- “Remember, reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye!”
- ―Bill Cipher
Bill Cipher is the main antagonist of Gravity Falls. He is a Dream-Demon with mysterious motives and seems to have a vendetta against the Pines family, especially Stanford Pines.
Background
Bill is an ancient demon who's older than the galaxy and far greater than other nightmare beings. Bill once lived in the Second Dimension, a place that he soon got hailed over and described it as a "flat world with flat minds and flat ideas." Bill then became determined of spreading chaos and destruction, which forced him to "liberate" his dimension by destroying everything there, including his own parents. Eventually, he found his way to the Nightmare Realm where Bill soon met up with the Henchmaniacs. In this dimension, Bill had no corporeal form, so he could only access or possess the minds of humans. With this ability, Bill manipulated countless humans so that he could find a way to enter the Third Dimension, then gain a physical form and liberate that dimension as well too.
As trillions of years passed, Bill's interactions were recorded throughout the history of humanity. At one point in time, he encountered natives who lived in what would become Gravity Falls, Oregon. The people discovered that Bill was too dangerous and found a way to defeat him using a zodiac with ten different symbols. The people left behind a painting depicting their encounter with the demon, instructions on how to summon him and a warning to never read it. Stanford Pines would discover this symbol in the late twentieth century when he came to investigate the town, hoping that it would help him in his research on Gravity Falls' anomalies. After a failed attempt to summon the entity, Ford ended up encountering Bill in his dreams, where he offered to help with the answer to Ford's questions of the universe and gain his trust. Ford was blinded by this flattery when he agreed to the deal.
Bill then had Ford build a machine that he claimed would benefit mankind, but in reality, it was a portal for the demon to enter the 3rd Dimension. However, one of Ford's human friends, Fiddleford McGucket, discovered the true nature of the portal and warned Ford before completing their project. Horrified and betrayed, Ford shut down the project and hid all three journals on how to operate it, shifting to working on countermeasures in case the demon ever returned. Bill, however, patiently boded his time for the portal to reactivate.
Sightings
Before his debut in "Dreamscaperers", Bill appeared frequently in Gravity Falls. He was an unseen character who wrote the cryptograms in the online game Rumble's Revenge. His name and existence are deduced by taking all the capital letters in the cryptograms from Rumble's Revenge, which forms the sentence: "MY NAME IS BILL."
A picture of Bill shows briefly at the end of the opening theme. This is partially an image from his entry in book 2. Encircling him are various symbols that can link to various characters in the show. Most notably, when he appears physically for the first time, he refers to Dipper, Mabel, and Soos, as "pine tree, shooting star, and question mark" respectively. The entry also makes special note of his association with the glasses symbol. It also says, "This old triangular being has appeared in my dreams every night for weeks."
In book 3, the text says "Why is he watching me?" and "Bill has proven himself to be one of the friendliest and most trustworthy individuals that I've ever encountered in my life. What a guy! I honestly couldn't trust him more. Not evil in any way. Bill is a true gentleman." However, the second part is crossed out in red ink. On the next page is "DO NOT SUMMON AT ALL COSTS!" in red block letters, the rest of the page splatted with a dark red substance.
Physical appearance
Bill is a triangle with a pyramid design, therefore resembling the Illuminati symbol or the Eye of Providence, with an eye in the middle. Among the bottom part of his body is a brick pattern. In the theme song, Bill has a top hat on, a bow tie, and stick arms and legs, but lacks them in most of his cameos. As a metaphysical demon, Bill is capable of altering his body into a variety of frightening and cubic forms. While he can manipulate his own body at will, wounds on Bill seems to suggest his inside has an organic, flesh-like texture. This is hinted at in the Journal 3, where it says, although encoded, that his outer layer is an exoskeleton that in order to eat he has to remove.
Personality
Bill, quite simply, was a master manipulator able to adapt, manipulate, and deceive others through the use of flattery, promises, mind control or dealings throughout making himself and his objective a mystery. Despite his insane and sadistic ways, Bill was affable, if not obnoxious, to other, but this is only one of the many facades of his unpredictable personality; he is willing to betray, lie, and submit others to a life of misery and torment for his own amusement and shamelessly go back on his deals (whilst technically keeping his promise) through his word lineage and manner of phrases. At times, Bill displays a murderous temper, though seldom seen, it causes his voice to become deep and guttural, accustom to many beliefs of demonic figures. He also appears to be aware of his insanity as when Gideon states him as such he shrugs it off, asking what his point was.
Bill also had a weird and rather sadistic sense of humor. This is displayed during his joyous and maniacal laughter in the face of other peoples and his own pain, such as taking teeth out of a deer and presenting it as a gift to Gideon, switching around every orfice on Northwest's face and after taking control of Dipper's body, described "pain as hilarious" whilst continuously self-harming, showing he was also masochistic. This doesn't, however, explain why the Axolotl said, "says he's happy; he's a liar," in the poem stated in the pirates' treasure novel. It could possibly mean that his twisted sense of humor is just an act that he uses to take his mind off the fact of his family and dimension was destroyed by his own hand. Or he enjoys watching others feel the pain that he had carried for billions of years and going. Either way, Bill does have some sort of guilt towards destroying his home. As seen in the verse," wishes to go home but can't return."
Despite his treacherous nature, Bill does have a twisted sense of honor. He will follow through on deals and keep his word, assuming if he in the mood for it but strongly prefers the immoral way and largely feels no incentive or debt for anything. Gratuitously, he allowed Gideon control over Gravity Falls after he took a physical form and control of the world. Outside of this, Bill displayed a willingness to go against his own rules, preparing to invade Ford's mind without his consent, before being reminded that he cannot do that without engaging a deal with the person. He is not above torture or blackmail to obtain what he wants such as attempting to force Ford to accept his deal through intimidation and threatening to murder Dipper and Mabel if he did not consent. Ironically, Bill's backstabbing ways left him oblivious to a double-cross from the Pines twins, resulting in his defeat.
Despite his confident nature, if Bill gets caught in a helpless situation, he'll go into a deep panic, as when Bill was tricked into entering Stan's mind and was about to be erased from existence, Bill desperately tried to bargain with Stan by offering to give him money, fame, riches, infinite power, and even his own galaxy.
Abilities
- Immortality: Bill is older than the galaxy.
- Nigh Omniscience: Bill possesses vast knowledge of many things in existence. He is not, however, entirely omnipotent, as he has been tricked multiple times in the past.
- Interdimensional Entity Physiology: Bill is a interdiemnsional demon.
- Dealing: One of Bill's most noticeable abilities is that he can make a contract with someone to give the said someone who made a deal with him - fame, power, or a request. Bill's hand becomes surrounded in a blue flame and once the person exchanges a handshake, while the flame doesn't harm the person, the deal will be sealed. However, once the deal is sealed, Bill will want something in return that often ends up in his twisted methods. If the person breaks the deal, Bill's powers won't have any effects on him, as Gideon broke his deal with him when Bill failed to get the combination for the safe. Also, making deals is the only way Bill's powers could have an effect but only to the ones who made a deal with him.
- Dream Walking: Living up to being called the "Dream Demon", as Bill makes a deal with someone, he can enter the dreams of anyone. He entered Stan Pines' mind to get the combination to the safe after making a deal with Gideon.
- Possession: Another way if someone makes a deal with someone, Bill can possess a host who made a deal with him. While in the host's body , their eyes' turn into Bill's.
- Levitation: Bill can hover and float freely.
- Reality Manipulation: Another one of Bill's most noticeable traits is his power to manipulate the laws of reality. Bill can transform organic matter, disoriented the physical world, and cause a ripple in the space-time continuum. After breaking the Nightmare Realm, Bill's powers grow stronger to the point he can manipulate reality on a cosmic scale.
- Regeneration: Bill can repair himself if he gets injured, such as his form, his limbs, and his eye. However, he stated it takes an hour for his eye to regrow.
- Shape-Shifting: Bill can switch his form between two dimensional to three dimensional, He can even change into demonic form with spider-like traits.
- Size-Alteration: Bill can grow into an enormous or gigantic size and can return to his normal size at will, He is able to increase the size of his body parts as he did with his fist.
- Telekinesis: Bill can lift and move objects and living beings with his mind.
- Telepathy: Bill can read a person's thoughts.
- Soul Removal: Bill can remove a person's soul from their bodies.
- Body Projection: Bill can remove himself from his physical form to enter the mindscape and his physical form will become stone.
- Dealing: One of Bill's most noticeable abilities is that he can make a contract with someone to give the said someone who made a deal with him - fame, power, or a request. Bill's hand becomes surrounded in a blue flame and once the person exchanges a handshake, while the flame doesn't harm the person, the deal will be sealed. However, once the deal is sealed, Bill will want something in return that often ends up in his twisted methods. If the person breaks the deal, Bill's powers won't have any effects on him, as Gideon broke his deal with him when Bill failed to get the combination for the safe. Also, making deals is the only way Bill's powers could have an effect but only to the ones who made a deal with him.
- Master Manipulator: Another one of Bill's traits is that he is quite manipulative. Bill can flatter others, deceiving them by promising them anything, he can go as far as to make deals with them only to betray at the end. Bill once did it with Dipper on how he sacrificed everything to make Mabel happy but never returns the favor, trapped Mabel in a dream that contains her desires, he even tricked Ford Pines and Gideon, with the former admitting he lied and the latter being a skilled deceiver himself.
Role in the series
"Dreamscaperers" is the first time Bill is directly addressed and introduced in the series. Gideon Gleeful, in an attempt to take over the Mystery Shack once again, summons him. Gideon tells him to steal Stan's safe combination directly from his head so that Gideon can steal the Shack's deed. Bill immediately agrees once he pictures Stan's tattoo, but in return, Gideon would have to help him in his own plans. We don't know what they are yet, but they might have something to do with a secret society that Stan could possibly be included in. Gideon agrees and the two shake on it. Unbeknownst to Gideon, Mabel and Soos witnessed the deal in the forest, and get Dipper's help to follow him into Stan's mind.
Bill in Journal 2.
Once inside Stan's head, Bill confronts the trio and brags that he knows what they're all thinking. To prove his statement, he summons Xyler and Craz from Mabel's imagination. He tricks Mabel and her two dream guys into looking for the memory of Stan's safe combination first, knowing they would lead him straight to it. At some point, Soos is separated from everyone else, and Bill takes his place. Once they find the correct memory he takes it and nearly escapes with it. But while he was reading out the combination to Gideon (whom he was connected to), Mabel shoots the memory into another memory of the Bottomless Pit with a nyarf gun. Gideon breaks off their deal to Bill's fury, and he turns his anger onto Mabel and Soos, bringing their worst nightmares to life, and killing Xyler and Craz.
Bill gets mad at Soos, Mabel, and Dipper.
Dipper returns in a timely manner and tells Mabel and Soos that while they are in Stan's mindspace they can do whatever they want. The three battle Bill and he is nearly defeated but puts a stop to everything instead. Impressed, he decides to let the three go and warns them about a mysterious darkness that will change everything, before telling them he will be watching them. Leaving one last impression of the wheel that encircles him in book 2.
Bill reappears again in "Sock Opera" for the first time in season 2, when Dipper is trying to figure out the password for the laptop from the former episode, "Into the Bunker". He offers the laptop's password in return for the favor he wants, but Dipper refuses the offer. Later, at the moment the laptop is on a countdown for complete data erase after too many failed password entries, he appears again and Dipper accepts the deal of trading a puppet to obtain the password. Bill takes over Dipper's body as his "puppet" and destroys the laptop.
He then follows Mabel to her puppet show in pursuit of Dipper's journal that is being used as a prop in the show. After Mabel has been informed of Dipper's body having been stolen by him, he finds her with the journal as she is retrieving it for Dipper. He almost swindles her out of it but ends up in a fight with her. He ends up losing because Mabel uses Dipper's physical weakness and exhaustion to her advantage. As he collapses, he is thrust out of Dipper's body. Bill possesses the Dipper puppet afterward and says that he will return. However, Mabel lights the pyrotechnics, which destroys the puppets.
Bill briefly appears in Ford's dream during the episode "The Last Mabelcorn", warning him about the end of the world that is coming. In this episode, it is revealed that Bill originates from an alternate dimension known as the Nightmare Realm.
He appears again in "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future", where he possesses Blendin Blandin and tricks Mabel into giving him the Interdimensional rift, which he eventually destroys, beginning the end of the world. Bill then takes on a physical form and begins wreaking havoc on Gravity Falls. He traps Mabel in an enormous bubble, melts the statue of Nathaniel Northwest, and introduces his friends, an assortment of monsters, as terrifying and weird as Bill himself. After Ford Pines attempts to blast the dream demon back into his own dimension, Bill turns him into a golden statue to use as a backscratcher, and destroys the three journals.
Bill "is destroyed" by Stanley Pines
In the series finale "Weirdmageddon", Bill discovers his inability to leave Gravity Falls even after entering the real world. To find a way out, Bill tries to get into Ford's mind, but Ford refuses to let him in. After capturing the kids and coming very close to killing them, Ford caves in and lets Bill into his mind in exchange for Stan and the kids lives. Bill enters his mind only to find that Ford switched places with Stan and now Bill is in Stan's mind. Before Bill can escape, Ford starts erasing Stan's Memory, causing Bill to deteriorate in glitch-like fashion inside the mindscape as Stan punches and shatters Bill into pieces, destroying him and forever ended his evil game.
Following his demise, everyone is free from the tapestries as Weirdmageddon immediately then winds to an end when the Henchmaniacs are forcibly sucked back into the Nightmare Realm with all the chaos, from where they had came and soon the entire valley and town of Gravity Falls is then restored as everything returns back to the way it was before the whole tragedy even began. Shortly after, the only thing that remains of Bill Cipher after the event is his petrified body now lying isolated somewhere within the woods.
Gallery
Trivia
- He is based on the Eye of Providence, which is most commonly seen on the back of an US $1 Bill.
- Alex Hirsch had initially hoped to cast Twin Peaks creator David Lynch as the voice of Bill. When he turned the project down, Hirsch decided to simply do an impression of Lynch for Bill's voice, giving him the loud nasally tone Lynch gave to the character Gordon Cole.
- On the page about Bill in book 2, the -$12 bill says "Semper vigilantum", which in Latin means "always watching".
- Bill mentions gold (and Stan mentions burying gold in "Boyz Crazy"). The Beale ciphers are a set of three ciphertexts, one of which allegedly states the location of a buried treasure of gold, silver, and jewels estimated to be worth over USD$63 million as of September 2011.
- He may also be related to the Illuminati, a figure on the Mayan Calendar and subject of innumerable modern conspiracy theories.
- It is unknown what he wanted in return from Gideon when he got the safe code from Stan's memory.
- Both Gideon and Dipper's journals contain sections on Bill, but strangely, Gideon's journal contains instructions on how to summon Bill, whereas Dipper's contains instructions on how to stop Bill if he is summoned.
- In the game Rumble's Revenge, one of the translated cryptograms says "I will be returning to Gravity Falls.." This foreshadows his appearance in "Dreamscaperers".
- He unofficially appeared as a pop-cultural cameo in the Rick and Morty episode "Big Trouble in Little Sanchez".
- Bill's wheel symbol makes a cameo in Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition.
- After the credits, Bill's petrified body is mysteriously shown in real life. This later became part of the alternate reality game Cipher Hunt. The Bill Statue used for Cipher Hunt is now on display at Confusion Hill in Piercy, California, one of the roadside attractions that inspired the Mystery Shack.
- Right before his death, there is some sort of hidden message encoded in Bill's last words which translates to: "A-X-O-L-O-T-L, MY TIME HAS COME TO BURN, I INVOKE THE ANCIENT POWER THAT I MAY RETURN!".
- Bill Cipher makes several cameos in DuckTales (2017), as symbols resembling him.
External links
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