Archive of Theories

This focuses on Bendy, more on him in the ch 3 teaser trailer animation and assumes that the cartoon characters are not the reincarnation of their voice actors.

This theory relies on the fact that Bendy has no relationship with any one else, this being the reason as everyone bullies him around. It is obvious that in the teaser trailer he appears very timid despite being mischievous. Boris seems to be Bendy's biggest fear since he is quick to anger and very aggressive with it. Now assuming that the ink machine was build to take the 2D characters and make them 3D, it maybe the reason why Bendy is the Ink Demon in the game because the ink machine made him bigger and stronger in order to have revenge on those who pushed him around. Maybe the reason why Boris wants to help us is because we are the means to put an end to Bendy's revenge on him, but why would we want to do that? Bendy has good grounds to push Boris around for once. Well, there may or may not be other factors.

Alice, what is her role? Is she another victim of Boris' quick anger? Yet, given her personality in ch 3, she can be quite nasty, so it would not be surprising if she bullied around Bendy too. Yet, she still could have been bullied by Boris and take out her anger from not being able to stand her ground onto Bendy. Then again, she seems to have a alpha personality making her the biggest bully in the bunch and Boris is actually taking things out on Bendy since he can't stand up to Alice. So Bendy, despite who is the biggest bully of them all, gets the brunt of the whole thing.

Also, the Butcher Gang, have they contribute to the abuse? They are a gang and gangs are associated with cruel acts (crime). So it might be safe to assume that they also have pushed Bendy around.

With the studio crew ... Lets start with the creator. Despite who it might be (Joey or Henry), he may not be the most easy to work with and nice person he appeared to be. Also the rest of the crew working at the studio might be a bit too pushy on their roles. Maybe behind the shows, he/they were very abusive to Bendy to make sure he played the role given to him correctly.

Sammy Lawerance comes to mind first. In some of his tapes he seems to hate his job and his personality is very self-centered and boastful. It would make sense that Sammy would pick on Bendy for not presenting (through dancing/acting) the music he created correctly. Now, did he scorn Bendy in front of everyone, it is unknown. Now in his other audio tapes, he seems to worship the little demon. That might be he was trying to make up for maltreating Bendy, hoping it would save him. Unfortunately, "Bendy" saw right threw Sammy's mask (pun intended there) and killed him. After all, Alice in ch 3 three said the Sammy was "always a good lair".

Joey, going off of his only tape in ch 3, is a very positive being. Yet could he be like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Be outgoing and charismatic, seem to care about everything in front of people? Then become the opposite behind the scenes? Maybe he experimented with the machines for his own gain like ... maybe he was disabled and wanted to build an ink machine were he could fuse with Bendy so he could walk again. Or maybe he built the ink machine to bring his creation to life. Or not only bring them to life, but also be able to experiment on Bendy to make him stronger to get revenge on every one else who bullied him. Or simply to experiment with life and souls being fused with the ink. Either way he was cruel towards Bendy no matter what the MO was. Despite the reasoning, Drew's plans back fired when Bendy knew his true, self-centered goal and took advantage of being stronger than before.

Also, there might be neglect thrown in here. Maybe everyone/certain few pushed Bendy around to harshly when putting shows into production and gets bullied by the other toons because he is so weak and defenseless but in between production, none of the crew wants anything to do with him. This could lead to Bendy toying with the ink machine behind Joey's back, trying to make himself stronger to get revenge.

Now the shadowy figure at the end of the animation ... Bendy is happy to see them. Is it really Joey Drew promising Bendy that he'll be strong enough to get revenge someday? Is Bendy really happy as they loom over him knowing they they just made their promise a reality to him, or is it a more of a begging to not be hurt smile? If it's a meek smile and say the figure is Joey Drew forcing Bendy against his will as an experiment for the ink machine, then that makes destroying Joey the ultimate goal of "Bendy".

Also, could Bendy being the Ink Demon be a result of an inability to handle being abandoned. Is the reason why he'll chase Henry is because Henry has, like the others, abused him just as bad as the others, or is there something more? As like the false assumption that Henry (if he is his creator) abandoned him with these abusive beings? Maybe Henry saw how everyone treated Bendy, but instead of trying to stop it, he quit his job at Joey Drew Studios. Who knows, maybe Henry did try but it seemed unless. So "Bendy" comes after Henry because of the feeling of abandonment.

This focuses on Bendy, more so him in the ch 3 teaser trailer animation.

This theory relies on the fact that Bendy and Boris do not get along. It seems as though Bendy is constantly being pushed around, mostly by Boris. First, lets examine Boris' personality. In the animation he seems quick to anger yet easily distracted especially when it involves food (as seen in ch 3 where you have to make him soup before he gives you the lever). Also, there's a bit if self-centerness about him as seen when he easily pushed Bendy away who was trying to take back his picnic basket. So, Boris will to anything to intimidate Bendy to get his way.

Now lets look at Bendy's personality. The real Bendy is mischievous, yet timid; easily frightened yet quick to think of an escape. This lays out the typical stereotype of a bully's victim.

So Boris is Bendy's main social obstacle (and possibly Alice's too since in ch 3 she has an obsession with the Boris that helps us being "perfect', meaning that she could have pushed Bendy around a few times).  Now look at the end of the animation. A dark figure hovers over Bendy and he is happy to see them. Who that figure is, we really don't know, but it's highly likely that it's Joey Drew himself. Why? Well, we can then assume that Joey promised Bendy a way to get revenge on those who keep pushing him around. Hence we now have "Bendy".

Joey created the ink machine to not only bring the 2D toons to life, but also to try and create Bendy to be stronger than he was before. Obviously this experiment failed and we now have the Ink Demon that we must hide from. Also, this might hint at there being more than one, at least one version, of the ink machine (as seen on  the blueprints on some of the desks).

Yet there is a different direction with "Bendy" that could be taken. Maybe the experiment didn't fail completely. Maybe Bendy is able to switch from being two feet tall and cute to a eight foot monster. The reason we only see "Bendy" all the time is because maybe Alice, the one that is Susie that we see in ch 3, has done something drastic that it would be very difficult to talk Bendy back to his normal self. Hence why we might need to build another ink machine or repair one to convert him back. Or maybe kill Susie. Or whatever the method may be to do so.

Also, I want to include Alice. If the real Alice shares some personality traits to Susie, it might be another "demon" that Bendy has to face. Now could Boris have intimidated Alice too? We don't really know, but could Alice have at times intimidated Bendy to do some of her bidding? Maybe Alice pushed Bendy around as a way to release her inner frustration of Boris pushing her around? Like the part of her that would like to put Boris in his place but is too timid to do so so she takes it out on Bendy being has an even more timid nature, that was until she became corrupted.

I also would like to bring up the Butcher Gang. Well, they're exactly that, a gang. Gangs go around terrorizing people. So it's obvious that they're another threat to Bendy.

In other words, "Bendy", or Ink Demon if you prefer, is Bendy's alter ego. His pent up anger at being pushed around all the time. But the questions are ... can Bendy switch back and forth? Or is it Joey's experiment went a little too far? Maybe "Bendy" is an evil duplicate of Bendy? Or maybe he had this potential all this time and we see that he finally has reached his breaking point with taking it?

This centers more around Alice, however, it might also explain some gaps of sudden personality changes for other characters.

We know Alice is an angel with horns, but could that mean something? Something such as being bipolar? It doesn't necessarily mean that it's Alice who is bipolar, but maybe just Susie; after all, it is confirmed that Susie is the corrupted Alice we meet in ch 3. Also, it doesn't necessarily mean that she is bipolar and instead might have another mental diagnosis.

Why I call this the Bipolar theory is the sudden switching between two opposite moods. At one moment she's nice, the other nasty. An angel then a demon. The halo may represent the fine line of being in between the two opposites. If we had to pick between the two options, it would have to be depression. Why depression? Well, lets now explain what the horns may represent. They might stand for her mania, the reason why she impulsively acts without taking into consideration the consequences. Risking taking in other words (through Henry mostly). From what I remember from the three psychology classes I've had, you might classify Susie/Alice as Bipolar type II. She follows more of a mania-hypomania pattern (type II) than a mania-depression pattern (type I).

I say type II because she goes from being very involved (appearing manicy) in the events to not really wanting to be bothered with them though still shows a little bit of interest (just disgusted but still has that tendency to impulsively self-gratificate).

There could be type I though. The elevator ride at the very end could be proof. She goes into the depressive thoughts of what heaven might be like and that she'll never get to see it (depression). Then suddenly, she switched back to her evil side to appease the sudden manic urges (mania). Within a split second she goes from crying to laughing like a maniac.

As with other characters, there isn't the obvious text book definition to bring any of them into attention really. Not every diagnosis is what has been defined in black and white, hence forth is harder to detect. Psychology is a huge grey area. There is one other character I do want to mention though.

Bendy seems to, at least, switch between two personalities. Or are they moods? In the animation he appears timid, unable to stand up for himself. He may try to fight back but he quickly regrets his decision. Kind of a self-defeating attitude seen with depression. Could the Ink Demon be Bendy when he is manic, similar to how Alice is manic? Impulsively self-gratificate through tormenting others, hence why he rabidly chases you down when he sees you. Then would that mean the little devil darling we see in the animations be him when he's depressed? Just food for thought.

This theory is exactly what it sounds like: there are duplicates of the toons. This then means that the ink machine is used to make 3D versions of the the 2D animations. However, there is also the possibility of mass producing ink suits.

It is confirmed in ch 3 when entering the room full of Boris and Butcher gang corpses strapped to tables when going to meet Alice. The real question is ink suits or clones?

Now after the release of ch 3, I can say that this is definitely confirmed and now can be more easily elaborated on.

So my original thought is that the purpose of the ink machine is to create ink suits that the voice actors can wear to cosplay as the character they voice (ex: Susie Campbell as Alice). That might be for whatever reason, such as maybe going to a charity event or something. This, then, kind if mimics the lore seen in Five Nights at Freddy's (FNAF) with the spring lock suits. Those spring lock suits were half animatronic, half mascot suit. The point being a human can wear it. In BATIM, it's a similar idea, just without the animatronic part (or is there?).

The voice actors are able to wear the suit (like Purple guy wears Springtrap's suit), and maybe the essence of whatever character they are trying to impersonate, temporarily takes control of their mind, not completely though as to know when to take off the suit for instance, and be able to maintain the ability to differentiate from the toon's personality to the voice actors personalty. Maybe that's what the special magic ability of the ink is; to be able to easily "be in character" of the toon their impersonating, but still hold on to their own thoughts. Now, we can also say, that the ink has a special ability to maintain life. This then can mean that these ink suits can get up and walk around on there own (like most of the animatronics we fend off in FNAF), but the ink suits only contain the personality of the toon, giving the possibility of both good and bad characters.

So the Boris we meet at the end of ch 2 and into ch 3, is that Boris himself or Wally Frank (or maybe even someone else such as Sammy Lawerance)? That question has yet to be answered still. Though, after seeing that Alice is actually Susie as well as Norman Polk being the projector monster, it might also be true the Wally Frank is in a Boris suit, and Joey Drew in a Bendy suit. What about the searchers and the Butcher Gang? As to who they are we don't know let alone the fact that they are someone, but it still can confirm that these ink suits have a mind of their own similar to each animatronic in FNAF, having their own mechanics to watch out for.

Now, how this is confirmed is Susie (or Alision Pendle) being Alice. It's obvious. The same with Norman being the projector monster.

Speaking of Norman, I go back to one of my statements in parenthesis. Looking at the projector monster, his chest is obviously metal and his head a projector (made of metal) while the rest of him is ink. Not to mention, when he walks, there is also the sound of chains jingling. Could there be a "enodskeleton" to the toons? Look at one of the monkey toons that attacks us; it is clear that it has a metal crane for a neck. If so, are the metal parts wound back and are there humans in the suit (Alice)? Or are some or all have been "spring locked" and the souls possess the ink suit (projector monster)? This part of the theory has yet to be proven or disproven, but for now, it's worth the idea. I say some might have an endoskeleton of sorts (projector monster), while others are just simply made out of ink (Alice/Susie), and the later is kind of proven if you look at some of the dialogue that Alice speaks (specifically in the swollen searcher objective).

This basically is a combination of the FNAF Effect theory and the Duplicate theory. There are just simply more than one of each of the toons, and some of them inhabiting a human being, most likely their voice actor. The duplication is confirmed in ch 3 when Alice beckons you on a "date" and you enter the room that is full of Boris and Butcher gang corpses. The FNAF Effect is aslo  confirmed in ch 3 because it is obvious that Susie (and/or Alision) is Alice.

This begs the question, is the Boris you interact with Wally Franks in a Boris suit, or is it Boris (one of his many duplicates) himself.

Also, this can lead to a speculation that there are two Alice's. If you choose the Angel path, you can listen to Susie crying over the fact that she was replaced by an Alison Pendle. Could the corrupt Alice we meet be Susie and there be another Alice, a "good" Alice, that is Alison?

This will focus more on Alice and compare some mechanics of BATIM to that in SAW the Video game.

Alice likes to torment souls, as seen when we're beckoned on a date, and likes to do it cruelly. Also it's quite odd how she knows everything, sets some things up, sets some rules, and can in a way predict what Henry will do. This kind of reminds me of John Kramer (the jigsaw killer from the SAW movies). Just listen closely to her dialogue in between the errands. Here. let me break it apart.

Knows everything: "I see you there. A new fly in my endless web.", "You're so interesting ... so different. I have to say I'm an instant fan.", "Have you met him? The Ink Demon? They say he hears everything. Every creek of the floor. Every rustle of paper.", "Sammy said he had talent. He was always a good lair.", "Oh! But I forgot to mention ... he hates it when I do that. I would hide if I where you.", "Say hello to an old friend.", "Take good care of it. It belonged to someone very special.", "... there he is. The Projectionist.", and "No Henry! I know who you are! And I know why you're here! And you will not stop what needs to be done!". Just that feeling of not really knowing who she is, but Alice knows everything about Henry as well as everyone one else. It's just like Jigsaw starting his instruction tapes/videos with "Hello _____. I want to play a game. [insert criminal background]."

Set things up: the miracle stations, "Bendy" never making an appearance on Level 9, the list of errands and the tools that Henry must use to obtain the items. Basically he has planned out Henry's moves and know what he'll do in certain situations so she set some things up (while challenging him at the same time) to make sure he succeeds. Jigsaw basically knows his victims and how they'll react so he sets up his traps to challenge their ability to think under pressure and sets the trap accordingly. Also she sets up security traps to "deter" his victims from escaping. Do we see some similarities there with Alice? "Stay out in the open for too long and he will find you." She has set up the stations as a choice (go into the station and live, or stay out in the open and die at the hand of "Bendy"), just like Jigsaw explains the trap which gives his victims a choice (overcome ]insert] and live, or be consumed by it and die).

Setting rules: 

This focuses on the fact that there are more than one ink machine.

This will focus on some of the mechanics in BATIM that seems similar to those seen in the two Outlast games.

This will focus on Alice, particularly that Susie Campell has become Alice Angel.

This relies on the fact that there is a rivalry between Bendy and Alice.

This focuses on Joey and/or Henry.