Five Nights at Freddy’s fans are going wild over a surprise animatronic cameo in the movie

*Warning* spoilers ahead...

The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie contains an array of easter eggs and references to the original games, but one cameo that has shocked fans everywhere is the appearance of a long-lost canine animatronic, whose very existence in the games was proven to be a hoax. Yes, that's right, Sparky the dog is seemingly real. 

Way back in 2014, with the release of the survival horror video game Five Nights at Freddy’s, an unknown fan began to spread rumors about a hidden sixth animatronic in the game, named Sparky the Dog. According to fan sites, Sparky the one-armed dog never actually attacked players but could be seen in the distance of shots in the first game. Soon after the elusive character was mentioned, screenshots of the character began to crop up on Tumblr. However, the creators of the game eventually revealed that Sparky was not real and that the images circulating online were merely Photoshopped.

Fast forward to October 2023 with the release of Blumhouse’s highly anticipated Five Nights at Freddy’s movie, and it seems our luck has changed. In the movie, a Sparky the Dog suit can be seen lying down in the Parts & Service room, where the hoax originally began. Not only this, but later in the film Mike visits Sparky's Diner and on the menu at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, there is a food item listed as Sparky's Dinner.

After the movie premiered, one Reddit user posted "Okay I wasn’t crazy! I swear I saw a dog animatronic in that area but I was like – maybe it was a botched Freddy?", and as the movie hit streaming site Peacock allowing fans to take a closer look, it wasn't long until images of Sparky’s cameo flooded Twitter.

Although Sparky never came to life during the movie, his very existence is a major nod to the FNaF fanbase and makes us more than excited for any possible sequels.

Five Nights at Freddy’s is available to watch in theatres now. For more frightening films still to come, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming horror movies of 2023 and beyond.