Ciphers
Substitution Ciphers
The A1Z26 cipher is a simple substitution cipher decoded by substituting the nth letter of the alphabet for given number n (and back again). Several other ciphers used in Gravity Falls work by applying this cipher first and then doing arithmetic - decryption is then done by reversing the arithmetic.
The Caesar cipher (or shift cipher) used in Gravity Falls uses a shift of +3 or -23: you encrypt by applying the A1Z26 cipher above, adding +3 or -23 using modular addition (so 1-3=25), and then undoing A1Z26 to get a letter. You decrypt by doing the same backwards, adding -3 or +23 (so A decrypts to X, for example).
The Atbash cipher works like the Caesar cipher, only instead of adding or subtracting 3 to letters 1-26, you apply A1Z26 with a numbering scheme of -13 to -1 and then 1 to 13 (skipping 0), then multiplying by -1. In other words, you simply mirror the alphabet.
In Journal 3, a symbol substitution cipher is used by The Author. The symbols are hidden on many pages of the journals. This cipher also encrypts some punctuation, and the symbols for Q, X, and Z are unknown.
| Plain Text | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1Z26 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Caesar Cipher | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C |
| Atbash Cipher | Z | Y | X | W | V | U | T | S | R | Q | P | O | N | M | L | K | J | I | H | G | F | E | D | C | B | A |
| The Author's Symbols |  |
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Combined cipher
A combined cipher is a mix of two or more ciphers seen in the show. The first time such cipher has been used is at the end of "Gideon Rises." It's solved by converting to letters using the A1Z26 cipher, then flipping the letters with the Atbash cipher, and finally by using the Caesar cipher. Season 2's combined ciphers start with the Vigenère cipher.
| Combined cipher without Vigenère | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cryptogram | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Meaning | W | V | U | T | S | R | Q | P | O | N | M | L | K | J | I | H | G | F | E | D | C | B | A | Z | Y | X |
Number codes
These codes are solvable by taking the number beside a parenthesis as an episode number, and the other numbers beside them represents a letter in that episode's credits cryptogram.
Vigenère cipher
Vigenère cipher is a series of Caesar ciphers where each letter shift depends on a key word. Vigenère ciphers use a Vigenère square, like the one below, to encrypt the message. The square is 26 rows of Caesar ciphers starting with a zero letter shift. On each additional row, the shift of the letters is increased by 1.
| Vigenère cipher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | |
| A | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
| B | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A |
| C | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B |
| D | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C |
| E | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D |
| F | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E |
| G | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F |
| H | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
| I | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
| J | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |
| K | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J |
| L | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K |
| M | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L |
| N | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
| O | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N |
| P | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O |
| Q | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P |
| R | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q |
| S | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R |
| T | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S |
| U | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T |
| V | V | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U |
| W | W | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V |
| X | X | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W |
| Y | Y | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X |
| Z | Z | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y |
As Vigenère ciphers are a bit more complicated, consider the following example: we want to encrypt the message MABELEATSSPRINKLES and use GRAVITY as the key. We would repeat the key word until it matched the length of the message (in this case, GRAVITYGRAVITYGRAV). Using the table above, we match the message letter to a row and the corresponding key letter to a column and find the letter at their intersection on the table. For example, the row starting with M and the column starting with G intersect at S. The row starting with A and the column starting with R intersect at R. So using our message and the key, the we'd create the following cipher:
| Message | MABELEATSSPRINKLES |
|---|---|
| Key | GRAVITYGRAVITYGRAV |
| Cipher | SRBZTXYZJSKZBLQCEN |
Note that any time the message is A, the cipher letter will be the same as the key letter and vice versa.
Another way to think of Vigenère ciphers is that each letter of the key corresponds to a Caesar shift number (A=0, B=1, C=2, etc.) and for each letter of the message you form a Caesar shift based on the corresponding key letter.
Bill's symbol substitution cipher
In the book Dipper's and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Nonstop Fun!, Bill tells readers "I bet you can't even figure out the code I've hidden throughout this book."[1] The symbols are similar to The Author's symbol substitution cipher. This cipher is also used by The Author of the Journals and Shmebulock.Welcome to this Forum Page
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| Meaning | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Combined symbol substitution cipher
In the canonical copy of Journal 3, besides his regular substitution cipher, Bill uses another cipher to further hide his sinister teasing notes and messages from Ford. Many of the symbols are shared with Bill's symbol substitution cipher and the Author's symbol substitution cipher. The symbols decode to numbers, and from there use A1Z26.Welcome to this Forum Page
| Combined symbol substitution cipher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Meaning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Meaning | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Books
Dipper's and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Nonstop Fun!
| Page | Cryptograms | Decoded | Cipher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Back cover | none | let the games begin | Letters highlighted in yellow. |
| 20-21 | DIPPER WROTE A THEME SONG FOR HIMSELF AND SINGS IT IN THE SHOWER | ||
| 30-31 | AFTER NIGHTMARES MABEL MEOWS HERSELF BACK TO SLEEP | ||
| 52-53 | SOOS KEEPS CANDY IN HIS BELLY BUTTON FOR EMERGENCIES | ||
| 69 |  File:Bill's cipher - .png
|
STAN WAS A BABY MODEL | |
| 76-77 | THE MAYOR OF GRAVITY FALLS IS NOT LONG FOR THIS WORLD | ||
| 80 | WENDY WISHES SHE LIVED IN PORTLAND | ||
| 87 | THE END OF THE WORLD IS CLOSER THAN THE END OF THE SUMMER | ||
| 92-93 | SOMETHING STRANGE IS BURIED UNDER GRAVITY FALLS | ||
| 94-95 | TIME BABY IS WORRIED ABOUT BILL | ||
| 96-97 | BUD GLEEFUL WANTS TO RUN FOR MAYOR | ||
| 106-107 | MCGUCKET HAS SEEN TERRIBLE THINGS | ||
| 108 | GRENDA WILL MARRY RICH | ||
| 116-117 | THAT BURNT TREE BY SOOS’S HOUSE IS ODD | ||
| 118-119 | SOOS WRITES FAN FICS ABOUT STAN | ||
| 124-125 | THE GNOMES HAVE A CLEAR VIEW OF NORTHWEST MANOR | ||
| 132-133 | DIPPER AND MABEL’S FATHER WORKED COMPUTERS | ||
| 142-143 | ROBBIE SECRETLY DRAWS ANIME | ||
| 144-145 | THE INVISIBLE WIZARD KEEPS UNTYING DIPPER’S SHOES | ||
| 148 | THE GOVERNMENT CAN BE FORGETFUL | ||
| 150 | GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL | ||
| Poster | 23.5.9.18.4 13.1.7.14.5.20 | WEIRD MAGNET | A1Z26 |
On Dipper's Certificate of Mystery, there is a code running along the certificate. Using the Caesar shift, it decodes to:
by signing this official document, you are hereby agreeing to dedicate your life, your afterlife and any potential clone-lives to the discovery, uncovery (is that a word?), and exploration of the paranormal, the supernatural, the alter-average, and the extra-usual, when friends ask you to stop being paranoid, you will scoff when they say that you’ve been acting really weird since you read that book and they don’t even recognize you anymore, that means they’re jealous. / you are like me new. we are part of a higher calling, we will meet one day and on that glorious day we will show he small-minded doubters that we were right all along, and are also really cool, and they should have been nicer to us. okay that’s about it. this sort of sounds like a super villain manifesto in retrospect, but you get the gist.
In addition to the code, some words are upper-case and bolded. Combining those letters (and symbols) reveals: disneyxd.com/arentyouclever. This page reveals Bill Cipher's code used in the Guide to Mystery.
- ↑ Dipper's and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Nonstop Fun! by Disney Book Group. October 7, 2014. Published by Disney Press. Page(s) 127. ISBN: 978-1484710807.