Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Springtrap

Springtrap

Springtrap (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log | edits since nomination)

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Alright, here we are again.

Let's get this out of the way: this article is an almost exact copy of this revision of the article titled William Afton, which was ruled out as not notable enough for an article at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/William Afton (2nd nomination). The only new material is minor cruft additions to the lead paragraph of the article and an "In other media" section, half of which is unsourced or backed up to poor sources.

Video game character notability is generally only established by critical character analysis that proves they have received significant coverage in reliable sources to demonstrate independent notability from their respective game or series. This has been the standard in the past few years for video game characters. William Afton's article was deleted for lacking such significant coverage. The reception section here, and what was in William Afton's article, are identical. The only coverage regarding William Afton / Springtrap is within context of a broader discussion of FNAF lore, or routine announcements related to either his appearance in Dead by Daylight or Matthew Lillard's portrayal of the character, which in of itself does not establish notability. There needs to be multiple sources directly analyzing Afton for him to be notable.

Also worth noting that since this article is almost an exact replica, I tried to revert it back, with the editors only rationale for proving this subjects notability being that there have been two featured films since that AfD (which is wrong, the first film was released before that and William has little to no direct impact on the main story of the second and is clearly replaced by Michael, but I digress). Another thing worth noting is that this article makes a lot of speculative assumptions that are not properly backed up by any reliable source (e.g. Burntrap in Security Breach being William Afton is not confirmed and directly goes against the rest of the character's lore).

TL;DR: this character is not notable enough for their own article. There is not enough significant coverage specifically about the character covering his role in the series (rather than just mentioning them in passing or basic summary) to justify a separate article. Also note the last two AfDs on this subject. I recommend a redirect back into Five Nights at Freddy's. Edit: the user Cukie Gherkin proposed a salting / admin locking of this redirect due to the subjects repeated recreation, which I also vote for, but it needs to be done both to Springtrap and William Afton. λ NegativeMP1 19:10, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

• Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Fictional elements and Video games. λ NegativeMP1 19:10, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

Film characters though are easier to get reliable critical reception for, and reviews of Matthew Lillard's performance as Springtrap in both films should be enough to display WP:NOTABILITY when added. The page should be kept but expanded with these reviews, which did not exist when this page last entered AfD. DeLonghl (talk) 19:14, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

William Afton is not a film character. He is clearly a video game character first and foremost. Also, it still remains your WP:BURDEN to demonstrate how the character is notable by providing these sources you speak of. And, again, the first film WAS out when the page was last nominated, and that wasn't enough. λ NegativeMP1 19:16, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

He is one now though, as well as a video game character. Adaptations always lead to more reviews and Wikipedia pages to match, like happened with Fallout. I'll add the reviews shortly. DeLonghl (talk) 19:18, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

Should have done that when you remade the article rather than making a WP:SOURCESMUSTEXIST argument. λ NegativeMP1 19:22, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

• Redirect to Five Nights at Freddy's: per nom. Fails WP:NCHARACTER. RedShellMomentum 19:22, 28 December 2025 (UTC)
• Redirect to the main FNAF article per nom, or as an ATD we could userfy it since there is a potential for new reviews about Springtrap to come out in the future. Gommeh 📖   🎮 19:32, 28 December 2025 (UTC)
• Redirect and salt the character lacks a show of notability. Should only be remade upon demonstrating strongly that notability has been achieved. - Cukie Gherkin (talk) 20:17, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

  I'm not opposed to salting, but why do you think salting is necessary here? Gommeh 📖   🎮 23:19, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

  It's a non-notable subject that has been repeatedly created over and over again. Wouldn't be opposed to salting / making an admin-locked redirect, but if it is done, it needs to be done both to here at Springtrap and also the William Afton redirect. λ NegativeMP1 23:22, 28 December 2025 (UTC)

• Commenting to note that DeLonghl has been indeff'd as a sock. 45dogs (they/them) (talk page) (contributions) 21:10, 29 December 2025 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.