How Does the VANNI Mask Work? (FNAF RUIN Explained) 

Quick note: Fnaf 3 [and seemingly 6] takes place in 2023 and this takes place long enough afterwards for Fazbear Entertainment to pass the events of the previous games off as rumors so that might relate to how advanced the mask is.

My theory is that the the security nodes are completely virtual, there is no nodes in the floor where appear in the pizzaplex. They are programmed in a same computer, server, mxes, or whatever. By requiring you to access the security nodes in physical locations, even if they are virtual, it prevented any attempt of remote hacking, from the mimic down below.

The idea of her dad being the one to trap the Mimic is a fascinating point! Might also explain why she refers to her dad in the past tense--her father may have perished in the process of containing the mimic.

Gregory's backpack is in the room with the M.X.E.S system and the concrete, so its possible someone else trapped it but that Gregory also created the M.X.E.S system.

Have to say, I was instantly skeptical of the 'occipital transponder' stuff instantly, because you can see the 'not real' box you phase through is there before you ever put on the mask. As a matter of fact, it's put there to prevent you from moving on without the mask.

Ohhhhh it’s the newest way Afton can pass to people! This is the FNAF Into Madness story right? So the theme has been characters becoming possessed by Glitchtrap INITIALLY VIA A VR HEADSEAT GAME and slowly going insane right? So that’s how he is doing it, he’s making them hallucinate so that he can break them down and make them compliant! Think about how in FNAF VR Tape Girl said “There was something that looked like a Halloween mask on the floor” when talking about Jeremy slicing his own face off. In the FNAF AR emails Luis mentioned Vanessa ordered “three life like human masks” The VANNI mask is the new VR headset and that’s how Glitchtrap/Mimic is spreading!

at one point, you have to put on the mask to make a platform apear and walk on it, but without the mask on you just fall, so teh lobe transponders making you see things that arent there seems flawed

I actually really like your theory about the objects you phase through being fake in order to make you wear the mask, it feels really plausible, and the best explation I can think of, which is actually a little refreshing to have a theory that completely explain something perfectly without craming in remnant and robot kids, Nice job man!

The way you describe how the Vanni mask works matches up nicely with how the AR works in Under Construction, so I think you are spot on.

I posted this idea on reddit and in the comments on Evan's channel already but Vanni AR mask could be *the* VR headset from HW, which could explain a lot of things. Also since we know that the mask implants a chip into user's brain it could just create visual AND tactile hallucinations, hence we can't phase through objects without the mask. It would also be cool if Vanessa could literally feel the game world around her during HW

Her dad is mentioned a lot in collectibles, he worked at a pizzaplex, collected retro freddy lunchboxes and his favourite was Bonnie

15:40 no, her dad is mentioned several times after that. Mostly in item descriptions.

What if the MXES doesn’t register Glitchtrap as William Afton? So while they are both some kind of computerized Afton, the MXES is a security system designed by William Afton to withhold the Mimic and control the entire AI network while Glitchtrap is basically William Afton himself as a computer virus of some kind So if the Mimic was to be released, SOMEONE had to turn off the MXES security system and Mimic/GlitchTrap couldn’t do it themselves

Also in the brazil ending (the one with the fredbear cutout and the mask) could have mimic brutally killing cassie while she is wearing the mask.

I came here from matpat in gtlive and I think the reason Gregory is there is because Gregory used to be possessed by glitch trap in one of the tales of the pizzaplex books which I think are cannon

Cool to see your stuff featured by MatPat now!

So far, we know that the Mimic can lure, mess with the electricity, shape-shift so it can fit in any suit (including humans) it can basically merge with whatever it has in front of it but i don't think it can mess with the network (at first) BUT we did get a VANNI mask which acording to Helpi, it is a tool used by technicians (along with the fazrench) so this is telling us that this is not a uncommon tool used in the Pizzaplex. So my theory is MXES is the one who is messing with Cassie with the blocked paths AND the mask (brought by a staffbot from mimic or something else) is the hacking tool and the more we advance, the more we can mess with the place at point that we're going trough warp tunnels where the damage in the Pizzaplex is so devastated that it cannot give a proper form and start going through the matrix. Also, people keep saying that Mimic wants to escape from the tunnels but i think is the opposite, it wants to get in and this theory just back what i was thinking. Thanks Chiptide i didn't know how this piece of the puzzle fit until you pointed it out.

Well, a glitch rabbit that’s actually helpful is certainly a first.

To me the vannI mask seems too professional to be made by the mimic, I think it was a standard issue security mask used by Fazbear employees that was hacked or corrupted. I also think this is a story of two factions, hiding in the shadows, in the elevator ending Gregory sounded like he was part of a team that are doing everything they can to trap the mimic and all the horrors from the depths below the pizzeria.

the one thing i think might break this theory about the mask is the Prototype Freddy. it doesn't have the same "glitchy" effect that every other item that disappears when you put on the mask does, yet when you put on the mask, it's not only invisible but intangible. the mask also makes it completely unable to sense Cassy, which wouldn't make sense if the mask is just showing Cassy digital illusions (same goes for the endos that can't see her either). on top of that, Prototype doesn't have the wireframe effect that all the intangible objects do in the VR realm. also, Prototype Freddy can kill you, so it can't just be a trick of the senses. other animatronics don't disappear with the mask on either, just Prototype Freddy. the mask must somehow be able to transport Cassy into a virtual realm transposed over reality (like what AR games pitch themselves as, but literally), a reality that animatronics can exist in at the same time as the real world, but Prototype Freddy and the endos can't (maybe because the technology hadn't been implemented at the time of prototyping). i don't think enough people talk about that strange fact about Prototype Freddy, even though it feels super out of place to me.

in the ruined dlc most evidence lead to that the true ending of secruity breach is the princess quest ending wich in this ending vanessa gets freed from the virus and runs away with Gregory (presumably adopting him but we dont know) from the pizzaplex so it would make more sense for vannesa to be the one to lock the mimic + in the Princes quest ending Vanessa leaves the mask behind wich is how it gets to a staff bot and cassy finds it

The Mimic basically confirms that Glitchtrap is not William Afton’s original conciousness!

You're wrong about M.X.E.S being harmless, while it can't physically attack you, it can summon the animatronics and alert them to where you are allowing them to find you, RIP off your mask, and jump scare you even in areas they don't normally patrol

The dad trapping the mimic would explain why a Bonnie guards it the dad’s favorite animatronic

the occipital transponders being the same as sound illusion disks make soo much sense actually! i wouldn't have thought about that, that's interesting

What if the glitches objects that exist in the real world but not the AR world are part of the security system, rather than parts of the Mimic’s trap. After all in the fnaf series the sound illusion discs work on people who don’t have said transponder in their head. Maybe the fake objects are instead part of the MXES security system meant to prevent the player from navigating the ruined pizza plex. Perhaps rather than making you see these fake objects in the real world, what if it’s what allows Cassie to tell that the objects are fake, after all while looking at them there is a mild distortion in the real world, and we never see any glitching objects prior to having transponder implanted. This could also apply to the bridges that don’t exist in the real world but do in the AR, perhaps it’s just the illusion discs hiding the existence of the bridges. Though the whole it’s just a game mechanic thing could also apply. (P.S: I do actually like the idea of the sound illusion discs, but just using them whenever to justify random gameplay mechanics is kind of annoying.)

13:28 The problem, however, is that this crate was actually visible without VANNI. (Like before Cassie gets the implant.)

If you're doing more science FNAF I'd love to see how the doors in FNAF 1 work

no one seems to be mentioning the fact that Cassie walks through *portals*. I still have no idea what this implies but it goes against this theory i think.

It's also established in the game that Cassie'a dad loved Bonnie. Possibly explaining why M.X.E.S is a blue bunny and who created him.

“What happens next? It's up to you.” No, it's up to SteelWool Studios.

The m.x.e.s calls nearby animatronics to attack you if you stick around long enough.

Your theory about the Vanni mask is amazing!!!! 😀👍 Even Matpat loves it. Congratulations on being noticed by Matpat, you deserve it. 😀👍 My question, is it’s all in Cassie’s head, how is Bassie able to go through an AR light door, and have the ability to teleport to another area? Although, that could be part of the illusion that makes Cassie think she teleported, and when she “does” the implant makes her sick, thinking she teleported, when in reality she didn’t? 🤔

In a year from now he’s gonna be on zoom calls with Matpat

Any other language expect English speaks of Gregory's friend as a female. So no, it's not Cassie's dad but more like freed Vanessa. She created Vanny's mask, she can also stop it because who else knows this technology better than her.

I'm surprised no one asked this yet, but then why did the VANNI Unit make our main character see more of Roxy, as in replacing seeveral characters on vending machines and other prints of charactres be replaced with Roxy instead of what is already there? Even when looking at the real thing the mask makes her look more complete and doesn't for any other machine in the entire game. Aside from the fact that it's her favorite character and the factors that MatPat covered before, if the Mimic knew that she needed to shut her down, why would the VANNI Unit do this?

loved this theory omg! Came from matpats reaction and I had to see it again :D youre really good at explaining stuff!

Yes save my life… by sending a distress to the other animatronics to attack me

all of the animatronics also had their individual server. they were all physical guards to keep the mimic contained. and mxes was guarding the servers where the animatronics were stores. but they were damaged and corrupted by the mimic.

There's also a third secret ending that happens right at the start, and you get it by just turning around and leaving. Also, technically Helpi is just a virtual assistant that's sometimes hijacked by Mimic, when he's hijacked his eyes become yellow, his sprite has cracks on it, and Helpi stops speaking in his usual way. When Helpi speaks normally he only speaks matter-of-factly, never voicing a personal opinion on anything. Such as when Cassie first encounters a security node he simply calls them "security nodes" however later, while controlled by Mimic, Helpi calls them "pesky security nodes"

The Entity was never part of the manipulation The entity is a Security system to keep the Mimic from escaping Cassie was tricked into turning off the System

your channel is way underrated i love your fnaf videos so much you provide such logical explanations to one of the least logical series ever

there was a point in the game where the M.X.E.S system prevents you from taking the mask off using those jamming beacons several times. I remember about 3 times but i may be wrong there. If the system tries to save casie then why prevent her for taking it off?

This game is combining all the pass/irl timeline games if you pay attention it hints of almost every game with this update , it shows every time something failed they literally built over it constantly. We were already at the bottom of the pizzaplex took a long elevator ride, (once we passed burntraps level , we went deeper than that .into a cave …it’s parts and service boxes around the map ,ar plushies, candy cadet is in the game !it’s a damn recking ball at the top of the pizzeria 🤣 but also it shows that the mimic has been down there for a while gaining knowledge plotting its move . Cassie is the new vanny

Yooo, that's a really neat theory! Fantastic job

Cassie's dad is actually mentioned several times, don't know why you thought it was only once.

Love the Lester voice line 0:53

I wouldn’t say the Mimic created the VANNI mask, but rather Fazbear Ent. used a copy of the Minic A.I. to make the program, & the Mimic just got itself into they system.

Came over from GT(not) live and wanted to leave some appreciation and give these videos a little boost in the old algorithm. These videos remind me a lot of the old Game Theory videos where they’d explain the science behind a theory, and now we have a whole channel to scratch that itch. I can’t wait to explore the rest of your topics!

I've been watching this channel for a while now. And i wonder, if they put some Easter eggs in intro

just want to point out the MXES is still actively trying to hurt Cassie it can't physically touch her because it's just code but but it does send out a distress signal to the other animatronics who will try to kill Cassie

As a Mexican that M.X.E.S joke had me dead 😅

My opinion is it transports you into a different virtual dimension.

Mxes calls aggressive animatronics to attack you if it catches you. It does not "do nothing".

the whole "in your head" thing falls apart when you realize the mask creates literal platforms you can walk on and when you take the mask off while on the platforms you fall off and die also you can still see the things you pass through when you don't have the mask at all at the beginning of the game

Good video bro, you channels underrated

When the game came out, on a certain discord server I brought up the similarity of the VANNI mask to the Illusion discs. They called me a madman.

I thought the vanni masked worked via mind control because I think when she goes through the portals helpi says after Cassie says how did I get here he says with your own two feet silly so when you walk through they just make you float or something

This is the kind of Gaming content I'd love to see.

Mxes also uses jammer to lock her _inside_ Vanni mask too.

5:05 so is that why it projects roxy to look like shes does after it learns cassie favorite anamatronic is roxy it projects her like new 9:29 he does hell sumon the animatronics to you but 9 times out of 10 it bugs out and dosent work

The Anomaly is NOT M.X.E.S. M.X.E.S is the network the security system uses. The Anomaly is an unknown hostile entity in the security system, likely a form of glitchtrap. It is NOT a good guy, it literally tries to kill you multiple times.

I think the answer to how this whole integration thing works can be found comparing the chip the VANNI mask uses... to the necklace given to Sarah in Fazbear Frights...

In Candy Cadet's story, Gregory is the lullaby

The name MXES _may_ be a reference to myxomatosis - a disease of rabbits

Teleports you to a dystopia alternative version of the past located in the spirit world like the upside down fro stranger things

They only question remaining is why, why would the mimic do all that? We don't see willy doing that in the old games nor his book adaptions, so why?

well he does do something to harm Cassie, he calls in the animatronics and signals them to where Cassie is so they can go and kill her even in the mask where it should not be the case

9:38 hey guys I have a question, M.X.E.S. Spawns an animatronic that is near your area but theoretically after Bonnie bowl I could just use the mask forever because Freddy doesn’t appear in the mask and Roxy is friendly, what does M.X.E.S. Do in that part?

I think she is being turned into our next antagonist.

I was thinking basically the same thing but that the virtual bunny is actually a figment of the mimic, pushing Cassie forward and making her A. Trust Gregory/HELPI and B. Scaring her into going deeper and pressing on

At this point i'm surprised fazbear ent didn't invent a fucking metal gear at this point

I'm still not sure, if the Mimic and Helpi are the same thing. I mean that would mean that at one point the Mimic is talking to itself, which is kinda weird.

but the vanny mask also makes briges appear and literal portals too. Hoever, the theory isn't dead because of that, that may be just game desigh, since playing a game with only one mechanic would be boring

You can stand on fake objects and not fall through. Like, the very first box.

Uh oh, it's happening to him (You Can't Fight The Homestuck starts playing but instead of Homestuck they say FNAF Lore)

OMG if you ever release merch I’ll so buy!

Im just gonna say this, Helpi knows what MXES and the security nodes are yet it refers to the entity as *Unknown Entity* like it doesn't know what it is and also tells Cassie to contact Fazbear Entertainment idk i don't remember. If Helpi knows what MXES is wouldn't Helpi just refer to the entity as MXES entity or something? And also we have blue eyed Helpi and orange eyed Helpi, blue eyed Helpi is actually helpful while orange eyed Helpi has like a personality and says things like " *i* think" while blue eyed or ig normal Helpi doesn't say stuff like that. I got most of this information from the ooftroop in their videos of him and his friends theorizing, yall should check it out. Anyways here's an emoji 🦀

Idk if I'm the first to have this thought or not but the mother in the story could be the actual mother of the afton children, and if the bunker is under their house and the mimic is mimicking afton, could plushtrap be the mimic?

What about the portals Edit: my theory is that in the books you can open portals with the ilosen disk so maybe the disk is strong so you can walk through the wall

"Neural network" can also refer to the literal biological neurons i.e. your brain, so V.A.N.N.I could also integrate VR/AR into your brain

7:12 That does not explain the teleporting.

"What the f-" We feel you bro.

Just another person here due to MatPat going over your video. Hope this goes well for ya!

Cassie’s dad is actually referenced a handful of other times, namely through the collectibles’ flavor text. There are some hints that he (and therefore Cassie) is Afton related

One of the best fnaf youtubers

Bro this guy looks like a young stuttering John from Stern

Cassies dad is also mentioned with Bonnie

You almost solve it when you talk about matrix

what would happen if their not all illusions the remnant effect techlogy able effecting the em wave world like in megaman I don't know?

You see the mask doesn't allow you to walk through walls the wall never existed in the 1st place

If I believe it's real, I can stand on it

Commenting before watching. I guess it's a mix of near-invisible technology with AR, if that's what the theme of the video is. If it's something about brain-rot-computing-possession autopiloting the user - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ for the holograms without the mask. Summary prognosis: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ makes enough sense for FNaF, I guess.

And who and why created the Vanny mask? Mimic was locked away physically.

Naw that's totally the real-deal greg at the end. Some dataminers rummaged through the files and when the mimic is talking it's tagged as "GRIMIC" and when greg is talking it's just labeled as "Gregory". The elevator lines are greg, and not the mimic.

I must of been mistaken because I haven’t played either of the games yet I’ve only played all games except the sb ruin and the start

I knew the cardboard vr headset had a purpose

WHAT ABOUT THE MASK TELEPORTING YOU!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Why does eyes appear in roxy raceway???

I have never been more confident that a fnaf theory is right. It makes sense! You are like fnaf jesus or something lol. I LOVE this theory and it makes just so much sense. Tbh I might as well take it as fact lol.