Ink Bendy

Ink Demon

Figure of ink\*

The Demon\*

"One weird note: the first figure ever created was a failed attempt in the likeness of the character called "Bendy". Since that time, no other attempts of this particular figure have emerged. And the one that did... I don't know, there's just something unworldly about him."

— Thomas Connor's audio log on the creation of Ink Bendy

Bendy and the Ink Machine: Chapter 5

Ink Bendy is the main antagonist of the Bendy Franchise and a failed attempt at creating the studio's popular mascot Bendy in real life in an attempt to bring cartoon characters to reality by Joey Drew, who turned out defective along with several other physical cartoon characters due to lacking a soul. A demonic entity of the Cycle, Ink Bendy is a large threat to anyone in this otherworld, constantly pursuing them down and attempting to kill them whenever they are caught in his proximity.

As a failed recreation of Bendy, his tall, lanky physique, along with his behavior, make him vastly different from his original cartoon counterpart.

## Physical Description

Ink Bendy appears as a tall, malformed figure, with skin made of black ink resembling tar. His head highly resembles that of the original Bendy, but the top area of his head appears melted, obscuring his eyes. His horns are slightly more curved to bear a shape like a deformed crescent moon, being able to articulate similarly to animal ears. His toothy, Cheshire grin, with sketch-like shadings, is shown to vibrate. His spine appears slightly crooked or curved, possibly referencing the spinal condition scoliosis.

His slightly-hunched back, which induces endless wisps of blackish smoke, also sport spiky spines for demonic features. Ink streams down from him whenever Ink Bendy is running, idling, or walking, making it hard to see him. His left arm is slightly longer than his right, which looks thinner and less human. On his left hand, he wears an oversized white glove with four fingers, though it does not sport two buttons like the original Bendy, while his right hand is smaller and more human-like, with five fingers. His feet are also mismatched: His right foot faintly resembles that of a human, while the left is just a lump-covered, disease-like stump, which gives him a limp. He also wears a drooping bowtie close to the middle of his chest, appearing almost identical to Bendy's except being larger, and is slightly tilted to his left to give him a misshapen appearance.

In Bendy and the Ink Machine and Boris and the Dark Survival, Ink Bendy bears a skeleton-like appearance and has only one set of eight teeth, similar to his original counterpart.

In Bendy and the Dark Revival, revealed in the Hot Topic T-shirt prior to the game's release, Ink Bendy's head design is slightly changed: The long, curved horns are symmetrical and smoother, while his grin is wider and has a full set of teeth with black teeth gums. His bowtie is also covered in ink.

## Behavior

Ink Bendy is a failed result to recreate Bendy as a physical, living being; he has no soul, which could explain his murderous behavior, and as such, he has no proper emotions. Additionally, he never learned how to socialize due to the workers of the studio locking him up on Joey Drew's orders, preventing him from socializing with anyone or anything. With a lack of human intelligence, he is also incapable of speaking, only making noise through raspy breathing, moans, and grunts. Ink Bendy has an unnatural ability to cover areas with ink-masses and make ink rain from the ceiling whenever he appears. These ink-like masses turn out to be strong enough to kill the mutilated Butcher Gang enemies nearby, showing a cold apathy toward these deformed/disfigured toons. While he can teleport in an unexpected manner by emerging from walls with ink-substances, he possesses a unique ability to optionally transform into his larger, stronger, and more fearsome form, known as Beast Bendy.

Since Ink Bendy's eyes are completely covered with ink, it is entirely unknown how he can actually see while chasing his victims. However, it is said by Twisted Alice that Ink Bendy still has a sense of hearing to be able to hear sounds, such as footsteps and floor creaks. Yet, in Chapter 4 of the first game, Ink Bendy appears to actually "See" Henry in the vent. He also knows when Henry is in the Little Miracle Station, despite Henry not making a sound.

In Chapter 3: Rise and Fall, Ink Bendy is shown to be fairly narcissistic. He heavily dislikes it when the Bendy cutouts are destroyed, as it will make him spawn and hunt down whoever does so, according to Twisted Alice. He will even react to the broken pieces of the cutouts upon discovering them. If he does, he will look around for whoever caused the cutout to break, although it is noted that breaking the cutouts in Chapter 2: The Old Song will not make him spawn.

As seen in the Dreams Come to Life novel, Ink Bendy has seemingly immortal power by regenerating himself each time when wounded.

## History

### Birth of the Demon

Around the unknown date, after the Ink Machine was purchased, Ink Bendy was created from the machine as a failed attempt to bring Bendy to reality. While he had no soul, Ink Bendy was seemingly harmless and made no attempt to hurt anyone other than merely wandering around the studio, though still literally turns out as unearthly, according to Thomas Connor.

Due to his unnatural appearance, Thomas locks Ink Bendy away in the infirmary, far from the public's view, as demanded by Joey Drew, after seeing the demon roaming around Thomas' office.

### The Demon's Release

In Summer 1946, Ink Bendy was discovered by Buddy Lewek from the other room after the infirmary. Buddy hears Ink Bendy sadly moaning and crying out. When Buddy unlocks the door and enters the room, Ink Bendy pushes Buddy down before escaping and running away.

Ink Bendy is revealed to be the entity described by Sammy Lawrence during the "ritual". Ink Bendy chases Buddy and Dot around the studio. Ink Bendy soon appears again on the stage. Instead of killing Jacob, Ink Bendy instead rips a dead Dave's arm out of its socket. Buddy and Dot confront Bendy, though Ink Bendy grabs Dot and squeezes her hard, but not enough to kill her. Shortly after, Buddy rescues Dot from the Ink Demon’s clutches and Dot cuts off one of his hands. Soon after, he was dropped into an ink-filled trapdoor, seemingly killing him. When Buddy is about to leave, Ink Bendy catches Buddy off-guard and pulls him into the trapdoor where he bobs his head above the ink long enough to kill Buddy by using his sharp teeth to dissect and then drown Buddy, shortly after a vain attempt by Dot to rescue him.

## In-Game Appearances

### Boris and the Dark Survival

#### Encountering

Ink Bendy spawns in a random location on the map after Buddy Boris collects either a certain amount of items (four items in Day 1, one item in Day 2) or when the level is started (Day 3 and next).

Wandering randomly around the areas, Ink Bendy will show the cue that he is coming closer by his heartbeat ambient sound and thick inky aura-like mists around him, which serve as his detection range. He will start running towards Buddy Boris if he is in the inky masses surrounding Ink Bendy.

#### Strategy

To escape him, Buddy Boris must run and hide in the nearest Little Miracle Station. If Buddy Boris moves too slowly or runs out of time, Ink Bendy will fully catch Buddy Boris and send him back to the elevator. When hiding inside the Little Miracle Station, Ink Bendy cannot get to Buddy Boris and will move on. Wait until Ink Bendy walks off-screen before exiting the station.

### Bendy and the Ink Machine

#### Encountering

In Chapter 1: Moving Pictures, Ink Bendy will not appear until Henry solves the puzzle to activate the Ink Machine. However, on the way to the break room after activating the ink pressure from the projector room, Henry can possibly hear Ink Bendy crawling through the pipes toward the Ink Machine room.

Henry walks back to the Ink Machine room after completing the puzzle to activate the machine, but he notices several boards blocking the entrance. Once approaching, Ink Bendy will suddenly pop out behind the boards along with a bright flash. He attempts to snatch up Henry, but instead makes him fall backward. He then sinks back down to the ink puddle as the studio and hallways slowly flood and collapse.

In Chapter 2: The Old Song, Ink Bendy is first briefly mentioned by Sammy Lawrence's ink form in the audio log found in Utility Shaft 9, being referred to as Sammy's "lord" and "savior".

Later on, in the sacrifice room, according to Sammy, the "believers" must honor Ink Bendy, and regard him as their savior. Soon, Ink Bendy can be heard crawling through the pipes, presumably from under the ceiling of the ritual room where both Henry and Sammy are at, drawing Sammy's attention. He is later summoned by Sammy from the other room and being commanded to sacrifice Henry, so Sammy will be freed out of his own ink-like form. However, Ink Bendy refuses to accept Sammy's desire, "eliminating" Sammy instead.

Ink Bendy once again can be heard crawling through the pipes from the uppercase ceiling above, following Henry as he walks down the hallway, chopping any obstructing boards down, once exiting the ritual room. As Henry tries to escape by heading to the exit from the ink-flooded area, Ink Bendy emerges from the ink out in front of him. He then proceeds to chase Henry through the maze before Henry reaches the S3 Vault for safety.

Should Henry fail to be quick enough to head inside the S3 Vault or ending up running towards the dead end of the maze, Ink Bendy will catch and kill Henry, sending him to respawn from the Bendy statue of the maze. Even if Henry runs towards Ink Bendy as soon as he spawns before the chase, it still gives him the same death result. After respawning from the Bendy statue when killed, Ink Bendy will spring out again from another ink pool and continue to chase down Henry until he finally reaches the S3 Vault, hopefully without getting caught again to start over. After heading inside the S3 Vault, Henry approaches the sealed door to ensure he's still safe while listening closely to Ink Bendy's sound to decide. He can faintly hear the sound of Ink Bendy banging on the door for only a few times, trying to break the door down but quickly giving up. Then, Henry hears the footsteps from Ink Bendy fading as he walks away.

In Chapter 3: Rise and Fall, Ink Bendy will first become active and can randomly appear to start hunting down Henry while he is performing Twisted Alice's tasks around different areas. He can spawn in all locations except for the safe house and the dark hallway on Level K. When Ink Bendy is nearby as he spawns, a sound of heart beating will be heard, along with the whispering-like ambiance growing louder, and the area surrounding him becoming coated with ink splatters resembling webs. Buddy Boris will even cover his face in fear when this happens.

Henry has to hide in the nearest Little Miracle Station or run in the elevator and close the doors; otherwise, Ink Bendy will spot Henry and chase him. Upon getting caught, Ink Bendy instantly kills Henry, respawning him at a Bendy statue. The chances of Ink Bendy's chase increases if Henry sprints too much or if he destroys specific Bendy cutouts. Ink Bendy will stop chasing when Henry manages to head inside the Little Miracle Station, though it is possible that when Ink Bendy leaves, he can spawn in the same room again. Camping within the elevator with the doors closed can also protect Henry from Ink Bendy, but the elevator has a tendency to change floors when the player wanders far enough away from it, forcing them to wait for it to return to their floor. Ink Bendy will still notice them through the elevator gates and will run up against the gates to catch them. Ink Bendy can still reach Henry through the gate if he came too close, despite not being able to reach him.

In Chapter 4: Colossal Wonders, the first time Ink Bendy appears is when Henry is crawling through the vents after meeting the Lost Ones. As Henry approaches a vent cover that lets out into a room with a Bendy cutout and a desk, Ink Bendy appears suddenly in the room, seeming to shake with rage, but strangely does not try to get through the cover to reach. Instead, he gently runs one finger along one of the air vent cover's slats, before walking away. Ink Bendy will also leave behind a waterfall of ink in front of the grate.

Later on, after leaving the lower level of the Maintenance Department and hiding from the Projectionist in a Miracle Station, Ink Bendy arrives with a sudden flash of light. The Projectionist looks at him and screams as Ink Bendy rushes at him and punches him. Ink Bendy and the Projectionist then exchange blows before Ink Bendy lifts the Projectionist off his feet, snaps his neck, tears off his head, and throws it against the Little Miracle Station where Henry is. Ink Bendy then looks into the Little Miracle Station, seemingly aware of Henry's presence. He simply "glares" at Henry, then takes hold of the Projectionist's decapitated body and drags it away, disappearing with it through the wall off-screen. During the fight, Henry will experience effects identical to that of horror visions, ending once the Projectionist is killed.

In Chapter 5: The Last Reel, Ink Bendy is first mentioned by Allison Angel while berating Tom for being seen while venturing out into the depths. She states that it is only a matter of time until he would arrive, shortly before waving at Henry. Henry eventually reawakens to hear Ink Bendy's ambient sounds, as well as Allison, informing Tom that they must release him so they can escape together. Tom, however, convinces her to leave Henry to the Ink Demon, after which Allison emotionally apologizes to Henry and leaves.

Ink Bendy's first physical appearance in this chapter is in the balcony above the appointment lobby, but this only occurs after the creation of the first pipe in the Ink Maker. Upon creating the first pipe after leaving the administration hallways, he will slowly walk across the balcony, only serving as a passive threat to Henry. If one were to lure any of the Butcher Gang members toward the entrance as the webs appear, they will die. Ink Bendy will then leave shortly after and will not reappear in this area.

After entering the vault and passing trough the rooms reminiscent of the rooms in the first chapter, Ink Bendy will appear in a corridor behind a wall of glass as he slowly walks to the end of the same hallway that Henry, Allison, and Tom are at. Allison will tell Henry not to make a sound upon his appearance, although moving or staying in front of him will provoke no response.

He will then proceed to exit the hallway, where a "lift" sign can be found. After parting ways with Allison and Tom, Henry approaches Ink Bendy's man-made throne within the Ink Machine and listens to Joey Drew's final audio log, who tells him that Ink Bendy never saw the end of the Bendy cartoons, which left him wandering throughout the studio underground non-stop for all those years after the studio's closure, now finally prompting Henry to take a nearby film reel, labeled "The End". As soon the audio finishes, Ink Bendy shows up behind the throne and he commences the final fight by transforming into his monstrous form, Beast Bendy. Henry avoids him until he places the "The End" reel in a projector in the throne room, which weakens and angers him as all the screens turn into the "The End" sequences for all of the cartoons, causing Beast Bendy's body to seemingly dissolve into nothing, finally ending the reign of the Ink Demon.

#### Strategy

There are no actual strategies for killing Ink Bendy due to his invincibility and immunity to all weapons. The prey's only survival tip is to run and hide from him whenever he appears in order to advance to the next objective. It can be determined if he is nearby and alerts themselves due to the ambient heartbeat and ink slime-like materials from his presence. Ink Bendy typically notices the victim in a straight direction or within close proximity to him, but will not notice them immediately after walking through one of his inky portals, giving the victim a few seconds to run away before he gives chase.

Memorizing the locations of Miracle Stations can benefit the victim as well, as they can plan an escape route if Ink Bendy discovers them. Be warned, however, that Ink Bendy can still kill while the door is open, so the victim themselves will only be safe once they are fully inside the station.

Bendy and the Dark Revival

Ink Bendy is set to return.

## Development

Ink Bendy was created for Bendy and the Ink Machine under earlier concept development for the earliest prototype to subsequent updates until Chapter 4. Ink Bendy went through many redesigns and all were archived in the game's archive chapter.

When Chapter 1 started its development, the very first "concept" of Bendy resembled his original cartoon form with a large, floating head sporting a wide, toothy mouth going vertically around his head, originally designed by theMeatly. His glove hands shared similarly to the original Bendy's early glove design, with three darts each, and his face looks identical to Bendy, but without his grin. He would split his head in half to reveal a terrifying, leech-like mouth. He also supposed to be smaller in the game, but his model in the Archives is almost at Henry's exact height. This design was entirely changed later on and was recycled for the Boris clone's model with a few noticeable changes. The texture file for his face and gloves can be even found in the first prototype's game files, as this version has never appeared in any version of the game and can only be seen in the Archives chapter.

From Chapter 1's early prototype before Chapter 2, Ink Bendy's "alpha" design is entirely different comparing to his future redesigned builds, having a large body and lack of arms and legs. The shape of his head is very human-like, squarish instead of the later circular one, and sports a smaller grin. His horns are more spread out instead of curved, while his bowtie has a nearly same model as his concept version. He also appears at the same height as Henry. The model was originally designed by theMeatly before hiring Pascal Cleroux to redesign the model. This version is jokingly referred to as “bird poop with a smile” by the development team. It is noted that the alpha Ink Bendy's bowtie in the Archives chapter is missing as a development oversight.

His concept artwork shows that Ink Bendy's "alpha" form was intended to have fully developed arms and legs but scrapped likely due to time constraints. He also wore both gloves, each sporting two buttons.

For Chapters 2 and 3's release prior to Chapter 4 coming out, Ink Bendy's "beta" design almost resembles his final build. His body bears a less skeletal appearance, and his left glove hand sported two buttons like the original Bendy, drenched in ink with a humanized pinkie-finger poking out of the side. His left foot was much more puddle-like and flatter, and his grin has a less amount of details. He lacked visible hump spines, and his right human hand was partly painted with white colors. His bow tie is slightly rotated to his right for the same reason it is shifted.

Until the release of Chapter 3: Rise and Fall, Ink Bendy completely lacked the ability to cause ink spreading in areas from his surroundings. From Chapter 3's update where this ability was first introduced, the early version of his ink spreads were simple in design and closely resembled cobwebs.

## General Facts

In the limited-time Hello Bendy for the first game, Ink Bendy is completely replaced by the Neighbor from the game Hello Neighbor mod to take his role. Despite his entire replacement, however, he still appears in the final flashback image from the end of Chapter 1 and the "Path of the Demon" ending of Chapter 3.

From the mod for Hello Neighbor, Ink Bendy's head appeared as a water tower.

Ink Bendy appeared in the noncanonical "The Original Sample" animated short created by TimetheHobo. He briefly shows up in the scene where he rises from the ink puddle behind the original Bendy, then "kidnaps" him and melts away together.

Ink Bendy also appears in the crossover animation video in DBX by Screwattack from Rooster Teeth. He is Bendy's second form during the fight against Cuphead, right after the duo transported from Cuphead's world to Bendy's.