Xena: Warrior Princess

[nerdbert]

Ooh, a Xena thread! Wicked!

I'm a huge fan of Xena. Watched every single episode on TV and almost punched the wall when Friend In Need II happened. That was, without doubt, the worst episode ever. Not only Xena died, but she died in a perfectly ridiculous manner and didn't come back. You have no idea how long I was cursing Akemi for. And poor Gabby too. Ausxip has a really cool review on FIN 1 and 2, I recommend reading it.

Xena was an idol, she was brave and strong and noble... and they killed her. Robert Tapert will go to hell right along with the guy that wrote Seeing Red.

Anyway, the show was really cool to me because it was a whole new take on, on several myths. I got a huge kick out of Aphrodite and Joxer too. They were the best comic relief.

And the subtext... That was nice, if a bit frustrating. I mean, soulmates and they only kisses what... twice? three times tops? Always in a life or death situation too. Oh well, that's what Alt Fics are for, eh? I spend lots of time at the Royal Academy of Bards, they have a really nice archieve.

One of my favorite episodes is The Xena Scrolls. Mel and Janice were so wicked! Jan with the whole Indiana Jones thing and Mel the Southern belle. Talk about switching places. I absolutely love reading Mel & Jan fics, pity the Academy's archieve isn't bigger. Anyone knows somewhere with more of them?

[Gatito Grande]

Hey nerdbert, tell us what you really think!

Well, by prior agreement w/ sam777, I will not comment on FIN . . . beyond stating that "mileages may vary."

So, has everybody here heard? Renee O'Connor---aka Our Beloved Gabrielle---is again up the duff . . . and it's a Big Mystery!

Though I like her too much to speculate in public, I gotta say, the "question mark" aspect is killing me (I swear, it wasn't me: miraculous conception or not! )

GG Bottom line: Congratulations, Renee! May your progeny in no way resemble "Hope"! Out

[nerdbert]

What I really think about what, exactly?

So, has everybody here heard? Renee O'Connor---aka Our Beloved Gabrielle---is again up the duff . . . and it's a Big Mystery!

Though I like her too much to speculate in public, I gotta say, the "question mark" aspect is killing me (I swear, it wasn't me: miraculous conception or not! )

Yup, I heard. As a big fan of Renee, I'll keep my comments to myself. As a curious human being, I'll just say you're not dying alone on this one.

I have to say, Gatito Grande, I loved your avatar! *sigh* Warm fuzzies all around.

[FineyMcFine]

Does "up the duff" mean pregnant? And what is there to speculate, or not speculate about? I don't mean to be obtuse, I just don't get it. Isn't she married and stuff and already has some kids? What question mark aspect?

I'm clearly out of the loop.

[GayNow]

Sally,

Yes.

Renee and Steve split up a while ago from what I understand.

Carleen

[jago]

On the Stargate Atlantis DVDs one of the actresses, Tori Higginson, talks about Lucy visiting the set and how cool it would be to have a Xena and Stargate crossover. Sounds pretty good to me. Xena and Gabrielle kicking alien butt.

[WebWarlock]

For your enjoyment.

Xena and Gabby RPG stats for use with Eden's Army of Darkness game!
You can also use these stats in Eden's upcoming "Ghosts of Albion RPG" or the "Willow and Tara RPG".

I am setting these AFTER "Friend in Need". Obviously Xena had to come back to life for some reason and now her and Gabrielle are back to doing what they do best.

Actually I always wanted to play a game where the purpose was to bring Xena back as part of the adventure. I always imagined Gabrielle trying to continue Xena’s journey, but feeling like she was failing and sinking deeper into depression. That is where your characters come in and help her save the day! Or something.

Either way I am a sucker for happy endings.

Here they are!

Xena, Warrior Princess of Amphipolis
Very Experienced Hero

Life Points 83
Drama Points 20

Attributes
Strength 6
Dexterity 6
Constitution 6
Intelligence 3
Perception 4
Willpower 6

Qualities
Promised One (regenerate 6 LP per hour)
Attractiveness +2
Hard to Kill 7
Fast Reaction Time
Natural Toughness (+4 to Armor)
Nerves of Steel
Situational Awareness

Drawbacks
Adversary (lots, old enemies, forces of evil, Greek Gods-Ares in particular, Caesar)
Honorable (Minimal)
Love, Tragic (various significant others and offspring)
Love (Gabrielle)
Mental Problems (Mild Cruelty)

Useful Information
Initiative 11
Actions 3
Natural Armor 4
Perception 1d10 + 9
Fear 17

Skills
Acrobatics 8
Art 1
Crime 4
Doctor 1
Driving 3
Getting Medieval 8
Influence 2
Knowledge 4
Kung Fu 8
Languages 4
Notice 5
Occultism 3
Science 1
Sports 3
Wild Card

Combat
Maneuver Bonus Base Damage Notes
Nerve Pinch 14 * Incapacitates the target by cutting off oxygen to their brain
Must make survival checks. See suffocation rules.
Sword 14 24 Slash/stab
- Decapitation 9 24 x5 damage
Chakram 14 24 Slash or Bash (depending on how thrown)
Punch 14 12 Bash
Kick 13 14 Bash
- Flying/spin kick 11 21 Bash, war cry optional, but very cool
- Sweep kick 13 6 Bash
Dodge 14 — Defense action
Parry 14 — Defense action


Gabrielle, The Battling Bard of Potadeia
Very Experienced Primitive Screwhead

Life Points 46
Drama Points 15

Attributes
Strength 3
Dexterity 3
Constitution 3
Intelligence 4
Perception 5
Willpower 4

Qualities
Attractiveness +3
Hard to Kill 4
Fast Reaction Time
Nerves of Steel
Situational Awareness

Drawbacks
Adversary
Honorable (Serious)
Love, Tragic (various significant others and offspring)
Love (Xena)

Useful Information
Initiative 8
Actions 2
Perception 1d10 + 7
Fear 13

Skills
Acrobatics 4
Art (writing) 5
Crime 1
Doctor 3
Driving 2
Getting Medieval 5
Influence 3
Knowledge 4
Kung Fu 4
Languages 2
Notice 2
Occultism 3
Science 1
Sports 2
Wild Card

Combat
Maneuver Bonus Base Damage Notes
Nerve Pinch 7 * Incapacitates the target by cutting off oxygen to their brain
Must make survival checks. See suffocation rules.
Xena taught this to Gabrielle in “Friend in Need”.
Grand Katana 13 17 Slash/stab
The finest craftsmanship in the world. All other swords are
toys compared to the Grand Katana (+5 to hits and damage)
- Decapitation 8 17 x5 damage
Chakram 8 12 Slash or Bash (depending on how thrown)
Sais 8 6 Slash/stab
Punch 7 6 Bash
Kick 6 8 Bash
Dodge 8 — Defense action
Parry 8 — Defense action


Compare to Willow and Tara!

Warlock

[Gatito Grande]

Tim, I wish I had the slightest understanding of any of this.

But thanks. I think!

GG "Gabrielle, The Battling Bard of Potadeia [:]Very Experienced Primitive Screwhead"???? Out

[WebWarlock]

Heh.

I enjoyed making those. It was nice to revisit Xena and Gabby again.

"Primitive Screwhead" is just the term used in the Army of Darkness game for sidekick.

There was an offical Xena RPG out a while back, but I have been unable to find it.

Here is the adventure I wanted to run.

“Friend in Deed”
Friend in Deed (FinD) is my “let’s go find Xena and bring her back to life because she is the Promised One” adventure. Takes place after the series finale, Gabrielle is struggling to live up to Xena’s legacy and struggling to continue living without Xena. While her intentions were initially good, she has been spiraling into darkness and depression. She has forgotten what she had learned as Eli’s student. She has been traveling on the Path of the Warrior, trouble is she is close to leaving that and been straying onto the Path of Vengeance.

And that is as far as I got….
I know the plot is not only rescue Xena (she is in an inbetween spiritual plane) but to rescue Gabrielle as well.
One idea I had was to have a group of characters, hearing of the prophecies in The Dragon and the Phoenix believe they apply to Xena and Gabrielle instead of Willow and Tara. In the end they discover the truth, but still Xena is brought back.

Warlock

[nerdbert]

Gabrielle, The Battling Bard of Potadeia
Very Experienced Primitive Screwhead

Uh... right-o...

I have absolutely no idea what this RPG gibberish means, but I'm sure it's all very interesting and useful.

Anyway, I just downloaded a hilarious Xena music video from Ausxip. The song used is Anastacia's Don't Stop Doin' It and the scenes are fantastic. Here's the link:

Download video

I found many excelent others there, but this one is my favorite. Gotta love that bathtub scene!

[Gatito Grande]

Word outta the Con (as in the 2006 Creation XWP Con, in Burbank: wish *I* were there...) about getting an XWP movie!!!

[Courtesy AUSXIP: where all "News o' Xena" comes from. http://www.ausxip.com/new.php ]

15 January 2006

NEWSFLASH FROM THE CON - From Mesh

Katherine Fugate read Rob Tapert's email, and they both ask that we all email Andrew Rona and Rogue Pictures (a part of Focus, that's a part of Universal) to let him know that the fans want a Xena movie. If they get enough emails, they will see that there IS large group of people willing to pay for tickets.

If someone has an imdb pro account, they can find his contact info here:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0739868/

I've looked on the imdb pro but can't find his contact details - if anyone knows can you please let me know so I can post the details!

Email for Andrew Rona: andrewrona@roguepictures.com

New York Office

Rogue Pictures
65 Bleecker St., 2nd Floor
New York, NY 90012

Beverly Hills Office

9333 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
USA


I have another address for them as well:

100 Universal City Plaza,
Universal City,
California, United States, 91608

GG Fire off those emails and letters, folks! Out

Heh-heh: "a part of Focus". Sound familiar? They're the people who just brought us Brokeback Mountain (so they know all about showin' the same-sex lovin'---perfect for an XWP movie! )

[FineyMcFine]

HEE HEE! We are watching "The Play's The Thing" on our Xena DVDs and there was this hilarious part where people in the audience said "The play isn't bad, I just don't buy that Xena" (who was being played by the real Xena, actually, heh) - and then the other person in the audience said "There's an opening of Buffus the Bacchae Slayer across the street."

Heh! I hadn't seen that before, I don't think.

ETA: HA HA HA! And the end where Minya says they helped her realize something about herself...that she's a thespian! LOL!!!

[Gatito Grande]

Yeah, that was XWP "returning the favor" w/ a mention, since Willow had said (re Buffy) "Why couldn't she have dressed as Xena?" several years before...

Re the "We Want a Movie!" campaign: just send snailmail, as the email and fax addies don't work.

GG Lesbian thespian? Method acting all the way! Out

[hahler]

ok this is the xena thread on the kitten and i need help finding something
you kittens are good at everything including finding elusive downloads
so this is what im looking for:
video of the 2004 xena convention where lucy makes a suprise visit

can anyone direct me to a sight that it would be on

thanks
dawn

[Gatito Grande]

dawn, while I'm as good at tracking down "elusive XWP downloads" as any, the fact remains that everything that happens at a Creation Con, is the exclusive property of Creation: I honestly have NEVER seen a fansite even try to breach that Con barrier (though a few music vids may have very brief---no talking---clips within them)

The '04 Con scene you seek may well be available . . . but you'll have to go to Creation to get it (and obviously, not for free!)

http://www.creationent.com/outback/fanclubs/index.html

GG Good luck! Out

Actually, here's a music vid that includes that tiny, no-sound clip (LL comes out in big funny wig, in disguise, while ROC is on-stage): download "Promise/We Go On" http://www.ausxip.com/multimedia/musicvideos/lynne_krause/index.html Enjoy!

[GayNow]

GG is right...Creation is VERY protective of their stuff. I've worked a number of Xena conventions for Creation and, MAN, it's a bitch just to get them to give me a certificate of authenticity when an actor autographs a photo for me (many times I was busy working the t-shirt or photo table during the signings, so I didn't get to see the autographing taking place...hence my want of a CoA).

A big part of this is because Gary and Adam really aren't concerned with the fans...they are concerned only with their wallets. *shrug*

[Krazy Dreamer]

Hey Gatito, since you're the expert on finding elusive Xena videos, maybe you can find this one for me. I think it came out about two years ago or so. It was a fan made music video. It's set to the music, "Right Kind of Wrong" by Leann Rimes from the Coyote Ugly soundtrack. It starts out with Gabrielle belly dancing from the episode, "Who's Ghurkhan?" It has mostly scenes from season 6 in it, but a few flashback scenes as well. It was really well done, and I have searched and searched the web all to no avail. I had it at one time, but somehow it either got deleted from my computer or I didn't get it transferred onto my new computer. My computer is very organized. I have everything in nice, neat folders. I had zipped and copied to disk some of my video files to save space on my old computer, so I think that may be what happened. Anyway, too much information. But if you can find it for me, I would be eternally grateful.

Thanks,

Krazy Dreamer

[billy]

I was watching Renee in an old NYPD Blue episode last night. Even way back then she was really good at the runny nosed crying acting she did so well in Xena. She could give Alyson a run for her money! And she's one of those people that gets better looking as she get older. I hate her.

[Gatito Grande]

Billy, I believe the verb you meant is "I love her". (Renee's "crying nose" ::: sigh! ::: )

KD, boy do I love questions I can answer! The video you seek is right here: http://outerzoneproductions.tripod.com/ [It's a bit of a pain, though---especially if you have dial-up, like me. After the freakin' page loads, run the video . . . and then fish (i.e. copy) it out of your "Temporary Internet Files" to save it. It took me the longest time to figure that out! ] Good luck!

GG As you can see, it's quite a bit older than 2 years. It's lucky this site is still up! Out

[Jennpurr]

Or just use this link and right click and save as.

Right Kind of Wrong

Jen

P.S. Please don't hit me. I bruise easily.

P.S.S. I already saved it though, baby, so don't click it.

[Krazy Dreamer]

Thank you, Gatito! I have been searching and searching. I do believe you are the biggest Xena fan ever. As for me, I'm a little rusty and behind the times, apparently. What seems like 2 years for me is actually 4 years for everyone else. But again I appreciate you responding to my post so quickly.

And Baby, that was very rude. Gatito was kind enough to find me the link, and then you act all know-it-all about it. Thank you for downloading it for me, though. I do appreciate it.

And Gatito, I will be sure to come to you first with all my Xena questions. You rock!

[Jennpurr]

Oooh... I got spanked. Hee...

Sorry if I was rude Gatito. I didn't mean any disrespect. Thank you for helping my baby find the link. She's a very happy kitten now.

I can't stop watching the beginning of the video with Renee dancing.



*faints*


Jen

[Gatito Grande]

[Feels like I've stumbled into spat-qua-foreplay ]

Jenn, hon: you're half my age (and consequently, twice my computer-geek). You gotta better way, go right ahead...

GG My old-school methods have gained me almost 400 XWP music videos---let's see ya beat that! Out

You're welcome, KD.

You like dancin' G? Check this out!

Download: http://www.forevaxena.com/multimedia/vids/cqFuller/WhosGurkhan.WMV (All rights remain to vid creators: do not post them to your sites w/o permission. We all know that, right?)

[PrincessPeeper]

Okay so y'all gotta help me out, see i never watched every episode of Xena, i watched now and then when i was doing nothing at home and it happened to be on. so i know nothing about it, but im looking into it now and i see that there are many Xena character's! and i dont get it, and then i was watching a Hercules movie and i saw another! i think she was an amazon in that one, i wanna know whats going on with that.
thanx for coping with me and my lack of watching

and also if anyone has any idea of how i might be able to watch the episodes like if theres i site i can DL them from? thank you!

[GayNow]

PrincessPeeper,

Are you talking about seeing Lucy Lawless in "Hercules and the Amazon Women"?

She played Lysia in that movie. This was before she made her appearance as Xena on "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" -- in fact, it was based on the success of the movies that the series started.

When they initially had the idea to introduce the Warrior Princess on H:TLJ, they asked Roma Downey to do it. She was their first choice for Xena. Lucy Lawless was actually their 5th or 6th choice, from what I've seen in interviews with Lucy. That's the reason they dyed her hair so that it was almost black...they wanted to make sure that they changed her appearance enough from Lysia in "Hercules and the Amazon Women".

Renee O'Connor was in "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys -- Hercules and the Lost Kingdom" playing Deianeira. She got Sam Raimi's attention when she starred in "Darkman II: The Return of Durant" and he cast her in the Hercules movie. From there, she got the role of Gabrielle when they decided it would behoove them to create a spin-off based on the Warrior Princess character (who was originally supposed to be killed off, but the fans loved the character so much, Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi decided to keep her alive, make her good, and give her her own series).

I hope that answers your question. If not, hopefully someone else can jump in.

Carleen

[Culzean]

In XWP, Lucy and Renee would also play different characters. There are a number of different people in the XWP universe who look just like Xena and Gabrielle. Naturally, they all meet up and then the high jinx ensue.

Apparently, there was a very limited gene pool in ancient Greece.

[PrincessPeeper]

Thank you for that Gaynow and Culzean, i had no idea, i think they made the right decision with Lucy
But i'm still wondering about who the other characters on Xena who look like Xena are.

[GayNow]

But i'm still wondering about who the other characters on Xena who look like Xena are.

Well, there's Diana -- a rather spoiled and sheltered princess who is the exact physical double of Xena. Xena switched places with her in an attempt to discover who was trying to assassinate Diana.

There's Leah -- she's a Hestian Priestess...basically, a life long virgin. While Xena didn't have to trade places with her, Leah's appearance in the episode "Warrior...Priestess...Tramp" was perfect for the hilarity that ensued.

Then there's Meg -- another exact lookalike, Meg is quite the opposite of Diana and Leah. She is the "tramp"...worldly wise and rather promiscuous. (She works in what could easily be considered a brothel.) She's very much out for herself. Another character played to comic perfection by Lucy Lawless.

And then, of course, there are the various incarnations of Xena's evil side.

Basically, Diana, Meg and Leah are characters created to showcase Lucy's comic talent. They are three very different women with very different characteristics. And they are all very different from Xena herself. So the introduction of each of these characters added some levity to the show.

So, when you see these other characters who look just like Xena/Lucy Lawless, they are simply characters who show up in a few episodes to add some hilarity.

[billy]

Renee plays Gabrielle's daughter Hope in quite a few episodes.


Could any American Kittens tell me what they think of the accents in Xena? To my ears Lucy and Kevin sounded so good that I thought they were American, but some of the actors in smaller roles not so good. By not so good I mean really bad.

You seem to get quite a few British actors playing Americans in American shows, Hugh Laurie in House for example, and I was curious if their accents are generally good or if a not so good accent doesn't really bother you.

[FineyMcFine]

I thought Lucy and Kevin were American also, and I chuckle a little when I watch the extras on the Xena DVDs with Lucy's kiwi accent - it's so different. Same with Hugh Laurie. I agree with you that some of the extras' accents were not quite as good, but it was a good try and not too distracting.

In my experience actors from Britain or Australia or NZ or other places often do very well with American accents, but often the reverse is not true. Tom Cruise in Far and Away, for example, didn't do a convincing Irish accent, in my opinion - any Irish kittens care to opine on that one?

I suppose both Xena and Far and Away were created by American producers who probably had the American market foremost in their minds for the TV/movie audience, so their concern was probably that Tom Cruise sounded vaguely Irish to the audience, not authentically Irish.