What’s the Difference Between Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss?

Hazbin Hotel has quickly risen in popularity since the first two episodes premiered back in January. This adult animated musical was created by Vivienne “VivziePop” Medrano back in 2019 as a pilot episode on YouTube. Since then, the fanbase has increased for the series because of its 2000s style animation and colorful characters. Dedicated fans have waited a long time for an update or a new episode, and they finally got their wish when Prime Video and A24 announced that they would partner with VivziePop to make Hazbin Hotel a fully fleshed out show.

Alongside Hazbin Hotel is VivziePop’s spin-off series on YouTube called Helluva Boss, which completely directs itself away from Hazbin Hotel while remaining in the same universe. As both shows grow in popularity, the lines between the two begin to blur. Now, new fans are wondering if the two will ever cross over. That is unlikely to happen, however. What makes these two shows so different if they take place in the same universe? Don’t they have the same concepts of heaven and hell? These shows are far different than you think.

Same Universe, Different Plots

Some newer fans of both shows might be wondering why the two haven’t intersected yet. Both Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss reside in the same universe, canonically known as the Hellaverse. But the premises of both shows are entirely different from one another. Hazbin Hotel’s plot centers around Charlie Morningstar, the princess of hell who is working on a hotel to rehabilitate sinners and get them into heaven. This is to prevent Extermination time, which is when angels come down from heaven to slaughter sinners, lead by the first man, Adam.

Among the staff is her girlfriend and hotel manager, Vaggie, the host of the hotel and the Radio Demon, Alastor, the bartender, Husk, and the maid, Nifty. The only two guests of the hotel are the porn star, Angel Dust, and the Victorian inventor Sir Pentious. The main focus of Hazbin Hotel is rehabilitation and facing the consequences of one’s actions. All of Hazbin Hotel takes place in the Pride Ring of hell, where all the sinners are sent when they die.

Helluva Boss also takes place in the Pride Ring, but that is not the main setting of the show. The imp-run assassination company I.M.P. (Immediate Murder Professionals) is run by the main character, Blitzo (the O is silent), and the members are the weapons specialist, Moxxie, his wife and skilled fighter, Millie, and Blitzo’s adopted hellhound daughter, Loona, who is the company’s receptionist. With the Goetia prince’s, Stolas’s, ancient grimoire, I.M.P can use it to access the human world and assassinate targets based on who their client wants to be murdered. You won’t be seeing any Hazbin Hotel characters in Helluva Boss, or vice versa. In Helluva Boss, we peek into the rest of hell and its rings of the “characters and societies that already exist in Hell”, according to VivziePop.

Prime Video vs YouTube

While the pilot episode of Hazbin Hotel is still on YouTube, it’s not exactly considered a YouTube indie animation series anymore. It is now a streamable show on Prime Video, with the first season consisting of eight episodes. It is already confirmed for a second season. Since the title was picked up by A24 and Amazon Prime, the animation was also picked up by Bento Box Entertainment, best known for the Fox show Bob’s Burgers. VivziePop founded the animated production company, SpindleHorse Toons, who co-animate the series along with Bento Box Entertainment. You will need a Prime Video subscription to watch Hazbin Hotel.

As for Helluva Boss, as far as we know, the show will remain on YouTube with no other indication of a production company taking up the title. The show has two seasons and was confirmed for season three at a later date. The first season has a total of eight episodes, while the second season will have 12. We don’t know yet how many episodes a third season will be. SpindleHorse Toons is the sole animation studio for Helluva Boss. Unlike its predecessor, you can watch any and all episodes of Helluva Boss for free on YouTube.

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Another key difference between the two shows is in regards of the voice acting. The main cast of Helluva Boss have been on the show since the (now not canon) pilot episode have not changed and still voice their roles as the second season continues. Hazbin Hotel‘s main cast, however, was completely recast from the original voice actors who were in the pilot episode.

Different Writers for the Shows

Hazbin Hotel

Release Date

January 19, 2024

Creator

Vivienne Medrano

Here’s a little something that fans (new and old) may not know about Hazbin Hotel. While VivziePop created the series, she was not in the writers’ room very much during the transition over to Prime Video. Meaning that she didn’t write many of the episodes of Hazbin Hotel, save for the pilot on YouTube. She was given writing credits for every episode even if she didn’t directly write them herself, but she did direct all the Prime show and was an executive producer for the show. Aside from the pilot, she wrote the first two episodes of the Prime show and its fourth episode. The rest of the writing team includes Adam Neylan, Ariel Ladensohn, Rachel Kaplan, and Adam Stein.

Not only did VivziePop create the Helluva Boss spin-off series, she is still writing the episodes for it along with Adam Neylan and Blitzo’s voice actor, Brandon Rogers. She and Rogers co-wrote all the first season, then she wrote the second season with Neylan while Rogers still voiced Blitzo and helped with the story. No other writers are involved with Helluva Boss, and it is unlikely that we will see any new writers join the team. Both shows have some controversy with regard to the writing (namely the excessive amounts of swearing and vulgar language), but they are still enjoyable shows if you are into adult animation with musical qualities.