Will Cipher

art by kackaljackal on Tumblr

**William "Will" Cipher** is the reverse counterpart of Bill Cipher. He is all-powerful, but the twins claim otherwise (somehow). In a majority of depictions of the Reverse Falls AU, he is a servant for the Gleeful twins, while he is about as atrocious as Bill Cipher in other versions.

He is often depicted as Bill Cipher's brother, instead of simply being his counterpart. Despite this, however, it was stated in the actual canon that Bill killed his own family (including both of his parents), when he burned down his home dimension, so this interpretation of their relationship would be unlikely, and the headcanon of Bill and Will being brothers wouldn't make much sense as a result, but it's still widely accepted as such by fans.

## Appearance

Will Cipher is a triangular dream demon with blue skin (the shade of blue for his skin depends on the artist, but it can be a shade of turquoise instead), brick lines on the lower half of his body, a single eye in the middle of his face, white sclera, visible eyelashes in some designs, no mouth, a black slit-shaped pupil (which is sometimes drawn as a black splotch or oval instead), and thin black arms and legs. He wears a black tophat (which is usually seen with the upper portion deflated or in a zigzag shape, but it can also be a bit lopsided or in the same straight-up position as the one that Bill wears), and a black bowtie on his brick lines. His limbs and accessories can also be white, but keeping them black is a more common choice. The sclera and pupil as parts of his eye are shown as inverted colors (white pupil and black sclera) in some drawings.

Most fanworks depict him being restrained with glowing blue or turquoise chains (which can also be gray) on one or both of his wrists or ankles, or even on all four limbs. The chains may be in the in form of handcuffs. Sometimes, the chains surrounding his arms or legs are broken in half, but they're still kept on. Some artists do not draw him with the chains confining him. In some versions, he is also drawn with a scar over his eye, which was likely from an injury by the twins.

When another person is subjected to demonic possession (courtesy of Will), their pupils will turn into black slits, their sclerae turns blue, and their skin becomes extremely pale (although it's barely noticeable in most fanart).

He is also given humanized designs, which vary from illustrator to illustrator. He is sometimes given the eyes that he usually has, when he possesses people. If he has the chains on him when he's in a humanized design, one of the chains is drawn on that design's neck, since he doesn't even have one when he's a triangle. Some artists choose not to give Will a humanized design at all.

## Personality

Will acts very calm when he isn't being mauled by the Gleeful twins. He doesn't get upset easily and only outwardly shows anger or sadness either by himself, or when pushed to his breaking point. He is prone to tears, due to abuse from the twins. In some stories with a lighthearted context, rather than being a tortured slave, he would instead assist the twins in preparation for their magic shows at the Tent of Telepathy, clean any messes made in their house, or act as their butler. He would be distressed, when cleaning for the Gleeful twins in most circumstances.

He tends to be a people pleaser sometimes, allowing people to "trick" him and use him with some pushing. He is very empathetic and can see right through any acting and exteriors. The Gleeful twins often come to him for magic advice, when they're not trying to torment him. He tries to show them the meaning of love and compassion, whilst teaching them magic.

However, he did not completely get through immortality completely sane. Being an entity beyond time changed him, in both good and bad ways. He is often disturbed by memories of past horrors of his life and is traumatized by the Gleeful twins. Although he isn't inherently violent, he will use as much force as needed to protect those he cares about. Because of this, he does not use most of his demon powers that much, unless he absolutely has to. Will has a love for many different things, including but not limited to reading, plants, alchemy, anything sentient enough to hold a conversation, and magic. He can be kind, sympathetic, knowledgeable, and occasionally sassy. Due to him being scared easily, he could be a bit of a coward to some extent.

In some interpretations, Will's personality is more comparable to Bill Cipher. Sometimes, he would pretend to be a timid and weak-willed crybaby to manipulate the twins, with ulterior motives behind his facade. Some stories depict him as the true main antagonist of the Reverse Falls AU. He is even interpreted starting Reverse Weirdmageddon in a few fanworks, as well as using his abilities to their full extent, and revealing his true demonic visage. His sheer power forces the Gleeful twins, Gideon, and Pacifica to become allies with each other.

## Powers and Abilities

Will Cipher is all-powerful, but unlike Bill, he doesn't use his powers a whole lot. Multiple fanworks show him using a few abilities, which include the following.

* **Flight** - Will hovers above the ground at all times in pretty much every fanart or fanfiction, and is rarely ever seen standing on his own two feet or walking normally.
* **Possession** - Will Cipher can possess people to control their bodies, but that's only possible if they make a deal with him. When the victim is possessed by him, they are left behind as a mindscape ghost. Will has blue sclerae and black slit-shaped pupils, when he possesses another person. He also speaks in his voice, instead of the victim's.
* **Shape-shifting** - A majority of fanart depict Will as a human, which implies that he can voluntarily shapeshift. A few drawings show him in his final form, instead, although he is rarely depicted in any other forms besides the default one that he uses.

## Relationships

### Gideon Pines

Will was initially very distrustful of Gideon, but are now on cordial terms. Will is still wary of Gideon, as he does not fully trust him. Gideon returns the same trust to Will, though he sympathizes with his situation. He sometimes finds Will's actions and unconditional kindness towards the Gleeful twins to be annoying and frustrating.

### Dipper Gleeful

   Mason would mock Will for his timidity and lack of competence. He would also torture him in various ways, much Will's dismay. Mason disdains Will Cipher, as he is implied to be skeptical of him. Will's anxious behavior confuses Mason at best and angers him at worst, contrasting the latter's cynical attitude. In some versions, Mason gives Will calculated punishments in an attempt to teach him a lesson, but in a twisted way, which could result in Will having difficulties with trying to gain his trust. Mason's presumed lack of empathy towards Will might result in situations where the latter is hurt for doing the slightest things (such as simply complimenting on the cat ear headband that Mabel put on him in the webcomic seen above, and saying it was cute). Mason is just that petty.

### Mabel Gleeful

   Mabel Gleeful and Will have a difficult relationship to say the least. Mabel doesn't understand Will's gloomy and delusional behavior, although she desperately tries to understand him. She thinks quite fondly of him, even if he is a complete mystery. She might feel somewhat bad for him, and she'd want to help him out and understand him better in more lighthearted stories. However, in some darker interpretations, she would torment Will in the same way as her brother, and the act of being mauled by either one of the twins would be something that he wouldn't like. Some drawings show Mabel using the telekinetic powers that come with the amulet to remove Will's hat, and have it float slightly above her fingertip, as a method of humiliating/saddening him, but it's rarely done in a more playful context. Will is sometimes given menial tasks that Mabel herself should be able to perform on her own, such as picking up a clothes hanger or combing her hair, much to his exasperation.

### Pacifica Southeast

There isn't a lot of interactions between Will Cipher and and Pacifica, so there isn't much to say about their relationship. However, it can be assumed that Will is baffled that a human like Pacifica treats him with so much kindness, and she is sweet as she can be, as he previously thought her pleasant attitude and cheerfulness was a trap until he found out that it was genuine.

### Stanford Gleeful

Like the twins, their relationship as master and servant is strained. Will respects Ford out of fear, but he doesn't hide his disappointment and hurt at the fact Stanford pushed him into this position. Not unlike Mason, Ford sees Will as a specimen and not another sentient being to be treated with respect. However, he does have emotions and occasionally shows slight regret.

### Townspeople of Reverse Falls

In most fanon interpretations, the townspeople of Reverse Falls that are not a part of the Gleeful family are unaware of Will's existence until later in the fanwork. Most of the time, Will remains hidden from the public eye until his powers are revealed in one of the Gleeful's paranormal attempts at conquest. In other interpretations, Will is presented as one of the Gleeful's employees or servants, but not shown to be a dream demon, and instead depicted in a humanized design.

However, Will is eventually revealed to everyone as a demon, either by the Gleefuls exhibiting their power or through Gideon and Pacifica's attempts to discredit the Gleefuls for their evil schemes. When in contact with other people, Will is more focused on his tasks and his masters if they're present. However, when the threat of being tormented isn't present, Will is calm and very receptive to attention.

## Trivia

* In some stories, Will's full name is William Rehpic, with his surname just being Bill Cipher's surname spelled backwards, as a literal "reversal" of a partial name change.
* Will is given many nicknames that the Gleeful twins, Pacifica, or the fans themselves. Several examples include "Blueberry", "Bluebird", "Cinnamon Roll" (or alternatively, "Cinnamon Bun"), "Demon", "Cold Dorito", and "Cool Ranch".
	+ The Gleeful twins (being manipulative and abusive masters) refuse to call Will by his real name, and simply refer to him as "slave", "useless demon", and other rude insults.
* His deal-making flames are typically depicted as yellow, in contrast to his blue skin (which is also a reversal of Bill Cipher's own deal-making flames being blue, contrasting his yellow coloration). Some artists have Will's deal-making flames shown as bright red, lavender, orangish-red, or a lighter shade of blue, instead. Alternatively, the flames can be in the same shade of blue that is used for Bill's deal-making flames instead, as some artists choose not to change the color of the latter's reverse counterpart's flames.
* Unlike Bill, he is rarely ever seen in any other forms besides his default one (not counting his possession victims or varied humanized designs). However, Will is occasionally drawn in the "final form" that Bill Cipher used when chasing Dipper and Mabel Pines throughout the Fearamid in the "Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls" episode of the official show, just with a different color scheme.
* Some darker interpretations go as far as having Will portrayed as *property* of the Gleeful family, despite the fact that he is a sapient being with feelings. Fanart of this portrayal tend to feature Will wearing a collar with writing on it that states that he is the property of Dipper and Mabel Gleeful, or having one of the twins attach a black string to his tie to use as a leash (which indicates that this type of dark storyline has the twins treat Will more like an object, and less like a person, thus worsening his status as a slave). He is also considered to be a "pet" by the Gleeful twins, after capturing him in some stories in addition to this. Some lighthearted fanworks outright avoid this exaggerated depiction of Will Cipher's servitude.