both are similar words, but ... brutal has undertones of the physical damage. vicious is about intent of the person/thing. Examples: The dog attacked viciously. (the dog was mean spirited and meant to attack) The boy endured a brutal beating. (implies there was a lot of physical damage to the boy, but nothing is mentioned about the reason why) The woman's reply was viscous. (the verbal attack was meant to offend/hurt the person)

Brutal and vicious are both adjectives. A mean person can be a brutal or vicious person. An adjective describes a noun. Vicious would denote much anger and energy put into an action. Brutal would show how much harm was done.

Animals can be vicious. Mao Zedong was brutal.