History Characters / GravityFallsBillCipher

!![[center:[-''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' '''[[Characters/GravityFalls Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/GravityFallsMysteryShack The Mystery Shack]] ([[Characters/GravityFallsDipperPines Dipper Pines]] | [[Characters/GravityFallsMabelPines Mabel Pines]] | [[Characters/GravityFallsGrunkleStan Grunkle Stan]]) | [[Characters/GravityFallsTheAuthor The Author]] | [[Characters/GravityFallsMainAntagonists Main Antagonists]] ('''Bill Cipher''') | [[Characters/GravityFallsAdults Adults of Gravity Falls]] | [[Characters/GravityFallsYouth Youth of Gravity Falls]] | [[Characters/GravityFallsCreaturesAndOtherOddities Creatures and other Oddities]]-]]]

!!All spoilers are unmarked.
!!Bill Cipher
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/images_118.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Oh, I know lots of things...[softreturn][[VoiceOfTheLegion LOTS OF THINGS]]..."'']]
!!!'''Voiced By:''' Creator/AlexHirsch

->''"A darkness approaches. A day will come in the future where everything you care about will change... until then, I'll be watching you! I'll be watching you..."''

A dangerous [[EldritchAbomination interdimensional dream demon]] that was summoned by Gideon in his efforts to take over the Mystery Shack. Bill Cipher is [[GreaterScopeVillain the true main antagonist of the series]] who works behind the scenes in the first season, becomes prominent in the second season, and ([[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou potentially]]) exists at a meta-level than the rest of the show's cast. He is a jovial and sadistic trickster who makes [[DealWithTheDevil devilish deals]] to get what he wants, and claims that [[VaguenessIsComing something big will soon change the world...]]

You can find Bill's take on it [[SelfDemonstrating/BillCipher here on his self-demonstrating page]] or his upcoming VillainProtagonist book ''Literature/TheBookOfBill''.
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* AboveGoodAndEvil: Suggested heavily by ''[[AllThereInTheManual Dipper and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Nonstop Fun]]'' where he writes "Nostradamus was a hack! Morality is a mental cage designed by the weak! [[ShoutOut How's]] [[Series/TwinPeaks Annie?]]"
* AchillesHeel: Despite claiming he has "no weaknesses," Bill has quite a few major drawbacks.
** The one thing that keeps him from being more dangerous is that he's unable to leave the mindscape and doesn't possess a physical form. Among other things, this is keeping him from attacking the Time Baby.
** Bill can possess people, and enter their minds to extract whatever knowledge he wants...but he can only do so if someone willingly shakes his hand and lets him do so. Sure, he can manipulate the rules of the deal, or torture them and the people they love to pressure them into agreeing, but ultimately, if they still refuse that handshake, there's not much he can do.
** Possessing a human gives Bill a new form of power in being able to affect the physical realm, but, as Mabel demonstrates in ''Sock Opera''... he is still possessing a human being. No longer harboring the abilities of a being of pure energy and having to follow the limitations of a human body is a major drawback.
** "The Last Mabelcorn" reveals two more: Unicorn hair can act as a barrier to his magic, and in a quite ironic twist, the memory erasing gun [=McGucket=] created to get Bill's horrors out of his head turns out to also be a handy way to kick him out of a person he's possessing.
** If Bill ''can't'' get out of the mind as it's being wiped, forced or not? He gets erased along with it or is weakened enough that the mind's subconscious can finish him off. This ends up being his final fate at the hands of Stanley.
** Whatever force that's responsible for turning Gravity Falls into the haven for weirdness it is is apparently stronger than Bill. Despite all of his reality-shattering power, he cannot break out of the weirdness-attracting field.
** For unknown reasons, his eye seems to be a weak point, and whenever it gets damaged, it apparently takes him a long time to regenerate it.
* AcidTripDimension: His home realm of existence, the Nightmare Realm. It is populated by many other {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, who have been trapped there for one trillion years or more. Not only this, but Bill describes his dimension as "decaying". Naturally, they want out, and in "Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future", a gateway finally opens for them to the physical world, with the Nightmare Realm visible on the other side.
* ActionFigureSpeech: When speaking, his body flashes slightly due to having no visible mouth.
* TheAgeless: He was trapped in his dimension for ''one trillion years'', making him way older than our universe. And all murals and flashbacks make it clear that, over the course of human history, he hasn't aged a day.
* AintTooProudToBeg: Bill pleads for his life against Stanley in the latter’s mind, promising him riches, galaxies, the whole works just for his life to be spared, only to be obliterated right after.
* AllThereInTheManual: A lot of background information is dubiously revealed or implied by his CharacterBlog on Reddit.
* AlwaysABiggerFish: He's apparently the bigger fish to the Time Baby, and presumably the smaller fish to [[TopGod the Axolotl]].
* AmbiguousGender: Everyone addresses him as male, but, according to him, he comes from a dimension with 14 billion different genders. So whatever that leaves him as is up for debate.
* ArchEnemy:
** To the Time Baby. It's more evident when he is confronted by, and then ''obliterates'' Time Baby. For the most part, he treats his torments on the people of Gravity Falls as a game. But in the case of the Time Baby, his murder was a lot more malicious and spiteful.
** In Journal 3, one of Bill's cryptograms mentions the Axolotl[[note]]Or possibly The Oracle[[/note]] and Time Baby in the same sentence, with Bill calling it the 'big frilly know it all,' implying Bill's relationship with it is similar to his and Time Baby's only the Axolotl gets the last laugh on Bill. The Axolotl's own words on Bill show if nothing else, it has a very low opinion of Bill in return.
** On a lesser scale, The Pines family. He manipulates Stanford into building a portal machine so he could bring Weirdmageddon through it; he antagonizes the Pines Twins, Dipper in particular; and lastly, there's Stanley since he was the one who destroyed him.
* ArcVillain: For the second half of Season 2, the majority of it is about stopping Bill from succeeding in his plans. Also counts as one for the entire season, but his plans were unknown up until the second half.
* AssholeVictim: It's safe to say that Bill deserved his death for everything he had done.
* AxCrazy: A psychopathic, [[OmnicidalManiac omnicidal]] creature who enjoys pain and destruction.
-->'''Gideon''': You're insane!\\
'''Bill Cipher''': [[TheMadHatter Sure I am]]. What's your point?
* BackFromTheDead: Bill invokes this trope in his backwards message just before he's destroyed by Stan: "A-X-O-L-O-T-L, my time has come to burn! I invoke the ancient power that I may return!" It's not clear whether this will hold true or not. [[Literature/GravityFallsJournal3 Journal 3]] references to [[SpellMyNameWithAThe The Axolotl]] as some sort of divine being and axolotls are named after an Aztec god of death (and ''twins'') called Xolotl. However, other materials imply this isn't so clear cut: apparently, the Axolotl is Bill's enemy, and he was both acting out of complete desperation and will have a price to pay for doing so.
* BadBoss: When things are going his way, he's the LifeOfTheParty among his Henchmaniacs. When things turn sour, he starts randomly discharging his power in anger with no concern for their safety. He also insensitively tells his Henchmaniacs to "Walk it off!" when they were hurt by slamming into the ForceField.
* BadassAdorable: While his adorable personality is [[FauxAffablyEvil false]], his appearance is still pretty cute, even when he does terrible things.
* BadassInANiceSuit: As "[[DemonicPossession Bipper]]", he wears a snazzy reverend outfit. Even as a basic triangle, his black limbs, cane, and bow tie suggest a dapper outfit in a minimalistic sort of way.
* BaitTheDog: Because he's funny, goofy, and charismatic, the threat he presented wasn't immediately obvious to the characters ''or'' the fanbase until it was too late.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: We don't get to see the full extent of his impact on the world, but he's been around for a long time, and he has been busy. What we ''do'' know is that he contacted the ancient Egyptians, UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington, and Creator/StanleyKubrick to build a portal to the Nightmare Realm. When they failed, [[KickTheDog Bill cursed them with intense nightmares]], which led to numerous historical events. The pyramids? Tributes to Bill by the Egyptians to appease him after their failure, with time eroding the arms, eyes, bowtie, and top hat off. Washington's wooden teeth? He ground up his teeth because of the nightmares. Some of Kubrick's movies were inspired by the nightmares he was plagued with. Wherever you see the Eye of Providence or a similar symbol, that's a sure sign that Bill has been involved. Also, given the heavy use of triangles in their architecture and the necessity of parts from their ship to build the dimensional portal, Bill is heavily implied to have influenced the aliens who crashed in Gravity Falls. In his Reddit AMA, he implies that UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper was an associate of his, knowing about Jack's embarrassing love for clown masks which he reveals because "WHAT HAS HE DONE FOR ME LATELY?"
* BenevolentBoss: He's unfailingly nice to his Henchmaniacs at first...though then again, they're also every bit as insane and evil as he is. [[SubvertedTrope However]], he's also been shown to summon a mini storm, not caring about their safety, and yell at them when things don't go his way.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: He's a rather silly-looking pyramid thing that wouldn't look out of place on a neon sign, and has a laid-back, jokey personality. He's also every bit as dangerous as [[TheDreaded his reputation]] suggests, and can make your life hell in a variety of inventive ways.
* BigBad: The main antagonist of season 2, and the entire series. Bill's goal is to unleash Weirdmageddon, a "party that never ends" which would ultimately collapse space-time in this dimension. He succeeds in "Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future" when he possesses Blendin and tricks Mabel into giving him the dimensional rift, letting him enter this dimension in Gravity Falls. However, the "weirdness magnet" keeps him from leaving the valley Gravity Falls is located in. The rest of the series focuses on the denizens of Gravity Falls, lead by Dipper and Mabel, trying to stop Bill before he can escape the valley and take Weirdmageddon on a "world tour".
* BigBadEnsemble: In his first episode, he teams up with Gideon to retrieve the Mystery Shack's deed vault code from Stan's head and is TheHeavy for most of the episode. But his second appearance is entirely independent of Gideon and he soon enough takes up the spot of BigBad once he puts his plans into motion.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: He's fairly affable if everything's going his way. Unfortunately, if he's talking to a normal human, that just means he's luring them into a false sense of security so he can manipulate them to his own ends. If things aren't going well for him as he wreaks his brand of carefree mayhem and he becomes even slightly inconvenienced, he's ''pissed''.
* BizarreAlienBiology: His eye doubles as his ''mouth''. Also, in his Reddit AMA, one user asked him about the length of the sides on his body, prompting him to respond with "[[SickAndWrong THATS A SICK QUESTION]] [[AccidentalPervert YOU PERVERT]]". Also, according to him, the thing Fiddleford saw in the portal that led to his descent into madness was Bill removing his exoskeleton to feed.
* BizarreAlienSexes: His home dimension has 14 billion different gender identities and there was paperwork involved in determining sexual orientation. He's not exactly been keeping track of his.
* BreakoutVillain: In season 1, he was originally a one-shot villain, but with so many cameo appearances and having some connections to the author, Ford Pines, he became the main and final villain of the entire series, also having a special intro of him succeeding.
* BrightIsNotGood: His default form is a bright yellow triangle, and he lights his hand with vibrant blue flames when he's about to make a deal. His OneWingedAngel form in ''Weirdmageddon Part 3'' is a red pyramid with glowing yellow arms.
* BrownNote: "Bill Cipher" is [[http://www.reddit.com/r/gravityfalls/comments/315yoy/im_bill_cipher_i_know_lots_of_things_ask_me/cpynn77 a name he goes by to make his dealings with mortals easier]] -- his real name would apparently turn a human to dust if said aloud.
* CallAHumanAMeatbag: As a "being of pure energy", he loves insulting humans by way of pointing out how, objectively, we're really just sacks of flesh and skin with an expiration date.
-->'''Bill''': All right, listen up, you one-lifespan, three-dimensional, five-sense skin puppets!
* TheCameo: Makes a lot in non-Gravity Falls media. Considering his interdimensional nature, this isn't too surprising, but it's best not to think about the implications of what this means for those verses.
** He makes an appearance on the ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' episode “Bart’s In Jail”, introduced as an alternate form of the Norse god Loki giving financial advice.
-->'''Bill''': BUY CRYPTO, SUCKERS!
** He can be seen on a computer monitor of the marriage counselor aliens in the ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "Big Trouble in Little Sanchez".
** He can be seen in a book of oddities that Marcy picks up in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' episode "True Colors".
** It's difficult to see, but he can be seen as a drawing of a demon in the Demon Realm in King's presentation in the ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' episode "The Intruder"
** His likeness is on a plush toy in a claw machine in the ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'' episode "Present Tense".
** He can be seen on a sticky note in the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' episode "Beware The B.U.D.D.Y. System!"
* CardCarryingVillain: He's fully aware that he's a madman and proud of it. Whether he's being directly antagonistic (''Sock Opera'') or not (''Dreamscaperers''), everything he does is without remorse and with insane glee.
* CharacterCatchphrase: He's rather fond of saying 'Well, well, well' to start a conversation in a number of instances. Taken to a [[BrokenRecord greater extent]] when he taunted Ford in his dream.
-->'''Bill''': Well, well, well, well, [[MotorMouth wellwellwellwellwellwellwell!]]
* CharacterBlog: Bill has [[http://www.reddit.com/user/_BILLCIPHER a Reddit account]] run by the show's staff, and did an AMA session with it.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn:
** While definitely sinister in "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E19Dreamscaperers Dreamscaperers]]", he still maintains a fairly professional air, only attacking the Mystery Shack crew when their interference causes Gideon to call off their deal. It's not until season 2 that Bill's true character as a [[{{Sadist}} sadistic,]] [[EvilIsPetty petty,]] [[TheBully and bullying]] PsychopathicManchild comes out in full force.
** His [[MemeticMutation memetic]] "Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye!" quote stems from earlier plans for Bill to be a comic relief character that would spout off conspiracy theories to [[{{Troll}} annoy Dipper.]] These plans were scrapped once Bill was elevated to BigBad status. That said, he does it again as a ContinuityNod in his appearance on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', encouraging the audience to invest in cryptocurrency.
* ChekhovsGunman: Bill appears as a FreezeFrameBonus at the very end of the opening theme, and the Eye of Providence itself is an ArcSymbol that sometimes appears as a drawing of him.
* TheChessmaster: Bill has been engineering events for at least the last thirty years, all to complete his plan of merging his world with the real world, freeing him and his other nightmare demons. This was just the final and first successfully completed plan in a long line of plans executed since, presumably, the beginning of the universe. Previous plans included convincing a shaman to try and build a portal long before it was technologically feasible. When the shaman found Bill out, he set himself on fire ("DRAMA QUEEN"). Also, the original intention for Ford's portal was simply a gateway for Bill and Co. to pass through which Ford thought was for his own research purposes. After Ford spent thirty years in various dimensions, breaking the Rift the portal created upon his return became the new plan. As a VisualPun, he's seen playing chess with Ford. Ford also writes in code in the journal after he discovers Bill's trickery, "INTERDIMENSIONAL CHESS ISN'T FUN WHEN YOU'RE A PAWN."
* ChessMotifs: His first interaction with Ford included a chess game, where [[DarkIsEvil he played black and immediately cheated by going first]].
* ClippedWingAngel: During his ShapeshifterSwanSong, Bill keeps spawning various forms of himself in a last-ditch effort to break out of Stanley's mind before it's erased, but the erasure screws all of them up so badly that he can't even maintain them for more than a second. When he finally gets a form that's stable, it's so weak and fragile that Stan destroys him in one hit.
* ClothingAppendage: That "hat" is part of his body. When Ford blasts it with a gun, you can see what appears to be bones and organs.
* CloudCuckoolander: He thinks deer teeth and a permanently screaming head are good rewards.
* ConsummateLiar: He wrote [[https://www.reddit.com/r/gravityfalls/comments/315yoy/im_bill_cipher_i_know_lots_of_things_ask_me/cpyowrs?context=3 the 'bible' for compulsive lying]], in fact.
* CoolCar: He may be a sadistic, inscrutable, and unpredictable EldritchAbomination, but ''damn'' that's a ''wicked'' hot rod he has, and it flies!
* CurrencyConspiracy:
** One of Bill Cipher's {{Early Bird Cameo}}s is on the [[https://gravityfalls.fandom.com/wiki/Bill_Cipher?file=S1e8_-12_dollar_bill.png#Season_1_2 -12 dollar bill]] in "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E8IrrationalTreasure Irrational Treasure]]", where he replaces the Eye of Providence, complete with limbs and hat.
** Bill Cipher was explicitly modeled after the EyeOfProvidence, and in a [[DeletedScene deleted musical number]] he points this out:
--->''Look at this money''\\
''Who's that honey?''\\
''Look throughout history''\\
''How could you miss me?''
* CuteAndPsycho: His simplistically goofy design, generally small size, shrill voice, cartoony effects, and general cheerfulness can sometimes come across as cute. Like when he was messing with Gideon, or trying to convince Dipper to make a deal with him. When possessing the latter, most of his actions come across as both this and creepy.
* {{Cyclops}}: Most of his forms only have one eye. The only exceptions are his OneWingedAngel form and his ShapeShifterSwanSong.
* DarkIsEvil: In some episodes he takes on a pitch black appearance. Like at the beginning of "The Last Mabelcorn" or "Weirdmageddon, Part 1".
* DarkMessiah: [[AmbiguousSituation He either sees himself as a messiah or is actively posing as one]]. Either way, his hench-maniacs certainly seem to place him on a high pedestal and at one point the farmer tries to hold him on messiah status to try to get on his good side. [[TakenForGranite It didn't end well]].
* DealWithTheDevil:
** He agrees to help Gideon take over the Mystery Shack in exchange for help with his secret plan. He acts as the devil in this scenario, and the way he phrases the deal implies that Gideon wouldn't agree to help if he knew what was in store for him. However, Mabel's interference keeps Cipher from upholding his end of the bargain, so Gideon gets off with no consequences. However, at the end of "The Stanchurian Candidate", Bill gets another chance when Gideon summons him to make another deal.
** He tries it with Dipper in "Sock Opera". Dipper knows that it's a horrible idea, but he ends up agreeing to help Bill anyway in return for the password on the laptop after the laptop prepares to erase all of its data due to too many incorrect passwords. Naturally, it goes horribly, with Bill taking Dipper's body and destroying the laptop before trying to get his hands on the Journal. Bill could still give him the password meaning he hadn't actually broken their deal, he'd just rendered the password useless, so he didn't get kicked out of Dipper's body.
** He makes one with Ford and Stan in the finale... but finds out too late ''he'' [[KarmicDeath was the one on the losing end that time.]]
** ExpandedUniverse stuff implies that his final invocation was one on his end, as the Axolotl gives a cryptic statement that he'll have to invoke its name (which he does) and there's 'one way to absolve his crime.' Add to this the implications in the same material that he and the Axolotl are enemies, and it becomes apparent it was out of pure desperation on Bill's part and there will be a price to pay on his end. Ironically, this one is more a BargainWithHeaven, [[LeonineContract just a very (deservedly) one-sided one]].
* DeathByIrony: Bill, the ultimate conman who had tricked majority of the Pines family by using a false promise, meets his final fate after being tricked by a Pines member using a false promise.
* DeathCryEcho: Lets out one when Stan finally destroys him completely.
* DemonicPossession: Bill Cipher can take control of a mortal body if he [[DealWithTheDevil obtains the consent of his host]] ([[ManipulativeBastard or tricks them into giving consent]]), thus allowing him to directly interact with the physical world. He has done this to Dipper (in "Sock Opera"), Stanford (as seen in a flashback to the past from "The Last Mabelcorn"), and Blendin Blandin (in "Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future").
* {{Determinator}}: Bill tried to find a way into the physical realm for what could have been as long as ''one trillion years.'' He's attempted manipulating humans into building him a portal for as long as humanity has existed, but it was only with Ford that he finally succeeded.
* DiscardAndDraw: His entrance to the physical world. He gains near omnipotent power, but because his omniscience came from watching the physical world from the Nightmare Realm, he loses his ability to keep an eye on everything at once (since both worlds are now the same thing). Because he is now physical, he can ([[FightingAShadow unlike before]]) be directly confronted and destroyed.
* DomainHolder: Inverted. He's a nigh-omnipotent RealityWarper in his natural state, but noticeably weaker in someone else's Mindscape, having to actually fight the heroes rather than just [[ForcedTransformation transform]] them away. When said Mindscape is being erased, his powers fail to work at all and he's in danger of being actually killed.
* DragonAscendant: Went from Gideon's "minion" to unleashing madness on Earth by merging it with the Nightmare Realm and effectively turning Gideon into ''his'' Dragon.
* DragonInChief: ''Somewhat'' to Gideon in ''Dreamscaperers''. Bill is very much his own boss and the deal was only temporary. Upon his plan being thwarted, he compliments the heroes and leaves Gideon to eventually be defeated.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: He only followed Gideon's orders in his debut because they match up with his goals (which have something to do with Stan Pines), and because Gideon agreed to aid him in return.
* TheDreaded: The journal describes him as the single most dangerous creature in Gravity Falls. Even Gideon is scared of him. Hell, he's even portrayed with very real dread, as evidenced by Dippers and Great Uncle Ford's interaction.
-->'''Stanford Pines''': Just hand me the gun[[note]]The memory gun[[/note]], p-\\
'''Dipper''': ''Pinetree?'' Is that what you were gonna call me?\\
'''Stanford Pines''': I was gonna say "please", kid!
** The real-life version of Journal 3 goes a step further and describes him as the most dangerous being in the known multiverse.
* DreamWeaver: He's a RealityWarper on his own, but even restricted to interacting through our world mostly through dreams, he still retains near total control over that environment.
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: He's been waiting ''one trillion'' years to unleash Weirdmageddon, and it shows.
-->''"AT'' '''''LAST!''''' ''AT LONG, LONG'' '''''LAST!''''' ''THE GATE BETWEEN WORLDS IS OPEN!'' '''''THE EVENT ONE BILLION YEARS PROPHESIED HAS COME TO PASS!''''' ''THE DAY HAS COME!'' '''''THE WORLD IS FINALLY MINE!!!!"'''''
-->''"OH, IT'S HAPPENING!'' '''''IT'S FINALLY, FINALLY HAPPENING! [[EvilLaugh GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!]]''''' ''PHYSICAL FORM? DON'T MIND IF I'' '''''DO!'''''"
* EarlyBirdCameo: [[FreezeFrameBonus He appears briefly in the intro of episode 1 as well as many other off-hand cameos]] before making his debut in the season 1 finale, Dreamscaperers.
* EldritchAbomination: Very quirky and [[FauxAffablyEvil seemingly affable]], but is at least a trillion years old, and is still a very alien and incomprehensible being. Even his moniker as a "[[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]]" is rather superficial. The 3D form he takes after breaking into the physical world in "Weirdmageddon Part 1" is an even better fit than his standard 2D form.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: His plan is to merge the human world with the dream world, which will destroy the world according to Ford. He dubs the event "Weirdmageddon" and as of the end of "Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future", it's begun.
* EnergyBeing: Describes himself as a being of pure energy.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Upon first appearing, Bill psychically ripped out a deer's teeth and gave them to Gideon as a gift, showing both his powers and his psychotic nature.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes:
** Though ultimately a FalseFriend to Ford, the implication exists that Bill genuinely found something of an interesting kindred spirit. Or at least a favorite toy, which is about as close as [[AxCrazy Bill]] gets to care about anybody.
** As long as he's in a good mood, he treats the Henchmaniacs like his legitimate friends and not just mindless subordinates.
** Despite being a SelfMadeOrphan, according to the Axolotl he misses his home and wishes to return.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Apparently hates (those he perceives to be) perverts. When asked by a fan on Reddit whether his triangle sides were equilateral or not, Bill retorted "THAT'S A SICK QUESTION YOU PERVERT".
** In his first appearance, when he was disguised as Soos, he watched a very [[invoked]] {{Squick}}y memory of Stan's, which caused him to cringe in disgust.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Bill is incapable of understanding that someone would put the well-being of another ahead of their own. This is apparently why Bill's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Mabel fails.
-->'''Bill Cipher''': I mean, who would sacrifice everything they've worked for just for their dumb sibling?\\
'''Mabel''': ... ''Dipper'' would.
** Bill's reaction to [[HeroicSacrifice Stan letting both their minds being erased]] is to [[YouFool call him an idiot]]. Bill tries to beg mercy by offering Stan personal gain, only for an angry Stan to refuse [[NiceJobFixingItVillain 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.
-->'''Bill Cipher''': (being trapped in Stan's mind while Ford uses the Memory Gun) What the?! NO, NO, NO, NO!\\
'''Grunkle Stan''': (smiles) Oh, yeah, you're going down, Bill. You're getting erased. Memory gun. Pretty clever, huh?\\
'''Bill Cipher''': Y-Y-You idiot! Don't you realize you're destroying your own mind, too?!\\
'''Grunkle Stan''': Eh. It's not like I was using this space for much, anyway.\\
'''Bill Cipher''': (terrified) Let me outta here! LET ME OUT!! Gah! Why isn't this working?!\\
'''Grunkle Stan''': (angrily) Hey, look at me. Turn around and look at me, you one-eyed demon! You're a real wise guy, but you made ONE fatal mistake: [[ItsPersonal you messed with my family.]]\\
'''Bill Cipher''': You're making a mistake! I'll give you anything: money, fame, riches, infinite power, your own galaxy, PLEASE!!
* EvilCounterpart:
** Mabel has some anarchy in her, is a little bit selfish, and likes to have fun at all costs, and Bill is all those things times ''a billion.'' Alex Hirsch confirmed Bill has realized their similarities and was using it to his advantage when he tried to get her to abandon Dipper for the sake of her play.
** To Stanley. They're both rather ruthless {{con m|an}}en, they're {{man child}}ren and they have a knack for making deals with people.It's these similarities that allow Stan to trick and defeat Bill in the finale.
* EvilFormerFriend: The journals have Ford speaking favorably and personally of Bill until a certain point where he suddenly starts calling him insanely dangerous and untrustworthy. Given his behavior, Bill was likely a FalseFriend even back then. Turns out Ford had made a deal with Bill in the past, helping him build the portal without telling him that it would lead to the merging of his world with ours. Ford, of course, didn't take this betrayal well and shut down the portal.
* EvilGenius: He's a clever demon and been manipulating everyone behind the scenes.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: The things Bill considers funny or 'rewards' tend to be bizarre and gruesome, like [[TheToothHurts telekinetically yanking all of a deer's teeth out]] ''(Deer teeth! For you, kid! Ahahaha!)'' or gifting Dipper with [[LosingYourHead "a head that's always screaming"]] Oh, and when he briefly possesses Dipper's body, he states that he [[SenseFreak finds pain 'hilarious' too]].
* EvilIsAngular: Bill Cipher is the big bad: a mind-traveling, conniving demon with nigh RealityWarper powers originally from a 2D universe... and also best described as a yellow pyramid with an eye (yes, a single eye), a top hat consisting of two rectangles and a walking cane.
* EvilIsHammy: Regardless of motives, he's definitely immoral and a hell of a ham.
* EvilIsNotAToy: Gideon was out of his depth the minute he summoned Bill.
* EvilIsPetty: A major part of Bill's driving motivation, [[http://www.avclub.com/article/gravity-falls-creator-alex-hirsch-talks-v-clubs-ow-232059 according to]] Alex Hirsch, is pent-up anger over small frustrations he's experienced throughout his eons of existence. This results in his desire to MC to the biggest non-stop party ever, an act that proves to be extremely hazardous to human life.
-->'''Alex Hirsch''': I think Bill is angry at the world for the same reason anyone can get mad at the world. Everyone has days where they don't get their way, where you have to go to bed early or you have too much homework to do or you can't eat the candy you want, or your miss your favorite TV show, and in those moments you just want to tear the whole world down. Bill is a character who's been around for countless billions of eons, but [[ImmortalImmaturity he hasn't grown up in that time]]. He's a character who has accumulated many frustrations, many moments of destruction like that, and they've built up over time. Now he's decided he wants a world where there is no homework, where there is no bedtime -- where you can eat any candy you want and do anything you want.
** And in his CutSong, he takes time out from causing Weirdmageddon to do ''this'':
--->'''Bill Cipher''': Look at this loser,\\
Drinking coffee.\\
({{beat}})\\
Now it's decaf!
* EvilLaugh: Alex Hirsch actually strained his vocal cords.
* EvilPlan: He plans to open a doorway from the Nightmare Realm to the real world so he and his fellow dream demons can enter the real world and terrorize it, in effect, bringing about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. An earlier hint to this was one of the ciphers in ''Sock Opera'':
-->"No Puppet Strings Can Hold Me Down, [[SinisterSurveillance So Patiently I Watch This Town]], Abnormal Soon Will Be The Norm, [[AStormIsComing Enjoy The Calm Before The Storm]]."
* EvilVersusEvil: He hates the Time Baby's guts, and wants a physical form partly just to get at him. The Time Baby, in turn, is aware of and unnerved by, his existence.
* EvilWearsBlack: His black top hat and bow tie evoke this. When he takes control of Dipper, he wears a black reverend's outfit to infiltrate Mabel's play.
* EvilerThanThou: To Gideon, whom he DemotedToDragon. Also, Preston Northwest, whom he turned into a ButtMonkey.
%%* EyeBeams: One of his powers.
* EyeDentityGiveaway: When Bill possesses another person, their eyes change to yellow sclera with black slits for pupils. In "The Last Mabelcorn", Ford begs Dipper to look at his pupils as proof that he's not possessed by Bill, while in "Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future", Bill is able to trick Mabel into making the deal that releases Weirdmageddon because he was hiding in Blendin Blandin, who wears opaque glasses.
* EyeMotifs: Heavy focus is placed on Bill's singular eye, with it being used as a symbol that he's always watching.
* EyeOfProvidence: His design is based on the Eye of Providence. Appropriate, considering it represents Divine Omniscience (Bill being all-seeing while in the Nightmare Realm) and conspiracies (being the one responsible for the Author's disappearance and all of the weirdness surrounding it). Though ironically, the Eye is supposed to represent the benevolent gaze of {{God}}, with the triangle shape symbolizing the Holy Trinity, and Bill is a demon.
* EyeScream: Whenever Bill takes a beating, it always seems to hit him in the eye. The most severe case was in the finale where his eye was ''ripped out by a dinosaur.''
* ExactWords: When he asks Dipper for a puppet, he never claims it has to be one of the ones that Mabel created, and when he gets consent, he makes Dipper into his own puppet (i.e. a mortal body for him to walk around in). Other than that, he actually averts this trope and lies constantly.
* FalseFriend: To Stanford, claiming to be a muse of geniuses while manipulating Stanford for his own ends.
* FatalFlaw: {{Pride}}. Bill is very pretentious in his power and knowledge, and ''always'' thinks he is above his enemies. He enjoys toying with them rather than treating them like actual threats, which has occasionally given them time to gather themselves for a HeroicSecondWind. However, his pride always comes back to bite him in one critical way; he always underestimates the lengths people will go to for those they love.
--> '''Grunkle Stan:''' You're a real wise guy, but you made one fatal mistake: ''you messed with my family''.
* FauxAffablyEvil: The author's entry on Bill goes from nothing but compliments to a caps lock warning that he's not to be trusted under any circumstances, which implies that this is Bill's MO. By playing nice and downplaying his sinister, ulterior motives, he's able to coerce people into going along with his plans without realizing just what they've signed onto.
* FightingAShadow: A recurring problem fighting him: he's still an incorporeal entity in another dimension, so no matter how badly damaged the body he's using is, Cipher himself isn't hurt. He loses this when he assumes physical form, but he also becomes nigh-omnipotent, so it doesn't help much.
* FinalBoss: He's the final and one of the most dangerous demons the Pines ever face.
* FlawExploitation: As a being that can only influence the world through the deals he makes, Bill is an expert in using what he knows to push just the right buttons to get people to agree to his deals. He manipulates Dipper through his desperation and desire for knowledge, the Author through his intelligence, and Mabel through her fear of the future.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou:
** The fourth wall doesn't even protect ''the show's creator''. Showrunner Alex Hirsch has been "possessed" by Bill on at least three occasions.
** Some of the end-page cryptograms are clearly written from Bill's perspective. Given he's [[SinisterSurveillance constantly watching everyone]], it's possible ''most'' of them are.
** During the "Weirdmageddon" episodes, the theme song is taken over by Bill, with the "Created By Alex Hirsch" replaced with "Created By Bill Cipher". The reversed message at the end of the opening titles, up to this point a whispered hint to unscramble the end credits' cryptogram, becomes Bill saying "[[SinisterSurveillance I'm watching you, nerds!]]"
** In the finale, Bill's backwards message[[note]]"My time has come to burn. I invoke the ancient power that I may return."[[/note]], the cryptogram on the bus[[note]] "Hidden deep within the woods, a buried treasure waits. Secrets were lost and statues were found beyond the rusty gates.[[/note]], and the very last shot of the series[[note]]A statue of Bill in ''live-action''[[/note]] vaguely hint that Bill died in the world of ''Gravity Falls'', but came back in ''ours''.
* FreezeFrameBonus: A lot about Bill can be viewed on the Journal's pages if checked close enough.
* FreudianExcuse: Felt trapped by his limited home dimension, so he "liberated" it the same way he's liberating ours. And, according to Alex Hirsch, his relationship with his family is even worse than Stan's.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Implied in this case. In the ''Gravity Falls: Lost Legends'' comic (specifically the third story, which is set after Weirdmageddon), 8-Ball and Keyhole, two of his former Henchmaniacs, can be seen in another dimension (presumably their home dimension) looking at a statue of Bill labeled "he was the worst".
* FromNobodyToNightmare: If we take his account of his origin as being trustworthy, he was originally a citizen of the flat, second dimension. He got bored with that, so he "liberated" his world, resulting in him becoming what he is now.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:G-L]]
* TheGlovesComeOff: Throughout the last episode, Bill's Henchmaniacs get curb stomped and Bill himself gets put through the wringer solely because of Dipper and Mabel's planning and quick thinking. By the end, he has ''had it'' with the younger Pines twins and decides they need to die now, taking his most monstrous form ever seen in the show and outright stating he will murder them horribly. He nearly follows through on it until [[TwinSwitch "Ford"]] gives in.
* {{Gonk}}: While non-canon, Alex Hirsch said "canon" human Bill would look like ''[[https://i.redd.it/fgiy44ijixwx.png this]]''. Talk about a TakeThatAudience.
* GracefulLoser: Averted when his FauxAffablyEvil goes straight out of the window when his plans are ruined, but then played straight when he decides to let the kids go for their effort.
** Completely subverted in Weirdmageddon, where he loses with no grace or dignity, begging Stan for a chance to save himself.
* GrandTheftMe: Takes over Dipper's body after Dipper agrees to a deal with him.
** He does the same thing to Blendin.
* GreatGazoo: So long as he's in the Dreamscape, he can bend it to suit his whims.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Bill was introduced as someone Gideon summoned for a job near the end of the first season, but with vague mentions of a wider plan. He quickly became the BigBad proper in the second season, and turned out to have been a major figure in the Author's background as well.
* HandshakeOfDoom: Bill usually requires a handshake from his "partners" in order to put the finishing touches on their DealWithTheDevil. Things never go well for anyone accepting a bargain with him.
* TheHedonist: Bill outright describes his conquest of the universe as "a party that never ends with a host that never dies". He really just wants to live it up and have endless fun with his buddies - too bad Bill's definition of "fun" includes turning the world into an [[WorldOfChaos incomprehensible hellscape]] ForTheEvulz.
* HellOnEarth: A bridge to the Nightmare Realm would allow him and his fellow nightmare creatures to cross over to Earth, where Bill's DreamWeaver powers would become straight up {{Reality Warp|er}}ing and they could do whatever they wanted forever. He's finally successful in "Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future".
* HiddenAgendaVillain: It's clear that he's planning something, but it's not clear what it is. Finally revealed in "The Last Mabelcorn." He wants to bring the Nightmare Realm into our world, effectively bringing on TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. As of "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future", he's succeeded. Uh-oh.
* HiddenDepths: Who would have thought an ancient, extra-dimensional nightmare liked playing piano and singing?
** At some point, he had a family, and the Nightmare Realm isn't his home dimension -- the Second Dimension is. But, as Bill puts it "flat minds in a flat world with flat dreams"; it's expressed that the stiflingly static nature of the dimension drove him to madness, and he obliterated it in turn.
* HighPressureEmotion: He turns bright red when he's angry enough.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** Turns out that Dipper wasn't an ideal host because he'd been sleep-deprived from obsessing about the laptop (which Bill himself manipulated into his favor in the first place). Constantly and senselessly damaging the body he was in didn't help.
** Even more fittingly, his ultimate fate came from being burned by one of his own deals.
* HumiliationConga: "Take Back the Falls" is essentially this for him. In order, when the resistance arrives in a giant robot, he sends his henchmen, thinking that they'll be able to take care of the problem, only for them to fail horribly. When he decides to fight himself, he finds out that the shack is protected from him and gets his eye yanked out, the first part has him being thrown around like a rag doll before finding the robot's weakness. When it looks like he has the upper hand, he gets sprayed in the eye, allowing Dipper and Mabel to escape and outmaneuver him until he manages to catch them, forcing 'Ford' to make a deal with him. However, when it seems like he's finally won, it turns out that Stan conned him and traps him in his mind while they both get erased, reducing Bill to a screaming, begging wreck. ExpandedUniverse material shows it goes a step further: his last evocation was essentially begging the Axolotl, the one being in existence he hates as much or more than Time Baby, to save him...and the Axolotl fully intends to burn ''him'' on the deal by making his resurrection/reincarnation a means to make him atone for his crimes.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** He hates deals that ended up being broken, yet he almost never sticks up to his end of the bargain and always backstabs anyone whom he makes deals with.
** It's small, but when he takes physical form, he insults humanity for our "ONE-LIFESPAN". If his absolute terror at being erased in Stanley's mind is any indication, he also only has a single lifespan, which [[ImmortalsFearDeath he's just as, or in some cases, even more, terrified by the end of]] as the humans he thinks he's superior to.
* IgnoredEpiphany: The Axolotl states that he misses his home dimension and is saddened by its destruction, but he also [[NeverMyFault refuses to admit the fact that]] ''he'' destroyed it in the first place.
* IJustWantToBeFree: His core motivation. He grew sick of being stuck as a 2D being bound by restrictive physical laws and responsibilities, so he unleashes Weirdmageddon to permanently remove anything that might impede his freedom.
* ILetYouWin: He claims to have stopped fighting in "Dreamscaperers" by his own choice and responds sarcastically when Dipper referred to that as defeating him. He's got a vested interest in seeming undefeatable, though, so he might not be the most unbiased authority on the subject. A FreudianSlip during his last episode VillainousBreakdown reveals that yes, the Pines twins' victories over him were legitimate, and it ''drives him up the wall.''
* ImmortalImmaturity: Despite being older than the universe itself, he has the mindset of a rebellious child.
* ImmortalsFearDeath: When he's about to be erased after living over a trillion years, Bill is ''terrified''. It's the first, and naturally last time, he shows any fear. ExpandedUniverse materials imply his invoking Axolotl to save himself was an act of complete desperation to avoid his fate that will have a price to pay on his end.
* InsistentTerminology: No, Bill isn't ''destroying'' dimensions, he's ''liberating'' them. Glaringly, this is the only matter in which Bill refuses to own up to his madness, whereas everywhere else he's all too happy to revel in it because it's the one thing he might actually regret.
* InsultBackfire: We see that calling Bill insane is never an insult to him. Both Gideon and Ford called him this and he readily admits to being so.
* IronicEcho: Bill seems to be a fan of this. Bill's "Eenie, Meenie, Miney, you" phrase has been said by Stan in the first episode, in the end of "Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future", the cryptogram asks "DID YOU MISS ME?", something he asked Dipper in Sock Opera and he says "Right? Isn't that what you're all thinking?", something Grenda asks in Sock Opera.[[note]]"Right? Isn't that what we're all thinking?[[/note]]
* {{Irony}}: He's designed after and is heavily implied to be the source of EyeOfProvidence imagery. The Eye is meant to symbolize God watching over us in his omnibenevolence. Bill is a sadistic and hedonistic demon aiming to bring about the Apocalypse, having [[SatanicArchetype having far more in common with the other guy]].
* {{Jerkass}}: A selfish and sadistic jerk through and through.
* JackassGenie: Mostly averted. Bill doesn't necessarily ''have'' to complete his side of any bargain he makes. His usual level of trickery results in getting what he wants beforehand, such as gaining Dipper's permission to possess him with some clever wording, and once that happens he typically ignores his side of the agreement. That being said, if the person making the agreement can't be immediately tricked into giving Bill what he wants, Bill has been compliant in fulfilling his part of the bargain. Further, it appears that without finishing the contract, Bill's magic isn't permanent. For example, he asked for a puppet from Dipper, as a means to possess him, in return for access to the Author's laptop. Bill destroyed it instead to protect his plans, but the next time Dipper's body fell asleep, Bill got kicked out, giving Dipper control over his body again.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: He finally gets his comeuppance at the end of [[GrandFinale "Weirdmageddon"]]. While his last backward message is invoking the Axolotl to revive him, the Axolotl has no intention of letting him shirk the consequences of his actions and intends that resurrection to force him to 'absolve his crimes.'
* KarmicDeath: After making [[DealWithTheDevil twisted deals]] the entire series to harm others, he's destroyed when Ford and Stan turn his final deal back against him.
* KilledOffForReal: Ford completely erased him in Stan's mind, with his brother punching him directly in the eye. However, Bill invokes what seems to be a regeneration spell in his final moments via translated backward audio, but it's unclear whether or how it worked. After everything returns to normal, a statue of Bill remains in the woods...
* KnightOfCerebus: Introduced in what's being considered the darkest and most terrifying episode of the series to date, despite his LaughablyEvil personality and oddball design. Within his first few seconds onscreen, he telekinetically yanks out a deer's teeth and gives them to Gideon. At least he undoes it a moment later, though it's still rather horrifying. He only gets worse in his second episode, where he starts by giving Dipper a "present" of his own: ''a severed head that's constantly screaming''. Even his entry in Journal #3 is horrifying. Not only are the pages covered in what is likely '''blood splatters''', but a warning is also written in red ''never to summon him''. Taking into account the Author wrote both Journal #2 (which summons him) and Journal #3 (which has an incantation to fight against him), it was an early hint about what happened between him and Ford. Even more so after he merged Earth with his Nightmare Realm, causing an ApocalypseHow.
* KnightTemplar: His [[WhatCouldHaveBeen would-be]] VillainSong definitely implies he sees himself as TheHero.
-->'''Bill Cipher''': Look, I'm just a triangle trying to save you\\
From the delusions society gave you\\
Look at these people, calling me evil\\
Right back at you, [[DisproportionateRetribution now you're all statues]]!
** He does try framing himself as a liberator when trying to convince Stanford to reveal how to get around the weirdness magnetism, though it's not clear if he's being genuine or not since all he shows is [[ItsAllAboutMe his personal indulgence]].
* KnowledgeBroker: ''Very'' knowledgeable, may potentially know all the answers to the greatest mysteries. Every deal he has made so far has been leveraged with information only he could provide or acquire. He often suggested that knowledge is the key to true power. Ironically, he is forced to go to ''Ford'' for help in the finale because Ford knows how to bypass the WeirdnessMagnet effect of Gravity Falls and Bill does not. This likely means that Bill's vast knowledge is due to his DreamWalker abilities more than actual omniscience -- since Ford safeguarded his mind against Bill's intrusions later on, the dream demon did not have access to some of his latest discoveries.
-->"Oh, I know lots of things! '''''[[VoiceOfTheLegion LOTS OF THINGS...]]'''''"
* LackOfEmpathy: Not only does Bill not care who he hurts in the process of getting what he wants, he genuinely does not understand how anyone could.
* LaserGuidedKarma: When he starts Weirdmageddon, he taunts Dipper to actually punch him, knowing full well there's nothing he can do. When trapped in Stan's mind as it's getting erased, Stan takes him out with one punch since he's now vulnerable.
* LaughablyEvil: All of his villainy is accompanied by a strange and twisted sense of humor. Taking over and/or destroying the world is no different; he's doing it because it's all just a funny, cosmic joke to him. Plus, he's a living EyeOfProvidence triangle with stick-figure arms, a top hat, and a bow tie. That design is inherently comical, which just makes his shocking levels of heinousness all the most glaring.
* LaughingMad: He combines this with his SlasherSmile as he tricks Mabel into bringing about the apocalypse.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Two. Whenever he appears in a talkative mood, [[https://soundcloud.com/bradbreeck/gf-e120-gideon-summons-bill-2 a soft, mischievous bass figure with cascading high notes]] plays; when he gets angry and begins to show the full extent of his powers, though, [[https://soundcloud.com/bradbreeck/gf-e120-dreamscaperers-bill he's backed by a frenzied Shepard's Tone synth arpeggio]].
* LightIsNotGood: Bill is always accompanied by a bright glow. It's also based on the Eye of Providence and TheIlluminati's solar/eye symbolism.
* LiterallyShatteredLives: When Stan punches him, he shatters into pieces.
* LogicalWeakness: When he pulls a GrandTheftMe on Dipper, he is bound by the physical limitations of his body. As Mabel points out, she knows all her brother's physical weaknesses and Dipper is very sleep deprived.
* LyricalDissonance: His cut VillainSong "It's Gonna Get Weird" is an upbeat, cheerful number...about him raining down Weirdmageddon on Gravity Falls and all the horrible things that entail.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:M-S]]
* TheMadHatter:
-->'''Gideon''': YoureInsane\\
'''Bill''': [[InsultBackfire Sure I am. What's your point?]]
* MaliciousMisnaming: Bill referring to Dipper as "Pine Tree" is not exactly a term of endearment. Aside from Pine Tree being dipper's assigned symbol in much of the show's iconography and in some of the texts seen in the journals, it's mostly used to show that Bill doesn't take him, or anyone he deals with, seriously in the slightest.
* ManipulativeBastard: He takes advantage of people's desperation to keep them from examining his own motives too closely. He's also only been seen making deals when the other party is either overconfident or not in their right mind. He expertly manipulated Stanford Pines into creating the portal, through a combination of charm and appealing to Stanford's ego.
* MeaningfulName: It's no coincidence that the most mysterious entity of the show (and possibly the one [[KnowledgeBroker with the answer to all the mysteries]]) has almost the same name as one of the most famous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beale_ciphers unsolved cipher codes]] in US history. [[note]]The Reddit AMA has him advising everyone not to do business with the guy who wrote it.[[/note]] "Bill" might also refer to a banknote, as Cipher's body shape closely resembles the Eye of Providence found on the US dollar bill (which was confirmed in the Between the Pines special). Last but not least, a possible reference to LouisCypher.
* MindRape: His bubbles of pure madness drive anyone who makes contact with them insane.
* MirrorCharacter: Grunkle Stan. Both are theatrical conmen who enjoy pulling the wool over others' eyes. They also share similar speaking habits ("Eeny, Meeny, Miney, ''you!''") and traits, to the point where Bill predominantly replaced Stan in his own opening credits. It is their similarities that eventually make Stan the best candidate to take Bill down.
* MonsterFangirl: Discussed by Bill on his Reddit AMA regarding his fangirls:
-->'''Bill''': WHAT CAN I SAY -- CHICKS DIG PSYCHOPATHS! I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE ALL MY OF "FAN GIRLS" TO TAKE SOMETHING PSYCHEDELIC, WALK INTO THE NEVADA DESERT, AND FORM THEMSELVES INTO A LARGE HUMAN THRONE TO AWAIT MY COMING!
* MoreThanThreeDimensions: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]; Bill is heavily implied to be a ''two'' dimensional being.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: His 3D form in "Weirdmageddon Part 1". He also uses this trope several times throughout the final episode
* MysteriousPast: Was in Gravity Falls a long time ago and he has some connection with Stan Pines and the author. He also possessed a body at some point. Considering the banner hanging in their mansion, he may have a connection to the Northwest family. His AMA states that he used to have family, is old enough to imply that the Egyptian pyramids were designed to look like him and that the tapestry in Northwest Manor depicts a prophecy that ''would'' have come true on time for Bill had a shaman accomplice of his been more cooperative. He also apparently made a banking deal with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beale_ciphers Thomas J. Beale]] and regrets it thoroughly. And, if his cameo in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is to be believed, he's an incarnation of [[Myth/NorseMythology Loki]].
* NearVillainVictory: In the series finale, Bill has countered and played wise to all of his enemies' moves; even managing to have his minions recapture all of the freed citizens and trap the Pines family (including Dipper and Mabel), all just to coerce Ford into giving the equation into breaking down the barrier that would allow him to take Weirdmageddon globally by threatening to kill both Dipper and Mabel. However, this all went moot as he never anticipated the fact that the captured Ford and Stan would switch identities with each other at the last minute so that Stan could fool Bill into entering his mind and that Ford can use the memory-erasing weapon to erase Stan's mind and destroy Bill for good.
* NecessaryDrawback: Bill Cipher's abilities allow him to invade another person's mind. Unfortunately for Bill Cipher, in the event that he's inside someone's mind and their memories end up being erased, he'll be erased along with them.
* NeverMyFault: According to the Axolotl, he regrets the destruction of his home dimension, but refuses to admit that it was his fault.
* NeverSayDie: Zig-zagged, usually he'll have some colorful substitute for murdering something (i.e. "I've got some children I need to make into corpses"), though, at the same time, he explicitly states his intention to kill one of the twins in the series finale "[[ForTheEvulz just for the heck of it]]".
* NiceJobFixingItVillain:
** By unleashing Weirdmageddon, he inadvertently saved the crumbling relationship between the Pines family, allowing them to defeat Bill and [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn their happy ending]] in the first place.
** When Bill vaporized Time Baby after the latter tried to stop him, Bill essentially gave the people of the year 207̃012 their freedom.
* TheNicknamer: When speaking to someone, he'll often refer to them by a symbol associated with them (typically visible on an article of clothing; they've also appeared in a circle around him), e.g. calling Dipper "Pine Tree" and Soos "Question Mark." The only times he drops the habit is when he's addressing close friends or people he respects, or when things have gone to hell in a handbasket.
* NoIndoorVoice: He seems to shout everything he says, not unlike the [[Creator/AdultSwim Williams Street]] interpretation of [[WesternAnimation/TheBrakShow Brak]]. Somehow, he manages to shout even louder when he loses his cool. This is a holdover from the original intention of having Creator/DavidLynch voice him, which fell through. Instead, Alex Hirsch does an impression of Lynch's character from ''Series/TwinPeaks'', Gordon Cole, who always shouted his lines because he was hard of hearing. In the AMA, every answer he writes is in ALLCAPS.
* NoMouth: [[TheNoseless Or nose]]. He's quite expressive with his single eyeball, though. [[ActionFigureSpeech His outline pulses in turn with his words.]] It turns out that [[BizarreAlienBiology his mouth IS his eye]], by way of morphing the lids to act like lips to eat/drink as he does in Weirdmageddon.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: After Bill and his fellow abominations enter the physical world, Bill finds his lair assailed by Time Baby and the TimePolice. Bill's response is '''''frighteningly''' abrupt''.
* NotQuiteDead: Hinted at in "Gravity Falls: Lost Legends", where two cryptograms say "CIPHER LIVES" and "BILL LIVES".
* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: He claims he wants to liberate the heroes' dimension and make it a fun world with no rules or restrictions. However, that would [[RealityWarpingIsNotAToy render it pure chaos inhospitable to non-demonic life]], and it and his Weirdmageddon back in his own decaying world are heavily implied to be why it's decaying in the first place. Considering his sadism and how he admits [[CardCarryingVillain he's insane either way]], it's very likely his claim is just an excuse [[ItsAllAboutMe for his own enjoyment]].
* NoodleIncident: The author wrote in the journals that he considered Bill his best friend. Then something happened that made him cross out that entry and write "Can't be trusted" and "DO NOT SUMMON AT ALL COSTS!" His entry in Journal #3 is covered in ''blood''. Eventually revealed to be that Bill had told the author that he was a muse who came to visit and assist geniuses once a century, he helped the author with constructing the portal, but when the truth got out, the author changed his mind about everything. Also, it turns out that it's red pen ink, not blood. Then even more is revealed in the Journal 3 book release -- some of it ''is'' blood; Ford's eye bled after Bill possessed him and dropped onto the page.
* OhCrap: An epic one when Stan traps him in his mind, allowing Ford to use the memory gun to weaken Bill before Stan destroys him.
* OminousFloatingCastle: He creates a floating citadel in the shape of himself (i.e. a pyramid). Then he names it the "Fearamid".
* OmnicidalManiac: The Time Baby tells Bill that if he doesn't stop, he could possibly destroy the fabric of the universe. Bill doesn't care.
* TheOmniscient: Bill paints himself as something close to it, claiming to see a "kaleidoscope of temporal probability with fluctuating range" and infinite alternate universes as well as alternate versions of himself. [[SubvertedTrope However]], while he does boast an incredible amount of knowledge and demonstrates some degree of [[{{Seers}} clairvoyance]], Bill is still able to be tricked and taken by surprise, indicating that he's talking up his knowledge to a degree. His lack of true omniscience ultimately becomes his undoing, as he's unaware of Gravity Falls' [[WeirdnessMagnet law of weirdness magnetism]] until he's already put Weirdmageddon into motion. This forces him to try and extract the equation that cancels out the effect from Ford so that he can take his plans global, giving the resistance an opportunity to fight back against him. Similarly, he doesn't pick up on Stan and Ford's ClothingSwitch gambit until it's too late, leading to his ultimate defeat.
* OneWingedAngel: While just getting a physical body probably counts, one of his shapeshifted forms, in particular, stands out: the form he chases Dipper and Mabel through his castle with is by far Bill's most terrifying incarnation in the show. He goes 3D, his body turns red, he gains an eye (now with black sclera) on each side, his bottom segments become mouths with jagged yellow teeth (with the bottom-most having ''two'' tongues), and he has six arms (two of which come out of his bottom mouth).
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: As revealed by his AMA on Reddit, "Bill Cipher" is just a pseudonym because if we'd hear his real name we'd evaporate to dust with an expression of horror and ecstasy on our faces.
* OptOut: In his first appearance, he leaves of his own accord after deciding that killing Dipper, Mabel and Soos was more trouble than it was worth.
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: He's referred to as a demon on two separate occasions, though he hasn't used this term himself. While looking and acting very atypical, he has almost all of the powers and methods that you'd expect a demon to have: [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting]], [[DemonicPossession possession]], [[PlayingWithFire using fire]], [[MoreThanMindControl temptation]], and [[DealWithTheDevil striking up deals in order to get what he wants]]. He's implied there is a hierarchy of sorts by his comments on dressing for the job he wants instead of the one he has and has [[BadassBoast claimed other demons would be lucky to be on good terms with him]].
* OutGambitted: Twofold and both times by the elder Pines twins.
** Firstly, while he does manage to get the rift and blend Gravity Falls with the Nightmare Realm, Ford took precautions to make sure both the Mystery Shack was protected and that he didn't disclose about the barrier over the town which keeps Bill from getting any further. Bill has to practically try to force Ford into removing it so he can take continue his world domination plan.
** And secondly when trying to convince Ford to join him doesn't work, he holds Dipper and Mabel, hostage, to get Ford to cooperate. Not only did keeping the kids contained take a large amount of effort, but he made the mistake of leaving Stan and Ford together to hash out a quick plan "B" and forgetting to take into account that the two are ''twins'', thus leading to him accidentally bargaining with Stan rather than Ford. By the time Bill realizes his mistake, it's far too late. He's back in the dream world where's he vulnerable, Ford erases Stan's mind with Bill trapped inside, and no amount of bargaining is going to keep Stan from taking him out.
* OutOfCharacterAlert: When he poses as Soos, there are a few tells that can clue in an astute viewer just before the reveal. He expresses disgust at a flashback of Stan, in stark contrast to Soos' usual hero-worship of him; and makes casual reference to his 'big fat arms' when the real Soos is very sensitive about his weight, as shown in "The Land Before Swine".
* PaperPeople: He's quite specifically a ''triangle'', not a geometric pyramid. He implies [[Literature/{{Flatland}} Edwin Abbott Abbott]] guessed the closest to what his origin may have looked like. His entrance into the physical realm involves him taking a 3D form, and though he takes on several different triangular and pyramid-like shapes, his ShapeshifterDefaultForm is still a thin triangular plate. Justified; if his account of his origin is truthful, he was originally from the second dimension; continuing the ''Literature/{{Flatland}}'', he decided the Gospel of Three Dimensions was thinking too small.
* PerpetualSmiler: His affable tone in his pyramid form suggests this, but he has NoMouth to smile with. Once he possesses Dipper's body and actually has a mouth, it stays in a cheery grin for most of the time.
* PetTheDog: Within seconds of being introduced, he rips the teeth out of a deer. He undoes it afterward and, considering [[{{Sadist}} who Bill is]], this is actually rather kind of him.
* PhysicalGod: During Weirdmageddon.
-->'''Bill:''' I control space, matter, and now that that dumb baby's out of the way, ''[[TimeMaster time itself!]]''
* PintsizePowerhouse: Although he is a SizeShifter, he tends to stay small most of the time.
* PlayingWithFire: Although he uses blue fire, as seen in the picture.
* PracticallyJoker: Is a nigh-invincible Eldritch Abomination who planned to make the universe itself the ultimate rave party not caring that his reckless actions could result in the destruction of reality. Bill advocates chaos over order, has a disturbing sense of humor and loves messing with the minds of his pawns. He also has a MysteriousPast and occasionally espouses StrawNihilist views.
* PragmaticVillainy: He's impressed by the Pines and Soos' efforts to beat them, and remarks they might come in handy later, so he lets them be. The fact that they were visibly causing him pain obviously had no influence on his decision.
* PsychopathicManchild: Ford said Bill's plan to [[HellOnEarth merge the Earth with the dreamscape he's from]] is just a game to him. When Bill and his fellow demons were taunting Ford about it being inevitable, they sound like a bunch of guys excited for a night on the town. Once he and his gang are free to roam the physical realm, he acts like a bully who picks on people just to impress them, and their party at the Fearamid is a Teen Comedy Romp, complete with Bill telling everyone to play it cool once the Time Cops show up.
-->'''[[http://www.avclub.com/article/gravity-falls-creator-alex-hirsch-talks-v-clubs-ow-232059 Alex Hirsch]]''': Bill is a character who's been around for countless billions of eons, but he hasn't grown up in that time.
* PungeonMaster: Bill really likes puns, from literally turning himself yellow when saying "ny'hello?" to his numerous eye/I jokes.
* PunnyName: Given his name, SinisterSurveillance, and the ubiquitous Eye of Providence on US dollars, having bills on you means literally having Bill on you.
** It's also a pun off of the Baele Cypher, the most complex cipher in American history (and much like Bill, almost certainly all a lie/scam to boot)
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Bill is both terrifying and the leader of the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s for good reason, in "Weirdmageddon Part 1" he conquers the entire town with his chaos magic and the help of his demonic friends, [[FacialHorror twists and mangles the face]] of [[AssholeVictim Preston Northwest]], [[BadassInDistress immobilizes Stanford Pines]] and [[TakenForGranite turns him into a golden statue/backscratcher]], and [[CurbStomp completely obliterates]] the [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Time Baby]].
* RealityWarper: Is pretty near omnipotent... [[DreamWeaver when he's in the dream realm]]. Not so much in the waking world, until he makes the two one and the same.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: He has this color scheme in the final form he takes before Stan literally [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu punches him out]].
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Times when he starts to get ''more'' dangerous, his eye can turn red.
* RedOniBlueOni: In a rare instance where the Red Oni and the Blue Oni oppose each other, Bill is the [[PsychopathicManChild immature]], [[AxCrazy vicious]] red to Time Baby's [[BigBrotherIsWatching despotic]], yet [[NobleDemon honorable]] blue.
* SadClown: The Axolotl flat out states that when he claims to be happy, he's a liar and deep down ''does'' feel sad he lost his home dimension and everyone in it... but [[NeverMyFault will never admit he's responsible]].
* {{Sadist}}: Bill likely has [[TheNeedless no physical needs]] and [[TheAgeless doesn't age]]. On a most basic level, his actions are purely motivated to control and torment people in creative ways for his own amusement.
-->''(After slapping himself in the face while controlling Dipper's body)'' "Haha! Pain is hilarious!"
* SatanicArchetype: A more subtle example, and despite also being [[EldritchAbomination rather Lovecraftian]], Bill fits this trope quite well. For starters, there is the Cipher part of his name, while obviously connected to the algorithm of encryption, but also to LouisCypher. He also uses a lot of common tropes associated with Satan and devils, including DealWithTheDevil, DemonicPossession, VoiceOfTheLegion, and is outright called a "demon". His [[LightIsNotGood association with light]] connects him directly to Lucifer, and the "Eye of Providence" symbol that he is based on is connected to {{God}} and His [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels, who often are described manifesting as strange, geometric shapes (including a whole choir called Wheels)]]. On top of all that, the actual Stanford Pines mentions in his backstory that a friend of his referred to a "beast with one eye" when he accidentally peeked into an AlternateUniverse.
* {{Seers}}: He was able to do a perfect impersonation of Dipper "in about three seconds," which means he has at least some form of clairvoyance.
* SelfMadeOrphan: According to Bill's Reddit AMA, he ''used to'' have a family, and now doesn't. He hints in "Weirdmageddon: Take Back The Falls" that he didn't just kill his family, [[GenocideFromTheInside but everyone who lived in his entire dimension]]. The Axolotl implies Bill ''does'' feel bad for it, but [[NeverMyFault will never admit it's his own fault]].
* SenseFreak: Bill mentions that he hasn't been in physical form for a long time, so he enjoys the physical sensations he can experience while possessing Dipper's body, ''especially'' pain, which he inflicts on the body throughout the episode. This contributes to his defeat later.
* SensoryOverload: When he possesses Dipper, he regains his senses and instead of being horrified by the damage he inflicts on himself, he finds it hilarious. He deliberately falls down the stairs, repeatedly slams a drawer on his arm and [[JabbaTableManners messily]] [[MurderArsonAndJaywalking drinks soda.]] When Alex Hirsch drew a [[https://www.reddit.com/r/gravityfalls/comments/5ccxh1/here_he_is_folks_the_canon_human_bill_cipher_from/ canon human version of Bill]] in a charity live stream, he portrayed him as morbidly obese and highly deformed with crooked teeth. Hirsch drew him this way because he imagines Bill overindulging himself and neglecting his personal health.
* ShapeshifterSwanSong: Goes through one as he's being erased along with Stan's mind.
* SigilSpam: Even before Bill's official debut, images of a triangle with an eye (and in some cases, even his limbs and clothing) are seen in otherwise random places. As noted in SinisterSurveillance below, it's actually ''weaponized'': Bill is able to watch the world through images of himself, and as such he encourages askers in the AMA to draw images of him as a way of increasing his influence.
* SignatureHeadgear: A skinny top hat. In contrast to his body, it's three-dimensional. [[ClothingAppendage It's not really clothing, though, it's part of his body.]] It also resembles [[SatanicArchetype an upside-down cross.]]
* SinisterGeometry: He's a simple triangle with an eye in the middle, yet he can still draw plenty of terror out of people by simply manipulating his size.
* SinisterSurveillance: Yeah, those images of him mentioned earlier? Those are [[ParanoiaFuel peepholes he can look through from the Dreamscape]]. A page about him in Journal #2 has a picture of him on the -$12 bill that says [[PretentiousLatinMotto "Semper vigilantem"]], "Always watching". Becomes AscendedFridgeHorror at the end of "The Last Mabelcorn" where it shows him spying on the Pines family. He loses this when he merges the two worlds, resulting in him being easier to take off guard.
* SlasherSmile: He sports a rather unsettling smirk while possessing Dipper Pines, and later Blendin Blandin.
* SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror: Horror dominant, since he's TheDreaded. But he still has a very twisted sense of humor.
* SmugSnake: Bill has three layers to his personality. A [[FauxAffablyEvil goofy facade]] while buttering up to his potential partners, a [[SmugSnake smug mocking state]] when he's got the upper hand and all parties know it, and a [[ILetYouWin petulant state]] when he knows he's been bested and needs to save face. No matter which mode he's in, he positively oozes condescension.
* SmugSuper: Once Weirdmageddon begins and Bill gets a physical form, he brings his RealityWarper abilities with him and proceeds to flaunt his power at every opportunity, conquering the town within ''minutes''. The number of scenes where he ''doesn't'' flaunt can be counted on one hand. He's gradually brought through a VillainousBreakdown in the finale as the heroes repeatedly prove that his vast power doesn't make him invincible.
* TheSociopath: Bill shows all the symptoms of sociopathy. [[TheCharmer Superficial charm]] [[LackOfEmpathy without any empathy]], [[ManipulativeBastard manipulativeness]] and [[ConsummateLiar consumate lying]]; [[ItsAllAboutMe an ability to help others]] [[AllTakeAndNoGive while only using them to serve his own whims]] ([[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness seeing them only as tools to use and discard thereafter]]), a [[ItsAllAboutMe grandiose]] [[SmugSuper sense of self-worth]], and a [[TheHedonist pathological need for stimulation]]: in his case, AxCrazy [[{{Sadist}} Sadism]]; an unbridled taste to sow chaos and hurt others. What little empathy he does feel is toward those [[ItsAllAboutMe he sees as just like himself]], namely, his group of close demon friends ([[ControlFreak who are more like himself according to Axolotl,]]) he also [[NeverMyFault refuses to believe anything is his fault, including the destruction of his dimension and]] [[GenocideFromTheInside possibly his race]].
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is often misspelled Bill ''Cypher'', even though his name is spelled out on his page in Dipper's journal. [[IncrediblyLamePun Spell My Name]] [[EyeMotifs With An Eye?]]
* StepfordSmiler: According to Axolotl, Bill's not as cheery as he always seems, implying that he might regret destroying his own dimension.
-->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.
* StaticCharacter: Stated by the show's creators to be the case: Bill has lived for billions of eons...but has never in his entire existence actually grown up or meaningfully changed as a person. The Axolotl implies a large part of this is because [[NeverMyFault Bill will never admit to any of his mistakes]], and thus can't change.
* SurrealHorror: ''All the time,'' thanks to his eldritch powers and warped sense of humor.
-->"You deserve a prize! Here, have a head that's always screaming!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:T-Y]]
* TakeOverTheWorld: Bill's ultimate goal is to merge the Nightmare Realm with the Physical Realm, and let loose his demon friends to rampage through our dimension and rule over what remains.
* TakenForGranite: : When he leaves his physical body to re-enter the dreamscape, his body turns to stone. And, after his mindscape form is erased, the statue remains all that is left of him.
* TechnicolorDeath: He starts thrashing around glitching out more horribly [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay than the T-1000]], as Stan's mind, memories, and him, are being slowly erased. When Stan finishes him off with a punch, Bill's body briefly emits rainbow colored lightning in all directions before he shatters to pieces.
* TimeAbyss: He claims that he's been trapped in the Nightmare Realm for over a ''trillion'' years, making him at least some 70 to 80 times older than the projected age of the universe.
* ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil: Bill's ultimate goal is to plunge the entire universe into chaotic madness where anything horrible can happen because that's his idea of a party.
* TomTheDarkLord: You wouldn't expect some guy called "Bill" to be a powerful dream demon who managed to cause an apocalypse on a city and coming close to unleashing it on the entire universe. Despite his name, he is the BigBad of the show and the most dangerous creature the heroes have faced.
* TooKinkyToTorture: As shown in "Sock Opera", it has been so long since he possessed a physical body (Dipper's in this case) that he enjoys inflicting pain on himself. [[MutilationConga He slaps himself, tumbles down the stairs, smashes his arm in a drawer and stabs it with forks.]] When Dipper gets his body back towards the end of the episode, Dipper discovers that Bill caused so much damage to his body that he feels he need to go to a hospital.
** However, he thoroughly {{deconstruct|edTrope}}s this trope in the climax. Between his constant self-harm and Dipper's own self-inflicted sleep deprivation, Bill ends up being [[HeroicRROD too exhausted and crippled to get The Journal back from Mabel]] while confined to Dipper's body, and [[OhCrap doesn't seem to be enjoying himself either]].
* UncertainDoom: Bill definitely ''did'' die, but cried out the name of "Axolotl" (backward) asking to return. It's unknown if it worked, and it may have just stabilized his ShapeshifterSwanSong long enough to make one last attempt on Stanley. Some of the comics released after the series have suggested Bill really did come back (''ComicBook/GravityFallsLostLegends'' has cryptograms baldly spell out "BILL LIVES" and "CIPHER LIVES"), but also that the Axolotl is a benevolent being with no plans to aid Bill's misdeeds. It states Bill can only "absolve his crime [in] a different form, a different time", implying he'd only be resurrected/reincarnated as someone much less powerful and dangerous and forced to atone for his crimes.
* UndignifiedDeath: Grunkle Stan faces the prospect of his whole mind being erased with calm acceptance. Bill goes out panicking and begging.
* TheUnfettered: Big time. In fact, he's so dedicated to his own freedom that he destroyed his home dimension to break down all physical laws and restrictions, which he now seeks to do again by bringing Weirdmageddon. Described by Alex Hirsch as a "trickster jerk."
* UngratefulBastard: His response to being summoned by Gideon is to terrify him by pulling a deer's teeth out in front of him. (Unless that [[CloudCuckoolander was Bill's idea of gratitude]].) Either way, he then promptly tries to sucker Gideon into a deal that would probably have blown up in his face if it hadn't fallen through for other reasons.
* VaguenessIsComing:
** His warning as he leaves: a mysterious darkness that will change everything they care about.
** Comes up again in "Sock Opera", and we learn this time that Bill will somehow be responsible for the "big changes" ahead but nothing more.
** Eventually, we learn that Bill's EvilPlan is to use the inter-dimensional portal to [[HellOnEarth merge his home (the nightmare realm) with our dimension]].
* VileVillainSaccharineShow: Had shades of this from the start, but officially crossed into it in [[GrandFinale the Weirdmageddon arc]]. Basically, in a show with a fair share of SliceOfLife and daily moments, [[KnightOfCerebus Bill manages to be the darkest villain who ever appeared in the series]].
* VillainExitStageLeft: Bill isn't too proud to fold when his plans become unsalvageable. He also tries to spin it [[ILetYouWin that he was in control the whole time.]] How true this is is up for debate.
* VillainousCrush:
** He hits on Wendy a couple of times while in Dipper's body, though whether it's to troll Dipper or because he's actually attracted to her is uncertain.
** On the topic of Wendy, on his reddit AMA, he states "[[StacysMom WENDY'S MOM HAS GOT IT GOING ON. SHE'S ALL I WANT AND I'VE WAITED FOR SO LONG]]". Again, whether it's because he's attracted to her or if he [[{{Troll}} just thought it would be funny if he referenced a]] ''[[Music/FountainsOfWayne Fountains of Wayne]]'' [[Music/FountainsOfWayne song]] is uncertain.
* VillainousFriendship: Has one with his Henchmaniacs, throwing parties with them and bringing them along on his Weirdmaggedon. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that it seems to be out of a want for the company rather than care, as he wastes no time berating them after they've been severely injured in battle.
* VillainHasAPoint: It was a strategy to manipulate Dipper, but Bill wasn't wrong when he pointed out that Dipper has made constant sacrifices and compromises for Mabel and that at best she has pretty much-done nothing to pay him back and at worst keeps putting herself before him.
-->'''Bill''': ''Besides'', what's your sister done for you, lately? How many times have you sacrificed yourself for her, huh? And when has ''she'' ever returned the favor?
* VillainTeleportation: Part of his DreamWalker abilities is teleporting and going wherever he wants in the dreamscape.
* VillainousBreakdown:
** In "Dreamscaperers", losing the code to the vault and Gideon cutting off his deal does not make him happy. So he reaches a UnstoppableRage level and TurnsRed. This is then subverted when he calms down, concedes the fight, compliments the group for their ingenuity, gives some cryptic warning and vanishes.
** When he realizes that he and his creatures are trapped in a bubble around Gravity Falls -- and even worse, he doesn't know why -- he ''snaps''. His outburst even scares his Henchmaniacs, with whom he ''never'' raises his voice.
-->'''Bill''': ''Alright,'' can anyone explain to me why, even with our newfound '''infinite power''', none of us can escape the borders of this '''''STUPID HICK TOWN?!!'''''
** His ultimate breakdown in the finale is when he becomes increasingly enraged as he starts to lose the final battle; it finally comes to a head when he's about to be erased, the powerful dream demon gets reduced to begging for his life as his body rapidly changes into out of control forms before he's destroyed by Stan. Even his final backward message is ultimately this rather than a last trump card, as invoking the Axolotl to save him amounts to begging the one being in existence he hates as much or more than Time Baby to save him in a desperate attempt to shirk the consequences of his actions in the last moment.
* VillainSong: TheMusical-style tune [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq5sZPPF9ao "It's Gonna Get Weird"]] written by Creator/NeilCicierega, where he sings about how he's going to remake reality to suit his preferences. [[CutSong It didn't actually make it into the show]], but it can be heard online.
* VillainsWantMercy: He pathetically begs Stan to spare him, offering Stan anything he could imagine. Stan has none of it and finishes him off. The Axolotl implies that his invoking it 'so he may return' was also this trope, as it likens it to trying to shirk the consequences of his actions in the last moment, and the two are implied to be enemies. The Axolotl implies he ''will'' have mercy on Bill...to the extent of reviving him so he may 'absolve his crime.'
* VocalEvolution: In his first appearance Bill's voice was much calmer and less filtered in comparison to his second appearance only a few episodes later.
* VoiceOfTheLegion: When he wants to emphasize something.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Takes the form of Soos to trick the twins into showing him the combination to the safe.
* WalkingSpoiler: His relationship to Stanford as well as his plan to bring about the apocalypse by merging his nightmare realm with the world makes it hard to explain much beyond his surface motives.
* WeatherManipulation: With his rage, he summoned thunderclouds so fierce they damaged the pillars in the Fearamid.
* WeCanRuleTogether: Offers Stanford Pines an opportunity to join him twice during the Weirdmageddon. The second time he gives quite an awesome speech to make it sound good.
-->''"Listen, Ford, if you just tell me that equation, finally your dimension will be free. (Projects himself drawing a smiley face in the midwest United States, then takes a bite out of the Earth and flies past his friends, who are destroying other planets, then to Ford, who is standing in the middle of a galaxy) Anything will be possible. I'll remake a fun world-- a better world! A party that never ends with a host that never dies! No more restrictions! No more laws! You'd be one of us. All-powerful. Greater than anything you've imagined! And all I need is your help."''
* WeWillMeetAgain:
** He says this to Dipper and the company at the end of their first meeting.
** He sings Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" from the film ''Dr. Strangelove'' to Ford in "Weirdmageddon, part 3".
* WeaksauceWeakness: He ''really'' hates synthesized music. No problem with dance music, though.
* WhereIWasBornAndRazed: He reveals to Ford that he was a denizen of a flat "Second Dimension", but that he "liberated" it by causing a Weirdmageddon there as well. The Axolotl says he feels guilty about it, [[NeverMyFault but refuses to admit that it's his fault]].
* WorthyOpponent: He compliments Dipper and company's wit, and as such, [[ILetYouWin claims to have let them live]]. He seems to have kept this viewpoint in "Sock Opera" to the point that he sees them as a threat to whatever his plans are. Alex Hirsch says that he felt the need to destroy Journal 3 because with it, Dipper was capable of discovering and stopping the activation of the Portal and thus stopping Bill's HellOnEarth plan, which is what would have happened if not for [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom Mabel]]. However, Bill maintains the ideology that because they're weaker than him, they're still not a ''critical'' threat, which comes back to bite him.
* WouldHurtAChild: As "Sock Opera" clearly demonstrates, Bill has no qualms about hurting children. In fact, while he is possessing Dipper's body he hits Dipper in the face, throws his body down a flight of stairs, pours soda in his eyes, and repeatedly slams his arm into a drawer -- only to retract said arm with forks sticking out of it. By the end of the episode, Dipper outright says he thinks he needs to go to a hospital.
** In "Weirdmageddon Part 1", he ''vaporizes the Time Baby.''
** The finale has him drop all pretensions of civility and flat out intending to ''kill'' Dipper and Mabel unless Ford gives him what he needs to break the barrier surrounding the town. "I've got some CHILDREN I need to make into CORPSES!" and "When I get my hands on you kids, I'M GONNA DISASSEMBLE YOUR MOLECULES!"
** Included in ''[[Literature/GravityFallsJournal3 Journal 3]]'' is a note from Bill written while inside Dipper outright stating that he subjected Dipper's body to stabbing, burning, and drowning. He then goes on to mention that his ultimate goal, had Mabel not forced him out, was to throw Dipper from the water tower and make it look like the boy committed suicide! He then ominously asks Mabel if she would like to get in on the "fun".
* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: A variant; "Bill Cipher" isn't his real name. It's just a pseudonym he uses around the galaxy because any mortal who heard his true name would instantly disintegrate into dust.
* YouCantMakeAnOmelette: An... interesting variation in his Reddit AMA.
-->'''Bill''': HEY IF YOU WANT TO MAKE AN OMELET YOU HAVE TO BREAK A FEW SKULLS! I'M TALKING ABOUT A BRAIN OMELET HERE, MOMMA.
* YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry:
-->'''Bill''': ''Do you have any idea what I'm like '''[[VoiceOfTheLegion when I'm MAD?]]'''''
[[/folder]]
----
->''Remember, reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking buy gold]], bye!''[[note]][[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons BUY CRYPTO, SUCKERS!]][[/note]]
----

** His [[MemeticMutation memetic]] "Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye!" quote stems from earlier plans for Bill to be a comic relief character that would spout off conspiracy theories to [[{{Troll}} annoy Dipper.]] These plans were scrapped once Bill was elevated to BigBad status.

--> '''Grunkle Stan:''' "You're a real wise guy, but you made one fatal mistake: ''you messed with my family''."

--> '''Grunkle Stan:''' ''You're a real wise guy, but you made one fatal mistake: you messed with my family.''

* StaticCharacter: Stated by the creators to be the case: Bill has lived for billions of eons...but never in his entire existence actually grown up or meaningfully changed as a person. The Axolotl implies a large part of this is [[NeverMyFault Bill will never admit to any of his mistakes]], and thus can't change.

You can find Bill's take on it [[SelfDemonstrating/BillCipher here on his self-demonstrating page]] or his upcoming VillainProtagnoist book ''Literature/TheBookOfBill''.

It was recently announced that Bill himself will appear in the upcoming 2024 novel ''Literature/TheBookOfBill'' where he would delve into his mysterious origins and provide his side of the story after the events of the original series. The book is slated for release on July 23rd, 2024, and is targeted towards older fans of the cartoon due to its leaning for more adult themes.

Find Bill's take on it [[SelfDemonstrating/BillCipher here]].

It was recently announced that Bill himself will appear in the upcoming 2024 novel ''The Book of Bill'' where he would delve into his mysterious origins and provide his side of the story after the events of the original series. The book is slated for release on July 23rd, 2024, and is targeted towards older fans of the cartoon due to its leaning for more adult themes.

!!Bill CipherF

!!Bill Cipher

* SignatureHeadgear: A skinny top hat. In contrast to his body, it's three-dimensional. [[ClothingAppendage It's not really clothing, though, it's part of his body.]]

->''Remember, reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking buy gold]], bye!''

* CatchPhrase: He's rather fond of saying 'Well, well, well' to start a conversation in a number of instances. Taken to a [[BrokenRecord greater extent]] when he taunted Ford in his dream.

'''Bill''': [[InsultBackfire Sure I am. What's your point]]?

* TechnicolorDeath: He starts thrashing around glitching out more horribly [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay than the T-1000]], as Stan's mind, memories, and him, are being slowly erased.

'''Grunkle Stan''': (angrily) Hey, look at me. Turn around and look at me, you one-eyed demon! You're a real wise guy, but you made ONE fatal mistake: you messed with my family.\\

-->'''Bill:''' I control space, matter, and [now that that dumb baby's out of the way, ''time itself!''

* TheSociopath: Bill shows all the symptoms of sociopathy. [[TheCharmer Superficial charm]] [[LackOfEmpathy without any empathy]], [[ManipulativeBastard manipulativeness]] and [[ConsummateLiar consumate lying]]; [[ItsAllAboutMe an ability to help others]] [[AllTakeAndNoGive while only using them to serve his own whims]] ([[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness seeing them only as tools to use and discard thereafter]]), a [[ItsAllAboutMe grandiose]] [[SmugSuper sense of self-worth]], and a [[TheHedonist pathological need for stimulation]]: in his case, AxCrazy [[{{Sadist}} Sadism]]; an unbridled taste to sow chaos and hurt others. What little empathy he does feel is toward those [[ItsAllAboutMe he sees as just like himself]], namely, his group of close demon friends ([[ControlFreak who're more like According to Axolotl, he also [[NeverMyFault refuses to believe anything is his fault, including the destruction of his dimension and]] [[GenocideFromTheInside possibly his race]].

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Bill is both terrifying and the leader of the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s for good reason, in "Weirdmageddon Part 1" he conquers the entire town with his chaos magic and the help of his demonic friends, [[FacialHorror twists and mangles the face]] of [[AssholeVictim Preston Northwest]], [[BadassInDistress immobilizes Stanford Pines]] and [[TakenForGranite turns him into a golden statue/backscratcher]], and [[CurbStomp completely obliterates]] the [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Time Baby]].

* EyeBeams: One of his powers.