Bendy (real-life franchise)

This article refers to the central video game franchise. For the in-universe lore's cartoon franchise, see Bendy (in-universe franchise).

For other uses, see Bendy (disambiguation).

The series' official trademark logo.

Bendy is an American-Canadian media franchise based around the horror video game series developed and published by Joey Drew Studios Inc, a game development team based on the series' fictional animation company of the same name.

The franchise started its life on early 2017 as a video game project, Bendy and the Ink Machine, with the first chapter's prototype demo solely created by indie game developer and comic artist theMeatly with his friend Mike D. Weeks later after the release of its first chapter, the Bendy and the Ink Machine game received global attention, leading to its success and a franchise which has spawned games, books, animated shorts, an upcoming movie, and an array of merchandise.

The series' games are known for their sketchy hand-drawn textures resembling cartoons from the golden days of animation, as the idea for the series' concept came from theMeatly when he thought about a world that could resemble a cartoon sketch. The series was heavily influenced by another series that theMeatly and Mike are a huge fan of, BioShock, as both series set in the early-mid 20th century and have antique style, with the Bendy games containing not only inspirations but also references and allusions dedicated to BioShock.

The series is named after the titular Little Devil himself Bendy, who is the iconic focus of the franchise. The name comes from a typo file named "bendy.blend" when theMeatly is creating the character's model with the engine Blender, and thus "horror.blend" is saved as "horror.bendy".

The franchise's age appropriation is extremely varied. Since Bendy and the Ink Machine, the game series and novels were intentionally suitable for adolescents, although the franchise in general also attracts children under the age of 12 due to the series' cartoon imagery. Therefore, the cartoon shorts, comics, and Bendy in Nightmare Run mobile game are made to be suitable for all ages. Since after the release of Bendy and the Dark Revival, by popular demands, the game saga is pushed into more heavy content in order to appeal the mature audience, with Bendy: The Cage being the first mature-rated game of the franchise.

Video games

For the article about the main game series' continuity, see Bendy (main canonical series)

Video games are the primal entries of the franchise, mainly consisting mainline games (titled Bendy and the...), side-story spin-offs (titled Bendy: ...), and future games with a different title style yet to be revealed.

Mainline series

Bendy and the Ink Machine was first released on February 10, 2017 as a prototype demo for Chapter 1 and fully completed on October 25, 2018. It is an episodic game, as the first chapter was originally free-to-play while other chapters were released separately as downloadable content purchases, and upon release of the final chapter, all chapters ultimately merged into one completed edition. It follows Henry Stein, a former animator of Joey Drew Studios, who was invited back to the studio 30 years later when his old friend Joey Drew sent him a letter, only to find out he descends into the nightmare world of the Cycle.

Bendy and the Dark Revival was released on November 15, 2022 and is an indirect sequel to Bendy and the Ink Machine, taking place 10 years later after the events of the first game. It centers around Audrey Drew, the daughter of the Joey Drew Studios founder and was hired as an animator for the new Bendy cartoons at Arch Gate Pictures, but was transported to the Cycle by Wilson Arch where she must fight her way to the end and break the Cycle.

B3ndy (official title unconfirmed) is officially considered and will most likely start its production after the release of Bendy: The Cage.

Side-story series

Bendy: The Cage is an upcoming project set to release on 2024. It will be a prequel to the finale of Bendy and the Dark Revival, where Henry breaks free from the Gent workshop's prison cell and fights his way out of the factory of horrors.

Bendy: Secrets of the Machine is a side-story game released on April 14, 2024. It is an interactive game with little-to-no combat or other major mechanics, as its only purpose is showing off teasers for future Bendy games.

Bendy: The Silent City is an another upcoming game and will be a first-person shooter intended for mature audience only. At first its concept prototype was leaked on May 10, 2023, and was later officially announced as a teaser image found in Bendy: Secrets of the Machine.

Bendy: Lone Wolf is a successor to Boris and the Dark Survival, serving as the old game's replacement. First discovered on February 2024, it was officially announced from the teaser poster found in Bendy: Secrets of the Machine.

Discontinued games

Hello Bendy was a limited-time Halloween crossover mod released on October 27, 2017 and expired by the end of that month. It features the Hello Neighbor antagonist Theodore Peterson who replaces the role of the Ink Demon in all previous three chapters and Sammy Lawrence for the second chapter. In Hello Neighbor for the same event, it features a yellowish sepia filter for the Hello Neighbor game's environment to resemble the Cycle's color from the Bendy series, with Theodore Peterson wearing Sammy Lawrence's mask.

Bendy in Nightmare Run was a mobile spin-off game released on August 15, 2018 by Joey Drew Studios in partnership with Karmen Interactive and the merchandise company PhatMojo, but was discontinued on November 2022 due to lawsuit conflict between Joey Drew Studios and PhatMojo, and thus can no longer be played in any official downloads.

Boris and the Dark Survival was a spin-off game and a predecessor to Bendy: Lone Wolf released on February 10, 2020. It was a side prequel to Bendy and the Ink Machine, taking place before Henry meets Boris. The main protagonist is Boris himself as he goes on a series of missions by exploring around the abandoned areas while being hunted down by the Ink Demon and other hostile creatures.

Literature

Novels

For the article about the novel series' continuity, see Bendy (novel series)

A series of young adult horror novels were written by author Adrienne Kress and published by Scholastic. Although despite containing expanded lore and detailed backstories that sets in the time before the game series' events, almost containing no contradictions, the novels were not canon to the main game series' timeline.

Bendy: Dreams Come to Life is published on September 3, 2019, and the graphic novel adaptation is scheduled to be released on August 2024. It takes place in Summer 1946 centering around a Jewish teenager Daniel "Buddy" Lewek who is hired by Joey Drew to intern at his studio.

Bendy: The Illusion of Living is published on February 2, 2021. It is based on the in-game memoir of the same name by Joey Drew.

Bendy: The Lost Ones is published on December 7, 2021. The novel is an indirect sequel to Dreams Come to Life and sets in Atlantic City in 1946.

Bendy: Fade to Black is published on October 3, 2023. The novel's plot takes place in 1953 in New York City, 7 years later after the events of Dreams Come to Life and The Lost Ones.

Guidebooks

Joey Drew Studios Employee Handbook is released on July 30, 2019. This guidebook covers a quantity of lore and strategy guides about the Bendy and the Ink Machine game along with other information not seen or mentioned in the game.

Joey Drew Studios Updated Employee Handbook is scheduled to release on February 4, 2024. It is an updated version of the first guidebook, meant to accommodate the release of Bendy and the Dark Revival.

Other books

Crack-Up Comics Collection is a comic compilation book released on September 1, 2020 by Vannotes. It includes most of the fictional Bendy comic strips from the eras of the 1930s and 1940s.

Animated shorts

Joey Drew Studios cartoons

The web video series of animated shorts based on the fictional works of Joey Drew Studios have been released from the Joey Drew Studios Inc's YouTube channel, with animation done by Timethehobo and WendyLiZard, and later by Plunkett after both animators' resigning.

Tombstone Picnic is a first animated short first released on August 11, 2017 as a first half of the official teaser trailer for Bendy and the Ink Machine: Chapter 3. It was later re-released on January 7, 2019.

Haunted Hijinx is a second animated short released on October 31, 2017 as a mini Halloween short, and re-released on January 21, 2019.

Snow Sillies is a third animated short released on December 24, 2017 as a first mini Christmas short, and re-released on January 15, 2019.

Cookie Cookin is a fourth animated short released on December 24, 2018 as a second mini Christmas short.

Tasty Trio Troubles is a fifth animated short released on February 10, 2019 as a part of the celebration for the franchise's second anniversary.

Hellfire Fighters is a sixth animated short released on March 5, 2019. It was derived from one of the cartoon clips seen in Bendy and the Ink Machine: Chapter 5.

Cheap Seats is a seventh animated short released on December 17, 2019. It was the first animated short made by Plunkett.

Non-canonical shorts

On September 30, 2017, Timethehobo created and released her The Original Sample short out of her imagination. A crossover fight episode for the DBX series by Rooster Teeth's channel ScrewAttacks was released on December 22, 2018, featuring a fight between Bendy and Cuphead, a titular protagonist of the run-and-gun platformer Cuphead.

Albums

Original soundtracks

Bendy and the Ink Machine's Game Jolt soundtrack was released on February 10, 2017 on the prototype demo's Game Jolt page. This digital album features only four tracks.

Bendy and the Ink Machine: Chapter Two Soundtrack is another early official soundtrack album released on Bandcamp on April 20, 2017. Although it only consists of few tracks from the game's first two chapters, the album has not been updated to include the rest of the soundtracks even after the last chapter's release. A completed version of the Bendy and the Ink Machine music album is confirmed to be available for purchase at one point, but whether it finally comes out or not is unconfirmed.

Boris and the Dark Survival: Original Soundtrack is an official soundtrack playlist of music track videos uploaded from Joey Drew Studios Inc's YouTube channel, containing only ten tracks from Boris and the Dark Survival.

The Dark Revival Suite is a compilation video of several previews for the music tracks that will be used for the then-upcoming Bendy and the Dark Revival, and was released on November 10, 2022.

As of now, other than four aforementioned soundtracks, there is no official release of full soundtracks for Bendy and the Ink Machine, Bendy and the Dark Revival, or other games of the series.

Album singles

The voice actress Lauren Synger released a couple of album singles of her Alice Angel songs.

Lonely Angel / I'll be Your Angel was released on November 1, 2018. Her song was heard in the music radio found in the film vaults from Bendy and the Ink Machine: Chapter 5.

Come What May was released on November 10, 2022. Her song was heard in Bendy and the Dark Revival: Chapter 4 as part of the background ambient for the Lost City.

Other albums

Bendy's Inky Megamix is an official compilation album of popular fan songs revealed on April 17, 2020 for United Way's COVID-19 relief charity at Tiltify, and whoever donates the charity to reach $5,000.00 will be granted with the album.

Other media

Movie

The upcoming movie adaptation of the Bendy series is officially announced on December 25, 2023 and will be produced by Radar Pictures. It will be promised to be "as quality, scary, exciting, and honoring to the Bendy world as possible".

Merchandise

The official Bendy products are made and produced by merchandise companies including Funko and formerly PhatMojo. Found in both online and public stores, the merchandise products include beanie plush toys, hang clips, T-shirts, action figures, pins, and many more.

Most other products can be also purchased in the official Bendy online store, which was hosted by Joey Drew Studios Inc. A new wave of Bendy toys, such as action figures, is expected to be released on 2024 by JAKKS Pacific.

Special events

Special events usually occur on the internet, including Sammy's Hot Topic takeover and mostly other activities such as Inktober, fan art contests, etc.

Joke media

Sometimes on April 1st, Joey Drew Studios Inc would upload amusing videos to announce upcoming projects which were later revealed to be April Fools' pranks at the end. This includes Bendy Royale on 2020, Ink Chronicles on 2021, and Bendy Campus on 2023.

Cameos

• In Showdown Bandit, a game developed by Joey Drew Studios Inc under the name Kindly Beast, Bendy's glove made an appearance where Showdown Bandit can unlock the Bendy outfit after completing Mr. Body's side quest. Also, when wearing the same outfit, it features Bendy's facepaint as well as featuring two black dots on each hand to look like gloves.
• From the asylum environment art for the rubberhose cartoon-style shooter game MOUSE, there is a poster depicting what seems to be a mouse version of Bendy.
• On Game Jolt, there is an official Bendy hashtag for the Bendy fan games released on this platform.

Unrealized concepts

Sent From Above novel

Sent From Above was a supposed novel that was once leaked on Bookmanager around 2020 but later ends up removed. According to the summary description, the novel would explore the origins of Alice Angel and Susie Campbell's life career in 1932.

Adrienne Kress, when asked about the novel's whereabouts, confirms that she does not remember writing the novel nor knew about its existence. In that case, it is unknown why the novel's store article is shown on Bookmanager to begin with, although it is possible that it happens to be a mistake from Scholastic's misunderstanding.

Dark Deception Bendy DLC

The horror game Dark Deception was originally planned to include Bendy's own level as a DLC, after the Bendy and the Ink Machine game won most votes from the official Dark Deception account's poll tweet on February 11, 2019. However, on August 1st, the deal was declined when Glowstick Entertainment requested Joey Drew Studios Inc. Two days later, the Dark Deception cover of the "Drawn to Darkness" track by Daniel Dombrowsky is uploaded.

Animated television series

Animator Timethehobo's reply on Tumblr reveals that the Joey Drew Studios Inc team had plans to adapt the Bendy cartoons into a television series at some point but it was quickly canned.^{[Citation needed]}

Trivia

• The font for the franchise's logo is Black Bamboo DK, with the letter B stylized with Bendy's horns.
• In David Eddings' interview, his dreams for the franchise's future is to introduce new Bendy games that would set in different animation era.
• Derek Kolstad, the creator of the John Wick franchise, expresses his interest in adapting Bendy and the Ink Machine into a television series along with My Friend Pedro.

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