Handlung

Henry, a former traditional animator, receives a strange note from a friend inviting him to his old workplace. Upon arrival, Henry finds the place abandoned and discovers a mysterious ink machine creating all sorts of abominations.

The game follows Henry Stein, a retired animator who returns to the defunct animation company upon an invitation from his old friend Joey Drew, then, later on, he discovers a living nightmare within the studio by the chaos of ink, thanks to the titular Ink Machine.—Joey Drew Studios

In the year 1963, Henry Stein, co-founder and former animator at Joey Drew Studios is invited back to the studio by his former friend and business partner, Joey Drew. Not much is known about Henry's visit to the studio, but what we do know is that he was promptly killed and sacrificed to the Ink Machine by Joey, therefore ending up in the cartoon world and beginning his never-ending loop. Henry wakes up in a cartoon version of the studio and finds it abandoned and dirtied up with ink splotches everywhere, as well as a mutilated copy of Boris the Wolf, one of the studio's characters. Henry discovers that the messy ink was caused by the Ink Machine, which was installed sometime after Henry left. Henry goes to fix and turn on the machine. After turning the machine on, Henry goes back to the machine but is attacked by an ink creature known as Ink Bendy, who closely resembles the studio's mascot, Bendy. Henry tries to escape as the studio fills with ink. As Henry reaches the door, the floor under him gives way and he falls into the ink-filled lower levels. After draining the ink, Henry finds a room with coffins and a strange diagram on the floor. When he steps on it, he sees a vision of the Ink Machine, a wheelchair, and Ink Bendy, before passing out.

Henry wakes up and searches for a way out. He eventually comes to the music department and discovers an exit at the bottom of some stairs, but the stairs are flooded and blocking the door. After battling ink creatures known as Searchers, Henry finds music director Sammy Lawrence's office and finds a pump switch inside that could drain the ink at the stairs, but his office is blocked by a massive ink leak. Henry finds two valves that lower the ink pressure, one in Sammy's sanctuary and one in the infirmary, being held hostage by the studio's lyricist Jack Fain, who has been turned into a Swollen Searcher. After stopping the leak, Henry drains the ink at the stairs. While approaching the stairs however, he is knocked out by an ink corrupted Sammy. After waking up, Sammy reveals he intends to sacrifice Henry to Ink Bendy, whom he worships as a deity, so that he can be free of the ink. As Sammy begins the sacrifice ritual, he is attacked by Ink Bendy and presumably killed. Henry breaks free and tries to escape, but is confronted by Ink Bendy. After a chase, Henry locks himself in a storage room. Venturing into the room, he realizes there is someone in the room and tells them to show themselves. Henry becomes shocked when the figure reveals himself as a fully intact Boris the Wolf.

Henry befriends Boris, and the two leave Boris' safehouse to find another way out of the studio. They come across the toy department and find a back room full of merchandise for Alice Angel, the studio's lead female. Henry is then confronted by a twisted design of Alice Angel and she summons him to Level 9 of the studio. Henry and Boris reach Level 9, but are attacked by the Piper, a member of the Butcher Gang, minor antagonists of the cartoons. Inside Twisted Alice's lair, Henry and Boris discover multiple mutilated clones of Boris and the Butcher Gang. Henry finds Twisted Alice torturing a Piper and she orders him to fetch some items for her, in exchange for being allowed to escape the studio. Henry must fulfill Twisted Alice's tasks, all the while being hunted by Ink Bendy, Searchers, the Butcher Gang, and the Projectionist, an ink corrupted version of Norman Polk, the studio's projectionist. After fulfilling her needs, she sends him to the elevator where he can leave, but forces the elevator to fall after discovering Boris, who she wants as he is the most perfect Boris. The elevator crashes on Level S. Boris wakes Henry up, and he is forced to watch as Twisted Alice drags Boris away.

Waking back up from passing out, Henry leaves the broken lift and explores the cavernous archives of the studio to find and rescue Boris. After Alice taunts Henry about Boris' capture, Henry comes across a lounge filled with Lost Ones, people infected by the ink who show no hostility. After fleeing through the vents, Henry discovers that Joey planned to open a Bendy-themed amusement park called Bendy Land, with the help of famed amusement park designer Bertrum Piedmont. Henry deduces that the haunted house attraction is the way to go and traverses the storage area to find the switches to power the ride up. He activates the four power switches, while in the process sneaking past the Butcher Gang, defeating an ink corrupted Bertrum, who has merged himself with an octopus ride, and escaping from the Projectionist, who is decapitated by Ink Bendy. Once on the haunted house ride, Henry is shocked to discover that Alice has transformed Boris into a brute monster. After a brief struggle, Henry is forced to kill Boris, who fades away. An enraged Twisted Alice tries to attack Henry herself, but is killed from behind by another version of Alice Angel and a robot-handed clone of Boris.

The new characters, Allison Angel and Tom, lock Henry in a makeshift prison. Henry manages to gain Allison's trust, while Tom remains hesitant towards him. Allison gives Henry a Seeing Tool, which is used to see hidden messages, and Henry sees a message that says Allison will leave Henry for dead. Later, Ink Bendy discovers Allison and Tom's location, and Tom convinces Allison to leave Henry behind so they can escape. Henry manages to escape the prison after discovering a secret room with a weapon behind the wall, thanks to the hidden messages. Once he escapes, Henry rides on a barge through a river of ink, with a massive Bendy hand chasing behind him. Henry arrives in a shanty town built by the Searchers and the Lost Ones. There, he is confronted by the forsaken Sammy, who believes Henry is Ink Bendy and tries to take revenge for almost killing him. Sammy gets unmasked by Henry, but Sammy overpowers Henry and tries to kill him, but Sammy is killed by Tom. Tom equips Henry with an axe. With Sammy out of the way, the Searchers and Lost Ones he was keeping at bay become violent and start attacking. Henry, Allison and Tom work together and defeat the wave of monsters. Henry leads the way onward, but falls into the administration offices on a lower level. Henry tries to escape through the film vault, but the entrance is flooded. Henry works to reconnect the pipe system to drain the ink, by hiding from the Butcher Gang. Once in the film vault, a message reveals that a film reel has been stolen by Ink Bendy. Allison and Tom arrive and join Henry on his quest to find Ink Bendy. They discover that Ink Bendy's lair is a massive version of the Ink Machine. Henry is forced to go in alone, as the entrance is surrounded by ink, which could kill Allison and Tom. Inside, Henry finds a message from Joey, who talks about his downfall and how Henry can fix the darkness by showing Ink Bendy the stolen reel, titled "The End". Ink Bendy arrives and transforms into a massive monster, known as Beast Bendy. Beast Bendy knocks Henry into another room and gives chase. Henry escapes Beast Bendy and returns to his throne. He plays The End reel, which broadcasts the words "The End" on several screens, causing Beast Bendy to dissolve.

In a flashback, Henry arrives at Joey's house, who talks about how the two went on different paths, and how Joey's path burned because of his ambition. He summons Henry to the studio and the events of the beginning of the game play again.

In a post-credit scene, the camera zooms in on a signed picture from Henry of Bendy, Boris and Alice Angel. Offscreen, a young girl asks her "Uncle Joey" to tell her another story.