Xena

Xena is a female television character who features in Xena: Warrior Princess.

Biography

Xena was a female human born to Cyrene in the Thracian village of Amphipolis. Her father Nelo was a traveller of mysterious background who stayed with Cyrene after learning they had given birth to a girl. When Xena was 7 years old, her father returned home from the Temple of Ares drunk claiming the need to sacrifice Xena to Ares when he was slain by Cyrene with an axe. (XWP: The Furies) She was noted to have had an older brother named Toris and a younger brother named Lyceus. Whilst growing up, she and her older brother Toris did not get along but did so for the sake of their younger sibling. (XWP: Death Mask) Xena was closer with Lyceus where they enjoyed fishing and would constantly attempt to catch Solaris who was the biggest fish in the lake. (XWP: Fins, Femmes and Gems) Later on, Xena came to learn to fight and taught her brother Lyceus as well. In her late teens, their village faced attacks from the warlord Cortese who was raiding the settlement. To fight him, Xena gathered an army consisting of farmers from her village and included Lyceus whilst Toris and others fled for the hills. When Cortese attacked, the defenders managed to fend the warlord off but knew that he would return. Thus, she used the surrounding villages as a buffer against him and when Cortese returned a fierce battle was fought where Lyceus was killed. Xena came to be blamed for her brother's death with her mother Cyrene forcing her daughter to leave Amphipolis. (XWP: Sins of the Past)

Returning to Greece, Xena becomes obsessed with conquering Arcadia but knew this would not be possible as long as Hercules resided in the area as she could not defeat the demi-god in a one-on-one fight. Instead, she concocted a plot wherein she tricks Iolaus into falling in love with her. Once Iolaus was bewitched, she began to poison him against Hercules where her trickery allowed her to drive a wedge between the heroes, eventually even causing them to fight one another. Finally, Iolaus realizes what was happening and re-joined Hercules to fight Xena and her army. (HTLJ: The Warrior Princess) Xena and her army escape and continue to plunder the nearby villages but there is dissension among the ranks. Xena's lieutenant, Darphus, begins to openly question her orders and disobey her. When Xena is scouting ahead of her army, Darphus orders the men to attack a village and kill all the men, women and children. A single baby survives and Xena saves him, giving him into the care of Salmoneus, whom she met after an attack on another village. Xena is furious that her men killed women and children. When she tries to discipline Darphus, he and men loyal to him, decide she is no longer fit to lead the army and they force her to walk a Gauntlet. No one has ever survived this before but Xena manages to get through, bloodied but not beaten. She leaves her army and goes off to heal. A short while later, Hercules encounters Darphus and the army headed to attack Parthus. Along the way, Hercules encounters Xena who is also tracking the army. The two fight in a titanic battle and Hercules defeats Xena. However, he spares her life and tells her that "killing isn't the only way of proving you're a warrior". Xena declines when Hercules asks her to join him in fighting her army. He lets her leave and continues to Parthus where he helps prepare the villagers for an attack. When the attack comes, Xena appears and fights alongside Hercules against Darphus and her former warriors. Xena kills Darphus in combat and the remains of the army scatter. Parthus is saved and Xena asks Hercules if she can travel with him to discover what is next for her. (HTLJ: The Gauntlet) Xena travels for a time with Hercules and Salmoneus. Salmoneus tries to convince the duo to let him write their celebrity biographies. The trio eventually meet up with Iolaus who is understandably displeased to see Xena. They learn that Darphus has been restored to life by Ares and been given the mission of feeding Graegus the bodies of innocents. Meanwhile, Xena and Hercules begin to develop feelings for one another. Iolaus notices this and warns Hercules to watch his back. In time, Hercules convinces Iolaus that Xena has changed and is now definitely on the side of good. Xena apologizes to Iolaus for hurting him and he forgives her. The heroes track down Darphus. Together, they fight off the remnants of Xena's army and manage to turn Graegus on Darphus. The beast is able to kill Darphus for good and the darkest chapter of Xena's life is ended. Hercules confesses that he loves Xena and never thought he would feel that way again for anyone but Deianeira of Thebes. He asks to continue helping her find redemption but she tells him he already has: "You've unchained my heart." Xena rides off to begin to atone for her many crimes (HTLJ Unchained Heart)

Once being reverted by Hercules, Xena decided to give up fighting. She buried her belongings and was about to walk away, when she saw Hector, a lieutenant of Draco's kidnapping a group of young girls from the village of Potedia. She intervened and released the girls from him. Her fighting skills caught the eye of one of the girls: Gabrielle. She was a simple farmer, whom had been put into an arranged marriage that she did not want to be a part of. She relentlessly asked Xena to allow her to travel with her and teach her how to fight. In awe with every aspect of Xena, she wasn't satisfied when Xena said no to her offer of accompanying her on the road and so she decided to follow her to Amphipolis, crossing paths with a Cyclops on her way. Xena confronts Draco about his planned ransack of Potedia, and asks him to spare the village. She continues to tell him that she going home, to see her mother, which he tries to talk her out of, telling her that she will not be welcome. He then decides that he is going to ransack Amphipolis instead. Xena confronts her mother and tries to make it up with her, only to be rejected on first sight. She tries to warn her of the upcoming attack, but she and the rest of the villagers do not listen to her and instead decide to stone her. Gabrielle, who had followed Xena there, intervenes and saves Xena from being pelted with stones, which finally convinces Xena to take Gabrielle with her. They go to visit Xena's brother Lyceus first, who died during Cortese's raid. Gabrielle tells Xena that she is not alone, and their friendship begins from there. Xena then returns to Amphipolis to face Draco. The two fight on scaffolding with staves: the first person to touch the ground loses. With some sneaky intervention by Gabrielle, Xena wins and Draco touches the ground first, where she makes him swear on the head of Ares never to return to Amphipolis again. After seeing that she had in fact changed for the good, Cyrene and Xena reconciled. (XWP: Sins of the Past)

Overview

Powers and abilities

Her signature weapon was the Chakram that had the unique ability of being thrown and returning to her. It possessed sharp edges and was able to cut through most things. (XWP: Chakram)

Notes

• Xena was created by Robert Tapert and John Schulian where she was portrayed by actor Lucy Lawless and featured in the Hercules-Xena universe.

Appearances

• Xena: Warrior Princess:

External Links

• Hercules-Xena Wik Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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