror turned to confusion in an instant. There wasn’t a body, not human or machine. Instead there was a melted scrapheap, whose extensions could be interpreted as arms and legs, but with no defined mechanism of movement. There were no joints, no muscles, no skin or coverings, just masses of undefined tangles and cords, melted into one another and fused together. Most of it seemed fused to the table, burned and blackened at the edges where it touched the table itself, melting into it and seemingly inseparable from it. (TFC)
“They’re still in there!” Jessica screamed. “The children—Michael!” The creature writhed pitifully, as if responding to her voice, and Jessica’s heart wrenched. They’re in there, and they’re in pain. (TFC)
The mass of melted parts for a moment looked human, its demeanor suddenly childlike as it squirmed, and its head turned to face Jessica. For just a moment, Jessica thought she could make out eyes looking back at her. Suddenly, the silence was broken as the animatronic girl clenched her fist around the kidney and slammed it against the creature’s chest, pressing so hard that the metal underneath sank inward, embedding the kidney deep inside where it gurgled and hissed. More fluid seeped out the sides of the creature and burned on the table, as the girl wrenched it back and forth inside. (TFC)
Afton has his own spark of life, possession. Whereas Henry pours himself into his creation as a result of his own grief and suffering, creating 'magical' and lifelike characters, Afton traps others in his creation by inflicting suffering onto them, creating abominations. Afton takes Henry's creations (the fourth Charlie and the Classics) and brings them to life in his own way.
“We both wanted to love,” he said in those melodious tones. “Your father loved. And now I have loved.” (TSE)
“William Afton never made anything with love.” (TFC)
Love is, presumably, the secret to Henry's spark that Afton can never recreate.
But despite being obsessed with recreating Henry's achievement, he doesn't actually seem interested in what made Henry's work special.
“Did you think my robots would be as poorly designed as your father’s?” (TTO)
-
Afton has an unstable relationship with identity.
He's constantly playing characters, some more comfortably than others.
Clay gets the impression that Afton becomes more 'himself' after the murders.
The background check application was labeled “Dave Miller,” but it was unmistakably William Afton. Afton had been fat and affable; the man in the picture was sallow and thin, his skin sagging and his expression unpleasant, as if he had forgotten how to smile. He looked like a poor facsimile of himself. Or maybe, Clay thought, he looked like he had dropped his disguise. (TSE)
Apparently, he isn't particularly happy with the Dave persona.
“Spare me. Dave the guard was a character, one concocted on a moment’s notice to play you for a fool, you and your friends. It was insulting. It doesn’t take a great thespian to pretend to be an idiot night guard, as long as you can get around inconspicuously.” (TFC)
On the other hand, when playing as the yellow rabbit, he becomes confident, like a cheerful performer, and his voice becomes melodic.
After a moment’s pause, a yellow rabbit poked its head around the corner, its ears tilting at a jaunty angle. It was still for a moment, almost posing, then it came in with a bouncing walk, graceful, with none of the stiff, mechanistic movements of the animatronic animal. It did a small dance step, spun, and took a deep bow. Then it reached up and took off its own head, revealing the man inside the costume. (TSE)
At one point in TSE, when the group has him restrained, he seems to dissociate, and refuses to speak until Charlie puts the rabbit head on him.
The voice came from inside the mask, but it was not Dave’s, not the pitiful, sour tone they would have recognized. The voice of the rabbit was smooth and rich, almost musical. It was confident, somehow reassuring—a voice that might convince you of almost anything. (TSE)
After getting springlocked, he renames himself Springtrap, and takes on a more excited and theatric persona.
“William Afton, then? Of Afton Robotics?”
“Wrong again,” he hissed. “I’ve accepted the new life that you gave me. You’ve made me one with my creation. My name is Springtrap!” The man who had once been Dave cried the name with a hoarse glee, then scrunched his gnarled face back into a glare. (TTO)
But after his passion fades, and he has the suit removed, he becomes cold and direct, presenting as a scientist.
“Re-creating the accident—that is the duty and the honor of science. To replicate the experiment, and obtain the same result. I give my life to this experiment, piece by piece.” (TFC)
I tend to imagine he's retreating into a cold rational act to cope with the overwhelming pain and terror he feels at this point in the narrative. -
Besides the spark, there is another throughline across most of Afton's plans.
He wants to become one with his creation.
“And what makes you think they won’t kill you?” John said again, and Dave’s eyes took on something shining, almost beatific. “Because I am one of them,” he said. (TSE)
“I’ve accepted the new life that you gave me. You’ve made me one with my creation. My name is Springtrap!” (TTO)
“If I wish to become my own immortal creation, my body must lead my spirit to its eternal home.” (TFC)
This could be reflective of Henry's relationship to his creation, the fact that Charlie is literally of piece of him. But I moreso think it is a combination of his desire for control, to make others an extension of himself, and his proclivity for identity play. -
Afton takes pleasure in explaining himself to people, even expressing a desire to connect with them intellectually.
That is, so long as he remains in complete control.
When he has Carlton trapped in a springlock suit, he spends a while talking to him about the springlocks.
When he has Jessica hostage, he goes on a long explanation about his work, his fears, his goals, and the paranormal in general.
She persistently questions him, and he answers everything honestly.
He insists that she help with his surgery.
She held out the scalpel, and Jessica stared for a moment before realizing she was supposed to take it. “He wants you to watch; it’s the only reason you’re alive. If you don’t watch, then there is no reason for you to be here. Do you understand?” (TFC)
A part of it seems to be him toying with people, grossing them out or scaring them for his own pleasure (eg showing Carlton his springlock scars, making Jessica admit the children's corpses were in the animatronics). However, he does seem to genuinely engage with Jessica for a while.
“Ah. A woman with a mind for science. You can’t help but to admire what I’ve done.” (TFC)
Though, he also seems generally indifferent toward the personal lives of his conversation partners. He's mostly interested in talking about himself and his work, and toying with others' perceptions of him.
“Of course,” Dave said, the kind of polite murmur people made when they didn’t care. (TSE)
Notably, when explaining himself, Afton tends to tell the truth. Obviously he tells lies on occasion (eg using a fake name, making things up to lure the children). But for someone so manipulative, and who plays so many characters, he is remarkably honest. He tells strategic lies on occasion to meet his goals, but the vast majority of what he says seems to be genuine.
He looked up at the gleaming girl for a moment, then turned away. “I can’t take complete credit for this, unfortunately.” He reclined his head again and let out a sigh. (TFC)
Despite wanting so badly to be better than Henry, he does not attempt to be perceived this way through deception. He wants to be feared and admired, but he refuses to take false credit for what isn't his. (He does call himself "far more than Henry" when he becomes Springtrap, but I tend to think he genuinely believed that in the moment.) -
Afton does fear death, but this is not an axiomatic trait, nor even a consistent one.
His fear is specifically developed later in the story, in response to his near-death experience of being springlocked.
It doesn't develop immediately, but gradually, after he's gotten past the initial burst of energy from becoming Springtrap.
I've already given the relevant quotes, but I'll paste them again for reference.
“When I called myself Springtrap I was ecstatic with power, delirious over my newfound strength. But pain changes all things, as does time.” (TFC)
“I have faced my own mortality, Jessica. I knew I was dying and through every broken fragment of my body, I was profoundly, immeasurably afraid.” (TFC)
I think Afton's fear of death likely has a similar development in the games, considering how careless he is in FFPS, and considering we've only been shown his fear explicitely in Frights, after the fire. (I suppose there's Follow Me, but it's a bit different, more a matter of lost control, similar to his freakout in the movie I think.)
Though, even when terrified of death, he is still a bit careless regarding his own safety. Multiple times he chastises Elizabeth's caution, citing some personal annoyance or impatience.
A monitor began to beep at slightly irregular intervals, and he waved his hand. “Turn that off. I can’t stand the sound of it. Jessica, come closer.” (TFC)
“I touched you; I have to start over,” she said.
“Nonsense, just do it. I’ve survived worse than this.”
“The risk of infection …” she said calmly.
“Elizabeth!” he snapped. “Do as I say.” (TFC)
-
Will does not care, nor does he grieve, for his children.
He is horribly abusive toward Elizabeth.
She was a little girl, holding a piece of paper in her hand, excited and full of joy. A bright gold foil star shimmered on the page, above the glowing words of her kindergarten teacher. Someone gently touched her back, encouraging her to run forward into the room, into the dark. She eagerly ran inside, and there he was, standing by the work desk.
Her eagerness didn’t fade, she remained patient and joyful. After the first push, she came back to try again. It was only after the second push that she hesitated to go back, but she carefully returned anyway, this time holding the paper into the air. Maybe he didn’t see it.
This time it hurt; the ground was cold, and her arm ached where she had fallen on it. She looked for the paper: it was on the floor in front of her, her gold star still shone bright, but he was standing on the page now. She looked up to see if he noticed, tears in her eyes. She knew she should leave it, but she couldn’t. She reached forward to tug at the corner, but it was too far away. She finally crawled to it on her knees, her dress dirty now, and tried to pull the page from under his shoe. It wouldn’t come loose.
“That’s when he hit me.”
It was difficult to make out anything in the room after that. The room was a smear of tears and pain and her head was still spinning. But she made out one thing, a shiny metal clown doll. Her father had turned his attention back to it, lovingly polishing her. Suddenly, her pain faded to the background, replaced with fascination, obsession. (TFC)
Elizabeth's desperation for her father's affection (as seen in the games as well) is a result of this abuse. When Elizabeth becomes Baby, Afton leaves her trapped underground alone for a decade. It's only once he becomes helpless that he finally works with her, so long as she is obedient to him.
Note that he calls her Baby-
“Baby, that’s enough,” Afton whispered. (TFC)
...despite her preferring to be called Elizabeth.
“I want you to call me Elizabeth,” the girl said softly. (TFC)
There is one exception: He calls her Elizabeth when he is scolding her.
“Elizabeth!” he snapped. “Do as I say.” The animatronic girl stopped moving at once, looking startled, and for a moment almost seemed to tremble. (TFC)
(I've tended to refer to Baby as Elizabeth in this post, since that is her preferred name, and since it's what the narration calls her.)
Afton does not appreciate Baby as his daughter. He only appreciates her as his animatronic creation, and as a remnant of Henry's brilliance. Baby only pleases him insofar as he can forget that she is Elizabeth. He repeatedly insists that Baby is amazing, but that she came at a cost.
“Sometimes great things come at a great cost.” (TFC)
The implication seems to be that, amazingly, she has the spark of life, but disappointingly, it comes from his daughter. It's as though his great creation is tainted by Elizabeth's spirit.