Ink Machine
- This article refers to Gent's machine. For other uses, see Ink Machine (disambiguation).
"What started as a machine to simply mold life-size figures, now seems to be teetering on the edge of magic more than engineering. Although Mr. Drew remains convinced they're the same thing. The process of running the cartoon film through the machine for the figures to imprint upon themselves is going well. We've had several near successes." |
The Ink Machine is a massive machine stolen by Joey Drew,[1] built by the Gent company to create living entities, and which later used to create the Cycle. Wally Franks was the only person allowed to be the attendant to the Ink Machine, while Thomas Connor is the machine's main designer.
History
Initial origins
The Ink Machine was installed sometime in the mid-1940s. Originally, it was simply a machine that would mold life-sized figures using a specialized ink. Over time, however, Joey's ambitions substantially increased, with Gent now being ordered to make the figures of ink alive, with the intent of using these living ink creatures as attractions for his studio and amusement park.
Joey's folly
The first ever living ink figure that emerged from the Machine was a figure in the likeness of Bendy. This creation, however, was noted to be wrong, otherworldly, almost soulless in nature. When Joey Drew discovered the creature wandering around Thomas Connor's office, he not only ordered the creature to be locked up, but thanks to a comment from Thomas Connor began to believe the reason behind the Machine's failures were that the creations needed human souls. As a result, Joey began to sacrifice human souls, running them through the Machine alongside cartoon film in the hopes of printing perfect replicas of his creations.
Joey's own actions with the Machine drew the attention of Gent, who began to realize just what exactly they had created with the Machine. As such, they began conducting their own experiments of the Machine's special ink in order to understand the Machine and the Ink in a scientific manner. Neither of these experiments would last forever - reports of Joey's actions would begin to leak out into public press, and Gent's headquarters would end up becoming condemned.
The Cycle begins
Sometime during the fall of Joey Drew Studios, in a fit of blame and anger, Joey Drew would use the power of the Machine to create an alternative dimension known as the Cycle, to store his mistakes from the outside world as well as torment a replica of Henry Stein forevermore. After the Studio fell, Joey would steal the Ink Machine and continue to operate it from within his apartment in secret. In the later years of Joey's life, after becoming proper friends with Allison Pendle, Joey added a cartoon version of her into the Cycle, to give his Henry the same guidance and light the real Allison gave him. Joey would continue to operate The Cycle until his death, leaving the Machine in a state of limbo.
Arch Gate Pictures' ownership
In 1972, the Machine was moved to Arch Gate Pictures after Nathan Arch bought the IP rights to Bendy's franchise following Joey Drew's death. However, during the process of moving the Machine to Arch Gate, Wilson Arch caught a glimpse of the Machine in its crate. Wilson became fascinated by the Machine and began to conduct his own research on it in his spare time. Eventually, Wilson managed to use the machine to enter the Cycle for the first time, being met with a lawless world run by the Ink Demon. Through the creation of the Keepers, Wilson was able to not only artificially freeze the Cycle in place but change the script entirely to try and establish control over the world.
One year later, Wilson tricked Audrey Drew into reactivating the Machine in the real world and dragged her with him into the Cycle, initiating his plan to take her soul and use it to dethrone the Ink Demon. Audrey ends up not only killing Wilson, but also resetting the Cycle. Back in the real world, Audrey establishes her place as the new master of the Machine and uses it to make changes to the Cycle to make existence inside of it more bearable, as well as bringing Bendy into the real world. However, after an unknown amount of time, Gent manages to finally repossess the Machine.
Characteristics
Physical appearance
The Machine is large, square, and robust in shape. Its outside is made up of several pipes, gears, pistons, and other attachments. A giant metal barrel filled with ink is connected to the rear of the Machine. There is a large nozzle connected to its front, along with long, sprawling pipes underneath. The Machine is also portable, being risen up and down the studio by several large, heavy chains within the Cycle, and being small enough to transport in a crate within the real world.
Functions
Needing ink to run, the Machine operates similar to a 3D printer. An item - such as cartoon film - is ran through the Machine, and the special ink inside of it then uses said item to imprint itself upon, resulting in the Machine printing a living ink creature. Through unknown means, the Machine also acts as a connection point between the real world and the realm of the Cycle, a pocket dimension living within the Machine itself.
Behind the scenes
The Ink Machine is considered one of the most important objects in the Bendy franchise and is the source behind many of the core events within the series' story. The Ink Machine is the recurring plot object that first appears in Bendy and the Ink Machine as the titular machine, and later returns in Bendy and the Dark Revival.
Development
"Look pal, if you think I'm doing my job AND yours, I'm outta here!" - Wally Franks
Gallery
"Look pal, if you think I'm doing my job AND yours, I'm outta here!" - Wally Franks
References
- ↑ Bendy and the Dark Revival, The Archives. Developed and published by Joey Drew Studios Inc on November 15th, 2022.
TBA