Bendy (main canonical series)

"If you expect me to take care of your work while you take FIVE, you're crazy!" - Your annoyed co-worker
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This article refers to the main series' continuity. For the novel series' continuity, see Bendy (novel series).

For other uses, see Bendy (disambiguation).

The canonical series of Bendy is the main continuity that consists of video games, the primal entries of the franchise that were primarily developed and published by Joey Drew Studios Inc.

Series

Mainline games

The mainline games (titled Bendy and the...) are meant to be a trilogy with two already released and an upcoming one currently in preproduction. They are the main expansions for the series, which started in February 10th of 2017 with the release of the first chapter of Bendy and the Ink Machine.

• Bendy and the Ink Machine - It 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 had descended into the inky hellscape of the ink realm.

• Bendy and the Dark Revival - It 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 Joey Drew Studios' founder and was hired as an animator for the new Bendy cartoons at Arch Gate Pictures, but was transported to the ink realm by Wilson Arch, the main antagonist, where she had to fight her way to the end and break the cycle. It explained most of the loose ends from Bendy and the Ink Machine with the ink realm and the cycle's existence and reasons behind their creation, the said reason being Joey wanting to imprison his mistakes and torture his own version of Henry. The Gent Corporation was also shown to be the overarching antagonist of the series with their shady experiments being revealed; and Joey was also given a kind of redemption arch with him giving Henry, Allison Angel as a guide. The concept of creating replicas of real people was also introduced in this game, Henry and Allison being the only known ones. It also expanded on Nathan Arch from the Press Archive, revealing his motives and character for reviving Joey's legacy.

• Bendy and the Ink Factory - It was officially announced on April 18, 2024; it is officially considered to be the last mainline game in the trilogy. It is currently being produced.

Side-story games

The side-story spin-offs (titled Bendy: ...) are used to expand on other parts of the story and lore, and experiment with new ideas that couldn't be used in mainline games. One was used to also tease new entries.

• Bendy: Lone Wolf - A rebranded expanded version of Boris and the Dark Survival, serving as the old game's replacement. First discovered on February 2024, it was officially announced from the teasers found in Bendy: Secrets of the Machine and the trailer much later with the game eventually released on August 15, 2025 officially.

• Bendy: Secrets of the Machine - It was 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. It teased the following; Fluffsy, a cat for Bendy: The Silent City and also the shooter game itself, the exitance of B3ndy, the exitance of Bendy: Lone Wolf, and a strange creature presumably for Bendy: The Cage. It also revealed the exitance of Riley Wells and her backstory, and teased Gent to be a central force in the upcoming games, from both the game and its Steam page.

• Bendy: The Cage - It is an upcoming project set to release on 2026. It is 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.

Non-game material

The Press Archive is a newspaper collection for the in-universe Bendy franchise published by Joey Drew Studios Inc. It explores the backstory of Joey Drew Studios while also working as a prequel to Bendy and the Dark Revival.

• Press Archive - It was published between November 3-November 11, 2022. It was a collection of 4 newspaper articles related to the in-universe Bendy franchise and their former and current owner, Joey Drew Studios and Arch Gate Pictures respectively. It gives a history to both the studio and Arch Gate.
  • "Joey Drew Studios in Dire Straights" - It stated that Joey Drew Studios was in financial trouble because of them spending their money in an imbalanced way, and that the employees feared the Ink Machine; leading to the studio's downfall.
  • "Bendy Goes Bankrupt" - It stated that Joey Drew Studios had filed for bankruptcy because of unknown reason, although many believed it was because of World War II and Bendyland. It also stated that the company, its assets and property is going to be liquidated to pay the debtors. It also revealed the full date of the companies closure date while giving a background on the closure.
  • "Whatever Happened to Joey Drew Studios?" - It stated that the Bendy was quite popular in the mid-1930s since it was the most common cartoon to be seen. By 1940, the Bendy franchise was thriving with multiple products related to it releasing and selling. However, the studio behind it started to plummet during WWII since animators and ink was hard to find. This ended with the company declaring bankruptcy and Bendy disappearing from popularity.
  • "Bendy is Back!" - It stated that the Bendy IP was bought by the business tycoon Nathan Arch. It explained that Nathan had big plans for the franchise and was striving to make Joey proud. The article also revealed Nathan Arch was a successful businessman in the steel and oil industries, an old friend of Joey Drew, and the owner of Arch Gate Pictures, the new owner of the Bendy IP. The article set-up the story for the upcoming Bendy and the Dark Revival

The animated shorts are based on the fictional works of Joey Drew Studios and 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. They explore the characteristics and the relationships between the cartoon characters.

• Bendy Cartoons - It is a web video series of animated shorts. They explore the characteristics of and the relationships between the cartoon characters while giving an insight into the studio's famous cartoons.
  • Tombstone Picnic - It is the 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 rereleased on January 7, 2019. The cartoon consists of Bendy being stalked by a mischievous skeleton while Boris is having a picnic. It explores Bendy's and Boris' personality and the relationships between the two characters.
  • Haunted Hijinx - It is the second animated short released on October 31, 2017 as a mini Halloween short where Bendy came to Boris' house for trick-or-treating before being sacred off by him, and it was re-released on January 21, 2019; not revealing anything major.
  • Snow Sillies - It is the third animated short released on December 24, 2017 as a first mini Christmas short where Bendy builds a snowman before it melts much to his dismay, and it was re-released on January 15, 2019.
  • Cookie Cookin - It is the fourth animated short released on December 24, 2018 as a second mini Christmas short. The plot consists of Bendy building a gingerbread cookie before it getting eaten by Boris.
  • Tasty Trio Troubles - It is the fifth animated short released on February 10, 2019 as a part of the celebration for the franchise's second anniversary. It is the first cartoon to include the Butcher Gang, and it explores their character. In the cartoon, the Butcher Gang assigns for a shop and has trouble with an unpaying, Bendy, who later gets chased by the gang.
  • Hellfire Fighter - It is the 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. In the short, Bendy and Boris are firefighters and they try to put out a fire which was caused by Boris' soup's smoke.
  • Cheep Seats - It is the seventh animated short released on December 17, 2019. It was the first animated short made by Plunkett. It was also the first short to include Alice Angel, and it explores her character to a slight extent. In the short's story, Bendy finds a movie poster and asks Boris to go to the movie with him only to be declined, Alice then comes and agrees to go with Bendy and they watch the movie together.

Apocryphal material

A mobile runner game was developed by Karman Interactive for the Bendy franchise was also released, it mostly wasn't seen as canon until Gaskette's appearance in Bendy: Secrets of the Machine. After which, it was considered to be canon. However, its canonicity is still unclear thanks to its unavailable status.

• Bendy in Nightmare Run - It was a mobile spin-off runner game released on August 15, 2018 by Joey Drew Studios Inc in partnership with Karman Interactive and the merchandise company PhatMojo, but was discontinued on November 2022 due to lawsuit conflict between Joey Drew Studios Inc and PhatMojo, and thus can no longer be played in any official downloads. Because of this, its canonicity is unclear. If it were to count as canon: it explores some of the characters' roles and characters. Bendy was stated to be the star and a helplessly mischievous characters, Alice was stated to be an angel that brings light to everything she touches, and Boris was stated to be a faithful friend unless distracted by food. The game also introduces various new characters, these include: Gaskette, an anthropomorphic taxi that was considered to be too disturbing for Joey Drew Studios; Canoodle, an anthropomorphic can of a cartoon character; Dewey, an anthropomorphic ink bottle; Chester, an anthropomorphic chest that has tentacles. All of these characters are shown to be antagonistic, one way or another.

Certain other spinoffs have been put on ice, likely to be used in the future with mechanics and such rebuilt from the ground up. When these spinoffs will return is unknown. The story has been stated to still be canonical to the series, though the details may heavily differ.

Development

The series had started with the release of Chapter 1 of Bendy and the Ink Machine. After the completion of said game, the series was expanded with outside sources, specifically with novels. A series of cartoons were also released both during and after Bendy and the Ink Machine's development.

On March 9, 2024, with Mike's statement, most outside media—especially the ones related to the now-apocryphal novel series—were de-canonized and are now considered to be outside media used as "fun extras" for the Bendy universe. Despite this, many other outside media still remained canon, these include: the newspaper archive, the Press Archive; and the animated cartoon videos, the animated shorts.