We’re talking about something a little different today over at the Parlor, adventurer! As a lifelong fan of adult animation, it isn’t difficult to notice the similarities between the classic foul-mouthed kids from Colorado and the equally foul-mouthed demons and sinners of Vivienne Medrano’s Hellaverse series. Let’s take a sec to take a deep dive into the two!

South Park has achieved legendary status for its brutal, no-holds-barred satire. It takes the real-world issues like politics, religion, celebrity culture, and social justice, and drags them through absurdity until their contradictions become impossible to ignore. The Hellaverse does something similar, just with a somewhat more demonic twist. Hazbin Hotel explores redemption, trauma, addiction, and morality through characters who are literally in Hell. Helluva Boss uses assassination comedy to parody relationships, capitalism, and power dynamics. Like South Park, Medrano’s universe uses outrageous settings to talk about very real emotional and societal struggles.

Both properties are unapologetically vulgar, chaotic, and controversial. They use profanity, violence, sexual humor, and shock not just for laughs, but as a storytelling tool. One of South Park’s biggest strengths is how it sneaks heartfelt moments into its madness. Episodes can pivot from ridiculous comedy to genuine insight in seconds. The Hellaverse operates the same way, just more openly. Characters like Charlie, Angel Dust, Blitzø, and Stolas deal with abandonment, identity, love, and self-worth. Beneath the sharp humor and stylized violence lies genuine vulnerability. This definitely solidifies that relationship between the viewers and those characters, regardless of how crass and violent they can be (looking at you, Cartman and Blitz!)

Trey Parker & Matt Stone and Vivienne Medrano share something rare in modern media: strong creator identity. Their shows feel personal, handcrafted, and unmistakably theirs. Be honest, even if you’ve never seen an episode of South Park, you’d recognize the characters or even the art style at first glance. The same can be said for Vivziepop’s creations, even within her relatively shorter time on the scene when compared to Matt and Trey. That kind of creative fingerprint builds loyal communities and cult followings. Both fandoms thrive on analysis, memes, art, music, and emotional attachment.

And last but certainly not least between the two universes is the impact of music. South Park uses songs as satire weapons, turning Broadway-style numbers into biting commentary. The Hellaverse uses music as emotional storytelling, character confessionals wrapped in catchy chaos.

South Park and the Hellaverse are proof that adult animation doesn’t need to choose between comedy and sincerity. Both succeed because they refuse to be boxed in. They are loud, offensive, heartfelt, political, tragic, hilarious, and beautiful in their own broken ways. But at their core, they speak the same language:

Truth through chaos.

Well, what do YOU think? Comment below and share this article on your socials to keep the convo going!