ListNook

Malkochson Apr 17, 2026 +407

Smurfette from the Smurfs TV series (1981). No, really. She was created by Gargamel to essentially sow discord among the Smurfs and make it easier for Gargamel to capture them. She gets "found" by the Smurfs, and proceeds to cause chaos, turning the Smurfs against each other. But as she experiences how the Smurfs live and how kind they are to each other, she starts feeling bad about helping Gargamel. She gets in a jam only to be saved by the Smurfs, is found out to be working for Gargamel, and gets put on trial at the village (lol). By this point, Smurfette heavily regrets her actions and bursts into tears because the "big-hearted" Smurfs have made her realize the error of her ways. Papa Smurf then says he forgives her, and turns her from a dark-haired, evil looking Smurf to a flowy, blonde-haired 'good' Smurf (don't delve too deeply into the implications here). From then onwards, she decides to help the Smurfs against Gargamel. There are some scholars who say Smurfette got "turned good" after Papa Smurf's transformation spell, but I contend that she was clearly already on the side of good by this point. Smurfette is the true pioneer. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

407

pikpikcarrotmon Apr 17, 2026 +116

Damn Papa Smurf gave her the Fox News host treatment

116

phyrros Apr 17, 2026 +49

25 years ago i was forced to give a 5 minute presentation of my choice innour german class. Due to a combination of coincindences i was basically forced to finish a joint just before class and in my "slightly non sober" state of mind decided to talk about the racist Intentions behind the smurfs. As one can assume this left both class and teacher quite confused because it came from pretty far off the left field

49

kia75 Apr 17, 2026 +45

Peyo, who created the smurfs, was notoriously sexist. So sexists that Hannah Barbara, the people who adapted the American cartoon, had to tell him to tone down the sexism. I'm the original story, the way smutfette corrupted the smurfs was just doing girly things, and pappa smurf literally used "plastic smurfery" to turn her good ( in the cartoon it was smurf magic). Even good, most of the comic smutfette stories are smutfette being a dumb girl cause trouble for the smurfs. I don't remember much racism in the smurfs, though you can certainly take the black smurf story( changed to purple smurf in the us) as racist, and there might be some undertones I missed.

45

phyrros Apr 17, 2026 +13

Peyo denied all of it but the combination of Azrael and Gargamel, with Gargamel having a big crooked nose and being greedy certainly touches antisemitic tropes. The whole blood libel thing is anktger Smurfette changes her hair from black to blonde would be another breadcrumb for those who want to establish the narrative. and the smurfs as a society are pretty facist and if you wanna put the nail in the argument.. simply reference the white and red hoods of the KKK and say that some local groups used red fir their local leaders. and to be perfectly clear: unlike my 17 year old self I am not saying that it was the Intention - but it is unfortunate how easily one could build tge argument

13

Seagoon_Memoirs Apr 17, 2026 +13

ok, I lived next to where peyo lived in Uccle and knew all the neighbours Gargamel was based on a neighbour who was a judge and yes, he looked just like that. He had cats and was a miser. Was also very intelligent. Peyo was a lawyer and didn't like him. Other characters were based on other neighbours. ( I used to laugh and laugh when I saw pez's of them ) the houses were flemish neogothic, one of which i lived in peyo's house was lovely, full of hand painted murals on walls and lots of airy light filled studios with many desks the smurfs, apparently he got the idea for Schtroumpfs over dinner

13

phyrros Apr 17, 2026 +7

thanks :) like i said - unlike my 17 year old self i realized that just because you can spin an argument it really doesn't mean anything about reality. the truly sad part is the loss of innocence multiplied with social media which amplifies just those narratives which generate headlines

7

Seagoon_Memoirs Apr 18, 2026 +2

here's some more about the inspo the house of gargamel was large neogothic flemish with neogothic furniture, I know because i lived next door the back yards were expanses of lawns with trees at the back , peyo's yard had this one lovely big oak tree in the middle of the lawn ( he was such a rebel ) and underneath that rings of large eekhoorntjesbrood engels ( squirrel bread ) would grow, these are very large porcini mushrooms and squirrels love to eat them. Gargamel and his cats did not like squirrels. a smurf house [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gewoon\_eekhoorntjesbrood](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gewoon_eekhoorntjesbrood)

2

Dvscape Apr 18, 2026 +2

But was that neighbor who was a judge also jewish?

2

Seagoon_Memoirs Apr 18, 2026 +3

no, they were all devout Christians, had Christian iconography on the walls and when he died , I went to the funeral, it was at the local church. Pretty fancy funeral too, live music and everything he really did have a big nose , that was true

3

Siccar_Point Apr 17, 2026 +5

The Guardian would have you believe that [the Smurfs are secretly communist](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jul/25/how-smurfs-communist-roots-betrayed-film-movie?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other), not fascist. Obviously, this would not preclude them from being racist AF.

5

Seagoon_Memoirs Apr 18, 2026 +4

they just want to live their happy little carefree lives eating shrooms and frolicking on the lawn without worrying about cats

4

AnonymousFriend80 Apr 17, 2026 +4

So what you're saying is that every side or angle can find something on anything the offends everyone for completely opposite reasons, and all these sides have absolutely no clue what they're talking about.

4

user_of_the_week Apr 17, 2026 +6

Btw. in German we call them Schlumpf / Schlümpfe. Papa Schlumpf, Schlaubi Schlumpf, Schlumpfine, etc.

6

phyrros Apr 17, 2026 +2

ich hab das Referat auch auf deutsch gehalten - in Österreich verfängt sich Antisemitismus und xenophobie immer irgendwie

2

BualadhBoss Apr 17, 2026 +19

Now I'm wondering why If Gargamel can create his own smurfs, why does he keep trying to catch them?

19

RoboChrist Apr 17, 2026 +13

Scientists developing lab grown meat still buy meat from the grocery store.

13

SauronSauroff Apr 18, 2026 +4

Yeah. It's not fun if only beat your own meat. Sometimes, you want to grab wild ones and beat those too.

4

PaulaDeenSlave Apr 19, 2026 +1

Not if they could grow whole cows.

1

Jackalodeath Apr 17, 2026 +5

I was thinking this too, but it didn't take long for childhood-me to poke holes in it. Though its changed over the years, back in my day his whole thing was greed/selfishness (not a coincidence given his design, though that flew over my head back then); the Smurfs were the key ingredient he needed to turn lead into gold. It'd probably be a net loss given that motivation. I imagine making 1 Smurfmunculus to lure the remainder was more cost efficient than burning the resources to make dozens.

5

RedLanternScythe Apr 17, 2026 +18

See Donnie Darko for the cinematic Ted talk on this topic

18

TravelerSearcher Apr 17, 2026 +12

Yeah that's probably one of the closest possible cases to compare to the criteria OP set up. But even so, magic was involved, even if magic didn't make her do it. And I'm not sure she wholly qualifies as a main character, just a popular addition to the cast who, more often than not, was the token girl. That said, fairly progressive of the show, especially for the time period and the fact it was a kids show.

12

Malkochson Apr 17, 2026 +23

Yeah perhaps she's not *the* main character, but given that the Smurfs were an ensemble show and that Smurfette, being the only female Smurf, is heavily featured in most storylines post-Season 1 and promotional material for the show, I'm inclined to put her in the 'main character' category.

23

s3rila Apr 17, 2026 +2

that story comes from the comics so 1966 in that format

2

poopsmog Apr 18, 2026 +2

Can we not talk about the motivations of Gargamel and his various methods?

2

MBTHVSK 6 days ago +1

Gargamel weaponized heterosexuality

1

Ok-Eye-8202 Apr 17, 2026 +108

Catwoman is tricky example since she was more antihero than straight villain in most versions. The brainwashing thing with She-Ra definitely disqualifies her from what you're looking for. I'm trying to think of pre-1995 female leads but most were either always good (Wonder Woman, Bionic Woman) or never had their own series despite being interesting characters. Even in cartoons from that era, female characters who started evil usually stayed as side characters or got the "magic made me do it" treatment like you mentioned with She-Ra.

108

UDPviper Apr 18, 2026 +2

Catwoman is not a villain. She's a criminal.

2

AnonymousFriend80 Apr 17, 2026 -5

Catwoman was alway a villain. She's a thief who steals for her own benefit. She may not be threatening the lives of people to do so, but still a criminal.

-5

cleantoe Apr 17, 2026 +23

A criminal isn't necessarily a villain. She's definitely an antagonist, but I would say she's never really a villain. In other words, an antagonist isn't always the villain, just like a protagonist isn't always the hero.

23

Tymareta Apr 17, 2026 +12

> but still a criminal. Rosa Parks was a criminal, but also, criminal isn't synonymous with villain, so these sort of discussions require a deeper look than trying to fall back on some sort of semantic argument.

12

ButtEatingContest Apr 18, 2026 +2

Also Rosa Parks didn't dress up in skin-tight black leather outfits. At least not that I am aware of.

2

AnonymousFriend80 6 days ago +1

Yep. Almost all civil rights activists are criminals as they go against unjust laws to make a better situation for those being crushed. What is Catwoman fighting for besides her own wallet?

1

Tymareta 6 days ago +1

You're the one that brought it up, we'd need to know what specific version you're talking about, because she's been shown in multiple versions to be fighting for the underclass of Gotham.

1

AnonymousFriend80 6 days ago +1

Might be a easier and shorter time to list the ones where she >fighting for the underclass of Gotham Then it is to list all of the times were she only steals for herself.

1

Tymareta 6 days ago +1

Have fun with that.

1

Key_Feeling_3083 Apr 18, 2026 -1

Well Rosa stood for her rights, did Catwoman steal for the poor like robin hood?

-1

Tymareta Apr 18, 2026 +3

In some versions she did, but that's largely irrelevant to the actual point being made, and is simply trying to return to the surface level look of things.

3

AnonymousFriend80 6 days ago +1

How many vs the ones where she only steals for her own benefit?

1

Tymareta 6 days ago +1

Why does the amount matter?

1

haysoos2 Apr 17, 2026 +59

Major Margaret Houlihan on MASH sort of fits this. She starts out as one of the primary antagonists, in both movie and TV series, and while perhaps not entirely *evil*, definitely harms others through her actions. Over the course of the series, and especially the fifth season (1976-1977) she opens up more, and realizing she doesn't like who she has become actively works to be more kind. She's still tough, and they don't retcon her previous actions, but Margaret genuinely grows and becomes one of the ensemble's primary protagonists.

59

peacefinder Apr 17, 2026 +8

“… a damn cup of coffee!” All these years and the rant with that line just keeps hitting harder

8

Impressive-Safety191 Apr 18, 2026 +2

Especially with the little hiccup… hit hard

2

drunkandy Apr 17, 2026 +179

I think you’re going to very quickly run into the issue that there just weren’t that many female-led action shows before Xena (or really even after)

179

RotaVitae Apr 17, 2026 +32

True, I've found ones like Bionic Woman, Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman and Charlie's Angels, but altogether tough to find a lot, and none fit the criteria.

32

AnonymousFriend80 Apr 17, 2026 +7

We've had plenty of female series over the decades, but not too many that have the female lead start off on the bad guy's side.

7

Kgb725 Apr 18, 2026 +2

Helped inspire Buffy and Charmed

2

ThrustersOnFull Apr 17, 2026 +305

I just came to say: AYIYIYIYIYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH

305

RotaVitae Apr 17, 2026 +107

SHEEEEEEEEE-YAHH!

107

ThrustersOnFull Apr 17, 2026 +61

\[Does a flip\]

61

TwistedClyster Apr 17, 2026 +64

Lands on some ridiculous balancing apparatus for the rest of the sword fight.

64

RotaVitae Apr 17, 2026 +43

[Best one ever](https://tenor.com/view/xena-xena-warrior-princess-lucy-lawless-gabrielle-renee-oconnor-gif-22031716)

43

ThrustersOnFull Apr 17, 2026 +14

Crouching Tiger to Pirates of the Caribbean, Xena had it all.

14

CaptainLookylou Apr 17, 2026 +11

you extended this video or looped it or something, right? RIGHT?

11

RotaVitae Apr 17, 2026 +22

HAHAHAHAAAA! Nope! All real, all camp! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95ZFuwljIJ4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95ZFuwljIJ4)

22

CaptainLookylou Apr 17, 2026 +14

So if you flip **forward** in the air you actually gain altitude by stepping on the very air itself.

14

zedascouves1985 Apr 17, 2026 +20

That was clearly a mistake by the TV crew. They forgot they were filming Xena and filmed Lucy Lawless, who can fly, just doing her stuff. They should've turned off the camera then or edited it out. https://youtu.be/d2rUWHWsXMg?si=MIB-iZ-Frqj6gPBw

20

RotaVitae Apr 17, 2026 +18

You can when you're Xena! Suspend the disbelief, embrace the camp, eat the cheese! 🧀

18

DaedalusRaistlin Apr 17, 2026 +5

I heard that was accidental. Of course Xena can't fly. But Lucy Lawless?

5

its-fewer-not-less Apr 18, 2026 +7

If I didn't see this I'd be... Dis-a-POINTED!

7

ithinkther41am Apr 18, 2026 +5

> Dis-a-PPOINTED! Probably what Kevin Sorbo yells whenever he thinks about his acting career.

5

StinkyTurd89 Apr 17, 2026 +41

It's a side character but it is a female lead action show and she meets your requirements otherwise imo so maybe Faith from Buffy the vampire slayer.

41

Premislaus Apr 17, 2026 +26

It's a good example but it's a couple years after Xena.

26

StinkyTurd89 Apr 17, 2026 +6

Ah yea forgot the before xena part sorry just woke up. Though TBF even post xena theirs not going to be a ton of stuff that fits those requirements.

6

0ttoChriek Apr 17, 2026 +20

On a lower scale of villainy, Cordelia as well. She's the mean girl bully in season one of Buffy, but changes remarkably through the following seasons and on Angel. Still after Xena, though.

20

StinkyTurd89 Apr 17, 2026 +6

Wouldn't really call mean girl school bully evil just being a young a******. Could make arguments for post dark willow though yes it was a magic made me do it but she chose to use the dark magic initiatially so I'd count that as a choice to. But she didn't start that way so not sure if that srk would count.

6

Kgb725 Apr 18, 2026 +1

Magic didnt make her do it she was just using magic to accomplish her goals

1

StinkyTurd89 Apr 18, 2026 +1

I'm referring to the veiny evil dark willow arc when she has the addiction to the dark magic.

1

MINKIN2 Apr 18, 2026 +2

Likewise, Buffy herself was the mean girl in her origins, whilst not an outright mustache twirling villain though.

2

JohnCavil01 Apr 17, 2026 +140

While I don’t know of any examples I just came here to say that Xena is one of the greatest shows ever made and perhaps represents the pinnacle of the 90s-era action adventure show. It’s the kind of thing that just would never be made these days - and not in a stale-ass whiny anti-woke way (if anything Xena is far woke-er than most media today) - but just in a way that the production methods and ideas about what television is have shifted too much for us ever to get back to something being that unapologetically fun.

140

RotaVitae Apr 17, 2026 +61

I agree! It's unapologetically campy, totally irreverent to history and mythology, but so fun and so full of heart. I think she was lightning in a bottle for 90s TV, something totally unique and inspiring.

61

Sebscreen Apr 17, 2026 +8

Agreed! It was such a gem of a show. I've never seen action choreography like it anywhere else. "Unapologetically campy" is spot on! And it was nearly impossible to find it cringey because they always fully committed to the camp and executed it so well. The show was more than capable of getting very dark and deep too. The chemistry between the two leads is really unrivalled to this day. There's a reason it was only the same two regulars throughout all six seasons. The show was at its strongest when it explored the love, dynamic, and ideological differences between Xena and Gabrielle.

8

zedascouves1985 Apr 17, 2026 +8

If you want campy TV with good heart, go watch One Piece. For a time Legends of Tomorrow was like that as well.

8

AnonymousFriend80 Apr 17, 2026 +6

Would White Canary in Legends for the OP? She was shipwrecked and found by an assassin guild, who healed her and taught her their ways. Then she became an assassin herself. Met back up with her family and friends, and became the captain of a time space ship, helping people.

6

khinzaw Apr 18, 2026 +1

She also died and undied.

1

CharonsLittleHelper Apr 17, 2026 +1

I'm not sure you can call it 100% lightning in a bottle when it was a spinoff of Hercules and had largely the same campy vibe. Though Xena did become more popular than Hercules and has retained a stronger cult following.

1

B-Prime Apr 17, 2026 +13

I would check out Legends of Tomorrow if you haven’t seen it. It scratches that campy action adventure itch for me. First season was rough but after that they just let loose and it gets fun.

13

JohnCavil01 Apr 17, 2026 +2

That’s like superheroes and such right? Unfortunately I pretty superheroed-out.

2

B-Prime Apr 17, 2026 +6

It is, but it’s like the reject superheroes and former villains. It’s more sci-fi than superhero but maybe not for you, especially since it takes a season for them to find their footing.

6

thesavageinn Apr 17, 2026 +1

All those CW superhero shows of that time were such a guilty pleasure for me, but Legends was my favorite by far.

1

hypo-osmotic Apr 17, 2026 +12

One of the writers and producers of Hercules and Xena was Alex Kurtzman, now more known as showrunner for the newer Star Trek series, and I often find myself thinking that these recent Trek series would be better if they were just a little bit more like Xena

12

JohnCavil01 Apr 17, 2026 +14

I assure you I’ve meditated deeply on the paradox of Alex Kurtzman being partially responsible for one of my favorite things ever and directly responsible for the wanton desecration of another one of my favorite things.

14

hypo-osmotic Apr 17, 2026 +1

Going back to the point about television being different now, maybe Kurtzman is just better at following trends than making anything his own

1

JohnCavil01 Apr 17, 2026 +1

I think if he was good at following trends he wouldn’t have made 5-6 Star Trek shows that have been panned by audiences and most of which have been curtailed or outright cancelled.

1

hypo-osmotic Apr 17, 2026 +2

I mean it seems to be pretty trendy for streaming-original TV shows to get canceled early these days

2

BobTulap 6 days ago +1

You are conflating a trend with success, those aren't the same, and currently it's very trendy to find a famous old IP, completely disregard the source material, and shoehorn some mind-numbing morality lesson into every episode.

1

AnonymousFriend80 Apr 17, 2026

Is there anyone out there batting 1.000?

0

JohnCavil01 Apr 17, 2026 +2

Pretty big gulf between perfectly nailing it and consistently and stubbornly despite all criticism making entry after entry for an audience that doesn’t exist outside your own ego.

2

TelluricThread0 Apr 17, 2026 +1

What a weird timeline.

1

Vioralarama Apr 17, 2026 +1

Whoa. Did Kurtzman ever sexually harass anyone on Xena?

1

SpaceLemming Apr 17, 2026 +14

I didn’t watch either show when they were airing and so in hindsight of sorbo being a massive d***** find it extremely hilarious that Xena got her own show that was more popular and had more seasons. You go Lucy

14

hamlet9000 Apr 17, 2026 +26

Most people forget that Mary Richards, from *The Mary Tyler Moore Show*, was a murderer who had killed her husband (played by D*** Van Dyke) and fled to Minneapolis/St. Paul under an assumed name to escape justice. This didn't have much impact on the show after the pilot.

26

gumbyrocks Apr 17, 2026 +6

What? I have never heard this story.

6

nadderby Apr 17, 2026 +9

I -think- this is a joking/farcical head canon to make sense of the actress's transition from the D*** Van Dyke show to the Mary Tyler Moore show.

9

Overall-Bullfrog5433 Apr 17, 2026 +3

That is hilarious. Would have made a more interesting spin off.

3

mormonbatman_ Apr 17, 2026 +3

Florence Henderson opined that Carol Brady killed her first husband.

3

Go_Plate_326 Apr 17, 2026 +69

It sounds like the parameters you've set for your search are designed to lead you exclusively to Xena.

69

Vestalmin Apr 17, 2026 +28

Was Walter White really the *first* teacher-turned-meth dealer on TV?

28

RotaVitae Apr 17, 2026 +6

In a way, yes. I believed she is a unique phenomenon for TV women, but wasn't sure and had to keep the net narrow because I was already aware of at least one who was an unwilling villain.

6

AnonymousFriend80 Apr 17, 2026 +3

The thing about Xena is that everyone loved the character so much in that guest star spot, the the creators scrambled to find a way to get her back. I think they even had to recon some of her story to make it work.

3

Kgb725 Apr 18, 2026 +1

Theres plenty of male characters like that so its not exclusive to Xena

1

aldila81 Apr 17, 2026 +17

How about a half point for La Femme Nikita? The TV show started early '97, but the movie on which it's based was '90/'91.

17

Shoshke Apr 17, 2026 +7

But she was never consciously a villain

7

gerryf19 Apr 17, 2026 +2

Wasn't she trained as an assassin?

2

Shoshke Apr 17, 2026 +2

It's been a while but if I remember correctly, she was a prostitute who was supposedly recruited for a top secret government agency fighting terrorism. So she wasn't a villain at any point she was decieved.

2

peacefinder Apr 17, 2026 +2

I think she had voluntarily participated in a robbery that turned into a murder? Her life was in jeopardy at the hands of the state, which made the training a reasonable alternative. (It’s been a while though.)

2

gerryf19 Apr 17, 2026 +1

So, Point of No Return is a remake of La Femme Nakita and in that the protagonist is a drug addict who killed someone and is sentenced to death. They fake her death and she is trained to be an assassin. I may be confusing the movies and tv show, but I thought they shared that premise

1

Kryceks-Revenge Apr 17, 2026 +2

Ohhhh I need to rewatch this. Weren’t there two shows?

2

aldila81 Apr 17, 2026 +1

Yes. The one in '97 with Petra Wilson, later in LoExG, and one in the early 2010s with Maggie Q.

1

agarret83 Apr 17, 2026 +16

Someone else watch Hacks last night? Lmao

16

curvycurly Apr 17, 2026 +16

Cleopatra 2525 was made by the same people as Xena around the same time and is a female led action show. None of the villain background though. Still a fun show. Farscape might fit, but i wouldn't call Aern a villain; more like she learns her side wasn't actually the good guys and has a lot of character development. Still action and made around the same time period.

16

tmofee Apr 17, 2026 +16

Delenn in Babylon 5? While she seems to be on the side of good for the majority of the tv show, we discover due to the grief of seeing her spiritual leader killed, she was the one who started the war that nearly killed the human race.

16

Wareve Apr 17, 2026 +2

I also thought of Delenn! Though she was never really presented as intentionally harming for her own benefit, at worst she was lashing out in a grief stricken rage with outsized consequences, which she pretty quickly came to regret.

2

bullybabybayman Apr 17, 2026 +2

Same guy made Captain Power, who had Pilot, a reformed member of the legally distinct Hitler youth.

2

Demetri124 Apr 17, 2026 +13

I mean that’s a very specific, multi-factored set of parameters so probably not Fun little anecdote, I just learned last year that Xena was made up for the show. I spent my whole life thinking she was a real mythological figure like Hercules and finding out the truth was the most embarrassing experience of my adult life

13

RotaVitae Apr 17, 2026

I admit it is quite narrow. I should have prefaced that I believed Xena to be a unique phenomenon, since several other women characters could be similar to her but not exact. We've had many women hero leads on TV but they were almost entirely noble from the start, before Xena.

0

hamlet9000 Apr 17, 2026 +11

Limiting this to title characters in a TV show really narrows the options, since there just aren't that many female-led genre shows before the '90s with a female protagonist of any type. The criminal Ensign Ro on *Star Trek: The Next Generation* (1991) reformed, became a recurring character, and would have been a lead on *Star Trek: Deep Space Nine* (1993) if the actress hadn't turned it down. I'd take a closer look at anime. Villain redemption is a common story element there. There are multiple such arcs in *Sailor Moon*, for example. I can't think of any that led to a spin-off show off the top of my head, but consider Grandis Granva from *Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water*

11

RandoScando Apr 17, 2026 +4

Also from Star Trek TNG, and not a lead until later, but 7 of 9 fits the bill of villain turned protagonist.

4

EnglishmaninNJ Apr 17, 2026 +3

7 of 9 came a little later, her debut was in Star Trek: Voyager.

3

RandoScando Apr 17, 2026 +2

Ah, weird. I was a huge TNG fan, but watched Voyager a lot less. Could have sworn she was in TNG, but my memory ain’t what it used to be. Thanks for the clarification.

2

EnglishmaninNJ Apr 17, 2026 +3

No worries! I just remembered that she turned up in Star Trek: Picard as well, maybe that was it?

3

spamjavelin Apr 18, 2026 +1

I thought of her, but she doesn't quite fit the bill in OP, as she was effectively brainwashed by the Collective.

1

ad_maru Apr 17, 2026 +10

Another imperfect example is Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? From 1994 to 1996, and she becomes an anti-hero.

10

She_could_do_better Apr 17, 2026 +8

Hot lips was always trying to get Hawkeye in trouble, but she came around after Frank left.

8

welldressedaccount Apr 17, 2026 +5

Aeon Flux was simply about a stylized unnamed spy/assassin in the liquid television shorts that preceded her show. They developed the world around her once they made full episodes to make her It’s not really determined if she is a hero, but as the main character you tend to think of her as one root for her.

5

Gilshem Apr 17, 2026 +5

Aeon Flux almost fits, except the protagonist is not reformed.

5

Overall-Bullfrog5433 Apr 17, 2026 +4

I worked nights and used to leave early to catch Xena. Lucy seemed almost Amazonian on the show but several years later she showed up on “Two and A Half Men“ and “Parks and Rec“ and was just very normal sized!

4

Nassuman Apr 17, 2026 +4

Isn't this the entire cast of Leverage?

4

Buffaloscreen Apr 17, 2026 +10

Shoutout Hacks! Love that they brought this back into cultural conversation

10

Tardeygrade Apr 17, 2026 +2

Smurfette

2

Idk_Very_Much Apr 17, 2026 +2

It's not quite the same, but Kira in Deep Space Nine (debuted 1993) is a secondary lead who definitely has a lot of guilt over past killings, even if they were in service of a good cause. One of my all-time favorite TV characters.

2

Komorebi_LJP Apr 17, 2026 +2

plenty of anime have had that before xena, villain redemptions is a common trope.

2

DelcoPAMan Apr 17, 2026 +1

Wizard did it

1

Apprehensive_War173 Apr 17, 2026 +1

I’m not sure she was literally the first, but she definitely feels like the first, where the guilt is front and center the whole time. A lot of earlier characters got softened or redeemed pretty quickly, while Xena’s past keeps following her around.

1

KaiLung Apr 17, 2026 +1

So, I'm curious, who are the male examples you are thinking of? Because this seems super-specific either way. I guess a good comparison would be *The Zeta Project*, a spin-off from *Batman Beyond* (he's a male coded robot at least). I also know through looking up British actors that there's a spin-off of *Only Fools and Horses* called *The Green Green Grass* which stars Boycey, a comic antagonist from the original show. Think of like Newman on *Seinfeld* as a comparison. Also, not really the same thing but there was a radio show, *The Adventures of Harry Lime*, that is framed as a prequel to The Third Man and stars the villain of that movie, as a lovable rogue con artist (as opposed to a mass murderer). But again, it's at least theoretically a prequel. Thinking about, there's also the [The Cisco Kid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cisco_Kid) and [Doctor Syn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Syn) but those are more situations of a villainous book character adapted as a hero plus (in the case of the latter) having prequel novels where the character isn't a villain.

1

drunkandy Apr 17, 2026 +2

Teal'c from Stargate: SG1

2

KaiLung Apr 17, 2026 +1

I think the OP is restricting it to characters who got their own spinoff shows. After I posted my comment I remembered Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Although I believe that was after Xena.

1

richardcoryswidow Apr 17, 2026 +1

It started in 2000 so, not before Xena, but I was gonna say: Dark Angel! But maybe that’s just because I think that show doesn’t get talked about enough in general.

1

ThomasVivaldi Apr 17, 2026 +1

Samantha from Bewitched.

1

captaindealbreaker Apr 18, 2026 +1

I feel like 7 of 9 from Star Trek Voyager would qualify. She was a former member of the Borg and inherently did evil shit. But throughout the course of the show she learns to reconcile with her past and reclaim some sense of her humanity, while also becoming a vital member of the ship's crew. As much as her character was written to be "data but s***" at first I think the writers knew how to appease executives while still writing incredibly compelling characters that were fully realized and three dimensional.

1

UrchinJoe Apr 18, 2026 +1

Not a villain, but in the 1980s TV series **Designing Women**, Suzanne Sugarbaker is "thoughtless and self centred" and motivated primarily by money. She has a more sympathetic role as the lead in 1995's **Women of the House**, which debuted a few months before Xena. Designing Women Online - Suzanne Sugarbaker https://share.google/99SWYCVIJAGWUUAjl

1

allusernamesare_gone Apr 18, 2026 +1

If you venture beyond English language media then I can also think of “New Legend of White Snake” which was a 1992 tv show based on a popular legend.

1

MINKIN2 Apr 18, 2026 +1

Not off the top of my head but I'm sure there must have been a The Femme Fatale with a redemption arc long before that. And how many Bond girls have there been that came through in the end?

1

Pariell Apr 17, 2026 +1

Sukeban Deka was a Japanese show from 1985 that fits all your criteria.

1

ArseOfValhalla Apr 17, 2026

Joan Ferguson in Wentworth

0

RotaVitae Apr 17, 2026 +1

> I’m looking for examples of women heroines with their own series **pre-dating Xena**

1

MoonageDayscream Apr 17, 2026 +1

As a character Joan is actually from the show Prisoner, from 1979. Wentworth is a remake.of that show.

1

notyourvader Apr 17, 2026 -16

Jessica Jones, but she was under control from Kilgrave.

-16

Demerzel69 Apr 17, 2026 +18

> I’m looking for examples of women heroines with their own series ***pre-dating Xena***

18

Is Xena: Warrior Princess (1995) TV’s first main woman protagonist who was a conscious villain reformed to do good?

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