| “ | This ends today. One way or another. Not one more child dies because of that psychopath. I owe that much to Michael. | „ |
| ~ Carlton before preparing to take down William Afton once and for all. |
| “ | This is the bad man. He is the bad man who hurt you, and right now he’s about to hurt someone else. | „ |
| ~ Carlton talking to the souls of the children, exposing William Afton as the man who murdered them. |
Carlton Burke is the tritagonist of the Five Nights at Freddy's Novel Trilogy.
He is one of Charlotte Emily’s childhood friends and the son of Police Chief, Clay Burke and D.A Betty Burke. When he was a child a horrible incident occurred at his local Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza where five kids were lured away and killed. One of the kids was his best friend Michael Brooks. Although his friends went their separate ways he was the only one who stayed in Hurricane. Ten years later he attends the memorial ceremony for his friend Michael only to later come into confrontation with his friends killer, William Afton. Later, Carlton plays a major role in defeating Afton, thus finally avenging Michael.
Appearance
Carlton is a young man with pale skin and middle parted red hair held together by what is described to be a hair product. He was also described by Charlie to have a bit of a baby face but his featured were more refined in his teenage years. For his attire he wore a gray exercise shirt with navy blue jeans and black shoes.
Personality
Carlton showcases himself to be a comedic, light hearted, joyful and sometimes immature young man. He always cracks clever yet sometimes tasteless jokes to lighten the mood. However he can sometimes be insensitive like when he made a joke about killer animatronics to “Charlie” (actually Circus Baby in disguise) knowing the trauma she went through regarding them. He also was quite sarcastic and cynical making fun of the fact that William’s alias was Dave Miller saying “What kind of name for a serial killer is Dave!?” Additionally when William put him in a springlock suit and asked him if he knew what he was in Carlton snidely responded “Your girlfriend”.
However his lighthearted nature is all a front for the trauma and grief he continues to carry from his childhood. He was deeply hurt and saddened by the death of his best friend Michael, with his mother Betty stating that not a single day went by in the past ten years where he didn’t think of him. It’s for this reason why she didn’t believe Carlton would joke about something as sensitive as Freddy’s. He was also quite vengeful and wrathful. He had a deep hatred for William Afton for all of his crimes primarily for murdering Michael. He voiced a desire to put him in a springlock suit as payback for doing the same to him earlier. Later in the third book when he is told that Afton is alive he is enraged and becomes determined to take him down to ensure not another child dies at his hands saying he owes it to Michael. He also risked his life to not only rescue the kids captured by William but he even helped let his previous five victims rest and ascend to the afterlife.
History
Background
Carlton was born around 1978 in the town of Hurricane, Utah. He was the son of detective Clay Burke and district attorney Betty Burke. Growing up Carlton was friends with various other kids such as Jessica, John, Marla, Lamar, Charlotte “Charlie” Emily and his best friend Michael Brooks. Carlton was also a notorious trouble maker having attempted to stay at his local Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza overnight and even tricked his teacher into thinking he had a twin. However in July, 1985 five kids were lured away and murdered by a man named William Afton. One of the kids who lost their lives was none other than Michael. William faced no justice for his crimes due to lack of evidence and skipped town. Carlton’s friends followed suit and left Hurricane, however him and his family stayed. Over the years Carlton would be crippled with grief and sadness over Michael’s death and used his love of comedy to cope with it.
Five Nights at Freddy: The Silver Eyes
Ten years after the murders at Freddy’s Carlton and his friends reunite to attend the memorial dedicated to Michael. They meet up at a diner and catch up. Carlton the reveals that Freddy’s was built over after the murders and they had planned to build a mall there but abandoned the project years ago. The gang then heads outside and discusses the good times they had as children hanging out at Freddy’s. Suddenly John suggests they go there for old times sake. Carlton is hesitant at first but thanks to prodding from his friends he agrees to go. They sneak into the building and enter the closed restaurant. However, Carlton accident knocks over some pots and pans in the kitchen and the gang is forced to leave fearing the night guard may have heard them. The next day they attend the memorial and Carlton gives a heartfelt speech about the brief yet impactful time he spent with Michael when he was alive. When the memorial ends the gang decides to got to Freddy’s again. They attempt to use the control panel under the stage to get the animatronics to preform but they don’t know how to operate it. However, they have to leave when Charlie ends up getting nicked by Foxy’s hook. That night Carlton and the gang sleep in a motel planning to go to Freddy’s again tomorrow.
The next day when they sneak into the mall they are confronted by the security guard “Dave Miller”. Although “Dave” threatens to call the police they convince him to allow them to stay and tour the pizzeria. Inside the pizzeria Carlton is tasked with watching Marla’s little brother Jason as he plays in the arcade. Jason then spots something weird; a yellow Bonnie. He tries to warn Carlton about it but he doesn’t believe him. However, out of nowhere the yellow rabbit kidnaps Carlton and drags him away. Although his disappearance is reported to his father the now police chief Clay Burke he just assumes his son is playing and elaborate joke. When, Carlton awakens he finds himself inside a animatronic suit. The yellow rabbit strolls in the room and takes off his mask revealing himself to be “Dave”. Carlton is angry at him for abducting him but “Dave” tells him not to move as he put him in a Springlock suit a animatronic/costume hybrid. If he makes sudden movements he runs the risk of dying a agonizing deaths. Just to prove his point “Dave” reveals his horrifically scarred body from a narrowly survived springlock failure. Carlton tries to slowly maneuver himself out of the suit but it doesn’t work. Suddenly he notices a yellow Freddy in the corner of the room. Golden Freddy recognized Carlton and says repeatedly “It’s Me”. Carlton then realized that Golden Freddy is haunted by none other than Michael Brooks.
Soon enough, Charlie and her friends enter the building to save Carlton. Charlie uses her knowledge of the springlock suits to free Carlton before it crushes him. Carlton attempts to tell Charlie that he saw Michael and that he is trapped inside the Golden Freddy suit but before he can prove it the yellow bear vanishes. Charlie then knocks out “Dave” and they interrogate him. Carlton exposes “Dave” for being the murderer who slaughtered the five kids ten years ago. (William Afton). William states that the animatronics are possessed by the souls of his victims and they are together with him as a family. However, Carlton calls out these delusions and says that he has imprisoned those poor kids. “Dave” claims that the animatronics are going to kill any adults caught in the pizzeria after hours including them considering they look old enough to be. Carlton and the gang are forced to dodge and fight off the animatronics to survive but their efforts are for naught as the robots surround them. Just as the animatronics are about to end them Golden Freddy reveals himself and calls of the animatronics. Carlton them finally realizes that Golden Freddy is indeed possessed by Michael. Suddenly, Clay breaks into the building and rescues the kids. Carlton and his father reunite with a hug before deciding to finally leave. However, Afton takes Charlie hostage but she ends up killing him by triggering the springlocks in his suit killing the man in the same way he intended for Carlton. After the incident is over the friends they go there separate ways.
Five Nights at Freddy's: The Twisted Ones
One year later after the events of the first book Clay, claims that after the events at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, he and Betty decided that Carlton should leave town for a while. Thus he began studying out east while living with his aunt.
Five Nights at Freddy's: The Fourth Closet
Six months after the events of the previous book Charlie's supposedly died during an encounter with the Twisted animatronics. However she seemingly emerged unscathed albeit vastly different. Although all her friends are fooled John suspects this "Charlie" to be an imposter. Later on Carlton comes back home for spring break and John, Jessica, Marla and "Charlie" go to his house for a get together. Carlton explains that he's been attending college in New York and even starred in a play. Carlton then asks "Charlie" if it's true she dropped out of college. However, Charlie shows little interest in the conversation and just mumbles. Carlton than cracks a joke about killer robots to lighten the mood but Jessica elbows him for being insensitive. Later on, Carlton is informed that his father was attacked and needed to be admitted to the hospital where he meets John and Jessica. Although he is initially confused as to why they were called there first instead of him. It's revealed that Clay has been investigating "Charlie" and found several strange things about her. In every photo she took of her she was blurry while everything else around her was not. Later on a woman enter the hospital room and informs them her son Jacob has gone missing and she thought Chief Burke could help. The gang assures her that they will find her son in due time. Later on John and Jessica end up finding the real Charlie and the imposter turns out to be Circus Baby, the mascot of Circus Baby's Pizza. In order to get answers from Baby they pretend as if they are still fooled by her façade and John asks her out on a date. Carlton and Jessica stake out the date from afar and give John a walkie talkie for communication purposes. However the date goes wrong and John could not control his emotions leading to Baby leaving. Jessica is disappointed while Carlton is flustered by Baby and notes that she's hot. Jessica decides to follow Baby leading to her capture.
Later on Carlton and Marla reunite with Charlie and inform her on the situation. Charlie suggests using her old earpiece project she made to make herself visible to the animatronics she built. She assumes that the earpiece could be reversed so humans are invisible to the animatronics. Carlton takes it upon himself to go to Jessica's apartment to retrieve them. When he enters the apartment he gets the earpieces but in the midst of rewiring them an ear-piercing and sickening sound is made which causes Carlton nausea. Suddenly, Baby in her Charlie disguise walks in and comes to his aid. Carlton attempts to lie his way out of it but Baby see's through this. Baby also notices that Carlton is flustered by her and uses this to her advantage. She pulls in Carlton for a kiss only to change into her true form. Several saws emerge from her face to kill Carlton but he thinks fast and activated the earpiece. With the earpiece active Baby is unable to see Carlton. She looks for him for a bit until she gives up and leaves. Carlton leaves the apartment visibly disturbed by what happened. When he arrives back at John's apartment he is informed by Marla that Charlie and John went to Jen's house for clues. Suddenly a commercial comes on advertising Circus Baby's Pizza. This makes Carlton suspect that Jessica is being held there. The sneak into the pizzeria but they are attacked by Funtime Freddy in the mirror maze. However using the earpieces they are able to confuse him long enough to escape. Carlton and Marla find Jessica along with three other children no doubt kidnapped by Baby. He gives Jessica his earpiece so she can be protected from the animatronics. However, Jessica then informs Carlton that William Afton is still alive and he has taken Jacob. Carlton enraged, decides to take down Afton himself to ensure that no more kids die by his hands, owning it to Michael. As, Carlton is rushing through the pizzeria he is attacked by Funtime Freddy. He manages to defeat him by tangling him with a carousel which beheads him. As he enters the furnace room he finds Jacob however he is confronted by a disfigured and dying Afton. William reveals he gathered the original animatronics and fused them together into one endoskeleton to unlock the secrets of immortality and remnant. He has splintered their souls into his own creations the Funtime animatronics. Carlton is disgusted with what William has done but he claims that the spirits do everything for him willingly as they remember him as he "used to be". Suddenly, Afton injects Carlton in the heart with a dose of concentrated Remnant. Carlton collapses on the ground injured. When he awakens he finds himself in a realm where he is able to talk with the spirits of the children, including Michael. The spirits of the kids however still think that Afton is the friendly and benevolent Spring Bonnie and thus are subserviently to him. However, Carlton puts together a drawing that reveals what Spring Bonnie truly is; the man who slaughtered them. He warns them that Afton is planning to kill yet another child and he needs there help to stop him
Suddenly the spirits regain control of the endoskeleton and drag Afton into the furnace incinerating them both, thus putting an end to the machinations of William Afton. Before the spirits depart to the afterlife Michael gives Carlton a drawing that represents a peice of his soul. Although, Carlton tries to reject it as it's apart of Michael but he assures his old friend he can give it back to him when they see each other again. Michael then departs and bids Carlton goodbye. Carlton then wakes up in a hospital and is informed that because of his efforts all the children were saved. However they have yet if at all to find Charlie who has disappeared again. Carlton then asks what happened to Baby aka the not Charlie but Marla elbows him for his stupid comment.
Trivia
- Carlton is the only one of Charlie's friends to have a confirmed last name.
 Heroes
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Mainline Spin-Offs The Novel Trilogy Fazbear Frights Films
Disambiguation pages | ||
