Five Nights at Freddy's 2 altered the lore of the Marionette from the video game franchise. The new Blumhouse film is a sequel to 2023's Five Nights at Freddy's (FNAF), which brought Scott Cawthon's successful horror games to the screen. FNAF 2 continues to delve into the rich lore of the gaming franchise, introducing several new animatronics to the screen.
One of these new faces is the Marionette, also known as the Puppet, a spooky conductor introduced in the second Five Nights at Freddy's game. The Marionette is one of several new animatronics in FNAF 2 that reside within the original abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, but the movie makes some drastic changes to the character from the game.
Warning - This article contains spoilers for Five Nights at Freddy's 2.
Who Is Marionette In FNAF Game Vs. Movie?
The Marionette in both the FNAF 2 film and game shares a very similar design and origin. The character features a black and white color palette, characterized by spindly limbs and long fingers. Its mask is clown-like, with empty eyes and rosy cheeks.
In the games, the Marionette is kept hidden in the prize box and will remain contained as long as the player keeps the music box wound. Similarly, the music box keeps the puppet at bay in FNAF 2, until Lisa (McKenna Grace) closes the box, releasing the Marionette upon the Pizzeria. It's then that the film reveals Charlotte Emily is the spirit housed within the Marionette.
Charlotte is introduced in the film's opening flashback as a young girl obsessed with the Marionette at the Pizzeria. After witnessing Springtrap, aka William Afton, luring a young boy into the back of the Pizzeria, Charlotte begs the parents around to help him, but she is shunned and ignored by them. Charlotte decides to go into the back and help the boy, only for Springtrap to stab her, leaving her to bleed out on the stage. Charlotte's dying body falls through the trap door, where it lands in the Marionette's open arms, cementing their bond.
Similarly, in the FNAF games, Charlotte Emily is known to be the spirit within the Marionette, and was described as being brave and selfless while alive, and then vengeful as the Marionette. As it was in the game, the Marionette is the conductor of the other animatronics at Freddy's, and Charlotte can use the new Toy animatronics to carry out her bidding, which is to escape the Pizzeria and get revenge on her parents.
How FNAF 2 Alters Marionette's Lore
One of the biggest differentiators between the game's Marionette and the film's is that FNAF 2 introduces a new body possession technique for the puppet.
After Lisa frees the Marionette from its box, the Puppet merges with her, possessing her and turning Lisa into a human-meets-Marionette hybrid. While possessed, Lisa's outfit matches the Marionette's, and her face is painted with black and white makeup to match the puppet's mask. Her eyes glow a sinister bright yellow, and she is shown to have enhanced stealth and strength.
After escaping the Pizzeria, Charlotte (as Lisa) enters Mike and Abby Schmidt's home, where Charlotte body swaps again, unleashing the Marionette onto Abby, who exhibits the same look and abilities as the possessed Lisa. The only thing that succeeds in subduing the Marionette is the music box from her Dad, Henry (Skeet Ulrich), which Mike (Josh Hutcherson) uses in a critical moment.
It seems that the Marionette is put to rest in FNAF 2, until the film's final moments reveal a third body swap for the puppet. As she leaves Mike's house, Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) becomes Charlotte's new target, and the Marionette merges with her, setting up Vanessa/Marionette as a new threat in a potential third Five Nights at Freddy's film.
In the FNAF games, the Marionette has always been depicted as an animatronic, similar to Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and the other creations of William Afton, who are twisted into enemies due to the corrupted children's souls trapped within them. In the game, the Marionette is responsible for guiding new souls into empty animatronics, but in the film, this is altered, as it's the soul within the Marionette that travels between hosts instead.
FNAF 2's version of the Marionette adds another supernatural layer by allowing Charlotte's spirit (still bonded to the Marionette) to jump bodies and possess other people, which is something the games never did.
