Xena

''This article is about the character. You may be looking for the show, Xena: Warrior Princess. You may also be looking for the video game of the same name, Xena: Warrior Princess (Video Game).''

"What is it with you and holes" -Xena to Gabrielle, after falling down a hole in "Paradise Found".

Xena, Warrior Princess, God Slayer, previously Destroyer of Nations, is an ancient Greek hero. She is the main character of Xena: Warrior Princess and a recurring character on Hercules: the Legendary Journeys.

She travels around Greece, with her two soulmates - Gabrielle, the Battling Bard of Potidaea, and Joxer the Mighty (before his death), fighting for the Greater Good.

The show depicts her travels around Greece, as she tries to amend her brutal and violent past.

She is played by Lucy Lawless.

Her Many Skills
Xena performed many feats that were considered outside the normal human range and bordered on that of a demigoddess. She had the ability to absorb a great deal of pain dispassionately, such as when arrows were removed. Xena honed her body to peak human condition. Combined with her iron will, she became the only warrior to survive the ordeal of the Gauntlet, where she was forced to run without armor or weapons between two lines of soldiers, who beat her with clubs.

While technically Xena did not possess godly powers, she had a leaping ability demonstrated by other warriors of a high skill level, notably M'Lila, Callisto and Draco. Xena performed gravity-defying leaps usually in an acrobatic style up to 30 feet. Xena lept straight up from moat water to the top of a high castle wall and somersaulted from her position on the ground to the top of a tall tree where an archer was ambushing her group with arrows. Xena commonly ran up a ruffian's torso, performed a backflip, and kicked him while still in mid-air. On rare occasions, she actually ran on the faces of a surrounding squad of soldiers.

Xena possessed incredible speed and reflexes. She was able to catch knives and arrows in midflight and dodge energy blasts from mystical foes. She was able to routinely catch her chakram, a skill only Callisto, Eve and Gabrielle (fully-trained by the end of the series) were able to duplicate.

Fighting Style
Xena could convert virtually any object into a weapon, from swords, to chobos, to scarfs, pans, and fish. In terms of weaponry Xena usually carries her sword, chakram, a breast dagger kept in her bosom armor, and a whip. Xena was a master of martial arts. Observing her fighting style, Xena has been shown to use different styles, ranging from Tae Kwon Do, Aikido, Ju-Jitsu, judo, kung-fu, boxing, and multiple sword-fighting styles, fusing them into a virtually unbeatable fighting style. Xena's incredible fighting prowess made her a match for foes who were otherwise physically superior to her, such as gods, demigods, archangels, and demons. She was able to go toe-to-toe with Ares, Athena and even Mephistopheles and Lucifer when they reigned as the King of Hell.

Early Life
The only daughter of the tavernkeeper, Cyrene, Xena grew up in Amphipolis with her two brothers. Her father, Orestes, was believed to have left her family when she was a child, but it was subsequently revealed that he was, in fact, killed by Cyrene when he tried to kill seven-year-old Xena as a sacrifice to Ares.

During her mid to late teens, the warlord Cortese attacked the village, which prompted some villagers, including Xena's older brother, Toris, to run for the hills. However, Xena and her younger brother Lyceus convinced the remainder of their fellow villagers to stay and fight. Although Amphipolis was saved, Lyceus and many other villagers were killed in the battle, which formed a rift between Cyrene and her daughter and caused Xena to be ostracized by the town.

Adolesence and M'lila
The death of her beloved younger brother Lyceus lead Xena to leave Amphipolis and begin to build her own army, with her ultimate goal being to take revenge on Cortese. She crossed the seas early on as a pirate, meeting Julius Caesar and a young Gaelic slave-stowaway, M'Lila, who would both profoundly affect the destiny of the Warrior Princess. While onboard Xena's ship, M'Lila taught her several fighting techniques as well as instructing her in the use of pressure points, including what became her signature "pinch" maneuver.

Xena took Caesar as a hostage, and was naively swayed by the young officer to join forces, after beginning an affair with him. She ransomed him back to Rome as they had planned only to have him come back with his own men and capture her ship. He had her and her men crucified on a nearby beach, watching as his orders to break her legs were carried out.

M'Lila rescued her from the cross and took Xena to a healer named Niklio. They were found by two Roman soldiers, who killed the Gaelic woman as she jumped in front of an arrow meant for Xena. After M'Lila died in her arms, Xena fully embraced her dark side and fought the soldiers, killing them (despite her broken legs).

Chin, Lao Ma and 'The Warrior Princess'
After surviving Caesar's betrayal, a crippled and rage-filled Xena went East where she teamed up with the warlord Borias who left his wife and son to become her lover. The two terrorized Chin with their joint forces until Xena angered Borias by alienating the powerful Chinese families Ming and Lao. Without his knowledge, Xena kidnapped Ming Tzu's son, Ming T'ien, for ransom. With Borias' help, Ming Tzu captured Xena, intending to kill her for sport. Xena was saved from certain death by Ming T'ien's mother, Lao Ma, a woman of great spiritual power. During their time together, Lao Ma healed Xena's legs and gave her the title of "Warrior Princess". Under Lao Ma's tutelage, Xena briefly left some of her darkness behind until Borias re-entered her life. A rift formed between Xena and Lao Ma when she murdered Ming Tzu, and suggested that they also kill Ming T'ien. With Lao Ma now their enemy, Xena and Borias were forced to leave Chin.

Akemi and Jappa
They went further east to Jappa (Japan), where they kidnapped a girl named Akemi for ransom. Xena ended up befriending Akemi, who got Xena to teach her one of her signature techniques, "the pinch", which cut off the flow of blood to a person's brain, resulting in death. Akemi then used the pinch to kill her abusive and tyrannical father, Yodoshi, and killed herself. A drunk and grieving Xena tried to put Akemi's ashes in her family crypt, but was set upon by a mob of villagers who felt she was desecrating the crypt by putting the ashes of a patricide in it. Defending herself, Xena used a fire-breathing trick she had mastered. The result was a fire that spread through the town and killed 40,000 people.

Alti and 'The Destroyer of Nations'
Back in northern lands (possibly Siberia), Xena and Borias met a shaman, Alti, who lured Xena toward greater evil with promises that she would become the Destroyer of Nations. She was also befriended by the Amazon queen Cyane, who tried to steer her toward good; but Xena chose Alti's promise of power, and killed Cyane and the Amazon elders at her instigation.

The Centaurs and Solan
By then pregnant with Borias' child, she set out to conquer Corinth. Borias was increasingly troubled by the excesses of her violence, but could do little to stop her: by then they had split their armies, and Xena's was the bigger of the two. At Corinth, they became mortal enemies after he stopped her from slaughtering the Centaurs with whom he had tried to negotiate an agreement. With Xena about to give birth, Borias tried to get her out of her camp in the hope of rescuing their relationship. He was killed by one of her lieutenants, Dagnine; but the realization that Borias came back for her because he loved her and their unborn child had a strong effect on Xena. It was enough to make her decide to give up her newborn baby to the centaurs, so that he would be raised in safety and away from her dangerous influence.

Odin and the Valkyrie
At some point, Xena also travelled to the Norselands, where she spent some time as one of Odin's Valkyrie and unsuccessfully tried to obtain supreme power by stealing the Rheingold. It is unclear whether this happened between her stay in Jappa and her meeting with Alti, or at some point after the death of Borias.

During the largely undocumented period immediately prior to her first appearance in the Hercules series, Xena first obtained her signature weapon, the Chakram of Darkness. It was apparently given to her by Ares, the God of War. Having apparently lost her army at Corinth, she built a new one which cut a path of plunder and conquest through Greece.

Hercules, Gabrielle and Redemption
About ten years after becoming evil, Xena met Hercules. Initially she set out to kill him. Then, her army turned against her after she stopped her lieutenant Darphus from killing a child in a sacked village. She ran a gauntlet but survived, being the only person to ever survive the Gauntlet. She then fought Hercules, in the hope that she would get her army back if she could bring back his head. Xena seemed to be getting the upper hand until Hercules' nephew intervened, giving him the moment to regain composure and defeat her. However, Hercules refused to kill Xena, telling her that "killing isn't the only way of proving you're a warrior." She eventually joined him to defeat her old army.

Xena then set out to redeem herself by starting to protect those who couldn't defend themselves. On her new path, she met a village girl named Gabrielle (later known as the Battling Bard of Potideia), who became her traveling companion and friend. At some point in her journeys, Xena ran into Ares, the God of War, who had known her from when she was a warlord and was always obsessed with winning her affections, but was more usually her adversary.

Everything Until Her Death in Jappa
Xena's subsequent life was marred by many tragedies. Her son Solan, who never got to know her as his mother, died at the hands of Gabrielle's demon child Hope with the help of Callisto, a woman warrior who was obsessed with revenge against Xena because Xena had destroyed her village and her family when she was still evil. She nearly lost Gabrielle more than once, and she and Gabrielle were crucified by the Romans on the Ides of March -- the day of Caesar's death -- but later revived by a mystic named Eli with the spiritual aid of Callisto, who by that time had become an angel. Eve, the miracle child Xena conceived after her resurrection (again through the efforts of the redeemed Callisto), was prophesied to bring about the Twilight of the Olympian gods. To escape the gods' persecution, Xena and Gabrielle tried to fake their deaths. Their plan went awry when Ares buried them in an ice cave where they slept for 25 years. During that time, Eve -- adopted by the Roman nobleman Octavius -- grew up to become Livia, the Champion of Rome, and a ruthless persecutor of Eli's followers. After her return, Xena was able to turn Livia to repentance, and she became the Messenger of Eli. After Eve's cleansing by baptism, Xena was granted the power to kill gods as long as her daughter lived. In a final confrontation, the Twilight came to pass when Xena killed most of the gods to save her daughter, and was herself saved by Ares when he gave up his immortality to heal the badly injured and dying Eve and Gabrielle. Xena later helped him regain his godhood.

Xena's quest for redemption ended when she sacrificed her life to right the wrong she had committed many years ago in Japan. Her spirit, however, still very much appears to be with Gabrielle. According to the darsham, Naima, this is only one of many lives Xena will live throughout the ages, but they all have one thing in common: whatever life awaits her next, it will be spent furthering the cause of good against evil.

Asia

 * India - Xena and Gabrielle made a journey to India, in hope that it would cleanse Xena of her visions of death.
 * "Devi"
 * "Between the Lines"
 * "The Way"
 * China  - Xena had been to Chin three times. It always involved her former mentor, Lao Ma and/or her children.
 * "The Debt, Part I"
 * "The Debt, Part II"
 * "Purity"
 * "Back in the Bottle"
 * Japan - Xena has been to Jappa twice. Both times involved by Akemi. It is also her deathplace.
 * "A Friend in Need"
 * "A Friend in Need II"
 * Siberia - Xena travelled here when she met Alti and she procliamed her 'The Destroyer of Nations'.
 * "Adventures in the Sin Trade"
 * "Adventures in the Sin Trade II"

Africa

 * Egypt - Although it is mentioned countless times throughout the show, it only appeared in one episode. Xena travelled here after Cleopatra died, to pose as her in order to protect Egypt's democracy from the Romans.
 * "Antony and Cleopatra"
 * "Antony and Cleopatra"

South Africa

 * Unknown province - Xena, Gabrielle, Virgil and Eve travel here to rescue Gabrielle's niece, Sara.
 * "Who's Gurkhan?"
 * "Who's Gurkhan?"

Europe

 * Greece - Greece is the main setting for Xena: Warrior Princess. Xena and Gabrielle both resided here in Amphipolis and Potedia, respectively.
 * Greece appears in almost every episode.
 * England - (Brittania (Britain) as it is known in the show) Xena once travelled here and fought alongside Bodecia, although later betrayed her. Xena and Gabrielle came back here to help Boadicea against Caesar, but Gabrielle became pregnant with the child of Dahak.
 * "The Deliverer"
 * "Gabrielle's Hope"
 * France - ('Gaul' as it is known in the show) Also mentioned a lot throughout the run of the show, it only appeared once, when Vercinix and Crassus where captured by Caesar and Xena, respectively.
 * "When in Rome..."
 * Italy - Asides from Greece, it appeared the most throughout the show. It is mostly Rome and Sicily (Mount Etna) shown.
 * "When in Rome..."
 * "Endgame"
 * "The Ides of March"
 * "Fallen Angel"
 * "Chakram"
 * "Looking Death in the Eye"
 * "Livia"
 * "Eve"
 * "Motherhood"
 * "The God You Know"
 * "When Fates Collide"
 * Denmark (Norway) - Xena has traveled here many times, and even resided here in Valhalla. Her main reason for being here are the Valkyrie.
 * "The Rheingold"
 * "The Ring"
 * "Return of the Valkyrie"
 * "You Are There"
 * "You Are There"

Appearance in Costume
These costumes are only listed if they have been worn for two or more episodes.

First Eight Episodes
Xena's costume from "Sins of the Past" to "Prometheus" consisted of her keeping her sword on her side (on her back in "The Reckoning" and "Prometheus" for unexplained reasons) attached to a bulky, patterned belt. Her Chakram was tied to the belt from a piece of cotton string. The breastplate had a distinctive golden pattern, and she wore a golden corset that was very rarely seen, underneath her leather piece.

Rest of Season One to Season Four

 * Up until "The Ides of March", she wore her trademark leather costume. it was almost identical to her costume in the first eight episodes, except she got rid of the belt. Instead, she had a leather hook sewn onto the right side of her leather garment. She kept her Chakram here, and her Sword on her back.

"Succession" to "Antony and Cleopatra"
This costume was mainly designed to coincide with Lucy Lawless' pregnancy. It was mainly blue and had an alternate design for her breastplate, which was silver. She also wore leather johdpurs and riding boots. Apart from "Succession", she wore a thick fur coat over the top of this. In "Amphipolis Under Siege", she wore the costume stated below. In "Lifeblood" and "Kindred Spirits", she wore Amazonian/cult clothing. In "Antony and Cleopatra", she posed as Cleopatra, and wore Egyptian garments.

"Looking Death in the Eye" to "A Friend in Need I"
She now wears a costume almost identical in every detail to the one she wore throughout Season One to Four, except that the leather is more shiny and waxed, and the upper garment is more tough than before. Her Chakram hook is more smaller in size, giving it more independence on her hip.
 * Note: Xena wore this costume in "Amphipolis Under Siege", too.

Before the events in H:TLJ
Whilst traveling with Borias, she wore a number of different costumes, all of which look as if they are from Chinese or Japanese decent.

Season One

 * With Hercules, she freed Prometheus from Hera and the bird that pecks out his insides everyday - "Prometheus"
 * Responsible for sending Sisyphus to his eternal punishment, pushing a rock up a hill for eternity - "Death in Chains"
 * She was at the plot of the Trojan Horse surpirse attack in the Trojan War - "Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts"
 * Performed the first ever Caesarean on Ephiny - "Is There a Doctor in the House"
 * Performed the first ever Caesarean on Ephiny - "Is There a Doctor in the House"

Season Two

 * Helped David and the Israelites defeat Goliath (Of whom she was friends with) - "The Giant Killer"
 * Invented the Kite - "A Day in the Life"
 * Invented the Kite - "A Day in the Life"
 * Helped Ulysses of Ithica return to his homeland and escape the wrath of Poseidon - "Ulysses"


 * Rescued Cecrops from Poseidon his eternity torment on his ship that he couldn't leave - "The Lost Mariner"

Season Three

 * Helped Boadicea defend Brittania - "The Deliverer"
 * Helped stop an assassination attempt on Cleopatra - "The King of Assassins"
 * Prevented the Persian War (or slowed it down enough for it to stop) - "One Against An Army"
 * Catalyst of the death of Crassus - "When In Rome..."
 * Released the Hero of Gaul, Vercinix, from Julius Caesar - "When In Rome..."
 * Responsible for putting the North Star in the sky - "Fins, Femmes and Gems"
 * Responsible for putting the North Star in the sky - "Fins, Femmes and Gems"

Season Four

 * Took down the leader of the Scythians - "In Sickness and in Hell"
 * Killed Indrajit, Indian King of Demons - "The Way"
 * Killed Pompey, Caesar's sworn enemy - "Endgame"
 * Killed Pompey, Caesar's sworn enemy - "Endgame"

Season Five

 * Witnessed Hercules kill Zeus with the Ribs of Kronos, whilst giving birth to Eve, who would later become Livia of Rome and wife of Augustus Caesar - "God Fearing Child"
 * Posed as Cleopatra after she was murdered - "Antony and Cleopatra"
 * Witnessed the death of Marcus Junius Brutus - "Antony and Cleopatra"
 * Killed Mark Antony - "Antony and Cleopatra"
 * 'Commited suicide' to initiate the Twilight of the Gods - "Looking Death in the Eye"
 * Killed Discord, Goddess of Retribution - "Motherhood"
 * Killed Posiedon, God of the Sea and Natural Disasters - "Motherhood"
 * Killed Hades, Lord of the Dead and God of the Underworld - "Motherhood"
 * Killed Hephestus, God of Arts and Crafts - "Motherhood"
 * Killed Athena, Goddess of Warcraft and Wisdom - "Motherhood"
 * Killed Athena, Goddess of Warcraft and Wisdom - "Motherhood"
 * Killed Artemis, Goddess of the Amazons and Nature - "Motherhood"


 * Killed Deimos, God of Terror - "Motherhood"

Season Six

 * Killed Mephistopheles, King of Hell - "The Haunting of Amphipolis"
 * Responsible for turning the Archangel Lucifer into Satan, and placing him in Hell - "Heart of Darkness"
 * Hid Ares, God of War, until he regained his Godhood - "Old Ares Had a Farm"
 * Responsible for Caligula of Rome's suicide - "The God You Know"
 * Stole the Golden Apples from Odin, the Chief Norse God - "You Are There"
 * Restored Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty's Godhood, after it was stolen by Caligula - "You Are There"
 * Restored Ares', God of Warfare and Bloodlust's Godhood - "You Are There"
 * Killed Bellerophon, son of Artemis and Greek hero - "To Helicon and Back"
 * Killed Bellerophon, son of Artemis and Greek hero - "To Helicon and Back"

Xena: Warrior Princess
She appeared in every episode, except for Season 2, Episode 8, "Ten Little Warlords", where she was played by Hudson Leick (Callisto) instead. This is due to Lucy Lawless' injury on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

 * "The Warrior Princess"
 * "The Gauntlet"
 * "Unchained Heart"
 * "Judgement Day"
 * "Stranger in a Strange World"
 * "Armageddon Now II"
 * "Armageddon Now II"