From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena & Gabrielle
Format	Supernatural Drama
Created by	John Schulian Robert Tapert R. J. Stewart, developer
Starring	Lucy Lawless Renee O'Connor
Country of origin	United States /  New Zealand
No. of episodes	134, plus 3 pilot installments collectively titled "The Xena Trilogy" (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Robert Tapert, Sam Raimi
Running time	41-44 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	Syndication
Picture format	NTSC 480i, 576i (SDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	September 4, 1995 – May 21, 2001
Chronology
Related shows	Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Xena: Warrior Princess is an American television series program for Universal Television's Action Pack that was filmed in New Zealand. Produced by Pacific Renaissance Pictures Ltd (owned by Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi) in association with/distributed by Universal Studios, Xena aired from 1995 to 2001. The series program was a spin-off from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and many characters made appearances in both shows.

Contents 1 Description 2 Theme music 3 Characters 3.1 Main 3.2 Supporting 4 Story arcs 4.1 Gabrielle's development 4.2 Xena's backstory 4.3 The Amazons 4.4 The Dahak arc & The Rift 4.5 Birth of Eve, Twilight of the Gods 5 Costume donation 6 Awards 7 Influence 7.1 References in TV shows and Films 7.2 Astronomy 7.3 Fandom 7.4 Role in historical/mythological events 8 Episodes 9 International broadcast history 10 DVD releases 11 Spin-offs 11.1 Movies 11.2 Books 11.3 Comics 11.4 Video games 12 See also 13 References 14 External links

The show is a historical fantasy set in ancient Greece, although with a flexible time setting, and also features heavy Oriental, Egyptian and Medieval elements in various episodes. The series details the adventures of former Hercules villain Xena (Lucy Lawless), a reformed warlord on a quest to redeem her past sins. Xena is accompanied on her travels by Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor), a young woman who becomes her best friend and, eventually, most trusted ally. The series was filmed in New Zealand.

The show freely borrows names and themes from various mythologies around the world, primarily Greek mythology, adapting them to suit the demands of the storyline. Historical figures and events from a number of different historical eras and myths make numerous appearances, and the main characters are often credited with resolving important historical situations. These include an encounter with Homer, before he was famous, in which Gabrielle encourages his storytelling aspirations; the fall of Troy; and the capture of Caesar by pirates, with Xena cast as the pirate leader. This quirky mix of timelines and the amalgamation of historical and mythological elements fueled the rise of the show to cult status during the 1990s and early 2000s. It was one of the first shows to tap into to its internet following, allowing for fans from all over the world to discuss and suggest things related to the show. The fandom continues to this day.

The show is a mixture of styles, ranging from high melodrama in one episode to slapstick comedy in another, from whimsical to all-out action and/or adventure in another. Although it is ostensibly set in ancient times, the themes of the show are essentially modern: taking responsibility for past misdeeds, the value of human life, personal liberty and sacrifice, and friendship. The flexible fantasy framework of the show accommodates a considerable range of styles, including an original musical episode, The Bitter Suite. Although the show often addresses ethical dilemmas such as the morality of pacifism, the storylines rarely seek to provide unequivocal solutions.

In addition to Xena and Gabrielle, the show also features a wide assortment of recurring characters, including adversaries Ares (Kevin Smith), Alti (Claire Stansfield) and Callisto (Hudson Leick), and trusted friends Salmoneus (Robert Trebor), Virgil (William Gregory Lee), Autolycus (Bruce Campbell), Eli (Tim Omundson) and Joxer (Ted Raimi).

The theme music, composed by Joseph LoDuca, who also co-wrote the lyrics for the songs in "The Bitter Suite", was developed from the traditional Bulgarian folk song "Kaval Sviri", and was sung by Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares. In the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episode, "Unchained Heart", in which Xena is introduced, the original "Kaval Sviri" is the music used to announce Xena racing into battle.

• Xena, played by Lucy Lawless
• Gabrielle, played by Renée O'Connor

• Joxer, the warrior wanna-be, clown-like friend of Xena and Gabrielle, played by Ted Raimi, the producer's brother
• Alti, outcast Amazon shamaness, played by Claire Stansfield
• Amarice, young Amazon wanna-be, played by Jennifer Sky
• Aphrodite, the goddess of love, played by Alexandra Tydings
• Ares, the god of war, played by Kevin Smith
• Autolycus, the self-styled king of thieves, played by Bruce Campbell
• Borias Xena's ex-lover and the father of Xena's son, Solan, played by Marton Csokas
• Brutus, right hand man of Caesar, played by Grant Triplow and later, by David Franklin
• Caesar, Roman leader, love/hate interest for Xena, played by Karl Urban
• Callisto, Xena's biggest nemesis, played by Hudson Leick
• Cyrene, Xena's mother, played by Darien Takle
• Princess Diana, one of the various Xena look-alikes played by Lucy Lawless
• Eli, healer, teacher and prophet of a new religion- he is later to be revealed playing the role Jesus in the series, played by Tim Omundson
• Ephiny, queen regent of the Amazons, played by Danielle Cormack
• Eve, Xena's pacifist daughter, played by Adrienne Wilkinson, also called Livia from her dark warrior days.
• Hades, the god of the underworld, played by Erik Thomson (seasons 1-4); Stephen Lovatt (season 5)
• Hercules, the demigod credited with turning Xena from evil to good, played by Kevin Sorbo
• Hope, the demonic daughter of Gabrielle, played by Amy Morrison as a girl and by Renée O'Connor as a young woman
• Iolaus, Hercules' best friend, played by Michael Hurst
• Lao Ma, Xena's mentor, played by Jacqueline Kim
• Meg, a tramp, one of the various Xena look-alikes, played by Lucy Lawless
• Pompey, the rival of Caesar to Roman Empire throne, played by Jeremy Callaghan
• Salmoneus, the ultimate merchant man with a lax conscience but good heart, played by Robert Trebor
• Virgil, poet-warrior, son of Joxer and Meg, played by William Gregory Lee

These and other characters are also listed in:

• List of minor characters in Xena: Warrior Princess
• List of Hercules and Xena characters

Through the early seasons the show's episodes were stand-alones, where the conflict of the week was usually resolved by the end of the episode; at most there was brief passing mention of previous events in subsequent episodes. Season 2 marked a gradual change in atmosphere when the show started adopting multi-part episodes and broader story arcs that span a season or more.

A story arc that can be considered to span the entire series is Gabrielle's transformation. In the first few episodes, she is an imaginative but naïve young peasant girl, seeing the wide world for the first time and unable to defend herself. This starts to change in episode 1.10 "Hooves & Harlots", in which she becomes an Amazon Princess and chooses the staff as her weapon of choice (though only for defense). This sets her on a long journey which is reflected in the majority of other story arcs of the series.

The season two episode, Orphan of War is the first in a series of episodes with flashbacks to Xena's past. Although her earliest history is established in the introductory Xena Trilogy on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, there is a gap of about a decade between the time that Xena initially leaves her village to form an army and the crucial moment when she crosses paths with Hercules and becomes good friends. The flashback episodes reveal various journeys or milestones in Xena's past that defines the woman that she is.

The Amazons are an all-female tribe who make frequent appearances in the series. They are depicted as a number of tribes scattered throughout the world, segregated by an unknown cataclysm from their distant past. The Amazons trace their creation to the goddess Artemis, and value an all-female society that strives for the uphold the same rights and freedoms for women as those of men. Each tribe is headed by a Queen, whose position may be either inherited, or passed on as a right of caste to any named successor. A Queen's authority may also be openly challenged by another royal Amazon and her title relinquished if she is defeated in single combat.

Although several tribes are known in different countries, Xena has dealt prominently with the Greek Amazons and the Northern Amazons of Siberia. With her fighting skills and advocacy for women's rights, Xena bears a striking resemblance to the Amazons. But she is careful to emphasize that she is not an Amazon, nor has she any wish to become one. She has turned down offers to join the tribes, preferring an independent, nomadic lifestyle to membership of a collective. The series reveals that some of the Amazons do not trust Xena because of atrocities she committed against them in her past, although most respect her abilities as a warrior.

Gabrielle, on the other hand, during her first encounter with the Greek Amazon tribe throws herself over an Amazon named Terreis to protect her from falling arrows.^[1] Although Terreis is already dying, she is impressed by Gabrielle's bravery and gives her her right of caste. Terreis was the next in line to rule, and by giving Gabrielle the right, Gabrielle becomes an Amazon Princess of the Greek tribe.

This chance encounter leads to Gabrielle's acceptance into the Amazons, and with it she carries her title's duties and expectations. Although Gabrielle decides to continue to follow Xena on her adventures, she is occasionally called by her Amazon sisters in times of need or to fulfill her duties as royalty. The tribes also value Xena as an experienced warrior, and occasionally request her assistance.

The first lengthy story arc in the show involved the evil god Dahak, a villain based loosely on the mythological Zahhak. In the Season 3 episode, The Deliverer, Gabrielle meets a group of religious disciples that worship "The One True God".^[2] Attracted by their apparent piety, Gabrielle follows them to their temple, but her curiosity leads to tragedy when she discovers that this god is Dahak and his religion is built on death and destruction. Gabrielle is lured there because of her innocence, and when she is tricked into murdering another, she completes a dark ritual that leads to her supernatural impregnation with the child of Dahak.

Gabrielle's ensuing pregnancy progresses with unnatural speed.^[3] She gives birth within a matter of days. Xena recognises the child for what it is and insists that it be killed as soon as it is born. Gabrielle, however, is overcome with motherly instincts and names the child Hope because she believes that is what her child represents. After giving birth, Gabrielle tricks Xena into believing that she dropped Hope off a cliff, when in fact she had placed Hope in a basket and set her down a river. This betrayal of trust starts what many fans call The Rift, a crucial period in Xena and Gabrielle's relationship where an emotional chasm starts to form between them.

Eventually Xena and Gabrielle cross paths again with Hope, though due to her supernatural genealogy, she's already grown into a pre-teen.^[4] Hope's manipulations cause Xena and Gabrielle to turn against each other, culminating in the death of Xena's son, Solan. Gabrielle eventually realizes Hope's true intentions and poisons her, but the damage has been done.

The Rift is resolved in the surreal musical installment The Bitter Suite, which features a number of main characters bursting into song and dance in a dream-like world.^[5] The Dahak arc, however, continues over the Season 3 finale^[6][7] to an early Season 4 episode where Hope finally meets her demise.^[8]

Although it is Xena and Gabrielle who trigger the start of the Dahak arc, the problem is only completely resolved in the show's parent series, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, where the main characters of that show have to face and defeat Dahak.

An ongoing plot throughout the fifth season deals with Xena's pregnancy (coinciding with Lucy Lawless's pregnancy). After Xena and Gabrielle's return from the dead in the Season 5 opener Fallen Angel, the subsequent episodes revealed that Xena was mysteriously pregnant with a child who did not have a father.^[9] In episode 5.09 Seeds of Faith it is revealed that the pregnancy is a gift from the redeemed Callisto, who is to be reborn in the world and chose Xena to be her mother.^[10]

It is later decreed that Xena's child would herald the end of the Olympian Gods. Subsequent episodes show various members of the divine pantheon forming pre-emptive strikes against the pregnant Xena, and though each fail they continue even after the child is born. Episode 5.19 Looking Death in the Eye marks a significant change in the series when Xena and Gabrielle fake their deaths^[11] and the series timeline jumps to 25 years later when Xena's daughter, Eve, has grown up into a powerful warrior.^[12] The later episodes of the season deal with Xena and Gabrielle coping with the 25-year-gap, Eve accepting her purpose^[13] and the death of various major gods of the series.^[14]

In 2006, Lucy Lawless donated her personal Xena costume to the Museum of American History.^[15] In an interview the same year with Smithsonian magazine, she was asked the question "Was the Warrior Princess outfit comfortable?" and she responded:

Not at first, because they would put boning in the corset. It would cover up those little floating ribs that are so important for breathing, so I'd feel like I was having panic attacks. But it just became a second skin after a while. It was very functional, once I got over the modesty factor. I admit to being a little bit embarrassed the first couple weeks because I'd never worn anything so short.

—Lucy Lawless,  Smithsonian, November 2006, page 44

Xena: Warrior Princess won an Emmy award in 2000 for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.

Xena: Warrior Princess has been credited by many, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, with blazing the trail for a new generation of female action heroes such as Buffy, Max of Dark Angel, Sydney Bristow of Alias, and the Bride in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. Tarantino is an enthusiastic Xena fan.^[16]

"Xena" has become a synonym for "tough, warrior-like woman" and is commonly used in magazine articles and film reviews. For instance, Guinevere in the 2004 film King Arthur was compared to Xena in a number of reviews.^{[17] [18] [19]} Also in 2005, a Chicago Daily Herald review of a production of Shakespeare's Henry IV in which most of the male roles are played by women is titled "Shakespeare Meets Xena". The reviewer notes that today's audiences can easily accept the feminization of the play's power struggles and battle scenes because of "familiarity with battling babes like Xena^[16]. Negatively, after the release of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, many Tolkien fans showed their disapproval of the expanded warrior role Jackson gave Arwen, a background figure in the books, by calling her film version "XenArwen."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been nicknamed "Warrior Princess" by her staff^[20].

Rachel, a beautiful adolescent girl character from the science fiction book series Animorphs, was also nicknamed "Xena, Warrior Princess," because of her sometimes reckless bravery and "Take no prisoners" attitude.^[21]

Xena has enjoyed a particular cult status in the lesbian community. Some of the lesbian fan base sees Xena and Gabrielle as a couple and has embraced them as role models and lesbian icons.^[22] A group called The Marching Xenas has participated in many gay and lesbian pride parades.^[23]

The Animaniacs comic book series parodied the show, casting Minerva Mink as "Minerxa: Warrior Princess." in issue #34.

• In the episode Leapin' Lizards of CSI, the case centers around a group of people who believe in UFOs. They believe that the reptilian Athena is going to come and end the human race. One female character believes she is the protector of humans and dresses up in a costumes almost identical to Xena's and uses a sword to chop off the head of the woman she believes to be the reptilian Athena. She also sketches images of herself in full Xena regalia and the reptilian princess. Brass mentions Xena when he sees the sketch and the sword Catherine recovers from on top of the cabinets.
• In the movie The Core (2003) starring Hilary Swank and Aaron Eckhart, the computer nerd Rat (DJ Qualls) is coerced into working for the government. His demands include "an unlimited supply of Xena tapes."
• An episode of The X-Files written by William Gibson and Tom Maddox, "First Person Shooter" (Season 7 episode 13) a Xena-like woman warrior is killing people inside a virtual reality computer game. When Mulder and Scully confront the women who was used as a model for the character, she says, "You must have me confused with my sister, Xena: Warrior Princess."
• In an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ("Halloween", 2x06), after a spell has caused the characters to become whatever they have dressed as, Willow says about Buffy: "She couldn't have dressed up like Xena?" (as opposed to a helpless Victorian noblewoman). Xena's writers pays back the homage by referencing a play called "Buffus, the Bacchae Slayer" in the episode "The Play's the Thing".
• On Roseanne ("Pampered to a Pulp," October 22, 1996), past-life regression therapy caused Roseanne Barr to have a dream in which she was a Xena-like figure.
• The Simpsons references Xena in three episodes: "Mayored to the Mob" (10 x 09) in which a woman in a Xena costume is seen at a sci-fi convention; "Tree House of Horror" (11 x 04), in which one of the storylines features Lucy Lawless (voiced by herself, although in an American accent); and "Children of a Lesser Clod" (12 x 20), in which a Xena poster is seen on a wall.
• The Canadian sketch comedy series This Hour Has 22 Minutes featured a recurring segment in which the character Marg Delahunty (Mary Walsh) accosted real-life Canadian politicians while dressed in a Xena-like outfit as "Marg: Princess Warrior".
• On March 13, 2006, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno featured a Xena-related skit using a clip of President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. In the news clip, Mrs. Bush talks about how proud she is that the President supports strong women and has strong women in his cabinet. In the skit, a bubble showing Bush's thoughts appears on the screen with clips of Xena fighting bad guys along with a voiceover of Bush saying that he wished he could get "that Xena woman" in his cabinet because she's the strongest woman he knows, and watching her kick the butts of "evil-doers" makes him tingly.
• In an episode of Entourage ("I Love You Too"), Vanessa Angel makes an appearance as a Xena parody, whose show overshadowed the program it was spun-off from, Johnny Chase's Viking Quest. This is a reference to Xena becoming a bigger cultural icon than Hercules: the Legendary Journeys. The use of Angel in this role is also a reference to the fact that she was originally slated to play Xena, but she fell ill and was unable to make the trip to New Zealand for filming, and the role went to Lucy Lawless.
• In the Dexter's Laboratory episode Momdark Dexter's mom leaps through a window doing Xena's battlecry.
• Through seasons 2 and 3 of the WB drama series 7th Heaven, Ruthie (played by Mackenzie Rosman) often plays make believe that she is Xena.
• The animated series The Oblongs features a popular television show called "Velva The Warrior". This parody takes Xena's ambiguous sexuality a step further with many characters and objects in the show named similarly to parts of the female anatomy.
• In MTV's animated series Downtown, one of the recurring characters "Goat" is a fan of Xena: Warrior Princess. In the first episode he asks the main character for his Xena life-sized cardboard cutout, and in a later episode he makes several different Xena references.
• In the series Dark Angel (2000-2002), Max, played by Jessica Alba, has a lesbian friend, Original Cindy, played by Valarie Rae Miller. When Max and Original Cindy move in together, Original Cindy attaches a large Xena: Warrior Princess poster to the wall over her bed. In another episode, she excuses herself from a private conversation by glancing at her watch and saying, "Oops, Xena's on,".
• In the movie Wrong Turn 2, Jonesy compares Amber to Xena, after she helps fight off two cannibals.
• In an episode of Nip/Tuck the name Xena is mentioned while Christian and Sean are dicussing the drug that Kimber and Matt say will cure them of their Crystal Meth Addiction. This is probally mentioned because Hudson Leick who is famous for playing the villian Callisto on Xena: Warrior Princess guest stared on that episode.

In 2005, the team that discovered the dwarf planet 2003 UB₃₁₃ nicknamed it "Xena" in honor of the TV character. On October 1, 2005, the team announced that 2003 UB₃₁₃ had a moon, which they had nicknamed "Gabrielle". The objects were officially named Eris and Dysnomia by the International Astronomical Union on September 13, 2006. Although the official names have legitimate roots in Greek mythology, Dysnomia is also Greek for "lawlessness", perpetuating the link with Lucy Lawless.

A subject of much interest and debate among viewers is the question of whether Xena and Gabrielle are lovers.^[24][25] The issue is left deliberately ambiguous by the show's writers. Jokes, innuendo, and other subtle evidence of a romantic relationship between Xena and Gabrielle is referred to as "lesbian subtext" or simply subtext by fans.^[24] The issue of the true nature of the Xena/Gabrielle relationship caused intense shipping debates in the fandom, which turned especially impassioned due to spillover from real-life debates about same-sex sexuality and gay rights.^[26]

The sexual nature of Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was discussed in an interview given by Lucy Lawless to Lesbian News magazine in 2003. Lawless stated that after the series finale, where Gabrielle revives Xena with a mouth-to-mouth water transfer filmed to look like a full kiss, she had come to believe that Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was "definitely gay... there was always a 'well, she might be or she might not be' but when there was that drip of water passing between their lips in the very final scene, that cemented it for me. Now it wasn't just that Xena was bisexual and kinda liked her gal pal and they kind of fooled around sometimes, it was 'Nope, they're married, man'."^[27] On the other hand, in the interviews and commentaries on the DVD sets released in 2003-2005, the actors, writers and producers continued to stress the ambiguity of the relationship, and Ares was also considered at least as a potential love interest for Xena.^[25]

The Xena fandom also popularized the term Altfic (from "alternative fiction") to refer to same-sex romantic fan fiction.^[28] Many fans felt the term slash fiction carried the connotation of being about male/male couples only and was not a good description for romantic fan fiction about Xena and Gabrielle.

Another special fandom term is "Uber", coined in 1997 by Kym Taborn of fan website Whoosh.org, sometimes used with a character's name ("UberXena") and sometimes used as a name for a fan fiction subgenre ("Uberfic"). In Xena Uberfic, Xena, Gabrielle, and other characters appear in different cultures at different times, from the prehistoric to the far future, through reincarnation or supernatural means. Stories of this kind were first inspired by the episode "The Xena Scrolls", which features look-alike descendants of Xena and Gabrielle living in the 1940s. Later episodes of the show also show different future incarnations of Xena and Gabrielle in both India and the United States.

After the series ended, several fan-created virtual seasons were launched on the Internet, continuing the storyline past the series finale (and resurrecting Xena from her death in the finale). They include the "Xena: Warrior Princess Virtual Seasons, the "Xena: Warrior Princess Subtext Virtual Seasons" (in which Xena and Gabrielle are openly shown as a couple and have an Amazon wedding), and the "Xena: Warrior Princess Shipper Seasons" (which develops Xena's relationship with Ares).

The show credits Xena (or her friends and associates) with a central role in many events in history and mythology. Among other things, she:

• helped David kill Goliath and defeat the Philistines.^[29]
• defended Troy in the Trojan War, and saved Helen.
• assisted Ulysses in regaining his kingdom in Ithaca after returning from the Trojan War.^[30]
• single-handedly stopped the invading Persian army at Thermopylae.^[31]
• led a band of pirates in the capture and ransom of Julius Caesar, who then captured them and had them crucified^[32] (this story of Caesar and the pirates is based on fact, though Xena was not, of course, the pirate leader).
• helped Boadicea defeat the Roman invasion led by Julius Caesar^[2] (in actual history, Boadicea fought the Romans some 100 years after Caesar's death and was defeated).
• was present at the formation of Stone Henge, with Stone Henge being the remains of Dahak's temple after it is destroyed in a battle between Xena and The Deliverer.^[2]
• helped manipulate the power games of the Roman First Triumvirate, taking advantage of the rivalries between Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Pompey first to free the Gaul rebel Vercinix^[33] and then to stop the Roman armies from rampaging through Greece.^[34]
• helped engineer the assassination of Caesar by pitting his friend Marcus Junius Brutus against him.^[35]
• posed as Cleopatra and double-crossed Mark Antony in order to help Octavius Caesar defeat Brutus and Antony and gain control of the empire (after becoming convinced that Octavius was more honorable than both his rivals).^[36]
• engineered the death of the crazed Roman emperor Caligula.^[37]
• encountered the Virgin Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus; Gabrielle gave them the donkey on which they rode.^[38]
• killed Mephistopheles, the King of Hell, in order to release the trapped soul of her mother.^[39]
• tricked the archangel Lucifer into getting in touch with his "inner demon" and becoming the new king of Hell, the devil.^[40]
• created the Terracotta Army, by turning a living army to stone.^[41]

Further information: List of Xena: Warrior Princess episodes

• In Australia, the show was shown on Channel Ten from 1995 to 2001, and reruns are currently being shown on Sci Fi.
• In Belgium, the show is still being shown on Kanaal Twee.
• In Brazil, the show was previously shown on SBT from 1996 to 1998, and reruns are currently being shown on Rede Record from February, 2006.
• In Bulgaria, the third season airs on GTV.
• In Colombia, the show was shown on RCN.
• In Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Estonia, the show was shown on TV3 (Viasat). In Denmark it is currently being shown on Kanal 5 (Denmark).
• In Dominican Republic, the show was shown on Telesistema 11 and its female-oriented brother channel, Coral 39.
• In Egypt, the show was previously shown on El Kana Thania (Channel 2).
• In Finland, the show was shown on MTV3.
• In France, the show was shown on TF1.
• In Germany, the show was first shown on RTL, later on Kabel1, reruns are currently being shown on RTL2 (06.08.2007).
• In Greece, the show was shown on Star Channel.
• In Hungary, the show was shown on TV2.
• In India, the show was telecast on Star World and AXN
• In Ireland, the show was previously shown on Sky One.
• In Italy, the show was previously shown on Italia 1.
• In Mexico, the show was shown on the Mexican USA Network.
• In Croatia, the show was shown on HRT.
• In the Netherlands, the show was shown on Yorin. Reruns were shown on RTL 7.
• In Peru, the show was shown on Frecuencia Latina.
• In Philippines, the show was shown on ABC 5, later the show was shown on Star World and RPN.
• In Poland, the show was shown on Polsat and TV4.
• In Portugal, the show was shown on SIC.
• In Romania, the show was shown on Pro TV.
• In Russia, the show was shown on STS.
• In Spain, Xena was first broadcast in the public TV station TVE, and it started to be shown in regional channels in 2005.
• In Switzerland, the show was shown on TSR.
• In Turkey, the show was shown on Kanal D.
• In the United Kingdom, the series was first shown by Sky, and was also shown on terrestrial television by Channel 5, where it began broadcasting on Saturday 12th July 1997 at 6:50 PM, directly after Hercules (which was beginning its second season). However, it was popular enough to soon be moved to a later 8:05 PM slot, where it stayed for much of its run. Re-runs of previous episodes turned up on Tuesday and Friday evenings at various stints, with the odd episodes late on turning up as part of the weekend overnight schedules. However, Five abruptly stopped running the series mid-way through the fourth season, leaving the remaining episodes - to date - unbroadcast, despite it being one of their most popular programmes. It is currently shown by Satellite / Cable channel Bravo.
• In Venezuela, the show was shown on Televen.

Anchor Bay Entertainment has released all 6 Seasons as well as the 10th Anniversary Collection of Xena: Warrior Princess on DVD in Region 1 for the first time. The series has also been released on DVD in Region 2 & Region 4.

Note: Only Region 1 DVDs contain special features, Regions 2/3/4 do not have any bonus material on them.

Season	Release Date
	Australia	Canada/US	The Netherlands	Norway/Sweden	UK	New Zealand
1	October 12, 2005	April 23, 2003	July 24, 2007	April 27, 2005	June 6, 2005	June 23, 2005
2	October 12, 2005	September 2, 2003	June 16, 2005	August 31, 2005	August 1, 2005	August 24, 2005
3	December 10, 2005	February 10, 2004	September 22, 2005	October 26, 2005	October 3, 2005	September 22, 2005
4	December 10, 2005	June 15, 2004	November 24, 2005	January 11, 2006	November 21, 2005	November 17, 2005
5	December 10, 2005	October 19, 2004	February 23, 2006	March 22, 2006	TBA	TBA
6	December 10, 2005	March 8, 2005	April 6, 2006	May 25, 2006	April 3, 2006	April/May/June?, 2006
10th Anniversary Collection	June 6, 2007	July 26, 2005	TBA	TBA	June 5, 2006	TBA

Note: The Region 2 releases of Season 1 contain the episodes out of order, creating a number of continuity problems when watching them in the order in which they are presented. The order on these DVDs is episode 1, then episodes 10 through 19, then episode 2, then episodes 21 through 24, and finally episodes 3 through 9.

There have been numerous Xena spin-offs into various media including films, books, comics and video games.

In August 1997 Hercules and Xena: The Battle For Mount Olympus a DTV animated movie was released, featuring the voices of a number of actors from both Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. The movie plot involves Hercules' mother being kidnapped by Zeus and the release of the Titans. Xena and Gabrielle have supporting roles in the movie, and at one point Xena even bursts into song.

Since the end of the series rumors have circulated that a feature length movie was in the works. In 2003 Screenwriter Katherine Fugate was approached for the project, and was quoted saying that she expects the start of production to be three to five years away, which suggests a release sometime between 2006 and 2009^[42]. Actress Lucy Lawless has been quoted in several interviews as saying she would be interested in participating in a Xena film as well.^[43]

Books have been released as tie-ins, including Xena Warrior Princess: Complete Illustrated Companion.^[44]

There have also been a number of novelizations by authors like Martin H. Greenberg.

A book was also released in 1998, XENA: All I Need to Know I Learned From the Warrior Princess,^[45] allegedly written by Gabrielle, Bard of Poteidaia, and was "translated" by Josepha Sherman.^{[citation needed]} It contains Gabrielle's viewpoint on many of the adventures she and Xena embarked on, and also includes eight pages of black-and-white photographs from the show. The book is basically Gabrielle talking about her view of the world on many different subjects. For example, in one of the chapters, "Anything can be a weapon- Anything!", she instructs the reader on fighting without traditional weapons, such as a sword or a staff, and in another, "Nobody likes a winer", she laments on the perils of alcohol.

A recent academic monograph on the series is Wim Tigges' Her Courage Will Change the World": An Appraisal of Xena: Warrior Princess (2007), which was self-published through lulu.com.

There have been a number of comic adaptations. The earliest ones were released by Dark Horse Comics and written by Ian Edginton and John Wagner. More recently the license has moved to Dynamite Entertainment.^[46]

• Electronic Arts published Xena: Warrior Princess for the PSone in 1999. Played from a third-person perspective, the game play involves slashing, jumping, and kicking through a variety of primitive 3D environments. Xena can also find and use power-ups and her trademark chakram. Once thrown, the chakram becomes a first-person weapon to guide toward enemies.

• Saffire published Xena: Warrior Princess: The Talisman of Fate for the Nintendo 64 console in 1999.
  

  

  Xena Warrior Princess: Talisman of Fate for Nintendo 64
  Talisman of Fate focuses on straight one-on-one weapons-based fighting along the lines of the Soul Blade series.

• Xena: Warrior Princess for the Game Boy Color was developed and released by Titus Software in 2000.

• Xena: Warrior Princess: Death In Chains, a multi-path video game for the PC adapted from and expanding upon the television episode of the same name, although none of the original actors provide their voices.

• Xena: Warrior Princess: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, another multi-path video game for the PC, again adapted from and expanding upon the television episode of the same name, again without the original voice actors.

• Xena: Warrior Princess for the PS2 only released in Europe.

• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
• Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar for the legend of a Viking warrior princess.
• West End Games published a Hercules & Xena role playing game.

• List of Xena: Warrior Princess episodes at Internet Movie Database.
• h2g2 Xena: Warrior Princess Edited Guide Entry
• The Yale Women's Slavic Chorus performs Kaval Sviri
• The Official Xena Museum & Athenaeum
• Xena Online Community
• Xena Online
• Xena Fan Films - fan films based on characters of "Xena: Warrior Princess"

v • d • e Xenaverse
TV Movies	Hercules and the Amazon Women · Hercules and the Lost Kingdom · Hercules and the Circle of Fire · Hercules in the Underworld · Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur
TV Series	Hercules: The Legendary Journeys · Xena: Warrior Princess · Young Hercules
Animated	Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus
Video Games	Hercules: The Legendary Journeys · Xena: Warrior Princess · Xena: Warrior Princess: The Talisman of Fate
Characters	Shared: Hercules · Iolaus · Xena · Gabrielle · Aphrodite · Ares · Autolycus · Callisto · Dahak · Discord · Ephiny · Hope · Salmoneus · Zeus Hercules: Alcmene · Atalanta · Deianeira · Hades · Hera · Iphicles · Jason · Nebula · Morrigan · Nemesis · Serena · Strife Xena: Alti · Amarice · Athena · Borias · Julius Caesar · Cyrene · Eli · Eve · Furies · Joxer · Lao Ma · M'Lila · Mephistopheles · Najara · Seraphin · Solari · Varia · Velasca · Virgil
Listings	Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episodes · Xena: Warrior Princess episodes · Hercules and Xena characters · Xena: Warrior Princess minor characters · Geography of Xena: Warrior Princess
Other	Uberfic