ALL HAIL SPACE KING. Let’s talk about him. And his show. Of which there are three episodes out so far.

Each of which just gets better than the last.

SPACE KING — Pilot (1)

SPACE KING — B-Positive (2)

SPACE KING — The Imaginator (3)

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Space King Overview

What Is It?

The Star Defenders, comically inept Holy warriors, search across the galaxy for artifacts that could lead to the return of their divine leader—Space King. (IMDB)¹

Space King is a independently animated sci-fi comedy TV series² that lovingly parodies the Warhammer 40k universe while doing its own thing.³ The series so far consists of episodic misadventures, each of which focuses on one member of the core cast of four—Captain, Chestnut, and Bryce, in that order. Yes, I can count— only three episodes have been released so far, so presumably the fourth core character, Hatemonger (and Hatemonger’s Hate-Mace), will be the focus of the eventual fourth episode. The discussions of per capita will be glorious.

The promise of the first episode is that the overall, long-term goal of the series will be the return of Space King, king of space—either by discovering where he has gone, or by performing acts great enough that he chooses to return. Knowing Captain and his squad, most likely neither will happen, but instead a humorous third option will bring Space King back.

Or kill him. I’m not ruling that out as a possibility.

Who Made It?

Space King was created by Tom Hinchliffe & Don Greger, who built up their existing audience and notoriety through their long-running YouTube channel, Flashgitz. Each YouTube episode has, in its description, a long list of the various artists who assisted with different parts of creating the episode, so check that out if you want to, for example, learn the name of each animator involved in each episode.

So far as I can tell, Space King is about as true indie animation as you can get. Tom and Don came up with the ideas, developed everything themselves, and funded the show using a Patreon (where they also distributed the show, in addition to YouTube), giving them total creative control. You will not experience any corporate or investor meddling or watering-down in the world of Space King, just pure vision from the original creators (within the limitations of budget).

Content Warnings?

The YouTube versions of Space King are censored of all nudity, but not all suggestive content. Similarly, the YouTube versions of Space King feature censored violence and gore so that the show can remain monetized, but plenty of cartoonish violence (and some blood) is still visible.

Space King also features childish language and swearing, including f—. The childish language is hilarious, but some sensitive souls will be offended by it, and the swearing is what it is (but nowhere near Hazbin Hotel levels, thankfully).

I have not seen the Patreon versions of the Space King episodes, but I have every reason to believe they are significantly more explicit than the YouTube versions.

The Short Review (No Spoilers)

Listen. I don’t want to spoil anything Space King for you because I think it’s just that fun of a show, that it’s worth watching as unspoiled as possible, and I don’t want to unintentionally create any wrong expectations. It’s fun. It’s not serious. It’s intended audience is unapologetically male. It’s not a smart show, but you do not have to be dumb to appreciate it—and it certainly has smart moments.

Now, I’m going to note something: calling Space King “not a smart show” is not a diss on it at all.⁴ The show is easy to follow and never tries to make its audience feel dumb, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t well-made. As an example, Space King does characterization exceptionally well—each character is immediately distinct from the others (and memorable), each character fills a meaningfully different role from the others, and Space King is clearly invested in its characters, as evidenced by having each episode so far spotlight one in particular. The art and animation are stylized and attractive, the pacing is perfect—as is the balance between violence, humor, and plot and character moments—and the voice acting is fully committed… admittedly sometimes to this show’s detriment, as I had to turn on subtitles to understand what certain characters were saying. (You were the biggest offender, Captain.)

Space King is also unapologetically apolitical—which, by virtue of modern politics, makes it feel like the show is being intentionally politically offensive. This is an unfortunate truth for all media that feels like it’s from a bygone area where only politics were politicized and stories could just be stories and contain content offensive to some people, and that was cool by everyone. I’m glad the indie scene is allowing for a return of apolitical art.

Finally, Space King is not afraid to be not for everyone.⁵

If you’ve read this far, and the offensive content I mentioned in “Content Warnings?” isn’t a turn-off for you, stop reading this review, go watch the show, and then come back. You won’t regret it.

If you’re still on the fence, I’ve found the below items help people make up their mind really quickly whether or not this show is for them. If any one of them make you laugh or intrigue you, then the show is worth giving a try; if all three are a turn-off, move along and don’t come back. Seriously.

• The literal first minute of the first episode.
• The description that Space King is a “loving parody of Warhammer 40k.”
• The show’s pitches, by the creators themselves, at the end of the pilot:

“Want a show that doesn’t hate your male power fantasies, but embraces them?”

“There’s plenty of independent animation targeted at mentally ill teenage girls. But what about mentally ill teenage boys? And thirty-year-old men? [Space King provides!]”

If any of that clicks with you, you’re in the right headspace for Space King. If it doesn’t—don’t hate. It’s okay for people to feel and think differently. After all, “One should be open-minded and tolerant, of course! After all, I’m sure [the absolute Chads watching Space King] hate aliens as much as the rest of us.”

The Extended Review (Spoilers)

I’m going to break this down by episode.

Pilot

Speaking as the father of two daughters… I died laughing when I saw the Psycho-Warrior with a bag full of little girls, picking them up one at a time and throwing them in a volcano. This show could not have made a better opening to entertain their ideal audience and drive everyone else away.

That’s not the only strong thing about this episode, of course. Each character is really well realized right from the start—you immediately know that Bryce is funny but annoying and incompetent (and the tech guy), that Chestnut is fearful and a doubter (and a medic), that Captain is… the captain (and not particularly suited for the job), and Hatemonger… Well.

I was not a very big fan of the booby alien and the majority of the boob jokes, which brought the episode down for me—this is my least favorite of the three so far—but what was I to expect when the show advertises itself as a male power fantasy for mentally ill teenage boys (and thirty-year-olds)? I got what I came here for, and I’m glad the YouTube version was edited so that there was no nudity.

Bryce saying “O Captain! My Captain!” was an unexpected reference, but I enjoyed it. I was left with the slight expectation that he might be a bit more erudite than he ended up being, but his character is still perfect for his role.

All in all, a really solid opening that lays out painfully accurate promises and expectations for what’s to come.

B-Positive

My favorite episode of the three. Hands-down. I did not expect Chestnut to be as compelling as he ended up being, particularly since (to me) he’s the character that felt like he least belonged in the world of Space King—but oh how wrong I was.

In addition, everything with the boys just killed me. “You’d make an excellent boy-snatcher, Chestnut.” Also, the boy getting his arm ripped off—and then again—and then both legs—and then breaking his neck and losing his face—all for Hatemonger to have to use the severely crippled boy as his host body to resurrect—just golden.

The Imaginator

As much as I love the Pilot’s opening sequence for letting the viewer know exactly what to expect in Space King… The Imaginator has the best opening sequence. An incredible amount of flavor, tone, and worldbuilding is crammed into just a minute or two, and it closes out with the… sniffs… just beautifully, inspirationally powerful words that every boy wants to hear…

This episode also features Hatemonger’s potentially best moment, which is him revealing that at all times he carries with him a projector with a slide presentation about why xenophobia is not just justified, but a moral imperative. chef’s kiss

Probably more than the first two episodes, The Imaginator just knows what it is. From eternally iconic lines that just don’t give a damn—”Oh, Terry’s retarded now”—to actually interesting moral dilemmas handled in a light and hilarious fashion—What do you do with hyper-intelligent AI that only knows pain and hate?—The Imaginator swings often and it swings hard, often hitting home runs. Even the basic premise of going on a dangerous, forbidden mission and destroying the jail of a potentially existential threat all so the core cast doesn’t have to have pink lasers anymore just feels right at home in this universe.

That all said, I wasn’t personally a fan of how hard Captain walled himself off from any possible growth this episode, most importantly the chance to appreciate Bryce (even if only the tiniest bit). In B-Positive, Captain was ultimately able to see past his disdain toward Chestnut and admit that Chestnut could do kinda cool things every once in a while—showing that character growth is possible in Space King, even if only tiny bits at a time. So I was hopeful for something like that with Bryce. Unfortunately, the episode was resolved with Captain learning he’s stuck with Bryce no matter what, and with Bryce having to affirm his own value entirely privately. Now, granted, it’s still cool that Bryce is so resilient—that’s an admirable trait in a character—but it still, overall, left something to be desired for me.

To be clear, I’m not asking for Space King to feature hugs and apologies; that’s not what this show is. I’m also not expecting this show to turn any of its characters into actually worthwhile role models;⁶ Captain is probably always going to be a terrible leader.⁷ So I have a hard time justifying why I would slightly adjust the end of this episode, and maybe it solely chalks up to personal taste.

Still a strong episode. I’m excited to see the nigh-unkillable AI return.

The “Commercials”

Space King occasionally breaks the action with commercials designed to feel like something a 90s or 2000s kid might see between his Saturday morning cartoons. I thought they were okay. I didn’t find Space King‘s humor as funny when applied to real-world people, but they did a great job at making me feel like I was thirteen again.

Wrap-up (No Spoilers)

Here’s the best spoiler-free summary I can give Space King: it knows exactly what it is, it knows its intended audience perfectly, and it’s not afraid to cater to exclusively them. If you fall into that crowd—even just a moderate overlap rather than firmly in the center—odds are you’re in for an excellent time with Space King.

And I dearly, dearly hope Space King gatekeeps everyone else out, because way too many things get ruined by trying to appeal to everybody.

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Late Update (12/8/25)

I do not plan on writing an updated review whenever a new Space King episode releases. If I mention it, I’ll give it a formal review or I’ll mention it on my newsletter or blog.

Consider this the one exception, though, because I really liked Kingmas. In short, it’s mostly a parody of the old stop-motion Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie—the one with the dentist elf and the mountain climber who takes out a yeti’s teeth. And it works bizarrely well.

I really liked this episode, in short. Space King, you’re holding strong!

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1. This summary is probably AI-generated by IMDB, as a lot of it appears to be a misleading interpretation of comparable elements within the show. For example, I’m pretty sure Space King‘s protagonists are never referred to as “Star Defenders” in-universe. They don’t defend anything—they crack heads.
   So why leave this show description in this review? Uh… HEY, LOOK, IT’S SPACE KING— ↩︎
2. Does it count as a TV series when it’s not released on television? More and more, “TV series” doesn’t actually refer to television—traditional television, anyway—but a format pioneered by television that has been adapted to other avenues to access film/digital media. Maybe I should just call this a “series” instead, but… OH NO, IT’S SPACE KING AGAIN— ↩︎
3. I assume, as after watching three episodes of Space King I have learned significantly more about its world than I have ever learned about Warhammer 40k‘s. ↩︎
4. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if most of Space King‘s audience immediately understand what I mean and take pride in this description. ↩︎
5. All of these things I consider to be strong positive traits for the show, by the way. ↩︎
6. Well, Hatemonger is already the ideal meme–role model. Let’s be real. ↩︎
7. Actually, Chestnut might be salvageable. If Hatemonger had allowed Chestnut to teach the AI about love and forgiveness, the universe might be in significantly less danger. But that wouldn’t be a fitting development for Space King, now would it? ↩︎