On the show Xena: Warrior Princess, Ares' first appearance was in "The Reckoning" where he tried to seduce Xena back into his fold as his Warrior Queen and to have her fight and rule in his name. He framed her for killing simple villagers, an act which he himself had committed and he hoped that framing her for this slaughter would get her to come back to him. Of course, it didn't work and from then on, Xena and Ares began their history as adversaries for the first three seasons of the show.

It was clear that Ares had an obsession with Xena for he devoted most of his time to trying to win her back. He devised many plots to bring her back to him, from disguising himself as her estranged father, to using the Furies to drive her insane. But each of his attempts failed. Even though they were adversaries, Xena was never truly hateful toward him and their encounters often included witty banter. She may have been annoyed and often angry with his plots but she never seemed to really hate him. In some instances, such as his seduction in "The Reckoning" and their dreamscape dance in "The Bitter Suite", it was clear that Xena was sexually attracted to him but she did her best to keep any urges she might have had in check.

It wasn't until the show's 5th season that Ares began to show a new side to his character--the ability to love and truly care for Xena. When his life was in jeopardy because of the impending Twilight, Ares admitted to himself that he loved Xena and he tried to admit to Xena how he felt, though she would have none of it. Ares came up with a proposal for Xena that if he helped protect her daughter from the gods--the very reason for the Twilight--she would have to give him a child for his efforts, an heir in his eyes. This deal never went through, however, and by the end of season 5, tensions were clearly being forced between Xena and Ares, much more than they had ever been before.

When it came time that Xena gained the power to kill gods in order to protect her daugher from them, she eliminated most of them from Olympus and when it was only her and Athena left and her life was in jeopardy because Eve had died, Ares did something no one could have expected the God of War to do. He gave up his immortality to save the life of the one he loved by giving life back to both Eve and Gabrielle, thus becoming mortal for their sake alone. Xena thanked him for what he did and his new life was about to start, his life as a full-fledged mortal.

During season 6, Ares was mortal for most of it, starting off the season with "Coming Home" where he was driven mad by the Furies--a plot they devised in order to pit Xena against Ares and have one or both of them kill each other. Xena was able to rid the Furies of Ares' mind by the end and for the first time, as mortals, they were both able to share a tender, sweet moment together--Xena kissing him and Ares wondering if he will ever have a chance with her, to which Xena replied "...one in a billon."

As season 6 progressed, Xena and Gabrielle helped Ares disguise himself as a farmer in order to hide him from the warriors that were after his head and then later, Ares' godhood was restored to him after Xena and Gabrielle traveled to the Norse Lands and gave him one of the Golden Apples, along with Aphrodite who had also become mortal.

Ares' last appearance in Xena's present timeline was in "Path of Vengeance" where he had tried to get the Amazons into a war with the Romans in order to rebuild his power base as the God of War. His plans failed because Xena stopped the Amazons from following Ares, but he was nothing but appreciative that Xena had foiled his plans yet again. Both Xena and Ares had come to an understanding about who each other was and what they were about and that, though they were on different sides, they both accepted that "it's what they do" and Ares, in particular, expressed the fact that he wouldn't have it any other way. They came full circle, in a sense, and it was a fitting end for the Xena/Ares relationship on the show. However, that was not to be the final end...

The Shipper Seasons have begun where the show left off. It intends to gradually develop the Xena/Ares relationship in such a way that would be believable and satisfying to shippers at the same time. It brings them through many adventures and hurtles that they must go over before they would be able to be together and then once they are, it brings up other obstacles in their path. Their relationship is always kept fresh and interesting; no matter the paths they take. They will grow and change throughout the seasons, but will always be the same deep down and will continue to keep shippers happy and satisfied.

This is the goal of the Shipper Seasons--that no matter where the characters are taken, shippers will always have a place to belong and will always have a feeling that the Xena/Ares relationship had so much more that could have been developed after the show ended. They are never over, as long as stories are written about them and that is what this site is all about--new stories, new adventures, new challenges, new places to take the characters of Xena and Ares and have them live on in shipper's hearts forever...