Velasca

"I was once your subject, now I'm your equal... and your enemy!"

- Velasca expressing her anger to Artemis, "A Necessary Evil" Velasca, the Goddess of Chaos and the former Queen of the Telaquire Amazons is a character on Xena: Warrior Princess. She is the adopted daughter of the deceased Queen of the Telaquire Amazon tribe, Melosa.

Velasca became Queen temporarily, when she defeated and killed Melosa in what was ruled as 'fair combat'. When Xena was killed in "Destiny", Gabrielle decided to return to the Amazons and take her rightful place as Queen, much to the dismay of Velasca. She and Xena (in Gabrielle's body) fight for possession of Ambrosia, food of the God that can revive the dead and create Gods. Xena wins and Velasca is presumed dead, only that she uses the last portion of Ambrosia to revive herself and become a God.

She becomes hell bent on killing Gabrielle, for stealing her royalty and Ephiny, as she never liked her when she was mortal. To defeat her, Xena calls on Callisto (who is now immortal) to help. She gets her hands on Ambrosia herself and becomes a Goddess too. Xena then imprisons both of them in a pit of lava, by cutting the bridge suspended over it, that they are fighting on.

She was played by Melinda Clarke.

Meeting Gabrielle and Reluctancy
The Amazon Velasca was raised as the adopted daughter of the Amazon Queen Melosa. At one point in time, Velasca challenged Melosa to a duel for the role as Amazon Queen. Velasca lost and left the tribe to become a rogue warrior. Later, she returns and challenges Melosa again, this time winning. What she does not know is that Melosa's sister Terreis had previously died and had given her "Right of Caste" to Gabrielle before death. This means that Gabrielle is, by tradition, the next in line to rule over that tribe of Amazons.

When the Amazons discover that Xena has died, they come to Gabrielle and offer to give Xena's body a traditional Amazon burial as she was an Amazon in spirit. Ephiny, one of the tribe's most trusted members, then asks Gabrielle to return to the Amazon village to take her position as their queen. Before the official ceremony, Velasca speaks to Gabrielle and tries to convince her that she was not raised an Amazon and thus would not be happy leading them. She offers the opportunity for Gabrielle to pass the ceremonial mask of their tribe's queen to her when Gabrielle is offered the mask before the entire tribe. Gabrielle tells Velasca that she would think about it.

During the ceremony when Gabrielle is handed the mask, Velasca steps forward to receive it. Instead, Gabrielle begins to pull the mask forward to place it on her head. Enraged, Velasca throws her blade at the mask, causing it to stick to a post. Velasca then stands before the tribe and denounces Gabrielle as she is not Amazon born and has no real hold to the right to be queen. Gabrielle silences her and offers Velasca's blade back and puts the mask on, showing that she holds no ill will toward Velasca but that she intends to fulfill her promise to Terreis.

Death and Rebirth as a Goddess
Later, when Velasca discovers that the thief Autolycus is attempting to steal Xena's body in order to revive it with ambrosia, Velasca battles the spirit of Xena in both Autolycus' and Gabrielle's bodies in order to steal the Ambrosia for herself to become a deity. During the battle, Velasca falls on a row of spikes and is mortally wounded. Thinking her near dead, Gabrielle, Autolycus and the now revived Xena leave her to die. What they don't see is that a piece of Ambrosia fell to Velasca's side.

Returning to the village just after Gabrielle is officially crowned as the Amazon Queen, Velasca, bloody and bruised holds up the piece of Ambrosia and proceeds to eat it before everyone's eyes and is quickly transformed into a god. She unleashes her new powers against her former Amazon tribe for protecting Gabrielle, but discovers that she is still weak from the severity of her rapidly healed injuries and the intense effort of using her powers for the first time. The Amazons and Xena take this opportunity to retreat and get their bearings. Resting for a moment, Velasca travels to a temple honoring the goddess Artemis, who is the chief Amazon goddess, and destroys it.

Eternal Imprisonment
Meanwhile, Xena and Gabrielle ask the now immortal Callisto for help against Velasca. Callisto reluctantly agrees and the three attack Velasca but it proves to be no small task as Velasca's new goddess abilities continue to grow. Xena tells Gabrielle to give Callisto the last remaining piece of Ambrosia in order to stop Velasca and Callisto becomes a goddess as well. During Velasca and Callisto's battle, Xena cuts the rope bridge they are on and the two of them fall into an enormous lava river. It is there, encased in stone, that Velasca remains. Alive, but confined forever.

Behind the Scenes

 * Although Velasca only appeared in two episodes, she proved very popular amongst fans and had a toy figure (Velasca from "The Quest" with Tribal Mask and Ambrosia Cave) created and even a role in the Xena: Warrior Princess video game for the Nintendo 64, The Talisman of Fate.

Trivia

 * Velasca was the first character to become a full God on-screen.
 * There are some contradictions surrounding Velasca's fate;
 * Charon mentions in "You Are There" that Xena "sent" him Velasca, which could mean two things; that she perished in the lava pit, or she briefly died in the Hall of Ambrosia and ate some Ambrosia to ressurect. While the second theory is unlikey, the first theory is equally unlikely too, as this would also mean that Callisto perished with her (which she didn't due to her escape from the pit in "Maternal Instincts").
 * If she did survive, this means that she should have returned when Hope freed Callisto.