XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS
Xena was raised as the daughter of Cyrene and Atrius. In the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episode #9 "The Warrior Princess", Xena tells Iolaus that her father and "all three" of her brothers were killed in battle. However, it appears that she really has only two brothers: Toris, her older brother, and Lyceus, the youngest of the three. Xena believed that her (supposed) father, Atrius, abandoned the family when Xena was young, but later learned that Cyrene killed him to prevent him from murdering Xena. Events recounted in "The Furies" #47, suggest that Ares, the God of War may be her true father.
Xena had a fairly routine early life. She had a typically boisterous relationship with her brothers (remember the towel fight in "Death Mask"?), and probably helped her mother in the family tavern. Xena's first love was Petracles. They were betrothed, but Petracles left her to take up the life of a warlord. This second abandonment by an important man in her life left Xena with a certain bitterness toward men, and a distaste for close relationships in general.
Xena's home village, Amphipolis, was attacked by the warlord Cortese when Xena was about seventeen. Since no one else would stand up to the raiders, Xena and her younger brother Lyceus gathered an army. They defeated the raiders, but Lyceus and many of the villagers were killed in the process. Xena was blamed for their deaths and was ostracized. Despite this unjust act, Xena wanted to ensure the safety of her home, and so conquered the surrounding lands. At one point, she took to the sea. During her conquest of Neapolitis, she took Julius Caesar, then a young and ambitious Roman officer, hostage. They had a torrid affair; she naively believe they were an "unstoppable team," and allowed him to be ransomed. Caesar returned to recapture Xena and her men, and had them all crucified on a nearby beach.
Fortunately, Xena had made another acquaintance during the Neapolitis campaign: M'Lila, a stowaway slave of mysterious origin. M'Lila taught Xena to fight and to use acupressure, including the infamous nerve pinch. Knowing that Xena was somehow important in the greater scheme of things, M'Lila risked her life to rescue her from the cross, and took her to the healer Niklio. They were found by Roman soldiers, who killed M'Lila. In that instant, Xena metamorphosed into Dark Xena, whose "purpose in life is death."
Xena gave in completely to her dark side, fighting solely for bloodlust and the love of power. She made her way to Central Asia, where she joined forces with the Russian warrior Borias. The two, who quickly became lovers, terrorized the region until Xena angered Borias by alienating the powerful Chinese families Ming and Lao. Xena retaliated by kidnapping Ming Tzu's young son, Ming T'ien. Xena ransomed the boy, and was captured with Borias's help. Lao Ma, the beautiful matriarch of the Lao family, saved Xena from certain death at Ming Tzu's hands, and set about awakening Xena's soul. She was successful only to an extent; Xena's spiritual growth stalled when Borias re-entered her life. She murdered Ming Tzu, and angered Lao Ma by suggesting they kill Ming T'ien as well. Lao Ma was Ming T'ien's mother.
After the incident with Ming, Xena and Borias gradually made their way across the steppes of Central Asia. Near the home of the Siberian Amazons, Xena met an evil shaman named Alti, who, in exchange for Xena's help in exploring the dark side of the soul, made Xena the "Destroyer of Nations." By this time, she was pregnant. During the Battle of Corinth against the Centaurs, over 10,000 died. (This battle has not yet been spelled out in detail within the show; the information comes courtesy of producer/writer Steven L. Sears.) Xena had become everything she had fought against in Amphipolis.
Sometime around the time of the Battle of Corinth, Xena became obsessed with possessing the Ixion Stone, a talisman which would give her the power of the Evil Centaur. This became too much for Borias, who left her. He was killed shortly afterward. Borias's death made her realize what a monster she'd become, and after giving birth, she gave the child to her enemies, the Centaurs, to raise. She didn't want her son to become like her; moreover, she didn't want him to know what kind of person his mother was. She didn't set eyes on him for over a decade. Her son, Solon, liked and admired her, but did not know that she was his mother.
What happened to Xena in the next few years is largely unknown. We know that she met up with Boadiccea, Queen of Britannia, and betrayed her. Several years later, Xena attempted to destroy Hercules by turning his best friend, Iolaus, against him. Shortly afterward, she instinctively rescued an infant from death at the hands of her army. Sensing weakness in her, her men mutinied, and forced her to pass through a brutal gauntlet. With the help of Hercules, who had become her friend, she finally understood what her acts had done to others and to herself, and determined to redeem herself through noble acts. It is at this point that the series begins.
To use her own words, Xena has many skills. She possesses a potent combination of charisma, agility, acrobatics, martial arts and deadly acupressure training. She has mastered many weapons, but is best known for her chakram, a razor-sharp disc which she throws with amazing skill. All in all, Xena is not a woman to be trifled with!
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