Bill Cipher

Gravity Falls Inspired Profiles in Analytics

The Eye of Providence, The Muse, and the villain of Gravity Falls. Bill is a Dream Demon and a master strategist. He is one part The Joker and one part The Emperor. His role as antagonist is a buzzword soup of analytic concepts — observation, cognitive science, iteration, feedback, and of course triangulation.

Observation

It is hardly surprising that a villain based on the “All Seeing Eye” is everywhere. Bill’s early role in the series is one of observer and strange symbol. For those less savvy to the series and its intent, this seems like a harmless borrowing of a traditional Masons/Illuminati symbol tossed in for effect. In later episodes it is explained that all along, Bill was watching.

“I’ll be watching you.”

Cognitive Science

Like all great villains, Bill is a manipulator who preys on the weaknesses and fears of others. From Ford’s need to understand the supernatural, Dipper’s frustration at unlocking the codes of the book, Gideon’s love of Mabel, or Mabel’s wish to extend her summer — Bill observes and unlocks their motivations. He understands how people think and plans accordingly. In fact, his mastery of cognitive science is almost perfect with one exception — Grunkle Stan.

“I guess I can’t possess anyone inside the shack, so I’ll just have to find my next pawn on the (Voice gets lower:) OUTSIDE.”

Iteration, Feedback, and Triangulation

Bill is playing the long game. Through years of observation and manipulation, he lays the ground work for his “Big Day”. He proceeds one step at a time. He assumes different strategies and perspectives. He delegates. He makes deals. Sometimes, he plays the role of muse or ally and other time he is directly confrontational.

Bill accepts feedback quite well, especially for an entity who sees the world as dumb and recognizes himself as insane. The vast majority of the time, he seems unaffected by bias of any real sort and one can imagine that the little that comes through from time to time is just part of the plan. He is a master strategist as only an alternate reality demon could be.