Analyzing Evil: Bill Cipher From Gravity Falls

Hello everyone and welcome to the one hundred forty-sixth episode of Analyzing Evil! Our feature character for this video is Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for watching. If you have any feedback or questions feel free to let me know below!

The song in this video is Dancing Mad from Final Fantasy Six.

#gravityfalls #evil #billcipher

[Saadhmd]

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.

-Axolotl

[sporovid]

I’m getting the vibe that Vile Eye has a soft spot for Bill Cipher. It makes sense considering they’re both one-eyed extra-dimensional beings.

[shadowwarrior]

The Book of Bill confirmed a lot of this. Despite saying his people loved him, it's obvious that he was actually ostracized by his people due to his mutation which let him see the 3rd Dimension, and when he tried to show them the beauty of it, it backfired big time and his entire world was set ablaze... along with the mention of mandibles and him being covered in blood, him internally crying over never being able to undo the damage, and ultimately being alone. The events were literally so traumatic he literally blacks out mentally in order to force the memories down.

In other words, Bill's embracing of chaos, weirdness, and a mad party of mayhem is simply him trying to drown in debauchery and hedonism to escape from his guilt and pain. Hell, the Axolotl literally sends Bill to a Therapy Prism, where if Bill could accept treatment, come to terms with what happened, and atoned for his crimes, he could be reincarnated as a lesser, but more benign life form. Unfortunately, Bill is far too proud and in denial to accept, and will likely remain there forever, willing to do just about anything but face his past and admit what went wrong.

[marlom]

You know for a kid’s show villain Bill was actually pretty terrifying. You know damn well that if he wasn’t bound by that PG rating that he’d do some *unspeakable shit*

[AAllen-brit]

I like Alex Hirsch's explanation of Bill during a recent signing/interview. He has all of the tricks of a trillion year old gambler, with the impulse control of a two year old.

[jjleblanc]

“I have a couple of kids that I have to turn into corpses” Disney really let that line slide

[watching]

When you're basically a god, morality matters much less. I personally think that's the ultimate thing that drove him to evil: near unrestrained power

[UnorthodoxIndividual]

Finally covering the good old Triangle guy huh?
Bill is honestly one of my absolute favorite villains. Iconic voice, overpowered but not to a fault, and a joy to watch. What a memorable antagonist.

[VictorIV]

I love how absolutely satisfying and undignified his defeat ended up being. First, he, an extradimensional trickster demon, gets conned by a mere human conman, then attempts to renege a deal when it doesn’t go his way only to be locked in the burning room with Stanley. His powers fizzle out when he tries to escape and Stanley ORDERS him to look at him. Throughout the entire show, Bill Cipher imagery had been everywhere, with his iconic singular eye being given tremendous focus. And that's because it was always Bill who was seeing everyone, looking into peoples' minds, and ruining their lives. He literally drove Ford to insanity with this notion; no matter what he did, Bill was always there. But now, STANLEY has the upper hand. Stanley is the one ordering this dream demon to look at HIM with the very trademark feature he used to spy on people...and Bill is so terrified that he listens.

Bill's reaction to Stanley letting both their minds being erased is to call him an idiot. Being a unimaginably solipsistic entity from a flat dimension, he is literally incapable of understanding that someone like Stanley would put the well-being of another ahead of their own.

Bill, for the first and last time in his eons long life, is reduced to his knees, terrified and tries to beg for mercy by offering Stanley personal gain, only for an angry Stanley to refuse by stating that Bill (despite his high intelligence) was stupid himself for making a foolish mistake in messing with the Pines family in the first place. However, Bill refuses to accept this by claiming that Stan is making a bigger mistake, but Stan himself will have NONE of it for good.

Realizing that he’s completely screwed, his body begins to shapeshift and warp uncontrollably into different forms as he garbles a backwards message (invoking the Axolotl to bring him back to life in a desperate, last resort) before Stanley destroys him with a single punch, seemingly erasing him for good.

All that’s left of Bill is a lonely stone statue in the forest, hand outstretched to make a deal.

(And even if the Axolotl grants his wish, it’s highly likely that he’ll be forced to face the consequences of his actions and/or be returned to a weaker form that isn’t as threatening as before.)

So to summarize: After Bill abused the cast for the entire series, it's so goddamn satisfying to see Bill completely defenseless. His powers don't work, Stanley isn't listening to any of his bribes, and his trademark smart guy persona completely crumbles as he becomes genuinely, truly terrified. After every other encounter regarding Bill as an impossible force to be reckoned with, it's nice to see him finally be treated as what he truly is; just some pathetic, self-entitled twat who needs to tear others down to make himself feel good.

[sorcerersapprentice]

Bill Cipher to this day is probably one of the best Disney villains, especially from one of their cartoon series. He's entertaining and seems like the life of the party, but yet cruel, sadistic and terrifying. He stands alongside the iconic movie ones like Ursula and Hades.

[lokismischief]

I always enjoyed eldritch beings, mostly because they're not inherently evil, but their motives and machinations are so unfathomably alien to a mortal mind, that we as creatures default to classifying it as evil due to a fundamental lacking of its articulation otherwise.
Bill Cypher is one of my favorite cosmic villians, nearing Nyarlathotep in its mischievous debauchery and general interest and tinkering with lesser beings.

[nicholasharlan]

I really feel Bill embraced a sense of Nihilism after he destroyed his home. The tragic consequences of his arrogance left him with a sense that nothing has meaning. And if nothing has meaning. He can’t return home, he may be godlike but he cant undo what’s done. So chaos is the only way he can enjoy existence anymore.

[benwasserman]

Bill is a lovable Lovecraftian dorito, cartoonish chaos incarnate. I'm pretty sure he and the Lich were pen pals at one point in their existence.

[N_o]

Wild how, even after the Book of Bill's release this video still holds up. The book greatly enhances Bills character, I'd recommend it

[Harrison_big_lad]

I think something like this happened: bill felt like his dimension was a sort of prison. Do you know that initial feeling of elation and freedom once you are set free from your restraints? Once bill finally escaped, the initial freedom was ultimately what drove him insane. It never wore off, and he could never get enough. Kind of like an addiction

[darkninjafirefox]

There's something so fun about a villain who just wants to have fun at the expense of everyone around him

[cortinastone]

Bill was a chaotic neutral in season 1 but was seen more as a chaotic evil near the end.

[GEM]

This is the most abstract concept and backstory for a villain I’ve ever seen

[kobayashi]

Now I’m really hoping we get Emperor Belos covered at some point. This was definitely quite a surprise!

[theserpent]

Truly one of the best and most unique villains I've ever seen. And his personal song (that was stupidly cut from the final version of the show) is so delightfully whimsical, yet utterly chaotic and menacing, which is honestly perfect for him.