The sound comes from Five Nights at Freddy's, the horror game series created by Scott Cawthon in 2014, where Freddy Fazbear and the other animatronics hunt the night guard. Clips of Freddy running became popular in fan edits, gameplay compilations and soundboards because the footstep charge is instantly recognisable even without visuals. It is often paired with the FNAF jumpscare scream to complete the scare, and remains widely used for horror parodies, chase memes and short form gaming videos where a character rushes the camera.