Because Scott Cawthon had No Budget, several results of the game was to save money. Many people commented that this gave the animatronics some of the Uncanny Valley that makes them so terrifying. Unfortunately, many parts don't pass up well.
- The animatronics can be terrifying, until you realize their expressions are quite goofy.
- The generic Scare Chord that plays every time you see an animatronic in the doorway. Yes, it does indeed play every. Single. Time. It gets quite repetitive, to say the least.
- Foxy seems to be the least frightening of the animatronics:
- His kill screen.
◊ He just... leans into the booth. It's led to a lot of jokes about him just wanting to say hi. This isn't helped by the rather goofy look on his face as he leans in: part of what makes the Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica kill screens so horrifying is that their eyes are wide open, making them look crazy and murderous (and in Freddy's main kill screen, you can't see his eyes that well, giving him an Eyeless Face look). Foxy? His eyelids are drooping, making him look pretty chill by in comparison. - It can make your stomach drop when it happens in the game, because it basically means you have less than two seconds to close the left door or it's game over, but out of context, running down the hall at breakneck speed, opening and closing his mouth like Pac-Man, is more funny than is frightening. Ain't
- Foxy's pose◊ right before he makes a break for it has spawned a lot of jokes comparing him to Michigan J. Frog.
- Most of this is justified, though, as Scott planned on showing his kids Foxy's jumpscare when he met them, and he didn't want anything scary enough to scar them for life.
- His kill screen.
- When Chica is in the dining area, she has a look on her face◊ that amuses some people rather than scare them. (In the latter link, check out the comments below and you'll get a good idea.)
- The brightened Game Over screen counts for some◊. Sure, you see the relevant parts Phone Guy mentioned, but now that you can see... well, it doesn't seem Mike Schmidt had much blood. Or a skull, judging by the fact the eyes are just there. Apparently the bots are very, very good at cleaning up after themselves. It doesn't help that the eyes are just kinda goofily hanging out of the eye holes.
- The moment in the trailer where Bonnie pulls off his face to reveal the robotic endoskeleton underneath can be this for some. Especially because it only appeared in the trailer.Jim Sterling: Oh... oh... Well, if it's just LEGO under there, that's not so scary.
- Bonnie appearing in the doorway. It's very obviously a 2D image, to the point where it resembles a flat poster.
- The expression on Freddy's face as he comes for you in the dark is...pretty hilarious, to say the least. It seems to scream "Wanna buy some drugs?".Or
- Freddy peeking at you from the restrooms◊ is quite a creepy sight... wait, is he in the ladies room? Cue the "Freddy's a pervert" comments. It makes sense when you consider his vocalizations are the slowed down giggles of a girl. Lampshaded in this comic.
- Golden Freddy's jumpscare is scary enough... until you hear his roar. It sounds like a Wookiee! It's also similar to a motor of a race car.
- If you're scared of the page image on the Nightmare Fuel page, take a look at Golden Freddy's eyebrows. The left one is raised...which completely and utterly ruins the scariness altogether.
- When Freddy finally comes to attack you at the end of the night, he plays a tune, then leaves you in the dark for a random amount of time before attacking you by surprise with a loud screech. If you eliminate the screech and the random interval — i.e., what makes it a Jump Scare — you’re left with this◊ animation. He looks like an excited child running to Mike for a hug.
- The groaning sounds Bonnie and Chica make when they enter the room are quite creepy. Until you realize they sound more like someone snoring. Or like they're doing some…weird stuff. The groans are only heard while you have the camera feed front and center; they've snuck in the room while you're occupied and you're basically dead as soon as you lower the monitor. After the first one or two instances, players know what to expect and can steel themselves for the jumpscare.
- Freddy's Ominous Music Box Tune is the same song that The Arrogant Worms used for the Beer Song. Also, any Gilligan's Island fan playing this game who happens to hear this tune will likely think of "Neither a borrower, nor a lender be..." To say nothing of its association with The Bad News Bears. Really, "Los Toreadores" has popped up so often in comedy that it's fairly hard for anyone with a decently-sized frame of reference to take it seriously.
- While Bonnie's jumpscare is quite scary, the fact that he looks more like a dog than a rabbit and appears to just want to lick you should make it somewhat amusing.
- One of Bonnie's hallucination screens◊ is supposed to be creepy, with him having black eyes and wide white irises - and yet his left pupil is off centered so much it makes him look lazy-eyed.
