Free room, hot bath, free food and as much drink as they like? By the Gods that bard can barter! It's drinks all round as all the friends and allies of Xena & Gabrielle have converged upon the Heroes Tavern to swap war stories, jokes and bawdy tales about the Warrior and her Bard.

Joxer the Mighty - er, not quite. Joxer first appears in "Callisto" when he tries to offer his services as a warrior to Xena. When she rejects him, he tries to join Callisto's army and, as a test, promises to kidnap Gabrielle and bring her to Callisto. To say he fails miserably would be an understatement.

Even so, whilst incredibly inept as a warrior, Joxer has shown himself to be extremely loyal and surprisingly brave. Although contemptuous of Gabrielle at first, he has grown to love her as more than just a friend but sadly (for him) his love is unreciprocated.

After Xena and Gabrielle disappear from the face of the earth in "Looking Death In The Eye", Joxer settles down with Meg. When he meets up with Xena and Gabrielle again he is an old man and has several children (see "Livia"). He and his son, Virgil accompany Xena and Gabrielle as they track down Livia/Eve (see "Eve"). However, when Livia/Eve captures Gabrielle, Joxer tries to rescue her so Livia/Eve kills him instead. Joxer appears as a ghost in "Looking Death In The Eye" but this turns out to be a trick, instigated by the Furies, to persuade Gabrielle to kill Eve. His last appearance is in the Season 6 episode "Soul Possession".

Joxer has awarded himself a number of titles, such as Joxer the Dangerous ("King Of Assassins") and Joxer the Magnificent ("Return Of Callisto", "Warrior, Princess, Tramp", "Intimate Stranger"). However, his most well-known title is that of Joxer the Mighty. This is first referred to in "For Him The Bell Tolls" but is also mentioned in "The Play's The Thing", "Kindred Spirits" and "Eve".

Self-proclaimed King of Thieves and lovable rogue. Although he does his best to appear as if he doesn't care about anyone, he has a heart as big as his ego! He is a friend to Xena and Gabrielle and has helped them in their quests on more than one occasion (albeit sometimes reluctantly!).

We learn from "The Royal Couple Of Thieves" that Autolycus became a thief to avenge his brother, who was murdered by a merchant named Tarsus. Autolycus stole everything that Tarsus owned and earned a reputation as a master thief. In "Vanishing Act" Autolycus has the chance to kill his brother's murderer but lets him live instead.

Initially a street magician, Eli realises his potential for healing and, as a result, saves Gabrielle's life when she is possessed by a demon (see "Devi"). Eli teaches Gabrielle the 'Way of Love' which leads Gabrielle to throw away her staff and abandon violence (see "The Way"). However, in "Ides Of March", Gabrielle chooses the 'Way of Friendship' instead. She decides her love for her friend is too important and that, unlike Eli, she cannot stand back and do nothing whilst her friend is in danger.

After Xena and Gabrielle have been crucified, Eli is tortured by guilt over the fact it was their diversion that helped him and his followers to escape the same fate (see "Fallen Angel"). He questions his pacifism, wondering whether there was something he could have done to help. He suddenly realises that there is something he can do and he attempts a resurrection. With the help of Callisto (of all people!) he succeeds.

In "Chakram", Eli helps Xena and Gabrielle to stop Kal and Ares from obtaining the Chakram of Light. Although he does not use violence to do this, he still manages to intimidate Ares.

Eli makes his final appearance in "Seeds Of Faith". Ares and the other gods feel threatened by Eli and the faith he instills in his followers and they want him dead. Eli is afraid but Angel Callisto appears to him and tells him he need not be afraid; it is time for him to leave this earth. When Ares finally confronts Eli, Gabrielle leaps to Eli's defence but he tells her he does not want her to fight for him. Ares stabs Eli who collapses to the ground, mortally wounded.

M'Lila was a stowaway on Xena's ship. When she was found, she impressed Xena with her 'pinch'. Xena asked her to teach her how to do it and she did. They became firm friends and when Xena was captured by Caesar and crucified, M'Lila rescued her from the cross. Later, whilst Xena was still weak and recovering from her injuries, a group of roman soldiers came to where they were hiding and M'Lila was killed whilst protecting Xena. It was from that moment on that Xena dedicated herself to destroying everything in her path.

Son of Zeus, the king of the gods and Alcmene, a mortal woman. Hercules has an amazing gift of superior strength and has a strong sense of moral justice. It is Hercules who persuades Xena to give up her evil ways and fight for good (see "The Gauntlet" and "Unchained Heart").

He and Xena soon become allies, yet they know their relationship is doomed from the start. There is so much to do and they can do more good by working separately, although inevitably their paths cross from time to time.

Hercules helps Xena free Prometheus from his chains, thus returning fire and the ability to heal to humankind (see "Prometheus").

Hercules makes another appearance in the Xenaverse in "God-Fearing Child" when he has to kill his own father, Zeus to prevent him from harming Xena and her unborn child.

Iolaus, Hercules' best friend is fiercely loyal and brave. He is kind and gentle and always willing to help others. He makes the ultimate sacrifice when he saves Nebula's life, throwing himself in front of the knife that would have surely killed her.

The Iolaus from the alternative universe is extremely different from the Iolaus we know and love. He is cowardly and timid and has learnt how to survive by avoiding conflict rather than facing it. Despite this, there is something inside him that is comfortingly familiar and, perhaps with the help of Hercules, he will learn to overcome his fears.

Iolaus appears in two Xena episodes. In "Prometheus", he and Hercules team up with Xena and Gabrielle to release the titan. However, Iolaus is wounded in battle and will die unless Prometheus is freed. Gabrielle stays with him and comforts him with stories. Afterwards, Iolaus kisses her and then bids her goodbye.

The next time Iolaus and Gabrielle meet is in the episode "The Quest". This time it is Iolaus' turn to comfort Gabrielle who is trying to come to terms with Xena's death. He then leaves to tell Hercules the bad news.

Aphrodite, Olympian goddess of love and sex and the counterpart of the Roman Venus. In Homer's Iliad she is said to be the daughter of Zeus and Dione, one of his consorts, but in later legends she is described as having sprung from the foam of the sea and her name may be translated "foam-risen." In Homeric legend Aphrodite is the wife of the lame and ugly god of fire, Hephaestus. Among her lovers was Ares, god of war, who in later mythology became her husband. She was the rival of Persephone, queen of the underworld, for the love of the beautiful Greek youth, Adonis. };-)

Aphrodite is probably the most energetic, fun-loving, and enthusiastic Olympians of them all. This is not always a good thing. Aphrodite's charisma has landed half of Greece into hot water in one way or another. She's the goddess of love and she means well enough, but sometimes she's just too care-free for everyone elses own good.

Aphrodite is THE original valley girl, sprouting things like 'bitchin', 'far out', 'radical', 'tubular', or greeting her brother, Hercules, with a "Hey, baby bro!" If she's not having a fight with Hephaestus, then she's complaining about a bad hair day or a broken nail.

As the goddess of love, Aphrodite is one of the more compassionate gods of Olympus. As a god, though, it is still in her nature to be self-centered. Nonetheless, she's actually proven to be somewhat of an ally to Xena and Gabrielle. While Aphrodite is no warrior, she is still a powerful goddess and has, as mentioned before, what too few gods have.. a heart. She's a sucker for a love story, too.

Meleager the Mighty was once a fearsome warrior with a reputation for being lethal in battle. However, when called upon to save Gabrielle's village of Potidaea, it becomes apparent to Gabrielle and Lila that he has a bit of a drink problem.

Meleager has lost his nerve and is fed up with killing. Luckily, Gabrielle and Lila manage to help Meleager to recover his lost confidence and save Potidaea.

When Gabrielle encounters Meleager again, he is in deep trouble. He has been imprisoned for murder and is about to be executed. The problem is that he cannot remember whether he did commit the murder or not, as he was drunk at the time. Xena manages to save his life (just about!) and prove his innocence and Meleager is allowed to go free.

Orpheus is a gifted musician, the only one whose music can soothe the Bacchae (see "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"). He enlists Xena's help to retrieve both his lyre (stolen by Bacchus) and his body.

Once she has done this, he forgives her for her unwitting role in the death of his wife, Eurydice.

In Greek legend, Orpheus was a Thracian poet who could move even imanimate things with the power of his music. Gabrielle refers to the legend of Orpheus in "The Prodigal". She says he "plays music so well it moves mountains".

Queen of the Iceni tribe, in what is now the East Anglian area of the UK. She led her people in revolt against the Romans in AD60, taking the Roman towns of Londinium (London), Camulodunum (Colchester) and Verulamium (St. Albans).

According to the Xenaverse, Boadicea was a Celtic queen from Gaul (Gallia) and she and Xena were once allies. Boadicea fought alongside Xena when the warrior princess was rampaging across the known world. Xena betrayed her by stealing her army, forcing Boadicea to team up with her future husband to fight against her. Boadicea lost the battle and retreated to Britannia.

Her past encounters with Xena are revealed in the episode "The Deliverer" when she meets up with Xena once more. However, this time Xena helps her to defeat Julius Caesar's army.

Boadicea is probably most well-known for her use of a chariot and for destroying the Roman city of Londinium (London).

Cleopatra was the Legendary Queen of the Egyptians. Whilst visiting Greece an attempt is made on Cleopatra's life (by Jett) and it is up to Autolycus, Gabrielle and Joxer to save her (see "King of Assassins"). When Xena saves her life, Cleopatra invites Xena to visit her in Egypt sometime.

Later, back in Egypt, Cleopatra is murdered by Brutus who sends her a message in which a poisonous snake is hidden. She opens the scroll and is bitten and dies. Knowing that three Roman leaders are vying for control of the Egyptian fleet, Xena takes Cleopatra's place (see "Antony And Cleopatra").

A spoilt brat of a kid who wants to replace Gabrielle as Xena's sidekick (see "Forgiven"). After a run-in with Gabrielle, Xena agrees to let her travel with them. Tara gets Gabrielle into trouble more than once and very nearly gets them both killed.

Finally, Gabrielle loses her temper and she and Tara fight. Tara is badly beaten and breaks down. After this, she gets on better with Gabrielle and the three of them reach the hideout where Tara's gangmates have taken the stolen Urn.

Tara tries to steal the Urn from the others and takes it to her boyfriend, Micah. However, she has a change of heart and instead refuses to give it to him. The trio recover the Urn and then return it to the Temple of Apollo.

Tara manages to get into trouble again in "A Tale Of Two Muses" when she is to be publicly flogged for dancing. Xena and Gabrielle stop the flogging but agree to hold her in check. They then seek Autolycus' help to get the laws relaxed in that village so that music and dancing are allowed once more.

A common village girl, Minya is awed by Xena and her talents and wants to emulate her. However, she gets a bit miffed when she thinks Xena is trying to steal her boyfriend, Hower (see "A Day In The Life").

Minya carries Xena's whip which Gabrielle traded for a saucepan. Last we heard, Minya had decided to become a 'thespian' (see "The Play's The Thing").

Salmoneus is a salesman who is always coming up with new schemes in an attempt to make money. Inevitably, his schemes land him in trouble more than once.

He first meets Xena in "The Gauntlet" and he is full of admiration for her courage and refusal to give up and die.

He is next seen in "The Black Wolf" where he is thrown into prison, thanks to Gabrielle and turns up once again in "The Greater Good" where he mourns the death of the warrior princess.

The last we have heard of Salmoneus (from HTLJ) is that he is serving a prison sentence for tax evasion.