You’re playing Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. It’s 3 AM. You’re sweating because the music box is winding down and Foxy is burning a hole in the hallway with his gaze. You pull down the monitor to check the vents, and there it is. A pair of eyes staring at you from under the desk. But wait—it isn't the annoying, laughing kid with the red and blue stripes. It’s something else. Something darker. Something people often call the black and white balloon boy fnaf hallucination.
Except, it isn't actually black and white.
If you’ve been in the FNAF community for more than five minutes, you know that Scott Cawthon loves to hide things in plain sight. This character, officially known as JJ, has sparked a decade of debates, fake creepypastas, and genuine confusion. People see those purple and blue hues in the dim office lighting and their brains immediately jump to "monochrome." But the reality of this "black and white" animatronic is actually way more interesting than just a simple color swap.
The Origins of the Black and White Balloon Boy FNAF Rumor
Back in 2014, the internet was a different place. The FNAF 2 demo had just dropped, and players were scrambling to find every hidden secret. When JJ first appeared under the desk, the low-resolution textures and the specific lighting of the office made her look almost grayscale to the untrained eye.
She doesn’t talk. She doesn’t jump-scare you. She just... sits there. Watching.
Naturally, the "Black and White Balloon Boy" name stuck for a while before the game files revealed the name "JJ." Some fans thought it stood for "Junior," others guessed "Jolly Jane." Whatever the name, the myth of a monochrome BB variant became a staple of early YouTube lore videos. You've probably seen those old thumbnails with high-contrast edits making her look like a ghost. It’s a classic example of how community collective memory can slightly warp the actual game assets.
Is JJ Actually Black and White?
Let's get technical for a second. If you open up the texture files for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, you’ll see the truth. JJ isn't black and white. She has purple cheeks, purple eyes, and a blue-and-purple propeller hat.
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So why do so many people remember a black and white balloon boy fnaf encounter?
- Office Lighting: The office in FNAF 2 is notoriously dingy. The "under the desk" area is draped in heavy shadows.
- Contrast Settings: Depending on your monitor brightness in 2014, those purple tones easily flattened into gray or black.
- The Shadow Animatronics: We already had Shadow Freddy and Shadow Bonnie. It made logical sense to fans that there would be a Shadow Balloon Boy.
Honestly, the "Shadow BB" theory was so popular that people started seeing what they wanted to see. They saw a dark figure and filled in the blanks. It’s kind of like the Mandela Effect, but for indie horror fans.
The Mechanics of the "Phantom" Encounter
JJ is what we call a "rare screen" or an Easter egg. She has a 5% chance of appearing whenever you put down your camera. Unlike her counterpart, Balloon Boy (BB), she doesn't disable your lights. She doesn't call out "Hi" or "Hello." She just exists.
This lack of aggression is what makes her so eerie. In a game where everything is trying to scream in your face, a static character that just peers at you from the floorboards feels intentional. It feels like a threat that never manifests.
In Ultimate Custom Night, JJ finally got a proper mechanical role. She crawls through the vent, and if you don’t close it, she disables your door controls for a short period. Even there, her colors are clearly defined. Yet, the search for the black and white balloon boy fnaf version persists because players are still looking for that "Shadow" variant that Scott never technically gave us—at least not in the way we expected.
Variations Across the Franchise
It's worth noting that the "Balloon Boy" model is the most reused asset in the series besides Freddy himself. We have:
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- Balloon Boy (BB): The OG nuisance.
- JJ: The "under the desk" mystery.
- Phantom BB: A burnt, greenish-black version from FNAF 3.
- Nightmare BB: The toothy version from FNAF 4.
- Dee Dee: The fishing-obsessed annoyance from FNAF World and UCN.
- Shadow Dee Dee (XOR): Now, this is where things get interesting.
If you’re looking for a truly "dark" or monochrome BB, XOR is your best bet. Appearing in the 50/20 mode of Ultimate Custom Night, XOR is a grayscale, glitchy version of Dee Dee. This is arguably the closest the series has ever come to an official "black and white balloon boy" figure. She appears with a creepy, distorted sound and summons extra animatronics to ruin your run.
Why Does This Character Still Matter?
The obsession with these minor palette swaps speaks to why FNAF is still a powerhouse. Every pixel is scrutinized.
When a player sees a black and white balloon boy fnaf figure, they aren't just seeing a glitch. They're looking for lore. They're asking if this is a soul of a dead child, a hallucination brought on by gas leaks (shoutout to the Sister Location theorists), or a physical robot built by William Afton for some nefarious purpose.
The most widely accepted lore is that JJ is a "hallucination" animatronic, similar to the Shadows. She represents a memory or a ghost of the past. But because Scott Cawthon rarely gives a straight answer, the mystery stays alive.
Common Misconceptions You Should Ignore
You'll find a lot of "fan games" and "hoax videos" on YouTube claiming there's a secret 7th night where a true black and white BB attacks you.
Don't buy it.
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Most of those are mods or clever edits. I've seen some incredibly well-made hoaxes that use the "black and white" aesthetic to make the game look more like an old 1930s cartoon. While cool, they aren't canon. If you're hunting for the real black and white balloon boy fnaf experience, you're really hunting for JJ or the glitchy XOR.
Another thing: JJ isn't a "girl version" of BB in the traditional sense. While the community treats her as female, these are plastic shells possessed by (possibly) remnants of souls or just haywire programming. Giving them human gender roles is mostly for the sake of fan art and naming conventions.
How to Find JJ Yourself
If you want to see the "black and white" (purple/blue) mystery for yourself, you can actually farm the encounter in FNAF 2.
- Start Night 1 or 2 (fewer distractions).
- Open your monitor.
- Close your monitor.
- Immediately look under the desk.
- Repeat.
Since it’s a random RNG (Random Number Generation) event, it might take you ten tries or two hundred. But eventually, she’ll be there. It’s a rite of passage for any serious FNAF fan.
Final Practical Takeaways
When you're diving into the rabbit hole of FNAF color variants, keep these points in mind:
- Check the Wiki: The Five Nights at Freddy's Wiki is maintained by people who literally count pixels. If a "black and white" variant isn't listed there, it's likely a fan-made character like "Brow Boy" or a mod.
- Check the Source: XOR from UCN is the only official grayscale "Balloon" character. If you see it in FNAF 2, it's JJ, and you're just seeing the effects of the game's dark lighting.
- Enjoy the Mystery: The reason we still talk about this is that it's fun. The ambiguity is the point.
The next time you see that small, round figure under your desk, don't panic. Take a screenshot. Look at the colors. You'll realize that the black and white balloon boy fnaf legend is a mix of clever game design and the internet's incredible ability to turn a shadow into a ghost.
Keep your flashlight charged and your vents closed. The lore only gets deeper from here. To really master the secrets of the 1987 location, try practicing your "desk checks" between every camera flip—it's the only way to catch the rarest hallucinations before they vanish.