The story of Bill Cipher from the cartoon series Gravity Falls.
Past[]
Bill Cipher being worshipped as a being of knowledge.
Little is known about Bill before his time in Gravity Falls, although there are hints about his past, including the statements made by Alex Hirsh, the show's creator, himself. Trillions of years prior to the events of the series, Bill Cipher originated from and lived in the second dimension. However, he despised living there and described it as a world of "flat minds in a flat world with flat dreams." Bill eventually burned it along with everyone he'd ever known, including his own parents, before taking over a boiling, shifting intergalactic foam between dimensions—a lawless, unstable crawl space known as the Nightmare Realm, and becoming a leader of a gang with many monsters who obeyed his will.
Unfortunately, the Nightmare Realm was fated to eventually self-destruct due to its lawlessness and lack of any consistent physics or rules. That said, despite his depraved nature, Bill did have some fondness for his world, and wanted to restore it for selfish reasons. In the episode "Weirdmageddon: Part 1", Bill reveals he has been trapped in a decaying dimension (referring to the Nightmare Realm), "waiting for a new universe" to call his own, for one-trillion years. Stanford Filbrick Pines, Bill's main enemy, stated in an earlier episode that he's older than the Milky Way (which is 13.2 billion years old).
Assuming that he's old enough to have recalled one-trillion years of mental torment, this would mean he's older than our dimension by at least 987 billion years. In that same episode, Bill also referred to the populace of Gravity Falls as "single lifespanned", meaning he may have had numerous lifespans, and he may have either lived through those 1 trillion years in different lifespans, or he may have had lifespans before his time in the dimension. Other than his possible age, his "early life" (if whatever he is even has a definitive "life"), is completely unknown. One could assume that's he's been tormenting various dimensions for millions of years.
Manipulating Humanity[]
A carving depicting Bill Cipher in his first defeat in Gravity Falls.
After somehow learning about a prophecy that stated he could merge the Nightmare Realm with Dimension 46 (Our world), the triangle came up with the nickname of "Bill Cipher" (as his true name would kill anyone that hears it) and manipulated countless humans over the time in order to become a physical being and liberate that dimension as well. Bill had numerous effects across history, some of them including:
- The Eye of Providence being based on his design.
- He is seen in an ancient drawing making an unknown deal with a bearded man who looks like from Ancient Greece.
- Made the ancient Egyptians make a portal for him, which worked, but only for ten minutes and let a jackal-headed man escape the Nightmare Realm, which made Bill furious. He would then torment them all in their nightmares, which made them construct the pyramids in hopes of making the nightmares stop (the arms and tophats would eventually break off).
- Gave George Washington secrets on how to defeat the British in exchange for a steam-powered portal, but it sank into a swamp. Bill would do the same to Washington that he did to the Egyptians, which would eventually make Washington sink his teeth into dirt during sleep and had to get wooden ones. He would then put Bill on the one-dollar bill to appease him.
- Helped Stanley Kubrick fake the Moon landing, hoping that it would make Kubrick convince NASA to build a functioning portal. When NASA rejected the proposal, Bill tormented Kubrick in his nightmares once again, which would later help the man in his film career.
However, through it all, Bill would constantly get attracted towards the land that would later become Gravity Falls, Oregon. He once asked a local shaman known as "Modoc the Wise" to build a portal, but the result was made out of twigs. When Modoc learned of the prophecy that foretold of an apocalyptic event involving Bill, the Weirmageddon, Modoc lit himself on fire in an effort to avert it.
The natives eventually discovered a way to defeat Bill by using a zodiac with ten symbols and they managed to banish him for good. They later abandoned the valley after it being deemed as "cursed land", but before that, they left some cave paintings about their encounter with the demon, including how to summon him, and more importantly, a warning never to read the incantation that would summon Bill aloud.
The area would eventually be rediscovered by Quentin Trembley and repopulated by pioneers, giving rise to the town of Gravity Falls.
Meeting Stanford Pines[]
Bill Cipher makes a deal with Stanford Pines.
In 1982, Bill would enter the dreams of one Stanford Filbrick Pines. It was claimed by Stanford himself that the man hit a roadblock in his research of Gravity Falls, but found writing in a cave depicting Bill which claimed that the demon has answers, leading him to summon him, even though it warned not to do it. Bill would portray himself as a friendly being that inspired one mind a century, and eventually made a deal with Ford that in exchange for total access to Ford's mind, Bill would help Ford by telling him to build the portal.
Ford was warned of Bill's true intentions two times, first by the Hand Witch by saying to Ford on their encounter that "someone close would betray him", the Soothsquitos also warned Ford by bitting him on his arm to misspell "Batch out for Will" (Actually "Watch out for Bill"), Ford dismised both warnings as pure nonsense.
When Ford's research assistant, Fiddleford McGucket, was accidentally sucked into the portal, the man saw Bill removing his exoskeleton to feed. McGucket would go mad, and Ford would eventually realise Bill's true, omnicidal intentions. After one final confrontation in their dreams, Ford would shut the portal down and call his twin brother Stanley into Gravity Falls so he could take one of his portals and hide it as far away from Gravity Falls as possible. However, during a fight, Ford would be accidentally sucked into the portal. Stanley would then impersonate Ford for thirty years, all while trying to bring his twin brother back.
Forging a Deal with Gideon[]
Before his debut, Bill Cipher makes a cameo in the background of numerous episodes as drawings on the walls, card backings, and even in a single frame of the opening sequence, and being alluded to by series creator Alex Hirsch for the length of the season, before finally debuting in the penultimate episode.
Gideon and Bill striking a deal.
In the episode "Dreamscaperers", the first season's main antagonist, Li'l Gideon, summons him using a ritual found in Journal #2 to have him steal the combination to Stan Pines' safe via invading his mind. Bill makes a deal with Gideon, saying that, if he finds the memory containing the combination, Gideon will help him with his plans, probably by Bill possessing his body. Later on, after the protagonists find their own way into Stan's mind with Journal #3, they meet Bill where he warns them to keep out of it, and shows his strength by blasting a hole in Dipper's chest, sending Mabel a few seconds into the future, and blinking two characters she was thinking about into existence before flying into the shack in Stan's mind. The trio follow him to try and find the memory before he can and, when they do, Soos offers to destroy it with his strength, but reveals he was actually Bill in disguise, who takes the memory to read it to Gideon.
Bill leaving Stan's mindscape.
However, Mabel and Soos catch up with him while Dipper looks for a personal memory, being able to knock the memory into the Bottomless Pit through one of Stan's other memories. Seeing this, Gideon calls off the deal and switches to "Plan B", which enrages Bill to the point of growing into his "angry form" and surrounding the room in flames, cornering the protagonists atop a giant stone Stan, where he tortures them by making them experience their worst nightmares. After killing Mabel's two dream characters and threatening to do the same to Mabel and Soos, Dipper arrives just in time, having been taught by Stan in the personal memory that they can do whatever they can think in the Mindscape. They then use this to fight and overpower Bill but, before they can defeat him, Bill teleports them all to a blank white space, proving he is still far more powerful. Instead of killing them, he states he is impressed by them, letting them live since they might be useful later. He gives them a warning that a darkness is approaching and that everything they care about will change. He promptly teleports away, saying he'll be watching them until then.
Possessing Dipper[]
Bill returns to "help" Dipper.
Bill later returns in the Season 2 episode "Sock Opera", where he offers to help Dipper find the password to The Author's laptop in return for a ‘favor'. Dipper denies his offer and Bill disappeares, telling him he'll be back when he is ready to change his mind. He later reappears when Dipper fails too many times to guess the password, forcing the computer to erase all its data after a countdown. During the countdown, Bill returns in front of Dipper, stating Dipper looks desperate and reiterates his offer, taking advantage of Dipper's desperation and telling him that he only wants a puppet. Dipper tries to resist, saying the puppets are for Mabel's sock puppet play, but Bill is able to convince him by asking him what she had done for him lately, reminding Dipper of how much he's sacrificed for her without her doing anything in return.
Dipper finally agrees to the deal, only for Bill to remove his soul from his body and possess it, making Dipper the ‘puppet'. He then smashes the laptop and proceeds to express his joy and ‘test' his new body by slapping it in the face. Upon being asked why he had broken his word, Bill reveals that Dipper is getting too close to major secrets and that he doesn't need the boy getting in his way. He then leaves to destroy Journal #3 to stop him for good. After Mabel unknowingly tells ‘Bipper' (a term used referring to Bill Cipher when he possesses Dipper) she is using the journal as a prop in her play, he convinces her to let him play a part in it in order to get closer to the book. Dipper follows him there though and is able to tell Mabel what happened, and she goes to get the book.
Bipper's evil grin.
However she is confronted by Bipper, who threatens to drop Mabel from the catwalk and ruin her play if she doesn't hand over the journal. Mabel almost gives him the journal and he asks her who would sacrifice everything they've worked towards for their sibling. Mabel responds by telling him Dipper sacrificed for her, and returns it by throwing the play. Mabel and Bipper then fight onstage, with him easily overpowering her but she exploits Dippers body's weaknesses, such as the fact that he hadn't slept in more than 50 or so hours and is able to defeat him. With the body exhausted to the point of unconsciousness, Bill is thrown out of Dipper's body and Dipper takes it back. The twins share a moment, but Bill possesses one of the sock puppets, telling them they can't stop him. Mabel sets off the fireworks used in her play, destroying the puppet and forcing him once more into retreat.
It's revealed in Gravity Falls: Journal 3 that, if Bill had succeeded in his plans, he would have thrown Dipper's body off the water tower so he'll be left wandering in the Mindscape forever while everyone would think Dipper had "lost his mind" and committed suicide. It's also implied that Bill would repeat the process with Mabel or that he expected she would commit suicide herself out of guilt due to Dipper's death. Fortunately, this never happened.
Continuing His Plans[]
A foreshadowing of Bill's intentions in Northwest Mansion Mystery.
Bill appears a third time for a short cameo at the end of "Northwest Mansion Mystery" where, following the defeat of the Lumberjack Ghost, after Old Man McGucket is revealed to have fixed the laptop and warns Dipper that the end of the world was coming and that they had to stop it, the screen pans off to a tapestry with a black and red Bill on it gazing over a burning landscape, alluding that Bill was what was to cause the apocalypse. While not specifically present, Bill is clearly referenced numerous times in the episode "A Tale of Two Stans", first when a younger Fiddleford McGucket speaks the ominous phrase "When Gravity Falls and Earth becomes sky, fear the Beast with just One Eye", and again when Ford, Stan's brother, inspects his shape out of suspicion of him being possessed by Bill, notably by checking the give away eye shape with a flashlight. Gravity Falls: Journal 3 also states that the moment Stanford was sucked out from the portal in "Not What He Seems" was just as Ford is about to kill Bill with a gun capable of destroying him, hence why is he so angry at Stan for rescuing him at that moment the following episode. He then makes another direct, though off-screen appearance at the end of the episode "The Stanchurian Candidate", when Gideon attempts re-summoning him from his prison cell to strike another deal, possibly to destroy the Pines family in exchange for a host to possess in Gideon.
Bill meets Ford again.
Bill finally makes his third appearance in the episode "The Last Mabelcorn", where he comes to Ford in a dream, establishing their past relationship and warning Stanford that he is coming. In response, Stanford has Mabel retrieve Unicorn Hair in order to cast a spell that would protect the Mystery Shack from Bill Cipher. In the meantime, Stanford shows Dipper a machine that scans their thoughts and shields their minds from the demon as a last resort in case Mabel failed. Curious of Ford's thoughts and his history with Bill, Dipper attaches the machine to Ford in his sleep and saw that he is dreaming of Bill and Ford making a deal. In his horror, Dipper also knocks over the curtains on the walls, revealing the room to have once been a shrine to Bill as many paintings of him hang from the walls and statues of him stand in the corners. Because of this, Dipper believes Ford to be possessed by Bill, or worse, in league with him, to the point of almost using the Memory Eraser on him. Ford proves he's still on their side though and reveals his history with Bill. Apparently, Stanford hit a roadblock in his research of Gravity Falls, but found writing in a cave depicting a being of knowledge that could help him, leading him to summon him.
Bill on TV.
Bill first appears to Stanford in a dream, where he seems to be affable and friendly, offering a game of chess and "Dream Tea". Bill lies to Ford, telling him he is a muse that chose a brilliant mind to inspire every century. In his flattery, Ford makes a deal with Bill that, in exchange for total access to Ford's mind, Bill will help Ford by telling him to build the portal. However, when McGucket is sucked into the portal, Bill's true plans are revealed and the triangle exposes a malevolent, insane monster.
It is learned he was going to use the portal to open a gateway between the Nightmare Realm he exists in and the physical world, allowing him to achieve physical form and unleash his fellow demons, in his own words "teach this dimension how to party". It is also revealed that Bill is older than "anything in our universe", and that Bill had been manipulating history by making deals with people throughout time, apparently for the sole purpose of one day creating the portal. Ford tells Dipper this is why they must protect the Dimensional Rift, and that if they work together, they can be the last people to be tricked by Bill. After the spell is successful, Ford tells Dipper that anyone inside the bubble surrounding the shack would be safe from Bill's influence. However, Bill is watching them from his dimension, and decides that if he can't affect anyone in the Mystery Shack, he would have to look for his next pawn on the outside as a series of images of the rest of the cast flash over his eye.
Bill has won.
Bill next appears in "Dipper and Mabel VS The Future", where he possesses Blendin Blandin in order to have a vessel to destroy the rift. Using Blendin, he convinces Mabel to steal the rift for him by promising her that he can extend summer for her with it for as long as she wanted. As it turns out, the rift is in Dipper's backpack (which Mabel took by accident). Upon receiving the rift from Mabel, Bill promptly smashes it on the ground, opening the gateway to the Nightmare Realm. Leaving Blendin's body, the episode ends with Bill laughing triumphantly at Ford and Dipper as he makes his entrance into the world and ignites his apocalypse known as Weirdmageddon.
Unleashing Weirdmageddon[]
Bill with his "friends".
In "Weirdmageddon - Part 1", Bill finally attains a physical form and frees his Henchmaniacs and countless others from his dimension. He then wreaks havoc on the town of Gravity Falls and turns it into an apocalyptic, nonsensical wasteland while declaring that he intends to do this to the entire universe, even gruesomely transforming Preston Northwest's face when he tries to join him. Dipper and Ford then enact a plan to take out Bill with a quantum destabilizer, but fail due to the abnormal environment.
After being captured by Bill, Ford is offered the chance to join him, but is turned into a golden backscratcher by the demon after refusing. Dipper tries to stop Bill, but his lack of information of the dream demon causes him to be easily defeated. Bill then proceeds to burn all three journals and mocks Dipper of his effort of being a hero, saying that those who try to become heroes always end up destroyed by Bill himself. Bill then sicks his henchmen, 8-Ball and Teeth, on the boy to eat him and flies up to his new, floating castle to party with his crew. After three days of non-stop partying Bill is confronted by Time Baby and his police force, who came to arrest him for both using the body of Blendin Blandin for his scheme and to stop his plans for good, telling him that Weirdmageddon could end the universe. Unfortunately, Bill is unfazed and promptly kills Time Baby and his police squad by disintegrating them, much to the shock of Blendin, who escapes away.
Meanwhile, Dipper, after escaping from 8 Ball and Teeth, is on the search for his sister, Mabel, who Bill imprisoned in order to honor his deal with Gideon (who he also broke out of jail). After a confrontation with Dipper and Wendy, Gideon calls upon Bill's minions to take them and Soos to the dungeon in Bill's castle. After being convinced by Dipper that Mabel will never love him and that he can't force her to, a newly reformed Gideon decides to help aid in his former enemy's cause by giving him the key to Mabel's imprisonment bubble. He and his prison goons then leave to confront Bill and his minions.
Bill is enraged at him and his friends being unable to leave Gravity Falls.
In "Weirdmageddon 2: Escape From Reality", Bill have captured much of Gravity Falls' residents and petrified them to form his own throne of human agony for his enjoyment. He taps a fork on Golden Ford to grab the partying monsters' attention, and announces that they will now unleash their chaos on the whole world. As all other monsters take to the skies to spread destruction, they slam into an invisible forcefield without warning, much to Bill's complete anger. He figures out that their chaos has formed a barrier around Gravity Falls, the only area they can currently reside in, meaning that they can't spread their destruction throughout the world. Upon learning of this, Bill realizes that this might be more difficult that he thought. Paci-Fire complains that he broke something, and Bill angrily retorts, "WALK IT OFF!".
Upset by this turn of events, Bill considers getting Ford 'out of retirement', believing that the latter may have the answer to breaking down the barrier. He then finds out from Keyhole that Gideon and his goons let Dipper, Wendy, and Soos into Mabel's bubble. Bill simply laughs, explaining how the bubble is his most diabolical trap of all. He tells Keyhole to fetch Gideon and his goons as he prepares to expand his world upon Earth, and later, the universe. After Gideon and his goons are caught, Bill proceeds to punish Gideon by locking him up in a bird cage and forcing him to cute dancing non-stop in sailor's suit while the prison goons end up being petrified and added into Bill's throne, much to Gideon's dismay.
The Final Battle[]
Bill Cipher angered with a drink in his hand, explaining his story to Ford.
In "Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls", Bill releases Ford from his frozen petrified state to gain knowledge about the forcefield that's keeping him in Gravity Falls. Ford admits that he knows of a certain equation that will collapse the barrier, but angrily refuses to tell it, knowing that it would result the end of the world. Bill establishes that he comes from a flat dimension which at some point he somehow destroyed his home dimension, including his family (hinted back in the 2015 Bill Cipher AMA on Reddit). Ford refuses to cooperate with him, which instantly tests Bill's patience. Bill starts torturing Ford in order to get the answer to his dilemma, though Ford stands his ground despite the painful torture.
As soon as the Pines family and their resistance group made a giant robot to fight their way to the Fearamid, Bill orders his henchmaniacs to fight the resistance, but they fail as the townspeople worked together to take down most of the Henchmaniacs. As Ford compliments Dipper and Mabel for a job well done, Bill finally decides to torture both kids in order to coerce Ford into giving him the equation to collapse the barrier. He takes matters into his own hands and tries to destroy the robot, but with no success, due to the Mystery Shack being protected by unicorn hair that Dipper and Ford enforced back in "The Last Mabelcorn". The robot tears out Bill's eye, where he complains to the resistance on how long it will take for it to regenerate, which allows the twins and several citizens to arrive to the Fearamid and release all the petrified citizens (including Ford, Gideon, and the prison goons). Unfortunately, as soon as Bill regenerates a new eye, he instantly finds the robot's weak spot and uses it to take down the robot easily.
The Pines family unites with some of the other townspeople in order to learn about Bill's weakness. They learn about the Bill Cipher Wheel and tried to use in order to defeat Bill for good, but it fails, as Stan refuses to hold hands with Ford due to bearing a grudge and holding some resentment for his twin brother over the whole portal incident. This allows Bill and his remaining Henchmaniacs to finally gang up on against and capture the fleeing townspeople. After trapping Ford and Stan, Bill transforms Soos, Wendy, McGucket, Pacifica, Robbie, and Gideon into tapestries in his lair when they try to gang up on him. Dipper and Mabel risk their lives by angering Bill with their pranks in order to distract him, and he transforms into a horrifying multi-tiered being in his rage to hunt them down once and for all, while Stan and Ford end up being captured as they try to figure an alternative solution.
When Bill finally captures Dipper and Mabel, he decides to kill one of them with a snap of his fingers to coerce Ford into giving him the equation to collapse the barrier. This finally forced a desperate Ford to surrender himself and reluctantly propose a deal: he will let Bill get access to his mind for the equation in return for letting the twins and his brother go free. Bill gladly accepts the deal and instantly leaves his physical form to enter Ford's mind. However, it turns out Ford and Stan switched clothes and imitated each other, and Bill ends up in Stan's mind, where Stan taunts him for falling for the trick. Realizing this, Bill angrily calls off the deal, implying that he will kill both Stan and the kids in order to demoralize Ford into giving the equation to break the barrier. However, anticipating that Bill would double-cross them, Stan allows Ford to reluctantly use the Blind Eye Society's mind-erasing weapon to wipe out Stan's memories to defeat Bill for good.
Bill Cipher's death.
Realizing that he's been trapped, a terrified Bill pleads for mercy by appealing to Stan's greedy nature with riches and power, but Stan angrily refuses by pointing out that while Bill may be extremely intelligent in nature, he has made a fatal mistake by harming the Pines family, thus declaring him unworthy of any mercy. As Bill begins to glitch horribly, he furiously cries out at Stan and rushes at him, but Stan punches Bill directly in the eye, obliterating the screaming dream demon and shattering him into pieces, erasing him from existence and finally ending his reign of terror just before Stan's memories are completely wiped out. In an ironic twist, Bill ends up being the one who was deceived.
Aftermath[]
With Bill seemingly destroyed, everyone that he transformed into tapestries are turned back to normal as Weirdmageddon immediately soon winds to an end when both the Henchmaniacs and the chaos are forcibly sucked back into the Nightmare Realm, from where they had came. 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 left of the event was Bill's petrified body that was seen lying isolated somewhere deep within the woods as his final resting place.
Bill Cipher's statue in the forest.
Following his apparent demise, Ford and the Twins soon find Stan out in the open, but sadly, he has no idea who they are, Ford then explains to them that Stan bravely sacrifice himself to defeat Bill, in order to save them and everyone else. However with the help from both Dipper and Mabel Pines, they were able to restore their loving uncle's memory as he slowly remembers more and more about himself and his family. Sometime after the event, things have fully returned to normal in Gravity Falls, Oregon. Stan had already recovered from his amnesia and the Pines family were declared heroes for foiling Bill's plot for chaos.
Foreshadowed Return[]
Although erased from existence in the series finale, it's heavily implied if not outright confirmed that Bill will somehow possibly return or resurrect, some even claiming he is still alive.
While interrogating Ford at the Fearamid, he sings "We'll Meet Again". Right after the closing credits, the lifeless statue of Bill is seen for a brief moment in real-life as part of the new game, Cipher Hunt. Said Cipher Hunt involves trying to find Bill's statue in real life. Stanley's final message that can be found has him singing "We'll Meet Again" like Bill and urges them to shake Bill's hand as a prize for finding the statue, implying Bill is using Stanley's body. In the bonus photo including the characters Alex voiced (Stanley, Soos and Fiddleford), Bill with the message "STAY PARANOID!" can be seen if illuminating it. If one would do the same to the photo including the Mystery Shack crew next to the lifeless statue, the words "TRUST NO ONE!" would appear while the statue and crew to glow.
In a non-canonical book titled "Dipper and Mabel and the Curse of the Time Pirates' Treasure!", where the Twins go through time, one enormous thing that is speculated is that the canon secret could be Dipper and Mabel's encounter with the Axolotl in "the time and space between time and space", a giant talking axolotl, lets each of them ask him a question (which Mabel accidentally wasted hers). Dipper asks him "what [does he] know about Bill Cipher" to which he replies with a poem: Sixty degrees that come in threes. Watches from within birch trees. Saw his own dimension burn. Misses home and can't return. Says he's happy. He's a liar. Blame the arson for the fire. If he wants to shirk the blame, He'll have to invoke my name. One way to absolve his crime. A different form, a different time.
Bill's live-action statue as seen after the credits to Weirdmageddon in real action.
As an addition, before being killed in the series finale, Bill gives a message that when reversed says "A.X.O.L.O.T.L.! My time has come to burn! I invoke the ancient power that I may return!". This says that Bill is invoking the Axolotl for redemption for his crime, and that there is one way to get absolved: he has to take "a different form" in "a different time". This all implied the possibilities that Bill may get resurrected after another series of generations to come. However, it's unknown if Bill truly seeks redemption given his crimes or is just using the Axolotl to return once again, but one way or another, it appears that the Axolotl is the one creature stronger than Cipher.
More direct hints are given by the canon comic book Gravity Falls: Lost Legends. In the story "Comix Up", when the gang enters the Grimdark Chronicles, there are symbols of Bill's cipher inscribed on six gravestones. If one would decrypt the back row and then the front row, they would get the message "BILL LIVES". Another cryptogram leads to a hidden page called shmeb-you-unlocked. Book 9 contains Gravitee Funnies, a comic by Stan. The last comic strip, "Little Dipper in Subconsciousville", shows Dipper saying "FLSKHU OLYHV!", which decrypts to "CIPHER LIVES!" if one would use a Caesar cypher.