Snappy dresser.
Isosceles iconoclast.
Three sided monster.
Welcome to Deciphering Cipher.
A mini series dedicated to delving into the
secrets of the 2015 Bill Cipher AMA.
I’m your host, Douglas MacKrell.
In this episode I’ll be delving into Bill
Cipher’s mysterious powers.
What we know, and what we learn from the AMA.
So let’s first break down what we’ve seen
in the show and can verify as fact.
Firstly, Bill Cipher can be summoned through
an incantation or magic spell.
This is important because it proves that Bill
Cipher is mostly unknown to general society,
and that he might only be able to reveal himself
to those who have summoned him, those who
are within close proximity of the summoning
circle, or those he has directly interacted
with in the past.
Bill Cipher can only interact with people
within their minds, and has limited access
to the mortal dimension.
Within the mindscape Bill Cipher has shown
nearly limitless object summoning, energy
manipulation, levitation, and limited shapeshifting
- but all of these powers may just be aspects
of manipulating peoples minds.
Ultimately he wields the limitless potential
of dreams.
Bill Cipher also seems limited in his interaction
with the people of the mortal dimension.
Although he seems free to visit people in
their dreams or those in a fatigued state
between consciousness and unconsciousness
- Bill seems unable to take action unless
he has first struck a deal.
This means that he must manipulate his targets.
Conning them into a deal with parameters that
suit his goals.
We’ve seen him exploit Dipper’s deal for
a puppet to get what he wants - the means
to destroy the laptop and the journal and
save himself from Dipper’s meddling.
He also seems powerless to retaliate against
those who break those contracts because of
unfulfillment.
For example, when Gideon discovered Bill’s
failure, he broke their contract.
His only course of action was to seek vengeance
on those who cost him his side of the bargain
- not the breaker of the deal.
That leaves the final power Bill has shown
on screen.
Body possession.
To do this, bill needs an empty vessel - that’s
why he needed to pull Dipper’s mind out
of his body before he could take it over.
What’s important to note is that Dipper
was also able to do this from inside the mindscape
- meaning that anyone within Bill’s dimension
also has this power.
While inside of a vessel, Bill does not seem
to have access to any of his other powers,
and is severely limited to the physical prowess
and abilities of the host body.
While inside Dipper he showed none of his
other abilities, and even found himself in
trouble when his host body became too fatigued
to operate!
Now, let’s break down what we learn about
Bill Cipher’s powers from the AMA.
Reddit member Andrew13112001 asked “Can
you actually see the future?”, and Bill
replied
“I CAN SEE A KALEIDOSCOPE OF TEMPORAL PROBABILITY
WITH FLUCTUATING RANGE!
I CAN ALSO SEE THAT THERE ARE INFINITE ALTERNATE
VERSIONS OF ME IN INFINITE ALTERNATE DIMENSIONS
ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION WITH INFINITE VARIATION!
ONE OF THEM ANSWERED BY VOMITING A STREAM
OF BLOOD AND PRIME NUMBERS OUT OF HIS THIRD
MOUTH!”
So what does this mean exactly?
It means that Bill doesn’t see the future,
he sees every future.
A shotgun blast of various possibilities for
every conceivable outcome of every choice
made.
Using this information to his advantage, theoretically
he can guide outcomes in favor of his goals.
But at grave cost.
The volume of information he has to process
all the time has left him insane.
Interestingly, knowing every possible future
does not make Bill undefeatable.
In fact, he’s been bested twice when blindsided
by unexpected variables in the present moment.
Like when Mabel shoots the password memory
out of Bill’s hands and into the bottomless
pit - or when Mabel tricks Bill into chasing
her, pushing Dipper’s physical body past
it’s limits.
This means that Bill’s biggest weakness
is his arrogance and short temper.
If you want to defeat Bill Cipher, make him
mad or convince him that he’s winning.
He’ll be so distracted, he’ll miss seeing
the possibility of his failure.
And that leaves us with the biggest reveal
of the AMA.
A power Bill Cipher has had under everyone’s
nose and no one suspected.
Reddit member pazcifica asked “how would
a girl like me go about crushing her enemies?”
and Bill replied,
“TEAM UP WITH ME.
INCREASING MY POWER IS EASY AND ANYONE CAN
DO IT!
JUST DRAW MY FORM ANYWHERE IN YOUR HUMAN WORLD-
EACH IMAGE OF ME ACTS A PEEPHOLE FROM MY DIMENSION
TO YOURS.
THE MORE I SEE, THE MORE I KNOW.
THE MORE I KNOW, THE GREATER MY POWER.
THE GREATER MY POWER, THE MORE ENEMIES OF
YOURS I CAN CRUSH.
JUST SHAKE MY HAND”
Much like Gideon Gleeful’s Gideon Pins - of
his face, Bill Cipher’s image acts like
a camera - quietly allowing him to surveil
any place where his image pops up.
The Gravity Falls fan community has long wondered
why Bill Cipher’s image can be found everywhere
hidden throughout the show, and now we know
why.
Bill has been sneaking his image onto everything
so he can see what's going on at all times.
This underlines the fact that Bill Cipher
is NOT omnipotent or all-seeing.
His powers are actually severely limited.
If I’m correct, then what we’ve seen him
do is nothing more than a parlor trick.
The same kind of con Gideon Gleeful was running
out of the Tent of Telepathy.
It’s just sleight of hand to make people
believe that he’s more powerful and threatening
than he really is!
If this is true, then the reason Bill Cipher
didn’t kill Soos, Mabel, and Dipper in Dreamscaperers,
is because he couldn’t.
We saw him shoot Dipper in the chest and Dipper
- save for the shock of seeing a gaping hole
in his torso - felt no pain and was completely
unharmed.
Bill played the only card he had - disarming
the group’s best thinker through terror.
So if Bill Cipher’s powers are limited to
a long lifespan, probability vision, dream
intrusion, possession, and traveling through
and manipulating the dreamscape - then what
are his goals?
Bill Cipher was amazingly candid in his AMA,
and I’ll be revealing much more over the
next three episodes!
That said, these are just my theories.
If you agree or disagree, then be sure to
sound off in the comments below.
And until our next episode, share, subscribe,
and keep cracking those codes.
In predictable fashion, Bill Cipher deflected
many questions through jokes and insults - but
interestingly, he made reference to many real
world conspiracies, secrets, and ciphers,
and I’ll be breaking these all down on the
next episode of Deciphering Cipher.
