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Pre-Release
Audrey is turning into another Alice Angel
There's no evidence of this that I'm aware of, but it's an idea I like. Plus, all the female characters that have appeared thus far have been Alice. As the story goes on and she kills and absorbs more Ink, Audrey will become more and more like Alice, the schism in her personality resulting in increasing instability, leaving Audrey racing the clock before she snaps and goes fully Alice or worse.- Since when did Alice have the power to disintegrate people by touching them? Audrey’s power is way more similar to Henry’s glowing writing or the Ink Demon’s shadow aura. Additionally, it doesn't appear that toon transformation is a slow process, as the only example seen thus far in canon happened instantaneously. Unlikely
- Jossed
This game takes place at the exact same time as ''BatIM''.
Thus, it's neither a sequel nor a prequel, but still in the same canon.- What if it takes place before, during, and after BATIM. This would play on the dev’s Exact Words even more; it’s not a prequel or a sequel, it’s a prequel and a sequel.
- The offical website calls it a sequel. Perhaps the developers have changed their minds since the original statement, which was quite a few years ago.
- Thoroughly Jossed—however, it does take place concurrently with Dark Survival, as revealed in the Archives.
Audrey will somehow break Henry's Stable Time Loop
It's implied that Henry is trapped in a timeloop where he has to survive the studio and kill The Ink Demon over and over again. Audrey will be a wild card in the ordeal and somehow save Henry from repetitive torment.- Seemingly confirmed. At very least, she can make it more bearable.
In addition to the above, we'll finally see what Henry looks like.
- Possible, but here’s another idea; he does show up in person, but they do the Ethan Winters thing where his head or face is always covered, just out of frame, or too in shadow to see. Thus letting the joke where Henry’s face is never visible continue.
- Confirmed.
The dapper Bendy wearing the vest and pants seen in some merch is Henry
He’s slowly transformed into a Bendy toon over time as he’s gone through the loops.- Jossed
Dapper Bendy is Joey Drew
Joey is implied to be dead by the time BATDR takes place, but he’s too important of a character to just randomly die of old age offscreen. He’s already showed hints of wanting to seek immortality. So instead of dying in 1972, he actually used the ink machine on himself (possibly on August 31st, the date circled in his calendar) and became the perfect Bendy toon. His personality matches Bendy’s in-universe character more than Henry’s, for one. Dapper also has a patch over his knee, which would match up with Joey’s leg problems that confine him to a wheelchair.- Jossed
Dapper Bendy is Wally Franks
- As of the original game’s chapter five, it was implied that Wally was still alive and not inked. Of course, this could have changed in however much time has passed, just pointing it out.
- Chapter 5 also has a letter from Allison that makes it seem like both she and Tom are still alive, yet we see both of them in the Cycle. So maybe Wally, Allison and Tom were all "invited" to the studio by Joey and got trapped in the Cycle, much like what happened to Henry.
- Jossed
Dapper Bendy is Bendy's voice actor
Bonus points if he's also "Unknown", using this alternate voice to hide his identity and/or mess with Audrey and the others (possibly foreshadowed by Susie using her voice acting skills to lure her victims by pretending to be "Milla Legna", though this wouldn't necessarily mean Bendy's voice actor is also malicious).- He’s not the Unknown, as that is Wilson. He could still be a voice actor though.
- Jossed
Dapper Bendy is the Ink Demon
Wilson states that he got rid of the Ink Demon in the 11/1 trailer. When Audrey finds Dapper playing with his trains, she opens up what looks like the bars of a cage door, much like how the Ink Demon was imprisoned in the infirmary in Dreams Come To Life. What if Dapper Bendy and the Ink Demon are one and the same, simply forced into a smaller and less harmful form by Wilson to more easily get rid of him.- In the merch, the Ink Demon is holding a bottle with his head crossed out. Seems a bit weird to have something that seems to be against him. However, there's a possibility that this is something to prevent him from becoming Ink Bendy. Toon Bendy is using it to stop himself from turning into Ink Bendy. The bottle was also presumably created by Wilson, who used it to De-power him and lock him up.
- Confirmed
Audrey is the little girl asking Joey to tell her another story at the end of the first game, all grown up
- As of the 11/1 trailer, she appears to be an employee of Arch Gate. However, depending on when the game takes place, this is still possible. Notably, she has Joey's framed and signed cel hanging above her desk, which could imply a connection.
◊ - Confirmed to be either her or one of the failed attempts to create her.
Dapper Bendy is the kid at the end of BATIM
This could be why Bendy is acting rather childish (e.g. playing with a train toy). Either Joey or someone else turned the kid into Bendy, or the kid somehow wandered into the Cycle and ended up transforming.- Jossed
Nathan Arch is The Unknown and the new main antagonist of the game
Nathan bought Bendy in 1972 and his blurb in Crack-Up comics mentions how what he loved about it was the “magic” in Joey Drew Studios. Taken literally, it matches up perfectly with The Unknown’s stated goal of finding all of Joey’s occult secrets. Plus the scratchy older male voice would fit Nate’s age, assuming he’s slightly older than Joey as TIOL suggests.- Additionally, The Unknown is linked to imagery of a one-eyed Bendy seen in the first game, and Nathan Arch is associated with a cat character in the comics whose ears look like Bendy’s horns and wears a monocle that makes it look like he only has one eye (and on the same side as one-eyed Bendy!) The gist of the idea is that Nathan = Boswell = One-Eyed Bendy = The Unknown.
- Jossed as of the 11/1 trailer. The Unknown appears to be someone named Wilson—however, he may still be connected to the One-Eyed Bendy. Since Audrey appears to be an Arch Gate employee, it’s also possible that Wilson is a Disc-One Final Boss and Nathan will appear later on in the game.
- Completely jossed.
Audrey is the Anthropomorphic Personification of the Ink Machine itself.
Brought to life by the machine in order to escape the studio and return back to wherever it came from, operating on its own set of twisted standards, and realizing that whatever contract it had with the creator of Bendy's show is now nullified by the abandonment of the studio. It just wants to return back home. And Audrey now exists for just that purpose.- Jossed. Audrey is a human.
Audrey is Bendy's voice actor
Bendy seems to be a rather childish character, so it's possible for him to have been voiced by a woman. And perhaps Audrey herself is in the process of turning into another Bendy.- Jossed by the 11/1 trailer.
Susie will show up as Miss Twisted from Bendy Crack-Up Comics Collection
After all Miss Twisted seems to be a parallel/reference to Twisted Alice, Susie's previous form in BATIM.- Hasn’t Twisted Alice merch already been released? That would make this pretty unlikely.
- There are Twisted Alice merch for BATIM but so far there doesn't seem to be any for BATDR, unlike other characters like Allison, Sammy, etc.
- Jossed. Malice appears in the 11/1 trailer.
The Seeing Tool will return, and reveal a message on previously seen graffiti
In one of the first trailers, the graffiti message “The Machine Must Endure” is seen on a wall. Looking at it with the tool will cross out the latter half of the last word. Making it instead say “The Machine Must END” hinting the machine must be destroyed to free everyone, by any possible means.- The Seeing Tool does appear on the wall in the Pit, but is unable to be used.
There will be cartoon-accurate versions of Alice and the Butcher Gang
We already have cartoon-accurate Bendy and Boris so why not?- Jossed.
At some point between Joey's audio log mentioning Ink Bendy's soullessness (in BATIM Chapter 5) and the main events of BATIM/BATDR, Ink Bendy was fused with a human
Either as an attempt by Joey to give Bendy a soul, or... well, something else. That's why the Ink Demon that we see in both BATIM and BATDR has humanoid proportions, though whoever got fused with him has clearly lost their humanity much like Norman and Jack.- Joey's quote about how "[Bendy] was there for his beginning, but he's never seen the end" may potentially be a hint that the person fused with Ink Bendy was one of the earliest members of the studio who left at some point before the studio got shut down, only to be invited back by Joey much like what happened to Henry and presumably Allison and Thomas.
- Bonus points if it's Wally Franks. While we don't know if he was around during the beginning of the studio, he does fit the "he's never seen the end" part of Joey's dialogue, as Wally's letter states he's sorry to hear about the studio's shutdown. Since the ink can heighten a person's hidden emotions, it could've amplified Wally's repressed anger towards other employees who mistreated him (like Sammy and Thomas), making Ink Bendy even more aggressive. Plus in The Lost Ones novel Wally says he likes the dark, and Ink Bendy often generates ink patterns on the walls that make his surroundings darker, so there's also that. Joey could've chosen Wally to fuse with Ink Bendy because of his "cartoonish" personality.
- Jossed
Wilson was a voice actor
Either Bendy's or another male character's. Even though Wilson is obviously a human, he doesn't really sound like a normal human character (unlike most other humans in the series) and more like a creepy cartoon villain. Perhaps he's using his voice acting skills to make himself sound more intimidating. If he was Bendy's VA, it would be ironic that Wilson basically turned against the character he voiced by banishing the Ink Demon, as well as making him a foil to Susie who was obsessed with becoming Alice Angel.* While Wilson is currently a janitor, it's possible his voice acting career went downhill after Joey Drew Studios got shut down (or he got replaced like Susie or even fired), leading to him having to work in menial jobs like janitorial work for a living. He may even be blaming Bendy for his own downfall and is taking his hatred out on Ink Bendy.- Jossed
Joey Drew is hiding out in the studio.
Some of the books say that Joey Drew is dead (e.g. The Illusion Of Living), but really, he's such a major character it would be a bit of a waste. Perhaps Joey faked his death and is hiding in the studio for whatever reason, only to be forced to confront what he's made.- Semi-jossed. He does appear, but he's not hiding, and he is truly dead.
Joey was murdered
It wouldn't be such a surprising fate considering everything he's done. Joey was unwillingly trapped in the Cycle
Another possible way he could've gotten a dose of Laser-Guided Karma.- Likely jossed
Joey committed suicide
It would be an ironic twist to his character after seemingly wanting to become immortal decades ago.- Somewhat unlikely due to him going out of his way to create a daughter and being more happy than he’d been in years in his notes about her.
Joey entered the Cycle so he can control it from the inside
As his health kept declining, Joey didn't want to let go of his control over the Cycle by dying in the real world, so he entered it in order to be able to control it from within. Now it's hard to say for sure if Joey succeeded or not, as Wilson was seemingly able to hijack it, but it's possible Wilson doesn't have as much control over the Cycle as he thinks he does and Joey is merely playing along, at least for now.- When you meet the 'memory' of Joey, he says that he cannot control the cycle.
The Ink Machine was initially reactivated by Nathan to create a clone of Joey to use for the document about him ("Joey Drew: the Man and the Demon")
During the production of the documentary, Nathan decided there wasn't enough footage of Joey when he was alive, and activated the ink machine with the plans of creating and filming a Joey clone, getting rid of the clone (reducing it back to ink) after the filming is done, and passing it off to the audience as the real Joey. Unfortunately Nathan didn't know beforehand the Ink Machine's dark secrets that Joey had been hiding, inadvertently reopening the entrance to the Cycle.- Nathan doesn't even seem to know about the Ink Machine.
Nathan does know about the Cycle
He may be trying to continue what Joey has started, though he probably didn't expect Wilson to take advantage of the situation. Nathan reactivated the Ink Machine to create perfect Toons
After all, that's what his old friend Joey wanted to do before his death.- He doesn’t actually seem to know what it is or does.
Nathan Sr. is dead (or possibly even trapped in the Cycle) and Nathan Jr. is the one currently running Arch Gate Pictures
Assuming Nathan Jr. is old enough to do so. If Nathan Sr. is trapped in the Cycle, he may show up as Boswell Lotsabucks; if BATDR won't feature any characters from the comics, then Nathan could be a Bendy (as a reference to Boswell's early design having ears that look like Bendy's horns) or a Charley (since Nathan is rich and Charley has been shown to like money in the cartoons) instead.- Jossed. There is no 'Nathan Jr', just Wilson Arch.
Both Nathan Sr. and Jr. are trapped in the Cycle as Boswell Lotsabucks
Since Boswell has two different designs, one of the Nathans could be the syndicated version (with ears similar to Bendy's horns) and another could be the promotional version (with all white fur and a top hat). Of course, this would raise the question of who the heck is running Arch Gate Pictures with both Nathans missing (though Tessa, Nathan Sr.'s wife, is a possibility).- Jossed
There will be a genuinely malicious version of Boris
The closest we have to this so far is Borkis from BATDS, as Brute Boris was being controlled by Twisted Alice rather than willingly attacking Henry. As Borkis has been confirmed to not appear in BATDR, there could be a completely new evil Boris instead.- Jossed.
Joey will show up as an evil Boris
Boris frequently stealing Bendy's food despite supposedly being his "best pal" does parallel Joey stealing Henry's work (especially if Henry himself became a Bendy). Plus the way Boris often "wins" in the cartoons, and the fact that there were no truly evil Boris in the Cycle* when Joey was still alive, could imply that Joey's favorite character was Boris (or at least he was biased towards him).- Joey’s favorite character is established to be Bendy
- Given how much Bendy is mistreated in the cartoons (particularly in the animated clips where Boris wins), how Bendy is the main antagonist of the Cycle's story, and how there's no good Bendy in the Cycle while Joey was alive* it's possible that not only did Joey lie about Bendy being his favorite (as not only was Bendy the face of his studio and the most popular character, but Joey was also pretending to be his creator), but that he secretly disliked Bendy and favored Boris over him.
- There’s no ‘good Bendy’ because only one Bendy was made, likely because Joey didn’t want more attempts as horribly wrong as the Ink Demon. Lack of a good Bendy says absolutely nothing about disliking Bendy, since Joey doesn’t seem to have control over what the Ink Machine makes. Additionally, Boris isn’t getting any preferential treatment in the cycle, since they’ve been slaughtered and displayed en masse, and both living ones encountered in the story are mutilated.
- Chapter 5 clearly shows (through the storyboards in his apartment) that Joey was in control of the Cycle's story. And given what kind of story the Cycle is (a horror show where everyone suffers one way or another), every Boris in the story being either a hero or an innocent victim is comparatively a much better treatment than Bendy being the fearsome main villain who would kill anyone on sight.
- Jossed
Abby Lambert will show up as an Alice
If Henry became Bendy and Joey became Boris, it would be fitting for Abby to become Alice and complete the trio as one of the original members of the studio.- Jossed
The fourth Butcher Gang member was scrapped by Joey for unknown reasons, only for Nathan to bring them back for his Bendy cartoons reboot
The fourth Butcher Gang member is a new character designed by Audrey
Audrey may or may not end up turning into this character, similar to the theory that Henry has turned into Bendy.- Jossed
The fourth Butcher Gang member was created by Henry after he left Joey Drew Studios
Nathan could've bought the character from the studio that Henry worked at after leaving JDS and added them to the Butcher Gang for his Bendy reboot. If the character wasn't originally villainous, Nathan could've made them a villain out of spite towards Henry (likely unaware that Henry's the true creator of Bendy and co. and not Joey).- Jossed
Henry created the fourth Butcher Gang member at Joey Drew Studios, but they were the only character that he was able to keep after leaving
It's possible Henry's the one who created the rest of the Butcher Gang as well.- Jossed
The fourth Butcher Gang member is an angel
Unlike... whatever Alice's actual species is supposed to be, the fourth Butcher Gang member could be a regular angel without horns. As a villainous angel, they would be a foil to Bendy who's generally a good guy despite being a demon.Bonus points if they were voiced by Susie after she was replaced by Allison as Alice Angel.- Jossed, they are a ghost.
Betty is a failed copy of the fourth Butcher Gang member
- Jossed. There is already a failed copy of the fourth Butcher Gang member who is much more failed. And Carley looks nothing like Betty.
Shawn Flynn will show up as a toy-themed monster
He was a toy maker so it would be pretty fitting, plus we know we'll be revisiting Heavenly Toys (from a screenshot on the official website) so maybe we'll see him there. Bonus points if he has a crooked smile and/or a melted appearance (based on his audio log from BATIM).- Jossed
Alice's true species will be revealed
Either a fallen angel, an ascended demon, or an angel-demon hybrid, if her horns are any indication. Henry may have planned a backstory for her relating to this, only for Joey to scrap it (possibly contributing to her in-universe unpopularity) and make her a normal angel who just happens to have horns for no reason, but it's possible Nathan somehow got his hands on the scrapped backstory and decided to use it for his reboot. Alice's backstory may even be the key to creating a perfect/cartoon-accurate Alice, as it would be a crucial missing piece required for her character to be 'complete'.- Alice is an angel, but it’s merely an Informed Species—Boris looks nothing like a wolf, more closely resembling a dog, but no one is suggesting some grand conspiracy about him truly being a dog raised to believe he’s a wolf.
- It may be too early to assume that's a confirmed fact when the Bendy franchise has yet to introduce another angel character, unlike demons which we've seen more of in the comics (like Miss Twisted and Papa Pluto), all of which have horns. Plus considering how the demonic/angelic themes throughout the series tend to be more prominent than, say, wolves, Boris' species is much less relevant (like how Charley's species, as much as the fandom speculates about it, is ultimately unimportant to the series).
- Jossed
There will be flashback cutscenes
Maybe there's a reason why they went out of their way to make a model of younger Joey (aside from just showing him on a teaser once). Alternatively, the flashbacks could be in a 2D rubberhose cartoon style instead.- Jossed.
There will be at least one fusion of multiple Toons
For example, a Bendy + Boris + Alice fusion, or a Butcher Gang fusion.- Jossed
If Buddy Boris returns, he will have scars from when he was turned into Brute Boris
As an indicator that he's indeed the same Boris that Henry befriended and was later forced to fight, rather than a similar looking Boris clone.- Buddy Boris does not return. The Archives suggest his game, Dark Survival, is running concurrently to Dark Revival.
The physical Toons can only speak coherently when their respective voice actors are killed and trapped in the Cycle
The in-universe reason for Bendy, Boris and the Butcher Gang members not speaking coherently in BATIM could be that their voice actors haven't been trapped in the Cycle by the time that game happens, but perhaps they've been/they'll be trapped in BATDR and we'll get to hear those Toons speak in their voices, though the VAs actually turning into the Toons they've voiced themselves may be additionally required. Not only that, but the in-universe reason for Twisted Alice being voiced by Lauren Synger (same VA as Allison) instead of Alanna Linayre (Susie's VA) could be that every Alice is speaking with Allison's voice, in which case it's possible that prior to Allison getting trapped in the Cycle, every Alice spoke with Susie's voice.- While this official Twitter post indicates that Tom is still mute, that doesn't automatically mean he won't gain a voice later in the game (depending on if Boris' VA gets trapped in the Cycle/becomes Boris), and if that's actually going to happen then it would be something the devs won't want to spoil outside the game.
- Tying into the above WMG about Wilson being a former voice actor (who became a janitor after his VA career went downhill): Nathan could've found out Wilson was a former VA and hired him with the plan to trap him in the Cycle and enable whichever Toon(s) he voiced to be able to speak (getting one step closer to making perfect Toons and fulfilling Joey's unfinished dreams), only for that plan to backfire.
- No one who was unable to speak previously speaks in this game, and Wilson is not a voice actor.
Sammy will transform into a Toon at some point
He's most likely to become a Boris, as his pants with suspenders are somewhat similar to Boris' overalls and he sings a 'sheep song' in BATIM Chapter 2. Or maybe he'll turn into a Bendy, as he likes to wear a Bendy mask in order to "resemble the most perfect form he knows", or even a new character or some kind of Toon fusion.- Jossed.
Wilson will be corrupted by the ink
He's somehow managed to avoid it as seen in the 11/1 trailer, but perhaps it's only a matter of time until he eventually messes up and is claimed by the ink like everyone else in the studio.Bonus points if he transforms into a Bendy. More bonus points if he gets killed by the other ink creatures after being mistaken for Ink Bendy.- When he appears in the studio, his appearance is inky, and during the game's climax, is corrupted and transformed into a toon.
There will be characters named Daisy, Albert, and Gwendolyn
In Brute Boris' battle area, the names Porter, Daisy, Albert, and Gwendolyn can be seen using the seeing tool. Since there will be a Lost One named Porter in BATDR, maybe the other three will be in the game as well.- Jossed.
Audrey and Henry will team up to set everyone free
Their 'glowing' powers (Henry's glowing ink that he used to write secret messages and Audrey's glowing hand thing) may come into play here.- Confirmed. During the game's climax, Henry appears to help Audrey get to the end.
At least one of the antagonists will do a Heel–Face Turn
- If you count Joey, than yes.
There actually is a way to create perfect Toons without using human souls
All this tragedy would've been avoided if Joey was patient enough to not immediately resort to sacrificing his employees just because Thomas described the failed Toons as "soulless".- Seemingly confirmed by the ending cutscene
Wilson is Henry gone mad
Two hints point to this. First, Wilson is shown bleeding red, which would mean he is fully human. Seemingly only way someone could still be fully human in the studio is if they came in recently or atleast after the Ink Machine ruined everything. Second Wilson also claims to have banished Bendy, which is seemingly what Henry did.- Jossed, he is Nathan Arch's son.
There will be Multiple Endings but only one True Ending
The True Ending may or may not be an Omega Ending as well.- Confirmed. There’s at least two alternative endings, one of them being a Joke Ending and the other a Gainax Ending.
The Final Boss will be different depending on the route/ending you play
So in one route it could be Ink Bendy, in another route it could be Wilson, in yet another route it could be Nathan or even Joey, and so on.- Jossed
Henry and Nathan used to be friends
Joey could've manipulated Nathan into hating Henry (possibly after Henry has left the studio), and at the very least discouraged Henry from trying to reconcile with Nathan as well. But it's also possible whatever conflict that happened between Henry and Nathan had nothing to do with Joey at all, ironically enough.- In TIOL, Nathan's notes indicate that he doesn't like Henry.
Joey and Nathan were toxic friends who enabled each other's negative behavior
So they were the opppsite of Henry who acted as a Morality Chain/Positive Friend Influence to Joey (and possibly Nathan if they used to be friends as well). Susie actually rejected the "opportunity" that Joey offered her, only for her to be invited (like Henry etc.) decades later and trapped in the Cycle as Twisted Alice
Note how at the end of Joey's audio log in BATIM Chapter 5, Susie's response is never heard. Since at that point Susie was aware of Joey being a "smooth talker", she could've rejected his offer under the belief that he was lying/planning to toss her aside in favor of Allison again. Many years later, Susie eventually moved on from Alice and mellowed out enough to accept Joey's invitation to the studio, not expecting him to kill her, trap her in the Cycle, and on top of that revert her memories to her past Alice-obsessed self (likely out of sheer spite on Joey's part).- Bonus points if Susie started working at whichever studio Henry went to after leaving JDS (assuming Henry continued to work as an animator). That might have something to do with how she can recognize him despite being hired by Joey after Henry's departure.
It's impossible for inked victims to permanently return to their human selves
Possibly foreshadowed by this quote from the newspaper teasers:- "Mr. Drew, the pencil can be erased; mistakes removed and revisions made to suit the changing landscape of your world. But ink. Ink stains forever. Ink creates truths that cannot be erased or altered. Ink is permanent... just like the effect you've had on everyone around you and your studio. Mr. Drew, your world is NOT a world of graphite, but of INK."
Someone is possessing/will possess the Ink Machine itself
- This does not happen.
Betty is Emma LaMonte
They do both have British accents, and Betty's voice could be higher pitched because she's speaking with the voice of the cartoon character she turned into (this is also assuming 'Betty' is the name of said cartoon character and not the human).- Jossed, Betty is Wilson's creation.
- Confirmed. His head spins around if you do it.
Wilson is a Well-Intentioned Extremist
Seemingly implied by his bio. He'll do anything to take down Arch Gate Pictures and destroy the Cycle, even if it involves getting innocent people hurt/killed.- He's pretending to be this, but his motivation is revealed to be a selfish one in the end.
Wilson got his eye injury from Nathan
Either Nathan tried to trap Wilson in the Cycle and hurt his eye in the process, or Wilson tried to trap Nathan in the Cycle and the latter attacked his eye in self-defense. Wilson's injury being from a human (or anything other than an ink creature for that matter) would also explain why he hasn't been infected by the ink.- Jossed, since Wilson is Nathan's son.
Wilson's eye injury and Joey's limp were from the same incident
For example, they could've gotten into a physical fight with each other back when the studio was still running.- Jossed, Wilson would have been too young at the time.
The Bendy animatronic will actually move this time
Bonus points if it's possessed by Lacie Benton.- It does not appear.
The ink has been 'tainted' (unintentionally) by Joey's wickedness
The ink was originally a benign (albeit supernatural and possibly sentient) substance. But when it was used to bring Joey's dreams to life, it became corrupted due to his impure heart. Had the ink been used to fulfill the dreams of someone kinder (like Henry for example), it wouldn't have been corrupted the way it has now, and it might've even been possible to create perfect Toons using the ink without human souls. Even if Joey does a genuine Heel–Face Turn (assuming he's stuck in the Cycle and not dead dead), there's no guarantee that the ink will return to its original harmless state. Dapper Bendy was in BATIM's Cycle the whole time
Assuming he isn't Henry or Ink Bendy (as those possibilities are already covered by other WMGs above). According to his bio he tends to stay out of sight, which could've been why Henry never ran into him. He might've even been the one to move the Bendy cutouts around (given his mischievous personality much like his 2D counterpart), and/or the one whistling the Bendy theme song in Chapter 2.- He is the Ink Demon.
Bendy could already switch between Dapper/small and Ink Demon forms in BATIM (before Wilson's intervention)
Slight variation of the WMG directly above. The reason Bendy likes to stay out of sight could be because he doesn't want others to see him transform into the Ink Demon, as he likely has limited control over his form.- The reason why Bendy switches forms could be because the consciousnesses/personalities of Cartoon Bendy (Dapper Bendy) and the human that got fused with him (Ink Demon; based on another WMG above) are fighting each other for control over their body, similar to how Cartoon Alice's consciousness is implied to be present within Twisted Alice ("I had to do it, she made me") along with Susie, and how Cartoon Boris' personality took over Buddy when the latter transformed. And then there's a third unknown entity (Beast Bendy, presumably not present in any other Toons) responsible for making Bendy act violent even before being merged with a human, like killing Buddy in Dreams Come to Life.
- Likely jossed.
Henry is A Bendy, but not Dapper Bendy
He could be an even more perfect Bendy, like how Buddy Boris is considered more perfect than Tom and the other Boris clones even though the latter are still relatively cartoon-accurate. Or he could be a taller Bendy, if his height as seen in BATIM hasn't changed. Or he could be a Toon fusion with Bendy as one of the components (which would be pretty fitting as he's the creator of multiple cartoon characters, not just Bendy).- Jossed, he appears as a human.
Sammy has encountered Dapper Bendy before
Dapper Bendy's "widow's peak" is lopsided towards his right eye, similar to the smudge on Sammy's mask. The patch on Dapper Bendy's left leg also matches Sammy's. So perhaps seeing Dapper Bendy was what inspired Sammy to aim to resemble "the most perfect form he knows". Wilson is already infected by the ink, he's just been using the temporary ink cure (from The Lost Ones) on himself
At the end of The Lost Ones Joey kidnaps Constance, the creator of the ink cure. It's possible he forced her to make more of the cure, and many years later Wilson managed to get his hands on them and repeatedly used them to keep himself from turning into an ink creature.- In this case his eye injury being from Ink Bendy is the most obvious possibility, as he claims to have banished him. But if he's indeed supposed to be Susie's foil (especially if he voiced Bendy—see above WMG), he could've gotten his eye injury from (an) Alice Angel, to contrast how Susie's messed up eye/face is implied to be because of Ink Bendy ("I won't let the demon touch me again!").
Allison hasn't forgotten her memories as much as she claims to have
While she still could've forgotten some stuff, she could've also withheld some important information she does remember from Henry, and may do the same with Audrey as well.- What reason does she have to lie?
Joey is the key to setting everyone free
Assuming he's in the Cycle. This could go one of two ways:- Joey is the root of all the tragedies at his studio, therefore he's the only one who can free everyone as he must be the one to take responsibility for his own past actions (rather than getting someone else like Henry or Audrey to do it). Now whether he'll actually free everyone is another question entirely...
- Joey (in whatever ink form he has taken) must be permanently killed in order to free everyone. As long as he persists in some form, so too will the Cycle.
- Likely jossed.
Post-Release
The third game will place a heavy focus on Bendy being Reformed, but Rejected
- Bonus points if Buddy returns as a major character. Even more bonus points if the rejection causes him to become evil again.
GENT and Alan Grey will be the main antagonists of the third game
- GENT did a lot of unethical things that aren't really dwelled on, and the last we see of the Ink Machine is it being driven off in a GENT truck. It's the perfect lead-in to a new conflict for Audrey and the denizens of the Ink dimension; trying to get the Ink Machine back so GENT can't use it.
Joey did successfully create 100% cartoon-accurate Toons
At the very least Bendy, Boris and Alice, and maybe the original three Butcher Gang members. Given how he managed to create an entire artificial human with the Ink Machine, there's a good chance he was able to create completely perfect Toons as well. However, his studio got shut down due to bankruptcy before he could showcase them, and Gent took the Toons away from him. If the perfect Toons were to encounter their 'imperfect' counterparts from the Cycle in a future game, it would be... awkward at best between them. All the Toons in the original Cycle symbolize their voice actors
(While there may be out-of-universe reasons for all the cartoon characters except Alice lacking voices in the animated clips, if the comics are any indication they are supposed to be able to speak in-universe. If Bendy, Boris and the Butcher Gang aren't supposed to be able to speak in-universe, they wouldn't have been given dialogue in the comics, as it would've been considered a "waste of time and ink" for the studio. Besides, only a single side character having a voice and not the main protagonist would be a very strange decision for the studio to make, even for someone like Joey Drew.)
Getting the obvious ones out of the way first: the two Alice Angels are obviously Susie and Allison. Yet "Susie"/Twisted Alice speaks in Allison's voice because of course, Joey preferred her voice as Alice and not Susie's.
Boris and the Butcher Gang (Charley, Barley and Edgar) were voiced by various random employees of the studio (including Buddy and Thomas for Boris) instead of actual voice actors, as Joey was trying to cut corners as per usual, hence the many Boris and Butcher Gang clones throughout the Cycle. They may all be mute/not speaking coherently because none of their voices as Boris/the Butcher Gang were particularly memorable, or because there were too many different voices for Joey to pick out specific ones for his Cycle. Considering the little bit of similarities they have, Sammy may have voiced Boris at one point as well, but he did such a poor job that Joey didn't even bother making his ink counterpart a full Boris.
Ink Bendy of course would symbolize Bendy's voice actor. The Ink Machine being able to create only one Bendy in the Cycle's "story" could also be symbolizing how Bendy's VA was one-of-a-kind/irreplaceable. But with Joey's habit of overworking his employees to the bone, Bendy's VA was overworked as well, and as a result their voice was permanently damaged (hence the Ink Demon having a grisly voice [again obviously symbolic, not that the VA literally sounded like him] and small Bendy being mute) and their career was ruined. As Ink Bendy's outfit in his small form seemingly came outta nowhere, perhaps it's actually meant to resemble the outfit that Bendy's VA used to wear. And since Ink Bendy has the ability to merge with "humans" (as seen with Audrey), he may have merged with the VA's ink counterpart as part of the Cycle's plot (before Henry enters the studio).
Carley is likely the exception, as despite Joey acknowledging her existence by adding her to the Cycle, there's no indication so far that she ever appeared in any of the official media produced by JDS, so Slicer (Carley's monster counterpart) could be her creator, Jane Todd, instead.
Tom isn't Thomas Connor
- This is mainly based on toon!Joey's statement that Allison Angel is apparently merely a toon based on the real Allison. I believe that Tom is a similar case. Knowing that the real Thomas left the studio prior to the events of Ink Machine, it's very hard to believe he could've been reincarnated into the cycle. Plus,Tom actually being Thomas would kind of ruin Joey's redemption, as it would mean that despite supposedly considering Allison an "angel",he was still willing to murder her husband.
- Very strongly implied
Wilson used to work at Joey Drew Studios
Likely as an animator/artist. This could've been how he knew about Joey being a "crooked charlatan" despite Nathan being blissfully unaware of his true nature. Since Wilson was somehow able to recognize the Ink Machine when no one else could, he could've been around back when it was first installed at the studio. It's also possible Wilson at some point tried to tell Nathan about Joey's true colors, only for Nathan to not believe him.- Wouldn’t he have been a bit young? His exact age is unclear, but Nathan is only a few years older than Joey, and Wilson is his son.
- Wilson looks and sounds quite old so he could've been old enough to work at the studio. Or maybe he was a teenage intern like Buddy.
- Wilson can’t be any older than 53 in BATDR because that’s the year Nathan got back from the war.
Joey lied about not using any souls for the Cycle
C'mon, this is Joey Drew we're talking about, who has been shown time and time again throughout the franchise—both games and books alike—that he's a manipulative liar. Not only did the tragedies of the Ink Machine as described in the Cycle and the books actually happen, but on top of that he invited people who left the studio—Henry, Allison, Thomas, and possibly even Wally and Shawn—and trapped them in the Cycle as well, both as a way of tying up loose ends and out of spite against them for leaving the studio (which he's already expressed towards Henry). Even if Joey felt genuine regret over his actions (which is rather dubious anyway as he never actually stopped the Cycle or even changed the story so it's less miserable for everyone inside), obviously he wouldn't want Audrey to know that he's a mass murderer. Bonus points if Audrey was created using the soul of Henry's daughter/granddaughter; in other words Joey could've stolen Henry's family member, similar to how he stole his cartoon characters but much worse.- The mirror jumpscare Easter Egg at the beginning of the game could even be what's left of the consciousness of Henry's daughter/granddaughter's soul within Audrey.
- Even if Joey has fooled Audrey, Gent could still know/find out the truth as they were directly involved in creating and operating the Ink Machine.
- It’d be completely pointless to establish that multiple characters are copied or “versions” of the original humans if they weren’t meant to be just that. However, notably, all of the characters who are established in this game to not have souls do not have coffins with their names on them in the original game. So while he was lying in general, he probably isn’t lying about Henry and Allison specifically, since Henry corroborates not being human.
- The coffins aren't the most reliable way to determine which real people are trapped in the Cycle, as there have been only five of them seen so far (Susie, Norman, Grant, Bertrum, and Lacie—two of which have yet to make physical appearances in the Cycle), and it's especially confusing for characters like Sammy, Jack and Buddy who are part of the Cycle's story, yet have neither coffins nor any indication that they've left the studio at any point. Besides, the only thing that has "established" that Henry, Allison, etc. in the Cycle are supposedly only copies of their real life counterparts are Joey's words, who again is a notorious liar. As for Henry, it's possible either his soul was trapped in an inky caricature of himself, or his body simply transformed from prolonged exposure to the ink; either way Joey would've wanted him in a form that allowed him to torture him for as long as he wanted to.
- The implication throughout the series that an ink creation that's either soulless or has an "incorrect" soul will look flawed/monstrous lends credence to Cycle Henry, Allison and Audrey having real souls given their perfect appearances, in which case Cycle Joey could have a soul too (likely the real Joey's) since he looks perfect as well.
- What exactly determines an ‘incorrect’ soul? That’s completely arbitrary—Susie was an Alice voice actress and she is imperfect. In fact, this whole idea that a soul is needed was never actually established in game aside from one line from Thomas and Joey that lacking a soul is what made the Ink Demon so monstrous, which they easily could have been and were wrong about, since the Ink Demon’s perfect form is still soulless. Additionally, the idea of a soul needing to match the ink creature is entirely fanon, and always was. (I mean, are you suggesting that Thomas Connor was a perfect match for Boris the wolf?) And Audrey is a totally unique being, so how did she even gain a soul; the Ink Machine cannot make them. This idea is jossed by Dark Revival unless you bend over backwards to claim that Allison and Henry have souls despite the game repeatedly saying they do not. And just claiming every piece of lore that goes against your idea is Joey lying is a stretch, especially since Henry himself corroborates not being the real Henry Stein. Having a soul or lacking a soul does not actually affect the resulting ink creature as much as anyone thought it would. In fact, many of the characters who ostensibly have souls are worse off than those that do. During the beginning of the game, Allison claims that Audrey got lucky having been created from the machine as a fully realized person rather than an inky mess, and taking all the current information into account, that’s the way it works. However perfect the resulting ink creature is when it’s made from the Ink Machine is completely up to luck.
- This theory is jossed by the Archives, which confirm that Henry has no soul and is only a creation of the ink machine.
The real Joey is still around as a ghost
There's a recurring theme throughout BATDR of ghosts/phantoms, so assuming souls do exist in this series, Joey himself sticking around as a ghost after his death would fit that theme. However this doesn't necessarily mean the "Joey" that Audrey meets in the Cycle is actually him, as that "Joey" seems to be more of a caricature of the ideal Joey that he presented himself as in several audio logs and the studio tour audio.- There's also the possibility of Joey's ghost influencing any of the other characters in the story, similar to how William Afton influenced Vanny (or at least is implied to have done so) in Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach, but for now it's hard to say for sure exactly who, if anyone at all.
Wilson was just mad that Nathan chose to open an animation studio instead of a film studio like he originally suggested
Wilson's dialogue of "he always had time for the grand creatives of the world [...] how could his lowly son ever hope to compete with that" was just him being angry at Nathan for "choosing Joey over him" (or so he believed) and exaggerating things to justify himself. In other words, Wilson's whole messing with the Cycle was just an extremely grandiose way of throwing a temper tantrum because Nathan dared to reject his suggestion by choosing Bendy cartoons over movies (even though Nathan's decision was still clearly inspired by Wilson's original idea, but apparently that wasn't enough for him). This would also make the fact that he turned into a Toon whose original form was a literal child rather fitting.- Even the beginning of the game shows that Wilson is the kind of person who won't take no for an answer, with him entering the elevator even after Audrey told him not to. So of course he wouldn't take kindly to Nathan rejecting his idea. And with how rich Nathan is, Wilson was likely a Spoiled Brat.
Repeated exposure to the ink makes living beings (or at least humans) age faster
That could be why Wilson both looks and sounds way older than Nathan despite being his son, since it's implied that he went back and forth between the Cycle and the real world multiple times.- But that doesn’t seem to have happened for literally any other human character in the series except him. Another possibility is that he’s spent some significant amount of time in the ink world, and time didn’t pass the same way on the outside due to the time loop, so he aged naturally (which never happened to Henry or Allison or anyone else because they’re made from the ink and probably can’t age or change just like a cartoon doesn’t age or change) and by the time he left, was physically much older than he was supposed to be.
- Maybe it just depends on the person, like how Sammy was seemingly the only one who got addicted to ink while everyone else affected by it feared/hated it.
- Almost confirmed by the Archives—it's not the ink, it's crossing back and forth between the cycle and real world repeatedly that artificially aged him.
The main Bendy game series will be a trilogy
Excluding any spinoffs (like BATDS) and other types of media outside of video games. Thomas Connor and Wally Franks will play bigger roles in the third game
With Thomas it's obvious, assuming the third game will focus more on Gent, he was one of the employees of Gent and was involved in the Ink Machine's creation. As for Wally, the third game could potentially expand on his conflict with Thomas (established in BATIM and BATDS), and with Thomas' quote of "if there's one loose bolt around here, we're gonna have a whole mess of trouble [...] that Wally guy is one loose bolt", perhaps it could be revealed that Wally at some point caused a major disaster for Gent. Plus a blueprint
◊ found in Joey's apartment states that Wally is the designer of the Ink Machine, even though according to every other source Thomas is the one who created it, so there may be some clarifications on that as well. If Wilson ever returns, he'll be stuck in Shipahoy Dudley's original cartoon form
It would be a humiliating yet appropriate (and funny) fate for him after everything he's done, especially if he also ends up with a silly cartoon voice on top of that. Bonus points if Gent experiments on him like how he experimented on Bendy. Twisted Alice was originally a failed attempt at creating Allison Angel
Instead of just getting rid of her, Joey gave her the role of Susie instead. Nathan will eventually find out about Joey's true self in a future game
He could even stop hating Henry after finding out that he's the actual creator of the Bendy characters and was unfairly treated by Joey. The third game will introduce cartoon-accurate Alice Angel
BATIM introduced perfect Boris (Buddy) and BATDR introduced perfect Bendy. If this is supposed to be a pattern then the third game could introduce perfect Alice and complete the trio (not counting Allison as she's far from actually being cartoon-accurate, and she's only really considered "perfect" because her face isn't messed up like Twisted Alice's). She may also be a companion/ally of the third game's protagonist, like how Boris was Henry's and Bendy was Audrey's.- Bonus points if it's another form of Twisted Alice (possibly after being experimented on by Gent). Not only would she parallel Ink Bendy, but Buddy Boris also has a monster form (Brute Boris) so it would make sense for perfect Alice to have a monster form too. After being reassured by Allison that she was always beautiful, Twisted Alice's transformation into perfect Alice could potentially be a Sweet and Sour Grapes situation.
Ink Bendy does have a soul
Wilson mentions that in order to control a Toon it needs "the right soul". In an attempt to keep the Ink Demon under control, Wilson could've either merged Ink Bendy with a soul (probably one that was already in the Cycle), or "awakened" the soul that was already lying dormant within Bendy (since he's always had humanoid proportions since BATIM). While this method ultimately failed, it still caused Bendy to shrink into a harmless form; as the side effects of this, he became capable of speech in his Ink Demon form and wears clothing (presumably resembling that of the soul's owner) in his smaller form. Nathan Arch will be the player character of the third game
The player characters so far (Henry and Audrey) both have some kind of special connection with Joey, as well as being relatively friendlier than him. Assuming Audrey won't be the player character again (though she could still be an ally like Henry was in BATDR), maybe we'll play as Nathan this time, since he's the only other character to fit that description; perhaps he'll visit Gent (probably to learn more about the Ink Machine) and end up getting dragged into the Cycle, being forced to face the dark truths about Joey and even finding out about Wilson's death (and his crimes for that matter). Abby Lambert will be the player character of the third game
Probably not, but I can dream. The main human antagonists of each game (assuming there will be a third game) will transform into cartoon-accurate Butcher Gang
Joey has some similarities with Charley (Bad Boss often shown in a suit/vest) and Wilson has some with Barley (blind right eye, Toon form is a sailor). So maybe not only will the third game's main villain have some things in common with Edgar, but all three of them will end up turning into perfect versions of the respective Butcher Gang member that they're similar to, possibly thanks to Gent experimenting on them (if Alan Gray is the third game's main villain it will likely be a case of Hoist by His Own Petard, or maybe Professor Guinea Pig depending on how crazy he is). Now whether they'll actually work together like a gang is another question, but considering at least two of their personalities it seems extremely unlikely (unless their cartoon personalities take over like what happened to Buddy Boris).
As for Carley, it's less likely she'll get a perfect counterpart since she was never an "official" member of the Gang. But if she gets one, she'll probably be a secondary character (antagonistic or not) rather than the main villain of a fourth game.
There will be a "second Bendy" in a future game
So far there are two (relevant) Borises and two Alices, but only one Bendy as the Ink Demon and perfect Bendy turned out to be the same character. It's possible a future game will introduce a "second Bendy" who falls under the same category as Tom and Allison, the "not quite perfect yet not really monstrous either" Toons.
This could go one of three ways:
- Gent or someone else will create a second Bendy, either by transforming a preexisting character or creating a new Bendy from scratch.
- It will be revealed that there's always been a second Bendy in the Cycle and that Henry and Audrey just never got a chance to encounter him.
- Sammy will play the role of "second Bendy" (without transforming) as he always wears a Bendy mask and he's nowhere near as monstrous as Ink Bendy, especially if he does a Heel–Face Turn and becomes an ally like Tom and Allison.
The third game will introduce flying enemies similar to Gwens from Bendy in Nightmare Run
Like how BATIM has Searchers which are crawling enemies similar to Krawls, and BATDR has Widows which are spider-like enemies similar to Stickles. "Archgate Films" (the one mentioned in Allison's letter) was a studio run by Wilson
As theMeatly has stated that BATIM's lore still 100% stands in BATDR, we know Allison's letter hasn't been retconned in any way. Since Nathan didn't open Arch Gate Pictures until after Joey's death, "Archgate Films" could've been a different studio owned by Wilson instead. Archgate Films likely closed at some point, which could've been why Wilson tried to convince Nathan to open a film studio (presumably to try to ride on his coattails, though that plan failed as Nathan opened a Bendy cartoons studio instead).- If Joey lied about the Allison in the Cycle being a clone, and the real Allison is indeed trapped in the Cycle, her disappearance could've had something to do with Archgate Films' closure.
- He has no reason to lie (and is honest with Audrey about several things that make him look bad, so if he was lying to save face he would probably have left those out as well to make himself look better), making this entire idea completely baseless. Also, why would her disappearance cause it to close when multiple other people went missing from the previous studio without closing? It remained open for years after a very public police investigation before bankruptcy became the reason it closed.
The letters in Joey's apartment are fake
Joey made up the name "Archgate Films" because he knew Nathan liked movies and "Arch Gate" was a brand name Nathan used for his other businesses. The reason for Joey writing and leaving up fake letters could be anything from him regretting trapping Allison, Tom and Wally in the Cycle and wanting to pretend they're still alive, to him being a Compulsive Liar as per usual.- If they don’t matter, why would the developer put them there? Details like that are added for a reason.
The soul Audrey possesses was originally Joey's, or a piece of Joey's
It's implied in the original game that the Ink Machine cannot give the beings it creates souls from nothing, rather, the only way for an ink creature to have a soul is to take one from an already-living human. Yet, in this game, Wilson says that he needs Audrey's soul to perfect his Shipahoy Dudley cartoon, despite her being born from the machine (and the Ink Demon corroborates that she indeed has a soul which he also seems to want, so it's not just Wilson lying again). What if Joey quite literally poured part of his soul into his work, realizing his mistake with all his prior attempts. It would explain why the Memory of Joey only appears before Audrey and not around any other character, and add another layer to why Wilson needs this specific soul to destroy the Ink Demon, as it's a fragment of his creator. The Memory items you can collect aren't memories from Audrey's childhood. They're Wilson's.
In the previous game, there were parts of the studio that seemed to be influenced by Joey's memory as he's in control of the story, such as the words Reminds me of home appearing on a painting identical to one in Joey's home. Wilson is the current person in control of the studio's narrative during the game, and it's possible he's having this subtle influence on the studio as well, with parts of his memory manifesting as the various objects you can collect. Note how the gender of the child in the memories is never specified, nor is it specified that the memories belong to you.- The description for the engine oil describes it having been beneficial for many road trips. Joey's wheelchair-bound by the time he has Audrey, which would make taking numerous road trips rather difficult, but Nathan has no such issue.
- The alarm clock's information box does directly reference a line in one of Joey's tapes about not having much time together left, which doesn't make much sense if it's about Nathan.
Audrey is much younger than she looks
The fact she's naive enough to not immediately realize Wilson is a bad guy is a little hard to believe if she's actually the age she appears to be. Additionally Ink Machine is (supposed to be) set in 1960,while Dark Revival is set in 1972,which unless it's simply a case of Writers Cannot Do Math would seem to indicate the absolute oldest she could possibly be is 12. I speculate that after Joey's previous experiments attempting to create a human child using the Ink Machine, the one that was ultimately successful required the child to be Born as an Adult. While she's likely in her early-mid 20s physically, it seems rather unlikely she could be more than 9 or 10 chronologically. This would also explain why she seemingly doesn't remember anything about her father despite his death having occurred only a year ago.- This would line up with the image of her seen in Joey’s slideshow, who is clearly a young child in the slide where he described deciding to create her. Additionally, the failed Audrey heard at the end of the first game sounded around nine or ten, and the process of making her couldn’t have taken multiple years for each one simply due to the timeline of events. So Audrey being ‘born’ at around age nine or ten completely lines up.
- The image of her drawing with Joey seen during the credits looks younger than 10, closer to a 4-5 year old. Maybe she aged faster through childhood?
Gent helped Joey cover up the murders of his employees
- If they could cover up the deaths happening during their experiments, they’d definitely have the resources.
Wilson has been in the Cycle world for a while
The oldest Wilson could possibly be (this assumes Nathan and Tessa had him literally as soon as Nathan came back from the war, the earliest this could have happened) is 53, and he looks and sounds older than his father. He does not look 53. Additionally, although the Ink Demon has been gone for exactly 211 days, Henry says he hasn't eaten in years, which would imply he's been in the Pit for quite a lot longer than that. We know he's gone back and forth between the real and ink worlds before, so what if Wilson has been in the Ink Realm for at least a decade, which would have given him ample time to learn about how this world works and do all the things he's doing like create an entire house, the Keepers, etc. He's the only real human in the cycle, and so he continued to age in the loop while none of the others did because they are living cartoons and cartoons do not age. This would also fit with Wilson's audio diary about being hidden in plain sight. He has a really recognizable face, so that diary doesn't make much sense, unless, of course, he's unrecognizable to everyone because he looks a lot older than he should.- The reason Wilson looks so old has been confirmed to be "unnaturally entering to and from the ink realm."
The Ink Demon has always been able to speak, Henry just can't hear him since he speaks through the ink, not aloud
The Ink Demon being Suddenly Voiced is never really commented on by anyone, which doesn't make much sense if it's a newly developed ability. However, a couple of things make it clear that he's not actually speaking aloud, but rather using a sort of mind-to-mind communication through the ink. Note how his mouth doesn't move when he talks at the end before absorbing Audrey. He also states at the beginning of the game that the Ink itself can read mind and memory and speaks to him, so it makes sense he'd be able to use it the other way around. This is corroborated by that part where he talks to Audrey despite not being anywhere around her, and she responds aloud, to Wilson's surprise. In the previous game, Allison mentions that Henry seems to be impervious to the effects of the Ink, unlike most Ink Creatures who can't touch it for too long or return to the Well of Voices, which is likely why he's also cut off from hearing the Ink Demon speak through the ink. Joey Drew didn't actually take the souls of his employees...or at least not their entire soul.
The real Tom, Allison, and others were never transformed the Ink Machine. But Joey did invite them over to see the machine, and when they interacted with it it created an "impression" of them that became their counterparts in the Ink world and possibly used part of their soul to do it.. The ink beings in the Ink world that have their own personalities are all "impressions" of people in our world that had a significant effect/role in the studio, while the mindless enemies are the personifications of the minor employees and the general sense of dread and unhappiness as the studio gradually fell into disrepair. Betty and Alice are in cahoots.
Twisted Alice has been living in the North Ward for an unknown amount of time after she escaped the Pit. Betty, as the housekeeper, should probably be aware when someone just starts living in the house, and when Audrey emerges from the North Ward after however long she's been unconscious, Betty doesn't really seem to react outside of telling her that Wilson's been waiting. Almost as if she knew Audrey had been taken and didn't care. Additionally, when Alice shows up to kidnap Audrey, she does it at exact same time she takes a sip of the 'sleeping potion' given to her by Betty. How would she have known how quickly it was going to take effect...unless the person who made it told her? If the next game revolves around the GENT corporation taking the Ink Machine, a major conflict is going to involve the fictional copies of Tom and Allison going up against the real ones.
It seems likely that GENT are being set up as the next big villains, and the real Thomas Connor works for them. If they're doing experiments on the world inside the ink machine, it stands to reason Allison Angel and Tom would want to stop the threat against their world, which could lead to a real-verses-ink Mirror Match. Even at his evilest, The Ink Demon Wouldn't Hurt a Child
Yes this is here solely because I think villains wiki voting him "pure evil" shows a massive misunderstanding of his character, how could you tell?- He has canonically killed and eaten multiple teenagers.
- Teenagers, not children. The youngest person with a confirmed age he killed was 17. It's also never stated or shown that he ever ate anyone.
- He chows down on several lost ones throughout the game, and Audrey (The first-person camera zooms in on his opening mouth, and the splash page for dying to him says CONSUMED, which is as clear as I think it can get) and I thought the implication at the end of TLO was that Bill got eaten? Although semantically 'teenager' and 'child are different things, yes.
