The Bite of '83

About

The Bite of '83, previously speculated to be The Bite of '87, refers to a cutscene from the 2015 video game Five Nights at Freddy's in which four bullies shove a younger kid into the mouth of Fredbear, an animatronic, which then shuts on him, crushing his head. The scene has been a prominent subject of references in memes, and also spawned the Was That the Bite of 87'?! meme format.

Origin

On July 23rd, 2015, the survival horror video game Five Nights at Freddy's 4 was released.^[1] After completing Night 5 and finishing the game, the player is shown a cutscene that takes place in 1983.^[2] In the cutscene, the main protagonist of the game, a child, is getting bullied by his older brother Michael and three other older kids wearing animal masks. The bullies then carry the child to the scene where Fredbear and other animatronics are performing and shove the child's head inside Fredbear's mouth. Fredbear's mouth then shuts on the child's head, crushing it (scene shown below).

Hey guys, I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss!

Spread

Following the release of the game, the scene has been a subject of fan theories and analysis within the Five Nights at Freddy's fandom. For example, on September 13th, 2015, YouTuber^[3] Rye-Rye99 posted a video in which they analyzed the cutscene to determine whether it's "The Bite of '83" or "The Bite of '87," another event mentioned in the series (shown below, left). On August 29th, 2017, YouTuber^[4] MatPat of The Game Theorists posted a theory video about the scene, which received over 17.6 million views in five years (shown below, right).

The scene has also been remade in fan animations on YouTube and other social media. For example, on August 30th, 2020, YouTuber^[5] NQ Productions posted a fan animation of the scene, with the video accumulating over 2.1 million views in two years (shown below, left). On February 8th, 2021, YouTuber^[6] Bendy the Bunny posted another fan animation of the scene that received over 1.5 million views in one year (shown below, right).

The scene has also been extensively referenced in memes, usually with various characters being about to bite the child. For example, on January 25th, Twitter^[7] user @Bassya17 posted a Not Wordle meme referencing the event, which gained over 18,300 retweets and 113,400 likes in two months (shown below, left). February 7th, 2022, Twitter^[8] gimmick account @SHITFROMFEAR shared an image of Shaggy Rogers biting on the child created by an unknown author, with the post gaining over 6,500 retweets and 65,500 likes in two months (shown below, right).

Was That the Bite of '87?!

Was That the Bite of '87?! refers to a series of meme edits based on American YouTuber Markiplier's reaction to the Bite of '83 (previously thought to be the Bite of '87) in Five Nights at Freddy's 4. In December 2019, Markiplier's reaction gained popularity in memes online following a viral meme based on a vore video.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References