You might be a Game of Thrones fan, or you might be a Vikings fan, or maybe you love both shows. You might even hate one and completely adore the other. Whatever the case, one cannot deny the many similarities between these two.
Game of Thrones is certainly older, and the creators of Vikings probably wanted to capitalize on the success of GoT by making a similar show, but Vikings still holds its own and deserves some respect for that, but also for much more.
Epic Medieval setting
First thing first, both of these shows have a very similar epic settings, large armies fighting each other all over the world, while a handful of compelling characters being key to the plot and many of them constantly plotting to murder someone or take over the throne; and most importantly, the many, many gruesome deaths in both shows. Indeed, GoT is a fantasy show at its core, while Vikings follows history, but it still closely mirrors our world and its best selling point is its realism in battles, dynamics between characters, and more… minus the dragons, white walkers and occasional magic.
The characters
The biggest selling point of both shows is a large number of relatable and compelling characters. They all live in two very harsh and unforgiving worlds with primitive technology and rudimentary ways of living, but you still feel very close to them. Think Ragnar and his turbulent road to success, or maybe Jon Snow and his own, you can feel for both of them in equal measure.
Think about Daenerys, Lagertha, and many other strong female characters that have had a strong effect on women around the world, and how both shows portray them as strong as the men, sometimes even stronger. These two have had their stronger-then-man moments several times over…
Even more
Besides these, you can find many other similarities if you look closely. Or just by looking and paying attention to the visuals, as these two shows are visually very similar and many shots almost perfectly mimic each other.
When talking about visuals, one cannot deny that both have amazing costumes and makeups and truly brutal fight scenes. Both compel you to think about violence and brutality and how truly awful people can be to others when they seek more and more power and the effect the sacrificing of one’s humanity can have on a human being.
The most important thing is that each show makes you think about a lot of things, and nails your bottom to the chair/bed, not allowing you to take your eyes off of it. That’s what we all need to appreciate here and feel lucky that we have such amazing TV shows to fill our free time with enjoyment.
