Xena: Warrior Princess Series

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		Xena: Warrior Princess Series

Xena: Warrior Princess is a television series which aired from 1995 to 2001. It was a spin-off from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

Description: A historical fantasy set in ancient Greece, the series told the adventures of former Hercules villain Xena (Lucy Lawless), a reformed warlord on a quest to redeem her past sins. Xena was accompanied on her travels by Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor), a young girl who acted as her guiding light, and became her best friend and most trusted ally. The series was filmed in New Zealand.

The show freely borrowed names and themes from various mythologies around the world, primarily Greek mythology, adapting them to suit the demands of the storyline. Real historical figures and events made numerous appearances, and the main characters are often credited with resolving important historical situations. These ranged from an encounter with Homer (before he was famous), in which Gabrielle inspired him to write with the passion that he is famous for; the fall of Troy, and the death of the Greek Gods at Xena's hands; to the capture of Julius Caesar by pirates, with Xena cast as the pirate leader. This quirky mix of timelines and the amalgamation of historical and mythological elements fueled the rise of the show to cult status during the 1990s, and the name Xena became synonymous with a strong and independent female heroine.

The show was a mixture of styles, ranging from high melodrama in one episode to slapstick comedy in another. Although ostensibly set in ancient times, the themes of the show were essentially modern: taking responsibility for past misdeeds, the value of human life, personal liberty and sacrifice, and friendship. This universal, flexible fantasy framework accommodated a considerable scope of content and style, even including an original musical episode, The Bitter Suite. Despite being deeply concerned with ethical dilemmas, such as the morality of pacifism, the storylines rarely sought to provide unequivocal solutions. 

The resulting conflicting answers and ambiguity gave Xena a complexity that went largely unremarked by the casual viewers, but generated much lively debate among fans. It was also hinted that Xena and Gabrielle were lovers. This was left deliberately ambiguous, leading to much heated debate over what became known as the subtext. Some critics found it to be a marketing tactic—or, conversely, outright cowardice—avoided by most shows thereafter until the character Willow explored her sexuality in Buffy. The fandom became increasingly divided over the issue, particularly with the development of a romantic storyline between Xena and Ares, the God of War, which was also left ambiguous.

The Xena fandom also popularized the term Altfic (no relation to the evil Alti character in the series) among fans to refer to general homosexual romantic stories, as slash fiction was generally perceived as focused on male/male couples. Xena fandom also expanded its fan fiction raw materials to include stories making Xena, Gabrielle, Ares and other archetypes and inserting them in different cultures at different times, from the prehistoric to the far future (and everywhere between). 

The show also featured a wide assortment of recurring characters, including adversaries Ares (Kevin Smith) and Callisto (Hudson Leick); and trusted friends like Autolycus (Bruce Campbell) and Joxer (Ted Raimi).

Most exotic among the weapons used by Xena is a variant of the chakram, a flying disc.

The begining: The character of Xena: Warrior Princess started out as a one time villan in the companion show, Hercules The Legendary Journeys, or as people call them the Xena Trilogy or Pilot episodes. The first Xena story, The Warrior Princess, sees Xena attempt to entrap and kill Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) by using her charms to win over his friend and companion Iolaus (Michael Hurst) and turn him against Hercules.

In the second story, The Gauntlet, effectively the first part of a two part story arc, Xena is usurped in her army by her lieutenant Darfus who leads an attack on a small village. Xena prides herself on being a warrior who only kills those who oppose her with arms; on his own Darfus takes a scorched earth policy and kills the women and children of the village and then torches it. When Xena rounds on him, he seizes control of her army and forces her to go through a deadly challenge known as the gauntlet. 

When she unexpectedly survives, he banishes her in exile when he discovers that none of the soldiers will obey his orders to kill her anyway. Bitter and on her own, she plots to defeat Darfus and decides to bring back Hercules' head as a trophy to prove her worth. When she fails to defeat Hercules, he tries to pursuade her of the error of her ways and in the end convinces her to join him in a quest to stop Darfus.

Travelling with them in their quest is Salmoneus, the travelling salesman who Xena saved from slaughter when she decided he amused her, and Iolaus who remains extremely bitter about his first encounter with Xena. Ultimately this works out, or so it seems until right at the end Darfus is brought back to life with the help of the god of war, Ares, who gives him the task of destroying Hercules.

The third story, Unchained Heart, the second part of the two-part story, sees Hercules and Xena working together to defeat the undead Darfus and the evil monster Gragus, Ares has given him to aid in the destruction of Hercules. Meanwhile Iolaus turns up and Hercules has a hard time convincing him that Xena has changed. At the end of the story, Xena heads off to make amends for her past and to find herself. From this point the story of Xena continues in her own series, called Xena: Warrior Princess.

Characters:

Regulars

• Xena, played by Lucy Lawless

• Gabrielle, played by Renee O'Connor

Recurring

• Alti, outcast Amazon shaman, played by Claire Stansfield

• Amarice, young Amazon, played by Jennifer Sky

• Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, played by Alexandra Tydings

• Ares, the God of War, played by Kevin Smith

• Autolycus, the self-styled King of Thieves, played by Bruce Campbell

• Borias, father of Xena's son, Solan, played by Marton Csokas

• Brutus, right hand man of Caesar, played in seasons 2 and 3 by Grant Triplow and in seasons 4, 5 and 6 by David Franklin

• Callisto, a warrior with a serious grudge against Xena, played by Hudson Leick

• Caesar, love/hate interest for Xena, played by Karl Urban

• Cyrene, Xena's mother, played by Darien Takle

• Discord, Goddess of Retribution, played by Meighan Desmond

• Draco, warlord and former friend to Xena, played by Jay Laga'aia

• Eli, healer and teacher, played by Tim Omundson

• Ephiny, queen regent of the Amazons, played by Danielle Cormack

• Eve, Xena's daughter, played by Adrienne Wilkinson; also called Livia

• Hecuba, Gabrielle's mother, played by Linda Jones and Lisa Crittenden

• Hercules, the man credited with turning Xena from evil to good, played by Kevin Sorbo

• Herodotus, Gabrielle's father, played by Geoff Snell

• Iolaus, Hercules' best friend, played by Michael Hurst

• Joxer, the warrior wannabe, played by Ted Raimi

• Lila, Gabrielle's sister, played by Willa O'Neill

• Michael, Archangel of Heaven, played by Charles Mesure

• Marcus, one of Xena's former love interests, played by Bobby Hosea

• Minya, good friend of Xena and Gabrielle, played by Alison Wall

• Varia, young queen of the Amazons, played by Tsianina Joelson

• Velasca, rogue Amazon who became Goddess of Chaos after eating Ambrosia, played by Melinda Clarke

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