Tried my hand at another video. I'm trying to branch out with my character analysis, and this is the first time I've done someone not from Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. I also included some more visuals with this one, just of general gameplay (as there's really not much to be seen of the Phone Guy), though my computer isn't super fantastic for recording footage. Please feel free to let me know what you think.
~
For an establishment that prides itself on family fun and safety, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria sure doesn’t seem to worry overmuch about their employees wellbeing. From the tendency of the animatronics to bite off frontal lobes, to the willingness of the management to cover it up, Fazbear Entertainment is almost on the same level of Aperture Science when it comes to morally destitute business practices. It’s hard to know what drives any person to become a nighttime security guard at the diner, but when the average life expectancy for a new recruit is less than a week, it’s tough to say whether or not it’s worth it. But even though Freddy and friends have sworn on their mechanical hearts to break into your office and eviscerate you, there’s at least one person at Freddy Fazbear’s who DOESN’T want you to die: an unseen, apparently nameless, fellow employee whose late night calls have earned him the humble moniker of the Phone Guy.
The primary role of the Phone Guy is to explain the mechanics of the game, both to the player and to the security guards that we play as. As the one of the two people in the series who gets a speaking role, however, the Phone Guy eventually becomes much more than just a tutorial. He becomes the primary representative of the company, our lead source of news and information on what is going on with the animatronics, and also our main cheerleader who pulls for us to make it through five nights. More importantly, his presence in all three of the current titles gives him his own story arc within Fazbear Entertainment, acting as both a night guard himself as well as apparently being involved upper management. And the more we learn about his career, he goes from being a seemingly innocent fellow employee to someone who might know more than he wants anyone to be aware of.
In the first game, Phone Guy leaves a prerecorded message on night one to welcome us to our new job, informing us of the fundamental game mechanics, and to let us know about a few interesting quirks regarding the animatronics tendency to kill people by crushing them against wireframed suits. In what will eventually become his trademark for understatement, he tries to stress that there’s really nothing to worry about, so long as we take the proper precautions, and continues to stress that we aren’t in any real danger. Yet, the simple fact that he’s calling to tell us about any of this indicates that he knows full well what’s going to happen if someone doesn’t take the time to initiate the new guards. He admits that no one really tells anyone about this when they sign up, and given that the legal disclaimer which the company issues openly states that they will wait at least ninety days before even considering reporting your death, it becomes clear that the only person who really wants to help us survive five nights is the Phone Guy. But why is he going out of his way to teach us the ropes when he’s only one week away from retiring and can leave without ever looking back? Well, it could honestly be as simple as not wanting you to die. If the Phone Guy was malicious in that sense, he wouldn’t be going out of his way to lend a hand to the night guards, and his behaviour and sense of humor, though a bit dark at times, indicates that he has good intentions. It’s also worth noting that his messages are all prerecorded, indicating that he’s never actually met you, but still feels that you’re worth saving just on principal. Most telling of all, though, is his night 4 message, in which you can hear the animatronics actively breaking into his office, and presumably killing him in the end, making his last act alive to try and leave a message to boost your morale. Even when faced with his own imminent death, the Phone Guy is less concerned about his own wellbeing as he is the safety of a complete stranger, and it seems that all he really wanted to do is to protect SOMEone.
And as noble as that sounds, it also leads into part of the Phone Guy’s character that might be somewhat questionable. Though he goes out of his way to warn the security guard as much as he can, he never really tells us everything. For a man who seems to be incredibly concerned with the safety of others, he never does the obvious thing and tells the guards to just run and find a new job. Whenever warning us about the animatronics and any traits they might exhibit, he usually adds a disclaimer that they PROBABLY won’t attack. When he slips up and tells the guard on night 3 that most people don’t last this long, he hastily mentions that he doesn’t mean they died, just that they moved on to other things. Considering that the man has all the knowledge to be the whistleblower on Fazbear Entertainment, he always stops short of actually admitting that it’s a dangerous place to work for. And though the first game gives us a glimpse of the tail-end of his career, the prequel status of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 lets us know that the Phone Guy’s history of understatement and dirt shoveling has been going on for quite a while.
Both the second and third games indicate that the Phone Guy was, at one point, part of the management of Fazbear entertainment. He refers to those who work at the locations as “the employees,” or “our engineers,” and in the third game, his messages seem to be addressing a general audience about rules and regulations, reminding all employees to smile, and to remember that they are the face of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. So given that he’s in a position of importance, it’s no surprise that Phone Guy is concerned with the welfare of the company. Which is unfortunate, as the pizzeria is frequented by a serial killer who likes to target its customers. It’s known that there have been at least five murders to have taken place at Freddy Fazbears, and one would think that anyone with a shred of decency would at least call the police. But if the company is animate in hushing up the deaths of its employees, it seems even more concerned about quelling any rumors regarding the disappearance and murder of children. And this vow of secrecy extends to the Phone Guy: as the week goes on, we keep getting hints that something is going on with the daytime guard and his activities, but the Phone Guy seems less concerned about filling us in and more concerned with stressing that, once again, there’s nothing to worry about. His previously humorous talent for understatement starts to take on a slightly more sinister edge as he keeps trying to assure us that absolutely nothing is wrong. He dismisses any allegations against the company as rumor mongering, and that people are just trying to “make a buck.” Even when the demand for investigations are almost certainly going to be answered, he still tries to emphasize that Fazbear Entertainment denies any wrongdoings, and that the whole thing is just a precaution. The fact is that the Phone Guy must be aware of at least SOMEthing shady going on, as he slips up by mentioning how the daytime guard position has become available, and how former employees aren’t supposed to be let into the building. But just as he apparently can’t bring himself to tell the guards the truth about the killer animatronics, he also seems either unwilling or unable to confess about their killer employees.
It doesn’t seem as though the Phone Guy is necessarily malicious in any sense. Though his call on night 6 still skirts around overtly stating that they’ve discovered more murders, he sounds genuinely upset and distraught about the whole situation, and actually appears concerned that you’re still in the building. It’s obvious he’s not a fan of people dying, and the insinuations that the daytime guard has been fired indicates that either he or someone else in the company might have even tried to stop any further trouble from occurring, but the refusal to contact the police and the fear of anyone finding out about what’s been going on ultimately permits the murderer to continue his work. Though his own personal stakes in the company are ambiguous, the Phone Guy feels obligated to protect Fazbear Entertainment just as much as he feels obligated to protect the security guards. He doesn’t want to rock the boat any more than he has to, because he knows full well that it’s only going to take one very efficient health inspection to have Freddy Fazbear’s pizza shut down. It’s as if he really just wants to make everyone happy, even when it comes to matters concerning deadly singing animals.
Which brings up one of the more bizarre elements of the Phone Guy’s impulsive need to protect things. Even if he does know that the animatronics have a tendency to kill people, he still appears to have an odd sort of attachment to Freddy and friends. In the second game we waxes nostalgic about how much he liked the old animatronics, especially Foxy, and in the first game, although he’s already spent some time as a night time guard himself, he still defends the honor of the animatronics, claiming that they hold a special place in the hearts of children, and deserve a little respect. Though we’ll probably never know the exact details as to why, it’s safe to make the assumption that there’s something about Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza and its cast of characters that seems to make the Phone Guy happy, so much so that he won’t straight up admit that the animatronics are deadly. Though he’ll warn you about what would happen IF they try attacking, he’ll still try to follow up with assurance that it’s unlikely anything bad will happen. Even when they’re seconds away from breaking down his door and killing him, the most the Phone Guy will ask is that someone check in the backroom to see if they can find his body. Just like he’s willing to shift the blame in order to avoid controversy around the company, so too is he willing to try and make excuses for the mechanical monsters with a murderous track record.
In the end, it seems like the Phone Guy is a man who almost has too much empathy. He has a desperate need to make everyone around him happy, so much so that he doesn’t want to ever face the full extent of the problems surround Fazbear Entertainment because it might ruin someone’s day. He tries to protect the employees from the animatronics, he tries to protect the company from the press, and he tries to protect the animatronics from any kind of slander. But, in trying to make everyone happy, he really can’t make anyone truly happy at all. He can’t stop the animatronics from trying to kill people, he can’t stop the company from continuing their shady practices, and most of all, he can’t stop the killer from killing. The one thing that he can do, though, is call in and try to get at least one person through their Five Nights at Freddy’s, and maybe that grants him some solace. Of course, there’s still the recently announced Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 to look forward to, and perhaps we’ll get to hear that phone ring one more time. Because, after all, it’s not really a Freddy’s game without hearing “Hello, hello?”, and that’s the true importance of being the Phone Guy.
Tried my hand at another video. I'm trying to branch out with my character analysis, and this is the first time I've done someone not from Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. I also included some more visuals with this one, just of general gameplay (as there's really not much to be seen of the Phone Guy), though my computer isn't super fantastic for recording footage. Please feel free to let me know what you think.
~
For an establishment that prides itself on family fun and safety, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria sure doesn’t seem to worry overmuch about their employees wellbeing. From the tendency of the animatronics to bite off frontal lobes, to the willingness of the management to cover it up, Fazbear Entertainment is almost on the same level of Aperture Science when it comes to morally destitute business practices. It’s hard to know what drives any person to become a nighttime security guard at the diner, but when the average life expectancy for a new recruit is less than a week, it’s tough to say whether or not it’s worth it. But even though Freddy and friends have sworn on their mechanical hearts to break into your office and eviscerate you, there’s at least one person at Freddy Fazbear’s who DOESN’T want you to die: an unseen, apparently nameless, fellow employee whose late night calls have earned him the humble moniker of the Phone Guy.
The primary role of the Phone Guy is to explain the mechanics of the game, both to the player and to the security guards that we play as. As the one of the two people in the series who gets a speaking role, however, the Phone Guy eventually becomes much more than just a tutorial. He becomes the primary representative of the company, our lead source of news and information on what is going on with the animatronics, and also our main cheerleader who pulls for us to make it through five nights. More importantly, his presence in all three of the current titles gives him his own story arc within Fazbear Entertainment, acting as both a night guard himself as well as apparently being involved upper management. And the more we learn about his career, he goes from being a seemingly innocent fellow employee to someone who might know more than he wants anyone to be aware of.
In the first game, Phone Guy leaves a prerecorded message on night one to welcome us to our new job, informing us of the fundamental game mechanics, and to let us know about a few interesting quirks regarding the animatronics tendency to kill people by crushing them against wireframed suits. In what will eventually become his trademark for understatement, he tries to stress that there’s really nothing to worry about, so long as we take the proper precautions, and continues to stress that we aren’t in any real danger. Yet, the simple fact that he’s calling to tell us about any of this indicates that he knows full well what’s going to happen if someone doesn’t take the time to initiate the new guards. He admits that no one really tells anyone about this when they sign up, and given that the legal disclaimer which the company issues openly states that they will wait at least ninety days before even considering reporting your death, it becomes clear that the only person who really wants to help us survive five nights is the Phone Guy. But why is he going out of his way to teach us the ropes when he’s only one week away from retiring and can leave without ever looking back? Well, it could honestly be as simple as not wanting you to die. If the Phone Guy was malicious in that sense, he wouldn’t be going out of his way to lend a hand to the night guards, and his behaviour and sense of humor, though a bit dark at times, indicates that he has good intentions. It’s also worth noting that his messages are all prerecorded, indicating that he’s never actually met you, but still feels that you’re worth saving just on principal. Most telling of all, though, is his night 4 message, in which you can hear the animatronics actively breaking into his office, and presumably killing him in the end, making his last act alive to try and leave a message to boost your morale. Even when faced with his own imminent death, the Phone Guy is less concerned about his own wellbeing as he is the safety of a complete stranger, and it seems that all he really wanted to do is to protect SOMEone.
And as noble as that sounds, it also leads into part of the Phone Guy’s character that might be somewhat questionable. Though he goes out of his way to warn the security guard as much as he can, he never really tells us everything. For a man who seems to be incredibly concerned with the safety of others, he never does the obvious thing and tells the guards to just run and find a new job. Whenever warning us about the animatronics and any traits they might exhibit, he usually adds a disclaimer that they PROBABLY won’t attack. When he slips up and tells the guard on night 3 that most people don’t last this long, he hastily mentions that he doesn’t mean they died, just that they moved on to other things. Considering that the man has all the knowledge to be the whistleblower on Fazbear Entertainment, he always stops short of actually admitting that it’s a dangerous place to work for. And though the first game gives us a glimpse of the tail-end of his career, the prequel status of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 lets us know that the Phone Guy’s history of understatement and dirt shoveling has been going on for quite a while.
Both the second and third games indicate that the Phone Guy was, at one point, part of the management of Fazbear entertainment. He refers to those who work at the locations as “the employees,” or “our engineers,” and in the third game, his messages seem to be addressing a general audience about rules and regulations, reminding all employees to smile, and to remember that they are the face of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. So given that he’s in a position of importance, it’s no surprise that Phone Guy is concerned with the welfare of the company. Which is unfortunate, as the pizzeria is frequented by a serial killer who likes to target its customers. It’s known that there have been at least five murders to have taken place at Freddy Fazbears, and one would think that anyone with a shred of decency would at least call the police. But if the company is animate in hushing up the deaths of its employees, it seems even more concerned about quelling any rumors regarding the disappearance and murder of children. And this vow of secrecy extends to the Phone Guy: as the week goes on, we keep getting hints that something is going on with the daytime guard and his activities, but the Phone Guy seems less concerned about filling us in and more concerned with stressing that, once again, there’s nothing to worry about. His previously humorous talent for understatement starts to take on a slightly more sinister edge as he keeps trying to assure us that absolutely nothing is wrong. He dismisses any allegations against the company as rumor mongering, and that people are just trying to “make a buck.” Even when the demand for investigations are almost certainly going to be answered, he still tries to emphasize that Fazbear Entertainment denies any wrongdoings, and that the whole thing is just a precaution. The fact is that the Phone Guy must be aware of at least SOMEthing shady going on, as he slips up by mentioning how the daytime guard position has become available, and how former employees aren’t supposed to be let into the building. But just as he apparently can’t bring himself to tell the guards the truth about the killer animatronics, he also seems either unwilling or unable to confess about their killer employees.
It doesn’t seem as though the Phone Guy is necessarily malicious in any sense. Though his call on night 6 still skirts around overtly stating that they’ve discovered more murders, he sounds genuinely upset and distraught about the whole situation, and actually appears concerned that you’re still in the building. It’s obvious he’s not a fan of people dying, and the insinuations that the daytime guard has been fired indicates that either he or someone else in the company might have even tried to stop any further trouble from occurring, but the refusal to contact the police and the fear of anyone finding out about what’s been going on ultimately permits the murderer to continue his work. Though his own personal stakes in the company are ambiguous, the Phone Guy feels obligated to protect Fazbear Entertainment just as much as he feels obligated to protect the security guards. He doesn’t want to rock the boat any more than he has to, because he knows full well that it’s only going to take one very efficient health inspection to have Freddy Fazbear’s pizza shut down. It’s as if he really just wants to make everyone happy, even when it comes to matters concerning deadly singing animals.
Which brings up one of the more bizarre elements of the Phone Guy’s impulsive need to protect things. Even if he does know that the animatronics have a tendency to kill people, he still appears to have an odd sort of attachment to Freddy and friends. In the second game we waxes nostalgic about how much he liked the old animatronics, especially Foxy, and in the first game, although he’s already spent some time as a night time guard himself, he still defends the honor of the animatronics, claiming that they hold a special place in the hearts of children, and deserve a little respect. Though we’ll probably never know the exact details as to why, it’s safe to make the assumption that there’s something about Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza and its cast of characters that seems to make the Phone Guy happy, so much so that he won’t straight up admit that the animatronics are deadly. Though he’ll warn you about what would happen IF they try attacking, he’ll still try to follow up with assurance that it’s unlikely anything bad will happen. Even when they’re seconds away from breaking down his door and killing him, the most the Phone Guy will ask is that someone check in the backroom to see if they can find his body. Just like he’s willing to shift the blame in order to avoid controversy around the company, so too is he willing to try and make excuses for the mechanical monsters with a murderous track record.
In the end, it seems like the Phone Guy is a man who almost has too much empathy. He has a desperate need to make everyone around him happy, so much so that he doesn’t want to ever face the full extent of the problems surround Fazbear Entertainment because it might ruin someone’s day. He tries to protect the employees from the animatronics, he tries to protect the company from the press, and he tries to protect the animatronics from any kind of slander. But, in trying to make everyone happy, he really can’t make anyone truly happy at all. He can’t stop the animatronics from trying to kill people, he can’t stop the company from continuing their shady practices, and most of all, he can’t stop the killer from killing. The one thing that he can do, though, is call in and try to get at least one person through their Five Nights at Freddy’s, and maybe that grants him some solace. Of course, there’s still the recently announced Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 to look forward to, and perhaps we’ll get to hear that phone ring one more time. Because, after all, it’s not really a Freddy’s game without hearing “Hello, hello?”, and that’s the true importance of being the Phone Guy.