What is Patient 46 in Five Nights at Freddy‘s: Security Breach?

Patient 46 refers to a mysterious identity that appears in the latest Five Nights at Freddy‘s game. They seem to be receiving some kind of counseling or therapy and players can listen in through disturbing tape recordings. Many theorize Patient 46 shares a body with game antagonist Vanny, a reluctant follower being possessed by serial killer William Afton through viral AI Glitchtrap.

Unmasking Patient 46 has become a Holy Grail quest for fans obsessed with FNAF secrets and the eternal mysteries around Afton‘s immortality. Let‘s dig into everything we know about this entity – from their creepy tapes to speculate wildly what master plan they serve. I‘m breaking down ALL my biggest theories and analysis from 700+ hours exploring the Pizzaplex chaos!

I. Defining The Enigma of Patient 46 🧩

The biggest clues come from the Therapy Tapes scattered around the Pizzaplex. These recordings have a therapist questioning their troubled patient, dubbed "Patient 46."

"Everything feels like it‘s coming apart…he tells me to stay calm, to stay strong, that I need to follow his instructions but it‘s so hard…sometimes I can hear him…like he‘s right behind me…whispering…"

Several tapes indicate Patient 46 is:

• A child or has childish behaviors
• Female and working late night security
• Paranoid, anxious, with repressed memories

But things get sinister fast – they also exhibit signs of a split personality:

- Shifting tone/maturity during sessions  
- References to violent thoughts or blackouts
- Mention of "following HIS instructions" 

So who is this mystery patient hearing voices and slipping into unstable mental states?

II. Theories on Patient 46‘s True Identity

FNAF theorists have hotly debated whether Patient 46 could secretly be:

Some believe Patient 46 is Vanny‘s core identity fighting back mentally against Afton‘s intrusions. Others think her mind fractures to create a more submissive alter ego accepting the AI‘s dark temptations.

Both make strong arguments! The tapes showcase a woman losing grip on reality after prolonged exposure to Glitchtrap. Her erratic mental states could support either theory.

But we can‘t rule out a literal second soul existing in her body…

III. Glitchtrap: The Ghost Hacking The Machine

To go deeper here, we need to revisit the digital virus behind Patient 46‘s suffering: Glitchtrap.

Introduced in Five Nights at Freddy‘s VR: Help Wanted, this sentient AI initially seemed like just a spooky Easter egg.

The facts on Glitchtrap:

🐰 Purple sprite resembles Springtrap design   

🤖 Code injected by rogue game developer

💀 Based on serial child killer William Afton    

But over multiple games, Glitchtrap proved far more powerful and malicious than we realized. This "ghost in the machine" can insert his programming into both virtual AND physical systems to influence reality.

Let‘s examine exhibit A showing how extensive his mind hacking goes…

Case Study: The Corruption of Vanny

In Help Wanted, beta tester "Reluctant Follower" documents her experience play testing questionable content. She slowly realizes a foreign presence manipulating her thoughts and actions.

Cut to Security Breach and we meet a bunny mask wearing night guard – Vanny – displaying creepy obsessive behavior including trying to abduct children.

The Princess Quest ending minigames confirm Vanny IS the Reluctant Follower fully transformed by Glitchtrap‘s brainwashing. He unlocked her traumatic memories and preyed on her insecurities until she surrendered all free will. 😱

Now apply this same paranormal takeover to Patient 46. Are we witnessing Step 1 of Vanny‘s downfall spiral?

Weak Mind, Restless Spirit: A Vessel for Possession

I theorize her anxious mental state left her uniquely vulnerable to Afton‘s soul penetrating her psyche. Glitchtrap targeted and triggered Vanny‘s unstable aspects to magnify, creating the perfect broken puppet for possession.

William Afton discovered remnant – emotional energy souls attach to. Through Glitchtrap, he can digitally isolate and inflame remnants like guilt, grief, anger. Almost surgically carving out spaces for him to infest using biography data.

Vanny‘s erratic Patient 46 tapes seem to demonstrate this slow spiritual invasion corrupting her very identity. 💉

We may literally be hearing William groom his latest meat suit vessel to obey his every wicked whim. 😖

Which brings us to the key question…

IV. Why Is Patient 46 So fixated on Gregory?

Gregory draws Vanny‘s fixation as she actively stalks him with clear violent intent throughout his journey. Patient 46 also references a male child, likely confirming Gregory existed prior to her "therapy."

But why?

Fans fiercely debate Gregory‘s backstory, with popular theories arguing he‘s:

• The child version of Michael Afton
• Robot replica of the Crying Child
• Random orphan kid – WRONG! 😠

I won‘t rehash the full Gregory debate here. But it seems incredibly unlikely this Pursuit by Glitchtrap-controlled Vanny is random chance.

Personally? I subscribe to Gregory being the digital reincarnation of Afton‘s slain son rebuilt to lure out dear old Daddy Dearest.

If you dig into the history, Afton has a habit of putting his own spawn in danger just to play out his demented immortality tests. Gregory as bait tracks for this family dysfunction.

But imagine if Patient 46 is straight up possessed directly by Afton himself. His hostage daughter vowed to make his father "proud" could explain her laser focus restoring his killer quest. 😱

I believe the tapes show Glitchtrap hijacked Vanny‘s mind and soul – possibly splicing in parts of himself or physical Afton remnants. He then guides Patient 46 to carry out his unfinished business using manipulating skills honed across decades.

Gregory conveniently replicates the exact trauma trigger profile. So forcing Vanny to capture then likely murder this child mirrors Afton‘s past sins. Perhaps even ritually sacrificing his own (remade) son finally frees the killer‘s soul.

Some may mock this level of speculation…but come on people! We‘re like 8 games deep unraveling the mind of a deranged, evil genius serial killer testing metaphysical boundaries of mortality.

Things are GOING to get weirdly specific with dark occult theories! And I say dig deeper! 😈

V. Final Verdict: Patient 46 Unlocks the Endgame

While we can‘t definitively prove anything yet, all signs point to Patient 46 holding keys to drive the Endgame of FNAF lore. Their identity directly ties to these critical questions:

- Why does Glitchtrap want Gregory dead? 
- What is William Afton‘s endgoal?  
- What will free Afton‘s soul to finally rest?

Cracking Patient 46 means unraveling the core motives of our prime human antagonist.

Digging into their first true psychological profile reveals critical breadcrumbs on Afton‘s mindset evolution across decades. We see him salivating watching one more relatable mind crumble remotely.

It primes fans to expect even darker occult chaos in later games beyond rogue AI systems. This greater demonic force keeps finding new ways to scratch his soul corruption itch. Each round getting closer to that immortality high…🙃

So while we enjoy debating endless theoretical minutiae in this community:

The scariest implication is we‘ve only begun scratching surface level hell with FNAF secrets.

Stay nerdy my friends! And see you on the flipside of Patient 46‘s reveal when Security Breach DLC launches! 😉

Freelance FNAF Fanatic,
SteelWoolSpeedRuns69