Xena
Xena: Warrior Princess is a television series which aired from 1995 to 2001. It was a spin-off from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Set in a fantasy ancient Greece, the series told the adventures of former Hercules villain Xena (Lucy Lawless), a reformed warlord, on a quest to redeem her past sins. Xena was accompanied on her travels by Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor), a young girl who became her best friend and most trusted ally. The series was filmed in New Zealand.
The show freely borrowed names and themes from various mythologies around the world, but adapted them to suit the demands of the storyline Greek mythology.
The show was a mixture of styles, ranging from high melodrama in one episode to slapstick comedy in another. It was also hinted that Xena and Gabrielle were lovers. This was left deliberately ambiguous, leading to much heated debate over what became known as the Subtext. Some critics found it to be a marketing tactic -- and, given later seasons, outright cowardice -- avoided by most shows thereafter until the character Willow explored her sexuality in Buffy.
Xena fandom also popularized the term Altfic (no relation to the evil Alti character in the series) among fans to refer to general homosexual romantic stories as slash fanfiction was generally preceived as focused on male/male couples. See yuri. Xena fandom also expanded its fan fiction raw materials to include stories making Xena and Gabrielle archetypes and inserting them in different cultures at different times, from the prehistoric to the far future (and everywhere between). This type of Xena fan fiction was coined as "Uber" in 1997 by Kym Taborn of Whoosh.org. Its use can be found on-line as "UberXena", "Uber fan fiction", or similar variations.
The show also featured a wide assortment of recurring characters, including enemies Ares, the God of War (Kevin Smith) and Callisto (Hudson Leick) and trusted friends like Autolycus (Bruce Campbell) and Joxer (Ted Raimi).
See also: List of Xena episodes
Characters
Regulars:
Recurring:
- Joxer the warrior wannabe, played by Ted Raimi
- Ares, the God of War, played by Kevin Smith
- Callisto, played by Hudson Leick
- Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, played by Alexandra Tydings
- Autolycus, the King of Thieves, played by Bruce Campbell
- Varia, queen of the Amazons, played by
