List of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess characters

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is an American television series based on the tales of the classical Greek hero, produced from January 16, 1995, to November 22, 1999. It had two spin-off series: Xena: Warrior Princess, which ran from 1995 to 2001, and the prequel Young Hercules, which ran in 1998 and 1999. This list includes significant characters from all three series.

Main characters

Main characters: (left to right) Gabrielle, Xena, Hercules and Iolaus

The Amazons

The Amazons are an all-female tribe who make frequent appearances in the series. They are first depicted as a large nation that spreads throughout the land and then later as a number of tribes scattered throughout the world, segregated by an unknown cataclysm from their distant past. The Amazons trace their creation to the goddess Artemis, and value an all-female society that strives to uphold the same rights and freedoms for women as those of men. Each tribe is headed by a queen, whose position may be either inherited, or passed on as a right of caste to any named successor. A queen's authority may also be openly challenged by another royal Amazon and her title relinquished if she is defeated in single combat.

Although several tribes are known in different countries, Xena deals prominently with the Greek Amazons and the Northern Amazons of Siberia. With her fighting skills and advocacy for women's rights, Xena bears a striking resemblance to the Amazons. But she is careful to emphasize that she is not an Amazon, nor does she deserve the honor of becoming one. She turns down offers to join the tribes, preferring an independent, nomadic lifestyle to the membership of a collective. The series reveals that some of the Amazons do not trust Xena because of atrocities she committed against them in her past, although most respect her abilities as a warrior.

Gabrielle, on the other hand, during her first encounter with the Greek Amazon tribe throws herself over an Amazon named Terreis to protect her from falling arrows. Although Terreis is already dying, she is impressed by Gabrielle's bravery and gives her right of caste. Terreis was the next in line to rule, and by giving Gabrielle the right, Gabrielle becomes an Amazon Princess of the Greek tribe.

This chance encounter leads to Gabrielle's acceptance into the Amazons, and with it she carries her title's duties and expectations. Although Gabrielle decides to continue to follow Xena on her adventures, she is occasionally called by her Amazon sisters in times of need or to fulfill her duties as royalty. The tribes also value Xena as an experienced warrior, and occasionally request her assistance.

Among the known Amazons are:

Mortals

Gods

Olympians

Olympian Gods Ares and Aphrodite as seen in the Xena episode "The Quill Is Mightier..."
  • Aphrodite (portrayed by Alexandra Tydings) - Aphrodite is the Greek Goddess of Love and child of Zeus and Dione. She is the half-sister of Hercules and other gods. Doesn't care about exposing her lingerie. Her son is Cupid (AKA Eros), the God of Love. She is depicted as a Valley girl. She is married to Hephaestus.
  • Apollo (portrayed by Scott Michaelson) - Apollo is the Greek God of the Sun and Arts and son of Zeus and Leto. Unlike actual Greek mythology, Apollo is one of the rudest and most arrogant gods on Olympus.
  • Ares (portrayed by Kevin Smith) - Ares is the Greek God of War. He is the half-brother of Hercules and other gods. He is known to be served by Discord, Strife, and Deimos. Ares is considered to be easily swayed, joining forces with Dahak at one point. Most of the gods dislike him, and he is taunted relentlessly by Athena. His unrequited love for Xena is a recurring theme between the two characters. In episodes like "Yes Virginia, There is a Hercules" and "For Those of You Just Joining Us", Ares was shown to interact with Kevin Sorbo, and stated that the actor was a form of Hercules.
  • Artemis (portrayed by Josephine Davison in Xena, portrayed, voiced by Rhonda McHardy in Hercules and the animated movie, and portrayed by Anna Bernard in Young Hercules) - The twin sister of Apollo and child of Zeus and Leto, Artemis is the Greek Goddess of the Hunt and Moon, and is also the patron deity of the Amazons. Artemis once joined forces with Xena, Gabrielle, Iolaus, and others to battle the Titans that Hera had unleashed. Upon enlisting Hermes as her messenger, Artemis enlisted the aid of Hercules to reclaim her sacred bow after Autolycus stole it from her temple and sold it to Discord.
  • Athena (portrayed by Amanda Lister, Jane Fullerton-Smith, and Paris Jefferson) - Athena is the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, Warfare, and Weaving. She is the daughter of Zeus and Metis. Athena is more understanding and caring than most other Olympian gods and in return she is beloved by mortals and is the one that even gained Xena's regard and respect.
  • Bacchus (portrayed by Anthony Ray Parker and Kevin Smith) - The God of Wine. In this show, Bacchus is depicted as having an appearance of a ram-horned demon and is an outcast of the Olympians. He is often accompanied by his vampiric followers, the Bacchae.
  • Celesta (portrayed by Kate Hodge) - The Goddess of Death and sister of Hades. King Sisyphus once chained her so that no one could die.
  • Cupid (portrayed by Karl Urban) - The God of Love and the son of Aphrodite. As part of a plot to kill his uncle Hercules, his grandmother Hera curses him into becoming a green-eyed monster if he fell in love with a mortal who did not return his love. The curse appears when he falls in love with the beautiful mortal girl Psyche, who had feelings for Hercules. Hercules' whose feelings toward Psyche are platonic until he is enchanted into falling in love with her. Though the spell on Hercules is removed and Psyche realizes her feelings for Cupid, Aphrodite decides to make Psyche immortal to break the curse on Cupid after realizing the sincerity of Cupid and Psyche's feelings for one another.
  • Deimos (portrayed by Joel Tobeck) - Deimos is the Greek God of Terror. He is Strife's cousin and is the twin brother of Phobos. Deimos is known for his annoying laughter and idiotic ideas.
  • Demeter (portrayed by Sarah Wilson) - Sister of Zeus and Goddess of Agriculture. She bore Zeus a daughter named Persephone.
  • Discord (portrayed by Meighan Desmond) - Discord is the Greek goddess of Discord and Retribution. She always tried to earn Ares' favor, constantly fighting with Strife and later Deimos for the position of Ares' second-in-command. Discord also had a bitter rivalry with Aphrodite.
  • Fatuus (portrayed by Philip Grieve) - The God of Prophecy. He can only predict the future if the prophecy is bad.
  • Fortune (portrayed by Lori Dungey) - The goddess of Luck. When Iolaus blamed himself for being unable to save a woman's life, Fortune granted him the request of memory loss so that he wouldn't be plagued by the event. Later at Hercules' request, she restored Iolaus' memories.
  • Hades (portrayed by Mark Ferguson, Erik Thomson, and Stephen Lovatt) - Hades is the God of the Underworld. Though he is Zeus' older brother, he appears to be much younger. As in Greek mythology, Hades was responsible for abducting Persephone and making her his wife.
  • Hephaestus (portrayed by Julian Garner and Jason Hoyte) - The God of Fire and the Gods' blacksmith. He is considered to be an ugly god and was disowned by Zeus and Hera because of it. Despite his appearance, Hephaestus was married to Aphrodite. Hephaestus created many weapons or equipment throughout the show such as: the Sword of Hephaestus (as seen in "Prometheus"); the Chains of Hephaestus (as seen in "Prometheus"; "Looking Death in the Eye," and "Motherhood"); the Metal of Hephaestus (as seen in "The Dirty Half Dozen" and "The Deliverer"); the Eye of Hephaestus (as seen in "The Xena Scrolls"); the Shield of Perseus (as seen in "Love Takes a Holiday"); the Metal Panther (as seen in "Love Takes a Holiday"); the Armor of Hephaestus (as seen in "Love Takes a Holiday"); Galatea (as seen in "Cyrano de Hercules"), and Hercules' gauntlets.
  • Hera (portrayed by Meg Foster in the TV series, voiced by Joy Watson in the animated movie) - Hera is the Queen of the Olympian gods and the wife of Zeus. Hera is Hercules' jealous stepmother. Hera has many followers where some of them pray to her for help in defeating Hercules. During her fight with Hercules, Hera was tossed into Tartarus by Hercules. Zeus later used Evander to free Hera, who had no memory of her past actions until Ares obtained help from the Fates to restore her memories. After helping to keep Evander alive, Hera drops her vendetta against Hercules.
  • Hermes (portrayed by Murray King) - The son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia. He serves as the Messenger of the Gods. In "Porkules," Hermes delivered a message to Hercules stating that Artemis' bow had been stolen. Iolaus and Autolycus once borrowed his winged sandals.
  • Lachrymose (portrayed by John Gadsby) - The God of Despair who isn't very good at promoting it.
  • Momus (portrayed by Ranald Hendriks) - The God of Satire, Mockery, and Censure. He is also associated with writers and poets. Momus was a close friend of Apollo's and could often be found in one of Apollo's temples. He was often exiled from Mount Olympus for mocking the other gods.
  • Morpheus (portrayed by Stephen Lovatt) - The God of Dreams. Strife once told Morpheus to give Hercules a nightmare where he kills Serena in her sleep.
  • Nemesis (portrayed by Karen Witter, Teresa Hill, Kimberly Joseph, and Charmaine Guest) - Nemesis is the Greek Goddess of Divine Justice and Retribution. She was Hercules' childhood friend and sweetheart. Hera once sent her to kill Hercules. When she failed to do that, Hera rendered Nemesis mortal and created the Enforcer to take her place. She later gave birth to Evander.
  • Persephone (portrayed by Andrea Croton) - Daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She is married to her uncle Hades as in the myths after he abducted her.
  • Poseidon (voiced by Charles Siebert in the first appearance, Rick Jacobson in the fourth appearance) - Poseidon is the God of the Sea and the brother of Zeus. He is made completely of water, stands 30 feet tall, carries a yellow trident, and wears a crown.
  • Strife (portrayed by Joel Tobeck) - Strife is the Greek God of Strife. He is the cousin of Deimos. Strife constantly tagged along with Ares in his numerous plans to fight Hercules and Xena, but he usually bumbled the operations. Butting heads on occasion with Discord, who also wanted attention from Ares, Strife usually tried Ares' patience. Strife was seemingly killed by Callisto when she stabbed him with a dagger that was stained with the Golden Hind's blood (the only thing that could kill a god). He is seen alive in the future aiding his uncle Ares.
  • Triton (portrayed by Bruce Hopkins) - A sea god who is the brother of Poseidon and the father of the mermaid Nautica.
  • Zeus (portrayed by Anthony Quinn in the TV movies, Peter Vere-Jones in "Judgement Day," Roy Dotrice in Season 4, John Bach in "Valley of the Shadow," Charles Keating in "Full Circle" and "God Fearing Child", voiced by Peter Rowley in the animated movie) - Zeus is the King of the Olympian Gods. After impregnating Alcmene, he had never been there for Hercules. However, he intended on making up for it. Zeus was portrayed as a caring father who frequently drops in on Hercules. However, he refused to help Hercules with the loss of Deianeira, Serena, or his children since he says that a god cannot bring anyone who has been killed by another god back to life. Hercules and Zeus reconcile in the end and form the longed for father-and-son bond.

Norse

  • Baldur (portrayed by Rupert Cox) - Baldur is the Norse God of Light. He is the youngest and third son of Odin and Frigga. His brothers are Loki and Thor. Baldur is one of the few gods in the world who care about mortals. Baldur and Hercules each had exactly the same dream at the same time, in which Baldur asks Hercules to help him just before he dies. Hercules travels to the Norseland after the dream, and meets Baldur. After Baldur is killed, Hercules must learn who did it and why. Hercules ends up changing the past with the paint of Fate, he saves Baldur's life, and stops Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods.
  • Frigga (portrayed by Donogh Rees) - The Norse Goddess of Marriage and the Sky, the wife of Odin.
  • Loki (portrayed by Ian Hughes) - Loki is the Norse God of mischief. He and Dahak team up in an attempt to start Ragnarök.
  • Norns - The Norse counterparts of the Fates.
  • Odin (portrayed by Peter McCauley in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Alexander Peterson in Xena: Warrior Princess) - Odin is the father of the Norse Gods, and Ruler of Asgard and Valhalla.
  • Thor (portrayed by Ben Reed) - Thor is the Norse Thunder God and son of Odin and Jord. He is pictured to be big, powerful and short-tempered, preferring to solve things with force.

Hindu

Other Gods

  • Callisto (portrayed by Hudson Leick and Lucy Lawless) - Callisto is born as a mortal and loses her family at an early age when Xena's army razes Callisto's village Cirrha. Her hatred towards Xena fuels her motivation to kill in Xena's name. She hates Xena, but despises Hercules and often works as Hera's assassin to destroy both of them. Callisto is given immortality by Hera, but Hercules traps her in a cavern, which Xena reluctantly frees her from. Xena offers her a chance at godhood, in exchange for getting rid of the newly immortal Velasca, only to trap both of them in lava. Callisto meets Gabrielle's daughter, Hope, and conspires to kill Solan and Xena. She is pushed aside by Hope and Xena agrees to grant Callisto her well-deserved oblivion in exchange for killing Hope. When Gabrielle pushes Hope and herself into Dahak's fiery pit, Callisto quickly changes her mind, only for Xena to stab her with the hind's-blood dagger. Callisto is later redeemed by Xena and is reincarnated as Eve, Xena's daughter.
  • Cabiri (voiced by Donogh Rees) - An elemental force which predates the Gods. She is said to be an ally of Hephaestus. Hercules knocked down some pillars in her ruins to get her to listen to his plea to make another trident to save Triton's life.
  • Dahak (portrayed by Michael Hurst and Mark Newnham) - Dahak is a powerful godly entity that is bent on evil, chaos, and destruction. He impregnated Gabrielle, the Battling Bard of Potidaea, with his evil daughter. When Gilgamesh killed Iolaus, the evil god took control over Iolaus' body. Dahak had made his way into killing the Sumerian Gods and the Druids. He almost eliminated the Norse Gods and the Greek Gods, but was stopped by the combined effort of Hercules and Iolaus in a spiritual battle.
  • Dumuzi - A Sumerian god who acts as the Gatekeeper of the Underworld.
  • Kernunnos (portrayed by Stuart Devenie) - Kernunnos is the horned god of Celtic polytheism. He is a nature god associated with fertility.
  • Mephistopheles (portrayed by Anthony Ray Parker) - Mephistopheles was the King of Hell until he was killed by Xena and replaced by the Archangel Lucifer.
  • Velasca (portrayed by Melinda Clarke) - Velasca served time as an Amazon queen after defeating her adoptive mother Queen Melosa for the crown. Also during her time as a deity, she dubs herself the "Goddess of Chaos".
  • The One God - The One God, though never seen, is the ruler of Heaven and is usually represented through the Archangel Michael. Like Dahak, he is one of the original Gods. His connections with the birth of Jesus were shown in "A Star to Guide Them".

Demigods

Strange World inhabitants

The inhabitants of the Strange World are the opposites of the normal reality:

Titans

Xena's Titans: Hyperion, Thea and Crius

The following Titans appear in both shows:

Mythological creatures

Modern mortals

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Path of Vengeance". Xena: Warrior Princess. 2001-02-17.
  2. ↑ "Adventures in the Sin Trade, part I". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1998-09-28.
  3. ↑ "Hooves and Harlots". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1995-11-20.
  4. ↑ "Endgame". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1999-05-03.
  5. ↑ "To Helicon and Back". Xena: Warrior Princess. 2001-02-19.
  6. 1 2 "Sins of the Past". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1995-09-04.
  7. ↑ "The Prodigal". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1996-03-04.
  8. ↑ "Takes One to Know One". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1999-04-26.
  9. ↑ "Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1996-01-15.
  10. ↑ "Return of Callisto". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1996-10-28.
  11. ↑ Warren, Bill (2001). The Evil Dead Companion. Macmillan. p. 86. ISBN 9780312275013.
  12. ↑ Jankiewicz, Pat (October 1999). "Maternal Menace". Starlog (267): 72–74.
  13. ↑ Houston, Don (November 29, 2003). "Hercules:Legendary Journeys -Season 2 : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". DVD Talk. Retrieved June 20, 2014.