Alex Hirsch developed the mystery-comedy animated television series Gravity Falls for Disney Channel/Disney XD. The show centers on the exploits of Dipper Pines (Jason Ritter) and his twin sister Mabel (Kristen Schaal), who are assigned to spend the summer with their great-uncle Stan (Hirsch) in the enigmatic town of Gravity Falls, Oregon, which is home to several weird occurrences and monsters. The youngsters look into the neighborhood mysteries while helping Stan run his tourist trap, The Mystery Shack.
Gravity Falls season 1 is mostly a standard mystery-of-the-week format with hints of the town’s big secrets — and then, everything changes in the second season. Dipper, Mabel, and the rest of the characters are forced to battle for the unusual town as Bill Cipher, the primary antagonist of the series, starts to carry out his schemes by wreaking havoc throughout Gravity Falls. Understanding a television or movie villain is something many of us have experienced, but relating to an animated triangle is a bit less common. The truth is: there is something about Bill Cipher that sparks a connection no matter who you are. Here’s why he is the most relatable villain ever.
Who is Bill Cipher?
Disney Television Animation
Bill is an inter-dimensional dream demon that can be invoked and unleashed into a person’s mind. He looks like a yellow triangle with one eye, a top hat, and a bow tie. Bill looks similar to the Eye of Providence which, per the BBC, is a representation of divine inspiration in which the eye of God watches over humankind. The Eye of Providence is frequently depicted as being enclosed in a triangle and surrounded by rays of light or splendor. These similarities allude to the fact that Bill is all-knowing and powerful just like a God would be. As the main antagonist throughout Gravity Falls, Bill is shown to more than represent something out of this world.
Bill’s Quest For Acceptance
Characteristic “evil” villains have straightforward views that make them easy to predict. In Gravity Falls, Bill is a unique individual who exhibits unusual behavior. He is involved in everything, and you never know what kind of mischief he may get into. You feel as though you understand him when he speaks, but after listening, you understand that he is incomprehensible to normal people. He is terrifying because you can never predict what he will do next. Bill is the most unique villain ever because it is difficult to tell what he is thinking.
Bill first comes across as lighthearted and unthreatening, but as time goes on, you come to understand that he is a wild card who will cause you to suffer atrociously. He makes the most of his limitations and only loses when he overlooks minute nuances. Bill never exposes or even makes indications about what he’s doing; he always has a surprise up his sleeve. He exploits the element that makes us human — emotion — but by doing so, he also exploits himself. This is literally what humans do as they try to figure out life. Humanity is constantly struggling and fighting for acceptance, but that is what makes us human. Bill doesn’t understand his own emotions are what lead to a connection. Without a connection to the residents of Gravity Falls, Bill would never care about Ford, Stan, Dipper, or Mabel. He would just give up. In reality, Bill only wants to be at peace, but he has no idea how. Bill is on the same journey of acceptance that every human is on — he just fails to understand it.
Gravity Falls Season 3?
At the end of Season 2 of Gravity Falls, Bill was defeated by The Pines, and the residents of Gravity Falls have been returned to everyday life. Fans have theorized many things about Gravity Falls over the years, from Gideon being a secret vampire to everything being a hallucination brought on by widespread mushroom use. The biggest theories, however, involve Bill Cipher not really being dead. According to Theorist Mind, Bill Cipher could very well have been playing the residents of Gravity Falls and the show’s fans all along. The blogger theorizes that he and Stan were connected before the series started, leading to that connection remaining even after the series’ end. This promotes the idea that Bill is still alive, but possibly weakened, within Stan’s head at the end of the series. The theory is detailed and worth a read for any fan.
With all these ideas floating around, the big question is will there be a Season 3 of Gravity Falls? From what we know of Gravity Falls’ first two seasons, the show is telling the story of Dipper and Mabel’s summer vacation, leading us to believe the story is now finished. According to The CineTalk, Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch said, “Just because I’ve finished telling the story I wanted doesn’t mean we will never see Dipper and Mabel ever again. It means this chapter is closed for now, and that I’m personally done telling the story for now.” So, while there are no plans for a Season 3 of Gravity Falls at the time of this writing, we might eventually get more content in the Gravity Falls universe at some point in the future.
