One of the greatest mysteries surrounding Prime Video's new fantasy series The Mighty Nein is how the titular group got its name. The animated series is based on the second major Dungeons & Dragons campaign from Critical Role, and distils roughly 3 years of story into hour-long episodes, similar to the group's first TV series, The Legend of Vox Machina. While many factors go into determining Critical Role's party names, The Mighty Nein simplified this explanation in the TV adaptation.
After existing in various small groups around Exandria, Caleb (Liam O'Brien), Nott (Sam Riegel), Beau (Marisha Ray), Mollymauk (Taliesin Jaffe), Fjord (Travis Willingham), and Jester (Laura Bailey) finally united in Episode 4. Still, the group's headcount of six doesn't align with the typical assumption that there are nine party members in The Mighty Nein. However, the true meaning behind the group's name isn't about the number at all.
The Mighty Nein began streaming on Prime Video on November 19, 2025, and will comprise eight episodes in its first season. Tasha Huo serves as the showrunner for the series, with all eight Critical Role cast members acting as producers and reprising their roles from the original campaign.
How The Mighty Nein Are Named In The Prime Video TV Show
In Episode 4 of The Mighty Nein animated series, titled literally "The Mighty Nein", the six travelers arrive at Trostenwald, where the guards request that they state their names for the arrival logs. In response, Caleb says in Zemnian (a fictional language inspired by German), "nein," which translates to "no." As the guards continue to misunderstand Caleb's responses, Jester pivots off the confusion with her classic optimistic spark, turning the suggested name of "the nine" into "The Mighty Nein:"
Guard: "I need a name for the logs. Do you have one?"
Caleb: "Nein."
Guard: "Like, like the number?"
Caleb: "Nein."
Guard: "Okay. 'The Nine.' "
Guard 2: "But there’s only six of you."
Jester: "Six fantastic, spectacular, sexy people. We are not 'Nein.' We are The Mighty Nein."
The Mighty Nein receiving their group name bonds the team together for the adventures ahead. The series, up until this point, had explored some of the origins of the Mighty Nein characters not seen in the campaign, but Episode 4 was all about the group solidifying their partnership.
Earlier in the episode, the team had been wrongly imprisoned for the massacre at the carnival. The group escapes and then intends to clear their names by tracking down the Devil-Toad, which is linked to a young girl named Toya (Auli'i Cravalho). After killing the beast, the group is unable to save Toya. While they succeed in gathering evidence to clear their names, they are haunted by the actions that resulted in Toya's death.
While the group is despondent and feeling hopeless, Molly allies them together with a speech, encouraging them to share "purpose", "pain," and "strength," which become the defining principles of the Mighty Nein, and encourages their decision to continue to travel together as a united front:
Molly: I always say, “Leave a place better than you found it.” I’m not sure we did that today, but we did our best. I mean, let’s not kid ourselves. None of us knew this girl. We don’t even know each other. But right now our hearts are in the exact same place. Uncertain. Angry. Scarred. The thing about scars is, try as you may, they don’t heal. You can cover them up, but you always know they’re there. So I say, burn this pain out of your memory, and use its heat like a kiln to make something new. Gustav always called these cards 'carnie bullshit.' But I wonder... [flips card]"
Beau: "Does that say Home?"
Molly: "A group coming together. Shared purpose. Shared pain. But mostly, shared strength. Or it might just be carnie bullshit."
How Did The Mighty Nein Get Their Name in Critical Role's Campaign?
The Mighty Nein's name origins in Critical Role's original campaign have a similar trajectory but with some deviations.
During a WIRED interview, the Critical Role cast said they liked incorporating Caleb's recurring Zemnian word into the name as it thematically stood for a "big fat 'no' to the corrupt powers that be."
Willingham also added that the group had a text thread where they threw out suggestions for the team name before "The Mighty Nein" was decided upon. Another determining factor was the group's frequent streak of rolling the number 9 during the campaign, which O'Brien would often pronounce in his Zemnian accent as "nein," becoming a joke among the group.
The intentions behind the group's name in the Critical Role campaign and The Mighty Nein series align thematically, as the title elicits a small but mighty band of misfits who are prepared to defy authority.
