I’ve seen a few theories floating around about the ending to BATIM. And while I do agree with a few of them… I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to story analysis, and certain pieces haven’t been adding up.
So I thought about it… and thought about it. And thought some more. And I believe I have come up with a decent working theory which covers almost all plot threads (that I am aware of) of Bendy and the Ink Machine.
You refer to the ink demon as “soulless,” but you also say he constantly reminds himself of “what he really is.” So you do think some of the cartoon character made it in there? Is he just the mind of the cartoon in a distorted body?
Going through the chapter and some other theories I got the impression that the Bendy of the cartoons never actually made it into “Bendy.” This wandering demon was just some mindless beast that looked like the studio mascot, that Joey juryrigged into being his antagonist.
I can separate out Henry Stein from Henry the protagonist, or I can imagine them unified. But I find it more difficult to unify Bendy with “Bendy” in my head.
To be frank, whether or not the Ink Demon is in fact Bendy or simply a facsimile doesn’t matter. It sees itself as Bendy, as we can clearly see from it choosing to walk around in the guise that’s the closest it can get to the cartoon character, the fact that it gets possessive over the Bendy cutouts, the fact that it surrounds itself by Bendy cartoons and even prioritizes watching them over delivering the killing blow to Henry at The End.
The Ink Demon knows it was meant to be Bendy, and is honestly likely VERY close to being the real Bendy in personality… just pushed to the breaking point by being hounded and hated and feared. “Bendy” is probably very scared and has learned that it must protecti itself through violence and isolation, since nobody sees it as the Bendy it was created to be, and that it wishes it was.
Maybe the cartoon Bendy really is in there somewhere. Maybe “Bendy” is just a copy of him. Who knows! But that’s not quite the point, if you get what I mean.
(You could even argue that the cartoon Bendy doesn’t have a soul of his own, either – he’s given life through the heart that his animators pour into their work. In that sense, what’s the real difference between them?)
I just can’t help but think of when “Bendy” goes beast. He has two holes on the back of his hands (or, at least the right one since I haven’t seen the other well enough) like the little black dots on the back of Bendy’s hands. I wonder if they are there because “Bendy” is subconsciously trying to be on model as well. Poor guy.
The holes are indeed present on both hands.
In addition to what you’ve said, though, I also wanna point out that they somewhat resemble stigmata – the wounds on the hands and feet that result from a person being crucified. But, of course, Bendy has TWO on each hand, as opposed to just one. And if you take a look at the throne he’s made for himself…
…there are broken chains hanging from it on either side, dripping with viscous ink.
What if these chains had once been holding him in place where he’d been locked up? Threaded through his hands, with a link puncturing between each knuckle? It’s a horrible thought, but it would go even further to explain why Bendy is so defensive and malicious…
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