The Legend of Vox Machina Season 4 vs Top 5 Prime Video Animated Shows, Ranked

The Legend of Vox Machina quickly made a name for itself in fantasy and animation circles. Of course, that success was helped by the passionate and highly engaged community Critical Role had already built. However, a large fan base can be a double-edged sword: if Critical Role had failed to deliver a quality series, it could have damaged not only its partnership with Prime Video but also the live show that continued to expand the world.

Because the animated adaptation was always going to make changes to the original story, it would have been easy for the series to alienate existing fans without attracting a broader audience. But that did not happen. The ranking of the list is a mixture of how easily the two properties can be compared, combined with where they stand when compared to The Legend of Vox Machina; the more difficult compare entries rank lower, but so do those that are able to trump the show cleanly in some aspects.

Instead, The Legend of Vox Machina, along with a handful of other shows on the platform, has helped make the case for Prime Video to invest more heavily in traditional animation. While the streaming service already has a number of animated series that it has produced or co-produced, it is worth examining how The Legend of Vox Machina, including Season 4, compares with them.

5 Legend of Vox Machina Eclipses Sausage Party: Foodtopia‘s Comedy

A Seth Rogen-led production, Sausage Party: Foodtopia, had a very specific kind of humor. This is the sort of humor one might find in shows like The Boys or movies like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. However, while similarly gross at times, the humor in The Legend of Vox Machina not only leans toward a more intelligent form of dialogue but also genuinely manages to get laughs rather than depending heavily on wordplay and cues, as Sausage Party: Foodtopia does.

While The Legend of Vox Machina Season 4 so far has cleaned up the humor a little, it still remains better suited for general audiences than Sausage Party, despite its boldness.

4 The Mighty Nein Gives Its Predecessor a Run for Its Money

The second Critical Role show to become a hit on Amazon Prime Video, The Mighty Nein, similarly follows the adventures of a different group of heroes. Matching the original in humor, style, and drama, the show, much like the live series, allows the actors behind the characters to showcase their range by playing decidedly different roles from their counterparts in The Legend of Vox Machina.

The Legend of Vox Machina will likely be over by the time The Mighty Nein nears its finale, and The Mighty Nein would likely occupy the same niche as its predecessor, if not fit it even better. Currently, the infancy of The Mighty Nein makes it the underdog as compared to the four-season run that Vox Machina has had, but it has already managed to build a fandom that Vox Machina wished it had during Season 1.

3 Vox Machina Might Need a The Boys Presents: Diabolical Type Spin-Off

The Boys Presents: Diabolical is an anthology series. The reason The Legend of Vox Machina would benefit from such a format is twofold. Throughout Critical Role’s history, artists have collaborated with the team to create official art and animation of the characters long before the animated series arrived.

Essentially, there is a wide range of character designs in diverse art styles that could be incorporated into an anthology format, much like Diabolical. Another way this format could benefit Critical Role would be by adapting popular moments from the live show that had to be cut from the animated adaptation. Even so, it is clear that The Legend of Vox Machina accomplishes what it sets out to do far better than Diabolical.

2 Batman: Caped Crusader Wishes It Had LoVM‘s Exposure

Batman: Caped Crusader is a show that took Batman back to the drawing board. Gone was the tech that had become synonymous with Batman; all that remained was a man and his mission. The Legend of Vox Machina has a lot more online chatter than Caped Crusader does. That is thanks to the fact that Vox Machina is much more familiar to its fans than Caped Crusader was to its own.

Fans who grew up with a modern version of Batman might have been able to excuse the no-tech approach, but the ghosts may have been a little too far out there. On the other hand, The Legend of Vox Machina delivers exactly what it promises and therefore attracted a larger, more dedicated audience. Even as deep as Season 4, Vox Machina has managed to stick to its guns, while Caped Crusader gave the impression that it went through several seasons of content in a single outing.

1 Invincible and LoVM Stand Shoulder to Shoulder

An argument can be made for either of these shows coming out on top if compared head-to-head. Both burst onto the scene in genres that were already overserved and oversaturated, yet they managed not only to hold their ground but also to help propel Prime Video further into the world of animation. With Monstress getting made as an animated series at Prime Video, it is likely that the success of Vox Machina, combined with that of Invincible, will shape the conversation around the show’s development. Regardless, both shows are responsible for the interest Prime Video currently holds among animation fans.

Both seasons have had historic runs thanks to their respective Season 3s, with Invincible bringing in Conquest, and Vox Machina splitting up. Come Season 5 of both shows, fans will be in for similar stories: a complete alteration of the status quo, with one looking to end quickly.

Has The Legend of Vox Machina handed Hollywood a new blueprint for fantasy IPs? Let us know in the comments!

The Legend of Vox Machina can be streamed on Prime Video