Sixty degrees that come in threes.
Watches from within birch trees.
Saw his own dimension burn.
Misses home and can't return.
Says he's happy. He's a liar.
Blame the arson for the fire.
If he wants to shirk the blame,
He'll have to invoke my name.
One way to absolve his crime.
A different form, a different time.
The Axolotl ~
Bill Cipher.
His home dimension destroyed, or maybe he was just banished.
It had been so long he couldn't quite remember.
All he knew was that he missed it, but couldn't go back. Instead he was stuck here, in the realm of nightmares. At first he hadn't really liked it – and really, who would – but as the millennia passed he found himself adjusting to the weirdness and the horror.
In other words, he slowly went insane.
The only relief he ever got was by projecting himself into the mindscape – a sort of in-between realm, where he could interact with the people of a different dimension without actually entering their reality. One might think to ask why he simply didn't avoid insanity by hiding out there, but the simple answer was that it was boring and lonely. He probably would have gone insane there too, but he chose to lose his sanity in the way that also let him make friends with interdimensional criminals and monsters.
One day - it really doesn't matter how or where - he happened to hear a prophecy. It was about an event that would allow the Nightmare Realm and another dimension, one with a place called "Gravity Falls", to collide.
Several millennia later, Bill came across a dimension with a little planet called Earth.
He forgot how he first arrived there, but as soon as he made contact with the newborn minds of the puny little meat sacks that called themselves humans, he knew that if anyone would be stupid enough to let the Nightmare Realm into their dimension, it would be those idiots. Not long after he encountered some time travelers, who confirmed his suspicions as well as gave him some very good insight into Earth's future.
Really, all he had to do was wait.
Just a few more millennia, and he would be free of the Nightmare Realm. He could assume a physical form and remake Earth and its universe into a home for himself.
Just a few more millennia…
A few more centuries…
Decades…
Years…
Days…
And he would finally be happy again.
…
It didn't go as planned.
He'd had three days – a measly three days – of physical form and near-infinite power, yet he hadn't been able to get out of Gravity Falls, Oregon. Not only that, but he had been tricked into getting erased from existence before he'd really had the chance to do anything.
But as he'd been about to die, he called on his last resort.
The Axolotl.
It would likely sound strange, laughable even, to anyone in the time he was in.
But Bill knew better.
He knew the Axolotl would let him return.
So with his last few moments, Bill Cipher invoked the name of the Axolotl.
Then Stanly Pines punched him out of existence.
…
What Bill didn't take into account was the fact that he had committed a crime.
A very serious crime.
The Axolotl, however, knew this and knew it well.
He also knew that Bill expected to be reborn with a chance to get revenge.
The Axolotl wouldn't give him that chance.
No, instead Bill Cipher would pay for his crimes.
He would work for his forgiveness.
And there was only one way that the Axolotl felt was fitting.
…
Stanly and Stanford Pines were born and raised in New Jersey – but hey, you already know their story.
What you don't know is that their lives, difficult and lonely, were the punishment for something they both hadn't yet done and had already completed.
What you don't know is that they were two halves of the same whole, the physical separation of a broken mind.
What you don't know is that all of Stanford's intelligence was simply the remains of what was once omniscience.
What you don't know is that Stanly's greedy personality was the mark left by someone who had once desired the entire universe.
What you don't know is that Stan and Ford Pines were the reincarnation of Bill Cipher.
The Axolotl wanted Bill to feel the horror of what he'd done, as well as absolve his crimes.
What better way to do that than make him his own worst enemy?
Through Stan and Ford, Bill finally understood what it meant to be on the receiving end of his insanity. He finally knew what it was like to live in fear, not only for yourself but for the people you care about. He finally realized that his actions were evil and had to be stopped – so stop them he did.
In doing so, he finally found peace.
He had a family, a home.
He was happy.
…
The story of Gravity Falls is not just a story about Dipper and Mabel's wacky summer adventures.
It is the story of Bill Cipher, Stanly Pines, and Stanford Pines.
It is a story about evil and redemption – how a demon learned to love.
It is a story about being lost, and finding your way home.