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.
With only two on-screen appearances made by
tri-sided mischief maker, much of who and
what Bill Cipher is remains a mystery.
Though he doesn’t plainly state his personal
history, with a little bit of detective work
some dark areas of his backstory come to light
thanks to the AMA.
A good place to begin is with a question left
by Reddit user Archivemod who asks: “Do
you know what spawned your existence?” and
Bill replied: “EDWIN ABBOTT ABBOTT HAS A
DECENT IDEA”
Edwin Abbott Abbott is the author of the social
satire Flatland, and if you’ve been through
Geometry, odds are your teacher has forced
you to read it.
For those of you who have not experienced
Flatland just yet - it’s the story of a
two dimensional world and the shapes that
live there.
Flatland is narrated by a square, a person
at the very bottom of the upper class - you
see, in Flatland your social standing is based
on the number of sides you have.
Circles are at the top of high society and
rule Flatland, and squares hold prestigious
high paying jobs like Doctors and Lawyers.
But the lowest members of the polygonal society
are the triangles - who can never hope to
climb above their social standing.
Triangles are soldiers and workers who fill
menial labor jobs.
The best triangles can ever hope to be are
Isosceles, which only allows them access to
slightly better craftsman work.
In Flatland, the narrator is visited by a
sphere from another dimension.
They make quick friends, but since the square
has only ever experienced two dimensions,
it takes him time to fully understand what
a sphere is.
Eventually he follows the sphere to Spaceland
where he sees (and now understands) all manner
of three dimensional shapes.
Flatland is important because it pokes fun
at social structures from the safety of satire,
and it does a great job of explaining some
of the basics of Geometry - which is why most
teachers use it to add some relief to their
boring syllabus.
But it is filled with a lot of unnecessary
information in regards to Bill Cipher and
Gravity Falls.
So if the place where Bill Cipher comes from
is like Flatland, what does this mean exactly?
Well, what we assume by this remark is that
the place Bill is from has a very strict social
structure.
One that has kept Bill, his family, and others
like him trapped as second class citizens
in their society.
This is backed up by another question on Reddit
made by Chiaki_Hamano, who asks: “WHAT IS
YOUR SEXUAL ORIENTATION?” and Bill replied:
“MY DIMENSION HAS 14 BILLION DIFFERENT GENDERS.
ITS VERY CONFUSING.
IM HONESTLY NOT SURE.
IT WOULD TAKE YEARS OF PAPERWORK TO SORT IT
ALL OUT.”
This quick comment indicates two important
things - firstly, much like the handshake
sealed deals Bill must make before he can
do anything, the world he comes from is highly
structured, bureaucratic, and full of complex
rules and regulations to keep everything in
order.
Bill, as we well know, hates order and prefers
chaos - which is why he has neglected the
paperwork required to sort everything out.
Coming from a world where even love and basic
attraction is dictated by endless forms, Bill
actively rebels against the rules of his society
by simply ignoring them.
The Flatland reference also possibly means
that - much like Bill - all the beings from
his dimension are multiple sided shapes with
sigular defining facial structures, like his
one big eye.
In fact, this theory matches up with another
answer Bill left in the AMA about his friends.
In an offhanded remark made to Reddit user
primal-meridian, Bill says: “I HAVE FRIENDS
WITH MANY FACES.”
This is quickly followed by a question asked
by Reddit user Andrew13112001 who asks: “Do
you have something like a best friend, or
a friend, at least?” and Bill replied “MY
FRIENDS LOOK LIKE THIS”
The picture Bill linked to is this illustration
showcasing a visual representation of the
letter M - including a Man, a jar of Mayonnaise,
and a mouth.
Interestingly though, this image places the
wide grinning mouth within a square.
If we’re still playing by Flatland rules,
then that means Bill’s friend is of higher
social standing than he is because he has
four sides instead of three.
In Flatland, as in real life, people of higher
social class rarely fraternize with people
of lower social classes - which begs the question:
is this mouthy square actually Bill’s friend?
We all know Bill lusts after power of some
kind.
The tapestry in the Northwest Mansion is evidence
enough of that - so if Bill wishes to climb
the social ladder and be seen as more than
just a triangle, then he would need the respect
of someone higher in rank than himself.
But what exactly would Bill do in his quest
to climb the ladder?
Well clues left in the AMA indicate that his
single minded desire to raise his status may
have already come at a grave personal cost.
Reddit user uddictiun asked: “Any family?”
and Bill replied: “NOT ANYMORE”
This cold statement from the three sided lunatic
has some dire implications at first glance.
Could Bill Cipher have killed his own family?
We know from Sock Opera that he scoffs at
the idea of giving up his own goals and desires
just to help his sibling - so there is some
animosity there.
My theory however, is that Bill Cipher did
not kill his family.
It’s clear he does not care about his family,
but that doesn’t necessarily prove that
he killed them.
If Bill desperately wants to be friends with
Squares, then he already considers himself
better than his family - which is why disavows
having a family anymore.
But these are just my theories based on the
AMA.
Do you agree or disagree?
Be sure to sound off in the Comments below
- and until next time, share, subscribe, and
keep cracking those codes!
We’ve covered a lot in these past three
episodes.
From Bill Cipher’s bizarre powers, to the
real world mysteries and conspiracies he mentioned
during the AMA - but one big question remains.
What is Bill Cipher’s Master Plan?
Join me next time where I put all of the clues
together and unlock my theory in the final
installment of, Deciphering Cipher!
