Renée O'Connor was not in the opening credits for season 1. At Lucy Lawless' insistence, Renee was included in opening credits from season 2 onwards.
Rob Tapert on why and how he picked Xena's weapon: "I had a book of ancient weapons and I saw this weird discus called the Chakram and I said let's give her this because it can return and we'll never have another character use it. John Schulian [series writer] said he hated it and said we should cut around it. I told him 'that weapon is the coolest thing I'd ever seen' - it's her signature piece".
The majority of Gabrielle's stunts and fight scenes were performed by Renée O'Connor herself, including the backflip from The Abyss (2000) where Gabrielle kicks a cannibal in the face mid-flight, which was done without any wirework.