Swollen Searchers

*This article may contain **spoilers** left unmarked. Details follow, so read at your own risk.*
*See Searchers (disambiguation) for other related uses.*

## Other Information

### Alias

The swollen ones\*
Bloated Searchers\*

**"***If you're going to catch them, you'll have to learn to move quietly.***"**
— **Physical Alice giving instructions on how to hunt the Swollen Searchers, *Bendy and the Ink Machine: Chapter 3***

**Swollen Searchers** are bloated variants of the original Searchers and minor-encountered monsters that appear in *Chapter 3* and *4* of *Bendy and the Ink Machine*.

## Bestiary

### Description

The Swollen Searchers' appearance looks incredibly similar to their original variants, but they are slightly larger and appear to be in a hunched position. They have a diseased-like appearance - sporting a lump on their right arm, a thumb on their left hand, the left cheek, and the left side of their back. Their stomachs also possess several large lumps.

### Behavior

These Searcher variants are composed of unusual-looking ink known as "thick ink", coming with both normal and extra amount.

Unlike other Searcher types, the Swollen Searchers do not outright harm Henry. They stand idle and barely move around. If Henry takes too long while attempting to kill them with the syringe or moving far too fast, they vanish into ink and teleport to another location.

### Strategy

Before obtaining their extra-thick ink, the Swollen Searchers only takes a single hit by Henry's syringe.

## Appearances

### *Bendy and the Ink Machine*

#### *Chapter 2: The Old Song*

While no hostile Swollen Searchers appear in Chapter 2, the passive monster form of Jack Fain appears in the Music Department's sewer system and utility station. He seemingly cannot be killed at first glance, as he crawls underneath the ink's surface whenever approached. However, Henry can corral him in a hallway and squish him with a crate.

#### *Chapter 3: Rise and Fall*

They only appear on Level 11 from one task where Henry goes on the next mission by collecting thick ink, teleporting around the ink-river station and the waiting room. Physical Alice feels disgusted by the Swollen Searchers' appearance while requesting Henry to obtain the syringe and use it for collecting extra-thick ink that they are composed of. Henry must go to Level 11, kill all either two or three Swollen Searchers (if not killing Fisher for one extra-thick ink he obtained) and obtain their extra-thick ink to complete the task.

#### *Chapter 4: Colossal Wonders*

A single Swollen Searcher made an extremely minor appearance in this chapter. One can be summoned from the ink pipe by turning the valve in the pillar room. Henry has to use their thick ink for the Ink Maker. After Henry takes the Swollen Searcher's thick ink, it will disappear back into the ink pipe. If Henry wanted to get back thick ink, it will summoned again.

## Trivia

General

* All idle moans the Swollen Searchers make are reused from the regular Searchers' death sounds, only edited with low-pitch. While one of the taken sounds is still used for the normal Searchers, two of these sounds are actually taken from the Searcher's many unused death sounds which can be found in the game files from *Chapter 2's* first release.
* The current quality of the Swollen Searcher's official rigged model is unofficially released onto Steam's Source Filmmaker Workshop and included in the second SFM pack along with Piper, Striker, Fisher, the Searcher, Physical Alice, and the Projectionist's model.
* There is another ink monster called Swollen Jack which uses the same look from the Swollen Searchers except that he wears a hat.

*Chapter 3: Rise and Fall*

* Killing all two or three Swollen Searchers will unlock the "Ultimate Stomachache" achievement.
* There are few earlier differences for the Swollen Searcher's mechanics before the latest update for *Chapter 4's* release:
	+ On update patch 1.3.0:
		- There were four Swollen Searchers to hunt instead of three along with Fisher lacking the thick ink he obtains.
		- The Swollen Searchers can be located around almost any locations besides just Level 11.
	+ On update patch 1.3.1:
		- There were over five Swollen Searchers to hunt.
* Before *Chapter 4* before the image was removed, the Swollen Searcher was seen in the "*Path of the Demon*" ending image along with Ink Bendy and all three Butcher Gang enemies.

## Gallery

3D model of The Swollen Searcher.Swollen Searcher appeared inside the small workshop room of Level P before update patch 1.3.1.A Swollen Searcher in the waiting room.Henry face-to-face to the Swollen Searcher.The Swollen Searcher, along with Ink Bendy, Piper, Fisher, and Striker as seen from the unused "*Path of the Demon*" ending image.The Swollen Searcher in *Chapter 4*, inside the pillar room found in the cavern.A Swollen Searcher in the pillar room.The rigged model of the Swollen Searcher.Official image of the Swollen Searcher's model from Pascal's ArtStation account.Bendy CH3 The SearchersA Swollen Searcher along with the Searcher's model preview in Pascal's video from his YouTube channel.
## References

1. ↑ "*They're just stuffed full of extra-thick ink. It makes me sick!* - Physical Alice, *Bendy and the Ink Machine: Chapter 3*

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