'Buddy's Nighttime Reveals Where The Kids Really Are & It's Scarier Than the Ending
When the horror movie Buddy introduces nighttime, everything changes for the children. Because it’s proof that the passage of time is being manipulated in scarier ways than they ever imagined. But it also goes to show the viewer how much precision went into creating this layered television dimension.
But where are the children in Buddy? And what other things does the introduction of nighttime tell us about this universe? I’m going to be breaking it all down while also providing some theories as to who created the world of Buddy and what Buddy actually is. Because many of us thought Buddy was just some guy in a suit. He’s not. He’s more than that.
Where Are the Children in 'Buddy'?
The children in Buddy are in a layered television dimension that is connected to our reality through a portal network. When they touch the screen while It’s Buddy is playing in the human world, they are sucked into this television dimension. Then, the world left behind is reshaped as if they never existed in the first place.
Once their memories are altered, the children are introduced to It’s Buddy, a world governed by episodes. There, they sing an introduction song that begins a new cycle, go through a variety of lessons, and end the episode by giving Buddy a hug and breaking out into song again. The only one that knows where they are or how episodes govern the world is Buddy himself.
If the hug doesn’t happen, the episode of It’s Buddy cannot end, and nighttime starts. This, in particular, happens when the children escape the park, showing the viewer that the children and adults are trapped somewhere that has enough connection to the human world to have the passage of time. But Buddy hits the reset button every single time, so the children and adults don’t realize that something is wrong. This reset button is also a means for Buddy to heal himself when injured.
The introduction of nighttime in It’s Buddy also shows how tailored and precise this experiment is. None of this was by accident. This world was created with purpose, down to the very walls that the children hit when they get to Diamond City. But at some point, Buddy gained control, with the hugs making it so that no matter how much the humans fight to escape, Buddy can just restart the day.
Did Buddy Create This Universe?
From the evidence presented, it doesn’t look like Buddy created this universe that the children and the adults are stuck in. If anything, it looks like Buddy is the one in control of the show itself. Think of him as a tyrannical showrunner who knows that It’s Buddy isn’t real. But he uses it to live the reality that he wants to with the rules that he now controls.
As a viewer, the main reason why I don’t think Buddy created this universe is the mural in the underground layer that has the infrastructure and portal network. Buddy wants to be loved but also to be the center of the story, and that mural doesn’t put him in the center. It puts him in a supporting role after the unicorn Bobby and alongside the unicorn Benny.
Benny, in particular, supports the idea that Buddy is a tyrannical showrunner because, at one point in time, they were both on that mural. That dictates that they probably had their own shows and their own levels within this TV dimensional landscape. But when we see Benny, they’re locked up in a workshop on the infrastructure level. Even worse, Benny looks beaten down and is chained while all his creations scream for help when the children appear.
Another reason why I don’t think that Buddy created this universe is the infrastructure level itself. It wasn’t made with Buddy and the other unicorns in mind. Instead, it was made with humans in mind because we saw how Buddy treated the mail carriers and the nurses in It’s Buddy. He killed them and harassed them with no hesitation. He wouldn’t frame their photos and put them up on the wall. But someone did. Humans most likely.
When Freddy gets to the infrastructure level, it’s also clear that things are aged there. The experiments look old, from the floating heads to the actual TVs and the photos on the walls. That means that this universe or experiment that Buddy has taken over has been going on for a while. When you combine that with the real world looking modern, like if it came out of 2026, whatever happened to put Buddy in control, he’s been at it for a long time.
What Is Buddy the Unicorn?
Buddy is an orange unicorn with a heart on his stomach, a bandana around his neck, and a sweet disposition. Until Buddy gets seriously injured after showing his darker side, viewers think Buddy is just a human in a costume made to look like a jolly orange unicorn.
However, Buddy is flesh and bone like any human. And because of that, he can be killed. When the children say that they hate Buddy, he sheds his skin and reveals a black version of himself with clawed hands, spikes coming out of his back, and sharp teeth.
This transformation could be handwaved away as Buddy being a demon and the kids actually being in Hell. But his ability to be hurt, the fact that he shares the same color of blood as any human or animal, and us seeing his bones make him a creature that could be from our world. The kids also experience nighttime, which could suggest that Buddy is a creature from the human world who was also captured and put into this experiment before he went rogue.
