Hecuba

Species: Human

Appearances: XWP: S1: Sins of the Past; S4: A Family Affair; S6: Who's Gurkhan? (mentioned)

Family: husband, Herodotus; daughters, Gabrielle and Lila; sons-in-law, Perdicas and Lecter; granddaughters, Hope and Sarah; great-grandson, The Destroyer

Bio: Hecuba had been the wife of a farmer in Potidea, as well as the mother of the legendary bard Gabrielle. After Xena the Warrior Princess had saved their village from the warlord Draco, Hecuba and her youngest daughter Lila had tended to wounds Xena had sustained while fighting Draco's lieutenant Hector, while her other daughter Gabrielle had plied Xena with questions, awed by Xena's skills and heroics. Xena, though, had quickly moved on at the behest of Hecuba's husband Herodotus, but not without gaining a companion: Gabrielle, who had snuck out in the middle of the night to travel with Xena in the hopes of seeing the world and becoming a warrior like her. Three years later, when Gabrielle had returned home, or so her family had thought, Xena and their friend Joxer had come looking for her. While Hecuba had welcomed Joxer with open arms, finding him brave and gallant, Herodotus had regarded Xena with anger and mistrust, believing Xena had seduced Gabrielle away from her family all those years ago with her heroics. Both his and Hecuba's opinions of Xena had lowered when, after Gabrielle's evil daughter Hope had tried to kill Lila while posing as Gabrielle, Hope had returned to Hecuba and Herodotus's farm covered in bruises and had blamed Xena for them. Outraged, Hecuba and her husband had told Xena to leave and to never come back. Presumably, once Hope and her monstrous offspring had been defeated, Gabrielle's family had been filled in on her evil doppelganger. Regardless, though, about eighteen years later, Hecuba's granddaughter Sarah had been kidnapped by a raider named Gurkhan. From a merchant, Hecuba and her family had learned that Sarah had been taken to the walled city of Mogador in North Africa, where Gurkhan had made Sarah part of his harem. Hecuba, Herodotus, and Lila's husband Lecter had then sought out to buy her back, only for Gurkhan to behead all three of them. About eight years after that, twenty-five years after Gabrrielle and Xena had seemingly gone missing, Gabrielle had shown up on Lila's doorstep, only to learn the fate of her parents and niece. Distraught, she, Xena, and their friend Virgil had then set off for North Africa, and had done what Gabrielle's parents and brother-in-law had failed to do: rescued Sarah.

Played By: Linda Jones & Lisa Crittenden