History Series / XenaWarriorPrincess

** In one episode Xena and Callito have a teeter-tottering fight on a series of ladders and rails, defying the laws of physics and gravity, and somehow managing to create a see-saw out of the materials around them. It makes little sense, but perfectly depicts how Callisto sees both herself and her bond with Xena.

** As a FeministFantasy, expect to see Xena's chakram breaking swords, spears and arrows as a motif.

** "Tsunami" is a shout out to ''ThePoseidonAdventure''. Made clear with one character who keeps praying to Poseidon.
** "Takes One to Know One" is this to ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}'' and other murder mysteries.

* ShamefulStrip: Happens to both Xena and Gabrielle in ''The Bitter Suite'' when they lose their clothes to the river they fall into that brings them into Illusia. And then it happens to Xena a second time when Ares cuts off the clothes Callisto loaned her ''in front of his men''. Xena herself was not amused.

* MindRape: Caligula does this to Aphrodite.

** A quite mean-spirited one with Amarice. Her final appearance ends with her happy in a new group of Amazons, so they could have simply ended the story there. But after the actress left the show for ''Cleopatra 2525'', the producers were vindictive enough to casually mention her death.

** It also snowed during [[spoiler: Xena's]] first trip to [[spoiler: Japan]] with [[spoiler: Akemi]]. Both women would die there, one just a few days after the snow fall, and the other some years later.

* SpringtimeForHitler: In "The Play's the Thing" (a WholePlotReference to ''TheProducers''), a pair of con artists get a hold of one of Gabrielle's plays and convince her to put it on as a play. As it's overly talky, lacking any action and full of Gabrielle's beliefs, they expect it to fail and to be able to keep all the money (including what was donated by some vicious warlords). Problem is, the cast and producer Joxer make changes (which Gabrielle ultimately agrees with) to transform it into a rousing, violent adventure story.

* SuperheroOrigin: subverted. The show tended to avoid Xena's origin story, being more preoccupied with the character development that Xena's crimes after her origin allowed for.

* WholePlotReference: The episode "The Play's the Thing" is based off the plot from ''TheProducers'', with Gabrielle getting caught in the scam. At one point, when Joxer and her actors are trying to offer constructive criticism, someone suggests the name be changed. Gabrielle sarcastically asks "To what? Springtime for Warlords?"

* HotChickWithASword: Take your pick.

* SecretTestOfCharacter: In the pilot, Draco is instructing new recruits to shoot arrows at him while he stands in front of a target. He spares the one guy who shoots the target and not him.

** Hercules does however deal with a lot of the same threats Xena does, battling Hope, Callisto, Ares, Caesar and even being the one to [[finally kill]] Dahak.

** Xena's utter disregard for the laws of physics. Such as [[spoiler: ''killing Gods'']].

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In "The Return of Callisto" a prison warden is showing a new recruit the ropes, and describes the prisoners as "murderers, thieves and perverts."

** The episode where Xena had to walk through a wall of fire and [[SleepingBeauty wake up Gabrielle by kissing her.]]

* BLAMEpisode

-->'''Salmoneus [[spoiler:(Ares in disguise)]]:''' One week it's a melodrama, the next it's Series/TheThreeStooges.

** Xena's dizzyingly complex schemes to get herself and her friends out of trouble and her utter disregard for the laws of physics.
** Not to mention her actually [[spoiler: ''killing Gods'']].

** Or how Xena [[spoiler:caused Lucifer's fall from grace]].

Immediately after her split from ''Hercules'', she gained a friend and traveling companion in Gabrielle. Gabrielle was an aspiring bard who wanted to chronicle Xena's adventures. They became HeterosexualLifePartners who were the greatest source of LesYay the 90s could offer. {{Word of God}} goes back and forth on how "official" their relationship was, with conflicting sources.

The series ran from 1995-2001, and at one point was the most popular show in the world, surpassing ''{{Series/Baywatch}}'' for the title.

* AerithAndBob: In a world full of traditional Greek names, we had the distinctly French and relatively normal-sounding Gabrielle (though it was originally a Hebrew name, derived from the masculine Gabriel).

* AncientGrome: One episode was devoted to ''{{Theatre/Bacchae}}'', and thus featured Bacchus in a major role. As opposed to, say, Dionysus and his Maenads.

* AnyoneCanDie: By the end of the series, the only recurring supporting character who ''hadn't'' died was [[BruceCampbell Autolycus]]. Even the Olympian Gods... The ones confirmed to be killed by Xena and Hercules are [[spoiler:Zeus, Discord, Posiedon, Hades, Hephestus, Artemis, Athena and Deimos. The Furies were also killed.]]

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In "The Return of Callisto" a prison warden is showing a new recruit the ropes, and describes the prisoners as "murderers, thieves and perverts."

** Xena's dizzyingly complex schemes to get herself and her friends out of trouble and her utter disregard for the laws of physics.

* BiTheWay: Xena and Gabrielle start out having a few male romantic/sexual interests, but end up getting more and more subtext-y until it is openly {{Word of God}} that they are Common Law married. Not that {{Word of God}} didn't flip-flop on it.
* BigBad: Callisto. Ares. Caesar. Alti. Dahak. Hope. Athena.

'''Xena:''' No, No, Yes, No, I tried that, yes both ways, no, I don't know, no again, are there any more questions? Good.

* ChainmailBikini: Not Xena herself, but almost every minor female character on the show. Also Gabrielle in later seasons.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: In a season one episode Xena's older brother Taris turns up. He hadn't been mentioned before, and never is again.

* DeathByChildbirth: Meg's father.

** Michael Hurst, who starred on ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and made several guest appearances On Xena directed quite a few of the better done episodes. In fact, he was such a reccurent director, that the cast and crew, (all the way up to the executive producers) started to call him "Cup-Of-Blood-Michael" due to his love of using fake blood, and penchant to want more and more. You can thank him for the episode "To Helicon and Back"; One of the most gruesome and violent episodes in both the shows history, and that of television.

** Xena and Gabrielle's first kiss was when Xena was inhabiting Autolycus' body.
** In the finale, Gabrielle helps Xena drink from the Fountain of Strength by kissing her.
** In "The Debt 1", Lao Ma hid Xena from her pursuers in a bath tub. When Xena was underwater for too long, Lao Ma gives her an UnderwaterKiss to give her air, but given all the SubText between them, there may have been more to that.

* DragonWithAnAgenda: Ares thinks that Callisto will follow his orders in "Intimate Stranger". She has other plans.

* GaiusJuliusCaesar: Played by Karl Urban, Caesar was one of Xena's most reccuring (and hated) foes.

* KnightOfCerebus: Callisto, Hope and GaiusJuliusCaesar.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In "The Play's the Thing", Joxer is once again bearing the brunt of comedic misfortune. As the episode ends and the executive producer credits appear, Joxer whines, "I'm gonna tell [[SamRaimi my brother]]." The whole episode can be seen as a history of the show itself.

** Also Eve, who was destined to bring about the "Twilight of the Gods"; Evening and Twilight both being times of day. This was another incredibly subtle example, even more so in universe, as the person who named her was utterly clueless about her destiny.

* MurderByCremation: "Blind Faith". Gabrielle is fed into a crematorium while in a coffin. She's alright though.

** Solan qualifies as this, as he is the driving force behind Xena and Gabrielle's being transported to the musical world of Illusia [[spoiler: after they tried to kill each other]].

* OpeningNarration:

** Same for Cleopatra who was originally played by [[{{Series/Firefly}} Gina Torres]].

* ReincarnationRomance: Between Xena and Gabrielle.

* SelfDeprecation: "The Plays' the Thing" and "Deja Vu All Over Again".

** "Takes One to Know One" is this to ''{{TabletopGame/Clue}}'' and other murder mysteries.

* SteppingStoneSword: In one episode, Xena is scaling the wall of an enemy stronghold and, when it looks like she is about to fall short, her allies fire arrows into the wall that she uses as rungs to scale the last few feet.

* ViralMarketing: In a very early example, in 1995 the show's website (itself unusual for a show at the time) featured an archive of e-mails between researchers working on [[http://whoosh.org/xenascrolls/xenascrolls.html "The Xena Scrolls"]].

'''''Xena: Warrior Princess''''' starred LucyLawless as an [[HotAmazon amazonian leather-clad]] [[ActionGirl warrior-woman]] fighting monsters while battling inner demons based on [[TheAtoner sins from her warlord past]]. Xena originated on ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' as a WorthyOpponent to the title character, and became so popular with fans that [[{{Spinoff}} she got her own show]].

* HotAmazon: Any Amazon episode had several, and then there's Xena herself...

** When Xena, prophesied to spell the end of the Greek Gods' reign, gains the power to kill gods, a group of them led by Athena attacks, and the whole group (except Athena herself, given a decent battle), some of whom were recurring allies or villains throughout ''years'' of the show as well as its parent series ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys,'' gets taken out more casually and anticlimactically than any ''SerieS/StarTrek'' RedShirt, one after another after another.

* MiniDressOfPower

* FoeYay: Xena and Callisto, Xena and Ares, Gabrielle and Ares.

A land in turmoil cried out for a hero.\\ She was Xena, a mighty princess forged in the heat of battle.\\