In a time of ancient gods,
Warlords and Kings,
A land in turmoil cried out for a hero,
she was Xena,
A mighty princess forged in the heat of battle.
The power. The passion. The danger.
Her courage will change the world.
The power. The passion. The danger.
Her courage will change the world.
That awkward moment when a spin-off becomes more popular than the original series...right Hercules? This TV series was very kick-ass to say the least and remains in my top 5 series of all time. I own the series on DVD and revisit it on the odd occasion. There are so many awesome things that made me fall in love with the characters of Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, Ares, Callisto and many more.
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| Herc, my show beat yours in the ratings! |
Originally Xena appeared as a character on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as a villain intent on ruling the world and slaughtering many innocents along the way as she strove for domination. Eventually Hercules defeats her and makes Xena come to her senses and later she joins forces with him.
Apparently she was to be killed off in her third appearance on Hercules but it was because of her popularity that the spin-off show was created.
Xena: Warrior Princess then starts with Xena on her new path as a hero but she finds that she can not forgive herself for her past crimes. The episode is conveniently entitled 'Sins of the Past' and fortunately she meets a young farm girl called Gabrielle who has a passion for adventure and wants to help Xena stay on the right track. So they then set off travelling the world together for the next six seasons fighting Warlords, bandits, giants, monsters and of course the gods.
Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor are brilliant as Xena and Gabrielle! Renee provides such a charm that it makes you fall in love with her and Lucy comes across great as a stern yet sometimes sarcastic kick ass warrior!
Xena is very talented and can fight with her sword, fists and an awesome weapon called a chakram. A sharp, round disc that once thrown can deflect off many surfaces and peoples faces. You'd think there would be a lot more blood and split jaws but you never see any. At least none that I can remember.
Another technique Xena uses is called the pinch where she pokes an enemy in the neck that cuts the flow of blood off to their brain meaning death in 10-30 seconds depending on how many pressure points she hits. It's a great way to get information out of somebody when you're in a hurry. She can undo the damage after unless she's in a bad mood.
You know Xena is approaching when she yells her famous battle cry, 'Alalaes', which I just discovered means Alala. In Greek mythology this is the female version of a war cry. There you go. We learn something new everyday! Although if you ask me this in a few months time I might look at you stupid while scratching my head.
Gabrielle fights with a wooden staff and as the series progresses she learns to fight with daggers and matures into a fine warrior. I think I preferred classic Gabby the best but she is awesome. In the final episode you see how amazing she has become. From farm girl to Amazon Queen.
The duo meet Joxer along the way who became a firm fan favourite with his ridiculous armour and idiotic ways but he had a big heart and was great to watch. He also was in love with Gabrielle. Ted Raimi provided his acting skills for Joxer and what a performance he gave. Oh and who can forget the Joxer the Mighty song!?
Other classic characters include Autolycus, the King of Thieves played by Bruce Cambell whom most people would know from the Evil Dead horror series. He makes a few appearances.
Ares was a very popular character. The God of War made strong appearances both in Xena and Hercules causing mayhem wherever he went. Sometimes he would even act as their ally in certain situations. His ultimate goal was to have Xena lead his army and to marry her. Ares was played by Kevin Smith who sadly passed away back in 2002 after a fall. He will never be forgotten by the fans.
Two of my favourite gods on the show were Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Discord, the Goddess of Chaos. The two couldn't be more different but their characters were awesome. Aphrodite the mischievous, immature and fun girl and Discord the...um...immature, chaotic one? Aphrodite was featured a lot more than Discord but both characters appeared on both shows. In Hercules Discord is transformed into a chicken at one point and later a giant chicken...something else you've learned today. They are played by Alexandra Tydings and Meighan Desmond.
I can't do a Xena post without mentioning the evil Callisto played by Hudson Leick. She stands out as Xena's most dangerous rival, turned slightly crazy after her family burned to death after an attack by evil Xena and her army against Callisto's village. Callisto was that popular she even appeared in Hercules.
I was lucky enough to receive a reply off Hudson on Twitter. Here it is:
Lucy has also replied to me 3 times! I'm very lucky and very appreciative of that considering her amount of followers. This is one of my tweets to her:
Seems Renee is scarier than Xena!
XWP helped further the career of these actors even more and many still attend Xena conventions whenever they are on. I wouldn't mind attending one! I hope some of these actors will visit Cardiff Comic Con some day.
Action figures, comics and video games were also released based on Xena.
There is so much more I could say about this show and in the future I'm sure I will post more on it!
Now can somebody tell me where I can purchase a chakram? It would come in very handy...
Apparently she was to be killed off in her third appearance on Hercules but it was because of her popularity that the spin-off show was created.
Xena: Warrior Princess then starts with Xena on her new path as a hero but she finds that she can not forgive herself for her past crimes. The episode is conveniently entitled 'Sins of the Past' and fortunately she meets a young farm girl called Gabrielle who has a passion for adventure and wants to help Xena stay on the right track. So they then set off travelling the world together for the next six seasons fighting Warlords, bandits, giants, monsters and of course the gods.
Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor are brilliant as Xena and Gabrielle! Renee provides such a charm that it makes you fall in love with her and Lucy comes across great as a stern yet sometimes sarcastic kick ass warrior!
Xena is very talented and can fight with her sword, fists and an awesome weapon called a chakram. A sharp, round disc that once thrown can deflect off many surfaces and peoples faces. You'd think there would be a lot more blood and split jaws but you never see any. At least none that I can remember.
Another technique Xena uses is called the pinch where she pokes an enemy in the neck that cuts the flow of blood off to their brain meaning death in 10-30 seconds depending on how many pressure points she hits. It's a great way to get information out of somebody when you're in a hurry. She can undo the damage after unless she's in a bad mood.
You know Xena is approaching when she yells her famous battle cry, 'Alalaes', which I just discovered means Alala. In Greek mythology this is the female version of a war cry. There you go. We learn something new everyday! Although if you ask me this in a few months time I might look at you stupid while scratching my head.
Ares was a very popular character. The God of War made strong appearances both in Xena and Hercules causing mayhem wherever he went. Sometimes he would even act as their ally in certain situations. His ultimate goal was to have Xena lead his army and to marry her. Ares was played by Kevin Smith who sadly passed away back in 2002 after a fall. He will never be forgotten by the fans.
Two of my favourite gods on the show were Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Discord, the Goddess of Chaos. The two couldn't be more different but their characters were awesome. Aphrodite the mischievous, immature and fun girl and Discord the...um...immature, chaotic one? Aphrodite was featured a lot more than Discord but both characters appeared on both shows. In Hercules Discord is transformed into a chicken at one point and later a giant chicken...something else you've learned today. They are played by Alexandra Tydings and Meighan Desmond. I can't do a Xena post without mentioning the evil Callisto played by Hudson Leick. She stands out as Xena's most dangerous rival, turned slightly crazy after her family burned to death after an attack by evil Xena and her army against Callisto's village. Callisto was that popular she even appeared in Hercules.
I was lucky enough to receive a reply off Hudson on Twitter. Here it is:
Lucy has also replied to me 3 times! I'm very lucky and very appreciative of that considering her amount of followers. This is one of my tweets to her:
Seems Renee is scarier than Xena!
XWP helped further the career of these actors even more and many still attend Xena conventions whenever they are on. I wouldn't mind attending one! I hope some of these actors will visit Cardiff Comic Con some day.
Action figures, comics and video games were also released based on Xena.
There is so much more I could say about this show and in the future I'm sure I will post more on it!
Now can somebody tell me where I can purchase a chakram? It would come in very handy...
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