Bill Cipher

Bill Cipher was a dream demon who caused the Transcendence. His death caused Dipper's transformation from a human into the demon Alcor.

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Relation to the Transcendence

The Transcendence itself was a side-effect of thwarting Bill Cipher’s ultimate goal of merging the Mindscape with the physical dimension humankind resides in. As one of the most powerful supernatural beings in existence, and one of the few able to cross dimensions, Bill’s goal wasn’t one rooted in “good” or “evil”. It was merely the drive to create chaos, and thus, entertainment. It took him thousands of years to set up such a complicated and powerful spell that would otherwise be impossible without the precise alignment of certain stars and planets, and he influenced countless civilizations with his near-omnipotence in order to steer reality in the right direction. In the end, his final piece to the puzzle was Gravity Falls - which evidently was also his small-scale practice run thirty years ago, in which he allowed a tiny part of the mindscape to meld within the small town… the part that held a portion of humanity’s myths, legends, magic, and imagination.

Dipper and Mabel, along with their small rag-tag team of friends (and a portion of the town who were privy to such information) were able to somehow follow the clues (possibly left behind by Stan’s brother - this tidbit may change along with canon) and just barely stop Bill from achieving his ultimate goal.

They saved they world. Melding the mindscape with reality would have at best attained mass chaos and widespread suffering. However, defeating Bill also destroyed the barrier that contained the sliver of the mindscape that was previously withheld only inside Gravity Falls - and thus, the Transcendence took place, spreading it to every corner of the globe.

Directly after the event, Bill Cipher clung to life after receiving the full backlash of the spell he worked thousands of years to complete. Magic of such magnitude that only exists under such excruciatingly specific circumstances could be just enough to kill an otherwise immortal demon.

In a last-ditch effort to save himself, Bill attempted to possess Dipper without a contract. Such a feat was certainly possible, considering he already possessed Dipper’s body once before, and had an affinity for it. It was a huge gamble, but it was his only choice.

It didn’t work. Dipper fought with every ounce of strength he had, and won. Bill was gone. The demon was dead. But Bill didn't leave without fundamentally changing Dipper for eternity.

Post-Transcendence History

Demons very rarely reproduce, so Bill's soul entered the human reincarnation cycle. Since his soul was destroyed in the Transcendence, it took thousands of years to reincarnate as Ian Beale.

Trivia

• Some of Bill's mannerisms bled into Dipper during the events that changed Dipper into a demon.
• Bill was quite possibly the only demon to leave a lasting imprint on his soul that persists through many human reincarnations. Vague memories and nightmares could haunt his future selves.
• He successfully re-emerged his past life memories in his first human reincarnation, Ian Beale. This feat was generally thought to be impossible at the scale Bill achieved, and was far more likely to be a one-time deal.

See also

• List of known reincarnations