Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) has been a cultural phenomenon, introducing some of the creepiest gameplay based around the simple concept of staying alive while animatronics try to kill you. So who is the strongest FNAF character?
Golden Freddy is the strongest and most powerful animatronic followed by Nightmare Fredbear, with Chica being the least powerful due to her slow movement and refusal to stalk your door.
Let’s go through FNAF characters from strongest to weakest, and consider their attributes as to why they are so scary and can dominate you, as well as consider the various attacks they have. So let’s get right into it!
Golden Freddy
Golden Freddy is easily one of the most powerful animatronics due to his ability to teleport. This prevents him from many of the defensive measures that can be deployed, making it easy to assume an area is safe.
Golden Freddy can also do camouflage so that he blends in and matches the lights, making him very hard to see.
Golden Freddy’s silver eyes allow him to stun other animatronics, giving him more opportunities to attack and not let other animatronics get in his way of killing.
Golden Freddy will be summoned when looking at the West Hall Corner camera poster, and he will immediately appear in the office and kill the night guard, requiring the quick action of bringing up the monitor.
Nightmare Fredbear
One of the quickest animatronics, he can get to your location very quickly and can catch you unawares.
Unlike many of the other animatronics, Nightmare Fredbear won’t be easy to get rid of using techniques and items, meaning he will hang around throughout most of the night, being a constant thorn in your side.
Freddy also causes some of the most effective jumpscares by having the tendency to suddenly appear on a monitor by staring directly into the camera when you check the backstage area.
Springtrap
The withered form of Spring Bonnie who is possessed by the evil William Afton, and still having Afton’s corpse inside him, Springtrap is so named due to the dangerous spring locks comprising the animatronic that have caused injuries to children.
Springtrap can not only move through the building as usual, but will also sneak in via the vents, requiring the vents to be shut or he will be able to get into the office and jumpscare immediately, ending the night.
Springtrap will also attack from the office if the player stays nearby for too long.
Springtrap is one of the hardest characters to deal with, as he has the smartness of a human and the killing instinct of the deranged Afton.
Generally you’ll end up having a vent battle with him by closing the vent in his face. This will also give you time for repairs, made all the longer he continues to go in the same vent you just closed.
However of course it’s all luck based, so eventually he’ll show up right to your door for a visit and there’s not much to be done.
Mangle
Mangle loves to hang out in the vent, and if left alone too long will come out and kill you. Mangle must be removed via putting on the Freddy Mask at the right time, usually when you hear the static over the radio.
Mangle is looking to hunt humans, and so if Mangle thinks you are Freddy, that will allow you to escape Mangle’s killing blow. Mangle recognizes faces, which reveals that Mangle is one of the new animatronics that the flashlight won’t work on.
When Mangle is in the vent and ready to attack, there will also be an eerie sound and you may be able to see Mangle in the vent, at which point it’s definitely time to put the mask on.
Glitchtrap
A supernatural malware within the Freddy Fazbear Virtual Experience, Glitchtrap takes the form of a humanoid in a rabbit costume and watches the player as they progress, definitely ratcheting up the creepy factor.
Glitchtrap will guide the player throughout specific parts of the game, and will put pressure on them to collect all the tapes and follow the instructions properly; if not done, then immediately you are presented with a Game Over screen and must restart.
Glitchtrap has also shown an ongoing ability to corrupt messages left by others, resulting in confusion as to what has happened while also hiding important information about weaknesses or strategies to consider moving forward.
Glitchtrap can control you, mess with your mental reality, and go from one place to another in a second due to being a computer program or virus.
Shadow Freddy
Shadow Freddy will cause your game to crash if you stare at his broken body in the Parts/Service area for too long, and this ability to end your run while being in a different room is certainly putting him at the top of strongest characters.
Shadow Freddy is likely just an apparition but it’s hard to know exactly what his deal is.
Nightmarionne
Easily one of the creepiest-looking animatronics, Nightmarionne is a tall, thin black with long fingers and a white mask with black eyes and white pinpoints.
Nightmarionne has one of the largest range of attack vectors, being able to come from the bed, closet, left hall, and right hall.
Nightmarionne is also a very aggressive character, attacking every few seconds and not making any footsteps before the attack like most others. Nightmarionne will also let out a creepy laugh to announce his presence, which can be unnerving.
Toy Bonnie
As Toy Bonnie’s animation goes across your vision, it can be hard to deal with. You also have to remember to wind the box, meaning it can be not available for when you really need it.
Toy Bonnie also gets made harder due to the withered animatronics pulling down your camera, which can easily lead to a game over.
Foxy
Being another high speed animatronic, many can be caught off by Foxy’s rush from Pirate’s Cove. Foxy in fact goes faster through the hallways if you check his usual areas, catching players unawares.
Foxy resides in a separate area, meaning it is harder to keep an eye on what Foxy is doing. Foxy’s possession of a hook hand also makes for an effective attack rather than the typical method of stuffing the human into the suit.
Plushtrap
Plushtrap has some of the scariest and effective tactics, especially in the Dark Room level. Plushtrap’s attacks can only be predicted by sound, making for a very difficult defense.
Withered Foxy
While not possessing the strongest attacks, Withered Foxy does have the advantage of being able to apply debuffs to large groups of enemies, and his Hot Cheese 2 attack which can cause large area of effect damage to groups that can be very effective.
Ennard
While visually one of the most terrifying animatronics, Ennard’s possession by a child’s soul means he is often not making the smartest or most cunning moves.
This means you have a few chances to spot his creepy crawl towards you and then stop him getting close enough to jumpscare and end the game.
Balloon Boy
Balloon Boy is much weaker than the other characters due to the fact that he won’t kill you, at least directly.
However, Balloon Boy’s actions can cause you to get killed, as he likes to steal the batteries from your flashlight, leaving you helpless against some of the other animatronics that can be reset after having a beam into their eyes.
This means that he is responsible for many deaths, although even if he gets into the office he won’t kill you, so that means he can’t be that high on the list of deadly animatronics.
Chica
Chica lacks some of the other attributes that make the other animatronics so powerful. Chica is not very fast, and so can be easily spotted on the cameras and then preventative measures taken, such as shutting the doors.
Chica also doesn’t hang around the doors like the other animatronics, meaning that once you have the door shut, you don’t have to waste a lot of power keeping it shut while the animatronic hangs around, as Chica will move away relatively quickly.
Conclusion: Who Is the Strongest Animatronic in FNAF?
Golden Freddy’s teleport ability puts him right up the top of the hardest animatronics to deal with, as the usual technique of monitoring via the cameras is extremely ineffective.
Even worse, Golden Freddy doesn’t mind hanging around the doors for a long time, and there is no easy way to make him go away, so it is easy to just open the door only to have him spring an attack on you.
A close second is Nightmare Fredbear, as his speed means he can close in on your position before you’ve had a chance to spot on the monitors, but as there is a much higher chance of spotting him than the teleporting Golden Freddy, he isn’t quite the strongest.
Featured images source: https://freddy-fazbears-pizza.fandom.com/wiki/Animatronics_and_Bots
