Folkmore Application

[equilateralmuse]

❥ Character Information

Character Name: Bill Cipher
Character Age: Supposedly one trillion and twelve; I doubt he’s actually kept count, but somewhere up there.
Character Species: Euclydian/”Dream demon”, humanised in Folkmore
Current Health: He’s nebulously “dead” at his canon point, but I’ll be bringing him in as a human man with no specific health issues beside a missing eye.
Outfit: At arrival, an orange prison jumpsuit with a little tag that just says ‘Bill.’

Character Canon: Gravity Falls
Link to History: Wiki
Canon Point: The Book of Bill (Released June 23, 2024), in the Theraprism.
Canon Iteration: Original canon

❥ Folkmore Roles & Attributes

Skills:
-Charisma. He’s able to talk people into a lot of things they really shouldn’t even consider. And he’s extremely good at lying (especially to himself.)
-Dream/mindscape manipulation. I’m nerfing his supernatural abilities, but for events that are set that kind of space he’s still had a lot of practice.
-Math and physics. As much as he makes fun of nerds, he is able to help design interdimensional portals.
-Man, I don’t know. It truly is mostly the charisma. Guessing the exact number of jelly beans in a jar, probably?
Canon Abilities: A lot, but I’ll be nerfing him of everything supernatural for the time being.
Role: Myth
Role Qualities/Attributes: Horns, and a little devil tail. And the ability to see in the dark, but only in a cat sort of way.
Role Reasoning: While he swings wildly back and forth on whether he acknowledges it, he’s absolutely a villain. He’s selfish, manipulative, power-hungry and has destroyed worlds, starting with his own. He ruins lives both intentionally and unintentionally in pursuit of his goals. He’s seen as a source of terror throughout the multiverse.

In an absolutely ideal world I’d like to see him deal with his trauma and various emotional issues and at least calm down if not become anything particularly ‘good’. That said, I can’t pretend that’s all that likely.

❥ Personality

Please choose one of the follow options for your personality section. Please clarify which option you have picked and, if option 2, which questions you are answering:


Option 2.

OPTION 2 QUESTIONS (PICK 4-5) 100-300 WORD LIMIT EACH:

What was the most traumatic experience your character endured? How did this change them?

His most traumatic experience was destroying his homeworld, Euclydia. He was from a race of flat creatures living on a flat plane, but born with a mutation that allowed him to look up rather than simply straight ahead.

He had the ability to see the stars, something his people wrote off as ‘visions’ and tried to medicate away during his childhood. At some point, he learned more about the concept of a third dimension, and that talking about it was illegal.

He seems to have repressed most memories of the incident including how he acquired the powers necessary to do it, but eventually he came up with a plan to show his people the third dimension.

Whatever his attempt entailed, it went wrong. This appears to have involved a lot of blood, Bill panicking as he realised he was alone and unable to undo whatever he did, and ultimately burning all of Euclydia.

It’s unknown how long he spent alone in the universe before ending up in the Nightmare Realm.

This set him on the path to becoming the creature he is now. He at turns will either insist that he ‘liberated’ his people from their stifling existence, or acknowledge that his world was destroyed by ‘a monster.’ It’s stated that he’s haunted by the ghosts of his family and still hears their screams, something implied to be both literal and figurative.

He disassociates when trying to talk about the incident, and appears to have phobias around the ability to hear the spirits of his family in TV static, as well as around 3D glasses and venetian blinds, which likely both relate to changes in perspective and possibly whatever he did to his people. He also draws shapes in art therapy that are implied to be his dead family.

What is a headcanon (or two) you feel strongly about and that you prefer playing your character with? How is this supported in canon and why do you think it benefits the character's story?

One is increasingly confirmed: his homeworld being based on the novel Flatland. We don’t know if all the details are the same, but I draw heavily from Flatland society.

It’s supported by him referencing the author of the novel in an AMA with Alex Hirsch, Ford visiting a flat dimension in Journal 3 that explicitly used a similar class system, and increasing references in the Book of Bill and related website, including showing the Flatland cover in the book and confirming that he was seen as “irregular,” in Euclydia, a concept from Flatland society.

I think a lot of little details both fit and round out his story, including various aspects of how triangles were treated as one of the lowest class shapes, and how irregular shapes were treated.

My other favourite headcanon/theory is more of a stretch, but I’d love to use it. In the original plot of Flatland, the main character meets a three-dimensional entity who shows him the nature of his world, and ultimately ruins his life in the process, getting him arrested for spreading forbidden knowledge.

While Bill appears to have had a mutation that made him capable of looking ‘up,’ that still wouldn’t fully explain him learning to understand the third dimension; I suspect he had a similar encounter. Specifically, I headcanon his third dimensional encounter being a version of Stanford Pines, during the era where Ford was traveling around the multiverse (and potentially the timeline).

I enjoy how this idea plays into existing themes: there are already parallels between Ford and Bill both having mutations and not fitting into their societies. It also plays into similar themes to the way Ford encourages Dipper to see himself as different and special, and enjoys teaching someone he relates to facts about the universe.

What is your character's moral code? Do they have one? Why or why not?

He insists he doesn’t–that morality is a mental cage designed by the weak, and that the universe is too busy inventing new kinds of crabs to keep a naughty list.

He seems to very genuinely resent the idea of systematic oppression, which would make sense with his origins being based in an oppressive society with a strict class system.

His response is taking things to another extreme: the idea that everyone should do what they want all the time, but especially him.

While he supports the ideas of revolution, anarchy, and putting people considered ‘weird’ by their societies in charge, he also sees people falling for his cons as their own fault for being stupid, and an inability to defend themselves as weakness.

In reality it seems a bit more complex than he’d like to admit, both in that he’s frequently hypocritical and resentful when he’s the one losing, and in the certain degree of sympathy he does seem to hold for outcasts and misfits. He’s also implied to feel guilty about the destruction of his world, but be leaning into the idea that his people deserved it–when he acknowledges that he killed them at all.

The other main aspect of his personal philosophy boils down to “lie until you aren’t lying anymore.” This is both his advice to others and seemingly his approach to his entire life.

Is your character capable of forgiveness or will they hold a grudge until they die? Would anything ever make them change their mind?

While Bill has been seen to get incredibly angry over betrayals and perceived betrayals, he’s also fairly forgiving in a very skewed sort of way.

He’s bad at truly believing when people hate him, instead choosing to see everything from insults to murder attempts as “in jokes,” “misunderstandings,” or “keeping things spicy.” He’d rather see something as a fun rivalry than acknowledge losing a friend, even at the same time as he’d turn around and insist on how little he cares about people.

At least one member of his Hechmaniacs–the gang of interdimensional criminals he refers to as his found family–was a sheriff who went from hunting him down to joining his side.

Despite Stanford Pines trying to kill him multiple times, he continually tries to convince Ford to join him as well.

While he seems to primarily see winning people over as a sign of, well, winning, he seems to be often (if not always) more interested in that than in holding a grudge.

What is a time where your character failed drastically at something and how did it impact them, what did they do about it?

Bill has failed repeatedly at trying to invade reality. He has made multiple deals with multiple people on Earth, only to have them consistently go wrong in one way or another before he’s able to complete a portal from the Nightmare Realm.

He never gives up, instead convincing himself that sooner or later something is going to work out.

His biggest failure was also the closest he’s come to success. He was able to invade Gravity Falls, getting as far as bringing his friends to Earth with him and making a physical form for himself, before realising he was trapped in one location and ultimately being killed by Stanley and Stanford pines.

Asking for help from a deity called the Axolotl allowed him to continue his existence in a capacity. He was sent to an interdimensional containment and rehabilitation facility called the Theraprism.

While there, he appears more mentally unstable than ever, as well as remaining physically damaged and in pain.

Unfortunately, this only seems to have made him more determined and spiteful. Refusing to accept any kind of help, as well as showing resentment for their methods, he has continued to try to escape, and to convince himself that he’ll manage it eventually. His failures still haven’t convinced him to give up on his ultimate goals.

❥ Player Information

Player Name: Ilya
Pronouns: he/they
Are you over 18?: yes
Contact(s): strixoid @ discord, badgirlcoven
Link to invitation: Current player
Current Characters: Zanth Breaker
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Writing Samples: Here