Xena: Warrior Princess

Overview

Xena, Joxer and Gabrielle (from episode 3.2 Been There, Done That)

Intro narration: "In a time of ancient gods, warlords, and kings, a land in turmoil cried out for a hero. She was Xena, a mighty princess forged in the heat of battle. The power, the passion, the danger. Her courage will change the world!"

Xena: Warrior Princess is set in the ancient mythical world of Greece but also explores other parts of the world, such as Rome, China and India. It follows the adventures of the warrior woman Xena. She has cast aside her evil ways as an ambitious warlord and now seeks to atone for her evil deeds by helping those in need. She is befriended by Gabrielle, a quick witted but naive farm girl who wants to see the world and be more like Xena. It's a tongue-in-cheek show that doesn't take itself seriously for the most part. Most episodes have a dramatic, adventurous and action-packed nature to them. Comedy is also generously laced throughout with entire episodes occasionally devoted to a humourous theme. There is also a handful of episodes set in the modern day that somehow tie back to Xena and her adventures from approximately two thousand years ago.

Characters

Xena and Gabrielle, the best of friends

Xena and Gabrielle become best friends over the course of the show but not without stumbling blocks along the way. While Xena thinks on her feet and is very pro-active in dealing with situations, Gabrielle likes to weigh up the pros and cons before diving in but is always ready to follow Xena's advice. Xena used to be an evil warlord known as The Destroyer of Nations. She put her evil past behind her and finds herself gradually relying on Gabrielle more and more to keep her from straying back into evil ways.

Xena

Xena

Xena comes from the village of Amphipolis where her mother Cyrene lives and runs a tavern. She had a younger brother Lyceus but he died in battle trying to save the village from being destroyed by Cortese. The village was rebuilt after Cortese's wave of destruction. Xena also has an older brother but they are estranged and rarely contact each other. She is a highly skilled warrior and it's very rare that she meets her match in combat. Aside from her sword and whip she also wields a Chakram. A circular throwing weapon that she often uses to disarm opponents or to trigger some distant object. Since abandoning her evil ways as a rampaging warlord, she can't resist a cry for help and eagerly seeks to atone for her past misdeeds.

Gabrielle

Gabrielle

Gabrielle comes from the village of Potidaea. She lived on a farm with her parents and sister Lila. She is very close to her sister and they miss each other greatly when Gabrielle leaves to follow Xena. She has a knack for talking or thinking herself out of tricky situations but eventually becomes a skilled warrior too. She has great heart and compassion which she uses to guide her through life. She loves to write stories and chronicles Xena's adventures onto parchments. These chronicles would later become known as the Xena Scrolls. Her skills as a bard and warrior would later have her dubbed as The Battling Bard of Potidaea. She has strong ties with the Amazons and counts Ephiny as a close friend and confidant.

Family/Friends/Allies

Joxer

Joxer

Xena and Gabrielle are good friends with Joxer and he has accompanied them on many adventures. He is very clumsy and cowardly but dreams of becoming a mighty warrior. He is a frequent source of humour and irritation even when he doesn't intend to be. He often brings word of trouble but when it comes to fighting will leave the legwork to Xena and Gabrielle.

Eve

Eve

Eve is Xena's daughter but, aside from when she was a newborn baby, Xena would not see her for the first twenty five years of her life. The Olympian Gods feared her greatly and sought to kill her because it was prophesied that she would bring about the end of their existence by ushering in the Twilight. Xena was thought dead but was actually in a secret slumber along with Gabrielle in those missing years. Eve grew up under the care of the Roman Emperor Octavius. She was a brutal Roman commander and champion, known as the Bitch of Rome, responsible for the slaughter of many innocent people. Xena would eventually reunite with her and be instrumental in making her see the error of her ways. She never forgave herself for the evil she had wrought but constantly sought redemption by pursuing The Way of Love to spread peace and love to all she encountered. She became known as The Messenger of Eli and the Bringer of Twilight.

Eli

Eli

Eli was a street magician performing in the streets of India before he became the Avatar, a Deity in human form that is usually a saviour of humankind from great evil. He is good friends with Xena and Gabrielle and is always pleased to see them. He is a great healer but it breaks his heart to see so much suffering in the world. His teachings of love and peace have accrued many people that believe in his cause. They are known as the Followers of Eli. He never wants his followers to fight in his name for fear of their innocent souls being tarnished forever. He preaches a non-violent attitude and encourages others to discard their weapons of violence.

Borias

Borias

Xena and Borias became lovers while in her evil days as Destroyer of Nations. Borias would admit he was falling in love with Xena but she scoffed at this and was disgusted at the prospect. Despite Xena's distaste for Borias's love he remained at her side to continue their conquering ways. Borias would always want to negotiate alliances that would benefit them in battles against various enemies. Xena was not interested in forming alliances though and would rather destroy all factions that crossed her path, seeing the desire for power as the only worthy goal. Borias would eventually die opposing Xena. She desired the Ixion Stone, a powerful artefact containing all the evil power of the Centaurs, and Borias joined the Centaurs and tried to stop her. Xena had a son by Borias but neither of them would end up naming him. Xena did not want her son to be affected by her dark life and so she would give him to the Centaurs to raise as one of their own. He would be named Solan by the Centaurs. Solan's surrogate father in his formative years was the leader of the Centaur camp, Kaleipus.

Hercules

Hercules

Hercules is the half-god son of Zeus, King of the Olympian Gods. He is responsible for making Xena realise that she should forget her evil warlord ways and that she can do much good in the world. He only makes two appearances in Xena: Warrior Princess but he is a mighty ally and champion for good. He is the titular character of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (of which Xena: Warrior Princess is the spin-off of) where Xena made her first appearance in episode 1.9 - The Warrior Princess as an evil adversary.

Autolycus, the self styled King of Thieves

Autolycus

Autolycus proclaims himself to be the King of Thieves. A title he is proud to wear and strives to maintain his reputation for great thievery. Although he loves to steal valuable items in his spare time, it doesn't take much to sway him into a good cause. He has a good heart but is reluctant to admit it for fear of tarnishing his reputation as a thief. He is good friends with Hercules and soon meets Xena, helping her in various schemes to foil the dastardly plans of various evildoers. He is an adept fighter and uses a concealed grappling hook to quickly exit sticky situations. He is also a master of lock-picking which obviously helps in his line of work.

Ally/Enemy?

Ares

Ares

Ares, the God of War, is besotted with Xena and repeatedly comes up with different attempts at trying to win her back into his fold. He dreams of dominating the world with Xena at his side but she is not interested and will do anything to thwart his plans. Although enemies for the most part, sometimes Ares' weak spot for Xena meant he would help her in some way from time to time.

Enemies

Xena's greatest enemies all come from her dark past in one way or another.

Callisto

Callisto

Callisto is an evil embittered warrior out for vengeance because of what Xena did when she was an evil warlord. She had destroyed Callisto's family and home village of Cirra. She delights in the torment of others, especially if it affects Xena. She relishes facing Xena in combat but also welcomes death, to stop the pain and agony she feels from losing her family. She is a very capable warrior and can adequately defeat almost anyone she encounters with the exception of Xena.

Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Xena met Julius Caesar years ago in her dark past. She thought she saw a powerful ally in Caesar but he betrayed her for his own selfish, ambitious ends. He saw himself as destined to rule the world and dreamed of becoming Emperor of Rome. He didn't care that he betrayed Xena in the process. This made them life-long bitter enemies and they would confront each other several times. Whenever Caesar enters the picture, there is a danger of Xena's judgment being marred by her desire for vengeance against him.

Alti

Alti

Another great enemy that Xena acquired in her past was the evil shamaness, Alti. Alti promised Xena great power and that she would become Destroyer of Nations. This came to be but Alti ultimately wanted power for herself at the expense of her alliance with Xena. Alti's desire for power would stop at nothing including, but not limited to, endangering the life of Xena's unborn baby, Eve.

Plot Summary

Season 1

Xena meets Gabrielle for the first time while saving her village. They become good friends, with Gabrielle learning a lot from Xena's advice. They overcome various enemies along the way, including warlords, gods and titans.

Ares attempts to seduce Xena back into her warlord ways

One god in particular is a constant thorn in Xena's side - Ares, God of War. He is upset that Xena has abandoned her evil warlord ways and repeatedly tries to persuade her to come back and be by his side. He frames her for murder and claims to be her saviour. He also masquerades as her father to try and dupe her into lashing out against innocent villagers. It almost works but Gabrielle is there to make Xena realise that attacking these villagers is wrong.

Xena unexpectedly bumps into an old flame, Marcus, while trying to rescue a young woman. She tries to persuade him to stop serving an evil warlord and do good. Unfortunately, his first act of kindness is to give his life to save the kidnapped woman. She meets him again much later but this time he is an undead spirit asking for help in the underworld. The only way into the underworld is to die and become a spirit. Xena does this without hesitation as she loves Marcus very much and manages to stop the madman Atyminius from causing havoc.

Gabrielle learns how to use a Fighting Staff

As Gabrielle spends more time with Xena she becomes more confident but she grows a little frustrated with being unable to help Xena in combat. When she inadvertently becomes an Amazon princess, she quickly learns the use of a Fighting Staff from the Amazons. Despite being a princess to the Amazons she was able to leave them and continue following Xena but promised to return to them.

While Xena advised Helen of Troy in the midst of the Trojan War, Gabrielle unexpectedly meets Perdicus, a man she was reluctantly to marry back in her home village before meeting Xena. But on meeting him this time she is taken with how capable he has become as a soldier. They part on good terms hoping to meet each other again.

Xena discovers she has an exact double in the form of Princess Diana, daughter of King Thrace. She takes her place to thwart attempts on her life. This is the first of numerous doubles that Xena comes across over the course of the six seasons.

Xena and Gabrielle meet Autolycus, a friend of Hercules, for the first time. He is persuaded to masquerade as Synteres, an assassin, to help them retrieve a stolen holy artefact and will meet them again on numerous occasions in the future.

Callisto

Xena encounters perhaps her greatest and certainly her most persistent enemy of the entire show. Callisto is a highly skilled warrior woman out for vengeance against Xena. In her dark past Xena had destroyed Callisto's family and village. This twisted Callisto into an evil and vengeful warrior. Although Xena defeated her this time, they would meet again. During their encounter with Callisto they also meet Joxer, a clumsy warrior who becomes good friends with them.

Xena teams up with her estranged older brother, Toris, to get revenge on Cortese. Cortese was responsible for the death of their younger brother Lyceus and the destruction of their village (the village was later rebuilt). Cortese was also responsible for Xena becoming the dark vengeful warrior that she used to be. Although they worked well together in bringing Cortese down, Xena and Toris would remain estranged.

Xena is finally able to revive Gabrielle, saving her life

Xena and Gabrielle help the wounded in a Greek civil war. Gabrielle risks her life to save someone from the battlefield but is gravely wounded for her troubles. Xena desperately tries to save her, bringing all her medical knowledge to bear. Without realising it Xena was stimulating her heart when she lightly punched Gabrielle's chest in a moment of despair and desperation. Having saved Gabrielle's life, the two have become inseparable.