Celebrities | TV | Pop Culture | 90s
10 Reasons Why Xena Was The Warrior Princess We All Needed When We Were Growing Up
She was the fiercest warrior in the entire fantasy realm, sorry Hercules, but Xena was way better. Even though she was intended as a minor character on the Hercules: The Legendary Jouneys show, she managed to create enough buzz to earn her own spin off!
There are a lot of interesting facts that people need to know about this show. It's honestly one of the best shows from our childhood and we should all appreciate it for what it was: An absolute gem!
1. Xena wasn't a planned spin, she just happened to be really popular
As we mentioned before, she was originally supposed to be around for only three episodes of Hercules, but fans loved her character so much that they decided to do a spin-off. Her show actually became more popular than the original and lasted longer.
2. They made jokes in the credits
At the end of every episode they would attempt to keep people watching by hiding little messages in the credits. It would have secret messages like "No Centaurs were harmed in the production of this motion picture."
3. Gabrielle does her own stunts
Renee O'Connor who played Gabrielle was incredibly athletic. She was even able to do the back flips without wires.
4. Lucy Lawless broke her pelvis so they had to change season 2
She was rehearsing for a skit on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno when she fell off her horse. She broke her pelvis so to be able to accommodate her recovery they often had to use a lot of footage from previous episodes to fill in the action sequences.
5. It was shot in New Zeland
The one benefit of having a low-budget special effects, is that things need to be done using practical effects. This meant that they had to film on location in New Zeland to make it look like the fantastical land we all know and love.
What about the character everyone was waiting for? Why didn't that work out...
6. Even though Poseidon appears in the credits he is never in the show
Fans always waited for him to show up, but the animation from the credits was created specifically for it without the intention of him making any further appearances.
7. Lucy Lawless came up with Xena's war cry
She based it on Arab women.
8. The fight scenes often take place on dirt for a very good reason
By using dirt they were able to easily hide the mats where the actors would fall.
9. A Xena movie could have happened, but Lawless decided against it
She says that she didn't make a movie while the show was still popular. But honestly, if she really wanted to make one now it wouldn't be completely outrageous. Everything gets remade these days!
10. They left Gabrielle and Xena's relationship ambiguous on purpose
The show was one of the first to have an internet following that would discuss the episodes in online forms. The relationship between the two main characters was no doubt one of the most popular topics of conversation. No one knew for sure whether they were a couple or just friends, but the show never confirmed or denied anything to give a definitive answer.