The bad guy in a hero’s journey can sometimes appear as a good guy. A threshold guardian is an enemy that tries to make the hero feel worthiless, but can sometimes be another good guy. In the Disney television show Gravity Falls, Bill Cipher is the perfect representation of a threshold guardian. He is the first obstacle to the hero’s, tests the hero’s worthiness, and sometimes proves as a friend.
Dipper and Mabel Pines, the hero’s in this story, try to find out the secrets of the mysterious town of Gravity Falls. One of these secrets is discovering who the author is of a journal that Dipper found in the woods with the secrets the town holds. In the episode Dreamscapers, their first encounter takes place with Bill. Bill is summoned to take a memory form their uncle’s mind by Gideon Gleeful, a person that hates the pines family. The memory is a code to…show more content… He acts as though sometimes he is a friend. In Sock Opera, Dipper gets a laptop that belongs to the author and needs a code. A conversation between Bill and Dipper occurs. During this, Bill shows a friendly side towards Dipper, “Who would know about secret codes,” (Hirsech) Dipper states, “I think I know a guy!” (Alex Hirsech) Bill appears and says. They speak for a while and then Bill says “The point is I like you. Hows (sic) about you let me give you a hint, huh? I only ask for a small favor in return.” (Hirsech) He wants to help Dipper in this scene. He also says earlier in the episode, “I've been keeping an eye on you since then, and I must say I'm impressed!” He complements Dipper. In Dreamscapers, Bill is more aggressive toward him, Soos, and Mabel. Sock Opera shows a more friendly side that Bill has. He also “apologizes” to Dipper about invading Stan’s mind, “You tried to destroy my uncle's mind!” (Hirsech) Dipper says. “It was just a job, kid! No hard feelings!” (Hirsech) More friendliness Bill is showing. This makes him more of a threshold