Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26186871-20160710232545

The shadow animatronics are very mysterious across the FNAF series. They have appeared in FNAF2 with no explanation for them, Shadow Freddy lead the other animatronics to Springtrap in FNAF3, with Shadow Bonnie glitching out in a glitch minigame. The Shadows have the strange ability to teleport, and you can see the Shadows in FNAF4, despite it happening at the same time as FNAF2, which also had the Shadows. Many different about the Shadows have been made, some saying they are just normal and hallucinations, others saying the Goldens were the hallucinations.. Still others stated that the Shadows are the souls of those who died in the Springlocks-Our Phantom Fredbear and Phantom Springtrap. But in this episode-I will find the truth about these mysterious shadows.

Now, if you read the full title, you would notice that I was linking the Shadows with the purple hat that Fredbear wears. But why make such a link in the first place, they seem very different. And different they are, but they are more connected than you might think. But first, let's go to a big portion of what Phone Guy has to say in Night 4 of FNAF3: "After learning of an unfortunate incident at the sister location, involving multiple and simultaneous spring lock failures, the company has deemed the suits temporarily unfit for employees. Safety is our top priority at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, which is why the classic suits are being retired to an appropriate location, while being looked at by our technician. Until replacements arrive, you'll be expected to wear the temporary costumes provided to you. Keep in mind that they were found on very short notice, so any questions about appropriateness/relevance should be deflected. "

There are several things I have to say about this quote. First off, it is NOT the same sister location as FNAF:Sister Location, as that location doesn't even have any springlocks, and the location Phone Guy spoke of had SPRINGLOCK failures. Second off, Phone Guy just confirmed that there are three generations of springlocks, and the classic ones are dangerous. These tapes are being recorded at Freddy Fazbear's, so this cannot be Fredbear and Friends, but before then, before 1983. Now, it wouldn't be good if the replacements were confused with the classic suits now, would it? It would lead to many deaths due to use of the classic suits. Therefore, the replacements were given purple hats, and purple bowties, instead of the black ones, to distinguish them from the classic suits. But, we're leaving out a generation-The temporary suits! Just like the Shadows, we have no explanation as to what these temporary suits are. And, according to the Phone Guy, there were questions of relevance and appropriateness. What if, the Shadows WERE the temporary suits? Questions would definitely be raised about why these shadows are BLACK instead of GOLDEN. Perhaps that they aren't appropriate? That would also explain why the Shadows have the ability to teleport like the Springlocks-They ARE Springlocks. But, a few final questions remains, starting with this one, which appears to be a major flaw-Why is there a Shadow Freddy in the FNAF1 location, when they were supposedly retired when the replacements arrived at Fredbear and Friends, like Phone Guy said, and why is that one PURPLE, instead of the black it appears to be? And what about the purple glitchy Shadow Bonnie in the FNAF3 minigames? Why are the Shadows withered in FNAF2, yet perfectly fine AT THE SAME TIME at Fredbear and Friends?

There is one answer to this-The Purple Shadows and the Black Shadows aren't the same. The original, black shadows were retired after the replacements arrived, just like the Phone Guy said. This lead to them becoming the withered shadows we see in FNAF2. But certainly, these new characters were so different from the normal Springlocks, some of the children probably considered these Shadows new friends, new animatronics that they haven't seen before. They wouldn't want thier new friends to go away.. So, eventually, new purple shadows were added, to bring back the Shadows, and were alongside the replacement springlocks that they were supposed to be. While the Golden animatronics were ultimately retired after the Bite of 87, the shadows went on, even in FNAF1. Eventually, the place closed down, and we all know what happened next.. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PFglvdQsW8c

So, that's what the Shadows are:Originally the temporary springlock suits, that then became thier own characters. And also, since the purple shadows were designed based off of their black versions, they still have a few springlock design and mechanics, such as the ability to teleport. So yeah. 