8 Popular TV Characters Who Originated On A Different Show

2. Xena: Warrior Princess

1st Appearance: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys For an exceedingly long period of time in the 90s, we were all fascinated with glossy, sexed-up versions of characters from Ancient Greece. It started with the muscly Kevin Sorbo as Hercules, which then begat the muscly Lucy Lawless as Xena. With so many similarities between the two shows, one might think they had more in common than a desire to make Ancient Greece seem much prettier than it actually was. And one would be right. Because before television executives were ready to let Xena anchor a TV series all by herself (since there was apparently a very real fear that people wouldn't tune in to see an ass-kicking, attractive female warrior run roughshod over everyone), she had to first split storylines with Hercules on his show. At the tail end of the first season of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena shows up as a villain, trying to kill Hercules before ultimately succumbing to his wiles and being a brief, romantic relationship. Following their short tryst, Xena up and leaves to pursue her own adventures in her own time slot.