What is the chronological order of the storyline in the Five Nights at Freddy's series?
Using this video and this video from the Game Theorists Youtube channel, the timeline goes as follows. (If you want to watch the video yourself he starts some explaining around 4:00 and starts the timeline at 6:50.)
First FNAF 1. William Afton uses a springtrap suit and lures 5 kids into an employee only section, killing them and giving us, Chica AKA Susie, Golden Freddy AKA Cassidy, Freddy AKA Gabriel, Foxy AKA Fritz, and Bonnie AKA Jeremy. He hides their bodies in animitronic suits. This resturant closes because people get scared of the missing children and stop coming.
Then Sister Location. (Not the underground one we know, I'll get to that later) This is open for just a single day due to Circus Baby luring in William Afton's daughter, Elizibith Afton and killing her. After she dies her spirit takes over Circus Baby.
Then FNAF 4. This is also where the Bite of 83' takes place, killing William Afton's son, Micheal Afton. William Afton puts his son back together creating Purple Guy. It should be noted that William is still using the springtrap suit to kill children.
While this is going on Micheal Afton takes a job at FNAF Sister Location, where in the end Micheal get's scooped but lives giving even more reason to believe that he is a robot.
Then we go to FNAF 2 where William Afton kills Herry's daughter who goes on to become the Puppet (Henry helped William design and build the animironics) The Puppet gives life to all of the other Lost Souls putting them in suits just like all of the others. William Afton is suspected of killing the missing children and he is not allowed back. He continues to sneak back in disguised as a security guard until the restaurant closes.
Then FNAF 3 which I believe was mostly used for backstory. I don't think very much happened here.
I did my best on this one a definitely missed a lot so I'd really reccomend watching those videos I linked. He goes into much more detail than I did and seems to have covered everything.
Game 2 -> Game 1 -> Game 3
Backstory
Before any game
The first restaurant closed after a child was murdered on the front steps, who then possessed the Marionette. (see the cake death game)
Game 2
The animatronics were bought, and a new restaurant opened. The old animatronics were taken apart for parts for the new animatronics. The new ones had facial recognition, and were tied into a criminal database.
- The 'purple man' killed 4 children in between nights 2 and 4. They possessed the old animatronics.
- The purple man also reprogrammed the new animatronics.
- They were suspicious of him, and he made them not attack him.
This restaurant went out of business because of strange behavior from the new animatronics. The new animatronics were scrapped (because of the tampering) , but the old were kept around for the possibility of a new restaurant.
Game 1
The 3rd restaurant is opened, and no mask was provided for the guard, because the purple man used Golden Freddy to lure kids in to kill them.
Phone guy dies night 4.
Game 3
This game is set ~30 years later. Somebody makes a haunted house around the Freddy Fazbear franchise. .
This game, through the minigames between nights, allows you to figure out the rest of the plot, but is not itself much of the plot.
I think its 2, 1, 3.
Phone Guy Dies in 1, but is there in 2. And 3 states its 30 years later.
The game theorists did a video explaining if FNAF 2 is a prequel or a sequel; the result they get is prequel.
Both videos are really interesting. I highly recommend watching them. (and the second seems to still works with the story of FNAF 3)