The Bite of '87 Lore (Five Nights at Freddy's)

Illustration of The Bite of '87

Overview

The Bite of  '87 was an incident that occurred at the second Freddy Fazbear's Pizza location in 1987. It was mentioned by the Phone Guy in the first Five Nights at Freddy's game.

"But then there was the Bite of '87. Yeah. It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?"

- Phone Guy, Five Nights at Freddy's

The details of this attack and the identity of the animatronic responsible are currently unknown, but it allegedly caused the victim to lose the frontal lobe of their brain. The victim surprisingly survived the attack. 

The incident contributed to a loss in the company's reputation, one of the numerous incidents that resulted in a significant drop in business going forward. 

As a result of the incident, the animatronics were no longer allowed to wander around the building during the day; the management decided to limit their free-roaming mode to nighttime to "prevent their servos from locking up", as stated by the Phone Guy.

Theories and Speculations

1. Foxy

• Foxy has been speculated to be the animatronic responsible for this incident. This is considered most likely because he appears to be the most capable of doing so with his sharp and broken teeth.

• In Foxy's dwelling place, Pirate Cove, a sign has been placed and reads "Sorry! Out of Order" and Foxy himself is in a state of disrepair. This possibly suggests that it was shut down after the incident. Foxy's jaw also seems to hang loosely, as if damaged through excessive force. However, when entering the Office to attack the player in the first game, his jaw is always closed, then falls open. The jaw could have been closed due to Foxy's running (his jaw can be seen flapping).

"Out of Order"

• The second game, however, seemingly rules out Foxy (Withered Foxy in FNAF 2) as the attacker, as he along with the other withered animatronics were most likely in the Parts/Service room when the bite took place. This can also be disproved by the fact that Foxy is still present in the first game - if he had caused the bite, then it would seem very odd for the company to keep him.

2. Freddy Fazbear

• Some speculate that Freddy Fazbear himself was responsible for the incident. On the posted rules in the East Hall in the original game, one of the rules mentioned "Don't touch Freddy." This rule may have been enacted after the bite incident, but could also be because Freddy is the main animatronic for the attraction.
• There are also some faint handprints on Freddy's face, which could be caused by someone struggling against him in some way. It could also be the Phone Guy's handprints, as heard in the phone call from Night 4, Freddy's song plays when the Phone Guy dies, leading some to believe that the Phone Guy could have tried to defend himself from the animatronics. Also, when the bite occurred, Freddy most likely had another head, as in Five Nights at Freddy's 2, he possesses a different mask than the one which has handprints on it.

Handprints on Freddy highlighted for clarity

3. Mangle

• Another popular theory is that Mangle was the one responsible for the bite, as its jumpscare involves hanging from the Office ceiling and opening its jaws wide as if trying to bite the player's head off. It seems that Mangle is trying to attack the upper area of the head, which is where the frontal lobe is located. This increases the possibility that Mangle administered the Bite of '87 in a similar fashion to its death screen. This is also reinforced by the mention that the new animatronics were being scrapped, something that would be likely to occur if one of them had caused the bite.
• 
• Jumpscare of Mangle's attack

• Another big piece of evidence that leaves Mangle as the suspect is that it would have a reason to bite a child. It is known that the animatronic is dismantled daily by the kids and that the staff eventually stopped repairing it, leaving it as a "take apart and put back together" attraction, which could have led it to either hate children (if possible) and see them as possible threats, or become unstable. This is questionable though since on the fourth night, the Phone Guy states that "the animatronics interact with the kids just fine, but when they encounter an adult, they just... stare." However, since the actual victim of the bite is never specified, some believe that it wasn't a child at all, and if an adult had received the bite, then it would make sense for the animatronics to respond that way towards adults.
• This can also be backed up by the fact that at the end of Night 6, all the toy animatronics (including Mangle) were scrapped due to apparent malfunctions. If Mangle was the culprit of the bite, it would make sense for the owners to scrap the toy animatronics, since the company may have feared that the other toy animatronics could experience similar malfunctions. If Withered Freddy or Withered Foxy (the other two most-likely culprits) had caused the bite, it wouldn't really make any sense for the company to have scrapped the toy animatronics.
• It is also worth noting that Mangle was the only active suspect at the time of the bite, as Withered Freddy, Withered Foxy, and the other withered animatronics were presumably locked in Parts/Service room, if the withered animatronics managed to wander into the main show area and attack a customer or Fitzgerald, then that would've ensured their permanent retirement. This could leave Mangle as the only animatronic capable of producing the bite. Despite this, many fans still believe that the bite was somehow caused by a different animatronic, leaving the true culprit unknown and up to debate.

Conclusion

• While it is still debated about which animatronic did it, the answer is still unconfirmed, but the prime suspects are: Withered Freddy, Withered Foxy, and Mangle. 

• Withered Freddy is believed by fans that he was the one responsible for the bite, considering how big his upper and lower jaw are and how his jaw is big enough for a whole human head to fit into it. However, this seems to be very unlikely as Withered Freddy was presumed to be in Parts/Service when the bite had happened. Also, if he was the one who committed the bite, this would have caused the victim to be killed, rather than surviving. 
• Withered Foxy, just like Mangle, is heavily believed to be one of the culprits as well. This is evidenced by how long his jaw is and his particular behavior in Five Nights at Freddy's 2. In Five Nights at Freddy's 2, when he's present in the hallway, he can be seen with his hook up as if he was going to dismember the guard's head off, also during his jumpscare, he gaps his mouth as wide as he can, as if he was trying to bite the guards head off. However, just like Withered Freddy's case, this theory seems to be debunked, considering the fact that he was presumably in Parts/Service when the bite occurred. 

Withered Foxy jumpscare

• Concluding this evidence up, Mangle seems to be the prime suspect for the bite, however it is still clearly unknown and still unconfirmed of which animatronic in the pizzeria did it. The victim is thought to be Jeremy Fitzgerald, who was the night guard before he got moved to the day shift, presumably where he suffered from the incident.