# Vanessa Stare (FNAF) Vanessa Stare is an exploitable image macro taken from a scene in the 2023 Five Nights At Freddy's film where the camera zooms in on Vanessa Shelly, played by Elizabeth Dean Lail, giving a blank expression. Edits began circulating within a day of the movie's October 27th release, and by late October 2023, Redditors on r/FNAFcringe were captioning the image as the 'fazbear stare' aimed at anyone saying something 'fnafphobic.' ## Origin The source scene comes from the Five Nights At Freddy's film, which released on October 27th, 2023, and features a shot where the camera closes in on Vanessa Shelly's expressionless face[2]. The following day, October 28th, YouTuber PhoneyHydro uploaded a video titled 'The FNAF Movie is Crazy [5 seconds of glee],' pairing the stare with the phone guy audio set to a remix of Ke$ha's 'Take It Off'[1]. Blumhouse and Universal produced the FNAF film adaptation; the meme format itself was not made by the studio but by fans editing the frame after release[2]. The actual first creator of the image macro is unconfirmed, with PhoneyHydro's YouTube edit the earliest documented reuse. - **Platform:** YouTube (first edit) / Reddit and X (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2023 ## Overview Vanessa Stare belongs to the family of staring image macros alongside Sigma Stare and Lightskin Stare, where the appeal is the character's blank, zoomed-in expression rather than any dialogue in the scene itself[2]. Posts typically paste text over the frame, drop other objects or characters into Vanessa's eye line, or redraw the composition entirely while keeping the deadpan gaze intact[2]. Tone across edits leans ironic and absurdist, with the stare treated as a reaction to something ridiculous the viewer or another character has said. Redraw variations circulated on X layered the image on top of unrelated meme formats, including Daeodon at the Door and Oppenposting, so the same frame kept getting recast into whichever gag the poster wanted to riff on[3]. The joke works because Elizabeth Dean Lail's expression reads as both menacing and completely vacant, which lets captioners project almost any attitude onto it[2]. ## How It Spread On October 29th, 2023, Redditor u/dauntlessArtist posted the frame to r/FNAFcringe as part of a meme labeling the expression the 'fazbear stare,' given by a 'securitycel' when someone says something 'fnafphobic,' a riff on incel-adjacent internet slang[2]. The post framed the image as a template for mock-aggressive responses rather than a straight reaction image. One day later, on October 30th, X user @blahaj_blast started a thread collecting every redraw of Vanessa Stare they had seen, and replies and quote posts added more variations[3]. Those redraws dragged the frame into other formats such as Daeodon at the Door and Oppenposting, which widened its circulation outside the FNAF fandom[3]. PhoneyHydro's October 28th YouTube edit set the tone early by treating the stare as a punchline rather than a horror beat[1]. ## How to Use A common convention is to drop the Vanessa frame below a caption describing an opinion the poster finds offensive or stupid, with the stare acting as the silent response. Edits often include pasting other characters, weapons or memes into the shot where Vanessa is looking, so the stare appears aimed at something absurd. Redraw versions typically keep the pose and expression but transplant them into another meme's composition[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Vanessa Stare (FNAF)? Vanessa Stare is an exploitable image macro using a still of Vanessa Shelly, played by Elizabeth Dean Lail, from the 2023 Five Nights At Freddy's film, where the camera zooms in on her blank expression[2]. ### Where did Vanessa Stare (FNAF) come from? The frame comes from the FNAF movie, released October 27th, 2023, and YouTuber PhoneyHydro posted the earliest documented edit on October 28th using the phone guy audio[1]. ### What does Vanessa Stare (FNAF) mean? It functions like Sigma Stare or Lightskin Stare, treating the vacant zoomed-in gaze as a silent, deadpan response to something stupid or offensive the viewer has just read[2]. ### How do you use Vanessa Stare (FNAF)? Captioners add text over the still, paste other characters or objects into the shot, or redraw the composition inside unrelated meme formats such as Daeodon at the Door or Oppenposting[3]. ### Is Vanessa Stare (FNAF) still popular? The format saw its peak circulation in late October 2023 across Reddit's r/FNAFcringe and X, with the redraw thread by @blahaj_blast cataloguing variants shortly after the movie's release[3]. ## References 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTn5ptZZtTc]() 2. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/vanessa-stare-fnaf]() 3. [https://twitter.com/blahaj__blast/status/1718849328595509254]() 4. [https://old.reddit.com/r/fnafcringe/comments/17jcc3s/fazbear_stare/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/vanessa-stare-fnaf Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library