Diving Into The Witcher

Photo: Netflix

Based on the novel and video game series of the same name, The Witcher was a surprise hit when it premiered on Netflix in 2019 — the fantasy series outpaced even The Mandalorian’s viewership in December of that year. But more so than Star Wars, the true competitor of the Henry Cavill-led show is Game of Thrones, or rather, the gigantic hole left by Game of Thrones when it went off the air in May 2019.

Since the finale of HBO’s epic fantasy, many shows have sought to take its place in the hearts of viewers: His Dark Materials, See, and Shadow and Bone are all directed at the Game of Thrones audience, though none has come close to being the TV phenomenon that show was during its peak. The Witcher has succeeded where others failed in garnering the attention of both fantasy fanatics and average TV viewers, which is why Netflix expects a big response to the show’s coming second season. The streaming giant will need The Witcher to deliver on that promise, especially as Apple TV+ prepares its Lord of the Rings reboot, Amazon releases its adaptation of the Wheel of Time novels, and HBO tries to rekindle GoT fever with a prequel series.

Who does Netflix need to reach to ensure the company’s big series continues to grow its fan base before it is dwarfed by competitors? We’re taking a look at The Witcher’s fan base through Ranker Insights to see what fans like about The Witcher and the other shows they’re drawn to, giving us a better sense of exactly how the show’s audience stacks up against other fantasy series on the airwaves.

Photo: Netflix

The Witcher on Ranker

The Witcher is featured on 75 different Ranker lists, and for many of them, it’s featured prominently. The show is ranked #1 on 10 of those lists, including The Best Fantasy Shows Based On Books — that’s two spots ahead of Game of Thrones. Its #1 ranking on the list of The Most Anticipated New Shows of 2019 (46K votes) suggests that Netflix was effective in marketing the series ahead of its Season 1 premiere, though it’s unclear whether a more crowded competitive field will require different, more aggressive methods ahead of Season 2.

Other impressive rankings for The Witcher include its #2 spot on the list of The Best Fantasy Drama Series (8K votes), with only cult favorite Lucifer ahead of it. It competes not just in the fantasy genre, however, but also in the larger pool of Netflix Originals: The Witcher is #3 on our list of The Best New Netflix Originals Of The Last Few Years (32K votes), behind The Queen’s Gambit and The Haunting of Hill House, beating out Cobra Kai, Locke & Key, and Ozark.

Zoom out to the more general Best Netflix Originals (204K votes) list, and we see The Witcher ranked #8. While that ranking is more than respectable, it shows that the series still has room for growth: if The Witcher is going to be a fantasy behemoth on the scale of Game of Thrones, it’ll have to come closer to Stranger Things’ #1 spot.

Who’s Watching The Witcher?

What’s so bewitching about The Witcher? Do people tune in to see their favorite superhero play a different part? Are they drawn to fantasies with a dark tone, or to anything about magic and monsters? Using the data found within Ranker Insights, we can get to the fundamentals of The Witcher fan base and find out exactly who is watching what.

DYSTOPIAN FUTURE FANS

The Witcher may be set in a fantasy world that looks more like the past than the future, but the show tends to attract just as many fans of dark sci-fi future shows as it does fans of knights, kings, queens, and magic. Witcher fans are more likely to enjoy Altered Carbon, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Westworld than they are to like either Game of Thrones or HBO’s more recent offering, His Dark Materials. That suggests the show is pulling a specific subset of viewers who prefer dark stories that parody or exaggerate the conditions of our own world — though Netflix should likely emphasize that the show has plenty of upbeat moments, too, to attract a wider audience.

These viewers love The Witcher and… Altered Carbon, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Westworld

FANTASY FANATICS

The show has also obviously reached a great deal of people who are fans of straightforward fantasy. Beyond Game of Thrones and His Dark Materials, The Witcher fans are also more likely to enjoy other Netflix fantasy offerings such as Shadow and Bone and The Dark Crystal. They’re also more likely to be drawn to the Amazon Prime series Carnival Row, which rides the line between urban neo-noir and traditional fantasy — a line it seems current fans of The Witcher are drawn to more than just dragons and sword fights.

These viewers love The Witcher and… Shadow & Bone, The Dark Crystal, Carnival Row

SUPERHERO SUPERFANS

Maybe it’s because Henry Cavill is the most recent actor to play the Man of Steel, or maybe it’s just a fact of modern entertainment that a fantasy show like The Witcher has so much crossover with superhero-themed TV shows. This crossover includes Disney+’s recent spate of Marvel shows like Loki and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as well as grittier offerings like HBO’s Watchmen and Amazon Prime’s The Boys. In any case, it seems as though Netflix’s job must include reaching out to these large audiences and reminding them that not all heroes wear capes: some of them just have white hair and creepy eyes.

These viewers love The Witcher and… Loki, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Watchmen

These stories are crafted using Ranker Insights, which takes over one billion votes cast on Ranker.com and converts them into actionable psychographics about pop culture fans across the world. To learn more about how our Ranker Insights can be customized to serve your business needs, visit insights.ranker.com, or email us at insights@ranker.com.

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