This paper departs from an observation that certain pieces by Debussy feature the consistent chromatic displacement (usually downward) of dominant-like gestures. Although, from a historical perspective, Debussy's employment of such non-literal means to convey a quality of "dominantness" might in itself be viewed as an extension of earlier chromatic practices, from a functional perspective the technique of chromatic displacement raises perceptual questions. It also engages an interesting theoretical issue, namely the "#IV (bV) problem" and the limits of chromatic transformation in tonal music, the subject of recent research by Matthew Brown and Dave Headlam. Given these authors' conclusion that, in genuinely tonal music, an apparent #IV or bV can relate to the tonic only through the mediation of another chord, how can the dominant's chromatic displacement be apprehended as such within a tonal context? Adapting research by Richard Bass on melodic "wrong note" neoclassicism in the music of Prokofiev, I suggest that Debussy's apparent bV's similarly operate in the capacity of substitute for their "diatonic shadow." After consideration of the formal and tonal conditions under which the chromatic substitution can be effectively perceived as such, the remainder of the paper demonstrates how these conditions are fulfilled in four movements from La mer, the orchestral Images, and the piano preludes. Finally, taken together these pieces point to an intriguing correlation between chromatic displacement and programmatic or evocative content, suggesting that Debussy associated the technique with the musical portrayal of nature's more elemental, untamed aspects.