Toby’s Abilities
Toby is a ghost/demon hybrid, presumably. He harnesses the power to be seen by only his child victims (Hunter/Leila), has the ability to physically kill people (Katie and Kristi’s stepfather), yet can also be passed through like a cloud (Ryan walking through Toby’s blurry form). It’s vaguely explained that the next blood moon is making him more complete, ready to enter into our world via innocent sacrifices, but it seems very coincidental that Toby can just be whatever the hell he wants. When inside Toby (consensually), Ryan’s hearing becomes muffled like he’s underwater – yet later on in the film, he spears Ryan through the chest while in a solid form.
It seems that Toby can be whatever the scene calls for, as over time, the Paranormal Activity films just tried to stay fresh, and didn’t care for continuity. I guess we can’t actually define demonic behavior until we’ve experienced it in real life, but if cameras anger them and turn them into capable killers, why keep trying to record them?
Or, at the least, if you’re the sick bastard at the police station who is editing all these videos together, release them to the public so characters can be better versed in Toby’s attacks? Toby’s behavior is never heavily tracked, so his chameleon-like adaptation to scenarios always make him a forced to be reckoned with – without explanation.
Or, you know, just let Toby be whatever the hell he wants to be – either a floating amoeba, or a kill-happy demon – and keep churning out Paranormal Activity movies for audiences to swallow whole.