tw: talk of abuse in fiction
I feel like a lot of people forget that the Sister Location animatronics aren't actually cold, merciless killers. Yeah, Circus Baby is manipulative and can be cold at times, Funtime Freddy is extremely chaotic and aggressive towards staff members, etc.
But they're not like that because they WANT to be.
Those animatronics were forcefully programmed to be killers whether they liked it or not, and if they tried to fight back or go against it, they would be shocked and/or scooped as punishment, which, according to a lot of context clues, genuinely hurts them a LOT. They're basically tortured. And when they DO attack, based off how Circus Baby describes it, it's against their will, they have no control over when their programming kicks in.
Not only that but they all have their own consciousness, even though many of them aren't even possessed, they have their OWN consciousness, they can feel things, they have emotions, they have fears, they are alive.
(Example: The fact Circus Baby knows the scooper hurts and that Ballora is scared of the scooper, likely because of the pain it causes. Plus how Circus Baby describes Elizabeth's death has clear remorse and emotion.)
Which means not only was Afton abusing them and forcing them to do his bidding, he likely purposefully made it so they could feel pain and feel remorse just to add to his sadistic pleasure.
They don't WANT to hurt anyone, they're scared and desperate to escape. They attack Michael because they think he's William, they scooped him because they were just so desperate and so terrified of what they were capable of and the further abuse they could endure had they not left.
Even Funtime Freddy seems to only attack purposefully when he feels threatened, and he's the aggressive one. Like idk about you guys but if I was him and had two technicians who had a history of abusing me trying to take out my power module, which is essentially his heart, I'd be pretty defensive too.
Are some of their actions morally grey if not completely in the wrong? Yes.
Do they do those things out of a place of malice?
They're not merciless killers, they're just as much of victims as Michael, Elizabeth, and anyone else who died at their hands.
Obviously no hate to anyone who sees their actions differently, this is just my personal take on them. I've never really seen them as evil, just extremely abused and broken.
Also this doesn't include Count The Ways Funtime Freddy or Eleanor since those characters are NOT the same FunFred and Circus Baby we see in SL.
