6 Fantasy Shows More Universally Loved Than 'Game of Thrones'

Published Nov 8, 2026, 5:27 AM EST

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Game of Thrones, based on the novels by George R. R. Martin, became an immense cultural phenomenon that kickstarted a wave of fantasy TV that is still ongoing. The eight-season HBO epic shows what can happen when studios put the budget of a feature film into a TV show, producing shows with massive scale and hundreds of characters, where magic and monsters come to life in an entirely new way.

Game of Thrones was met with extremely positive reviews, or at least, up until its final season, anyway. It's probably going to be considered one of the largest TV events in history, yet there are still plenty of shows that received the same level of acclaim. Whether they're animated or live action, a small handful of fantasy TV shows have reached the same level of quality and amassed millions of fans, even if they're not quite as groundbreaking or legendary.

6 'Attack on Titan' (2013–2023)

Image via Wit Studio

Attack on Titan is a Japanese anime set in a dystopian world where the last surviving remnants of humanity live in a walled-off civilization, safe from the flesh-eating titans that roam the outside world. The humans live peacefully like this for 100 years, until the titans breach the wall in the Shinganshina District, upending society and triggering a war for humanity's very survival. Fighting the titans is certainly no easy feat either, as they regenerate virtually all wounds and can only be killed by severing the nape of the neck. The show is a bit steampunk with its cannons and specialized grappling apparatus, but there are still themes of magic and monsters.

Despite the fact that the show is an anime, it was absolutely revolutionary, even spreading to non-anime fans. One of the primary reasons behind this is due to its stellar world-building, and its immediate establishment of a dark atmosphere. The show is clearly made with care, as well, since only four seasons came out across its 10-year run. This means each season was worked on and perfected for years before it was released, of course. What results is a plot that gets more intricate as the show goes on, easily keeping the viewers invested. Attack on Titan has received nothing but good reviews, and has appealed to a surprisingly broad audience.

5 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (1997–2003)

Image via The WB

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a legendary bit of television history. Created by Joss Whedon and based on a 1992 movie of the same name, the show follows Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who, as you might have guessed, is a vampire slayer. More specifically, she works as a professional monster hunter by night, all while trying to balance the life of a normal teenage girl. She has to navigate the awkwardness of puberty, struggles to find her place in social circles, and seeks a sense of identity and purpose in her life, much like any teenager would.

This was one of the earliest TV shows to use the "monster of the week" formula, yet it still followed a clearly structured narrative. The fact that it was so fantastical, yet so relatable, made it an instant success that people loved. Nearly 30 years after it first came out, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is seen as a nostalgic staple of the late 90s and early 00s, to the point that the show is practically synonymous with the era. Sure, the show had some episodes that were less than stellar, but the fact remains that Buffy received, and continues to receive, a lot of acclaim.

4 'Adventure Time' (2010–2018)

Image via Cartoon Network

Adventure Time is a Cartoon Network original series that was supposed to be for kids, but that adults have found joy in as well. While it is a comedy series at heart, it also has high adventure, fantastic and memorable characters, and some strikingly emotional moments. The show is set in the mystical Land of Ooo, where pretty much nothing is off-limits. There's a race of sentient lemon-people, a dog that can stretch like rubber, a kingdom made of candy, and so much more to discover in this wonderful show.

Straight away, the theme song brings a relaxed, innocent vibe, showing that this show is not about high stakes, but is about friendship, exploration, and relaxation. Adventure Time is family-friendly, sweet, and earnest, and is easy to watch and even easier to love. Cartoon Network really struck gold with this one, to the point that the show doesn't really have many haters. Regardless of your age, if you haven't checked this one out yet, it's definitely time to.

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War Council

Westeros/Quizzes/Your House

Collider QuizWhich Game of Thrones
House Are You?8 Questions · 5 Great HousesFive great houses. Five completely different answers to the same question: how do you hold power in a world that will take it from you the moment you stop paying attention? Eight questions will determine where your loyalties, and your nature, truly lie.The Five Houses

Stark

Lannister

Targaryen

Baratheon

Tyrell

Find Your House

Council 01 / 080% Sworn

Question 01HONOR

01Someone powerful is acting dishonorably and everyone knows it. What do you do?In Westeros, the answer to this question has ended more than one great house.

ACall it out, openly and on the record. If honor means anything, it has to mean something when it's costly.BUse it. Information about someone else's dishonor is leverage, and leverage is power.CAct decisively to correct it, with or without the approval of those around me.DChallenge them directly. Strength settles disputes more honestly than courtroom maneuvering.ENavigate carefully. Build alliances, apply quiet pressure, and create a situation where the right outcome becomes inevitable.

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Next Question

Council 02 / 0812% Sworn

Question 02STRENGTH

02What is the source of your power?Every house endures because of something. What is it for yours?

AThe loyalty of people who trust me, earned over generations, not bought with gold.BWealth, intelligence, and the willingness to use both without sentiment.CA legacy so fearsome and a vision so total that opposition becomes unthinkable.DPhysical strength, military force, and the respect that comes from being the kind of person nobody wants to cross.ECharm, connection, and the ability to make powerful people feel that my success is also theirs.

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Council 03 / 0825% Sworn

Question 03LOYALTY

03Who do you truly fight for?Strip away the banners and the words. The honest answer tells you everything.

AMy family and my people, those who depend on me and have kept faith with me through everything.BMy family, the ones who share my name, even when they exhaust me, even when they disappoint me.CMy cause, a vision larger than any single person, including me.DMyself, and those few who've proven themselves worth standing beside.EMy house: its name, its future, the position I intend to leave it in when I'm gone.

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Council 04 / 0838% Sworn

Question 04RIVALS

04How do you deal with your rivals?A house's method reveals its character as clearly as its words ever could.

AHonestly. I face them directly, and I give quarter when it's warranted.BThoroughly. I don't leave loose ends, and I don't make the same rival twice.CDecisively. Fire answers questions that diplomacy only delays.DHead-on. I'd rather settle a dispute in the open than behind closed doors.EElegantly. I prefer to make former rivals into allies, or at least into people who owe me something.

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Council 05 / 0850% Sworn

Question 05RULE

05What kind of ruler do you believe in?Westeros is full of answers to this question. Most of them end badly.

AA just one. Someone who serves the realm rather than using it, who leads by example rather than fear.BA capable one. Someone smart enough to navigate the game, ruthless enough to win it, and realistic about what winning costs.CA transformative one. Someone who doesn't just rule what exists but reshapes what's possible.DA strong one. Someone whose authority is beyond question because the alternative is obviously worse.EA wise one. Someone who understands that the realm is fed by more than armies, and that a full stomach keeps more peace than a show of force.

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Council 06 / 0862% Sworn

Question 06LOSS

06You suffer a devastating loss. How does your house respond?How a house handles defeat tells you more about it than how it handles victory.

AWe grieve, properly and together, and then we endure, because endurance is what we do.BWe adapt. We reassess. And we ensure that whoever caused this loss comes to regret it completely.CWe burn hotter. Setbacks don't soften us, they clarify what needs to happen next.DWe hit back. Grief and reckoning are the same motion in our house.EWe regroup quietly, rebuild our position, and return when we're ready, on our terms, not theirs.

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Council 07 / 0875% Sworn

Question 07WORDS

07Which of these truths about Westeros do you most believe?Every house has a philosophy. This is yours.

AThe lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Nothing matters more than the people you protect.BA Lannister always pays their debts, in gold or in kind. Reputation is built on consistency.CI am of the dragon's line. Some destinies are written before the person who carries them is born.DOurs is the fury. When we move, we move completely, and we don't stop until it's done.EGrowing strong means knowing when to bloom and when to wait. Patience is its own kind of power.

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Council 08 / 0888% Sworn

Question 08THE THRONE

08The Iron Throne is within reach. What do you do?The answer reveals not just your ambition but your character.

AClaim it only if the realm needs me to, and rule in a way that makes it worth having.BEnsure someone who owes us sits in it. The power behind the throne is safer than the throne itself.CTake it. It was always meant to be mine. I feel that in my bones.DSeize it, with both hands, without hesitation. Opportunity in Westeros does not wait to be asked.EPosition my house to be indispensable to whoever sits there. Influence outlasts any single reign.

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Reveal My House

The Maester Has SpokenYour House Is

Your answers point to the great house whose words, values, and way of surviving in Westeros match your own. Bend the knee, or don't. That's very much up to you.

The NorthHouse Stark“Winter Is Coming”Seat of WinterfellYou took the long view before anyone asked you to.

Winter Is Coming, and you have always known it. You prepare not out of fear but out of duty, because the people who depend on you deserve someone who takes the long view.Why You Belong Here

• You lead with honor even when it costs you, because you understand that a reputation built on integrity is the only one worth having.
• Your loyalty to family and people runs deep, not as sentiment but as a code that doesn't bend when things get difficult.
• The North endures because Starks endure, not by being the cleverest players in the game, but by being the kind of people others are willing to follow into the cold.
• You are that kind of person. The pack survives. The lone wolf does not. You already know which one you are.

The Long ViewThe PackWinterfell

The WesterlandsHouse Lannister“Hear Me Roar”Seat of Casterly RockYou read the room before you walk into it.

You understand the game: its rules, its exceptions, and exactly when the rules become the exception. You play it without illusions and without apology.Why You Belong Here

• You are sharper than most people realize, and you have learned to use that gap to your advantage.
• A Lannister always pays their debts, and you always keep your word, because your word is an instrument of power, and instruments must be kept in working order.
• You love your family with a ferocity that sometimes blinds you, and you know it, and you do it anyway.
• The lion doesn't concern itself with the opinion of sheep. Neither, in the end, do you.

Plays The GamePays DebtsCasterly Rock

The Iron ThroneHouse Targaryen“Fire and Blood”Seat of DragonstoneYou were never going to settle for the world as handed to you.

You carry a sense of destiny that is difficult to explain and impossible to ignore, the feeling that you are not simply participating in the world but meant to reshape it.Why You Belong Here

• You are capable of extraordinary things, and you know it, and that knowledge is both your greatest strength and your most dangerous quality.
• The Targaryen words are not just words to you. They are a philosophy about what change requires and what it costs.
• The Targaryens at their best were transformative rulers who broke chains and defied the limits of what anyone thought possible.
• At your best, so are you. The dragon has three heads. You are one of them.

DestinyTransformativeDragonstone

The StormlandsHouse Baratheon“Ours Is the Fury”Seat of Storm's EndYou arrive in a room and the room knows it.

You are a force: direct, powerful, and difficult to ignore when you enter a room or a disagreement. You do not negotiate with challenges. You meet them.Why You Belong Here

• Ours is the fury, and yours is a kind of intensity that commands attention, respect, and occasionally caution from those who underestimate what's behind it.
• You value strength and straight dealing. You'd rather know where you stand than navigate a web of courtly whispers.
• The Baratheons built their house on the back of one of the greatest military victories in Westerosi history, and then struggled with what came after.
• The lesson of your house is that winning is not the end of the story. Governing is. You are learning that too.

DirectStraight DealingStorm's End

The ReachHouse Tyrell“Growing Strong”Seat of HighgardenPower arrives with flowers and good wine.

You understand that power does not always announce itself, that sometimes it arrives with flowers, good wine, and a smile that doesn't quite reach the eyes.Why You Belong Here

• Growing Strong is your house's motto, and you live it: patiently, strategically, always investing in the relationships and resources that will matter most when it counts.
• You are charming by choice and calculating by nature, a combination that makes you one of the most effective players in any room you enter.
• The Tyrells fed King's Landing and shaped its politics without ever sitting on the Iron Throne, and they were arguably more powerful for it.
• You know that the person who controls the food controls the kingdom. And you always know where the food is.

PatientCharmingHighgarden

Where Your Loyalty Lies

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3 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' (2005–2008)

Image via Nickelodeon

Avatar: The Last Airbender is set on a continent based on East Asia called the Four Nations. Each nation is represented by one of the four elements: air, fire, earth, or water. Within these nations are magic users called "benders," who are able to manipulate their country's element to their will. Using this ability to their advantage, the industrialized Fire Nation wages war on the other three, throwing the continent into turmoil. Yet, it is prophesied that eventually, a chosen one known as the Avatar will arise, master the four elements, and bring harmony to the land.

This is actually a Nickelodeon series, which means it definitely has its fair share of comedy. However, it opts to forgo traditional Nicktoons and present a continuous, linear narrative rather than a series of loosely-connected episodes. Moreover, it was drawn to look like Japanese anime, even though it was made entirely in the United States. It's "Americanime," if you will. Beyond the comedy and the high adventure, both kids and adults have come to adore this show for the profound moral wisdom contained within. This has resulted in a long legacy filled with genuine adoration. It is constantly being discovered and rediscovered and has refused to grow old as the decades have gone by.

2 'Pokémon' (1997–Present)

Image via The Pokémon Company

Pokémon has built a huge multimedia empire since the first video game came out in 1996. Only a year after the game's release, a Japanese anime was produced based on the universe. This show, much like the games themselves, has become a huge part of many a childhood. Considering it's set in a world populated by over 1,000 made-up creatures, many of which have supernatural or magical powers, it certainly fits the bill of a fantasy series, albeit it's considered more of a science fantasy. The franchise has spanned multiple generations and is constantly evolving, coming out with new pocket monsters to collect and learn about.

The TV show includes themes of friendship, living in harmony with animals, and youth triumphing over all, which are universal concepts that resonate with almost everybody. Though different generations remember different eras of the show from their childhood, it has remained a consistent part of growing up all over the world. Pokémon is a testament to how something popular can transcend time and space to become a worldwide phenomenon.

1 'The Twilight Zone' (1959-1964)

Image via CBS

The Twilight Zone might just be one of the most revolutionary TV shows of all time. This is an anthology series, meaning each and every episode has its own distinct story, setting, cast of characters, and plot twist. Make no mistake, either--these plot twists are almost always jaw-dropping. The show's premise is simple: it features a bunch of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. This vague storyline allows the series to explore a variety of genres, from horror to sci-fi, and yes, even to fantasy. Sometimes, it has to do with aliens and time travel, other times with ghosts or demons, and that's only scratching the surface.

In the nearly seven decades since its release, The Twilight Zone has remained a timeless, groundbreaking TV show. It has inspired numerous revivals, reboots, and spin-offs. It never gets boring for even a second, with each episode being just as complex and thrilling as the one before it. The Twilight Zone is a classic; there's just no other way to put it, and because of that, the show has gained universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike. There really are no bad episodes in this one.