Words cannot describe how much I love this video. I always thought people ignore a lot of Mike's character, just because it's subtle. 20 minutes of just analysing him from just his speech is just 🤌 What I would like to mention (since I too like to analyse these speeches) is specifically the use of the word "Father." Personally, the way I interpret it is a little different than a sign of respect. To me, it's a sign of distance and *past* respect. "Father" is the most basic word to describe the man who raised you, or at least impregnated your mother. It isn't a diminutive, it isn't a pet name, it isn't a short form. But it's also not an insulting word. It is simply factual. Diminutives and pet names are for friends, colleagues, allies. Or they can be used as mockery. Dad, pops, papa. These inherently show some form of affection. Not just respect, but love. Michael doesn't feel close to William. He doesn't feel paternal love from him and doesn't really show any for William. He feels detached. And judging by how you would still probably call your father "dad" out of habit, even if you just found out he did something horrible, I'm willing to bet it wasn't just a recent development. Although, yes, he still calls him a completely neutral form. There are more insulting forms of this noun. Even diminutives can be mocking at times. But he doesn't use them. And no other insults at any point either. To me, it shows some latent respect for his father still. He may not have felt love, but he still recognised William as someone worth following. Someone worth helping. Someone worth doing the bidding of, even after his old bunker duped him out of a cash basket. He doesn't respect what William has done, but he cannot help but see him as impressive. He is the man who managed to do all that, the impossible. Someone more than himself. There is also the tone. You usually don't shorten people's names outside of casual conversation, and the same goes with these kinds of titles. You could call a doctor "doc" when you're just there for a check-up, but not when you just found out someone has cancer. Similarly, here we have a man who, maybe even for the first time in decades, realised that his father killed his sister. He may add in some snarky or sarcastic comments and remarks, but he is taking all of this completely seriously. Which might not seem significant, but gains more weight when you realise that Mike, inherently, seems like a rather playful, unserious person, judging by his other appearances. This might have been an overinterpretation on my part; this is just one simple word after all, but I really do believe the words used to address others are often the best way of telling the relationship between two characters. A lot of subtle storytelling is often done that way.
Exactly! It's not intimate, but it's not inherently demeaning. 'Distant' is the best way to put it I think. And nah, the energy of your comment is kinda exactly what I wanted to capture with the rambling in my video, you might have actually done it way better than me lmao. I think this monologue is the epitome of subtle storytelling - just 50 seconds with Michael and you already get what he's all about by reading between the lines, hell, just with the FIRST WORD he says. Wow!
@@bonkboy4386the tone, how high he makes his voice sound (on purpose), pronunciation, vocabulary or the words he chooses to use and how fast he talks can say a lot about the character (not really but let's say) And the emotions that are in the monologue, first is confusion where Mike is not sure or just doesn't understand something, uncaring (the parts you specified) could've mean he didn't care about those as he just did his job, maybe afraid of the new things happening around and the "just like you told me to.." (or something like that) where it turned into whisper or mumbling like it maybe wasn't true but he was afraid to tell William that because he wanted him to be proud, it also seemed to me that at 1 or 2 lines he was happy or a little excited because he knew or thought that what he said would make william happy. Long story short, when you try to make a character or voice one it really depends on the key factors I said (and other maybe)
This is a Hell of a well-written comment. Now to twist it; How much would change if we swapped his word of choice towards William, for Elizabeth's? As in; "Daddy, it's me, Michael"
This is how I’ve always interpreted the use of father by Michael. While in theory father is a formal way of addressing your father, in reall life when people refer to their dad as “father” it always denotes a certain distance. It’s not hatred, Michael would use a diminutive sarcastically if he was angry or bitter like you stated, we know Michael is a sarcastic character that make wry jokes from the logbook and foxy bro. this is jsut my interpretation and extrapolation but I feel like the boy who called his brother “little man” teasingly might bitter call his evil father his “dear old man” or soemthing like that. It really is a moment of realisation where Michael is expressing the truly complex nature of his feelings for William. He doesn’t know how to feel about William he respected him even if it was misguided but now he is truly cognisant of his father’s corruption. He’s not angry yet he’s resigned.
For some reason, Scott can write amazing speeches. Despite not technically being a writer, he should write more dialogue, if he doesn’t write the majority of it anyway.
Phone guy in the first game is SO well written. Scott is so good at corporate backspeech. My favorite example is from Pizzeria Simulator "A risk that comes with a 100% chance of success in some cases"
@@dmk_yt This is not true, it's a popular rumor but he is only credited in the special thanks. Scott was busy working on Jesus Kids' Club and Bible Plays at that time.
PLEASE PHRASE THAT DIFFERENTLY MY MIND IS NOT TAKING THAT CORRECTLY Also technically both of them died by having robotic parts inserted into them because that's kind of what a springlock failure is
one of my favorite parts of the speech is that "something is wrong with me" part, because of what's left unsaid in it: he doesn't tell his father what Elizabeth did, or mention her being involved at all. That feels like a learned behaviour from an eldest sibling in a bad home, obscuring blame when something bad happens to avoid putting someone's head on the chopping block. I do like to think even after everything he's still hoping to protect his baby sister
Glad to see more people just as obsessed with the broken, baby boy, morally grey purple guy of the saga. This rambling and just loving a character wihout trying to tie it into a big theory is just what I needed... A Michael Afton appreciation post.
I always thought that the, "They thought I was you [laugh??]" was less of Michael finding humor in the situation, but more like chuckling because he doesn't even know how to feel about that. It's a really short, dry laugh that almost sounds sarcastic in a way. I think you're completely right with the unsaid, "Maybe they're right," because (at least to me) the laugh sounds kind of defeated but just laughing for the sake of laughing
@@DeceitfulBeing YESS I WAS JUST AB TO SAY THAT! to me, it sounded more like "how dare they think im anything close to the monster you have turned into?" he sounded offended to me. and ik if i was ever compared to william, i would be offended too so...
@@bonkboy4386 well I’m not sure how he play gltichtrap I’m more of a fan of dawko interpretation even if it is mimic i guess mxes could be a cool character for him to voice
I love Michael. He’s like, 90% of the reason I like FNAF to be honest. He’s a really fascinating character with a lot of guilt and trauma that is so interesting to explore, and as someone who believes that he’s the protagonist of all the original six games, it really builds out an incredible story of him coming to understand how horrible his father was, and to try and undo what harm he can. Its a very tragic but well-told story.
Henry's Insanity speech is possibly my favourite sequence in the whole series because of how it does exactly that. Very rarely does the series acknowledge the actual emotional impact of these events, even if it's literal child murder lol
I really love how distinct Michael and William's vibes are. Like, when you were doing the comparison in voices at 9:20 it was clear as day! When i hear Michael he sounds tired, depressed, even defeated in his speech until he states his mission of looking for William But with his father, Afton sounds bitter, angry, and smug in his dialog. Im really impressed what the voice actor was able to do with them both!
i think that the reason some of his lines can be seen as loyalty to william is because he still wants (or is hanging on) to the idea that william could love him and be proud of him. but as he goes on he starts to feel more hostile to william, like he is remembering all that he has done to him and his siblings. especially that it is implied (and straight up shown in the books) that william was abusive physically, emotionally, and was neglectful to his children
Exactly!!! RAHH I get William is sad that his kid died, sad. Womp womp. But Michael relationship to his brother and father and even possibly seeing the dynamics between both him and his father and how it’s different than his. I think that’s something lots of people ignore. Kids are sponges of information and I think that it’s very likely he knew how this family worked. And he’d do anything for just a little normality.
EXACTLY! Michael doesn’t know how to feel about his father in this speech. It’s almost as if as he’s talking he’s realising the true depths of his fathers’ evil towards not just his victims but also Michael and the aftons (also victims). As mike goes on he starts to shed the need for Williams approval and growing more bitter and angry
I personally have always interpreted that breathy noise he makes as that sort of tired humorless laugh you do like when everything that could have possibly gone wrong *did* and there's nothing you can do about it? I can't explain it exactly but I hopefully it makes sense This is probably one of the best FNAF analysis videos I've ever seen! It's a breath of fresh air to just pay attention to the characters and narrative that are ignored instead of losing it over the lore, Micheal is so interestng to me especially because he is so commonly regarded as just a personalityless narrative tool when he so clearly isn't! if only people would look at him for more than 2 seconds. Thinking about him and his parallels with William and how they're the same but so entirely different makes me want to bark and bite people. Scott overall put so much thought into the characterization, not just Micheal's, and it's saddening that it's so glossed over by the fandom. Henry has 1 appearence _ever_ , he's not even on the Silver Eyes trilogy, but his speech(es) tell everything you need to know about him. But this isn't about him lol. I apprecate this video so much you have no idea, I'm really bad with putting my thoughts into words especially about a character I'm so passionate about but you were able to not only put my feelings about him down perfectly into a cohesive character analysis but make me even more cray cray about him. My wording might be weird, english isn't my first language, but I think I could get it across that I"m completely in love with your interpretation of my little pathetic wet rag of a man
The noise in question reminds me a bit of a sort of disgusted snort or scoff. Like he's disgusted with the idea of even being compared with his father.
when i thought about the breathy thing, i sorta thought of like an airless gasp for breath, but since he lost his inner organs, and he is dead he cannot breathe. Which also ties into perspective of his spaced out lines and sometimes low voice because we need to breathe to be able to talk for a long period of time, unlike him who cannot
I think it's in line with his dialogue so far. He has a very dry, self-deprecating sense of humour as an adult. He's bitter and jaded, but still finding amusement in things.
I always thought that the “they thought I was you” ended with a scoff. In annoyance and a tone of mockery. Not only does it fit his character, but it would show that he hated his fate. An undertone of pure rage, hidden under tired stillness.
This is, by far, my favorite video on UA-cam ever and I am not even joking. I am so validated that somebody else thinks this ungodly hard about Michael as I do. Thank you
In this comment section, I have found my people 💛 Michael's word choice here, to me, also indicates a very poetic, gothic sort of personality- not "I'm alone" or "I'm on the outskirts of society", but _"living in shadows"_- it's such a dramatic way to put it, and laden with imagery. I think Michael demonstrates a sort of righteous anger compared to how morose Henry is- he's absolutely depressed, but I read him as almost this young upstart firebrand, a man of action whose first move is "I'm gonna FUCK THIS OLD BASTARD UP" while Henry is paralyzed with guilt. I completely agree he should have gotten _something_ in FFPS; even just a smug "You heard him, Father, give it up" or anything would've been so nice to hear. Even if he was kind of done dirty by the writing, I'm glad people appreciate what characterization we did get!
I’m a Michael Afton enthusiast (self-titled) and this was absolutely on the nose!! I’m an over-thinker when it comes to him. I always thought the part of his monologue where he mentions they thought he was William, and he makes that noise, that it was a laugh. Like an appalled “how dare they.” Realizing how bad of a person his father was, he does not want any kind of association with him, even if it’s just in appearance. I might honestly be projecting, because I was always proud of looking like my father until I realized who he really is, and knowing I look like him now disgusts me. Daddy issues lmao. I fking loved this vid. Thank you so much for making it
Such a fantastic character. Even with how little information we have, we can see how he's both changed and kept many traits from childhood. He's worn down and damaged, but that proud little "I did it" and the dry, snarky humour shows a hint of the charm and confidence of the kid he used to be. I think he became more codependent and obedient towards his father after the incident, but I just can't see Michael as an abused, downtrodden victim yearning for his father's approval the way some people theorize. His tone is pondering, but still defiant and confident. I think "living in shadows" refers to more than just his current state of being; he's been living in the shadow of his father, the death of his siblings, and of his own guilt. Now that he knows the truth, he's stepping out of the shadows and setting his own course.
Regarding the "They thought I was you [???]" question at 12:12 I have always thought that the sound was a laugh. One of those laughs that you do when you know something isn't funny but you can't seem to express your overwhelming emotions in any other way. It also feels pretty self-deprecating to me, like he sees the irony in being killed for murders that he didn't do, rather than what he did to his brother. I also think it does fit with the rest of the speech and Michael's character pretty well, we know Michael has always had a pretty morbid, gallows humour from his other appearances, and he is seemingly realising a bunch of messed up stuff that happened to him that he is only now processing, whilst simultaneously realising the full extent of his father's misdeeds, it seems like just the situation for Michael to find a bit humorous. Realising that his father and himself are more alike than he first thought, that (to his father's victims) they are interchangeable, that feels like the sort of situation that brings feelings that can't be acknowledged through anything but a sad chuckle. Edit: Loved the video by the way, glad people love this speech as much as I do!
this is random, but idk why when you brought up that they kept elizabeth's voice consistent by just casting a british actor I laughed my ass off at the little british "ello?"
I find it interesting that he said that THEY didn't recognize me at first. I think a lot of people miss that Baby isn't the only spirit there. That is how I read that line anyway.
Another comment: I REALLY appreciate not having a theory tied to him, just stating super obvious clues left about his character, which a lot of people who try tying him into the narrative just blatantly disregard for... some reason? Also, the fact that you were able to talk about Michael without talking about CC as well like everyone does, going on and on about his mistake without going over how and why he's grown-especially when they don't even go into how his bullying of CC was likely out of his father's sudden neglect-it's just. So refreshing. I adore your Afton content more than anything! Also, if you'd ever want to make a sequel, going over what we learned from the logbook about him and maybe even throwing a fact about Jeremy's survival into the 1990s and presumably still being in touch with Michael in order to have something printed into his notebook from (presumably) his perspective would be so good. You already went over his dry humor but the logbook is off the charts with it and how badly he relates to Foxy even now is just. Hilarious. There's really so much to him that gets overlooked. We may be cringe but we are free
Y’know, I’ve always thought there was more to Michael Afton than just a mentally damaged walking corpse; who hates his father, *after* finding out what he did. In fact. I think the him “finding out” only in sister location was always a little off. Story wise. With that new FNAF movie out I think it’s become even clearer for me. I think he knew almost the whole time, that his father was killing. The relationship between William and Vanessa character isn’t that game story driven (besides having obvious connections in security breach). But if you look a little farther than that. It’s weird that they made the decision to have Vanessa be specifically his daughter. What if, hear me out… what if, Venessa’s relationship with William in the movie was supposed to represent Micheal’s relationship with Willam! That Micheal’s not completely ok with it but was shamed into being his father’s helping hand. Only to finally break off from the manipulation after his father sent him down to ’help’ his sister. I think it’s an interesting take. Makes the whole story more interesting as a whole. Specifically making Micheal’s character more interesting in that morally grey way, like you said!
I think Vanessa may have been a stand in for Elizabeth and Michael not just Michael. But to support you're theory if in the games Michael is Mike from fnaf 1 he certainly knew what was going in by the at the very least due to sister location taking place after 1.
@@brendanmuller7301 I mean, yea, obviously Vanessa is an obvious stand in for Elizabeth. It's just that most people think of that and only that as the reference for Vanessa. At least from what I've seen lmao but yeah, mike defiantly knew about it. otherwise, the movie wouldn't have made Vanessa such a vital role in finding out about Afton in the movie.
@shadowingfas6792 That's true, I've seen many compare her to Elizabeth or game vanessa/vanny more than Michael when she's clearly a mix of all 3. I'd also argue; if fnaf 1 Mike is actually Michael afton Vanessa using a different surname than her father could also be a connection between her and Michael.
i love videos that are just unapologetic gushing about something that the person loves, no matter how small. i understand the feeling of wanting to rant for twenty minutes about a minute long monologue from a video game, and your affections for these games and for michael as a character really shines through! it was lovely to listen to
Honestly this was an interesting way of how you can see Mike’s character. Like you say at 15:26.. it could say something about Mike’s morality. To be fair though.. he is there to just free Lizzie. So it makes sense he wouldn’t necessarily care about the funtimes. It’s goes into the whole “can you see them as human”. There’s always gonna be some moral ambiguity there so you might right anyway. I guess it’s why people think Gregory is a demon child for what he does LMAO. But this comes into question what Mike knows and doesn’t know. It’s kinda frustrating but also a bit fun there’s stuff that’s not so cut and dry about him. Like did he know about the “killing kids” thing? How much info did he know on the funtimes? It gives you a lot to think about. All in all, I loved this and probably will be rewatching it a bunch of times as I did with the accent one lol. Also 19:48.. the truth. We got two hands guys, use them. ❤️ Hope in the future your able to make videos like these on the other characters as well! These type of videos aren’t as common in the community. Cause really only so much we know about the characters. But at the same time.. there’s a lot you can get from speculating on what certain choices for a character can mean. More of that would be lovely to see. But anyway, thank you for spreading the Michael Afton agenda. 🤩 hoping to see you upload more.
Sometimes less is more! Michael has only one speaking role and yet that's all you need to know basically everything about his personality. It's also all you need to fall in love with him. It is pretty ambiguous how much he knows about his father's work, but at least that can lead to fun headcanons. I will gladly spread the gospel of Michael Afton for as long as I live!
my guess is he connected the dots about the missing kids a little bit after sister location, then began his quest to help get rid of william and free the souls
i was always under the impression that the sound following “they thought I was you” was a scoff, or more accurately a show of annoyance/frustration/disbelief. reading it as one of the first “angry” moments from him always made the dialogue (and events) that follow more cohesive for me. like he’s finally taking a moment to let it all sink in, and while he still wants his father’s approval, he can’t ignore the anger he is feeling anymore.
This video was just brilliant. Subtitles? Jokes and memes sprinkled throughout but never taking away from the overall tone? Michael Afton? This checked all of my boxes for a perfect video
Oh my god I’ve found someone that’s just as obsessed with my boi as I am. 11:40 I’ve always interpreted it as a scoff. Like the idea (in retrospect) disgusts or annoys him after he knows what has happened. Or maybe he has always gotten comments on their similar appearance and is annoyed by them, and that is only exemplified here since it got him killed. Anyway, great video. I love it when people ramble on about this sort of thing since it gets brushed over. You can find a lot of character in him if you just listen, and I’m glad I found someone that does this too.
Even though we don't see Michael for very long in the series and don't know much about him, he is easily my favorite character in the entire franchise. A man who made a horrible decision (the accidental murder of his little brother) and discovers the horrors that his father committed and spending the rest of his life making up for his mistakes and atoning for the sins of his father. The way Scott was able to write Michael Afton is very impressive. We know so little about it, yet at the same time we know so much about him.
You mentioned the sigh/laugh as something going through Mike’s head he can’t bring himself to say. I interpreted that as him realizing the horror of what William had done to all the kids down there. What horrible atrocities do you have to commit to make your own daughter want to turn you, not the other 2 workers, but you, into a rotting skin suit? To me, that sigh/laugh was the moment Mike turned on his father
Maybe that's what he couldn't bring himself to say. I feel like he didn't fully turned against his father in that moment, there was probably still some hesitance. Maybe even some disbelief in the fact that they mistook Michael for his own father.
Theres so much I wanna say so Im gonna cram it all in this comment FIrst off, FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE WHO LOVES MICHAEL AS MUCH AS ME! THIS SPEECH FROM HIM IS GENUINELY SO FREAKIN GOOD! Second, I love that the song that plays during his speech is called "Demolition Inevitable" not only for the tragedy that had occurred in the past but also because Michael goes on to light Fazbear Frights on fire! Third, regarding the sigh/laugh debate, it could be that Michael laughed cause he heard that comment of "They thought I was you" several times growing up cause it's mentioned he looks just like Afton. But a sigh could be possible as well, I just prefer the tired laugh cause it adds a lot to Michael's personality Michael is my favorite human/non animatronic character cause of his redemption arc. He killed his brother accidentally and then died cause of an order given by his father. He then goes on trying to help free the spirits of the MCI victims and tries to kill Afton. Genuinely love Michael so much
So happy I found this channel. Michael has been my favorite character since Sister Location released, and is the sole reason that game is my favorite of the franchise. To me, that's where the story got interesting. And with the movie focusing entirely on Michael, I'm so excited to have the character fleshed out and realized, and to see an influx of Mike fans. He's always been kind of an underdog character in the fandom. He's the main protagonist, but only talks once and most of his story is out of order and convoluted and has to be inferred. Most fans latch onto the Animatronics, or characters with more lines like Henry, Gregory, and now Cassie. But the mystery of Michael despite being the main character, and having such a great arc really makes him stand out. So I'm glad to see others care about the character the same way. He definitely deserves more love and attention, and hopefully he gets it with the movie. It's long overdue.
I have a feeling that Michael and William possibly even died on the same day. Fnaf 3 mini games and sister location take place over the same amount of time being 5 days (or 5 mini games for fnaf 3 possibly being 5 days). William also told Michael to go down to the SL bunker but then just vanishes implying he’s now locked in the safe room and now Michael has to go find him. Not only that but imagine how poetic it is that the father and son both so similar even down to looks and how they actually sound being so closely tied in with each other that they both die on the exact same day. It would be truly poetic
I love videos like this, that instead of just analyzing the lore and timeline, instead analyze the characters themselves that make the story so great in the first place! also i think a video analyzing the fnaf ost would be great! becuse i think the tracks (at least their names) are more inportant than people think. Also they are so good and honestly one of my favorite parts of the franchise.
I love the naming conventions for the songs in the OST! I definitely wanna talk more about that because there's absolutely more to those names than just sounding cool.
I agree with most of what was said here, aside from 15:26 . To me, it feels less like Michael doesn't care about the rest of the spirits and more like he just knows that William doesn't, so he doesn't waste his breath. After all, if he only cared about his family, he wouldn't have had motive to bring molten freddy and lefty into the building in pizza sim, but he took on that extra danger anyway for the sake of putting their souls to rest. Michael strikes me as a character pulled in two directions, one way by his morality, and the other way by his fear of his father, and the lingering hope that every abused child has, that his father may still love him to some degree. Honestly his character arc is vaguely reminiscent of Zuko's imo
love love love this video glad to see more people that overly analyze members of the afton family as well, i find their entire situation, and the characterization of Michael and William specifically my absolute favorite bits of the lore
great video! I interpret the michael sound as an exasperated, sardonic sort of smile. a scoff and smirk. an exhausted chuckle. "they thought i was *you* (negative, incredulous)"
I gotta say, you kinda slipped up at 12:30, there's actually a line from a bidybab in (I think) night 2. It says, "is it the same person," heavily implying that they think it's William.
*To be fair*,,, I only recently thought to make the connection that the "someone who came before you" was William, considering we do see other unnamed technicians later in the game. But I will take the L on this, in hindsight it is a little obvious,,
I always took that sigh at the end of "they thought I was you" as, like, a sarcastic sigh/laugh. Like, we are shown/told William and Michael look alike, and as someone who has been told I look like one of my parents, I constantly deny it whenever it's brought up. Maybe Mike's just like "They thought I was you... For f**k's sake *sarcastic laugh*"
Michael's voice is calm and collective but his mind is shattered. While william's voice is loud and has a innocent voice acent but it feels that it has a different look from the inner voice, something sinster.
I'm probably going to be coming back to this video often. It's the youtube equivalent of spinning my blorbo in my head like a cube. I've never seen those reddit comments that Mr. Heywood made, which was honestly pretty interesting to see his own insights about playing what became a personal comfort character for me. Your ending did bing up a good point- I'm a little worried for how Movie Mike is going to be portrayed but I choose to see them as two separate characters for now, since the trailers haven't given us much to go on about his relationship with Movie William
12:50 to me the "i put her back together" also sounded like hes kind of unsure if what he did really was "putting her back together", or if he got it wrong.
That's a really good point, I always saw it as him being *morally* confused but that makes a ton of sense. Especially considering he sounds very sincere saying "she's free now" when Elizabeth is very much still trapped in Baby. It would also explain him tacking on "just like you asked me to", because while he may not know if what he did worked, he does know that he followed William's instructions.
This is like being at school and not understanding the assignment the teacher gave me so I'm like "Oh yeah, I did this right didn't I? This is how it's supposed to be done right? I mean I think I did it right, but did I..?"
I love this video. Just by watching I could tell that you truly care about this character, and as a fellow Michael fan, I agree with everything you've presented. I was getting so tired of people in the FNAF community making fun of Michael fans because he's a "bad character" or seeing video essays on how Michael doesn't have any character to begin with. This video puts on full display just how much there is to him.
I'm not even half way through but your video has already seriously impressed me. (I am very much walking around my kitchen saying YES YES YES! to myself as I listen to this hahaha) I had to comment before I forgot my thoughts. It astounds me how many people willingly choose to very incorrectly interpret the scenes of Michael we do receive. So many things you have brought up I've also had in my head for the longest time, and to hear you repeat them it brought the biggest smile to my face. .... and then you brought up even more evidence (AKA from the PJ AMA) that I hadn't even seen yet.(Gosh. PJ saying William is "up to no good" and Michael is "broken" is TOO GOOD of a summary). Absolutely wonderful video, I agree with pretty much everything you are saying, subscribed. I will always support a fellow Michael enthusiast. Thank you for making this video, I seriously appreciate it.
Being vindicated feels great, I feel you there lol. I'm happy the video that effect. And I agree - it's so simple but when I first read PJ's summary of William and Michael I thought it was absolutely sublime. Being infatuated with the tiniest things is just par for the course with being a Michael fan.
Lovelovelove this video!! You overanalyze Michael the same way I do William aha! Michael is criminally underused, every time I think of fnaf6 I'm in pain cuz Scott could've given Mike anythiiing but he said "naahhh it'll be fine", Henry has more voice lines than Mike and Will combined *sob* (you don't even go here, it was supposed to be an afton family affair- *sobs more*) Tangent about 6 aside, I agree with what you say about the movie--let the Mikes coexist, they're both lovely and going to be awesome!!! ^^ I guess this is the first time Mike fans have had to deal with an alternate universe, this isn't our first rodeo for Will lmao
I am so glad I found this video! When Sister Location came out and I heard Michael's monologue for the first time I was OBSESSED. So glad there's so many others who are just as crazy about him as me lmaoo
I love videos like this. Fnaf is an... odd franchise. It has, although very hidden behind theories and uncertainty, a super emotional story about evil, its consequences, and revenge. The only thing I miss are some more emotional or "cinematic" moments, that show us how these characters are humans, have feelings, and are going through all of this, instead of pixel characters talking through pixelated text, instead of being just mere plot devices used for theorizing. This is why I think one of the best moments in all of fnaf are obviously Henry's insanity ending speech, and Michael's monologue. We finally get to know how *he's* feeling behind all the mess that happened throughout his life to him and his family, we really feel the tragedy of the story. I'd just like it if there were more moments like this, because when they do happen, they're so short. I'd love to see, for example, how Henry'd react at his business partner, his friend's betrayal. A person he trusted (presumably) for a big part of his life, backstabing him with such a horrible action. So, I loved this overthinking of one of the most beautiful moments of the story. You're really underrated, I feel like this video is something not all theorists do, look into the emotional part of the lore lol.
Oh man, I see Michael Analysis I instantly click. This was such a treat! Absolutely love the deep dive analysis of his character solely base from his rare voice line. It's stuff like this that makes me appreciate a character even more for the way they are, such a great video! Would love to see more Mike analysis from you from whatever aspect of his character it may be (maybe like analysing deeper to the logbook and such) but this was an absolute blast!
genuinely love the interpretations of the laugh/scoff/sigh he makes. every time i see someone discuss it its very interesting to hear why they think that, but ultimately it never feels like an incorrect idea-just another in a happy little pile of them.
This is a very refreshing FNAF analysis video, just a simple character overview that are rather uncommon due to the scarce characterisation in the games. I've always wondered what was up with Michael's sarcastic remarks in the Security Logbook but watching this does make it all add up perfectly
i love this analysis! i had some different takes (as someone with experience having a... not great dad) michaels speech is hollow. broken, empty, and bitterly sarcastic. he seems unaffected and distant until the music kicks in, and you hear his voice shake. the pained laugh/sigh at the end of 'they thought i was you' verrrry much feels like he grazed an open wound in his psyche. realizing you are similar to a parent who did so much harm, to the point that others mistake you for him, is devastating. even if he is following his orders, there is a sense of confusion, of now knowing what is happrning around him. when he says i did as you asked, it feels tense. i can feel that he believes putting elizabeth "back together" was the right thing to do, even when prompted by a madman. as he reveals that he is no longer able to live, to have a life seperate from his father and his crimes, living in shadows, he has clearly given up on seeking amything but the end to this story. the sorrow and pain goes away, replaced by single-minded determination and anger. he will find his father. he will get answers. or at least thats what he hopes. he comes across as a man with nothing left, who had everything ripped from him, trying desperately to have some semblance of control or knowledge, wanting to find the end of this nightmare. god its just such an excellent performance. kudos to pj heywood, he knows what he is doing.
Nothing I love more than hearing people get so passionate about things they love. I know I'd jump on the occasion to make something similar about my own interests, if I didn't have such terrible pronunciation lol. Fantastic stuff
This is one of my favorite videos, I come back to watch it quite often and I barely realize that I have never commented here.. I just wanted to say THANK YOU for the effort you put into this video and the analysis, it makes me very happy because I love Michael Afton and his character, you are really really talented, nowadays we need more love to our protagonist 😢 my dream is still to have PJ back in the franchise, I need the British Aftons again!!!
Yes yes yes Michael discussion yes yES YES Michael is such an interesting character in the games and the bit we do know about him is so fascinating when contrasting with the other stuff we see. (I’m also with you on the ‘he’s the protag of 3’ thing, I genuinely think that in every game except 2 [other than maybe the day 7 guard Fritz] and UCN [through the original six games at least], he’s the player character. And isn’t that fascinating? To see things from his perspective, and yet still have so much about him hidden?) (And that doesn’t even start the change from being associated with Foxy to being associated with Helpy, and then bring into question Helpi as a character, I just.) Thank you for discussing Mike I’m so glad I found this video
On Micheal somehow knowing the animatronics thought he was William, I always assumed that was something he learnt while they were puppeting his corpse. God knows long his movements weren't his own
Your analysis about Demolition Inevitable is another example that makes me wonder how music ties into the lore/narrative of the games. It's really fascinating.
you are so real i also listen to a few sentences of a monologue hundreds of times to analyze and grasp everything i can, i thought i was crazy for doing this thanks
oh my god thank you so much for this video i think about this man every damn day……. your thoughts on him were not only interesting but similar to mine AND enlightening at the same time. this is my equivalent to finding the holy grail
I absolutely adore this video, it’s great to find another passionate Mike fan!! I agree with most of the things you’ve stated here, but my interpretation of Mike is only a little different in some aspects. When you say that he’s ‘easy to trust people’ I won’t say you’re wrong, I’d just change something. He’s easy to trust CERTAIN people, and at the stage of his life he was in before the events of Sister Location, I’d say William was definitely one of those people. I see Mike as stoic, relating to how calm he seemed in regards to the Funtimes, and this could do with past trauma. There is a very vulnerable part within him which he doesn’t want people to notice. However, when William manipulated him, he hit that part of his son right on the dot. Like an arrow perfectly hitting a target and shattering his heart into a million and one pieces. And it had to do with his family, as Michael is finally given the chance to desperately make up for his sins which have been throwing him off his rockers since that dreaded day in 83. A chance to save one of his siblings, instead of killing one, as we know he’s there to find Elizabeth, and importantly, make his father proud. I don’t think William was abusive, but neglectful, and now Mike finally has the chance to do something for him and get his attention. For me, this kind of explains how heartbroken he sounds during his speech, and how he seemed to only mention ‘saving’ Elizabeth. The others, he didn’t fully understand, or he wasn’t as passionate about. I can’t help but hear this underlying tone of utter sadness in his speech, even with all of those little details that could mean so much.
I like how William died by getting into a Springlocks suit, and Michael died because Animatronics use him like a Springlocks suit, it's like Michael and William are the opposite of the other in every single thing.
It’s worth noting that Springtrap was a hivemind entity that opened itself up for William to get inside of him. So they were both prisoners of a similar kind of entity.
One phrase I think of when talking about the differences between PJ Heywood's performances as Michael and William is... "The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children." Looking at the story as a whole, it is abundantly clear how true that ended up being.
AHHHH I absolutely loved your videos on the Afton’s accent and I doubly love Michael Afton so I’m so glad you’ve made this video bc I’ve thought just as much about this monologue as you seem to have 😂
"Don't forget: the Aftons are British." Truly, the most terrifying part. (This was a cool video! I love listening to people deep dive into analysis of their favorite characters!)
12:04 It can also be seen as a scoff of disbelief as if he is saying 'I can't believe they that I was you' as if that was something he figured would happen but hoped wouldn't happen, like he finds it a bit humorous, as if that was saying how either Micheal will never escape the shadow of his father and will forever bear the sins, or shows to him how similar he is to his father which he battles with every day. Like a part of him, an inner child maybe, takes a bit of pride in it, but then there is the resentful part that hates to be even remotely similar to Afton. His whole character feels like it is constantly fighting an internal battle and trying to heal from the sins of others as he keeps going through more and more tragedies all while trying to fix the mistakes of his own father. ok i can see why people like analyzing this monologue and character.
Words cannot describe how much I love this video. I always thought people ignore a lot of Mike's character, just because it's subtle. 20 minutes of just analysing him from just his speech is just 🤌
What I would like to mention (since I too like to analyse these speeches) is specifically the use of the word "Father." Personally, the way I interpret it is a little different than a sign of respect. To me, it's a sign of distance and *past* respect.
"Father" is the most basic word to describe the man who raised you, or at least impregnated your mother. It isn't a diminutive, it isn't a pet name, it isn't a short form. But it's also not an insulting word. It is simply factual.
Diminutives and pet names are for friends, colleagues, allies. Or they can be used as mockery. Dad, pops, papa. These inherently show some form of affection. Not just respect, but love. Michael doesn't feel close to William. He doesn't feel paternal love from him and doesn't really show any for William. He feels detached. And judging by how you would still probably call your father "dad" out of habit, even if you just found out he did something horrible, I'm willing to bet it wasn't just a recent development.
Although, yes, he still calls him a completely neutral form. There are more insulting forms of this noun. Even diminutives can be mocking at times. But he doesn't use them. And no other insults at any point either. To me, it shows some latent respect for his father still. He may not have felt love, but he still recognised William as someone worth following. Someone worth helping. Someone worth doing the bidding of, even after his old bunker duped him out of a cash basket. He doesn't respect what William has done, but he cannot help but see him as impressive. He is the man who managed to do all that, the impossible. Someone more than himself.
There is also the tone. You usually don't shorten people's names outside of casual conversation, and the same goes with these kinds of titles. You could call a doctor "doc" when you're just there for a check-up, but not when you just found out someone has cancer. Similarly, here we have a man who, maybe even for the first time in decades, realised that his father killed his sister. He may add in some snarky or sarcastic comments and remarks, but he is taking all of this completely seriously. Which might not seem significant, but gains more weight when you realise that Mike, inherently, seems like a rather playful, unserious person, judging by his other appearances.
This might have been an overinterpretation on my part; this is just one simple word after all, but I really do believe the words used to address others are often the best way of telling the relationship between two characters. A lot of subtle storytelling is often done that way.
Exactly! It's not intimate, but it's not inherently demeaning. 'Distant' is the best way to put it I think. And nah, the energy of your comment is kinda exactly what I wanted to capture with the rambling in my video, you might have actually done it way better than me lmao. I think this monologue is the epitome of subtle storytelling - just 50 seconds with Michael and you already get what he's all about by reading between the lines, hell, just with the FIRST WORD he says. Wow!
Hello the other Mike
@@bonkboy4386the tone, how high he makes his voice sound (on purpose), pronunciation, vocabulary or the words he chooses to use and how fast he talks can say a lot about the character (not really but let's say)
And the emotions that are in the monologue, first is confusion where Mike is not sure or just doesn't understand something, uncaring (the parts you specified) could've mean he didn't care about those as he just did his job, maybe afraid of the new things happening around and the "just like you told me to.." (or something like that) where it turned into whisper or mumbling like it maybe wasn't true but he was afraid to tell William that because he wanted him to be proud, it also seemed to me that at 1 or 2 lines he was happy or a little excited because he knew or thought that what he said would make william happy.
Long story short, when you try to make a character or voice one it really depends on the key factors I said (and other maybe)
This is a Hell of a well-written comment.
Now to twist it;
How much would change if we swapped his word of choice towards William, for Elizabeth's?
As in;
"Daddy, it's me, Michael"
This is how I’ve always interpreted the use of father by Michael. While in theory father is a formal way of addressing your father, in reall life when people refer to their dad as “father” it always denotes a certain distance. It’s not hatred, Michael would use a diminutive sarcastically if he was angry or bitter like you stated, we know Michael is a sarcastic character that make wry jokes from the logbook and foxy bro. this is jsut my interpretation and extrapolation but I feel like the boy who called his brother “little man” teasingly might bitter call his evil father his “dear old man” or soemthing like that.
It really is a moment of realisation where Michael is expressing the truly complex nature of his feelings for William. He doesn’t know how to feel about William he respected him even if it was misguided but now he is truly cognisant of his father’s corruption. He’s not angry yet he’s resigned.
pj heywood being envious of dave steele's voice acting is so thematically perfect since william was always envious of henry in some way
putting a comment here so i can remember to come back to this because its amazing
@@hannahs.7297that's so perfect
life imitates art
henry just always has to one up him...
that's insane. heywood's voice is utterly brilliant
He's damaged. He's sarcastic. He's morally grey. He's perfect!
-love that
18:33 😉
‼GREEN FLAG‼
@@sillywilly83FR
For some reason, Scott can write amazing speeches. Despite not technically being a writer, he should write more dialogue, if he doesn’t write the majority of it anyway.
Phone guy in the first game is SO well written.
Scott is so good at corporate backspeech.
My favorite example is from Pizzeria Simulator
"A risk that comes with a 100% chance of success in some cases"
I'm a bit late to this comment but Scott has actually written a novel before FNAF named The Tearing, sadly it's lost media
@phillebrave6429 ah damn that actually is sad it would show alot of Scott's old ideas that got put into fnaf
Scott actually co-wrote the masterpiece film "Stawinsky and the Mysterious House" in 2012. If anything, he's one of the greatest writers of our time
@@dmk_yt This is not true, it's a popular rumor but he is only credited in the special thanks. Scott was busy working on Jesus Kids' Club and Bible Plays at that time.
I like how Micheal "died" by something going inside of him
while William "died" by going inside of something
Freddy doesnt Faz-fuck around in bed
"by something going inside of him"
Your wording is funny
Polar opposites.
@@voiky752OMG 😭😭😭
PLEASE PHRASE THAT DIFFERENTLY MY MIND IS NOT TAKING THAT CORRECTLY
Also technically both of them died by having robotic parts inserted into them because that's kind of what a springlock failure is
one of my favorite parts of the speech is that "something is wrong with me" part, because of what's left unsaid in it: he doesn't tell his father what Elizabeth did, or mention her being involved at all. That feels like a learned behaviour from an eldest sibling in a bad home, obscuring blame when something bad happens to avoid putting someone's head on the chopping block. I do like to think even after everything he's still hoping to protect his baby sister
I've never thought about it like that augghhh... This comment singlehandedly killed and then revived me, thank you
He's doing his best
Glad to see more people just as obsessed with the broken, baby boy, morally grey purple guy of the saga. This rambling and just loving a character wihout trying to tie it into a big theory is just what I needed...
A Michael Afton appreciation post.
He is everything to me..
Hes just soooo relatable in some way. No i didn’t kill my brother but the tiredness in his voice just feels. Nostalgic?
glad to see others with this opinion i love mike so much,,,,
@@Luna_kuna08oh so you got your organs scooped out?
Hello person who decided to start waffling about me because of a speech. @@bonkboy4386
I always thought that the, "They thought I was you [laugh??]" was less of Michael finding humor in the situation, but more like chuckling because he doesn't even know how to feel about that. It's a really short, dry laugh that almost sounds sarcastic in a way. I think you're completely right with the unsaid, "Maybe they're right," because (at least to me) the laugh sounds kind of defeated but just laughing for the sake of laughing
Tbh it sounds like a scoff to me
@@DeceitfulBeing YESS I WAS JUST AB TO SAY THAT! to me, it sounded more like "how dare they think im anything close to the monster you have turned into?" he sounded offended to me. and ik if i was ever compared to william, i would be offended too so...
@@shya_dri They thought I was YOU… *scoff*
One more thing, Mike is canonically shown to be playful. He draws baskets of exotic butters and casual bongos and baskets of money for God's sake...
hehe he sounds like a fun guy!
seriously he sounds like ME!
HEHEHEHEHEH
Like you’ve listened to Michael’s monologue an unhealthy amount of times, I’ve watched this video an unhealthy amount of times
Uh- as well as the monologue, I love his voice
I DESPERATELY need SteelWool Studios have our boy PJ Heywood read out a dialogue between William and Michael.
Can he please just have another speaking role in ANY CAPACITY 😭😭
@@bonkboy4386 well I’m not sure how he play gltichtrap I’m more of a fan of dawko interpretation even if it is mimic i guess mxes could be a cool character for him to voice
Michael Aftons voice is so fine,,,,
I need more people need to understand this.
Litterly
I love Michael. He’s like, 90% of the reason I like FNAF to be honest. He’s a really fascinating character with a lot of guilt and trauma that is so interesting to explore, and as someone who believes that he’s the protagonist of all the original six games, it really builds out an incredible story of him coming to understand how horrible his father was, and to try and undo what harm he can. Its a very tragic but well-told story.
@studygirlmillyif CC is the protagonist of fnaf 4, then why is there a drawing Michael made of nightmare fredbear in the survival logbook?
When the humans are treated like humans is when we get the best scenes.
Henry's Insanity speech is possibly my favourite sequence in the whole series because of how it does exactly that. Very rarely does the series acknowledge the actual emotional impact of these events, even if it's literal child murder lol
So does this mean we'll get an hour in depth video on Henry's speech? /J
@@mayoDmayo Don't tempt me...
I really love how distinct Michael and William's vibes are. Like, when you were doing the comparison in voices at 9:20 it was clear as day!
When i hear Michael he sounds tired, depressed, even defeated in his speech until he states his mission of looking for William
But with his father, Afton sounds bitter, angry, and smug in his dialog. Im really impressed what the voice actor was able to do with them both!
More British man content
You talking about me or Michael lol
@@bonkboy4386yes.
@@bonkboy4386 both
i think that the reason some of his lines can be seen as loyalty to william is because he still wants (or is hanging on) to the idea that william could love him and be proud of him. but as he goes on he starts to feel more hostile to william, like he is remembering all that he has done to him and his siblings. especially that it is implied (and straight up shown in the books) that william was abusive physically, emotionally, and was neglectful to his children
okay off topic but i love your pfp !!!
@@sunysid3up thank you!! :3
Exactly!!! RAHH I get William is sad that his kid died, sad. Womp womp. But Michael relationship to his brother and father and even possibly seeing the dynamics between both him and his father and how it’s different than his. I think that’s something lots of people ignore. Kids are sponges of information and I think that it’s very likely he knew how this family worked. And he’d do anything for just a little normality.
@@Star_Starbee yeah!!!! every child wants their parents to love them, even if they hate their parents
EXACTLY! Michael doesn’t know how to feel about his father in this speech. It’s almost as if as he’s talking he’s realising the true depths of his fathers’ evil towards not just his victims but also Michael and the aftons (also victims). As mike goes on he starts to shed the need for Williams approval and growing more bitter and angry
Okay but why was my first thought when I saw the thumbnail "this is literally me" 💀
Oh to be locked in a room with Michael Afton and listen to him talk incessantly..
@@bonkboy4386 A dream come true honestly... :']
@@bonkboy4386 As someone who has a stupid crush on Michael Afton, that would be wonderful...
I personally have always interpreted that breathy noise he makes as that sort of tired humorless laugh you do like when everything that could have possibly gone wrong *did* and there's nothing you can do about it? I can't explain it exactly but I hopefully it makes sense
This is probably one of the best FNAF analysis videos I've ever seen! It's a breath of fresh air to just pay attention to the characters and narrative that are ignored instead of losing it over the lore, Micheal is so interestng to me especially because he is so commonly regarded as just a personalityless narrative tool when he so clearly isn't! if only people would look at him for more than 2 seconds. Thinking about him and his parallels with William and how they're the same but so entirely different makes me want to bark and bite people.
Scott overall put so much thought into the characterization, not just Micheal's, and it's saddening that it's so glossed over by the fandom. Henry has 1 appearence _ever_ , he's not even on the Silver Eyes trilogy, but his speech(es) tell everything you need to know about him. But this isn't about him lol.
I apprecate this video so much you have no idea, I'm really bad with putting my thoughts into words especially about a character I'm so passionate about but you were able to not only put my feelings about him down perfectly into a cohesive character analysis but make me even more cray cray about him.
My wording might be weird, english isn't my first language, but I think I could get it across that I"m completely in love with your interpretation of my little pathetic wet rag of a man
The noise in question reminds me a bit of a sort of disgusted snort or scoff. Like he's disgusted with the idea of even being compared with his father.
when i thought about the breathy thing, i sorta thought of like an airless gasp for breath, but since he lost his inner organs, and he is dead he cannot breathe. Which also ties into perspective of his spaced out lines and sometimes low voice because we need to breathe to be able to talk for a long period of time, unlike him who cannot
12:06 I never processed what Michael wrote here. It kinda reads like the childish excuse he probably came up in a fit of panic during the bite of 83
my headcanon is he's making fun of the news headline about the bite of 83
I think it's in line with his dialogue so far. He has a very dry, self-deprecating sense of humour as an adult. He's bitter and jaded, but still finding amusement in things.
I always thought that the “they thought I was you” ended with a scoff. In annoyance and a tone of mockery. Not only does it fit his character, but it would show that he hated his fate. An undertone of pure rage, hidden under tired stillness.
This is, by far, my favorite video on UA-cam ever and I am not even joking. I am so validated that somebody else thinks this ungodly hard about Michael as I do. Thank you
what is your pfp 😂
@@scribblecloud Family!
@@nichikananakusaThat's actually so cute.
Your pfp:
William just wants to hug his son. 🥹
But, Michael's just like, "Dad, stop! Youre embarrassing me!"
Pfft. Teenagers.....☠️
Me fr
In this comment section, I have found my people 💛 Michael's word choice here, to me, also indicates a very poetic, gothic sort of personality- not "I'm alone" or "I'm on the outskirts of society", but _"living in shadows"_- it's such a dramatic way to put it, and laden with imagery.
I think Michael demonstrates a sort of righteous anger compared to how morose Henry is- he's absolutely depressed, but I read him as almost this young upstart firebrand, a man of action whose first move is "I'm gonna FUCK THIS OLD BASTARD UP" while Henry is paralyzed with guilt. I completely agree he should have gotten _something_ in FFPS; even just a smug "You heard him, Father, give it up" or anything would've been so nice to hear. Even if he was kind of done dirty by the writing, I'm glad people appreciate what characterization we did get!
MEE TOOOOO I'VE FOUND MY PEOPLE!!!
I’m a Michael Afton enthusiast (self-titled) and this was absolutely on the nose!! I’m an over-thinker when it comes to him. I always thought the part of his monologue where he mentions they thought he was William, and he makes that noise, that it was a laugh. Like an appalled “how dare they.” Realizing how bad of a person his father was, he does not want any kind of association with him, even if it’s just in appearance. I might honestly be projecting, because I was always proud of looking like my father until I realized who he really is, and knowing I look like him now disgusts me. Daddy issues lmao. I fking loved this vid. Thank you so much for making it
Such a fantastic character. Even with how little information we have, we can see how he's both changed and kept many traits from childhood. He's worn down and damaged, but that proud little "I did it" and the dry, snarky humour shows a hint of the charm and confidence of the kid he used to be.
I think he became more codependent and obedient towards his father after the incident, but I just can't see Michael as an abused, downtrodden victim yearning for his father's approval the way some people theorize. His tone is pondering, but still defiant and confident.
I think "living in shadows" refers to more than just his current state of being; he's been living in the shadow of his father, the death of his siblings, and of his own guilt. Now that he knows the truth, he's stepping out of the shadows and setting his own course.
19:00 How poetic that Afton's VA is jealous of Henry's VA
I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT THAT
ME TOO BRO😂
Regarding the "They thought I was you [???]" question at 12:12
I have always thought that the sound was a laugh. One of those laughs that you do when you know something isn't funny but you can't seem to express your overwhelming emotions in any other way.
It also feels pretty self-deprecating to me, like he sees the irony in being killed for murders that he didn't do, rather than what he did to his brother.
I also think it does fit with the rest of the speech and Michael's character pretty well, we know Michael has always had a pretty morbid, gallows humour from his other appearances, and he is seemingly realising a bunch of messed up stuff that happened to him that he is only now processing, whilst simultaneously realising the full extent of his father's misdeeds, it seems like just the situation for Michael to find a bit humorous.
Realising that his father and himself are more alike than he first thought, that (to his father's victims) they are interchangeable, that feels like the sort of situation that brings feelings that can't be acknowledged through anything but a sad chuckle.
Edit: Loved the video by the way, glad people love this speech as much as I do!
this is random, but idk why when you brought up that they kept elizabeth's voice consistent by just casting a british actor I laughed my ass off at the little british "ello?"
I love Michael afton a normal amount (I’m lying) (I’m actually obsessed) (he’s just a silly little guy) (a little goober)
Michael is love Michael is life
Michael is love, Michael is life
he needs a hug- all i gotta say
I find it interesting that he said that THEY didn't recognize me at first. I think a lot of people miss that Baby isn't the only spirit there. That is how I read that line anyway.
Another comment: I REALLY appreciate not having a theory tied to him, just stating super obvious clues left about his character, which a lot of people who try tying him into the narrative just blatantly disregard for... some reason? Also, the fact that you were able to talk about Michael without talking about CC as well like everyone does, going on and on about his mistake without going over how and why he's grown-especially when they don't even go into how his bullying of CC was likely out of his father's sudden neglect-it's just. So refreshing. I adore your Afton content more than anything!
Also, if you'd ever want to make a sequel, going over what we learned from the logbook about him and maybe even throwing a fact about Jeremy's survival into the 1990s and presumably still being in touch with Michael in order to have something printed into his notebook from (presumably) his perspective would be so good. You already went over his dry humor but the logbook is off the charts with it and how badly he relates to Foxy even now is just. Hilarious. There's really so much to him that gets overlooked. We may be cringe but we are free
Y’know, I’ve always thought there was more to Michael Afton than just a mentally damaged walking corpse; who hates his father, *after* finding out what he did. In fact. I think the him “finding out” only in sister location was always a little off. Story wise.
With that new FNAF movie out I think it’s become even clearer for me. I think he knew almost the whole time, that his father was killing. The relationship between William and Vanessa character isn’t that game story driven (besides having obvious connections in security breach). But if you look a little farther than that. It’s weird that they made the decision to have Vanessa be specifically his daughter.
What if, hear me out… what if, Venessa’s relationship with William in the movie was supposed to represent Micheal’s relationship with Willam! That Micheal’s not completely ok with it but was shamed into being his father’s helping hand. Only to finally break off from the manipulation after his father sent him down to ’help’ his sister.
I think it’s an interesting take. Makes the whole story more interesting as a whole. Specifically making Micheal’s character more interesting in that morally grey way, like you said!
I think Vanessa may have been a stand in for Elizabeth and Michael not just Michael. But to support you're theory if in the games Michael is Mike from fnaf 1 he certainly knew what was going in by the at the very least due to sister location taking place after 1.
@@brendanmuller7301 I mean, yea, obviously Vanessa is an obvious stand in for Elizabeth. It's just that most people think of that and only that as the reference for Vanessa. At least from what I've seen lmao
but yeah, mike defiantly knew about it. otherwise, the movie wouldn't have made Vanessa such a vital role in finding out about Afton in the movie.
@shadowingfas6792 That's true, I've seen many compare her to Elizabeth or game vanessa/vanny more than Michael when she's clearly a mix of all 3. I'd also argue; if fnaf 1 Mike is actually Michael afton Vanessa using a different surname than her father could also be a connection between her and Michael.
i love videos that are just unapologetic gushing about something that the person loves, no matter how small. i understand the feeling of wanting to rant for twenty minutes about a minute long monologue from a video game, and your affections for these games and for michael as a character really shines through! it was lovely to listen to
Honestly this was an interesting way of how you can see Mike’s character.
Like you say at 15:26.. it could say something about Mike’s morality. To be fair though.. he is there to just free Lizzie. So it makes sense he wouldn’t necessarily care about the funtimes. It’s goes into the whole “can you see them as human”. There’s always gonna be some moral ambiguity there so you might right anyway. I guess it’s why people think Gregory is a demon child for what he does LMAO.
But this comes into question what Mike knows and doesn’t know. It’s kinda frustrating but also a bit fun there’s stuff that’s not so cut and dry about him. Like did he know about the “killing kids” thing? How much info did he know on the funtimes? It gives you a lot to think about.
All in all, I loved this and probably will be rewatching it a bunch of times as I did with the accent one lol. Also 19:48.. the truth. We got two hands guys, use them. ❤️
Hope in the future your able to make videos like these on the other characters as well! These type of videos aren’t as common in the community. Cause really only so much we know about the characters. But at the same time.. there’s a lot you can get from speculating on what certain choices for a character can mean. More of that would be lovely to see.
But anyway, thank you for spreading the Michael Afton agenda. 🤩 hoping to see you upload more.
Sometimes less is more! Michael has only one speaking role and yet that's all you need to know basically everything about his personality. It's also all you need to fall in love with him. It is pretty ambiguous how much he knows about his father's work, but at least that can lead to fun headcanons. I will gladly spread the gospel of Michael Afton for as long as I live!
my guess is he connected the dots about the missing kids a little bit after sister location, then began his quest to help get rid of william and free the souls
This is what is going on in my brain 24/7 with Michael like give me character crumbs
i was always under the impression that the sound following “they thought I was you” was a scoff, or more accurately a show of annoyance/frustration/disbelief. reading it as one of the first “angry” moments from him always made the dialogue (and events) that follow more cohesive for me. like he’s finally taking a moment to let it all sink in, and while he still wants his father’s approval, he can’t ignore the anger he is feeling anymore.
i feel like it could be a mix between a sigh and a laugh, like a sort of exasperated laugh of "haha.. geez this is kinda mad isnt it.."
This video was just brilliant. Subtitles? Jokes and memes sprinkled throughout but never taking away from the overall tone? Michael Afton? This checked all of my boxes for a perfect video
Oh my god I’ve found someone that’s just as obsessed with my boi as I am.
11:40 I’ve always interpreted it as a scoff. Like the idea (in retrospect) disgusts or annoys him after he knows what has happened. Or maybe he has always gotten comments on their similar appearance and is annoyed by them, and that is only exemplified here since it got him killed.
Anyway, great video. I love it when people ramble on about this sort of thing since it gets brushed over. You can find a lot of character in him if you just listen, and I’m glad I found someone that does this too.
always nice to find other people who are also obsessed with the sopping wet cat that is michael afton
Even though we don't see Michael for very long in the series and don't know much about him, he is easily my favorite character in the entire franchise. A man who made a horrible decision (the accidental murder of his little brother) and discovers the horrors that his father committed and spending the rest of his life making up for his mistakes and atoning for the sins of his father. The way Scott was able to write Michael Afton is very impressive. We know so little about it, yet at the same time we know so much about him.
You mentioned the sigh/laugh as something going through Mike’s head he can’t bring himself to say. I interpreted that as him realizing the horror of what William had done to all the kids down there.
What horrible atrocities do you have to commit to make your own daughter want to turn you, not the other 2 workers, but you, into a rotting skin suit?
To me, that sigh/laugh was the moment Mike turned on his father
Maybe that's what he couldn't bring himself to say. I feel like he didn't fully turned against his father in that moment, there was probably still some hesitance. Maybe even some disbelief in the fact that they mistook Michael for his own father.
“They didn’t recognize me at first, but then…they thought I looked like you.*Scoffs*”
-Michael Afton
Theres so much I wanna say so Im gonna cram it all in this comment
FIrst off, FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE WHO LOVES MICHAEL AS MUCH AS ME! THIS SPEECH FROM HIM IS GENUINELY SO FREAKIN GOOD!
Second, I love that the song that plays during his speech is called "Demolition Inevitable" not only for the tragedy that had occurred in the past but also because Michael goes on to light Fazbear Frights on fire!
Third, regarding the sigh/laugh debate, it could be that Michael laughed cause he heard that comment of "They thought I was you" several times growing up cause it's mentioned he looks just like Afton. But a sigh could be possible as well, I just prefer the tired laugh cause it adds a lot to Michael's personality
Michael is my favorite human/non animatronic character cause of his redemption arc. He killed his brother accidentally and then died cause of an order given by his father. He then goes on trying to help free the spirits of the MCI victims and tries to kill Afton. Genuinely love Michael so much
"They sound similar"
Damn..almost like they're father and son or something..
So happy I found this channel. Michael has been my favorite character since Sister Location released, and is the sole reason that game is my favorite of the franchise. To me, that's where the story got interesting. And with the movie focusing entirely on Michael, I'm so excited to have the character fleshed out and realized, and to see an influx of Mike fans. He's always been kind of an underdog character in the fandom. He's the main protagonist, but only talks once and most of his story is out of order and convoluted and has to be inferred. Most fans latch onto the Animatronics, or characters with more lines like Henry, Gregory, and now Cassie. But the mystery of Michael despite being the main character, and having such a great arc really makes him stand out. So I'm glad to see others care about the character the same way. He definitely deserves more love and attention, and hopefully he gets it with the movie. It's long overdue.
I have a feeling that Michael and William possibly even died on the same day. Fnaf 3 mini games and sister location take place over the same amount of time being 5 days (or 5 mini games for fnaf 3 possibly being 5 days). William also told Michael to go down to the SL bunker but then just vanishes implying he’s now locked in the safe room and now Michael has to go find him. Not only that but imagine how poetic it is that the father and son both so similar even down to looks and how they actually sound being so closely tied in with each other that they both die on the exact same day. It would be truly poetic
I love videos like this, that instead of just analyzing the lore and timeline, instead analyze the characters themselves that make the story so great in the first place! also i think a video analyzing the fnaf ost would be great! becuse i think the tracks (at least their names) are more inportant than people think. Also they are so good and honestly one of my favorite parts of the franchise.
I love the naming conventions for the songs in the OST! I definitely wanna talk more about that because there's absolutely more to those names than just sounding cool.
I agree with most of what was said here, aside from 15:26 . To me, it feels less like Michael doesn't care about the rest of the spirits and more like he just knows that William doesn't, so he doesn't waste his breath. After all, if he only cared about his family, he wouldn't have had motive to bring molten freddy and lefty into the building in pizza sim, but he took on that extra danger anyway for the sake of putting their souls to rest. Michael strikes me as a character pulled in two directions, one way by his morality, and the other way by his fear of his father, and the lingering hope that every abused child has, that his father may still love him to some degree. Honestly his character arc is vaguely reminiscent of Zuko's imo
love love love this video glad to see more people that overly analyze members of the afton family as well, i find their entire situation, and the characterization of Michael and William specifically my absolute favorite bits of the lore
great video! I interpret the michael sound as an exasperated, sardonic sort of smile. a scoff and smirk. an exhausted chuckle. "they thought i was *you* (negative, incredulous)"
I gotta say, you kinda slipped up at 12:30, there's actually a line from a bidybab in (I think) night 2. It says, "is it the same person," heavily implying that they think it's William.
*To be fair*,,, I only recently thought to make the connection that the "someone who came before you" was William, considering we do see other unnamed technicians later in the game. But I will take the L on this, in hindsight it is a little obvious,,
I always took that sigh at the end of "they thought I was you" as, like, a sarcastic sigh/laugh. Like, we are shown/told William and Michael look alike, and as someone who has been told I look like one of my parents, I constantly deny it whenever it's brought up. Maybe Mike's just like "They thought I was you... For f**k's sake *sarcastic laugh*"
You are as insane as me this is great
This is but a peek into my twisted Afton obsessed mind...
@@bonkboy4386 I spin the Afton's around in my head like they are being microwaved
Michael's voice is calm and collective but his mind is shattered.
While william's voice is loud and has a innocent voice acent but it feels that it has a different look from the inner voice, something sinster.
man i LOVE his voice
hehehehe
As a damaged, sarcastic, possibly morally grey person myself I’m glad to know somebody out there will think I’m perfect.
I'm probably going to be coming back to this video often. It's the youtube equivalent of spinning my blorbo in my head like a cube. I've never seen those reddit comments that Mr. Heywood made, which was honestly pretty interesting to see his own insights about playing what became a personal comfort character for me. Your ending did bing up a good point- I'm a little worried for how Movie Mike is going to be portrayed but I choose to see them as two separate characters for now, since the trailers haven't given us much to go on about his relationship with Movie William
12:50 to me the "i put her back together" also sounded like hes kind of unsure if what he did really was "putting her back together", or if he got it wrong.
That's a really good point, I always saw it as him being *morally* confused but that makes a ton of sense. Especially considering he sounds very sincere saying "she's free now" when Elizabeth is very much still trapped in Baby. It would also explain him tacking on "just like you asked me to", because while he may not know if what he did worked, he does know that he followed William's instructions.
This is like being at school and not understanding the assignment the teacher gave me so I'm like "Oh yeah, I did this right didn't I? This is how it's supposed to be done right? I mean I think I did it right, but did I..?"
I love this video. Just by watching I could tell that you truly care about this character, and as a fellow Michael fan, I agree with everything you've presented. I was getting so tired of people in the FNAF community making fun of Michael fans because he's a "bad character" or seeing video essays on how Michael doesn't have any character to begin with. This video puts on full display just how much there is to him.
I'm not even half way through but your video has already seriously impressed me. (I am very much walking around my kitchen saying YES YES YES! to myself as I listen to this hahaha) I had to comment before I forgot my thoughts. It astounds me how many people willingly choose to very incorrectly interpret the scenes of Michael we do receive. So many things you have brought up I've also had in my head for the longest time, and to hear you repeat them it brought the biggest smile to my face. .... and then you brought up even more evidence (AKA from the PJ AMA) that I hadn't even seen yet.(Gosh. PJ saying William is "up to no good" and Michael is "broken" is TOO GOOD of a summary). Absolutely wonderful video, I agree with pretty much everything you are saying, subscribed. I will always support a fellow Michael enthusiast. Thank you for making this video, I seriously appreciate it.
Being vindicated feels great, I feel you there lol. I'm happy the video that effect. And I agree - it's so simple but when I first read PJ's summary of William and Michael I thought it was absolutely sublime. Being infatuated with the tiniest things is just par for the course with being a Michael fan.
Lovelovelove this video!! You overanalyze Michael the same way I do William aha! Michael is criminally underused, every time I think of fnaf6 I'm in pain cuz Scott could've given Mike anythiiing but he said "naahhh it'll be fine", Henry has more voice lines than Mike and Will combined *sob* (you don't even go here, it was supposed to be an afton family affair- *sobs more*)
Tangent about 6 aside, I agree with what you say about the movie--let the Mikes coexist, they're both lovely and going to be awesome!!! ^^ I guess this is the first time Mike fans have had to deal with an alternate universe, this isn't our first rodeo for Will lmao
I am so glad I found this video! When Sister Location came out and I heard Michael's monologue for the first time I was OBSESSED. So glad there's so many others who are just as crazy about him as me lmaoo
It always makes me so happy to see other Mike enjoyers
Imagine English class giving things like this for students to analyze
We need a FNaF class, can schools get on this please?
I love videos like this. Fnaf is an... odd franchise. It has, although very hidden behind theories and uncertainty, a super emotional story about evil, its consequences, and revenge.
The only thing I miss are some more emotional or "cinematic" moments, that show us how these characters are humans, have feelings, and are going through all of this, instead of pixel characters talking through pixelated text, instead of being just mere plot devices used for theorizing.
This is why I think one of the best moments in all of fnaf are obviously Henry's insanity ending speech, and Michael's monologue. We finally get to know how *he's* feeling behind all the mess that happened throughout his life to him and his family, we really feel the tragedy of the story. I'd just like it if there were more moments like this, because when they do happen, they're so short.
I'd love to see, for example, how Henry'd react at his business partner, his friend's betrayal. A person he trusted (presumably) for a big part of his life, backstabing him with such a horrible action.
So, I loved this overthinking of one of the most beautiful moments of the story. You're really underrated, I feel like this video is something not all theorists do, look into the emotional part of the lore lol.
Oh man, I see Michael Analysis I instantly click. This was such a treat! Absolutely love the deep dive analysis of his character solely base from his rare voice line. It's stuff like this that makes me appreciate a character even more for the way they are, such a great video! Would love to see more Mike analysis from you from whatever aspect of his character it may be (maybe like analysing deeper to the logbook and such) but this was an absolute blast!
genuinely love the interpretations of the laugh/scoff/sigh he makes. every time i see someone discuss it its very interesting to hear why they think that, but ultimately it never feels like an incorrect idea-just another in a happy little pile of them.
i love michael so dearly THANK YOUUUUUUUU
hes my perfect boy
My baby
This is a very refreshing FNAF analysis video, just a simple character overview that are rather uncommon due to the scarce characterisation in the games.
I've always wondered what was up with Michael's sarcastic remarks in the Security Logbook but watching this does make it all add up perfectly
It sounds a lot like he's realizing the implication of what's happened. The laugh sounds incredulous and he's just realizing that he's been used.
i love this analysis! i had some different takes (as someone with experience having a... not great dad)
michaels speech is hollow. broken, empty, and bitterly sarcastic. he seems unaffected and distant until the music kicks in, and you hear his voice shake.
the pained laugh/sigh at the end of 'they thought i was you' verrrry much feels like he grazed an open wound in his psyche. realizing you are similar to a parent who did so much harm, to the point that others mistake you for him, is devastating. even if he is following his orders, there is a sense of confusion, of now knowing what is happrning around him.
when he says i did as you asked, it feels tense. i can feel that he believes putting elizabeth "back together" was the right thing to do, even when prompted by a madman.
as he reveals that he is no longer able to live, to have a life seperate from his father and his crimes, living in shadows, he has clearly given up on seeking amything but the end to this story. the sorrow and pain goes away, replaced by single-minded determination and anger.
he will find his father.
he will get answers.
or at least thats what he hopes.
he comes across as a man with nothing left, who had everything ripped from him, trying desperately to have some semblance of control or knowledge, wanting to find the end of this nightmare.
god its just such an excellent performance. kudos to pj heywood, he knows what he is doing.
Nothing I love more than hearing people get so passionate about things they love.
I know I'd jump on the occasion to make something similar about my own interests, if I didn't have such terrible pronunciation lol.
Fantastic stuff
This is one of my favorite videos, I come back to watch it quite often and I barely realize that I have never commented here.. I just wanted to say THANK YOU for the effort you put into this video and the analysis, it makes me very happy because I love Michael Afton and his character, you are really really talented, nowadays we need more love to our protagonist 😢 my dream is still to have PJ back in the franchise, I need the British Aftons again!!!
I’d love to see an overanalyzation of Henry’s speech from FNAF 6
YES YES *YES*
I think I'd really like another video analyzing all we can glean from Micheal's character from the security logbook.
I’ve always loved big-brother redemption arcs 💜
I always believed that during his monologue, he was slowly realizing he didn’t agree with his father anymore and felt betrayed by him
Yes yes yes Michael discussion yes yES YES
Michael is such an interesting character in the games and the bit we do know about him is so fascinating when contrasting with the other stuff we see.
(I’m also with you on the ‘he’s the protag of 3’ thing, I genuinely think that in every game except 2 [other than maybe the day 7 guard Fritz] and UCN [through the original six games at least], he’s the player character. And isn’t that fascinating? To see things from his perspective, and yet still have so much about him hidden?)
(And that doesn’t even start the change from being associated with Foxy to being associated with Helpy, and then bring into question Helpi as a character, I just.)
Thank you for discussing Mike I’m so glad I found this video
mycle
On Micheal somehow knowing the animatronics thought he was William, I always assumed that was something he learnt while they were puppeting his corpse. God knows long his movements weren't his own
Tightly gripping my phone because I've always been obsessed with Michael Afton as a character.
REAL, I STARTED TO BITE MY PILLOW I COULDN'T TAKE IT
best video on yt, related to michael afton. hands down best video.
Your analysis about Demolition Inevitable is another example that makes me wonder how music ties into the lore/narrative of the games. It's really fascinating.
To me, Mike laughs after saying "They thought I was you," because hes well aware William knew they'd want him dead.
you are so real i also listen to a few sentences of a monologue hundreds of times to analyze and grasp everything i can, i thought i was crazy for doing this thanks
i subscribed the second you said you liked mikes character. he needs more love
oh my god thank you so much for this video i think about this man every damn day……. your thoughts on him were not only interesting but similar to mine AND enlightening at the same time. this is my equivalent to finding the holy grail
Bonk boys is ALIVE!!! Thanks for another great fnaf video :3
I see so many people say that micheal is a bland character but THIS just proves that he’s not
I absolutely adore this video, it’s great to find another passionate Mike fan!! I agree with most of the things you’ve stated here, but my interpretation of Mike is only a little different in some aspects. When you say that he’s ‘easy to trust people’ I won’t say you’re wrong, I’d just change something. He’s easy to trust CERTAIN people, and at the stage of his life he was in before the events of Sister Location, I’d say William was definitely one of those people. I see Mike as stoic, relating to how calm he seemed in regards to the Funtimes, and this could do with past trauma. There is a very vulnerable part within him which he doesn’t want people to notice. However, when William manipulated him, he hit that part of his son right on the dot. Like an arrow perfectly hitting a target and shattering his heart into a million and one pieces. And it had to do with his family, as Michael is finally given the chance to desperately make up for his sins which have been throwing him off his rockers since that dreaded day in 83. A chance to save one of his siblings, instead of killing one, as we know he’s there to find Elizabeth, and importantly, make his father proud. I don’t think William was abusive, but neglectful, and now Mike finally has the chance to do something for him and get his attention. For me, this kind of explains how heartbroken he sounds during his speech, and how he seemed to only mention ‘saving’ Elizabeth. The others, he didn’t fully understand, or he wasn’t as passionate about. I can’t help but hear this underlying tone of utter sadness in his speech, even with all of those little details that could mean so much.
Finally a video talking about this! I love this type of topic!
I like how William died by getting into a Springlocks suit, and Michael died because Animatronics use him like a Springlocks suit, it's like Michael and William are the opposite of the other in every single thing.
It’s worth noting that Springtrap was a hivemind entity that opened itself up for William to get inside of him. So they were both prisoners of a similar kind of entity.
One phrase I think of when talking about the differences between PJ Heywood's performances as Michael and William is...
"The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children."
Looking at the story as a whole, it is abundantly clear how true that ended up being.
AHHHH I absolutely loved your videos on the Afton’s accent and I doubly love Michael Afton so I’m so glad you’ve made this video bc I’ve thought just as much about this monologue as you seem to have 😂
"Don't forget: the Aftons are British."
Truly, the most terrifying part.
(This was a cool video! I love listening to people deep dive into analysis of their favorite characters!)
Micheal and Henry’s speeches are AMAZING, tells you so much about their characters and motivations without ever telling you.
12:04
It can also be seen as a scoff of disbelief as if he is saying 'I can't believe they that I was you' as if that was something he figured would happen but hoped wouldn't happen, like he finds it a bit humorous, as if that was saying how either Micheal will never escape the shadow of his father and will forever bear the sins, or shows to him how similar he is to his father which he battles with every day. Like a part of him, an inner child maybe, takes a bit of pride in it, but then there is the resentful part that hates to be even remotely similar to Afton.
His whole character feels like it is constantly fighting an internal battle and trying to heal from the sins of others as he keeps going through more and more tragedies all while trying to fix the mistakes of his own father.
ok i can see why people like analyzing this monologue and character.
YOUR IMPRESSION OF SILLY WILLY AND MOOKLE WAS SO GOOD WHAT-??