Bendy is a horror game series and media franchise created by Paul Crawford and Mike Desjardins, credited respectively as TheMeatly and Mike D.

The Bendy games are set at the fictional studio of Joey Drew Studios, where the player navigates through a first-person perspective and have limited physical actions such as running and jumping. Players are required to complete certain objectives to proceed, which consist of solving certain puzzles by collecting certain objects and of combating enemies that appear through the games by using certain weapons, such as axe, pipe, gun, etc.

Set in an undisclosed period in the first half of the 20th century, the series focuses on Joey Drew Studios, a fictional animation studio founded by Joey Drew, which, during its existence, was responsible for the creation of numerous popular cartoon characters such as Bendy and his friends. Before the closure of the studio, Drew acquired the titular Ink Machine, a mysterious device developed by the Gent Corporation in order to create living cartoons: the ink was derived from the souls of Drew's employees, which are additionally responsible for an alternate dimension stuck in a time loop called the Cycle. Each game has different protagonists trying to survive and free themselves from the horrors in the ink realm and against monsters created from the machine such as the Ink Demon.

Bendy, the titular character of the franchise, is a cartoon demon who serves as the mascot for Joey Drew Studios. He manifests in game as the Ink Demon, the Ink Machine's first creation, and a soulless monster that rules over the Cycle, which resets following his death. Other forms of the Ink Demon include a more benevolent cartoon Bendy and a monstrous form called Beast Bendy. The Ink Demon was the main villain of the first game and the spinoff, and the central antagonist of the second game.

Alice Angel is the female star of the Bendy cartoons. The two actresses who voiced the character, Susie Campbell and Allison Pendle, manifest as versions of Alice in the games. Susie manifests as Twisted Alice, a deformed, sadistic Alice who craves perfection, while Allison manifests as Allison Angel, a kindhearted survivor. There is also Boris the Wolf, one of Bendy's friends, who had many clones in the Cycle, all murdered by Twisted Alice.

A man known as Buddy became a kindhearted Boris named Buddy Boris. Thomas Conner, Allison's husband and an employee of the Gent Corporation, becomes Tom, a clone of Boris with a mechanical arm. Other versions of Boris include Brute Boris, a monstrous version of Buddy Boris after being experimented on by Twisted Alice, and Borkis, a clone of Boris with glowing eyes, who serves as a secret boss in Boris and the Dark Survival.

Other ink creatures include the Butcher Gang, Bendy's archenemies from the cartoons, who appear as recurring enemies in each game. The members include Charley / Piper, the primate leader of the Butcher Gang, Barley / Fisher, a human sailor, and Edgar / Striker, a spider. Bendy and the Dark Revival adds a female member to the Butcher Gang called Carley / Slicer, a ghost girl. Other enemies include Searchers and Lost Ones, former employees of Joey Drew Studios that have become trapped in the Cycle.

Each game has a different protagonist. The protagonist of Bendy and the Ink Machine and Bendy: The Cage is Henry Stein, an ink replica of Joey's former partner. Buddy Boris serves as the protagonist of Bendy: Lone Wolf. Bendy and the Dark Revival centers on Audrey Drew, the Ink Machine created daughter of Joey Drew. The Vessel(s) are the protagonists of Bendy: Secrets of the Machine.