document_title: No Game No Life

question_text: where does no game no life anime end

question_tokens: where does no game no life anime end

text: No Game No Life

text: Plot

text: Sora and Shiro are two hikikomori step-siblings who are known in the online gaming world as Blank, an undefeated group of gamers. One day, they are challenged to a game of chess by Tet, a god from another reality. The two are victorious and are offered to live in a world that centers around games. They accept, believing it to be a joke, and are summoned to a reality known as Disboard[Jp. 1]. There, a spell known as the Ten Pledges prevents the citizens of Disboard from inflicting harm on one another, forcing them to resolve their differences by gambling with games whose rules and rewards are magically enforced. In-game, rule enforcement only occurs when the method of cheating is acknowledged and outed by the opponent, allowing players to cheat through discreet methods. Sora and Shiro traverse to Elkia[Jp. 2], the nation inhabited by humans, and befriend the duchess Stephanie Dola. Learning about Elkia's decline, the two participate in a tournament to determine the next ruler; after winning the crown, they earn the right to challenge the Disboard's other species as humanity's representative.LN 1.4 Their next goal is to conquer all sixteen species in order to challenge Tet to a game; as of the sixth volume, five of the sixteen are under their control.

text: Characters

text: Sora is an eighteen-year-old male who excels at strategies and cold readings while his eleven-year-old stepsister, Shiro, excels at calculations and logic.LN 3.0 Together, the two form the undefeated gaming identity Blank (空白, Kūhaku, stylized as『　　』) due to their trademark of using only spaces as their in-game names. After their parents died, the two no longer had emotional ties to society and eventually became agoraphobic and hikikomori.LN 1.0 When the two are separated from each other, they begin to suffer panic attacks.LN 1.1 After Sora and Shiro are summoned to Disboard, they decide to uphold their undefeated reputation as Blank by defeating Tet. Sora is voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and Shiro by Ai Kayano.[1] In Sentai Filmworks' English localization, Sora and Shiro are dubbed by Scott Gibbs and Caitlynn French respectively.[2] A 2014 poll by Charapedia ranked Shiro and Sora as two of the most intelligent anime characters of all time.[3]

text: Stephanie is a teenage girl and granddaughter to the previous king of Elkia, the nation inhabited by humans. She has a lot of explicit knowledge but lacks the intuition to win games.LN 2.1 Her grandfather was infamously known for losing games and giving up Elkia's land. As a result, Stephanie strives to restore the honor of her grandfather and humanity. When Sora and Shiro are crowned, she becomes their assistant and deals with Elkia's economics and politics. They discover her grandfather kept hidden records on the other species which becomes an asset to their victories;LN 2.3 her experience with Sora and Shiro improves her skill to the point that she can win against normal humans.LN 4.1 She is voiced by Yōko Hikasa and English dubbed by Sara Ornelas.[1][2]

text: Jibril is a flügel[Jp. 3], a powerful angelic race known for their ruthlessness.LN 2.1 Jibril is over 6000-years old and is the youngest and most powerful of her species.LN 5.2 She won Elkia's library from Stephanie's grandfather in order to store her books and use it as a home.LN 2.2 After losing to Sora and Shiro in a game of Shiritori, she becomes their slave, but is treated as an equal.LN 2.2 She often provides magic or transportation necessities for the protagonists. Later on, she begins publishing novels based on Sora and Shiro which makes them famous among the flügels.LN 5.1 She is voiced by Yukari Tamura and English dubbed by Amelia Fischer.[1][2]

text: The warbeasts are kemonomimis with high physical abilities; their nation is known as the Eastern Federation[Jp. 5]. They are ruled by a nameless Miko, a logical woman who helped the Eastern Federation flourish for the past fifty years.LN 3.4 She possesses a rare ability called Blood Destruction which augments her physical abilities by taxing her body. She allies herself with Sora and Shiro who promises benefits for humanity and warbeasts.LN 3.4 She is voiced by Naomi Shindo and English dubbed by Suzelle Palacios.[2][4]

text: Meanwhile, the warbeast embassy in Elkia is represented by Izuna Hatsuse (初瀬 いづな, Hatsuse Izuna), an eight-year-old child and ambassador of the warbeast.LN 2.4 She has a childlike demeanor and uses the copula desu, but also possesses high intellect and Blood Destruction.LN 3.3 Following the alliance between humans and warbeasts, she is a constant companion to Sora and Shiro whom she adores and trusts. She is voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro and English dubbed by Kira Vincent-Davis.[1][2] Alongside her is her grandfather, Ino Hatsuse (初瀬 いの, Hatsuse Ino).LN 2.4 He believes Sora has selfish ulterior motives and dislikes him. After the alliance between humans and warbeasts, he works alongside Stephanie to formalize the union.LN 4.1 He is voiced by Mugihito and English dubbed by John Swasey.[2][4]

text: Kurami Zell (クラミー・ツェル, Kuramī Tseru) is an eighteen-year-old girl and considered the slave of the elf Fil Nilvalen (フィール・ニルヴァレン, Fīru Niruvaren). Though Kurami's family were the Nilvalen family's slaves for generations, her relationship with Fil is similar to daughter and mother.LN 3.2 Meanwhile, Fil is considered a failure of a magician but is secretly highly skilled.LN 5.0 She is willing to betray Elven Garde[Jp. 6], the nation inhabited by elves, for Kurami's sake; the two conspire to have Fil obtain a political position of power in order to abolish slavery.LN 3.2 Sora manages to convince Kurami to be his ally by sharing his memories with her.LN 3.1 Kurami is voiced by Yuka Iguchi and Fil by Mamiko Noto;[1] they are English dubbed by Kara Greenberg and Christina Stroup respectively.[2]

text: Dhampirs[Jp. 7] are a species with similar characteristics to vampires: they drink body fluids from other species for nourishment; excel at transformation, illusion, and dream magic; and are weak to sunlight. Their weakness to sunlight can be spread through bites which deters the other species from sharing blood with them.LN 4.0 Meanwhile, sirens[Jp. 8] are an all female species with the body of a mermaid. They require the life of a male from another species in order to reproduce; their magic allows them to seduce anyone of their choosing. Both species live in a nation called Oceando[Jp. 9]. Centuries ago, the dhampirs and sirens used the Ten Pledges to create a mutualistic relationship between the two; the dhampirs were allowed to feed on the sirens and in return, a male dhampir is to mate with the siren's empress who can reproduce without killing. Eight hundred years prior, the empress went into hibernation and the mating rituals killed all but a single male dhampir.LN 4.1

text: Plum (プラム, Puramu) is the last male dhampir and as a result, disguises himself as a female;LN 5.4 his magic skills are considered above average within his species.LN 5.2 After consuming Sora and Shiro's sweat, he becomes fond of their taste. He makes a deal with the sirens to lure Sora and Shiro in an attempt to have one of the two races enslave humanity. Sora and Shiro deduce his deception but decide to save both races regardless.LN 5.4 Since then, Sora and Shiro have Plum accompany them on their adventures.

text: The empress of the sirens, Leila Lorelei (ライラ・ローレライ, Raira Rōrerai), used the Ten Pledges to put herself to sleep without revealing the requirements to wake her up. While she slept, Amira (アミラ) takes her place in leading the sirens.LN 4.2 Realizing the empress is a masochist who desires a la douleur exquise, Sora's immunity to the sirens' seduction magic allows him to awaken her.LN 5.4 Subsequently, the empress used Sora's hair to create a siren daughter.LN 5.5

text:
Tet (テト, Teto) is an old deus[Jp. 10], a magical entity born from wishes and prayers. During the era when the sixteen species were at war with each other, a human named Riku Dola[Jp. 11] and his Ex Machina[Jp. 12] wife, Shuvi Dola[Jp. 13], imagined the existence of a god of games; this resulted in Tet's birth. Due to Riku's efforts, Tet comes into possession of an object known as the Star Grail, allowing him to become the god of Disboard. Using its power, Tet cast the Ten Pledges on the world, ending the war and making the world center around games.LN 6.5 He is voiced by Rie Kugimiya[1] and English dubbed by Shannon Emerick.[2]
Azrael (アズリール, Azurīru) is the first flügel and their leader following the death of Artosh[Jp. 14], the old deus who created them. Since then, Azrael has become despondent towards life and tries to give meaning to the flügel's existence to prevent their suicide.LN 5.2 She is able to converse with the flügel's homeland, a sentient floating island called Avant Heim[Jp. 15] which is part of a species called the phantasma[Jp. 16].LN 5.1 Following her loss against Sora and Shiro, her powers are reduced to the levels of a human which gives her a new perspective on life.LN 5.3

text: Publication and conception

text: No Game No Life is a light novel series written and illustrated by Yū Kamiya. It is published under the MF Bunko J imprint; ten volumes were published by Media Factory between April 25, 2012 and January 25, 2018.[5][6] In August 2014, Yen Press announced No Game No Life will be one of its titles published under its newly launched imprint, Yen On, in 2015.[7] Non-English localizations include Brazil, Taiwan and Russia;[8][9][10] distribution in China was banned due to the government viewing the series as a threat to communism.[11]

text: No Game No Life was conceived during the serialization of A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives.LN 1.A Kamiya's original idea was a fantasy setting with battles; since he disliked drawing battles, he replaced it with games. He had intended to turn the idea into a manga series, but an unspecified illness made him unfit to handle the workload. While hospitalized for treatment, the author imagined how his idea would work as a light novel, and settled for that medium instead.LN 1.A Kamiya began writing the first volume and was advised to break it into three parts due to its length.LN 2.A In the middle of writing the second volume, Kamiya moved to his home country, Brazil, for further treatment for his ailment; in order to meet the volume's deadline, his wife drew some of the illustrations in the novel.LN 2.A

text: After the third volume, a new editor was assigned to the series.LN 3.A Kamiya noted the third volume contained a lot of plot progression, and was going to balance it out in the fourth volume with more lighthearted and carefree events.LN 3.A. Volumes four and five were written as a single volume; since volume four lacked a climatic ending, Kamiya had to restructure the story.LN 4.A This, along with communication problems with his new editor, and other problems in Kamiya's life caused a month delay in volume four's release.LN 4.A After completing volume five, Kamiya was asked to submit volume six's manuscript before 2014 for the anime adaptation, and to complete the volume before the anime's premiere.LN 5.A, 6.A

text: Volume list

text:
No.
Translated title
Japanese
English

Release
ISBN
Release
ISBN

1
In This Fantasy World, Everything's a Game — and These Gamer Siblings Play to Win![Jp. 17]
April 25, 2012[5]
978-4-04-066432-3
April 21, 2015[12]
978-0-316-38311-0

Sora and Shiro are two siblings who are known in online games as Blank, an undefeated group of gamers. In real life, they are ostracized by the world and are hikikomoris. One day, they receive a challenge from Tet to a game of chess and are victorious. In response he offers to send them to a world which revolves around games and they accept, believing it to be a joke. They are then summoned to a reality known as Disboard where a spell, called the Ten Pledges, prevents violence and enforces the rules and outcomes of games. They travel to Elkia, the nation of humans, and befriend Stephanie Dola who is the granddaughter of the deceased king. Learning the nation is in steady decline, Sora and Shiro enter the contest to be the next king where they win against Kurami Zell in a war simulator. After they are inaugurated to the throne, Sora publicly declares his intentions to conquer the other nations and help Elkia flourish. Tet meets and congratulates them, declaring he will be waiting for them to unite the sixteen species.

2
The Gamer Siblings Have Their Eyes on a New Target — the Land of the Animal Girls...[Jp. 18]
September 25, 2012[13]
978-4-04-066433-0
July 21, 2015[14]
978-0-316-38517-6

Sora and Shiro begin researching the Eastern Federation, nation of the werebeasts. They challenge a flügel named Jibril for information and the two play a game of shiritori where their spoken objects will either materialize or disappear. The game concludes when Sora and Shiro induce a hypernova by removing coulomb's law, making Jibril unable to continue; by the Pledges, Jibril becomes their slave. However, the information from Jibril and her library prove to be useless. Stephanie discloses her grandfather's will to Sora, leading them to discover a hidden library in the castle containing her grandfather's research. Realizing the Eastern Federation are using video games, Sora and Shiro formalize their challenge by betting everything humanity owns. As they await the game's date, Sora tells Shiro the missing piece to their victory will soon arrive; the next day, Shiro discovers everyone has forgotten about Sora.

3
It Seems Half of the Gamer Siblings Disappeared...?[Jp. 19]
January 25, 2013[15]
978-4-04-066434-7
October 27, 2015[16]
978-0-316-38519-0

Shiro begins to doubt Sora's existence but learns she and her friends have a gap in their memory. Straining herself, Shiro recalls that Sora arranged a game of reversi with Kurami and her elven comrade Fil Nilvalen; the components making up Sora and Kurami's identity were used as the pieces. Sora's three remaining pieces were Shiro's memories of him, allowing her to resume and win the game. Having seen each other's memories, Sora convinces Kurami to ally herself with him. The game against the Eastern Federation begins and Sora, Shiro, Stephanie, and Jibril enter a virtual shooter against the werebeast, Izuna Hatsuse, where they are eventually victorious. As a result, Elkia gains a large mass of land and rights to the werebeasts occupying them. Sora and Shiro use political pressure to force the leader of the Eastern Federation, the nameless Miko, to challenge them; the game is a coin flip where Sora arranges to have it land on its edge. He convinces the Miko to declare they both win and as a result, Elkia can share resources with the Eastern Federation while the werebeasts maintain their self-rule; they name the unionized colony between Elkia and the Eastern Federation as the Elkia Federation.

4
The Gamer Siblings Have Run Away From a Realistic Romance Game[Jp. 20]
June 25, 2013[17]
978-4-04-066469-9
March 22, 2016[18]
978-0-316-38521-3

A dhampir named Plum visits Sora and Shiro, and asks them to save his species. He explains the siren's empress, Leila Lorelei, put herself to sleep using the Ten Pledges centuries ago and as a result, the once mutualistic relationship between dhampirs and sirens has caused all but one male dhampir to die. To awaken the empress, they must enter her dream and win her love. After consulting with the Miko, Sora and his companions travel to the dhampir and siren country, Oceando, and enter the empress' dream. Using Plum's magic, the empress falls in love with Izuna's grandfather, Ino Hatsuse, but fails to awaken. Having deduced this possibility, Sora uses a loophole in the rules allowing him and his companions to leave mid-game. Sora and Shiro reveal the sirens do not know the conditions to wake the empress, so they split up to investigate; Sora, Shiro, Jibril, and Plum travel to Avent Hiem, home of the flügels, while Stephanie and Izuna search the previous king's hidden library.

5
It Seems the Gamer Siblings Hate New Game Plus[Jp. 21]
November 25, 2013[19]
978-4-04-066080-6
December 20, 2016[20]
978-0-316-38523-7

The prologue covers Kurami and Fil's progress in their efforts to overthrow the elven nation. Meanwhile, Sora and co are overwhelmed by Avent Hiem's library. They decide to challenge all the flügels to a game to enlist their help; the goal of the game is for Sora and Shiro to avoid capture by using Plum's flight magic and various katakana characters to materialize whatever they desire. Eluding capture, Sora and Shiro use the game to convince the head flügel, Azrael, to have Avent Hiem join the Elkia Federation. After winning, Avent Hiem's library proves to be fruitless but Shiro deduces what the empress desires; at the same time, Stephanie and Izuna finds evidence to support her theory. Returning to the empress' dream, Sora's immunity to the empress' seduction fulfills her la douleur exquise desire and awakens her; their victory gives them rule over the siren and dhampir. That night, Plum reveals humanity also acquired the sirens' role as food for the dhampirs and attempts to feed on Sora and Shiro; however, the two had deduced Plum's intention from the beginning and returned the responsibility back to the sirens.

6
It Seems the Gamer Pair Challenged The World[Jp. 22]
April 25, 2014[21]
978-4-04-066382-1
July 25, 2017[22]
978-0-316-38526-8

Tet explains how the war 6000 years ago ended to Izuna. Tet's story follows eighteen-year old Riku Dola and his stepsister Korone Dola, leaders of a colony of humans seeking refuge from the war. While on patrol, Riku befriends an Ex Machina, a sentient battle-capable android, who is searching for the meaning of a heart. Riku names her Shuvi and takes her back to the colony where they are disguised as lovers. During the year they are together, Riku overcomes his emotional trauma while Shuvi becomes more human. Following the destruction of their colony, Riku forms a group to end the war and marries Shuvi. The group performs several espionage missions, forcing the warring species into a stalemate. Riku plans to harvest the energy from the battle, following the broken stalemate, in order to materialize and claim an artifact called the Star Grail; whoever possess it will have the powers of god. Shuvi is killed by Jibril but is able to convince the Ex Machinae to join Riku's cause. Riku succeeds but is mortally wounded; in his place, Tet claims the Star Grail and brings peace to the world. Returning to the present, Sora and friends have Miko channel an old deus for a game.

7
It Seems the Gamer Siblings Established the Joseki[Jp. 23]
July 24, 2015[23]
978-4-04-067494-0
June 26, 2018[24]
978-0-316-31643-9

The old deus is the werebeast god; she creates a life sized board game and allows Sora and his friends to participate. With a time limit to reach the goal, the winner will be granted a wish but if no one reaches the end, they will be forced into the god's servitude. In addition, the werebeast god has planted a traitor within Sora's party. Towards the end, Jibril challenges Sora and Shiro to a game.

8
It Seems the Gamers Progressed Past the Fuseki[Jp. 24]
December 25, 2015[25]
978-4-04-067952-5
October 30, 2018[26]
978-0-316-50266-5

Jibril's challenge is a simulation of the war from volume six, and challenges Sora and Shiro to lead the humans to victory. After completing her challenge, Sora reveals that the Stephanie accompanying them was a fake created by the old deus; Stephanies empathy with the party allows her to betray her creator and leads Sora and Shiro to victory. Since the old deuses lack a leader to pledge their servitude, Sora plans to have the werebeast god take that role.

9
It Seems the Gamer Siblings are Resting for One Turn[Jp. 25]
August 25, 2016[27]
978-4-04-068457-4
—
—

The Ex Machina teleport into Elkia and challenge Sora to a game in order to save their species. Since Sora is compatible with their reproduction program, the Ex Machina intend on enslaving him in order to repopulate their species. Blank and the Ex Machina decide to wager Sora's freedom on a game: if Blank wins, the Ex Machina are freed from their chastity program and are free to reproduce with any being; if they lose, Sora is taken and used for reproduction. The game is a variant of chess played in rhythm to an ongoing concert. Blank wins though the Ex Machina Ymirein stays behind, intending on becoming Sora's wife.

10
It Seems the Gamer Siblings are Sold to the Past[Jp. 26]
January 25, 2018[6]
978-4-04-069336-1
—
—

text: Manga adaptation

text: After reviewing the drawings made by Yuu Kamiya's wife, Mashiro Hiiragi, in second light novel volume, his editor suggested the two collaborate on a manga adaptation of No Game No Life for Monthly Comic Alive.LN 2.A Due to Kamiya's work on the third light novel volume, the manga serialization was delayed by a volume; the volume it was supposed to premiere in contained an apology page illustrated by Hiiragi.LN 3.A The series premiered in the March 2013 volume of Monthly Comic Alive and since then, is published irregularly in the magazine.[28] Media Factory collected the individual chapters for the tankōbon release. In March 2014, Seven Seas Entertainment announced its licensing of the manga series and released the first tankōbon volume in October 2014;[29] the title is stylized as No Game, No Life.[30] The series has also been localized in Brazil, Taiwan and Russia.[31][32]

text: A side series, titled No Game No Life, Please![Jp. 27], by Yuizaki Kazuya, began serialization in the July 2015 issue of Monthly Comic Alive on May 27, 2015.[33][34] The final chapter was published on November 27, 2017.[35] It focuses on Izuna Hatsuse and her daily life.[33] Yen Press announced their license to the manga on October 28, 2016.[36]

text: No Game No Life

text:
No.
Japanese release date
Japanese ISBN
English release date
English ISBN

1
November 23, 2013[37]
ISBN 978-4-04-066114-8
October 21, 2014[38]
ISBN 978-1-62-692079-8

2
February 23, 2018[39]
ISBN 978-4-04-069582-2
-
—

text: No Game No Life, Please!

text:
No.
Japanese release date
Japanese ISBN
English release date
English ISBN

1
January 23, 2016[40]
ISBN 978-4-04-067878-8
June 20, 2017[41]
ISBN 978-0-316-47192-3

2
August 23, 2016[42]
ISBN 978-4-04-068525-0
September 19, 2017[43]
ISBN 978-0-316-47237-1

3
April 22, 2017[44]
ISBN 978-4-04-069165-7
February 6, 2018[45]
ISBN 978-0-316-51767-6

4
January 23, 2018[46]
ISBN 978-4-04-069535-8
September 18, 2018[47]
ISBN 978-1-975-30178-1

text: Anime adaptation

text: On July 27, 2013, Monthly Comic Alive announced the anime adaptation for No Game No Life was green lit.[48] It is directed by Atsuko Ishizuka and animated by Madhouse.[1] The series premiered on April 9, 2014 on AT-X; it was later broadcast on five other broadcast stations and several streaming networks.[49] The final episode premiered on June 25, 2014.[50] Media Factory released the series in six DVD and Blu‑ray volumes between June 25 and November 26, 2014.[51] The opening theme for the series was "This Game" by Konomi Suzuki and the ending theme is "Oracion" by Shiro's voice actress, Ai Kayano.[52]

text: Crunchyroll simulcast No Game No Life and made it accessible to several regions.[53] In North America, Anime Network broadcast the series on their cable network and made it available on their website, while Sentai Filmworks released the series for home media in July 2015.[54][55][56] In the United Kingdom, MVM Entertainment licensed the series for distribution and in Australasia, Hanabee Entertainment licensed the series for its video on demand website.[57][58] In France, the series was also simulcasted on Anime Digital Network and is broadcast on Viacom International Media Networks' J-one channel.[59][60] In China, the series is made available on PPTV.[61]

text: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and Ai Kayano, the voice actors for Sora and Shiro respectively, hosted an internet radio show on Hibiki Radio called No Radio No Life.[62] It was broadcast weekly between April 8 and July 29, 2014 and switched to a biweekly schedule since then. Twenty-six segments are planned and three CDs were released between July 2014 and February 2015.[62] A special cross over featuring No Radio No Life and the radio series from Bladedance of Elementalers and Lord Marksman and Vanadis was broadcast by Hibiki Radio on January 1, 2015 and released on DVD on May 13.[63]

text: An anime movie adaptation of the sixth light novel was announced on July 17, 2016 at the MF Bunko J Summer School Festival 2016 event.[64] The film, titled No Game No Life: Zero (ノーゲーム・ノーライフ ゼロ, Nōgēmu Nōraifu Zero), premiered on July 15, 2017, with the staff and cast from the anime series returning.[65][66] Based on the sixth volume of the light novel series, the story is set 6000 years before the events of the series, with most of the original cast portraying ancient characters related to their present counterparts. The theme song is "There is a Reason" by Konomi Suzuki. The song was included on the album "No Song No Life" on July 12, 2017.[67] Sentai Filmworks released the film theatrically within the United States from October 5, 2017,[68] and has licensed the film for home video distribution.[69] Madman Entertainment premiered the film in Australia at the Madman Anime Festival in Melbourne on November 5, 2017.[70]

text: Episode list

text:
No.
Official English title
Original Japanese title
Animation director
Writer
Original airdate[71]
Ref

1
"Beginner"
"Biginā" (素人 (ビギナー))
Kōji Ōdate
Jukki Hanada
April 9, 2014
[72]

Sora and Shiro are two siblings and are known in online games as the undefeated group named The Blank. In real life, they are hikikomori who are ostracized by the world. One day, they receive a challenge from Tet to a game of chess and are victorious. In response he offers to send them to a world which revolves around games and they accept, believing it to be a joke. They are then summoned to a reality known as Disboard where a spell, known as the Ten Pledges, prevents violence and enforces the rules and outcomes of games. They travel to Elkia, the nation inhabited by humans, where Sora plays poker against a woman for her money and wins by out-cheating her. He and Shiro rest at an inn and decide their next goal is to find a home.

2
"Challenger"
"Charenjā" (挑戦者 (チャレンジャー))
Masaru Koseki
Jukki Hanada
April 16, 2014
[73]

Stephanie Dola, granddaughter of Elkia's deceased king, loses against Kurami Zell in a contest to decide the next ruler; she then confronts Sora for not revealing how her opponent was cheating. Sora tricks her into a game of rock-paper-scissors and after winning, uses the Pledges to make her fall in love with him. Sora and Shiro then move into the palace with Stephanie where they learn more about world and decide to help Stephanie revitalize Elkia.

3
"Expert"
"Ekisupāto" (熟練者 (エキスパート))
Masaki Hyuga
Jukki Hanada
April 23, 2014
[74]

During Kurami's coronation, Sora reveals she was using magic from the elf, Fil Nilvalen, to win her games. Kurami salvages the situation but is forced to play a game against Sora and Shiro. Originally, they believe the game is chess, but Sora deduces it is a war simulator with chess themed pieces; Sora's charisma rallies his army, giving them an advantage and forcing Kurami to cheat by corrupting Sora's soldiers. In return, Sora persuades Kurami's queen to join his army by declaring her king to be corrupt.

4
"Grandmaster"
"Gurandomasutā" (国王 (グランドマスター))
Chiaki Abe
Keiko Yamamoto
Jukki Hanada
April 30, 2014
[75]

Kurami's army begin defecting to her former queen; eventually her king is assassinated due to her tyrannical rule and Sora is victorious. Sora denounces Kurami's plan in assimilating humans with the elves, declaring humanity is stronger than she thinks. Sora and Shiro are crowned the king and queen of humanity and begin solving Elkia's political and economical problems. They later attend the formal coronation and receive humanity's race piece, a chess piece which represents humanity's rights and free-will. Tet visits Sora and Shiro and explains that whoever gathers all sixteen chess pieces, one for each species, will earn the right to challenge him for his title of god; in response Sora and Shiro accept his challenge, declaring they will be the winner.

5
"Weak Square"
"Wīku Sukuea" (駒並べ (ウィークスクエア))
Maria Ichino
Takashi Nagayoshi
Takashi Aoshima
May 7, 2014
[76]

Sora and Shiro leave Elkia's political responsibilities to Stephanie until she is challenged to a game by nobles who refuse the reform. She challenges Sora to blackjack in hopes of binding him to the Pledges to perform his duties; she attempts to use false shuffling but loses due to card counting. Understanding her predicament, Sora trumps the nobles and uses the previous game to have Stephanie act like a dog. Stephanie tries several more games on Sora to take responsibility as Elkia's king but fails. Sora and Shiro reveal they were not slacking, but are researching ways to conquer the other nations; in response Stephanie redirects them to Elkia's library which is owned by the flügel Jibril.

6
"Interesting"
"Intaresutingu" (一手 (インタレスティング))
Kunihiko Hamada
Kento Shimoyama
May 14, 2014
[77]

Sora and Shiro challenge Jibril by betting their tablet computer full of books; considering it of high value, Jibril offers her freedom in exchange. They begin a game of materialization shiritori, where the words they use will materialize or disappear from the environment. From the game, Sora and Shiro deduce Disboard's scientific research is lacking, and uses this knowledge to their advantage; they succeed after removing coulomb's law and inducing a hypernova, removing Jibril from the game. Impressed by the two, Jibril solemnly pledges her loyalty to them.

7
"Sacrifice"
"Sakurifaisu" (死に手 (サクリファイス))
Rie Harada
Kakuto Gai
Takashi Aoshima
May 21, 2014
[78]

Jibril shares her knowledge about the werebeasts, revealing they have been undefeated for decades and always take the memories of the game away from the opponents. When Sora learns Elkia's king challenged the werebeasts eight times and lost a large amount of land, he denounces the king and upsets Stephanie. Upon further investigation, Sora questions the king's motives and eventually learns about the king's will from Stephanie. Using the key from the will, Sora and Shiro find a hidden library in the king's chambers; there, they discover information regarding the werebeasts and their choice of games.

8
"Fake End"
"Feiku Endo" (起死回生 (フェイクエンド))
Shinichi Suzuki
Keiko Yamamoto
Yū Kamiya
May 28, 2014
[79]

Sora and Shiro enter the embassy of the Eastern Federation, nation of the werebeasts, to issue a formal challenge. Sora and Shiro reveals the werebeasts use video games and threatens to leak that information to the elves if their challenge is not accepted; Sora bets humanity's chess piece in return for all of the land on the continent. As the Eastern Federation makes preparations for the game, Sora waits for the missing piece needed for victory; the next day, Shiro realizes everyone has forgotten about Sora.

9
"Sky Walk"
"Sukai Wōku" (解離法 (スカイ・ウォーク))
Masaki Hyuga
Jukki Hanada
June 4, 2014
[80]

Believing Shiro's memories have been tampered with, Jibril arranges a chess game to remove the memories regarding Sora; Shiro decides her memories are real and wins the match. After investigating, Shiro recalls Sora arranged a game of reversi with Kurami; the game's pieces consist of the components making up Sora and Kurami's identity. Having lost most of his pieces, Sora was nearly erased from existence but the last three pieces allow Shiro to keep her memories of him. Shiro finds the pieces in her room and places them on an invisible board, winning the game and restoring Sora. From his victory, Sora shares his memories with Kurami, allowing them to form an alliance, and gains the right to manipulate Fil's memories.

10
"Blue Rose"
"Burū Rōzu" (指向法 (ブルー・ローズ))
Maria Ichino
Takashi Nagayoshi
Yumiko Kinoshita
Kento Shimoyama
June 11, 2014
[81]

Sora and friends bond with Kurami and Fil as they make the final preparations to conquer the Eastern Federation. Per Sora's demands, the match against the werebeasts is made public in order to prevent them from cheating. The game begins and Sora, Shiro, Stephanie, Jibril, and their opponent Izuna Hatsuse, are sent to a virtual reality world which resembles Tokyo. Sora and Shiro's agoraphobia acts up and they enter a devoid state.

11
"Killing Giant"
"Kiringu Jaianto" (誘導法 (キリング・ジャイアント))
Masaki Hyuga
Kento Shimoyama
June 18, 2014
[82]

Recalling they are in virtual reality, Sora and Shiro return to normal; the game is a form of cops and robbers where they use guns that fire heart-shaped bullets. While Stephanie remains clueless about the game, Sora, Shiro, and Jibril battle against Izuna and deduce that her grandfather, Ino Hatsuse, is relaying their location and state of mind to her. Sora and friends regroup as Shiro makes the proper adjustments to their plans. Executing the unspoken plan, Sora and Shiro corner Izuna, forcing her to use an ability called Blood Destruction to augment her abilities.

12
"Rule Number 10"
"Rūru Nanbā Jū" (収束法 (ルール・ナンバー・10))
Kōji Ōdate
Kunihiko Hamada
Jukki Hanada
June 25, 2014
[50]

Sora and Shiro are defeated; as Izuna drops her guard, she is shot by Stephanie riding a NPC. Sora reveals he bound Stephanie to the Pledges to hide her intent while Shiro calculated the NPC's movements, allowing Stephanie to hide her location. While Izuna laments the werebeasts' fate, Sora assures her of his goodwill. Sora forces political pressure on the Eastern Federation leader, the nameless miko, to challenge him to a game. They have a coin flip where Sora has it land on its edge. He convinces the miko to declare they both win and as a result, Elkia can share resources with the Eastern Federation while the werebeasts maintain their self-rule; the allied nation is named the Elkia Federation. In the aftermath, Sora and friends have the miko channel an old deus for a game.

text: Reception

text: It was reported in May 2017, that over 3 million copies of the light novel are in circulation.[83] That same year, No Game No Life was the top ten selling light novel series with several of its books appearing in the top thirty selling volumes list.[84][85] Starting in its 2014 pool, the yearly magazine Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!, listed the light novel and the protagonists of No Game No Life beginning in its polls;[86][87] in addition, the series ranked fourth in Sugoi Japan 2015 polls.[88] Seven Seas Entertainment's localization of the manga was able to reach The New York Times Manga Best Sellers and ICv2's charts.[89][90] The anime series saw similar success and its home media made appearances on Oricon's weekly selling charts.[91][92] In April 2014, No Game No Life was one of the top recorded anime series on Sony's Torne;[93] a poll by AT-X ranked the series as one of 2014's top anime series.[94]

text: Anime News Network had four editors review the first episode of the anime: Carl Kiminger, Rebecca Silverman, Theoron Martin, and Hope Chapman.[95] Opinions summarized: Kiminger enjoyed the premise and the concepts of games as battles; Silverman and Martin disliked the characters; and Chapman expressed absolute disdain, writing "nothing has made me roll my eyes, gag, or feel more irrationally angry this season than this insulting self-insert pandering trash heap". Carl Kimlinger continued the series, and published a positive review for the anime.[96] He wrote that the premise presented many flaws but were balanced out by other aspects: Sora and Shiro's "over-powered hero" archetype is balanced out by their flawed lifestyles, motives, and their "visible delight in crushing their enemies"; Stephanie Dola's mistreatment with gags and Sora and Shiro's growing respect towards her; and the harem aspect with Sora's apathy and interesting female characters. Regardless, Kimlinger praised the plot's "big games", calling them the reason to watch the series and described them as "steeped in trickery and strategy"; he added that despite knowing the protagonists would win, the fun is seeing how they do it. Kimlinger wrote the over-saturation art style will be an acquired taste for most viewers and praised how the animation really shines during the "big games", calling it an impressive display of fluidity and timing.[96]

text: Kotaku's Richard Eisenbeis was also positive towards the series, praising the protagonists' dynamic, echoed Kimlinger's sentiments about the games, liked the animation, but noted his dislike for fan service featuring Shiro.[97] He also ranked the series as one of the top five anime series of 2014, and recommended it for viewers who like smart characters and gamer humor.[98][99] Similarly, TAY Kotaku also praised the dynamics, references to other anime and video games, and the art style; the reviewer had mixed feelings towards the harem aspect and sexual humor, and agreed with Kotaku's dislike for the fan service featuring Shiro.[100] IGN echoed previous opinions, praising the character dynamics, and also questioned the amount of unnecessary fanservice.[101]


document_title: The Big Texan Steak Ranch

question_text: how much is a 72 oz steak at the big texan

root

text: The Big Texan Steak Ranch

text: The Texas King[edit]

text: The Big Texan is best known for its 72 ounce (4.5 pounds or 2.04 kg) steak, nicknamed "The Texas King." The steak is free to anyone who, in one hour or less, can eat the entire meal, consisting of the steak itself, a bread roll with butter, a baked potato, shrimp cocktail, and a salad; otherwise, the meal costs $72.[3] Those who have successfully consumed the Texas King meal have their names recorded and posted at the restaurant. As of February 2018, over 9,500 people out of about 62,000 have accomplished this feat.

tag: p

text: According to the restaurant, when featured on the TV show Man v. Food, the challenge started in 1960, when founder Bob Lee decided to hold a contest over which of the cowboys working in the stockyards could eat the most steaks in one hour, with a prize of $5 (over $41 when adjusted for inflation in 2017) at stake. One cowboy ate four and a half 1-pound steaks, a shrimp cocktail, baked potato, dinner roll, and a salad in the hour's time to win the $5. Lee was so impressed with the achievement that he declared, "Whoever eats that much again in my restaurant, he gets it for free."

text: Those who take on the Texas King challenge are required to pay for the meal in advance and, if they are successful, their money is refunded. The steak is cooked to the participant's preference, and the challenge takes place at a table for six on a raised platform in the middle of the main dining room.

text: The record for the shortest time to finish the entire Texas King meal had been held by competitive eating champion Joey Chestnut (at 8 minutes and 52 seconds), breaking Frank Pastore's 1987 record (of 9 minutes 30 seconds, which stood for 21 years) on his March 24, 2008 visit. On May 26, 2014, he was bested by 125-pound competitive eater Molly Schuyler, who polished off the meal in just 4 minutes 58 seconds, and came back for seconds (14 minutes and 57 seconds for two meals).[4] She did not, however, eat a third steak meal in the same hour. Schuyler returned on April 19, 2015 and would finish her first meal in 4 minutes 18 seconds, beating her own record by 40 seconds. She had defeated four other teams of competitors in the challenge, devouring two more meals in twenty minutes.[5] The unofficial record (for all animals, including humans) was held by a 500-pound Siberian tiger who ate the steak in 90 seconds in 1990, until bested by a lioness in 2016 clocking in at 80 seconds.[6]

text: In media[edit]

text: The Texas King meal is shown in the movie Waking Up in Reno, with Billy Bob Thornton taking the challenge. It is also shown on the Travel Channel's Man v. Food, where host Adam Richman completes the challenge and in Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, where Bourdain declines to compete but his cameraman takes part and fails.

text: The Big Texan Steak Ranch is known for its Cadillac white stretch limos with longhorn hood ornaments,[7] one of which appears in the 2006 animated film Cars as Texas oil baron Tex Dinoco. Becky Ransom and the Big Texan Steak Ranch ("free 72-ounce steak if consumed in 60 minutes") are acknowledged in the film's credits.

text: In the Season 3 episode of King of the Hill "And They Call It Bobby Love", the Steak Ranch was parodied with a similar restaurant called the "Panhandler Steakhouse." Bobby Hill accepts the challenge only to spite the girl that spurned his affections (who was also a vegetarian). He completes the challenge but upon returning home subsequently vomits.

text: Big Texan Motel[edit]

text: Located adjacent to the restaurant on The Big Texan Steak Ranch property is the 54-unit Big Texan Motel. The cinder-block construction motel is designed to resemble a main street in an old west town, and features Texas-themed decor and a Texas-shaped pool. In 2004, a 20-stall stable was added behind the main motel building.

text: Handcrafted beer[edit]

text: The Big Texan Brewery started serving handcrafted beers on June 24, 2011.[8] Brews include Honey Blonde Ale, Palo Duro Ale, Texas Red Amber Ale, Pecan Porter, Rattlesnake IPA, 1836 Chocolate Bock Lager, FNW Limelite, Raspberry Wheat, and Whisky Barrel Stout.[9]

text: Texas Country Reporter rates Big Texan No. 1[edit]

text: In 2013, viewers of Bob Phillips's Texas Country Reporter voted the Big Texan the "No. 1 Steakhouse in Texas".

text: The second and third place designees are the Little Rhein Steak House (in Downtown San Antonio along the famous River Walk) and Perini's Ranch Steakhouse (in Buffalo Gap, south of Abilene in Taylor County).[10]


document_title: The Flintstones

question_text: who were the original voices of the flintstones

text: The Flintstones

text: Overview[edit]

text: This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. (October 2017)

tag: table

text: The show's premise is that it is set in a comical, satirical version of the "Stone Age" which, in spite of using primitive technology, resembles mid-20th century suburban America. The plots deliberately resemble the sitcoms of the era, with the caveman Flintstone and Rubble families getting into minor conflicts characteristic of modern life. The show is set in the Stone Age town of Bedrock (pop. 2500). In this fantasy version of the past, dinosaurs and other long-extinct animals co-exist with cavemen, saber-toothed cats, and woolly mammoths. Like their mid-20th century counterparts, these cavemen listen to records, live in split-level homes, and eat at restaurants, yet their technology is made entirely from preindustrial materials and powered primarily through the use of animals. For example, the cars are made out of stone, wood, and animal skins, and powered by the passengers' feet.

text: Animation historian Christopher P. Lehman considers that the series draws its humor in part from creative uses of anachronisms. The main one is the placing of a "modern", 20th-century society in prehistory. This society takes inspiration from the suburban sprawl developed in the first two decades of the postwar period. This society has modern home appliances, but they work by employing animals. They have automobiles, but they hardly resemble the cars of the 20th century. These cars are large wooden structures and burn no fuel. They are powered by people who run while inside them. Finally, the stone houses of this society are cookie-cutter homes positioned into typical neighborhoods.[9]

text: As a running gag, often the "prehistoric" analog to a modern machine uses an animal.[10]

text: Characters[edit]

text: The Flintstones[edit]

text:
Fred Flintstone is the main character of the series. Fred is an accident-prone bronto-crane operator at the Slate Rock and Gravel Company and the head of the Flintstone household. He is quick to anger (usually over trivial matters), but is a very loving husband and father. He is also good at bowling and is a member of the fictional "Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes" (Lodge No. 26), a men-only club paralleling real-life fraternities such as the Loyal Order of Moose. His famous catchphrase is "Yabba Dabba Doo!"
Wilma Flintstone is Fred's wife. She is more intelligent and level-headed than her husband, though she often has a habit of spending money (with Betty and her catchphrase being "Da-da-da duh da-da CHARGE IT!!"). She often is a foil to Fred's poor behavior.
Pebbles Flintstone is the Flintstones' infant daughter, who is born near the end of the third season.
Dino, is the Flintstones' pet dinosaur that acts like a dog. A running gag in the series involves Fred coming home from work and Dino getting excited and knocking him down and licking his face repeatedly.
Baby Puss is the Flintstones' pet saber-toothed cat, which is rarely seen in the actual series, but is always seen throwing Fred out of the house during the end credits, causing Fred to pound repeatedly on the front door and yell "Wilma!", waking the whole neighborhood in the process.

tag: ul

text: The Rubbles[edit]

text:
Barney Rubble is the secondary main character and Fred's best friend and next-door neighbor. His occupation is, for the most part of the series, unknown, though later series depict him working in the same quarry as Fred. He shares many of Fred's interests such as bowling and golf, and is also a member of the "Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes". Though Fred and Barney frequently get into feuds with one another (usually due to Fred's short temper), their deep fraternal bond remains evident.
Betty Rubble is Barney's wife and Wilma's best friend. Like Wilma, she, too, is slightly more intelligent than her husband and has a habit of spending money.
Bamm-Bamm Rubble is the Rubbles' preternaturally strong adopted son, whom they adopt during the fourth season; his name comes from the only phrase he ever speaks as a baby: "Bamm, Bamm!"
Hoppy is the Rubbles' pet hopparoo (a kangaroo/dinosaur combination creature), which they purchase in the beginning of the fifth season. When he first arrives, Dino and Fred mistake him for a giant mouse and are frightened of him, but they eventually become best friends after Hoppy gets help when their owners are in an accident. He babysits the kids as he takes them around in his pouch, which also serves as a shopping cart for Betty.

text: Other characters[edit]

text: Over 100 other characters appeared throughout the program.[11]

text:
Mr. Slate is Fred's hot-tempered boss at the gravel pit. Mr. Slate fires Fred on several occasions throughout the series, only to give him his job back by the end of the episode. A running gag is Slate's ever-changing first name, which was revealed to be Sylvester, Nate, Oscar, and George as the series progressed. In the episode "The Long, Long Weekend" which originally aired on January 21, 1966, he is shown as being the founder of "Slate Rock and Gravel Company"; still in business two million years later, the company is operated by his descendant, "George Slate the Eighty-Thousandth". Note, in the early Flintstones episodes, the more recognized "Mr. Slate" character was known as "Mr. Rockhead" and was a supervisor of Fred's. Mr. Slate was a short character. During the course of the cartoon, the two men switched identities and the shorter character faded away from existence.
Arnold is the Flintstones' paper boy, whom Fred absolutely despises, mainly because Arnold is frequently able to best and outsmart Fred at a number of tasks and also because he often ("unintentionally") throws the newspaper in Fred's face. Arnold's parents are mentioned in the series, but his mother Doris, a friend of Wilma and Betty's (as evidenced in the episode "The Little Stranger", which originally aired on November 2, 1962), is referenced in name only, never actually appearing on screen. Arnold's father, however, did appear in the episode "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", which originally aired on April 27, 1962, though his name is never mentioned.
Joe Rockhead is a mutual friend of Fred and Barney. Usually, when Fred and Barney have some kind of falling out, Fred mentions doing something (such as going to a baseball game) with Joe. Joe was, at some point, chief of the Bedrock Volunteer Fire Department (as shown on the episode "Arthur Quarry's Dance Class", which originally aired on January 13, 1961). His appearance varied throughout the run of the series, but his appearance in the episode "The Picnic", which originally aired on December 15, 1961, was the one most commonly used.
Pearl Slaghoople is Wilma's hard-to-please mother, who is constantly disapproving of Fred and his behavior. Their disastrous first meeting was recounted in the episode "Bachelor Daze", which originally aired on March 5, 1964. They briefly reconciled in the episode "Mother-in-Law's Visit", which originally aired on February 1, 1963. That is, until, she found out that she became Fred's "nice fat pigeon" when he suckered her out of money that he needed to buy a baby crib for Pebbles. They reconciled again at the end of the TV movie I Yabba Dabba Do.
The Great Gazoo is an alien exiled to Earth that helps Fred and Barney, often against their will. He is actually from the future, and is quite dismayed when he realizes he has been sent back to "the Stone Age". He can only be seen by Fred, Barney, Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm, other small children, Dino, and Hoppy. Gazoo appeared in the final season only.
Uncle Tex Hardrock is Fred's maternal uncle and a member of the Texarock Rangers. He constantly holds Fred's future inheritance over his head.
Sam Slagheap is the Grand Poobah of the Water Buffalo Lodge.

text: Voice actors[edit]

text: Fred Flintstone physically resembles both the voice actor who played him, Alan Reed, and Jackie Gleason, whose series, The Honeymooners, inspired The Flintstones.[12] The voice of Barney Rubble was provided by voice actor Mel Blanc, though five episodes during the second season (the first, second, fifth, sixth, and ninth) employed Hanna-Barbera regular Daws Butler while Blanc was incapacitated by a near-fatal car accident. Blanc was able to return to the series much sooner than expected, by virtue of a temporary recording studio for the entire cast set up at Blanc's bedside. Blanc's portrayal of Barney had changed considerably after the accident. In the earliest episodes, Blanc had used a much higher pitch to the point of portraying Barney as a smart-aleck. After his recovery from the accident, Blanc used a deeper voice, quite similar to the voice of the Abominable Snowman he performed in other cartoons, and was shown as somewhat dopier than before.

text: Reed based Fred's voice upon Gleason's Honeymooners interpretation of Ralph Kramden, while Blanc, after a season of using a nasal, high-pitched voice for Barney, eventually adopted a style of voice similar to that used by Art Carney in his portrayal of Ed Norton. The first time the Art Carney-like voice was used was for a few seconds in "The Prowler" (the third episode produced).

text: In a 1986 Playboy interview, Gleason said Alan Reed had done voice-overs for Gleason in his early movies and that he had considered suing Hanna-Barbera for copying The Honeymooners but decided to let it pass.[13] According to Henry Corden, a voice actor and a friend of Gleason's, "Jackie's lawyers told him he could probably have The Flintstones pulled right off the air. But they also told him, 'Do you want to be known as the guy who yanked Fred Flintstone off the air? The guy who took away a show so many kids love, and so many parents love, too?'"[14]

text: Henry Corden's voice became Fred's after Reed's death in 1977, starting with A Flintstone Christmas.[15] Corden had previously provided Fred's singing voice in The Man Called Flintstone[16] and later on The Flintstones children's records. Since 2000, Jeff Bergman, James Arnold Taylor, and Scott Innes (performing both Fred and Barney for Toshiba commercials) have performed the voice of Fred. Since Mel Blanc's death in 1989, Barney has been voiced by Jeff Bergman, Frank Welker, and Kevin Michael Richardson. Various additional character voices were created by Hal Smith, Allan Melvin, Janet Waldo, Daws Butler, and Howard Morris, among others.

text: Voice cast[edit]

text:
Fred Flintstone – Alan Reed (speaking voice only)
Wilma Flintstone/Pebbles Flintstone – Jean Vander Pyl
Barney Rubble – Mel Blanc; Daws Butler (season 2; episodes 1, 2, 5, 6, and 9 only)
Betty Rubble – Bea Benaderet (seasons 1–4); Gerry Johnson (seasons 5–6)
Bamm-Bamm Rubble/Hoppy/Arnold – Don Messick
Dino – Mel Blanc
Mr. Slate – John Stephenson
Mrs. Slaghoople – Verna Felton and Janet Waldo
The Great Gazoo – Harvey Korman

text: Additional voice cast[edit]

text:
Howard Morris
Doug Young
Henry Corden
June Foray

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally aired

First aired
Last aired

Pilot
May 1994 (1994-05)

1
28
September 30, 1960 (1960-09-30)
April 7, 1961 (1961-04-07)

2
32
September 15, 1961 (1961-09-15)
April 27, 1962 (1962-04-27)

3
28
September 14, 1962 (1962-09-14)
April 5, 1963 (1963-04-05)

4
26
September 19, 1963 (1963-09-19)
March 12, 1964 (1964-03-12)

5
26
September 17, 1964 (1964-09-17)
March 12, 1965 (1965-03-12)

6
26
September 17, 1965 (1965-09-17)
April 1, 1966 (1966-04-01)

text: Music[edit]

text: The opening and closing credits theme during the first two seasons was called "Rise and Shine", a lively instrumental underscore accompanying Fred on his drive home from work. The tune resembled "The Bugs Bunny Overture (This Is It!)", the theme song of The Bugs Bunny Show, also airing on ABC at the time, and may have been the reason the theme was changed in the third season.[17] Starting in season 3, episode 3 ("Barney the Invisible"), the opening and closing credits theme was the familiar vocal "Meet the Flintstones". This version was recorded with a 22-piece jazz band, and a five-voice singing group called the Skip Jacks. The melody is derived from part of the 'B' section of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 17 Movement 2, composed in 1801/02.[18] The "Meet the Flintstones" opening was later added to the first two seasons for syndication. The musical underscores were credited to Hoyt Curtin for the show's first five seasons; Ted Nichols took over in 1965 for the final season.[17]

text: History and production[edit]

text: The idea of The Flintstones started after Hanna-Barbera produced The Huckleberry Hound Show and The Quick Draw McGraw Show. Although these programs were successful, they did not have the same wide audience appeal as their previous theatrical cartoon series Tom and Jerry, which entertained both children and the adults who accompanied them. However, since children did not need their parents' supervision to watch television, Hanna-Barbera's output became labeled "kids only". Barbera and Hanna wanted to recapture the adult audience with an animated situation comedy.[19]

text: Barbera and Hanna experimented with hillbillies (a hillbilly theme was later incorporated into two Flintstones episodes, "The Bedrock Hillbillies" and "The Hatrocks and the Gruesomes"), Romans (Hanna-Barbera eventually created The Roman Holidays), pilgrims, and Indians as the settings for the two families before deciding on the Stone Age. According to Barbera, they settled on that because "you could take anything that was current, and convert it to stone-age".[20] Under the working title The Flagstones, the family originally consisted of Fred, Wilma, and their son, Fred, Jr. A brief demonstration film was also created to sell the idea of a "modern stone age family" to sponsors and the network.[21]:3 Animator Kenneth Muse, who worked on the Tom and Jerry cartoons, also worked on the early seasons of The Flintstones.

text: The show imitated and spoofed The Honeymooners, although the early voice characterization for Barney was that of Lou Costello.[22] William Hanna admitted that "At that time, The Honeymooners was the most popular show on the air, and for my bill, it was the funniest show on the air. The characters, I thought, were terrific. Now, that influenced greatly what we did with The Flintstones ... The Honeymooners was there, and we used that as a kind of basis for the concept."[citation needed] However, Joseph Barbera disavowed these claims in a separate interview, stating that, "I don't remember mentioning The Honeymooners when I sold the show. But if people want to compare The Flintstones to The Honeymooners, then great. It's a total compliment. The Honeymooners was one of the greatest shows ever written."[23] Jackie Gleason, creator of The Honeymooners, considered suing Hanna-Barbera Productions, but decided that he did not want to be known as "the guy who yanked Fred Flintstone off the air".[24][25] Another influence was noted during Hanna-Barbera's tenure at MGM, where they were in a friendly competition with fellow cartoon director Tex Avery. In 1955, Avery directed a cartoon entitled "The First Bad Man" (narrated by cowboy legend Tex Ritter). The cartoon concerned the rowdy antics of a bank robber in stone-age Dallas. Many of the visual jokes antedated by many years similar ones used by Hanna-Barbera in the Flintstones series. Many students of American animation point to this cartoon as a progenitive seed of the Flintstones.

text: The concept was also predated by the Stone Age Cartoons series of 12 animated cartoons released from January 1940 to September 1940 by Fleischer Studios. These cartoons show stone age people doing modern things with primitive means. One example is Granite Hotel including characters such as a newsboy, telephone operator, hotel clerk, and a spoof of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.

text: Barbera explained that selling the show to a network and sponsors was not an easy task.

text: Here we were with a brand new thing that had never been done before, an animated prime-time television show. So we developed two storyboards; one was they had a helicopter of some kind and they went to the opera or whatever, and the other was Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble fighting over a swimming pool. So I go back to New York with a portfolio and two half-hour boards. And no-one would even believe that you'd dare to suggest a thing like that, I mean they looked at you and they'd think you're crazy. But slowly the word got out, and I used the presentation which took almost an hour and a half. I would go to the other two boards and tell them what they did, and do all the voices and the sounds and so-on, and I'd stagger back to the hotel and I'd collapse. The phone would ring like crazy, like one time I did Bristol-Myers, the whole company was there. When I got through I'd go back to the hotel the phone would ring and say "the president wasn't at that meeting, could you come back and do it for him." So I had many of those, one time I had two agencies, they'd fill the room I mean God about 40 people, and I did this whole show. I got to know where the laughs were, and where to hit it, nothing; dead, dead, dead. So one of the people at Screen Gems said "This is the worst, those guys...." he was so angry at them. What it was, was that there were two agencies there, and neither one was going to let the other one know they were enjoying it. But I pitched it for eight straight weeks and nobody bought it. So after sitting in New York just wearing out, you know really wearing out. Pitch, pitch, pitch, sometimes five a day. So finally on the very last day I pitched it to ABC, which was a young daring network willing to try new things, and bought the show in 15 minutes. Thank goodness, because this was the very last day and if they hadn't bought it, I would have taken everything down, put it in the archives and never pitched it again. Sometimes I wake up in a cold-sweat thinking this is how close you get to disaster.[20]

text: When the series went into production, the working title The Flagstones was changed, possibly to avoid confusion with the Flagstons, characters in the comic strip Hi and Lois. After spending a brief period in development as The Gladstones (GLadstone being a Los Angeles telephone exchange at the time),[26] Hanna-Barbera settled upon The Flintstones, and the idea of the Flintstones having a child from the start was discarded, with Fred and Wilma starting out as a childless couple. However, some early Flintstones merchandise, such as a 1961 Little Golden Book, included Fred Jr., before it was decided on his removal.[27]

text: Despite the animation and fantasy setting, the series was initially aimed at adult audiences, which was reflected in the comedy writing, which, as noted, resembled the average primetime sitcoms of the era, with the usual family issues resolved with a laugh at the end of each episode, as well as the inclusion of a laugh track. Hanna and Barbera hired many writers from the world of live action, including two of Jackie Gleason's writers, Herbert Finn and Sydney Zelinka, as well as relative newcomer Joanna Lee while still using traditional animation story men such as Warren Foster and Michael Maltese.

text: The Flintstones premiered on September 30, 1960, at 8:30 pm, and quickly became a hit. It was the first American animated show to depict two people of the opposite sex (Fred and Wilma; Barney and Betty) sleeping together in one bed, although Fred and Wilma are sometimes depicted as sleeping in separate beds. For comparison, the first live-action depiction of this in American TV history was in television's first-ever sitcom: 1947's Mary Kay and Johnny.[28]

text: The first two seasons were co-sponsored by Winston cigarettes and the characters appeared in several black-and-white television commercials for Winston[29] (dictated by the custom, at that time, that the star(s) of a TV series often "pitched" their sponsor's product in an "integrated commercial" at the end of the episode).[30]

text: During the third season, Hanna and Barbera decided that Fred and Wilma should have a baby. Originally, Hanna and Barbera intended for the Flintstone family to have a boy, the head of the marketing department convinced them to change it to a girl since "girl dolls sell a lot better than boy dolls".[19] Although most Flintstones episodes were stand-alone storylines, Hanna-Barbera created a story arc surrounding the birth of Pebbles. Beginning with the episode "The Surprise", aired midway through the third season (January 25, 1963), in which Wilma reveals her pregnancy to Fred, the arc continued through the time leading up to Pebbles' birth in the episode "Dress Rehearsal" (February 22, 1963), and then continued with several episodes showing Fred and Wilma adjusting to the world of parenthood. Around this time, Winston pulled out their sponsorship and Welch's (grape juice and grape jellies) became the primary sponsor. The integrated commercials for Welch's products feature Pebbles asking for grape juice in her toddler dialect, and Fred explaining to Pebbles Welch's unique process for making the jelly, compared to the competition. Welch's also produced a line of grape jelly packaged in jars which were reusable as drinking glasses, with painted scenes featuring the Flintstones and characters from the show. In Australia, the Nine Network ran a "Name the Flintstones' baby" competition during the 'pregnancy' episodes – few Australian viewers were expected to have a U.S. connection giving them information about past Flintstone episodes.

text: Another arc occurred in the fourth season, in which the Rubbles, depressed over being unable to have children of their own (making The Flintstones the first animated series in history to address the issue of infertility, though subtly), adopt Bamm-Bamm. The 100th episode made (but the 90th to air), "Little Bamm-Bamm Rubble" (October 3, 1963), established how Bamm-Bamm was adopted. Nine episodes were produced before it but aired afterwards, which explains why Bamm-Bamm was not seen again until episode 101, "Daddies Anonymous" (Bamm-Bamm was in a teaser on episode 98, "Kleptomaniac Pebbles"). Another story arc, occurring in the final season, centered on Fred and Barney's dealings with the Great Gazoo (voiced by Harvey Korman ).

text: After Pebbles' birth, the tone and writing became more juvenile and ratings from the adult demographic began to decline. The last original episode was broadcast on April 1, 1966.[31]

text: The first three seasons of The Flintstones aired Friday nights at 8:30 on ABC. Season four and part of season five aired Thursdays at 7:30. The rest of the series aired Fridays at 7:30.

text: In the U.S., syndicated reruns of the series were offered to local stations until 1997, when E/I regulations and changing tastes in the industry led to the show's move to cable television. From the time of Ted Turner's purchase of Hanna-Barbera in 1992, TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network aired the program. In 2000, the program moved to Boomerang, where it aired until no later than 2016 (in its last years on the channel, it had been relegated to a graveyard slot). Online, the series was made available on the In2TV service beginning in 2006, then the online version of Kids' WB until that service was discontinued in 2015. As of 2017, full episodes are only available in the U.S. on Boomerang's subscription video on demand service, with select clips made available on an official YouTube account tied to the revamped Kids' WB Web site.

text: Reception[edit]

text: The night after The Flintstones premiered, Variety called it "A pen and ink disaster",[32] and as late as the 1980s, highbrow critics derided the show's limited animation and derivative plots.[33] Despite the mixed critical reviews at first, The Flintstones has generally been considered a television classic and was rerun continuously for five decades after its end. In 1961, The Flintstones became the first animated series to be nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, but lost out to The Jack Benny Show. In January 2009, IGN named The Flintstones as the ninth-best in its "Top 100 Animated TV Shows".[34]

text: Nielsen ratings[edit]

text:
Season
Time slot (ET)
Rank
Rating[35]

1960–61
Friday at 8:30-9:00 pm
18
24.3

1961–62
21
22.9 (Tied with The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis)

1962–63
30
20.5

1963–64
Thursday at 7:30-8:00 pm
Not in the Top 30

1964–65
Thursday at 7:30-8:00 pm (Episodes 1-14)
Friday at 7:30-8:00 pm (Episodes 15-26)

1965–66
Friday at 7:30-8:00 pm

text: Films and subsequent television series[edit]

text: Following the show's cancellation in 1966, a film based upon the series was created. The Man Called Flintstone was a musical spy caper that parodied James Bond and other secret agents. The movie was released to theaters on August 3, 1966, by Columbia Pictures.[36] It was released on DVD in Canada in March 2005 and in United States in December 2008.

text: The show was revived in the early 1970s with Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm having grown into teenagers, and several different series and made-for-TV movies (broadcast mainly on Saturday mornings, with a few shown in prime time); including a series depicting Fred and Barney as police officers, another depicting the characters as children, and yet others featuring Fred and Barney encountering Marvel Comics superhero The Thing and Al Capp's comic strip character The Shmoo – have appeared over the years. The original show also was adapted into a live-action film in 1994, and a prequel, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, which followed in 2000. Unlike its sister show The Jetsons (the two shows appeared in a made-for-TV crossover movie in 1987), the revival programs were not widely syndicated or rerun alongside the original series.[citation needed]

text: Television series[edit]

text:
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971–72) (one season)
The Flintstone Comedy Hour (1972–73) (one season)
The Flintstone Comedy Show (1973–74) (compilation series)
Fred Flintstone and Friends (1977–78) (compilation series)
The New Fred and Barney Show (1979) (one season)
Fred and Barney Meet The Thing (1979) (one season)
Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo (1979–80) (one season)
The Flintstone Comedy Show (1980–82) (two seasons)
The Flintstone Funnies (1982–84) (compilation series)
The Flintstone Kids (1986–88) (two seasons)
What a Cartoon! – featuring Dino: Stay Out! (1995) and Dino: The Great Egg-Scape (1997)
Cave Kids (1996) (one season)

text: Theatrical animated feature[edit]

text: The Man Called Flintstone (1966, released by Columbia Pictures)

text: Television specials[edit]

text:
The Flintstones on Ice (1973)
Energy: A National Issue (1977)
A Flintstone Christmas (1977)
The Flintstones: Little Big League (1978)
The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone (1979)
The Flintstones' New Neighbors (1980)
The Flintstones: Fred's Final Fling (1980)
The Flintstones: Wind-Up Wilma (1981)
The Flintstones: Jogging Fever (1981)
The Flintstones' 25th Anniversary Celebration (1986)
The Flintstone Kids' "Just Say No" Special (1988)
Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration (1989)
A Flintstone Family Christmas (1993)

text: Television films[edit]

text:
The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones (1987)
I Yabba-Dabba Do! (1993)
Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby (1993)
A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994)
The Flintstones: On the Rocks (2001)

text: Educational films[edit]

text:
Hanna-Barbera Educational Filmstrips

Bamm-Bamm: Term Paper (1978)
Bamm-Bamm: Information Please (1979)
Flintstones: A Weighty Problem (1980)
Flintstones: Fire Alarm (1980)
Flintstones: Fire Escape (1980)
Flintstones: Driving Guide (1980)

text: Live-action films[edit]

text:
The Flintstones (1994)
The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000)

text: Direct-to-video films[edit]

text: The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown! (2015)

text: Other media[edit]

text: Cancelled Seth MacFarlane reboot[edit]

text: In 2011, it was announced the Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane would be reviving The Flintstones for the Fox network, with the first episode airing in 2013.[37] After Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly read the pilot script and "liked it but didn't love it", MacFarlane chose to abandon work on the project rather than restarting it.[38][39]

text: WWE film[edit]

text: In May 2013, Warner Bros. Animation and WWE Studios announced a Flintstones animated film. The film was to involve a "prehistoric WWE main event"[40] and feature the voices of The Undertaker, Vince McMahon, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, and CM Punk. The film was released direct-to-video in early 2015.[40]

text: Theme parks[edit]

text: Two Flintstones-themed amusement parks exist in the United States: Bedrock City in Custer, South Dakota, and another in Valle, Arizona. Both have been in operation for decades. Bedrock City, also known as Flintstone Park, closed in August 2015.[41]

text: Another existed until the 1990s at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina. In Canada, Flintstone Park in Kelowna, British Columbia, opened in 1968 and closed in 1998; it was notable for the "Forty Foot Fred" statue of Fred Flintstone which was a well known Kelowna landmark.[42][43] Another Flintstones park was located in Bridal Falls, British Columbia, which closed in 1990.[44] Calaway Park outside Calgary, Alberta, Canada, also opened with a Flintstones theme and many of the buildings today have a caveman-like design, though the park does not license the characters. The Australia's Wonderland and Canada's Wonderland theme parks, both featured Flintstones characters in their Hanna-Barbera-themed children's sections from 1985 up until the mid-1990s. Kings Island near Cincinnati, Ohio, had a Hanna-Barbera land, in which many Hanna-Barbera characters were featured, including the Flintstones, in the 1980s and early 1990s.

text: Live theater[edit]

text: A stage production opened at Universal Studios Hollywood in 1994 (the year the live-action film was released), developed by Universal and Hanna-Barbera Productions. It opened at the Panasonic Theater, replacing the Star Trek show. The story consists of Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty heading for "Hollyrock". The show ran until January 2, 1997.

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: Miles Laboratories (now part of Bayer Corporation) and their One-A-Day vitamin brand was the alternate sponsor of the original Flintstones series during its first two seasons, and in the late 1960s, Miles introduced Flintstones Chewable Vitamins, fruit-flavored multivitamin tablets for children in the shape of the Flintstones characters, which are currently being sold.[45]

text: The Simpsons referenced The Flintstones in several episodes. In the episode "Homer's Night Out", Homer's local convenience store clerk, Apu, remarks "You look familiar, sir. Are you on the television or something?", to which Homer replies "Sorry, buddy, you've got me confused with Fred Flintstone."[46] During the couch gag of the opening credits of the episode "Kamp Krusty", the Simpson family arrive home to find the Flintstone family already sitting on their couch.[47] The same couch gag was reused in syndicated episodes of "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", when The Simpsons overtook The Flintstones as the longest-running animated series.[48] In "Lady Bouvier's Lover", Homer's boss, Mr. Burns, appears at the family's house and says "Why, it's Fred Flintstone (referring to Homer) and his lovely wife, Wilma! (Marge) Oh, and this must be little Pebbles! (Maggie) Mind if I come in? I brought chocolates." Homer responds by saying "Yabba-dabba-doo!"[49] The opening of "Marge vs. the Monorail" depicts Homer leaving work in a similar way to Fred Flintstone in the opening of The Flintstones, during which he sings his own version of the latter's opening theme.

text: On September 30, 2010, Google temporarily replaced the logo on its search page with a custom graphic celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Flintstones' first TV broadcast.[50]


document_title: Twenty One Pilots

question_text: how did they come up with the name twenty one pilots

text: Twenty One Pilots

text: History

text: 2009–2011: Formation, No Phun Intended, and self-titled album Twenty One Pilots

text:
External video

 The original line-up performing

text: Interview with the original line-up

text: Tyler Joseph first met future bandmate Nicholas "Nick" Thomas at a young age while playing little league basketball in Columbus, Ohio.[3] The two remained friends as Thomas transferred into Joseph's school for eighth grade and throughout the duration of high school as well.[4][5]

text: Joseph began playing music after finding an old keyboard in his closet, a Christmas gift from his mother, and mimicking radio melodies.[6][7] After seeing a songwriter perform at a High Street club, Joseph rejected an opportunity to play basketball at Otterbein University, along with a scholarship to the university. From around 2007 to 2008, Joseph recorded a solo album entitled No Phun Intended in his basement. Nick Thomas contributed guitar to several songs on the album,[3] and collaborated on the song "Trees", which was to become a signature Twenty One Pilots song.[8]

text: While attending Ohio State University, Joseph met Texas-born future bandmate Christopher "Chris" Salih at a party. Salih came from a musical background and consulted Joseph about starting a band. Impressed by the recording studio Salih had built in his house, Joseph agreed and began sharing his ideas. Just before their first performance, Joseph invited Thomas to join them as a bassist despite never having played the instrument before. In 2009, the group moved into a house of their own, where their first album was conceptualized and recorded in the basement.[9][3]

text: The band initially played for a wide variety of audiences at clubs and venues around the Columbus area. Playing at metal, hardcore, and electronic venues influenced Joseph to experiment with these disparate styles with his songwriting. To catch the attention of unfamiliar or disinterested attendees, the band began to experiment with costumes and on-stage acrobatics.[9]

text: Now going by "Twenty One Pilots",[4][5] the group released their debut, self-titled album, Twenty One Pilots, on December 29, 2009, and began touring the rest of Ohio. Their initial marketing was very grassroots; Joseph's mother would stand outside of Ohio State University giving away tickets to his shows.[10] During this time, the band participated in "Battle of the Band" contests at The Alrosa Villa and The Basement, important Columbus music venues.[11][12] In 2010, the band posted two officially unreleased tracks to their SoundCloud account.[13] These included a cover of "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri and a remixed interpretation of "Con te partirò (Time to Say Goodbye)" by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman; the latter would become the first song local drummer Josh Dun heard from the group.[14][14]

text: 2011–2012: Departure of Chris Salih and Nick Thomas and Regional at Best

text: Salih left on May 8, 2011 to focus on work, and Thomas left the next month on June 3, 2011 to focus on schooling, both posting farewell notes on the band's official Facebook page.[15][16] Before departing the project, Salih invited Guitar Center co-worker and friend of the group Josh Dun (former touring drummer for House of Heroes),[5][17] to take his place in the band. Impressed by the band's potential and Joseph's creative vision, Dun abandoned plans to pursue drumming in Nashville and joined the project only a few weeks before Thomas left the group.[18]

text: Both Salih and Thomas remained involved with the band's production for some time after their departure.[19] Thomas briefly attended school in North Carolina, but moved back into Joseph and Dun's house in Columbus a year after his departure and began to manage their merchandise. Thomas remained a part of the merchandise distribution crew throughout the production of Blurryface and continues to stay actively involved in the band's tour cycle.[20] Thomas has since relocated to Savannah, Georgia where he resides today.[21] Salih co-founded the carpentry company "Elmwood Custom Goods", where he works as an account manager[22] and resides in Columbus.

text: With a new lineup consisting of only Joseph and Dun, Twenty One Pilots self-released their second album, Regional at Best, on July 8, 2011. The album was accompanied by a free CD release show on the grounds of New Albany High School. While Salih and Thomas were involved with the conceptualization of the album, neither they nor Dun claim to have had much involvement with its production, which was handled nearly exclusively by Joseph.[19] The album features Joseph's brother Zack on the track "Kitchen Sink" and Joseph's college acquaintance Jocef on the track "Be Concerned".[23][24]

text: In November 2011, after months of cultivating a fan base in the Columbus area via social media interaction and constant touring, the band played a sold out concert at Columbus' Newport Music Hall. This notable accomplishment for an unsigned local group caught the attention of several record labels interested in seeing if the band's appeal could stretch outside of Ohio.[25]

text: That same year, the duo put out two free, otherwise unreleased songs via their email newsletter: the original version of "House of Gold" and "Two".[26][27] On February 11, 2012, the band released a music video on YouTube for an unreleased song titled "Goner".[28] "Goner" was rewritten and again recorded for its release on Blurryface in 2015.[29]

text: Joseph and Dun embarked on the Regional at Best Tour with rock band CHALLENGER!,[30][31] documenting it in a series of videos uploaded to the Twenty One Pilots YouTube channel.[32][33]

text: 2013–2014: Fueled by Ramen record deal, Vessel, and Quiet Is Violent World Tour

text: In April 2012, the band announced their signing to Atlantic Records subsidiary Fueled by Ramen, the label responsible for the commercial success of popular alternative artists like Panic! at the Disco and Paramore, during a sold out show at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion.[5][27] On July 17, 2012, they released their debut Fueled by Ramen recording, an EP entitled Three Songs.[34][35] The next month, the band embarked on a short tour with Neon Trees and Walk the Moon.[25]

text: Tyler Joseph successfully negotiated to maintain ownership of the preceding self-titled album, which remains available digitally. However, as part of a signing agreement in 2012 with record label Fueled by Ramen, rights to Regional at Best were transferred to the label, meaning that Regional at Best was discontinued and removed from digital markets.[36] Regional at Best tracks "Slowtown", "Anathema", "Ruby", "Be Concerned" (featuring Jocef), and "Clear" have since been made commercially unavailable,[37] and physical copies of the album are now rare and highly sought after.[38][39]

text: On November 12, 2012, the official music video for "Holding on to You", directed by Jordan Bahat, was released on YouTube.[40] On January 7 and April 19, 2013, the band released music videos for "Guns for Hands" and "Car Radio", respectively, both directed by Mark Eshleman of Reel Bear Media.[41][42][43]

text: In an interview with the Huffington Post, Joseph described Regional at Best as a "glorified mixtape" and confirmed that songs from that project would reappear on their debut studio album.[44] Ultimately, five tracks from Regional at Best – "Guns for Hands", "Holding on to You", "Ode to Sleep", "Car Radio", and "Trees" – were re-recorded and released for their third album.[8] "Lovely" was also re-recorded and released as a single exclusive to Japan on April 17, 2013[45][46]

text: Twenty One Pilots' third album, Vessel, was released January 8, 2013; it would reach No. 21 on the Billboard 200, No. 9 on the Digital Albums chart, No. 17 on the Internet Albums chart, No. 15 on the Rock Albums Chart, and No. 10 on the Alternative Albums Chart.[47][48] The album release also supported the band's first charting single, "Holding on to You", which reached 11 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. Additionally, the singles "Guns for Hands" and "Lovely" reached No. 21 and No. 67, respectively, on the Japan Hot 100 after "Lovely" was released as a promotional single for the band's trip to Japan.[45][46] "Glowing Eyes", "Kitchen Sink", and "Forest" appeared unchanged as bonus tracks on the UK version of Vessel.[49]

text: In May 2013, Fall Out Boy announced that Twenty One Pilots would serve as opening acts on the Save Rock and Roll Arena Tour the following fall, along with Panic! at the Disco.[50]

text: On August 8, 2013, Twenty One Pilots performed "House of Gold" on Conan in their late night debut.[51][52] On October 2, the music video for the song was uploaded onto YouTube.[53]

text: On March 17, 2014, Twenty One Pilots performed a set at the mtvU Woodie Awards during SXSW.[54] On April 13, Twenty One Pilots performed "Car Radio" at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards.[55] On April 28, the band performed "Car Radio" on Late Night with Seth Meyers.[56]

text: In 2014, Twenty One Pilots played a number of music festivals and other events around the United States, such as Lollapalooza,[57] Bonnaroo,[58] Boston Calling, and Firefly.[59] Requests from many of these cities were incorporated into the band's first headlining tour, the Quiet Is Violent World Tour, which began in September 2014 and ended in November of the same year.[60]

text: On December 31, 2014, the band released a music video for the song "Ode to Sleep". Composed of footage captured by the band's creative director, Mark C. Eshleman of Reel Bear Media, from three concerts over the preceding three years, the video depicted the band's rapid growth from their origins as a small local band to a nationally-popular alternative act, an upward trend that would continue into the next album cycle.[61][62]

text: 2015–present: Blurryface and Emotional Roadshow World Tour

text: One of Twenty One Pilots' many dynamic performances

text: On March 16, 2015, the band announced that a new album, Blurryface, was to be released on May 19.[63] They also released the first single, "Fairly Local", on March 17.[64][65] Their second single of the album, "Tear in My Heart", and its music video were released on April 5, 2015.[66][67] On April 28, "Stressed Out", the third single from the album, was released along with a music video.[68][69][70][71] "Stressed Out" became the group's highest selling single, peaking at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and No. 1 on both Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs charts and surpassing one billion views on YouTube.[72][73]

text: Blurryface was released two days early on May 17, 2015, and sold 134,000 copies in the first week in the United States, becoming the band's first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200.[74] On May 22, 2016, Blurryface won in the category of "Top Rock Album" at the Billboard Music Awards, while the band won the category of "Top Rock Artist".[75]

text: The band began the Blurryface Tour on May 11, 2015, in Glasgow, Scotland. The tour spanned the United States, Australia, South East Asia, Japan and Europe.[76] The U.S. section began September 8, 2015 and featured Echosmith and Finish Ticket as openers.[77]

text: Twenty One Pilots performed "Stressed Out" on Late Night with Seth Meyers on September 14, 2015.[78]

text: The band announced a London show in February 2016, and later announced a run of UK dates, with a second London date added. The band Transviolet served as openers.[79] This run of UK dates ended the initial Blurryface Tour.

text: Soon after, the band announced a second tour for the Blurryface album, the Emotional Roadshow World Tour, which started in Cincinnati on May 31, 2016.[80] The tour covered the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Australia.[81][82] Chef'Special and Mutemath opened for the American leg.[83] Irish singer Bry joined the tour for its European leg.[84]

text: On June 16, 2016, the band released the song "Heathens" as the first single from the Suicide Squad soundtrack, earlier than the expected release date of June 24, after the song leaked onto the Internet on June 15.[85][86][87] A music video for the song was released on June 21, 2016.[88][89] "Heathens" plays during the ending credits of the film.[90]

text: Twenty One Pilots became only the third rock act to have two singles simultaneously chart in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100, joining the Beatles and Elvis Presley, in addition to becoming the third duo to accomplish this feat, after OutKast in 2003 and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ten years later.[91]

text: The band contributed a cover of the piano ballad "Cancer" by My Chemical Romance to the tribute album Rock Sound Presents: The Black Parade.[92][93] An animated lyric video followed the release of the song.[94]

text: Twenty One Pilots featured as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on October 8, 2016, performing orchestra-accompanied versions of "Heathens" and "Ride" in what Rolling Stone called their "most high profile performance yet".[95] The band later performed a medley of "Heathens" and "Stressed Out" on the American Music Awards of 2016, where they also accepted their first awards on American television for Favorite Pop/Rock Duo and Favorite Alternative Rock Artist.[96]

text: Joseph and Dun collaborated with alternative rock band Mutemath, for a five-song EP, TOPxMM, composed of remixes and reimaginings of five tracks from Blurryface. The EP was uploaded onto the band's official website free of charge on December 19; a twenty-five-minute long video of the bands recording the songs live in studio was also released on the band's YouTube channel.[97][98][99][100]

text: On February 12, 2017, Twenty One Pilots won a Grammy Award for "Stressed Out" in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category. The band stripped to their underwear before taking the stage, with Joseph claiming in their acceptance speech that this was a fulfillment of a promise the duo had made each other in their early days as a local Columbus band.[2][101][102]

text: On March 27, 2017, the band began selling tickets for what they called a "Tour De Columbus", a five-date hometown tour taking place in June 2017.[103] The duo performed at several small venues they first played as a local band including The Basement, Newport Music Hall, and Express Live!, before ending their tour cycle with arena shows at Nationwide Arena and Value City Arena.[104]

text: In an interview with Alternative Press in November 2016, Twenty One Pilots stated that after their last show, they will be "going dark" to focus on new music. Joseph stated that he would like to focus on lyrical content of the music, and bring the music back to the "authenticity, lyrics, delivery, and fearlessness of songwriting" similar to that of the self-titled album.[105] The band is currently taking a self-described hiatus; their last activity came in July 2017 in the form of posts on social media depicting an eye closing over lyrics from several of their songs.[106][107]

text: They received a Gold certification by the RIAA) for their song "Hometown" in March 2018 becoming the first musicians in the digital era to have every song featured on a full-length album achieve at least gold status.[108][109][110]

text: Involvement with Christian organization Five14

text: The members Joseph, Dun,[111][112][113] and Salih all have associations with local Columbus, Ohio church Five14 – Joseph and Dun contributing four of fourteen tracks to Five14-produced album Clear by artist Travis Whittaker (known as simply as "Whittaker") and the gospel band "New Albany Music".[114][115] In 2011, Joseph was also the lead star in Five14 Church's three episode mockumentary entitled "The (moderately inspiring tale of the) Longboard Rodeo Tango".[116][117][118] According to the mockumentary, Joseph was an intern at the church at the time. On December 24, 2013, Christmas Eve, Joseph participated and sang "O come, O come, Emmanuel" at Five14 Church's Christmas With the Stars in New Albany, Ohio. The official video of the performance was uploaded to YouTube on February 14, 2014.[119] He also performed a magic segment with the church's host and emcee, David McCreary for the show.[120][121]

text: As of December 2017, former Twenty One Pilots member Chris Salih frequently performs shows at the church.[122][123][124]

text: Musical style and influences

text: Although both members of the band are Christians and their songs often contain some allusions to religious themes, Twenty One Pilots is not considered and never intended to be a Christian band.[125][126]

text: The band's musical style has been described as alternative hip hop,[127][128][129] electropop,[127][130][131] indie pop,[132][133][134] pop rock,[135][136] rap rock,[137][138] and alternative rock.[139][137] They have also been described as rock,[140][141] pop,[134][142][143][140] electronica,[143][134][140] emo rap,[137] indie rock,[140] pop-rap,[127] hip hop,[132][142][143] indietronica,[132] and, in the case of Blurryface, reggae.[144][145][5]

text: Ultimately, it is difficult to categorize the band using a single genre only, since they bridge so many.[146] This has been attributed partly to the fact that both Joseph and Dun are self-taught musicians, meaning that while producing their work they broke many musical conventions that they were not aware of, including staying confined to a single genre.[147]

text: Instrumentally, Twenty One Pilots bring a mix of piano (sometimes an electronic keyboard or a keytar), synthesizers, drums (sometimes mixed with electronic drums), vocals, and occasionally the ukulele and bass. Lyrically, their songs are written by Joseph, who incorporates both sung and rapped lyrics. Music journalist Carl Wilson has noted that Joseph's rapping is often compared to that of Macklemore, yet he wrote "but among the ranks of post-Eminem white rappers, I find Joseph more probing, sardonic, and expressive."[148] Joseph has stated that he never intended to become a rapper, but that when attempting to fit poetry which he had written with music, he found that rapping elements of it was the only way for it to fit within the song.[149]

text: Band name, iconography and fandom

text: Joseph came up with the band's name while studying All My Sons by Arthur Miller, a play about a man whose choice to send out faulty airplane parts for the good of his business and family caused the death of twenty one pilots during World War II. Joseph explains that the story's themes of moral dilemma and choosing between the easy and the right decision inspired the name and formation of the band.[150][151] "Bicycle Thief" and "Chill Coat" were among some of the rejected band names.[152]

text: The band's name was originally stylized as "twenty | one | pilots" on their earlier cover art; however, by the time of their second album Regional at Best, the formatting was changed to "twenty øne piløts" with slashes through the O's.

text: Former Twenty One Pilots member Chris Salih stated in an interview that Mark C. Eshleman, a longtime friend of and creative director for Twenty One Pilots, created the band's logo by "messing around with shapes". Joseph found the arrangement to resonate with him.[124]

text: In regard to their logo, Joseph stated in an interview that:

text: It means Twenty One Pilots, the logo does. Why it means Twenty One Pilots, is it really goes along with one of our songs called "Kitchen Sink". The whole concept of that song is that I feel that humans are always struggling all the time when it comes to purpose, trying to figure out what their purpose is, what purpose even is, what's the point, justifying your own existence. A lot of kids and people my age struggle with "what's the point", and with the logo, what it really means is it's an encouragement. When someone asks me what the logo means to me, the logo means something to me because I made it mean something to me. That's the point. The point is that I created something that only I understand and whether or not I decide to disclose the meaning of it, that's the beginning of purpose for me. The meaning of purpose for me, is by creating something, if it be by writing lyrics, painting a picture, by expressing yourself through art if it's photography or music or theater, or whatever it is. It doesn't have to be artistic, but if you create something and only you know the meaning of it, that's the beginning of purpose for you. When you're in the room by yourself trying to decide whether to stay alive, you can tell yourself "I should probably stay alive because I'm the only one who knows the meaning of that thing", so the logo is an encouragement for people to create. That's what it means.[153]

text: According to the band, their purpose for making music is "to make people think", as well as encourage them to find joy in what they come to believe in life.[150]

text: The band's fandom has been dubbed the "Skeleton Clique" or just the Clique, in reference to the band's use of skeleton iconography in many performances, graphics, and music videos. The Skeleton Clique are represented in the band's official iconography by logos of a skull and alien head atop lines resembling keys.[154] Salih speculates that Tyler Joseph himself originally used the term "Clique" to identify with his fans.[155]

text: During the 2017 Tour de Columbus, Twenty One Pilots hosted a public art show, dubbed "Artopia", exclusively for Clique-related artwork at the Nationwide Arena.[156]

text: Band members

text: Current members

text:
Tyler Joseph – lead vocals, piano, keyboards, synthesizers, ukulele, bass (2009–present)
Josh Dun – drums, percussion (2011–present)

text: Past members

text:
Nick Thomas – bass, piano, keyboards (2009–2011), backing vocals (2009), merchandise distribution (present)
Chris Salih – drums, percussion (2009–2011)

text: Discography

text:
Twenty One Pilots (2009)
Regional at Best (2011)
Vessel (2013)
Blurryface (2015)

text: Concert tours

text: Headlining

text:
Regional at Best Tour headlining alongside CHALLENGER! (2011)[30][31][32][33]
Mostly November Tour (2012)[157]
Quiet Is Violent Tour (2014)[60]
Blurryface Tour (2015–16)[63][158]
Emotional Roadshow World Tour (2016–17)[159][160][161]
Tour De Columbus (2017)[162][163]

text: Opening act

text: Save Rock and Roll Tour with Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco (2013)[50][164]

text: Awards and nominations