Queen Otere was the daughter of an unidentified father and mother, and the eventual successor of Queen Cyane as the rightful leader of the Northern Amazon tribe. When she was a child, she was orphaned by her parents' tragic untimely deaths during a raid on her village, and was taken in as the adopted daughter of the warlord Borias before his death. Several years later, she befriended the remnants of the Northern Amazon tribe, and eventually became their rightful leader after the defeat of Alti with the help of a redeemed Xena.
History[]
When she was a child, her parents were killed during a raid committed by Xena and Borias. Borias took pity on Otere and took her in, clothing and feeding her. Alti, a powerful shamaness, predicted that she would one day take away Xena's power and told Xena to kill her. She advanced on the child with a blade, only to be stopped by Borias and Otere subsequently being given to Cyane I of the Northern Amazons to raise her (of whom Borias was trying to ally with). However, Cyane was killed by Xena.
Ten years later, the tribe had been nearly decimated by Alti and her minion, the deadly Berserker. Otere, Yakut and a handful of others were the only ones left.
They came across Xena when she was trying to access the Amazon Land of the Dead to see Gabrielle. Having realised that Xena had been redeemed, they helped her to defeat Alti, who had trapped the souls of the amazon leaders killed by Xena in the Land of the Dead, unable to cross over to the other side. They defeated the Berserker and eventually the shamaness herself by using their own spirits to fight her in the Spiritual Realm.
Xena left Siberia after killing Alti and receiving her vision. Before leaving, she fulfilled Alti's prophecy and allowed Otere to take her power as the rightful leader of the Northern Amazons, which she had accidentally gained when she killed Cyane.
She was played by Sheeri Rappaport and the young Otere was played by Samelle Vosloo.
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Trivia[]
- Yakut inheriting the position of leader of the Northern Amazon Tribe was never explained, nor was Otere's absence in the XWP Season 5 episode "Them Bones, Them Bones". The assumed explanation is that Otere had died and given Yakut her Rite of Caste, but this was never said or confirmed.
- In Greek mythology, Otrera (Otrērē) was the founder and first queen of the Amazons, the consort of Ares, and mother of Hippolytaand Penthesilea. She is also credited with founding the shrine of Artemis in Ephesus. Otrera was a figure in the myths surrounding the Amazons, a warrior society of women who were often depicted as fierce and independent.