All this month, SYFY FANGRRLS is celebrating Warrior Women Month, sharing the stories of female warriors in folklore, fantasy, and genre from around the world. These women — real and imagined alike — inspire us to make change and fight for what's right, no matter the cost.
When people reference Xena: Warrior Princess as a series, the emphasis is usually on, well, Xena. A former warlord who struggles to change her wicked ways over the course of a whole series is intriguing subject matter, after all. Still, Xena was far from the only interesting character on the show, nor is she the only one that underwent a significant character arc. Although she is generally dismissed as Xena’s girlfriend and sidekick by writers and fans that revisit the show, Gabrielle’s storyline is at least as compelling as that of Xena herself, and Xena’s own pathway to redemption would be a very different thing were it not accompanied by Gabrielle’s relative fall from grace.
By the end of the series, Xena had gone from a warlord to a tired warrior with no war left to fight. Meanwhile, Gabrielle had gone from pacifist to warrior in her own right. The story of how they got there took 6 seasons to tell, and it was a real rollercoaster ride.