I think Adam was a much better villain than Vox

And I don't mean a better character, I think Vox is a bit more interesting as a character, mostly because of his more fleshed out relationships with the other characters. But I think Adam was much more effective as a villain

Adam was an actual threat. Vox and the Vees were always the underdogs. They were up against superior forces, not only the angels in heaven, but also Charlie and her team in hell. We have a reasonable idea about power ranking and it was always a bit of a stretch that they would succeed with their plan. They had me reminiscing about Team Rocket from Pokemon, a gang of evil-doers who you know is hopelessly outmatched, so you kinda hope that they win. Even though the Vees are much more evil and do have power over some of the good characters, them trying to throw together a plan to overthrow heaven had me rooting for them. I kinda wanted them to win and show heaven who's boss. Especially since Lucifer apparently always had the power to stop Adam and just never bothered. So the Vees felt more like protagonists and less like antagonists.

Compare this with Adam who we knew was more powerful than all our protagnosists (at least we didn't know that Lucifer could wreck him), and had the whole exorcist army at his back. More importantly, they had done the extermination every year so far with no one able to stop them, so it is entirely plausible they would succeed again. Also Adam is kinda dumb but naturally powerful, which works much better in the chaotic world of HH, where clever plans can falter because of some unforeseen rules that you didn't really know about.

This is why the second season had to spend so much time even building them up as a serious threat, including nerfing Lucifer and even trapping him in a weapon. Adam was just scary from the beginning and didn't need much screen time to make him seem frightening.

Also, the show kinda told us the whole time that Vox would ultimately fail. This made any power up he got feel more like: "Wow, this guy is getting pretty far before his ultimate unraveling." Not only that, they also continuously told us, how he would fail. It was constantly hinted at that he would have a fallout with the other Vees, that everything was going according to Alastors plan to break free of his deal with Rosie, that his hubris would get him in the end.

I think the Vees could have worked better as Villains in the following ways:
- In a pre-war-with-heaven setting that focuses much more about the success of the actual hotel and the redemption of its clients. The Vees and their influence over Angel and the citizens of hell etc, would feel much more natural as a threat.
- The Vees could have been powering up in the background of the actual story until they become a natural threat to the superior forces they face. They could find ways to overcome the might of the angels, procuring angelic weapons, Vox slowly established as getting more powerful the more people believe in him, and actually shown that this translates into actual fighting ability. Similar upgrades for Valentino and Velvette. Then by season 3 or 4 or so, they would feel actually frightening.

What are your thoughts on this? Did the Vees actually feel like effective antagonists?