Xena: Warrior Princess (TV series)
"Xena: Warrior Princess" is a television series that debuted in 1995 as a spin-off from "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys." The show features the character Xena, initially introduced as a villain, and her companion Gabrielle, presenting a unique portrayal of empowered women in a predominantly male-dominated genre. Set in a broadly interpreted historical context, the series combines action-adventure elements with themes of friendship and personal redemption, focusing on Xena's journey from a warrior with a dark past to a hero seeking atonement.
The show gained immense popularity, becoming the top syndicated series shortly after its launch, and it is credited with paving the way for other series featuring strong female leads, such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." With its blend of serious themes, including violence and spiritual fulfillment, alongside comedic elements, the series reflected the evolving landscape of 1990s television. Notably, "Xena" resonated with the lesbian community, partly due to the romantic subtext between the two main characters. Xena's iconic portrayal, characterized by her leather costume and battle cries, represented a shift towards celebrating women's strength and agency in media, contributing to broader cultural conversations about gender roles during that era.
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Xena: Warrior Princess (TV series)
Identification Television action-adventure series
Creators Robert Tapert (1955- ) and John Schulian
Date Aired from September, 1995, to May, 2001
As one of the first—and the most popular—major syndicated action-adventure television series with a female lead character, Xena proved that women could be viable as stars in the action genre.
Debuting in 1995, Xena: Warrior Princess was a spin-off from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, another syndicated action-adventure series from the same producers. Featuring a lead character who was introduced as a villain in Hercules, the series was one of many entries in the “swords and sandals” subgenre of the 1990’s, which featured broadly interpreted historical settings, exotic locales, and elaborate fight sequences styled after Asian feature films. Though Xena included all these elements, it also featured two females as the main characters, filling the “buddy” roles usually reserved for men. The series included several male recurring characters, including the Greek god Ares (Kevin Smith); Joxer the Mighty (Ted Raimi), a bumbling would-be warrior; and Autolycus (Bruce Campbell), the “King of Thieves”; but there were no male regulars, at the time a sharp departure from the norm.
Lucy Lawless, who played Xena, and Renée O’Connor, as Gabrielle, provided an image of empowered, self-defined women that dovetailed with the growing social and economic power of women in the media, politics, and the workplace. Because of the strong subtext indicating a romantic relationship between the two, the series also appealed strongly to the lesbian subculture, which was becoming more visible and outspoken during the 1990’s. After only one year, Xena became the most popular series in syndication, and following its success, many other series with strong female lead characters sprang up, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, La Femme Nikita, Dark Angel, and Alias.
Xena was also somewhat unique among television shows in that the heroine was once an evil character, and her struggle to overcome her dark past informed much of the continuing story line of the series. Nevertheless, though the series dealt with extreme violence (though not graphically shown), the quest for spiritual fulfillment, and the question of how one can atone for evil actions—or if one can do so—Xena also featured many comedic episodes. This mixture of moods was typical of many television shows of the 1990’s, as traditional concepts of drama and situational comedy as distinct genres began to break down. Xena even dealt with a potent social issue of the 1990’s when she was magically impregnated and had a baby, thus becoming a “working mother,” leading to concerns about how she could function in her “job” as an avenger of evil and still care for her infant. Xena’s distinct leather costume and “yi yi yi” shout became emblematic of the growing confidence and authority of women in the 1990’s.
Impact
Through its mix of genres and story lines, and especially its two female lead characters, Xena: Warrior Princess symbolized the growing power of women in the wider culture.
Bibliography
Mainon, Dominique, and James Ursini. The Modern Amazons: Warrior Women On-Screen. Pompton Plains, N.J.: Limelight Editions, 2006.
Weisbrot, Robert. “Xena: Warrior Princess”—The Official Guide to the Xenaverse. New York: Doubleday, 1998.