XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. BtVS Intertext/Allusion.
In Season Two when Ethan Rayne’s spell turns everyone into the persona their Halloween costume represents, the ghost Willow bemoans the fact that Buffy has dressed up as a simpering eighteenth-century noblewoman who is terrified and wishes she had picked a Xena costume instead.
The following dialogue from "Halloween" is taken from the Buffy Dialogue Database:
: (holding picture of herself) This... this could be me.BUFFY
WILLOW: It is you. Buffy, can't you remember at all?
BUFFY: No! I, I don't understand any of this! Uh, uh, th . . . This is some other girl! I would never wear this, that low apparel, and I don't like this place, and I don't like you, and I just wanna go home!
WILLOW: You are home! She couldn't've dressed up like Xena?
Xena:
Warrior Princess (1995-2001)
follows the travels of Xena (played by Lucy
Lawless) and her companion, the
battling bard, Gabrielle (Renée O’Connor) through the lands of ancient myth
and occasionally the twentieth century through the wonders of cloning and
reincarnation. Xena is a kick-ass action heroine righting wrongs, helping people
in need, fighting the forces of evil and atoning for the past evils she did as
the warrior princess of the title. Her fighting style is a mix of conventional
sword fighting and martial arts including trademark moves such as her spinning
kick and whooping somersaults through the air. She has a unique weapon, a
devastatingly accurate and sharp metal frisbee known as a chakram.
The show is a blend of action, fantasy, drama, and camp, tongue-in-cheek humour mixing standalone episodes with narrative arcs. It boasts a huge cast of supporting characters drawn from history (such as Caesar), the Bible and a variety of religious and mythical traditions (including the pantheon of Greek Gods).
It is a cult phenomenon with numerous websites dedicated to the show, its characters, and the lesbian subtext in the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle. As an iconic action heroine, Lucy Lawless appeared in The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror X: Desperately Xeeking Xena."
Xena/Buffy fan fic exists and can be found at websites like http://blitzfic.tripod.com/ and http://www.xenafan.com/fiction/content2/screwy.html.
Not only is Xena referenced in Buffy, the action heroine homage is mutual. When Gabrielle attempts to put on her own theatrical production in "The Play's the Thing" (Season Four), the critics - unconvinced by Xena's "acting" - debate whether to see a different play. The following dialogue is taken from the Whoosh! website:
YOUNGER CRITIC: The play's not bad. I just don't buy that Xena.
OLDER CRITIC: There's the opening of Buffus, the Bacchae Slayer across the street.
Nota bene: in the Xenaverse Bacchae are female vampires.
--Vanessa Knights
Assigned as well to to Peg Aloi.