Bill Cipher's Wheel is the fan name for the image that flashes at the end of the theme song. It has many secrets. It looks like a page from one of the three journals.
Bill Cipher is in the middle of a wheel with 10 sections, each with a symbol inside. Around it are what look like calculations, tiny notes, alchemical symbols, the code Dipper used to unleash Rumble McSkirmish into the real world, and more. There are two things I'd like to talk about here.
First, a cryptogram to the right of the wheel. When decoded with the Caesar cipher, it says "Stan is not what he seems." Some say this means he's a werewolf, a vampire, or some such, but I think it just means he's got some major secrets to be unlocked. Update: this will almost certainly be touched upon in S2 E11, Not What He Seems.
Second, the wheel itself. It has 10 symbols. Going in order around, I will talk about who is represented by each symbol and why that symbol was chosen to represent that character.
a pine tree
This signifies Dipper, as Bill referred to him as "Pine Tree" in Dreamscaperers and there is a pine tree on his hat. Now, Dipper could be a pine tree because he stands tall through adversity. Even when nobody else agrees with him, Dipper will still stand up for himself and his convictions. He could also be represented by the lone Pine in a Back to the Future reference, with Dipper and Mabel being the twin Pines and one of them (Mabel) disappearing.
the first symbol on Stan's fez (changed in the journal in Dreamscaperers, but not in the theme song)
This most likely signifies Stan, as it is the symbol on his fez. Both of the symbols resemble a fish. This could mean that the fez is linked to The Royal Order of the Holy Mackerel, which I believe is a secret society that Stan is part of. (If you play the game Mystery Shack Mystery? and roll over a banner, it says "The Royal Order of the Holy Mackerel.")
a bag of ice
Many people believe this symbol to represent Wendy. They say she is "cool", and in the episode "The Inconveniencing", which is heavily focused on her, ice is in about half the scenes. Ice was also an indirect factor in her starting a relationship with Robbie, as Dipper spilled it, causing a chain reaction where Robbie was able to ease Wendy's pain (with ice) and they began a relationship. Thanks to clues from The Love God that are listed below, I believe that we can look at the symbol and try to figure out who fits it. Therefore, I agree with this theory.
Others believe the ice represents the supernatural, as evidenced by the fridge-brain-monster-thing Dipper saw. Dipper spills ice twice due to a supernatural occurrence. This is one of the three toss-up symbols that we don't really have a clear idea for.
a question mark
Thanks to Bill's aforementioned comment, we now know that the question mark represents Soos. The reason Soos is the question mark is because nobody really knows too much about him. His experience at the Mystery Shack is completely unknown, as is the amount of knowledge he has. Is Soos the smartest person on the planet? Is he the dumbest? These are legitimate questions.
a pair of rimmed glasses
There is a LOT of speculation on this one. For all we know, it could also represent Stanford. The most commonly accepted theory, though, is that it is Stanley. Stanley, according to fans, would have slept in the room Soos found in Carpet Diem. Therefore, his glasses were the ones Stanford picked up next to the calendar. But this places a hole in the wheel. I believe the six-fingered hand to be the author, and I think the author is Stanley Pines. So, how do I explain this?
What are glasses used for? They are used for seeing better. So I say the glasses represent mankind seeing better... through the portal! We know the author worked on the portal, but who else worked with him? McGucket. So I would say that the glasses represent Fiddleford Hadron McGucket. But this is the second toss-up.
a stitched heart
This is almost undoubtedly Robbie, being the symbol on his sweatshirt. Now, let's talk about the stitched heart. It was first whole, then was broken, and was later artificially put back together. Robbie's heart was whole when he was dating Wendy, it was broken when Dipper broke the two of them up in Boyz Crazy, and it was stitched back together artificially by Mabel in The Love God.
a shooting star
Thanks to Bill, we know this is Mabel. Now, this one was tricky to see why. According to Dipper, Mabel tends to look on the "bright" side of things. She has the attention span of a puppy, which means she is constantly moving. Shooting stars are bright, constantly moving, and then they disappear. As I mentioned earlier, it's entirely possible that Dipper will become the "Lone Pine" after Mabel disappears.
a llama
This one has the most theories attached to it. Most theories stem from the end clip of Headhunters. Mabel is holding the llama sweater up to a mirror and asking Dipper whether she should go with it or the sequins. Wax Larry King's head hops past her and tells her to go with the llama hair, because "Llamas are nature's greatest warriors."
Some people point out that the llama on the wheel is backwards from how it is on the sweater, facing the same way as the one in the mirror. They say that this signifies that the llama is Pacifica, being "the literal diametric opposite of Mabel" or Lebam, Mabel's secret doppelganger. Others point out Larry King's comment and say the llama symbolizes a great warrior, possibly Manly Dan. It could also be (a little far-fetched, maybe) that Soos' cousin Reggie is the llama. Soos said Reggie got in a fight with a teen and "the guy broke, like, all his arms, all his legs, and...I think killed him or something." He then went on to say that they were just talking about it. It's possible that "the guy" that won the fight is Reggie, and "he" (the loser) was the teenager. A few people say that the llama is Larry King himself. Douglas MacKrell believes that the llama represents nature, rather than its greatest warrior. There's even a theory that it's someone who we won't meet until Season 2. This is the third toss-up figure.
After I realized that we can look at the symbol and match it to a character, I realized that that quote from the head of Wax Larry King might actually be meaningful. I had dismissed it earlier, but now I think it is what tells us who the llama is. Now, it is interesting that in Northwest Mansion Mystery, a picture of a llama was shown in the secret room. This could mean the llama is Pacifica, OR it could represent someone else in the room... maybe the ghost? This makes sense to me because the ghost was a lumberjack, and lumberjacks are great warriors that work with nature. I take it as proof that Manly Dan is the llama.
a six-fingered hand
The six-fingered hand most likely represents the journals or their author. (Click here to find out more about them.) As I mentioned above, I think the author is Stanley Pines.
the Star of David with an eye in the middle
This is an easy one. It's Gideon or the Tent of Telepathy. But the image could have something to do with Bill Cipher. Think about it: he is a triangle, with an eye in the middle, and a top hat, two arms, and two legs, right where the five points on the star are. Look for a deeper connection between Gideon and Bill in the future.
Now, this wheel has some very interesting comparisons. For example, opposing sides of the wheel are at odds with each other, and one point of a triangle wants something from or needs the other two points.
This video will explain the comparisons more in-depth and provide examples. But I have one note that did not make it there. The fez symbol is the point of a triangle with the glasses and the six-fingered hand. Now, the video explains it away by saying that Grunkle Stan needs the journals and the Mystery Shack, but I say the glasses represent McGucket and the six-fingered hand represents Stanley. According to my timeline, Grunkle Stan originally worked in conjunction with those two in an effort to build the portal. And, today, his mission is to rescue Stanley from the alternate dimension he's trapped in.
