Summary
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2is the newest mainline game in theFive Nights at Freddy’sseries. The title is the third entry since developer Steel Wool Studios re-establishedtheFNAFfranchise’s canon, leading fans to delve into its various minigames, secret locations, and original features as deeply as possible. Among these fresh features are some never-before-seen, or heard, animatronics, each of whom brings new details to their respective locations. While its setting and place on the timeline are presented by the story’s end,Help Wanted 2introduces quite a bit of brand-new information through players' interactions with these animatronics. By exploring each character’s role and personality in detail, fans have begun to piece together some of the deeper and darker details thatHelp Wanted 2has to offer.
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2firmly takes place between the events ofFive Nights at Freddy’s: Security BreachandFNAF: Security Breach RUIN. The title follows a former Fazbear employee, the father ofRUIN’s Cassie, as he makes one last attempt to discover the source of the glitches plaguing the Pizza Plex and free the Princess trapped within the Princess Quest arcade cabinets. The character first appeared in collectible security logs found throughout the main story ofSecurity Breach.Help Wantedsees players experience the string of events that lead to his disappearance and their connection with Cassie’s arrival at the Pizza Plex years later. Featured among the title’s various minigames, technician tasks, and employees-only locations, Cassie’s Dad encounters a variety of new animatronics and familiar faces that seem to interact with him directly, helping characters learn more of his identity.
Mystic Hippo
Mystic Hippo makes her debut in the opening moments ofFNAF: Help Wanted 2, acting as a fortune-teller, hint-giver, and passive narrator during players' completion of the title’s various minigames. She shares a similarity to Mr. Hippo, a fan-favorite animatronic from various pre-Steel Wool titles, but is not a variant or re-color. Rather, she is a full-fledged entity that exists within the “digital” Pizza Place that players find themselves in whilewearing a V.A.N.N.I. mask. During crucial points in the story, Mystic Hippo speaks directly to the player character, hints at their identity, helps with progression, and, most importantly, delivers a crucial item that allows players to operate the Princess Quest IV machine and unlockHelp Wanted 2’s secret ending. The character is also featured in a PSVR2-exclusive minigame, which uses eye tracking to read the player’s fortune.
Carnival Nurse
Carnival Nurse is a new animatronic entity that addresses the player duringHelp Wanted 2’s First-Aid minigames. During these games, players must tend to a variety of “simulated” injuries to Helpy, which exist to prepare an employee to address those same injuries to visitors of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place. However, Carnival Nurse’s personality is anything but that of a caregiver, as she sarcastically celebrates each time the player is successful and has them forcefeed legally binding documents, in the form of candy, to the patient. Carnival Nurse is never seen, but her addressing of the player includes myriad references to the events ofFreddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator, akaFNAF 6, seemingly implying her presence within the fully operational pizzerias of that era.
Carnie
Carnie is an antagonistic new animatronic, who appears in each ofHelp Wanted 2’s Fazerblast levels. In typical carnie fashion, the animatronic bear offers snide remarks and jeers as players attempt to complete each minigame. However, he also shares crucial identifying information about the player character, such as them being an adult who likely has kids. Carnie appears to feature a near identical animatronic shell to Lefty and Rockstar Freddy. However, Carnie’s general aesthetic seems significantly older.
While not explicitly stated inHelp Wanted 2, some fans and theorists believe that Carnie may hold direct ties to theFNAFseries' inciting event. Fazerblast and a select few other minigames all appear to share a similar aesthetic - a carnival - and performing a certain set of actions results in each experiencing the same catastrophic outcome. Fans believe these similarities are tied to a new event, referenced in an unlockable poster, which predates anything seen prior intheFNAFcanon. If so, Carnie may prove to be among the most pivotal additions to the series' cast since developer Steel Wool Studios took over the franchise.
Honorable Mention: Jack-O-Moon
Jack-O-Moon is a unique variant of Sun and Moon, who functions as a minor antagonist inHelp Wanted 2. It’s design mirrors that of other Jack-O animatronics, as parts of the animatronic have been replaced with an Halloween textures and a Autumnal color scheme. In Captain Foxy’s Log Ride, players encounter a Jack-O-Moon, featuring a large glowing mouth, in various secret areas, mirroring the roles of both Jack-O-Bonnie and Jack-O-Chica inthe originalHelp Wanted. However, the animatronics second appearance is much more significant.
Jack-O-Moon functions as the main enemy in the Cinder Carousel level, a “nightmare version”, aka final challenge, of the original Carousel minigame. This Jack-O-Moon differs slightly, in that its mouth now features a carved out “pumpkin smile” around its normal smiling teeth. The Carousel is among those minigames thought to connect with the “Carnival” narrative inFive Nights at Freddy’s:Help Wanted 2, and, as such, is thought to hint at the earliest tragedy in the series’ canon. Despite being a variant of Sun and Moon, who are original toFNAF’s modern era, Jack-O-Moon’s appearance in the midst of an apparent depiction of that tragedy has fans questioning the connection betweenHelp Wanted,Security Breach, and a mysterious event known as Fall Fest. Fans are hopeful that this event, and its connection to modernFNAF, is the next major event explored by Steel Wool’s mainline titles.
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a first-person survival horror and resource management game from Scott Cawthorn that raced to popularity thanks to its creepy animatronic enemies and its array of panic-inducing jumpscares. Bringing life to a cavalcade of well-known characters like Freddy Fazbear, Chica, Foxy, Bonnie, and more, Five Nights at Freddy’s has seen immense success, spinoffs, and fan games.
