# Was the tv character Xena was inspired by a spanish princess? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-tv-character-xena-was-inspired-by-a-spanish-princess/648509 "2013-01-27T02:58:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![neptunekh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@neptunekh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neptunekh)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-tv-character-xena-was-inspired-by-a-spanish-princess/648509/1 "2013-01-27T02:58:56Z")
I remember reading in Xena older article 3 years ago on Wikipedia that the TV character Xena was inspired by some roman or Spanish princess but this info was deleted. Who did I read about? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-tv-character-xena-was-inspired-by-a-spanish-princess/648509/2 "2013-01-27T03:14:00Z")
I don’t know, but for years I thought Xena was “real” in the same sense that Hercules was (ie that there was an actual Greek myth it was based on). ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-tv-character-xena-was-inspired-by-a-spanish-princess/648509/3 "2013-01-27T03:46:58Z")
> [@neptunekh](#): > > I remember reading in Xena older article 3 years ago on Wikipedia that the TV character Xena was inspired by some roman or Spanish princess but this info was deleted. Who did I read about? I was a pretty big _Xena_ fan, and to the best of my recollection the character wasn’t based on anyone in particular. She was introduced on _Hercules_ as a villain and redeemed over a three-episode arc. The original plan was that she’d die nobly, but the popularity of _Hercules_ had led to interest in a spin-off by that time so the writers kept her alive and gave her her own show. There have been plenty of other warrior women in fiction and some in real life, but Xena was not closely modeled on any of them and I don’t know of any Roman or Spanish “warrior princesses”. You may be thinking of the Spartan queen [Arachidamia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachidamia) or [Boudica](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudicca), queen of the Iceni tribe of ancient Britain, who fought _against_ the Romans. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-tv-character-xena-was-inspired-by-a-spanish-princess/648509/4 "2013-01-27T10:16:23Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I was a pretty big _Xena_ fan, and to the best of my recollection the character wasn’t based on anyone in particular. She was introduced on _Hercules_ as a villain and redeemed over a three-episode arc. The original plan was that she’d die nobly, but the popularity of _Hercules_ had led to interest in a spin-off by that time so the writers kept her alive and gave her her own show. > > There have been plenty of other warrior women in fiction and some in real life, but Xena was not closely modeled on any of them and I don’t know of any Roman or Spanish “warrior princesses”. You may be thinking of the Spartan queen [Arachidamia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachidamia) or [Boudica](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudicca), queen of the Iceni tribe of ancient Britain, who fought _against_ the Romans. If, by redeemed, you mean a becoming a completely different character, going from believing in anything to win to being honorable, and by three-episode arc you mean worst written episode in the series followed by a retconning two parter. I recently decided to watch Xena, and decided to start with her _Hercules_ debut, which I’d never seen. That first episode sucks worse than the first book of Discworld. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-tv-character-xena-was-inspired-by-a-spanish-princess/648509/5 "2013-01-27T10:23:25Z")
That said, you seriously should go check it out on Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-tv-character-xena-was-inspired-by-a-spanish-princess/648509/6 "2013-01-27T17:48:00Z")
That’s all I know, that Xena was a spinoff from Hercules. I never saw the Hercules episodes with her in them. But I loved me some Xena. That show was awesome and IMO did well with both dramatic episodes, silly episodes, and even musical episodes. Loved it all but hated, hated, hated the final episode! Don’t even get me started on the first book of Discworld. Turned me off the whole series. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-tv-character-xena-was-inspired-by-a-spanish-princess/648509/7 "2013-01-27T18:23:54Z")
Xena was basically Red Sonja to Hercules’s Conan. It had nothing to do with any pre-20th Century mythology.