By now you are probably wondering…
“Of any character she could have picked, why on Earth is this crazy girl in love with William Afton?!”
On a surface level, it’s pretty simple. I just really love my psychotic and violent fictional men… especially the older kind. Up until today, I have had crushes on many characters in this category; most notably Ghetsis from Pokemon and Dottore from Genshin. This type was even evident when I loved the seemingly-good albeit very fucked Batman.
Though they all fit a somewhat similar mold, William is a unique case for me. The most simple reason is because he is a very nostalgic character to me. While I initially loved him as Springtrap rather than as The Purple Man, that love eventually brought me to William Afton and that is all that matters today. I practically grew up with him and, given how important Five Nights at Freddy’s is to me, he holds a very special place in my heart.
Aside from the third installment in the series, William’s portrayal in the movie is what got me head over heels for him! Yeah, it’s a bit saddening that he didn’t appear on-screen for that much time, but every single second of him is just so good.
First of all, I love his duality. Think about it, there is so much potential here. The possibilities are endless; think of all you could do together as the sarcastic career counselor Steve Raglan, as the twisted and fiendish murderer William Afton, as the deceptive and cunning Yellow Rabbit, even as Springtrap… The list goes on and on. For a character with relatively little screen time, the amount of possibilities is truly amazing!
Another striking quality of William’s is his personality. The movie portrayal of William Afton was just perfect; from his slightly shady yet humorous facade as Steve Raglan to his unbridled rage toward “Michael Schmidt” and even toward his own daughter.
And even then, William’s character goes so much deeper than what we see on the surface. By the time you reach the end of the movie or rewatch it, a sickening realization dawns upon you. There was never actually a security position waiting to be filled, but rather a death trap; made evident by the animatronics’ numerous attempts to murder Mike, and by the death of the poor security guard before him (as seen at the very beginning of the movie). Another example of this is when, in the training tape, the woman speaking refers to the owner (William) as a “genius”. Through this scene, the movie shows us that William is narcissistic. Think about it, who exactly do you think wrote the script for the video? This is seen yet when younger Vanessa is shown holding the toy airplane that once belonged to Garrett, the murdered younger brother of Mike Schmidt.
In general, I think that Matthew Lillard did a spectacular job at bringing the character, William Afton, to life. His Afton will always and forever be my favorite iteration of the character; the William Afton I am in love with today. *
* And just as a quick clarification, I don’t simp for Matthew Lillard as a person; only the fictional character he plays… I do not support RPF in any capacity.