Ink/novel
"We've not seen one like this before."
The article's subject originates from the Bendy novel series' continuity, which is not deemed as canonically part of the main series' lore. See Bendy Wiki:Canon for more information.
- For other uses, see Ink (disambiguation).
"A trail of ink running up the side
of the blanket, up along the long sleeves of Grandpa’s nightshirt, tracing up his
neck heading for his mouth. Like veins, or like a river of blood, except going up.
Toward him. Fingers. Reaching for him." |
The ink is an unnatural living organism that was created by the Ink Machine. Searching around for other organisms to kill and turn them into creatures made of itself.
History
Origins
Not much is know about the ink's origins but since the Ink Machine changes ink when it goes through it,[2] it is likely that it was created around the time when the machine was built.
Upon its introduction to Joey Drew Studios, Joey made a cover-up as he stated that this special ink was the highest-quality ink, created from the Ink Machine and used for better animating. However, this was all a fabrication to keep the employees from figuring out its true purpose.
Early life
After its creation, the ink was used to create the Ink Demon using the Ink Machine. Later on, people were killed by it and the machine was used to turn them into ink-made creatures, such as; Searchers, Lost Ones, twisted versions of cartoon characters, and perfect versions. This process continued as Joey tried to have the ink creatures resemble his cartoon characters.
The ink was also used to create various objects by being put through the Ink Makers and having it create the object one wanted.
Terrorizing the studio
Sammy Lawrence gets covered in the ink due to a burst pipe in the supply closet. He bursts into the Music Room, tackling Buddy Lewek. Buddy helps him by giving him water and a cloth to wash his face. Sammy had accidentally swallowed some of the ink, causing him to become addicted.
While Buddy is grabbing paper and ink from the supply closet so he can draw, he hears voices and hides in the closet. He listens to Thomas Connor and Sammy Lawrence arguing about something, mentioning that Sammy had asked one of Thomas' workers where the ink was kept last Friday. Later on the ink Buddy took was seen going inside his grandfather's mouth, after this Buddy took the remaining ink bottles and dumped them into the river to get rid of them.
The ink was later seen splattered inside the Music Department with a writing written by Sammy that reads “He Will Set Us Free”. In the theater, the ink was seen infecting Jacob, Norman and Dave after Sammy had lured them here because of the ink's influence on his mind. Buddy and Dot were able to save Jacob but the other two had already died. Though, the ink was still able to partially control Jacob's body, it attempted to harm Dot but Jacob was able to stop the ink by knocking himself out.
The Ink Demon quickly grabbed Buddy as he attempted to get away from the trapdoor he and Dot dropped him in. Dot tried to save Buddy but the ink pulled him alongside the demon and started to choke him. Buddy eventually gave himself up and was killed by the Ink Demon. The Ink Machine later brought him back to life as Buddy Boris.
Assault in Atlantic City
During Thomas and Bill were fixing the Ink Machine, Bill got sprayed in the face with ink after releasing a lever, even though he was able to clean it off the ink still effected him by increasing his fear.
After the Ink Demon turned on the machine, the ink started to pour out of it and flood the area. Constance and Bill were able to get out before the door was jammed but Brant got stuck in between, The ink quickly reached him and started to drag him back and crawl up to him. Constance tried to help Brant but the ink also grabbed her, she freed herself with Bill's help but the ink caused her anger to come out. After getting covered by it Brant exploded into ink then the remaining ink retreated back through the door.
After coming in contact with the ink, Scott became very paranoid and unstable. Constance later on used her ink stained dress to experiment on the ink with her chemistry set. She was able to find an antidote to the ink and figure out that it revealed people's hidden emotions. After Brant (who is now a Lost One) found Constance and Bill, they gave Brant the antidote, when Brant used it he turned back into a human. After some discussion the trio decided to destroy the Ink Machine.
After arriving at the secret area where the machine is kept the trio fought the Ink Demon, during the fight Bill was consumed by the ink. Brant also realized that he was still made of ink after bleeding ink from a cut, he gave up after trapping the Ink Demon with the help of a now Lost One Bill, and presumably became a Lost One again. Constance was presumably turned into a Lost One as well, after entering a car with Joey and Scott inside of it.[3]
Bridging the divide
After Gent shut down, Evan started working for Joey Drew. During the work, Evan, under Joey's commission, created a new kind of 3D glasses that would mentally transport people to the Sillyvision cartoons recreated with the ink. This seemingly caused the creation of the Cycle.
Some time after wearing the 3D glasses, Rose Sorenson saw a black speck on her face. Attempting to get rid of it Rose rubbed at it, causing her skin to peal off with the ink bleeding out of the wound to Rose's horror. However, this is revealed to be a mere vision as the ink and the wound disappeared immediately after Rose turned around and back.
Joey later redid all of the old Bendy cartoons with the ink from the machine by reprocessing them much to Evan's frustration. Although, spending so much time with ink started to cause Joey to become unpredictable and start hallucinating his former employees, especially Henry.
As the Cycle was slowly created by Joey, just like many of the ink creatures, the ink itself also started to exist inside the cartoon world. Inside the Cycle, the ink is seen splattered across the realm; seeping into and out of cracks, and sometimes flooding areas. With creatures and monsters living inside the pools and puddles of goo, Rose entered one of these while not knowing that there was something inside. A Lost One attacked her after she exited the puddle but she successfully killed the creature and continued searching for Ollie, her younger brother. While running away from the Ink Demon and the Projectionist's battle, the test families came across a river of ink, filled with all kinds of creatures. Archie Carter sacrificed himself by letting the monsters of ink claim him so that the others can escape. While most managed to cross the river, Mike was ultimately consumed by the ink river to the sorrow of the group.
While Henry was in his journey, the ink seemingly have shown him a vision where it was reaching out to him in a hallway with inky arms.[4]
During the time in the Cycle, more and more organisms started to get born from the ink. These flora and fauna started to exist around the Cycle through unknown means, but presumably through evolution of some kind.
Legacy
The ink is a hostile, yet intelligent living organisms created by the infamous Ink Machine. Being used for light-hearted cartoons and sinister experiments, the ink is the creator of all ink-made creatures and the very being that infects regular organisms to slowly corrupt and kill them. Adding onto the ever-growing miserable and mad population of formerly-human monsters, creatures, and abominations that are now stuck in a nightmarish existence.
Characteristics
Physical appearance
The ink is a black liquid that appears very similar to regular ink. It is described to be thick and sharp, it usually lacks a form but is shown to be able to form into fingers and hands. It's also seen flowing like veins when engulfing a person.
Personality
The ink is a hostile entity, haunting for new victims and slowly infecting them after latching onto their body. Despite its hostility, the ink is very intelligent and strategic. For instance: it patiently waited for Buddy's grandfather to fall asleep so that it could infect him. And it seems to understand when to and not to strike as after killing Brant, it retreated and didn't attack Bill nor Constance; presumably knowing the consequences it might bring if the existence of itself was revealed to the public.
The ink also doesn't show any kind of morality and kills anything it has its grasp on. Whether this is by choice or by nature is not stated.
Abilities
Whenever put through the Ink Makers, the ink can be used to make anything, varying from a gear to a radio. It can turn people into twisted parodies of cartoon characters, or just make them resemble humanoid blobs of ink, like Lost Ones. When paired with the Ink Machine, it can also form rough approximations of cartoon characters such as the Ink Demon without the need for a human host, receiving information on shape and behavior from cartoon films depicting the character it's trying to imitate that are fed through the Ink Machine.
If it were to make contact with another living organism, the Ink will heighten an organism's emotions, primarily those which they hold back. This is best displayed by Bill Chambers, Constance Gray, and Brant Morris. Upon contact with the ink, Bill began to be more cowardly and scared, Constance became more aggressive and annoyed, and Brant found himself constantly ashamed and feeling guilty even over the most minor offensives, like a poorly timed joke.
It also appears to possess incredibly addictive properties, as demonstrated by Sammy Lawrence becoming 'hooked' after some of it gets inside his mouth. The ink also never seems to dry as the drawing Buddy's grandfather made with it was found empty even though it had been days. However, the ink still can soak into things which seemingly makes it unable to move.
Individuals who are turned into cartoon characters begin to exhibit the personalities and traits of said characters, such as Buddy Lewek losing the ability to speak after being transformed into Buddy Boris due to Boris being mute in the cartoons. Their memories also seem to fade the longer they're in the state of being.
When the ink is used to recreate the Sillyvision cartoons, anyone who wore the 3D glasses while looking at a television would be able to move around in the Cycle.
Behind the scenes
First appearing in Bendy: Dreams Come to Life, the ink is a major antagonist across the novel and its indirect sequel, Bendy: The Lost Ones. Usually haunting down the protagonists, mostly as a standalone and sometimes alongside the Ink Demon. However, in Bendy: Fade to Black, the ink only briefly appears as a minor antagonist at the end of the novel.
Inspirations
The ink seems to be inspired by the famous real-life conspiracy, the Black Goo, especially its version in The X-Files, the Purity Virus. As both are black sentient liquids that infect, corrupt and turn people into monsters.
References
- ↑ Bendy: Dreams Come to Life. Chapter 23. Written by Adrienne Kress and published by Scholastic on September 3, 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bendy: Dreams Come to Life. Chapter 16. Written by Adrienne Kress and published by Scholastic on September 3, 2019.
- ↑ Bendy: The Lost Ones, The Machine. Written by Adrienne Kress and published by Scholastic on December 7, 2021.
- ↑ Joey Drew Studios Employee Handbook. Part I: Surviving Your First Week. Chapter 4: Colossal Wonders. Written by Cala Spinner and published by Scholastic on July 30, 2019.