The Thin Man

The Thin Man
Biographical Information
Alias(es)	The Man in the Hat
Classification	Resident
Gender	Male
Location	The Pale City
Status	Inconclusive
General Information
Type	Boss enemy
Theme(s)	The Man in the Hat End of the Hall
Appearances	Secrets of the Maw (Easter egg and post-credit scene) Little Nightmares Comics Little Nightmares II (video game)
Voice Clips
The Thin Man- Echo Sounds (Little Nightmares 2)

The Thin Man is the main antagonist of Little Nightmares II, and the fourth encountered. He initially resides within the Transmission. He debuted during the end credits of Secrets of the Maw, and makes his first full appearance in The Pale City chapter, of which he is also the main antagonist.

Website Description

As the ever-present hum of The Transmission chokes the airwaves, The Thin Man continues his endless journey through this desolate place, haunting the shadows, searching for something.

Appearance

The Thin Man is a tall, slender being adorned in a black suit and hat, which ominously steeps his eyes in shadow. Like his grayscale wardrobe, his bleak, wrinkled skin is similarly colorless, calling to mind black-and-white films of the 1940s-50s - a possible allusion to his ability to influence televisions. His stature is crooked and misaligned, with cheekbones and closed eyes that appear sunken and emaciated, giving him a corpse-like appearance.

Personality

Like the many other characters in the Little Nightmares universe, the Thin Man does not speak and his personality is shown through his actions. Unlike other antagonists of the franchise who are aggressive and violent, the Thin Man acts calm and collected as he doggedly pursues Mono and Six, all while remaining seemingly hostile, nonetheless.

For unknown reasons, the Thin Man had kidnapped at least one child in Little Nightmares Comic when they approached a television. However, when Mono inadvertently frees him, the Thin Man focuses on pursuing Mono and Six specifically. He shows high amounts of dedication when focused on a task, as he continuously stalks Mono throughout the Pale City even after the boy eludes his grasp many times.

The Thin Man also appears to be cunning, intelligent and always seems to be one step ahead of Mono. As at times when Mono would arrive in an area, the Thin Man appears almost immediately afterwards.

Additionally, the Thin Man has a large sense of patience, persistence, and stoicism. This is shown throughout the game, through the Thin Man's leisured walk, when he attempts to confront Mono.

Little Nightmares Comics

The Thin Man appears in the end of the second episode of the digital comic. Trying to catch his breath after a long run, the Toddler hears a strange scream nearby. Following the sound, the Toddler finds an abandoned shed on a path smeared with blood. When the boy tries to examine it from the outside, a TV turns on behind him, on which the image of the Thin Man appears. Intrigued, the child begins to slowly remove the blindfold from his eyes, and then disappears with a scream.

Little Nightmares II

Throughout the game, Mono repeatedly finds himself having to attune the Transmission of a television and tap into a twisted hallway he first dreamed about in the Wilderness. In each instance, Mono comes closer and closer to reaching an eye-marked door at the end of the hallway, only to always be pulled back into reality by Six.

However, with the third television that Mono tunes into, he finally reaches and opens the door at the end of the dream hallway. Behind the door, he sees a room illuminated by magenta lights, and a tall, slender man, sitting patiently in a chair. The man stands up, and Mono is pulled to safety by Six, away from the television screen. The duo isn't in the clear just yet, as the Thin Man begins to approach the television screen. Six convinces Mono to leave as he stares at the television in shock. The Thin Man starts to phase through the television screen, forcing Six to run without Mono while he remains in place, suffering a painful headache as the Thin Man continues to exit the TV. Soon enough, the Thin Man arrives, and his presence causes the area to tilt as he emits a signal screeching/buzzing noise. Mono runs behind Six and both take refuge in a kid's bedroom next door with the Thin Man in pursuit.

Mono hides under a bed, but Six chooses to take cover under a table behind some toys. Their attempts to hide prove fruitless, as the Thin Man finds them with ease. Rather than going for both children, he completely ignores Mono and goes for Six, who attempts to run to Mono for help. The girl trips and is left at the mercy of the ominous figure while Mono suffers another headache. The Thin Man wistfully pulls a screaming Six into his grip with his telekinesis and teleports away, only leaving some Glitching Remains of the girl he just kidnapped and Mono to stand on his own feet.

Luckily, Mono is able to acquire the ability to travel through the televisions throughout the Pale City, allowing him to travel to the Black Tower at a quicker pace. After escaping from a horde of Viewers in a shop, Mono arrives in another building, where he finds his companion pressing and banging against the glass from the inside of a television to catch his attention and plead for help. When Mono attempts to pull her out, however, she is pulled back inside by the Thin Man, who then emerges through the screen to pursue Mono. Fortunately for the boy, this causes the room to shake, causing an axe to fall down from somewhere above. Using the axe to break through the door, he flees the room and escapes through a boarded-up doorway, the other side barred by distorted architecture.

Navigating up through the warped building, Mono makes it underneath the floorboards of the room above. However, the Thin Man was quick to follow, the sound of his slow, heavy footsteps echoing on the floor above Mono's head. Staying quiet and hidden, even as the Thin Man peeks through holes and cracks in the floor in search of the boy, Mono once again eludes capture. As Mono moves on, so does the Thin Man, leaving the room through another television set.

Just as Mono escapes into a hallway, the Thin Man re-merges through a door at the far end of it as if tracking his movements. Using a stool, Mono jumps up onto a windowsill and tears the boards off of the window, before jumping through it. Mono lands on an overhang, slippery with rain, and slides down onto the wreckage of a train, only just managing to grip onto a train car.

Mono makes it through the window at the end of the car and into another train, only to find that the Thin Man had beaten him there, the towering figure entering through the door leading to the next carriage to continue his pursuit. The Thin Man walks calmly, purposely towards Mono, keeping pace with bursts of unnatural speed. As Mono leaps to the next car, the Thin Man warps just behind him, increasing the length of his strides to take full advantage of his height. At the end of the car, Mono has no choice but to disconnect it, leaving the Thin Man behind as the freed carriage careens down the rail.

The car crashes at the end of the line, leaving Mono battered and bruised. After taking a moment to pull himself up, the child works through the pain and presses onward, lead out of the subway station by glitched visions of his missing friend.

Mono forces himself to climb a ladder and lifts the drainage cover above him, exiting out onto the streets of the Pale City. Mono gazes out at the ominous Black Tower in the distance. Suddenly, the street lamps begin to flicker, and the Thin Man appears before Mono once more, barring his path. The boy falls to his knees, injured and with no way to escape. When all seems lost, Mono then uncovers his face, letting his headwear float away in a puddle. As the looming figure draws near, the child takes a moment to steel himself, before he stands to oppose the Thin Man.

Reaching towards him, Mono focuses his powers on the Thin Man, who twists and bends before he is forced back, blasted by an unseen force that causes the buildings and lamps to sway and twist. Determined, the man rises again and again, his arm outstretched to catch the boy, leaning to and from to attempt to slip past the wall of force, but each time, he is repelled, and weakened, until finally, the Thin Man succumbs to the boy's assault, collapsing and fading away into wisps of darkness, presumably killed.

After the battle, Mono arrives inside of the Black Tower and finds his raincoat companion in a monstrous and very distorted state. The boy comes to the conclusion that her music box is what's keeping her this way and continuously hits it with an axe while fighting Six for it. He does succeed in destroying it and Six reverts back to normal, only for the terrain of the Black Tower to turn into eyes and flesh that pursue the children, forcing them to run. In the end, Six leaves Mono to rot in the tower as she escapes. It is then that Mono, shocked and hurt over his only friend leaving him for dead, sits on a chair and allows time to go by as the Transmission corrupts him. He ages and becomes noticeably taller until he takes on the form of the Thin Man, being locked behind the door, and to be inevitably freed.

Strategy

The Thin Man has powers identical to Mono, although he is far more experienced in wielding them than the former.

The Thin Man can fast forward time where he can move from one point to another easily to pursuit Mono. It is also shown in some scenes that he has the ability that allows him to travel in and out of the televisions throughout the Pale City as well as having the ability to see through them. The Thin Man is also capable of telekinesis, as he uses it to capture Six when she is spotted. It appears that whenever he is present, the area he is in becomes static-like and glitchy, which causes those around him to lag and move at a slower pace. The only hope Mono seems to have against him is to keep running until he is out of the power's range.

Powers and Abilities

• TV teleportation: The Thin Man is shown to have the ability to teleport through televisions, an ability which Mono shares. However, it is not clear if he is tied down by the same physical laws as Mono.
• Time manipulation: The Thin Man has the power to slow down time in his surrounding environment while remaining unaffected by this change himself, causing any people or objects which were previously moving at a normal pace to slow down to less than half of their actual time in his presence. He can also use this power to fast-forward himself in a limited extent of time, giving him the illusion of teleporting despite actually just walking to his intended spot very quickly as everything else slows down.
• Telekinesis: The Thin Man can open doors and move people and objects without physically touching them, the latter of which are pulled toward him like a magnet sucked in his direction. This particular power, however, seems to be weaker than The Lady's as it takes the Thin Man several seconds and only seems to work in a specific range.
• Flexibility: The Thin Man's body is extremely flexible, allowing him to bend his spine while standing in a way that is not possible for normal humans. He demonstrates this in his final battle with Mono when damage is dealt to him.

Theories

• Prior to the release of Little Nightmares II, many fans assumed that the Thin Man was the one responsible for the television transmissions around the Pale City. This is reflected in that prior to the Thin Man's official name having been revealed, as fans referred to him as "The Broadcaster."
• The Thin Man sees through televisions and seems to be the one responsible for distorting the Pale City and its Residents, and even possibly the entire Little Nightmares universe as well. Viewers who gaze into televisions around the city appear to have lost their faces as a result of being exposed to his transmissions for an extended period of time; the fact that these Viewers reside in metropolitan apartment complexes and wear clothes and accessories (despite lacking any autonomy or desire other than watching TV) also seems to indicate they were once human beings prior to falling under the Thin Man's influence.
  • The architecture of furniture and buildings share the Thin Man's sideways misaligned, crooked structure, and several large chasms appear throughout the city and the Wilderness, where it appears as though the world was restructured from a cataclysmic event, possibly alluding to the Thin Man's broadcasts causing widespread changes to the world. It should be noted that the Lady fled the world for life on the Maw because she viewed the mainland as "chaos."
    • Contrary, it is speculated the Flesh Walls are responsible for the Transmission. Rather than falling under the Thin Man's influence, it is speculated the Flesh walls were the true threat in control of everything and everyone, including the Thin Man, using his power as a means to broadcast its hypnotic transmission to the various TVs in the Pale City and various parts around the world.
    • Television channels seen within the first Little Nightmares and Secrets of the Maw DLC may support this. While trying to escape the Janitor in the Maw's library, Six can distract him by hitting the power button of a nearby TV; continuing to click this button will depict several bizarre black-and-white channels which all feature images of eyes, possibly indicating a form of propaganda. One of these channels shows the symbol of eye in the center of a hand - a possible allusion to the Thin Man's ability to spellbind those who view his broadcasts and travel through televisions by pressing his hands against the glass or a possible allusion to the Flesh Walls hiding behind the television screen, observing whomever is on the opposite side as it uses the Thin Man's power to its advantage. Another channel features a 1940s-style woman singing a bizarre jingle in a kitchen; this same jingle can be heard by Six and Mono as they try to navigate past the Viewers of the Pale City during Little Nightmares II.
    • The Runaway Kid kills the Granny by electrocuting her with a television he pushes into the water. This TV depicts a black-and-white broadcast featuring symbols of eyes.
• The most popular theory is that the Thin Man and Mono exist in a time paradox, as it is revealed that Mono grows up to become the Thin Man after Six leaves him for dead in the Black Tower, trapping Mono in its depths and causing him to fester in resentment as he ages, creating an all-too familiar monster. Consequently, within the timeline of Little Nightmares II, the Thin Man likely tries to capture his younger self to prevent Mono from becoming trapped in the Tower and repeating their fate on a loop, luring Mono to him by sending him television signals throughout the game until Mono finally "opens the door" and releases him from the Tower, allowing the Thin Man to take his vengeance. The official Twitter description of the Black Tower also supports this, as it asks, "Will you go back?" suggesting Mono has been there before, and the Thin Man's description states that he is stuck in an "endless journey," possibly indicating he will continue to exist unless he stops Mono from being betrayed by Six and stuck in the Tower. Additionally, the game starts the same way it ends: prior to the start of Mono's journey, the camera pans down a long hallway of the Black Tower to the door the Thin Man is trapped behind, and then after Mono's journey shows how he became the Thin Man, the camera pans out of this same hallway and door, creating a loop from the game's beginning to its end.
  • Contrarily, it is also speculated there is no time paradox, Mono may simply be the successor of the Thin Man. Due to Mono possessing similar powers, it is speculated that he was destined to be the next conduit of the Black Tower, with his abilities being used by it to spread its influence through the Transmission. The Lady similarly being part of an endless cycle to the Maw, whilst trying to prevent the "next in line" from usurping her and acquiring her powers. This "succession" theory may be supported by a portrait in the Lady's Quarters of four other "Lady-like" women seen surrounding The Lady in a circle, possibly alluding to there having been other Ladies throughout the decades. A similar situation may apply to the Thin Man, which may mean that there is no time paradox but rather a forceful passing of the torch. To that end, the Thin Man may have been trying to stop Mono from killing him in order to prevent Mono from taking his powers and beginning a new reign over the Black Tower, to no avail. This theory assumes the Thin Man functions under the same rules as The Lady.
    • On the contrary, it's also speculated the Tall Figure was once the former resident of the black tower before being usurped by Mono. This is supported by the Tall Figure presenting details and characteristics which are both similar and indifferent to the Thin Man, leaving the suspicion that Mono was always the Thin Man of the game but only after defeating and usurping the former resident of the tower within the timeline of Little Nightmares Comics. Rather than reigning over the black tower, it's speculated the new successor was meant to sustain it by remaining within it and use their newly acquired power to not just broadcast the Transmission, but absorb the Viewers souls for it to consume. This is supported by the Transmission being described as wielding a consciousness of its own and demanding "one thing in return" from anyone who continued to live their lives through it. Similarly to the Maw and the Lady, it's speculated the Thin Man's power was the only thing that was necessary to maintain the Tower. It's unknown what would happen to the Tower if the Thin Man were to leave and never return, but it's speculated the Tower would be doomed to die unless the power of the Thin Man could be inherited and returned to remain within its walls.
    • The writer of Little Nightmares neither confirms nor denies whether the Thin Man is the predecessor of Mono or if they are the same individual. He simply states, "It's all of that."
• According to the writer, the residents of the world have no real motivations or goals in life, rather they are fueled by a corrupted base desire or instinct, leaving the suspicion that although the Thin Man was on an "endless journey" searching for "something", he may not have been entirely aware of what he was doing or what he was searching for, rather, he was merely blindly guided by a simple desire just like the rest of the residents of the world. This is supported by the Thin Man's inconsistent actions such as willingly kidnapping any child, such as the Toddler, rather than just Mono or Six, taking Six directly to the tower where Mono would inevitably be betrayed and seemingly tilting his head in confusion as he momentarily pauses to look at Mono before continuing to pursue him once again. When questioned why Mono had not attempted to destroy the black tower and the Pale City with his powers as he transitioned into the Thin Man, the official Twitter page states, "Of course not. Like all sensible children, he eventually came around to our way of thinking." leaving the suspicion that the Thin Man's actions and behavior were not entirely of his own free will, but the result of an external malevolent force influencing him.

Trivia

• In The Residence DLC, one of the portraits on the wall depicts the Thin Man (see gallery).
• He is the first main male antagonist of the franchise.
• He is the first main antagonist to not be the final antagonist the protagonist has to fight.
• His theme is named The Man in the Hat.
• Even though it is assumed that the Thin Man is trapped in the Transmission until Mono frees him, he is shown crawling out of a television and kidnapping a child in the comic app. However, the Thin Man's appearance within the timeline of the comics has since been brought to question as the sound of Monster Six's screams is heard in Episode 2.
• Scrapped gameplay shows that the Thin Man would have originally first encountered Mono and Six on one of the building's rooftops in the Pale City, as well as appearing in a dream sequence, similar to how The Lady appeared in Six's dream during the intro of Little Nightmares.
• Concept art reveals the Thin Man would have originally worn a different attire compared the one he wears now. He would have a suit with one button and a tie. His signature hat is not seen in multiple concept arts, though this could be intentional in order to focus on details of the Thin Man without the hat on.
  • The Thin Man's face was to be characterized by a huge smile.
    • Ironically, the Thin Man's final design shows that he has a rather pale expression.
    • Initially the Thin Man's face should have deformed into a stretched face with no eyes. Other concept shows that his head emanated into a cloud of smoke.
  • Interestingly, despite the Thin Man having no dedicated mouth animations, his teeth are fully rendered and detailed.
• Little Nightmares II's box art seemingly foreshadows the Thin Man's real identity, as the Signal Tower in the background tops the Thin Man's head in a similar manner to Mono's paper bag.
• At the end of the game, the Thin Man is shown slowly rocking himself back and forth. However, when Mono releases him, the Thin Man is shown to be sitting still.
• In the Pale City, when Mono breaks through the door with an axe to escape the Thin Man for a second time, the Thin Man briefly pauses and tilts his head as he stares at Mono, seemingly in confusion before continuing to pursue him once again.
  • A similar action is taken again by the Thin Man when he sees Mono escape near the end of the train chase.
• A small sketch in the art book reveals that the Thin Man initially had an interrogation room with an ashtray on the table and a lantern illuminating the two objects. A child sat opposite the Thin Man in a chair so small that they couldn't reach the edge of the table.
  • A leftover model exploring this concept remains in the game, with an interrogation table present in the files, albeit misspelt as "interigation table".
• The Thin Man's ability to crawl out from a TV is similar to Yamamura Sadako's, a fictional character from Koji Suzuki's Ring series.
• Near the end of the game, upon his defeat by Mono's hands, the Thin Man seemingly disintegrates, leaving no remains of his body behind, leaving suspicion that although he was capable of physically interacting with the world, the Thin Man did not wield a physical body of his own.
• The Thin Man's name on a Steam Trading Card is spelt "Thinman" without a space between "Thin" and "man." There is also no "The" before his name.