The Incredibly Tragic Backstory of Bill Cipher

Bill Cipher is arguably one of the most iconic fictional villains ever created. In the short two seasons of Gravity Falls, we’re given no formal backstory of the main antagonist. In this video I break down every clue that Gravity Falls has left us- and use them to collage a backstory of Bill Cipher. Why is he evil? Watch this video to find

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[ThQuackyGamr]

Another thing to add is that in the scene where bill dies, if you reverse it, bill says, "A-X-O-L-O-T-L. My time has come to burn. I invoke the ancient power that I may return." Which adds to what the axolotl says, "If he wants to shirk the blame. He'll have to invoke my name."

[cloudinthehead]

Love the interpretation of his memory getting erased as a way to be free of guilt, it makes sense

[gamerofgamers]

"I tried forgetting. Maybe I should try forgiving." -Fiddleford Mcgucket

Bill tried to forget what he did. Even if his memory is erased it truly doesn't make up for what he did. That's how he's destined to come back. Forgetting isn't a true solution.

[valthestudio]

i always think this exact same theory.
what i love even more is how subtle it is. the show doesnt try to shove you this out of nowhere tragic backstory for an essentially comedic villain. it make you create theory on your own and have wild guesses over bill's true intention.

[TheWiseDoge]

Oh my god. After watching this video when I finished the Book Of Bill… this is SPOT ON. In the book Bill does say he IS gifted, when he was born he gained a rare mutation that allowed him to see the third dimension. And in other forms of ciphers in the book, it reveals that Bill’s dimension was called “Euclidea”, after the man who created the study of geometry.

[gamerofgamers]

8 years since the show ended. That makes me feel old.

[theirongiants]

Bill is such an incredible villain, he's really intimidating when he needs to be and he's also effortlessly hilarious when he needs to be. Usually the darkest stuff in Gravity Falls is revolving him. Like self-harm, and rifts between relationships. He's one of those rare cases in storytelling where an overpowered chsracter actually works.

[MabelPinesishere]

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.
*Well now I feel like shi-*

[oomphur]

i love how gravity falls content never dies, and that new theories still appear every now and then even after the show had ended over ten years ago

[UnsightlyThinker]

To me, Bill’s tragedy can be seen as one that is fundamentally rooted in his implicit nature as a nigh-omniscient God-like entity. We all know the saying - “With great power comes great responsibility” - Bill never had the opportunity to learn how to master the art of being responsible; he simply acted for the sake of hedonism. That is what differs between Bill and humanity; if we are to succeed in life, it is almost compulsory for us mortals to learn how to be responsible and wise. We have ample opportunity to mature and evolve; God-like entities like Bill are most likely unable to comprehend something like that. I say all this because I very much dislike the idea of a character being evil for the sake of being evil, unless explicitly written as such. Bill is a liar, and most lies are indeed tragic.

*”LIE UNTIL WHAT YOU WANT TO BE TRUE BECOMES TRUE. LIE UNTIL YOU CANT REMEMBER WHATS A LIE AND WHAT ISNT. LIE UNTIL YOU ARENT LYING ANYMORE.”*

[priestly]

I think in journal three or somewhere else they elaborated that triangles were lesser than the others in Bill’s dimension. So, he got angry and burned it down. Including his family.

[LadyOMyth]

That one line is interesting, "Another form, another time." When Bill's being erased in Stan's memory, he calls upon that same being, spelling out their name, saying, "My time has come to burn! I invoke the ancient power that I may return." If what you say is true and all of Bill's memories are erased, then would he possibly take on a nicer form? Such as a little, cute dog-like demon from the Boiling Isles? I dunno. It's a thought but it's interesting to think of the possibilities to the form Bill might take next and what he might or might not remember. If he wouldn't remember anything from his previous life, then we might never know but only theorize and guess. I mean, for how much of a caricature of Bill King has been in the past as well as certain parallels between the two characters, I won't question it.

[dragonfruitcrk]

"Twisted out of shape, after the kill, the ghosts of his family, are haunting him still"- THE BOOK OF BILL

[superspider]

One more thing to add is that in an AMA with a Bill themed account made by Alex Hirsch, when asked about what his home dimension was like, Bill responds by saying that Edwin A. Abbott was actually pretty close.

Edwin A. Abbott is famous for writing a novel on the society of a completely 2D world, and how a Square from that dimension had its mind opened to the idea of 3D, and begins philosophizing about things beyond his flat, two dimensional world.

This, combined with what he says in the series finale about how he came from the second dimension, paints a picture that the reason he had destroyed his home is because he himself had become enlightened to the worlds beyond what he now saw as flat, two dimensional, and unchanging, as for wether or not he decided to destroy everything right then and there or only did so as a result after his home dimension had snubbed his beliefs, is impossible to tell

[captainweeaboo]

I don't know if anyone's said this already, but in the episode where he enters Stan's mind and the code to the safe gets thrown down the bottomless pit, Bill turns red with pure anger and has regular colored FIRE in his hands and says, "Do you have any idea what I'm like when I'm mad?!" Because he was young and had those powers, someone must have easily pissed him off in his dimension back when he was less wise. That could've triggered him to destroy his own dimension. When someone gets you really mad you don't care what you say or do getting caught in a fit of rag. And sometimes(for me atleast) you regret it once you've calmed down.

[kanderion]

"One way to absolve his crime. A different form, a different time."
Could be that the bird standing on Bills hand (in that one popular gravity falls picture where bills statue was left, rotting to time) is Bill himself, just simply in a.. "different form, a different time."

[Lolo_]

I think he wanted to be defeated, just look at some of the times where he could of killed somebody but didn’t.

[ians]

“Blame the arson for the fire” No wonder why he always makes blue fire, wait, especially whenever he’s making a deal…

[aaronoates]

Brilliant analysis, keep them coming!

[MooCalf]

in conclusion, bill is a depressed teen lmao