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Description
I decided to make a sort of mashup of two of my favorite baddies from two of my favorite shows- The Beast from Over the Garden Wall and Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls.
So, uh, here's a huge rambling block of text about the thought processes behind all of the things I did here...

I had fun trying to think of ways to merge different elements of these two characters into one thing. I think my favorite part was coming up with the shepherd's staff idea. The shepherd's staff is just a large, knobbly version of Bill's cane, with the Beast's lantern attached to it. And of course, the lantern's shape has changed to look more like the portal from Gravity Falls, so it probably does not serve the same purpose as the Beast's old lantern. Cipher-Beast is a guide to lost travelers, but where the travelers are being guided to remains a mystery. One thing's for sure, those travelers are definitely not returning home.

Since the Beast likes to get people hopelessly lost, and since Bill can wield blue flames, the Cipher-Beast has the ability to produce will-o-the-wisps to further their sinister plans. Cipher-Beast also has a nifty little blue flame over their head, which I guess means that Bill's top hat caught on fire...Plus it makes the Cipher-Beast look like some sort of spirit or guide. Yes, trust the spiky black creature with a soothing blue flame hovering over its head- it will certainly guide you down the correct path out of these woods...

I listened to a lot of spooky/creepy music while working on this fellow. And then I kinda kept listening to this one song over and over because it sounded like a nice headcanon singing voice for Cipher-Beast, plus the subject matter is just the sort of thing they'd sing about to make you lose all hope: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AypLSh…

The Cipher-Beast can also sprout out multiple, gooey arms in a branch like pattern to increase the amounts of fireballs they can wield at one time. The extra arms are made from edelwood oil- the stuff the Beast needed to keep the his lantern lit.

I was actually going to have the inside of the Cipher-Beast's "cloak" be black, but then realized how that would obscure their actions during intense moments, so the inside of the cloak is red now. Which I guess kinda works out- the Cipher-Beast wouldn't show much of itself to travelers, keeping the cloak closed most of the time. But if enraged, that cloak will fly open, revealing the Cipher-Beast's true colors...literally!

So, what are those pointy black things floating around Cipher-Beast? The answer is *Spongebob voice* Eyelashes!
Yeah...those are Bill's eyelashes...I thought they'd look cool as some weird floaty wing-like appendages.

I had too much fun shading in those flames...I kinda got too into it and then realized I still needed to shade in the rest of the dingity dang thing. One day I shall master good shading techniques.

Sweet googly moogly, I apologize for typing up so much about this character...I just was really excited about sharing this funky fusion idea of mine. If you read all of that stuff, then you are a fantastic person with a great deal of patience. Thanks for taking the time to look at this silly little drawing of mine...

The Beast (c) Pat McHale /Cartoon Network
Bill Cipher (c) Alex Hirsch /Disney

Description
I decided to make a sort of mashup of two of my favorite baddies from two of my favorite shows- The Beast from Over the Garden Wall and Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls.
So, uh, here's a huge rambling block of text about the thought processes behind all of the things I did here...

I had fun trying to think of ways to merge different elements of these two characters into one thing. I think my favorite part was coming up with the shepherd's staff idea. The shepherd's staff is just a large, knobbly version of Bill's cane, with the Beast's lantern attached to it. And of course, the lantern's shape has changed to look more like the portal from Gravity Falls, so it probably does not serve the same purpose as the Beast's old lantern. Cipher-Beast is a guide to lost travelers, but where the travelers are being guided to remains a mystery. One thing's for sure, those travelers are definitely not returning home.

Since the Beast likes to get people hopelessly lost, and since Bill can wield blue flames, the Cipher-Beast has the ability to produce will-o-the-wisps to further their sinister plans. Cipher-Beast also has a nifty little blue flame over their head, which I guess means that Bill's top hat caught on fire...Plus it makes the Cipher-Beast look like some sort of spirit or guide. Yes, trust the spiky black creature with a soothing blue flame hovering over its head- it will certainly guide you down the correct path out of these woods...

I listened to a lot of spooky/creepy music while working on this fellow. And then I kinda kept listening to this one song over and over because it sounded like a nice headcanon singing voice for Cipher-Beast, plus the subject matter is just the sort of thing they'd sing about to make you lose all hope: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AypLSh…

The Cipher-Beast can also sprout out multiple, gooey arms in a branch like pattern to increase the amounts of fireballs they can wield at one time. The extra arms are made from edelwood oil- the stuff the Beast needed to keep the his lantern lit.

I was actually going to have the inside of the Cipher-Beast's "cloak" be black, but then realized how that would obscure their actions during intense moments, so the inside of the cloak is red now. Which I guess kinda works out- the Cipher-Beast wouldn't show much of itself to travelers, keeping the cloak closed most of the time. But if enraged, that cloak will fly open, revealing the Cipher-Beast's true colors...literally!

So, what are those pointy black things floating around Cipher-Beast? The answer is *Spongebob voice* Eyelashes!
Yeah...those are Bill's eyelashes...I thought they'd look cool as some weird floaty wing-like appendages.

I had too much fun shading in those flames...I kinda got too into it and then realized I still needed to shade in the rest of the dingity dang thing. One day I shall master good shading techniques.

Sweet googly moogly, I apologize for typing up so much about this character...I just was really excited about sharing this funky fusion idea of mine. If you read all of that stuff, then you are a fantastic person with a great deal of patience. Thanks for taking the time to look at this silly little drawing of mine...

The Beast (c) Pat McHale /Cartoon Network
Bill Cipher (c) Alex Hirsch /Disney