Vincent Heliotrope

''"A nightmare is just a dream that has yet to be understood." ''- Vincent

About
A children's counselor and dream therapy specialist, Vincent fell victim to Lucian in 1983 while trying to rescue another victim from him. His name was then used by Lucian to hide a program that interferes with the Toy animatronics. Lucian's attempts to either erase or muddy his reputation ended up leading many people to mistakenly believe Vincent committed the crimes Lucian caused.

Background
As a child, Vincent was often picked on for the oddity of his eyes. Frustrated, he spent much of his time talking with counselors over how to cope with his feelings and report the bullies. This time spent helped him develop an admiration for the work counselors do to help children, and made it his ambition to become one as well.

As he got older and discovered his attraction to the same sex, Vincent looked into forms of self-defense as the bullying went from name-calling and insults to physical altercations. He eventually settled on blunted knives to stun and numb his attackers' limbs to prevent them from being able to strike at him. He carries one such knife on him at all times. While he is able to disarm and block strikes barehanded, he prefers the knife for its immediate intimidation factor, hoping the scare is enough to chase away his attackers.

Vincent took to studying during high school for placements to take courses on children's psychology and looked into other potential forms of therapy and diagnosis. One day, while heading for school, he was held up at a crosswalk by the lights and was joined by Mahogany Brown and a few elementary school kids she was guiding along as the crosswalk guard. Interested in her duties, he lingered to talk to her about how she got into being a guard, and their conversation turned to which schools they both attended, their favorite classes, and extracurricular activities they both did for future ambitions. As children continued to pass, Vincent overheard a few comment on strange dreams and even nightmares they'd had and whispered about things they feared that might have caused those nightmares.

Eventually, both Mahogany and Vincent left the crosswalk when her duties were done and headed for the same school together, still talking and growing more interested in one another. It wasn't until Vincent walked her to her class that he realized he was late for his own and hurriedly asked if they could meet again at lunch to talk more. Mahogany happily agreed and it wasn't long before the two became high school sweethearts.

The children's conversations sparked an idea for Vincent to look into dreams and interpreting them as a form of diagnosis and therapy. He continued researching how to identify and translate the abstracts of dreams and nightmares so as to find the truths hidden within them as he and Mahogany entered college together to pursue degrees in their respective fields.

While at college, Violet was conceived due to sabotaged contraceptives given to Mahogany. Vincent was shaken by the idea of becoming a father so young but stayed by Mahogany's side and was determined to do his best for her and their coming child. Both of them stayed enrolled and completed their education, and Vincent adored little Violet the moment he laid eyes on her after her birth.

After college, Vincent became apprenticed at the local elementary school as an intern children's counselor while continuing his research and searching for the next step to take in his education. He also gathered the courage to ask Byron for permission to marry Mahogany, and once told that Byron had been waiting for him to ask her already, Vincent set about getting the perfect engagement ring and asked for an application to work part-time at the pizzeria. This was so he could gather the funds to help pay for the wedding. Mahogany was told he'd be working at Freddy's soon, so she put in an order for a custom uniform and hat to be made for him as the night guard and purchased a special gold shield badge for him to wear in celebration.

The day Vincent planned to turn in the application and propose to Mahogany at the pizzeria, he left their apartment in such a rush that his knife was left behind.

Death
On his way to Freddy's Pizza to turn in his application and propose to Mahogany, Vincent passed near the boarded up Fredbear's Family Diner and spotted the travelling Lucian lure a young teen into the alley by the building. Alarmed, he ran into the alley to investigate and found Lucian disabling the child with several precise strikes to the body. He grabbed a loose stick and dove in to try and rescue the teen, getting between them and Lucian, who lashed out with his knives in a fury over being interrupted.

Vincent fought back as best he could, injuring Lucian with the stick before that meager weapon was lost and deflecting several lashes of the double knives with his own arms. The blood loss began slowing him, however, and he lost ground once Lucian managed to get past his defenses and stab into his side. Without additional protection, he was unable to stop the multiple wounds inflicted on him, including the final fatal stab that was angled up to get between two of his ribs.

His final dying moments were spent watching Lucian kill the disabled teen and take his ring, wallet, and the application, smiling at him with the promise of ruining him as revenge for daring to get in his way.

After Death
Because their deaths had been violent and their business in life remained unfulfilled, both the child and Vincent awakened as spirits in the alley, drifting over their own bodies. Vincent took to comforting the young teen, helping them come to terms with what had happened and hold hope that justice will be brought to them. As police finally arrived to investigate and notify families, he continued to counsel the teen until they grew calm and at peace with themselves. Once that happened, the spirit of the teen faded, passing on and leaving Vincent behind.

The spirits of the children killed in Fredbear's had coalesced into a single awareness which took notice of Vincent's ability to soothe the other spirit and allow them to pass on. It lashed out, wanting that same comfort, and pulled Vincent into the building, trapping him within to do the same for the collective spirit. The amount of anger, resentment, bitterness, and despair from the awareness of those children overwhelmed him, and Vincent fell into dormancy, sleeping while his presence exuded an aura of calm and tranquility to soothe the spirit over time.

This aura radiated outward, soothing and comforting even living people that came by the alley to grieve, including his brokenhearted girlfriend and young daughter.

FNAF4: Ending the Nightmare
As the spirit guarding Steven and Stephanie, Vincent's power to combat the nightmares comes at the cost of draining Ven's serenity; the more powerful Vincent becomes to counter the Nightmare Animatronics and tear down the false memories, the more vicious and aggressive Ven becomes to himself and others around him. This leads Ven to try and handle things with the least amount of reliance on Vincent as possible. In turn, Vincent tries to offer advice and guidance instead of confronting issues himself.

As a positive aligned spirit, Vincent can use his energy and aura to weaken and dispel negative aligned spirits like the Purples. This came into play to cut Lucian's hold over Jonathan and allow the other guards to dispel Lucian and Panther at last, ending their threat to their families and other children.

Pizzeria Simulator: Rehabilitating Digi
Upon discovering Digital Lucian's existence, Vincent is initially hostile towards him, seeing him as just another version of the serial killer that cost him his life and the lives of his daughter and other children. The two often clash aggressively because of this and Vincent's refusal to accept that Digi lived a separate life from Lucian, gaining different experiences and his own set of morals that led to a change of personality.

Whether Vincent changes his views of Digi is still something in development as the two continue to test each other after Digi's escape from Afton Robotics and the Sister Location.

Trivia

 * Vincent was the last known character created by Bones to make the transition to Pilot, reimagined as a fictional video game hero and with the more common nickname of 'Vince'. Aspects of the reimagined Vince were then taken and placed into Vincent to synchronize the two's personalities and occupations.
 * Vincent has a deep-rooted fear of needles and will tend to do everything possible to avoid injections. He has to have help keeping him calm and still and distracted for immunizations to be able to work at school and attend classes.
 * Vincent loves toast as a snack in various forms, though his favorite is dry with a bit of butter and sugar/cinnamon for sweetness.
 * While Vincent wore casual clothes on the day of his death, his ghost took on his Freddy's Pizza night guard uniform when Ven inherited the custom hat and gold shield Mahogany had ordered for him.
 * Vincent's fear of loud noises stems from being caught in a thunderstorm while on a field trip with his class as a child. Thunder is especially frightening, though firework pops, gunshots, and balloons popping can also set off anxiety and panic.