Pale man in Pan's Labyrinth is based on Tanome, a Japanese urban legend about the ghost of a blind man who has eyes on the plams of his hands. "Te-no-me" means "eyes on hands".
There was a blind old man who was attacked by robbers. They beat him viciously and left him die alone in a field. As he lay dying, the blind man cried out in anger and frustration, "If only I had seen their faces! If only I had eyes on the plams of my hand".
Because he died in such a state of agony and rage, the blind man returned as a ghost named Tenome. His desire for revenge was so great that his blind eyes. Where gone and he grew a new pair of eyes on the palms of his hands.
Now Tenome roams trough cities and villages, searching for the robbers who murdered him. He is able to see by holding his hands out in front of him. But Tenome never saw the face of his attackers, so he simply kills whoever he cam get his hand on. Although he has eyes in his hands, he is still figuratively blinded by his anger.
A/n:poor old man :'( I'm not tired yet so I decided to upload this.