Xena: Warrior Princess: Difference between revisions

* [[Conservation of Ninjutsu]]: Lampshaded at the end of "One against an army" when after beating the Persian cavalry almost single-handed Xena says they must have had an off-day.

* [[Courtroom Episode]]: "The Execution"

* [[Crap Saccharine World]]: "Paradise Found"

* [[Crapsack World]]: There is war ''everywhere''. Bandits prowl the roads and warlords battle for territory. Kind rulers are scarce and the gods don't care about the plight of mortals. When the gods do show up, they tend to make things worse.

** In the episode "Cradle of Hope", Gabrielle finds a baby abandoned in the bushes and takes care of him with Xena for a while. In the end, the local king adopts the child and asks if there's any way he can repay Xena -- and she asks only that he name the baby Gabriel. The entire episode was probably the first example of blatant [[Les Yay]] in the series.

** Eve has roughly three mommies. {{spoiler|Xena was basically impregnated by the dead Callisto, and started to raise the baby with Gabrielle as "father" [sic]. Then Xena and Gabrielle disappeared before Eve turned one, and Eve was raised by Augustus... and no mother whatsoever.}}

* [[Heel Face Door Slam]]: In "The Path Not Taken", Xena, after encountering some of her former warriors back from her days as a warlord, convinces one of them, Marcus (who also happens to be her one true love) that her commitment to reform is genuine. Later on, Marcus {{spoiler|sacrifices his life by taking an arrow meant for [[Distressed Damsel]] Jana.}} Fast forward to "Mortal Beloved", where Xena is contacted by Marcus' ghost to go to the Underworld -- no thanks to Atyminius usurping Hades' power, all the blessed people who used to play in the Elysium Fields have been sent to Tartarus, and all the evil folks condemned to Tartarus are partying it up in Elysium. When she gets there, she finds Marcus, and realizes that if he's in Elysium now, he must have been in Tartarus before. He confirms it - one good deed wasn't enough to make up for a lifetime of crime. Eventually however, he's allowed to stay in Elysium for good after helping Xena give Hades back his powers and thus putting things right in the Underworld.

* [[Heel Face Revolving Door]]

* [[Hot God|Hot Gods]]: "Indeed"

* [[Hot Springs Episode]]: "Animal Attraction", which is also a tribute to [[The Wild West]].

** Xenan, son of Ephiny (human) and Phantes (Centaur).

** And, of course, Hope, whose mother is Gabrielle and father is [[God of Evil|Dahak]].

* [[Mediation Backfire]]: In "Been There, Done That", Joxer attempts to intervene in order to stop the feuding families. He gets a couple dozen arrows to his face for his trouble (but again, this being a Groundhog Day Loop, he gets better).

* [[Mind Rape]]: Caligula does this to Aphrodite.

* [[Molotov Cocktail]]: Xena invents the Molotov in "Warrior... Princess".

* [[Mugging the Monster]]: Happens to Xena very often - some don't realise just who it is they're attacking, others [[Too Dumb to Live|attack even when they know Xena's reputation]].

** There's also the complete reversal where {{spoiler|Gabrielle}} sends her daughter floating down the river to save her life... from Xena, because the baby is prophesied to bring about DOOM. While it's never entirely clear, there are hints within the narrative that perhaps the ensuing destruction could have been avoided if {{spoiler|Hope}} had been brought up by a loving mother instead of having people try to murder it all the time.

** Not a baby, but the [[Archangel Michael]] says that as long as Xena's daughter is alive, Xena has the power to kill the Greek Gods. What do the Gods do? Attack Eve. What does that cause Xena to do? Kill the Gods. Xena was never particularly fond of the Gods, but would she have gone on a killing spree if they hadn't endangered her daughter?

* [[No Bisexuals]]: Subverted, by the two main characters no less.

* [[Nobody Poops]]

'''Xena:''' Now, take it easy. There were no good leaves in the bush. I used a piece that didn't have much writing on it! }}

** In "A Tale of Two Muses", Xena uses a ''flushable'' toilet.

* [[Nothing Is the Same Anymore]]: "The Deliverer", which saw Gabrielle commit her first kill (thus losing her blood innocence), the introduction of Dahak and the beginning of the "Rift" arc. A shaken Gabrielle even laments, "Everything's different now."

* [[Not So Dire]]: In "The Price" we see Xena and Gabrielle in a struggle with something which turns to just them fishing. Their fun is ruined however when [[Mood Whiplash|corpses start floating down the river]].

* [[Opening Narration]]:

{{quote| ''"In a time of ancient gods, warlords, and kings, a land in turmoil cried out for a hero. She was Xena, a mighty princess forged in the heat of battle...."''}}

* [[The Other Darrin]]

** Hades was portrayed by Erik Thomson (who was also initially [[The Other Darrin]] on ''Hercules'') until he was replaced by Stephen Lovatt for Season 5.

* [[Our Banshees Are Louder]]: Xena and Gabrielle encountered a trio of banshees in Britainia. They didn't display any high-pitched screams, and were described as shades that could take solid form at will (the latter making it difficult for Xena to land a punch). These banshees were also shown to be worshipful of Hope and Dahak. Their mannerisms are also reminiscent of [[Evil Dead (Film)|Deadites]].

* [[Our Vampires Are Different]]: [[Not Using the Zed Word|"Bacchae"]] appeared on both ''Young Hercules'' and ''Xena'', ultimately destroyed in the latter.

{{quote| '''Salmoneus {{spoiler|(Ares in disguise)}}:''' One week it's a melodrama, the next it's [[The Three Stooges (TV)|The Three Stooges]].}}

* [[Pinball Projectile]]: The chakram, which bounces off pillars, rocks, and Mooks' heads, is the Trope Inspirer.

* [[Poorly-Disguised Pilot]]: Season 5's "Lifeblood" showed clips for a new series, ''Amazon High'', that explained the "origin" of the Amazons through a series of vision-quest flashbacks.

* [[Power Tattoo]]: Gabrielle's [http://images.ados.fr/television/photo/5535277553/dernier-episode/xena-gabrielle-883126441.jpg dragon tattoo] in the Finale.

* [[Pressure Point]]: Xena's favorite interrogation method was a nerve pinch that cut off blood flow to the victim's brain. And she liked to [[To the Pain|explain that as it happened.]]

* [[Prince and Pauper]]: Both Xena and Joxer have several identical lookalikes. Xena has the princess Diana, the tramp-turned-cook Meg, and the priestess Leah. Joxer has two identical triplet brothers named Jett and Jayce.

* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: [[Euripides]] was very fond of this.

* [[Sex Face Turn]]: ''How'' Hercules got Xena to turn a new leaf.

* [[Shamu Fu]]: More than once Xena went into combat armed only with fish.

* [[She Fu]]: Xena, sometimes taken to the extreme.

{{quote| '''Xena:''' You lost weight.<br />

'''Marcus:''' It's hot down here. }}

** At the end of "The Play's the Thing", Joxer is left alone hanging over the stage with a rope around his feet, whining that he is going to tell his brother. Joxer is played by Ted Raimi, whose brother is director Sam Raimi, one of the producers of the show.

** Not to mention the occasional reference to a certain [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffus the Bacchae Slayer]].

* [[Walking the Earth]]

* [[War Is Hell]]: It may be a campy show but ''Xena'' refuses to shy away from the terrible effects of war.

* [[Weapon of Choice]]

** Xena's Chakram.

** Gabrielle's Sais, and (to a lesser extent) her staff.

* [[We Help the Helpless]]

** "Sacrifice, Part II"

** "The Deliverer" for kickstarting the Dahak/Rift storylines. Immediately followed by another Wham Episode ("Gabrielle's Hope"), where Gabrielle {{spoiler|gives birth to a certain baby}}.

* [[Yellow Peril]]: Ming Tzu and Khan.

* [[You Look Familiar]]: Many examples, but Cupid and Julius Caesar, both played by Karl Urban, stand out.

 

{{reflist}}