Shadow Man (Hello Neighbor)

The Shadow Man is the true main antagonist and final boss of Hello Neighbor and the possible true main antagonist of Secret Neighbor. It is a strange, unknown shadow that seems to stalk protagonist Nicky Roth as he tries to find out what is in his neighbors basement and to overcome his three fears from his childhood.

Act 3
The Shadow Man first appears as Nicky looks around the ruble of his old childhood house, stalking Nicky without his notice, once Nicky finally notices the Shadow Man as it teleports infront of him, he begins freaking out before the Shadow Man disappears, Nicky than runs back to his house, the Shadow Man can be spotted somewhere in each of the nightmares Nicky has to go through to overcome his childhood fears, known as Fear Levels, the Shadow Man appears on a rafter in Fear Supermarket, it appears standing on a hanging pipe in Fear School, and is seen watching from under a table in Fear Darkness, once Nicky enters the basement, he will encounter the Shadow Man, if Nicky gets to close to the Shadow Man than he will die, Nicky must use the Hide ability he earned from beating Fear Supermarket to hide from the Shadow Man until it lumbers through the wall, once Nicky defeats the giant neighbor and enters the door on the house on his neighbors back, than he will be transported to a area full of Missing Posters, in one window the Shadow Man is seen bigger than before looking down on a grave, possibly Mya's grave, in another window the Shadow Man is seen hiding behind some stairs that lead down to an unknown location, in the final window Mr. Peterson is seen crying at a Missing Poster, once a car passes by the Shadow Man will appear and watch Mr. Peterson as he grieves, going through the door in the area will lead Nicky to a strange house with a younger version of himself playing with toys, suddenly younge Nicky becomes afraid and runs to the window, from the white void the house is in appears the Shadow Man in its final form, the Shadow Boss, a gigantic version of itself that is possibly bigger than the giant Mr. Peterson, younge Nicky will then run around the house, however he will eventually fall, Nicky must get infront of younge Nicky to absorb the Shadow Boss' attacks, every time Nicky absorbs the Shadow Boss' attacks he becomes bigger, as the Shadow Boss' attacks slowly tear apart the house, Nicky becomes bigger and bigger until he is as big as the Shadow Boss, confronting his fears, the Shadow Boss falls and explodes into light, appearing in a white void with only an Exit Door and a crooked house, if Nicky peers into the house, he will see a panicking Mr. Peterson who has barricaded himself into a room to escape the Shadow Man, who is one the other side of the door, enraged that it cannot get to Mr. Peterson, unable to save Mr. Peterson from the Shadow Man, Nicky leaves through the Exit Door, this ending shows that Nicky didn’t destroy the Shadow Man, but merely freed himself from its influence.

Secret Neighbor
Although the Shadow Man isn’t directly seen or mentioned in the game, it is possible that the Shadow Man is actually Mr. Peterson in the game, as when the kids kill Mr. Peterson, he bursts into a black substance and then comes back later, it would also explain Mr. Peterson's new found ability to transform into a child.

Trivia

 * There are theories that the Shadow Man is the Devil or some kind of demon.
 * The Shadow Man seems to be the embodiment of Mr. Peterson's guilt and Nicky's fear, as when Nicky defeats the Shadow Boss, he is rewarded with the achievement "No More Fears".
 * When the Shadow Man first appeared in Alpha 3, he looked more like a child.
 * In the scrapped Fear Gym, the Shadow Man can be seen watching on the other side of the barb wires.