Helmetshrikes are the eight species of smallish to mid-sized songbirds in the genus Prionops.

They were previously included with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, later on split between several presumably closely related groups such as bushshrikes (Malaconotidae) and cuckooshrikes (Campephagidae), but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group into the family Vangidae.

They are similar in feeding habits to shrikes, hunting insects and other small prey from a perch on a bush or tree.

Although similar in build to the shrikes, these tend to be colourful species with the distinctive crests or other head ornaments, such as wattles, from which they get their name.

As the relationships of the shrike-like birds are increasingly disentangled, the helmetshrikes appear to form an evolutionary radiation with the Vangidae.