Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

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How Xena and Buffy Vanquished Hercules and Angel

Posted on 14 June 2009

Tags: Add new tag, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, television, Xena: Warrior Princess

Fantasy television series have come and gone, but some remain in the minds of genre buffs long after their run on the tube has ended.

Two of the most iconic are Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess.

Years after they wrapped, conventions are still held in their honor, millions remain devoted fans, and the actors who played the central roles have officially achieved break-out celebrity superstardom as a result of their performances.

And yet both Buffy and Xena had a counterpart series featuring a male hero that has seemed to fade into the background.

So why isn’t there love for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Angel the way there is for Xena and Buffy?

Perhaps a female action hero is innately more exciting to watch, both aesthetically and contextually. Despite whatever fighting abilities she has (supernatural or otherwise), she might seem to be more of an underdog when facing off against a larger opponent, making for better drama. The stakes might “feel” higher than if it were two dudes of equal size slugging it out.

Or it could be – and this is my thesis statement – that Xena and Buffy were simply the better-written shows. On Hercules, Kevin Sorbo played the titular son of Zeus as a peace-loving, sensitive, noble hero who always took the moral high ground, who only fought when it was absolutely necessary, and who (mostly) refrained from sleeping with the ladies he rescued on a weekly basis.

This is a sharp contrast to the mythological vision of Hercules, whom the ancients knew as a loud, boorish brute, a cocky demigod, and a notorious ladies’ man (and in true ancient Greek fashion, had an eye for the younger gentlemen as well). He was constantly getting into fights, and was the father of many children, both in and out of wedlock.

Which version would you rather hang out with? By reimagining Hercules as a champion of the underdog and a ‘90s-friendly sensitive male lead, they effectively neutered their main character.

Xena, on the other hand, was an antihero, a former villain seeking redemption. She had done terrible things in her past, and every good deed she performed was fueled by a crushing guilt, an urge to balance out her life and find redemption. She had a much darker streak than Hercules, was quicker to fight, and was far more aware of her sexuality, which she could wield as a weapon as easily as her chakram.

Is it any surprise people flocked to watch her far more than her parent show — and remember it more fondly?

Angel and Buffy had a different relationship. Angel, like Xena, was actually the darker show and the spin-off, and like Xena, the vampire with a soul was seeking forgiveness for the sins of his past … even though he didn’t technically commit them, since his soul had been taken.

(The show never explains exactly where a soul goes when one becomes a vampire beyond describing it as the “ether.” Apparently the ether is not too far away, as souls can be easily recalled. It’s probably best not to worry about it too much.)

And yet Buffy worked in a way that Angel didn’t. The strength of Buffy was that it featured teenagers facing troubles and issues the likes of which the adults in their world could never bear, which is why the show lost a lot of its steam in the final two seasons when the characters left school, got jobs, and became surrogate parents to Buffy’s sister Dawn.

What’s more, the heart and soul of Buffy was the relationship between its four core characters: Buffy, Giles, Willow, and Xander. This nucleus of the “Scooby Gang” was the glue that held the show together, despite the revolving door of “extended-family” characters, like Tara, Spike, Riley, Anya, etc.

On Angel, they made a valiant attempt to create an equivalent “Team Angel,” but it never really gelled until the fifth season, and by then the show had been canceled. It was a tragedy heard ‘round the Buffyverse: just as a show found its stride, it was given the axe. Actually, it was very much like a Joss Whedon plot twist.

It seems that those involved with Hercules and Angel will have to content themselves with the fact that their shows were extensions of a brand that was dominated by a more feminine hand.

Well, keep believing, boys. One day we’ll break right through that glass ceiling. One day.

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