DCTL Book Summary - With Spoilers!

A lot of people asked for it, so here is it!

Keep in mind, that I had to keep it short, so I left out a lot of very interesting details, scenes, and subplots. Some of them will show up in my future theory posts, but if you’re a Bendy fan, I strongly encourage you to read the whole book, so you can get the full picture.



Buddy is an aspiring young artist, who dreams of getting out of his poor neighborhood. One day, he meets with Joey Drew, who hires him to be the art department’s delivery boy, as well as his personal apprentice.

Buddy befriends Dot, the writing intern. Following her advice, he sneaks into the music department’s closet, and steals some of the ink and paper to practice drawing at home. He overhears a heated conversation between Thomas and Sammy - Thomas is accusing Sammy of messing with the ink machine and stealing the ink. Later that day, Buddy witnesses Sammy drinking a bottle of ink.

Joey takes Buddy to see a play at the theater next to the studio. The two watch the play, and Joey begins to monologue about the “magic” of the play always going the same way, the actors always doing the same things each time, and the audience always laughing at the same moments. He asks Buddy who is in control of this magic. The actors? The director? No - it’s the vision. As long as people follow the vision, the play will always be the same.

A few days later, Buddy stays late at work, when he hears a curious banging noise. He follows it to the music department, where he comes across a strange door. He opens it and walks inside. Ink Bendy appears, pushes Buddy away, and runs out of the room. Buddy comes home and his grandfather discovers an inky handprint on Buddy’s shirt.

Buddy and Dot decide to investigate the music department. They discover stacks of empty ink jars and a notebook full of Sammy’s drawings - drawings that appear to be slipping off the pages and onto the floor.

Buddy’s grandfather comes to visit him at the studio. Joey offers him his hand, but instead of shaking it, the old man closely inspects it. He points out that Joey’s handprint matches the handprint Bendy left on Buddy’s shirt. Buddy refuses to believe that Joey could be Bendy.



A few days later, Joey invites Buddy to a fancy party. Buddy asks if Joey can afford it and Joey gets defensive. “There will always be people, who are trying to bring you down!” he complains “But the worst is a betrayal! Henry, that’s the worst! When you share your visions with someone, it’s like sharing a part of your soul!”.

Buddy and Dot sneak inside the studio to investigate it. Bendy shows up and begins chasing them. They are saved by Norman, who blames Buddy for letting Bendy out of his prison, and explains that Joey made the Ink Machine, because he wanted to prove that he doesn’t need Henry to be successful. The ink coming from the machine appears sentient and takes over people’s minds.

Buddy remembers that he took some of this ink home, and he runs back. The pictures he drew the night before are now blank, and a trail of ink crawls up his sleeping grandfather’s body, trying to slip inside his mouth. He wakes the old man up and they wash themselves, their clothes, and the sheets, but - as the future!Buddy says - the ink never really goes away. You may think it’s gone, but it’s just hiding, waiting.

Buddy attends Joey’s party, which is interrupted by Allison and Thomas. Tom demands the ink machine back, and Joey fires them both. Buddy leaves the party and seeks out Dot, who returned to the studio. He runs into Sammy, now an ink creature. Sammy reveals that he accidentally swallowed some ink from a burst pipe. “I could feel it moving inside me. I was scared, but the more I drunk, the more I understood. Only I know what he wants!”.

Buddy and Dot search for the ink machine. There are people inside ink cocoons around it - some are dead (including Norman) and one is alive, but controlled by the ink. The Ink Demon arrives, and mutates into his Beast Bendy form. Dot escapes, but Buddy is bitten in half and drowned in the ink.

Buddy wakes up, as Boris. Joey is there with him. “When I saw you in the clutches of that beast, I understood your purpose. I saved your soul, Buddy! And you saved me! You’re going to save Bendy!”. Joey explains that Sammy was luring people to the ink machine and infecting them with ink. “I thought I could use them, but the ink infected them for days. There was no soul left”. Buddy rejects Joey’s request to save Bendy and runs away.

The book ends with Boris!Buddy talking about his life as an ink creature. He believes that not all of his memories described in the book are correct, but most of them are. He begs Dot to stop the Ink Demon and save them all.