Doctor Janice Covington was the daughter of Harry Covington, the acclaimed "best archaeologist that ever lived". She was a descendant of Gabrielle, living in the 1940s. She was more fearless and fierce than her ancestor; she battled in an all-out gun fight, with no signs of fear.
She contacted Professor Pappas, the father of Melinda Pappas, as she wanted him to decipher the Xena Scrolls. In 1942, a year after his death, Melinda took it upon herself to visit Janice, who was excavating a site in Macedonia, Greece, and offer her services in the place of her father.
Along with Jack Kleinman, Janice and Mel found the Xena Scrolls, one half of the broken Chakram and the tomb of Ares. Rival archaeologist John Smythe, found the other half of it, which resulted in the two halves connecting and Xena, the ancestor of Melinda, taking over Mel's body and preventing Ares from escaping into the open world.
Behind the Scenes[]
- If Janice is a direct descendant of Gabrielle, then she must be a descendant of a child Gabrielle produced after the series ended, since Gabrielle's daughter, Hope, only produced one child, The Destroyer, who was killed before he could produce any children of his own. Otherwise, Janice could be a distant relative of Gabrielle's, possibly descended from Gabrielle's sister, Lila or her niece, Sarah.
- Because Reincarnation hadn't yet been worked into the series mythology, it is never addressed if Janice is also Gabreille's reincarnation. This would depend on when Covington died and also when Mattie Merrill was born.
- Janice is essentially a female version of Indiana Jones, a fictional archaeologist and the protagonist of the eponymous series, created by George Lucas. She is with variations of his trademark whip, hat, leather jacket and 6-barrel revolver. Additionally, she picked up the profession from her father, an equally famous archaeologist. Ironically, in her one appearance, Covington comes closer to conducting actual archaeological fieldwork than Indy did in any of his movies.