Originally a spin-off series to 1995’s blockbuster Hercules: the Legendary Adventures, Xena: Warrior Princess stands on its own as an action, adventure, fantasy, and supernatural series. Xena: Warrior Princess ran from September 4th, 1995 to June 18th, 2001. By the end of its run, the series had over one hundred and thirty episodes over six seasons.
John Schulian and Robert Tapert were the creative minds behind Xena: Warrior Princess. The production team further included the brilliance of R. J. Stewart and Sam Raimi. Renaissance Pictures filmed Xena: Warrior Princess in New Zealand.
Notably, Lucy Lawless starred as the titular main protagonist, Xena. She was a notorious warrior on her path to salvation from the transgressions of her past. Then, Renee O’ Connor portrayed Gabrielle, who started as a naive farm girl before transforming into an Amazon warrior and Xena’s sidekick. Eventually, the pair of characters formed a loving relationship.
The action television series also featured a wide array of characters and cast that were both allies and antagonists to Xena and Gabrielle on their adventures.
Presenting the top ten characters that appeared in Xena: Warrior Princess.
10. Draco
Jay Jaga’aia portrayed the character, Draco, a complicated character in the Xena: Warrior Princess. He moved from originally being a villain to becoming a hero, then back to being a villain again.
The show first introduced Draco as the villainous warlord and former lover of Xena, who attacked the village named Poteidaia. Xena rescued the villagers by repelling Draco’s forces. In that village, Xena met the innocent farm girl, Gabrielle. Draco was a very skilled and well-trained fighter who could hold his ground even while fighting the Warrior Princess.
In an episode in Xena: Warrior Princess, Bliss, Cupid’s son, stole his father’s arrow and began a love triangle between Xena, Gabrielle, and Draco. Eventually, Draco’s love for Gabrielle began to have positive effects on him, prompting him to leave his evil ways. Even while the effects of the love arrow cleared from Xena and Gabrielle, Xena made sure Draco remained under the charm.
However, Draco’s love for Gabrielle became toxic. Thus, Draco began to seek out Gabrielle’s death, insisting that if he cannot have her, no one will.
9. Julius Caesar
Karl Urban played the role of Julius Caesar, the Roman Senator who later became a dictator. He was one of the major antagonists of the Xena: Warrior Princess and a powerful adversary for Xena.
The two warriors had an intense hatred towards each other. Thus, they often squared off against each other in battle throughout the series up until Caesar’s death in the fourth season.
Their first meeting dating back to when Xena was newly ostracized from her home in Amphipolis. Caesar won this round of their fights then aimed to permanently conquer the Warrior Princess. Caesar also created an alternate universe with the sole purpose of killing Xena with the help of Alti.
8. Cyrene
Darien Takle brought life to the role of Cyrene, the mother of Xena, a businesswoman who owned and ran a tavern in Amphipolis.
She was a loving mother who was close to her children, particularly her last born, Lycrus. After Lyceus died in battle as he defended their village alongside Xena, Cyrene held Xena responsible for his death. Thus, Xena became ostracized from her home. This rejection then sparked the beginning of Xena’s dark and violent path.
After embarking on her way to redemption, Xena returned to Amphipolis but was not welcome by Cyrene. However, she changed her feeling towards Xena when she witnessed Xena fight against Cortese to defend Amphipolis.
Many years later, Cyrene met her end at the hand of the people of Amphipolis. This came about as they accused her of being a witch since she claimed that her house was haunted and heard voices. After her death, Xena returned to investigate what led to her mother’s death. Once home, she found out Cyrene was right, and a Hell’s portal opened in the house. Thus, the Amphipolitans had wrongly killed Cyrene.
7. Lila
Willa O’Neill played Gabrielle’s sister, Lila, the second daughter of Herodatus and Hecuba. Lila lived on the farm with her parents and had a loving and kind-hearted disposition, just like her sister. However, she was skeptical about Gabrielle’s relationship with Xena because of Xena’s past and the violence that surrounds her. Later, she was convinced that Xena’s intentions were pure. Still, she would do anything to protect Gabrielle.
Lila’s life was complicated by Gabrielle’s career path as so many villains now see Lila as a weak link for getting Gabrielle and Xena’s attention or getting back at them through her. Lila often became the damsel in distress, always requiring saving, in this television series. This became extremely clear during a raid on Poteidaia by Gurkhan, where his troops slaughtered Lila’s husband and parents and abducted her daughter. So, Lila waited for Xena and Gabrielle to come to rescue her daughter.
6. Ephiny
Danielle Cormack portrayed Ephiny, the queen of the Telaquire Amazon, which became Gabrielle’s Amazon tribe. Ephiny was the wife of the Centaur Prince named Phantes and the mother of Xenan. She was a well-trained warrior. She was also a highly skilled Amazon who was not afraid to ride into battle to defend what she believed in.
Originally, Ephiny was skeptical of Xena and Gabrielle during their first meeting. However, mutual respect grew, especially when they all worked together to bring down the evil Krykus. Ephiny and Gabrielle grew close, so she made Gabrielle an Amazon and her successor.
Gabrielle became heartbroken when she learned about Ephiny death. Thus, she avenged her death with Brutus’ death.
5. Callisto
Hudson Leick took on the role of Callisto of Cirra, one of the major villains in the Xena: Warrior Princess. Callisto’s bloody and ruthless actions as well as her deep hatred for Xena and all that she stands for defined her character.
Callisto’s hatred for Xena was rooted before Xena began her path to redemption. During a raid on Callisto’s village, she witnessed the gruesome murder of her family at an early age by the hands of the then remorseless Xena. Now that Xena is reformed, Callisto served as a reminder of her past that has come to haunt her.
Callisto was a very skilled fighter who got the better Xena a few times. However, her vengeful mission against the Warrior Princess has not been smooth sailing. She is constantly on the losing side. Xena has even killed her a couple of times. Thus, she has resided in both Heaven and Hell.
Callisto became immoral after eating the golden apple. Then, she became a goddess after eating Ambrosia. After her death, she went to hell and became a demon, then an arch-demon. Eventually, Xena sent her to Heaven, where she became an Angel before reincarnated as Xena’s daughter, Eve. As Eve, she brought the Twilight of the gods and subsequently peace.
4. Joxer
Ted Raimi played Joxer the Mighty, the closest friend to both Xena and Gabrielle. The Joxer character is also the major source of comic relief in the Xena: Warrior Princess. He is completely useless on the battlefront as he does not possess any fighting skills, nor he is very smart. So, to make up for these deficiencies, Joxer is a very loyal friend and extremely trustworthy.
He is identical triplets with his brother, Jett, a professional killer, and Jace, a pompous actor. Joxer started out trialing to join Callisto’s army. After she rejected him, he decided to join Xena and Gabrielle and become a good guy.
After Xena and Gabrielle escaped their long hibernation in the ice cave, they located Joxer. Thus, he accompanied them to Rome where they found Eve, now Livia, a fearsome soon to be Empress. Joxer attempted to protect Gabrielle, who Livia had captured. Livia killed him in the process.
3. Ares
Kevin Smith brought charisma and wit to his role as the Greek god of war and violence, Ares. This god had a complicated relationship with Xena. After Xena’s mother ostracized her, Ares took her in and mentored her to be his protégé. He graced her with what became her favorite weapon, the Chakram.
After Xena turned her back on her old ways and began her path to redemption, Ares continued to follow her. He often tried seducing her into returning to the old ways together. After being unsuccessful in his pursuit of Xena, Ares turned his attention to Gabrielle and tried to get her to become his protege.
2. Gabrielle
Renee O’Connor played the traveling companion of the great Xena and the writer of their adventures, Gabrielle. Gabrielle started as a young farm girl whose village was almost victim to an attack if not for the intervention of Xena. Gabrielle quickly decided to follow the Warrior Princess and wanted to become like her. Xena reluctantly accepted her as her traveling companion. Thus, the two began their adventure together.
Gabrielle quickly learned to fight and subsequently became the Amazon Queen of three different Amazon tribes but passes the crown unto another worthy candidate every time and choosing to continue being Xena’s traveling companion. After Xena’s demise in Jappa, Gabrielle continued her fight for the greater good accompanied by Xena’s spirit.
1. Xena
Lucy Lawless’s iconic role, Xena, in her dark years, was known as Xena of Amphipolis, Destroyer of Nations. She was a fearsome warlord whose army delighted in causing chaos.
As a young lady, the evil Cortese attacked her village. To fight back, Xena mobilized some villagers and her two brothers, against her mother’s wishes, to fight back. Thus, her youngest brother perished in the ensuing battle, leaving Xena with the blame for his death. Xena’s mother then ostracized her for this and told her not to return. This led her to her evil path, making her not care about doing what is right.
Later, Hercules showed Xena the true way of a warrior, setting her on a path to redemption from her evil ways.
Accompanied by Gabrielle, Xena set out to fight for the rights of the innocent and against evil. To complete her road to redemption, Xena must die to free the souls of about 40,000 people she had inadvertently killed during her dark days. Yodoshi had captured all these souls. Thus, Xena had to die to defeat Yodoshi and free the 40,000 souls.
Xena later returned after death as a ghost to accompany Gabrielle until the Old One C’thulon resurrected her.
Final Thoughts
Narrowing down the list of characters to only ten was a challenging task. Xena: Warrior Princess introduced us to a bounty of rich and colorful characters during its six-season span. Did your favorite characters make it to our list? Let us know who your favorite characters were.
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About the author
Author: Chris Ingledue
Contact: email
Bio: I am the founder and owner of Wheeljack’s Lab pop Culture and Toy Shop. My vision has always been to reunite customers with their favorite childhood toys and pop culture, triggering fond memories, and reigniting their imaginations. Every day, I work in the “lab” where it’s Christmas 365 days a year. I scour the internet, like when we had the Sears Catalog of yesteryear, for the next great treasure. Then, I await the arrival of the postman as if he were Santa Claus himself and helping collectors worldwide with their own versions of Christmas. Every day as a vintage toy buyer is an absolute joy!