Wilson Arch

"On the plus side, I got a new character I think people are going to love."
- Henry Stein

This article may contain unmarked details of spoilers. If you wish not to read without spoiling yourself, play the game, watch the cartoon, or read the book first, depending on the article's topic.

"Attention! Children of the Machine! This is Wilson. Your friend, your protector. For 211 days, you lived without the Ink Demon haunting your steps. I banished him away, tore his body in two. In return, I ask just a little favor. Among you, there is a stranger. A young lady. Bring her to me." — Wilson to the residents of The Cycle, in Bendy and the Dark Revival: Chapter 1

Wilson Arch
Incarnation Navigation
Biographical Information
Date of birth	After 1920 (estimated)
Date of death	June 18, 1973 •Shoved in-between two mechanical gears by Audrey, then later had his throat bitten out by Bendy
Age	Early 40s-Mid 50s estimated)
Sex	Male
Race	Human
Nationality	American
Eye color	Blue
Hair color	Sickly White
Career	Unknown (disguised as janitor)
Affiliation	Archgate Pictures
Relatives	Nathan Arch (father) Tessa (mother)
Misc. Information
Aliases	The Man who killed the Ink Demon Creepy Janitor
Debut in	Boris and the Dark Survival (voice only) Bendy and the Dark Revival (Chapter 1: Drawn to Darkness)
Voice provider	Tim Simmons

Wilson Arch is the main antagonist of Bendy and the Dark Revival and a minor character in Bendy: fade to black. He is the son of Nathan Arch, the founder of the Archgate Films company and an old friend of Joey Drew.

General Description

Appearance

Wilson appears to be an old balding man who seems to be blind in his right eye, most likely caused by the scar that extends from his blind eye to his mouth. He is depicted wearing a mechanic’s jumpsuit with the Archgate Pictures logo on the back, and an identification tag on the chest area, with what appears to be an undershirt underneath. He also wears a utility belt with a set of keys on one side and a pouch on the other side. He has a raspy voice. Upon entering The Cycle, Wilson's clothing, similar to Audrey's, get stained in Ink. His right eye gains a yellow pupil as well.

In The Archives, it is revealed that Wilson's sickly appearance is due to him travelling to and from The Cycle.

Personality

Wilson is a deceitful person, shown by his ability to manipulate Audrey into doing multiple things. He portrays himself as a weak, fragile old man, but he is very careful with the words he chooses, making him exceptional at manipulation. Behind this disguise of his, he is a very narcissistic and self-centered person, referring to himself as "The Cycle's Savior."

He is able to craft and create carefully articulated lies, reassuring everyone that he killed the Ink Demon, and using his empty promises to get those who believe him to follow his requests, such as telling the Lost Ones to capture Audrey. He claims to have "banished away" the Ink Demon, but in reality, he turned the Ink Demon into Bendy and rules over the cartoon world that is inside the Ink Machine like a god, as he addresses its inhabitants as "children of the Machine", and orders them to bring Audrey to him.

He is shown to be a cruel, sadistic megalomaniac who desires to 'cleanse' the populace of the Ink world and replace them with his own creations. He also shows disdain for his father, Nathan, for neglecting him in his youth. He is implied to care for his mother Tessa, however.

He seems to overestimate himself, being overpowered by Audrey in his attempt to bring his creation to life, resulting in him turning into a monster.

Biography

Early Life

Wilson was presumably born in the 1930s to a wealthy family. He was the son of Nathan and Tessa Arch. Tessa raised him for most of his childhood, as Nathan was frequently busy with business ventures. Nathan would always speak to renowned business owners, or the "doers", as Nathan called them. This created an image within Wilson's mind, an image that couldn’t live up to. This would eat away at him for years, all coming to a boiling point when he eventually became an employee at Archgate Films sometime in the early 70's. Wilson's exact position at the studio is unknown, as his coworkers shunned him due to his scar and facial deformities. It reached a point where he was practically unnoticed, and Wilson took advantage of this, realizing he could take any position he wanted. Wilson would eventually take the role of a janitor, which would lead to him discovering the Ink Machine after a delivery mishap when Joey Drew's belongings were being delivered for the "The Man and the Demon" exhibit at Arch Gate. Wilson would discover The Cycle and the potential of the machine, seeing that this was his chance to finally live up the the legacy of his father. However, the world within the machine was untamed and dangerous, and he needed to cleanse the cycle of the chaos. More particularly, he needed to destroy the Ink Demon so that he could truly take control.

Over the course of several months, Wilson would make several changes to the cycle, freezing it in place and creating new inhabitants to assist him in his work. Most notably, he would create The Keepers, who he would task with killing the Ink Demon. However, once it was found that the Ink Demon could not be killed, the Keepers would instead compress and trap him inside the form of Bendy, keeping him controlled with the use of the Gent Corporation's signal towers. This allowed Wilson to better control the inhabitants of the cycle, as he would now claim that he had killed the Ink Demon, and as far as the Lost Ones were concerned, he was.

Despite this, the Ink Demon eventually figured out how to, if temporarily, free himself. Wilson came up with a new plan to dethrone the demon, and created Shipahoy Dudley. The plan was to create an entity more powerful and controllable than the Ink Demon, but to do this, Wilson would need the right soul, and he knew exactly who could give him what he wanted.

Bendy and the Dark Revival

In Bendy and the Dark Revival, Wilson is first introduced during the prologue of the game. On June 18th, 1973, Audrey Drew is working a late shift, leaving just her and Wilson in the building on a stormy night. Audrey ventures out of her office to get coffee, running into Wilson as she is entering the elevator to head downstairs. Wilson, while trying to put on a friendly demeanor, comes off as intimidating to Audrey. Wilson asks if he can join her, to which Audrey hesitantly agrees. Audrey is intimidated by Wilson, getting noticeably uncomfortable when he attempts to make small talk. After the elevator gets stuck due to a power shortage, Wilson asks Audrey to assist him in restoring power. They find themselves in the Joey Drew exhibit, where the Ink Machine is kept. Wilson misleads Audrey and has her collect the objects needed to activate the Ink Machine (The same objects from Chapter 1 of Bendy and the Ink Machine) and turn it on. Once the ritual has been completed, Wilson reveals his true colors. As the room fills with ink, he instructs Audrey to find him inside of the cycle. Once she does, he will show Audrey "her purpose". Wilson then drags Audrey into the ink, killing them both and taking their souls into The Cycle.

Wilson does not physically appear in the game again until the end of Chapter 4, but is heard speaking over an intercom at a few points within the story. There are also several audio logs created by Wilson, all of which revealing information about his past and his discovery of the machine. When speaking over the intercom, Wilson portrays a persona that is quite similar to that of a dictator, frequently telling the inhabitants of the Cycle to trust in his leadership and to ignore any treasonous speech against him. This is further illustrated by the high amount of Wilson propaganda around the studio, coming in the form of posters and wall writing. The Lost Ones seem to dislike Wilson, feeling that he has put a strain on their world. Wilson's emphasis on purpose has also made some Lost Ones almost depressive and suicidal.

Audrey sees Wilson again at the very end of Chapter 4 after being knocked out by a Keeper. Wilson seemingly saved Audrey from death, as the Keepers will not harm anybody that is with him. As Wilson and Audrey approach his retreat, Wilson reveals more of his plans to Audrey, explaining that anything could be created in this world and released into our own. Of course, he is still not telling the full truth, as he lies to Audrey, telling her that he needs her help to save his father's life. Once they arrive at the retreat, Wilson explains why the Ink Demon must be destroyed, and then introduces Audrey to Betty, another creation of his and the housekeeper of his retreat. He then once again disappears until the end of the chapter to "prepare" the final steps of his plan.

Once Audrey meets Wilson in his lab, his true intentions come to light. He explains everything, telling Audrey that he lied about his father, and how he intends to use HER soul to bring his creation, Shipahoy Dudley, to life. To put her soul in Shipahoy, Wilson intends to push Audrey into a grinder that will kill her and carry her soul into the Cycle's version of the Ink Machine, where she will would be reborn. However, Audrey fights back, pushing Wilson into the grinder instead. Wilson is reborn as a now horrific and corrupted version of Shipahoy, which Audrey fights. Audrey banishes Wilson's soul, sending him into the dark puddles. It is currently unknown if Wilson is truly gone or if he will simply be rebirthed once the cycle resets, but his death in-game concludes his role in the story.

Gallery

Wilson's character bio.

Wilson's poster render in his character bio.

Wilson in the real world.

Wilson restraining Audrey mere moments before descending into the ink.

Wilson saying how nothing makes sense in the Cycle.

Wilson grabbing Audrey when she attempts to attack him.

An alternate render of Wilson.

Wilson wearing a Winter Hat.

Wilson in a winter hat fighting Ink Bendy.

Merchandise

Wilson's Youtooz figure.

Ditto, but the promo art.

Ditto, but boxed.

Trivia

• Wilson was the mystery character whose voice is heard in the first BATDR trailers and in BATDS.
  • Ironically, many people at the time had assumed that the voice they heard belonged to the Ink Demon.
• An audio log from Nathan Arch implies that it was actually Wilson who pitched the idea of Archgate Pictures.
• One of the original ideas for Wilson's character during the production of Bendy and the Dark Revival depicted him as a servant of Nathan's son, making him an unrelated character until the two were fused together in one single character.
• According to the archives, Wilson's decrepit appearance isn't because of age, but rather because he is constantly traveling back and forth between the cycle and the real world. Not only does this mean that great amounts of physical stress are being applied to him, but it also indicates that he may be younger then appears.