List of Hercules and Xena characters

This is a list of significant characters from the television programs ' and '.

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 Artemiscite episode|title=Path of Vengeance|series=Xena: Warrior Princess|serieslink=Xena: Warrior Princess|airdate=2001-02-17] , 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 has dealt prominently with the Greek Amazons and the Northern Amazons of Siberiacite episode|title=Adventures in the Sin Trade, part I|series=Xena: Warrior Princess|serieslink=Xena: Warrior Princess|airdate=1998-09-28] . 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 has she any wish to become one. She has turned 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.cite episode|title=Hooves and Harlots|series=Xena: Warrior Princess|serieslink=Xena: Warrior Princess|airdate=1995-11-20] Although Terreis is already dying, she is impressed by Gabrielle's bravery and gives her 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 titles 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.

Mortals

* Alcmene: Alcmene is the mother of Hercules and Iphicles.

* Alti: Alti is an evil shaman who sought revenge against the Siberian Amazon nation for expelling her from their tribe.

* Amarice: She is an over-zealous young Amazon. She disputed Eli's philosophy of non-violence and criticized Gabrielle for following it. Amarice vowed to live her life in memory of "The Warrior Princess.

* Autolycus: Autolycus is the self-proclaimed "King of Thieves" who has a kinder heart than he lets on. He is friends with Xena and Hercules, though they don't always trust him.

* Callisto: Callisto was a vengeful warrior who became a goddess, a demon, and an angel. As a young girl, her family was attacked by Xena's army when she was evil.

* Cyrene: Mother of Xena. Tavern and inn-keeper, prominent figure in the village of Amphipolis.

* Deianeira: Deianeira was the wife of Hercules. She gave birth to his three children; Aeson, Klonus, and Ilea. She was known to be fiesty when she met Hercules. However, Deianeira was killed, along with the children, by Hera.

* Draco: Warlord enemy of Xena.

* Ephiny: A proud and loyal Amazon. Although loyal to her tribe, she wanted to foster peace between her people and the Centaurs. She later marries a Centaur named Phantes, and bares him a son. She is the Queen of an Amazon Tribe while the queen, Gabrielle, is away. She is later killed by Brutus.

* Gabrielle: Xena's sidekick, and later best friend and companion.

* Iolaus: Hercules' sidekick, best friend, companion.

* Iphicles: Half brother of Hercules. His father is Amphitryon, and his mother is Alcmene. He bears a passing resemblance to Ares.

* Julius Caesar: Roman general and statesman, the Conqueror of Gaul. Once a lover and now enemy of Xena. He was assassinated by a group of senatorial conspirators on the Ides of March, 44 BC.

* Joxer: Joxer is a loyal friend to both Xena & Gabrielle. He is in love with Gabrielle, but his love is unrequited, so Joxer just settles for being a good friend. Joxer comes from a ruthles warlord family, but he is the White Sheep. Joxer is killed by Eve, Xena's daughter.

* Lao Ma: Lao Ma is a woman of peace and wisdom. She is hard and soft at the same time, like water. She is probably one of the most influential figures in Xena's life. Lao Ma possesses great spiritual power, which she tried to teach to Xena.

* Lyceus: Younger brother of Xena and Toris. He was killed in battle when Xena led the village against Cortese.

* Mabon: a Druid.

* Najara: A strange warrior woman who is lead through life by Djinn. She leads a group of warriors to fight for the light against evil. Xena discovers that Najara is not as good as she appears too be. Najara gives the wrongdoers the chance to repent and turn to the light, but if they refuse or she senses their conversion is not pure, then she kills them.

* Nebula: A female pirate.

* Salmoneus: A salesman, always on the lookout to make a quick dinar, and not above tricking people by selling faulty goods. Also a friend to Xena and Hercules, and on rare occasion shows some caring and kindness.

* Xena: Once a power-hungry warlord, she was shown the error of her ways by Hercules and later repented and renounced her old life as an evil warrior. However, as she was about to turn her back on her old life, she came across a group of young girls destined to be sold into slavery.

Gods

Gods of ancient Greece

* Aphrodite: Aphrodite is the Greek Goddess of Love. She is the half-sister of Hercules and other gods as well. Her son is Cupid, the God of Love.

* Apollo: Apollo is the Greek God of the Sun and son of Zeus and Leto. He is one of the rudest and most arrogant gods on Olympus which is nowhere close to the myth.

* Ares: Ares is the Greek God of War. He is the half-brother of Hercules and other gods as well. He is known to be served by Discord, Strife, and Deimos. .

* Artemis: Artemis is the Greek Goddess of the Hunt and Wild. She is twin sister of Apollo. Artemis is also known as the Goddess of the Amazons as well. Xena killed Artemis with her own arrows.

* Athena: Athena was the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, Warfare, and Weaving. She was the daughter of Zeus and Metis.

* Cupid: Son of Ares and Aphrodite. He was cursed by his grandmother Hera into becoming a green-eyed monster in an attempt to kill his uncle Hercules.

* Deimos: Deimos is the Greek God of Terror. He is the twin brother of Strife. Deimos was known for his annoying laughter and idiotic ideas.He is killed by Xena.

* Demeter: Sister of Zeus and goddess of agriculture. She bore Zeus a daughter: Persephone.

* Discord: Discord is the Greek Goddess of Discord and Retribution. She has always tried to get Ares’ favor and she’s always fighting with Strife and later Deimos for the position of Ares’ second-in-command. .

* Hades: Hades was the god of the underworld and the king of the Olympus' brother. Though he is Zeus' older brother, he appears much younger.

* Hephaestus God of fire and arts and crafts. He is considered to be an ugly god and was disowned by Zeus and Hera because of it.

* Hera: Hera was the Queen of the Olympian Gods and the sister/wife of Zeus. Hera is Hercules' jealous stepmother.

* Nemesis: Nemesis is the Greek Goddess of Divine Justice and Retribution. She was Hercules’ childhood friend and sweetheart.

* Persephone: Daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She is married to her uncle Hades like in the myths. What becomes of her later is unknown.

* Poseidon: Poseidon was the god of the sea and the brother of Zeus, king of olympus. He appears only in the sea made completely out of water and standing at 30 ft. He carries a yellow trident and wears a crown. He is killed when Xena deflects a fireball at him.

* Strife: Strife is the Greek God of Strife. The twin brother of Deimos, Strife constantly tagged along with Ares in his numerous plans to fight Hercules and Xena, but usually bumbled the operations. Also butting heads on occasion with Discord, who also wanted attention from Ares, Strife usually tried Ares' patience. Strife was killed by Callisto when she stained a dagger with the Hind's blood, one of the only things that could kill a god, and stabbed him.

* The Fates: An elderly woman, a young woman and a young girl. They are the embodiment and manifestation of fate itself. It was the Fates that first warned Zeus of the "Twilight of the Gods". After Gabrielle destroyed their loom, it wasn't said what happened to them if anything at all.

* Zeus: Zeus was the King of the Olympian Gods. After impregnating Alcmene, he had never been there for Hercules, however he intended on making up for it. He was portrayed as a caring father who drops in on Hercules quite frequently. However, he refused to help Hercules with the loss of Deianeira, Serena, or his children. Hercules killed Zeus using a Rib of Cronus when he tried to prevent Xena from giving birth to Eve.

Norse gods

* Baldur: Baldur is the Norse God of Light. He is the youngest and third son of Odin and Frigga. He is the younger brother of Loki and Thor. Baldur is one of the few gods in the world that cares about mortals. Baldur and Hercules each had the exact 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 find out who did it and why. Hercules ended up changing the past with the paint of Fate and he saves Baldur's life and stops Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods.

* Loki: Loki is the Norse god of mischief. He and Ares both team up in an attempt to get start Ragnarok by stealing Thor's hammer. Much like Marvel Comics incarnation, he is an enemy of Hercules and Thor.

* Odin: Odin is the father of the Norse Gods, and Ruler of Asgard and Valhalla.

* Thor: Thor is the Norse thunder god, and son of Odin and Jord. He is pictured to be big and powerful. His crossover team up is similar to that of Thor and Hercules in Marvel though in here, the two are not rivals.

Other gods

* Dahak: Dahak is a powerful godly entity that is bent on evil, chaos, and destruction. He had impregnated Gabrielle, the Battling Bard of Poetedia, with his evil daughter, When Gilgamesh killed Iolaus, a servant of Dahak, the evil god took control over Iolaus’s 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.

* Kernunnos: Kernunnos is the horned god of Celtic polytheism. He is a nature god associated with fertility.

Monsters

* Echidna: Echidna is the infamous mother of all monsters. She was married to Typhon, a giant, but Hera trapped him and so Echidna became evil and used her children for the same purpose, and Hercules was forced to kill them all. Echidna took it upon herself to kill Hercules, in front of his mother, Alcmene, so Alcmene could see how it feels. Echidna turns good, though, when Typhon is brought back to her.
* Hydra
* She-Demon
* Stymphalian Bird
* Braxis: A young dragon that was used by Adamis. However, Braxis was only being controlled by Adamis's lies that Hercules killed his mother. When Braxis finally meets Hercules and Iolus, they try to convince Braxis that they didn't kill her and have him subdued to try and reason with him. When Adamis and his men battle Hercules and Iolus, Adamis admits that he killed Braxis' mother and Braxis, now furious engulfs Adamis in a fireball and befriends Hercules and Iolus.

Demigods

* Hercules: Son of Zeus and Alcmene.
* Deon: Son of Aphrodite and Jacobus. He has the power to order people to follow his commands.
* Evander: Evander is the demigod son of Nemesis and Ares. His powers mainly consist of whatever he imagines turns into reality, which makes him a valuable asset for Ares.
* Morrigan is the half god/half mortal counterpart to Hercules, appearing at first as evil, working as an assassin for the Ireland Gods. Hercules quickly comes to understand why she is doing it and helps her to overcome her dark side and become The Druid of Justice.
* Hope: The daughter of Dahak and Gabrielle, she possessed a link to the powers of Dahak and telekinesis. She killed Solan, Xena's son.
* The Sovereign: In an alternate timeline, Hercules became the tyrannical Sovereign, and never became the people's champion.
* Eryx the Boxer- The son of Aphrodite and King Butes. Killed by Hercules.
* Queen Hippolyte- Daughter of Ares and an unknown mortal woman, queen of the Amazons.

Creatures

* Golden Hinds: Part female human and part deer, covered in gold. The blood is poisonous to Gods.
* Serena: Serena was the last of the Golden Hinds. Hercules fell in love with Serena and gave up his powers so he could marry her.
* Argo: A palomino horse, which happens to be the cavalry horse of Xena. Argo can sense danger, use martial arts, and issue commands to other horses.

Titans

* Atlas was one of the titans Evander freed from Tartarus when he used his powers to bring back Hera. Hera turned Atlas to stone.

* Cronus, the former ruler of the Titans. Cronus was the Father of Zeus and thus the father of the Greek gods as well. Cronus was defeated by Zeus shortly after the Titans defeated Dahak in ancient prehistory and was sentenced to eternity in Tartarus.

* Echidna, Mother of all monsters, the wife of Typhon became depressed after Hera imprisoned her husband. She began creating a series of monstrous beasts that Hera sent to face Hercules. After Hercules reunited her with her love Typhon, she swore never to act so rashly again.

* Gaea, aka Mother Earth, this Titan is referred to several times but never seen.

* Helios, was among the Titans Evander freed from Tartarus when he used his powers to bring back Hera. Helios and Oceanus were defeated by Hercules.

* Mnemosyne, a Titan who was trapped in a fiery cave. Hercules sought her out for advice on how to defeat Dahak. Aside from Zeus, she was the only living being that was around to witness Dahak's first defeat and accessible from the mortal realm.

* Oceanus, was among the Titans Evander freed from Tartarus when he used his powers to bring back Hera. Helios and Oceanus were defeated by Hercules.

* Typhon, an extremely gentle giant and the husband of Echidna. Typhon was first seen being rescued by Hercules from his imprisonment inflicted by Hera.

* Typhoon, the twin brother of Typhon, this Titan lived in a cloud castle and abducted a human woman to be his bride.

References

See also

* Greek mythology
* Roman mythology
* Similarities between Roman, Greek, and Etruscan mythologies