The Dark Presence , known by the Federal Bureau of Control as the Shadow,[1] is a malevolent paranatural entity and the primary antagonist in the Alan Wake franchise, as well as a major force in Control's expansion AWE. The Dark Presence dwells within the Dark Place and has similar abilities to a resonant-based entity, such as the Hiss, but is not resonant-based itself and is instead more a personification of both literal and metaphorical darkness.
Description[]
Just as the Hiss can corrupt paranatural artifacts (such as the Floppy Disk and Benicoff TV Objects of Power) and possess human members of the FBC, the Shadow is also capable of taking over the residents of Bright Falls, turning them into the Taken or what the FBC calls "Shaded Individuals." For example, when Dr. Emil Hartman was taken over, his new form was referred to by the FBC as "Shaded Hartman". Similar to the nonsensical Dadaist verses of the Hiss incantation, individual Shaded repeat random phrases from their own lives. By Alan Wake 2, they devolved to merely repeating excerpts from Wake's manuscript pages.
Background[]
In the aftermath of the Bright Falls AWE, the Bureau discovered the existence of the Dark Presence, calling it "the Shadow" and labeling it paranatural entity A-010.
Shaded Individuals are what Alan Wake refers to as "the Taken." Shaded Hartman is referred to as a Type 2 Shaded Individual, the first to be examined alive. It's not known what other types exist nor how (or if) they map to the different forms of Taken.