Twenty One Pilots is a musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Lead singer Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun are the lead members of the popular band. They have been making successful music since 2009, winning a Grammy and several awards, including Favorite Rock Artist and other MTV awards. Since their 2015 album, Blurryface, the duo has been telling a story through their lyrics and music videos. It is a story of mental health, insecurity, and doubt.
In this world that the band has created, a city named Dema is controlled by nine bishops and their leader, Nico. These dictators symbolize different insecurities that the singer, Tyler Joseph, has experienced throughout his teenage and later years. The people in this city are controlled by a fictional religion. A hero, named Clancy, is to be the savior of the city and the defeater of the bishops. Clancy is not a set person, but a title and power that gets passed down randomly.
Clancy, played by Tyler Joseph in the music videos, starts writing letters and posters for Dema. This is shown in the 2018 album, Trench, which is named after the land outside of Dema. Clancy’s letters try to show the people of Dema a way out of the insecurity and religious pressure they find in the city.
The bishops find out who the next “Clancy” is in line and kidnap him. Clancy escapes Dema after tricking the main bishop, Nico, into taking him outside the city. As Clancy explores Trench, Nico tries to recapture Clancy. As Clancy is being taken back to Dema by Nico, a rebel group of Dema citizens who live out in Trench, called Banditos, distract Nico. Clancy tries to run away but gets recaptured by Nico.
Back in Dema, Clancy is held captive by the bishops. The Banditos and their leader, called the Torchbearer, played by Josh Dun, sneak into Dema and make a diversion as Torchbearer and Clancy escape. In the land of Trench, Clancy learns the ways of the Banditos, but is yet again recaptured by the Bishops and taken back to Dema.
Back in Dema, Clancy is forced by the Bishops to create propaganda. On a submarine, as Clancy is performing the Bishop’s propaganda, which is in the form of music, Keons, who is a bishop, takes control of a large underwater sea monster and helps Clancy escape. Keons is killed by the other bishops later on. On a nearby island, Clancy finds a population of creatures that help him scare the bishops by taking over the body of Keons. All of this is shown in the 2021 album, Scaled and Icy.
In the 2024 album, Clancy, Clancy finds the Banditos again and starts sending messages to the people of Dema, which leads to a rebellion against the Bishops. The Banditos and Clancy get ready for the final battle against Nico and the Bishops in the song, Paladin Strait. As the banditos attack Dema, Clancy defeats all the bishops except Nico.
After a long battle alongside the Banditos, Torchbearer finds Clancy. Clancy defeats Nico after a long battle and then becomes the next leader of the Bishops. Clancy offers the Torchbearer a position as a bishop; however, the Torchbearer refuses. A group of nine Banditos with Clancy by their side become the next Nico and Bishops shown in the 2025 album, Breach.
Torchbearer then talks with a remaining Bandito and says that there will be another Clancy out there, and they will try again. This story, which has expanded over a decade, shows the story of hope and a cycle that will be broken.
Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyXpwQgYOdk
