#vox posts

I know I'm not the first person to have this take but like

I don't think Ink Bendy is intrinsically malicious and he's definitely not as mindless as I've seen him read as by some players

He's definitely a hostile presence at times but I don't think he's some kind of pure evil killing machine for a couple of reasons

To set this all up, some fundamental things we know for sure about Ink Bendy:

• He was created by running film reels of cartoon Bendy through the ink machine (Thomas Connor, "Office Report")

• He has no human soul or prior human life (Joey Drew, "Thousands of Souls")

• Ink Bendy is intelligent enough to be aware that The End tape is a threat to him and to steal it as a precaution (Chapter 5). He's also likely able to write, as there is writing on the walls of his lair that was unlikely to be done by anyone else.

• Ink Bendy plays the Bendy cartoons in his lair, seemingly constantly, and turns to watch when Henry puts in a new reel (Chapter 5). He's also upset by the destruction of Bendy cutouts (Chapter 3), making it clear that he's aware he's a likeness of cartoon Bendy.

• Ink Bendy was ordered to be locked up shortly after his creation, and prior to the creation of soul-holding ink characters, for fear of scaring away investors (Joey Drew, "Thousands of Souls"). He is not stated to have shown any signs of hostility prior to this.

And here are some relevant things we don't know about Ink Bendy but have some evidence for:

• He seems to be aware of who Henry is. During the end scene of Chapter 1, one of the scenes between the flashing images is Ink Bendy staring at the camera/Henry from Henry's desk, which has some of his Bendy designs on it. It's also been stated that he was there for his beginning (Joey Drew, "Bendy's End"), but that could refer to his formation from ink as much as Henry's original design

• Ink Bendy seems to be selective with who he harms. It's uncertain how much of this is game mechanics and how much is storytelling.

Examples:

1. The first scene in which Ink Bendy appears, he tries to grab Henry, but does not chase him (Chapter 1)

2. The second scene in which Ink Bendy appears, he does chase Henry, and, if caught, Henry dies instantly. (Chapter 2)

3. In procedurally generated encounters, Ink Bendy has specific behavior. He will destroy other enemies (such as the Butcher gang) via his ink surrounding, but will not harm Buddy Boris even if they are in the same location. If Henry is not spotted, Ink Bendy will wander slowly about until leaving the area or disappearing into an ink portal. If Henry is spotted, he will chase him, resulting in instant death if Henry is caught. He stops chasing Henry if he enters a Miracle Station. (Chapters 3-4)

4. On at least two occasions in Chapter 4, Ink Bendy appears to be aware of Henry's presence, but does not harm him. These events are when Henry is in the vents and when the Protectionist attempts to harm Henry when he's in the Miracle Station, prompting Ink Bendy to kill him. It is possible that Ink Bendy killed the Protectionist to save Henry, but it is also possible that he killed the Protectionist for another reason and simply also chose to spare Henry. (Chapter 4)

5. While Ink Bendy seems to be able to instantly kill Henry in earlier chapters, Beast Bendy does not kill Henry in one hit. (Chapter 5)

6. It's implied by Allison Angel that Ink Bendy is specifically hunting down Tom Boris. (Chapter 5)

So, putting all of this together, a few ideas I have about Ink Bendy:

• I don't think Ink Bendy has a human concept of death. Everyone he's ever killed has respawned or crawled back out of the ink in some form, before or after the reset of the time loop. I also think that his ink may kill some ink creatures without any deliberate action on his part, which doesn't seem to bother him. That being said, I don't think he'll go out of his way to kill anyone he doesn't recognize as a threat. This bit is based partially on things I've heard about a Bendy book, so I might have more opinions when I actually buy and read it.

• I think that Ink Bendy is some equivalent of unsocialized as a result of being locked up at the behest of Joey Drew.

• I think that Ink Bendy is aware of who Henry is and is seeking him out because of it. I also think that he may be aware of who some of the ink characters were as humans. If Tom Boris does turn out to be Thomas Connor (not quite confirmed I don't think), it would make sense for Ink Bendy to hunt down someone who had something to do with his ink creation and quite possibly with locking him up.

• On the note of Ink Bendy knowing who Henry is, I think he's seeking him out for information rather than to kill him in Chapters 1-4, and Henry's death at capture may either be a game mechanic or an accidental result. In Chapter 5, I think he's either trying to scare Henry off or actually kill him because he feels threatened by Henry's presence in his home.

• I think Ink Bendy is angry at his circumstances just like. In general. Which, like, fair. I think two things that anger him in particular are being locked up (seems obvious) and the fact that he's not the cartoon Bendy Joey Drew Studios was trying to make (less certain, but seems to be evidenced by his fixation with depictions of cartoon Bendy and all the cartoons playing right as his throne, but it's also possible that he just has an ego)

• I wouldn't exactly call Ink Bendy good, either. I don't think there's a good single description for the morality of him, but I do think he's either going to become distinctly more violent in a rage sort of way or notably less malicious to at least main characters later in the storyline, be it with the next game or something else. Regardless, I don't think he'll be the overarching Big Bad of the Bendy universe. Hell, even in the first game, the biggest overaching evil is Joey Drew, he just doesn't get a boss fight.