`XENA' FANS FLOCK TO SEE THEIR HERO.

Byline: David R. Baker Daily News Staff Writer

As grown men and women eyed plastic ``Xena, Warrior Princess'' dolls behind her, 9-year-old Hannah Pell tried to describe Sunday why several thousand people had descended on a Burbank hotel to celebrate a television show.

The fans, she said, could recognize a good role model when they saw one. How many other television shows starred a karate-kicking, quasi-mythological girl who could fight even better than the boys?

``It's because they like strong women,'' said Hannah of Santa Monica. ``I like her spirit.''

Although the weekend convention at the Burbank Airport Hilton was for fans of both ``Xena'' and its brother show - ``Hercules, The Legendary Journeys'' - it often seemed a gathering of Xena's own tribe.

Perhaps it was the presence of series star Lucy Lawless, fielding questions from about 2,000 people packed into an auditorium. Or those fans who greeted Lawless with the sincerest form of flattery, mimicking her character's warrior garb down to the armored bustier and trademark black bangs.

Even the adults, some from as far away as Canada and the Philippines, said they came out of love for a show that celebrates female strength. With karate kicks.

``As a female, I like the fact that she can kick a guy's butt and then make love to him,'' said Diane Barsuhn of Thousand Oaks.

As represented at the convention, the tribe is remarkably far-reaching, containing every demographic twist Los Angeles can throw. Despite the capes, armor and occasional loin cloth, more people came in college sweat shirts or button-downs. Despite a smattering of kids, more conventioneers looked to be comfortably cruising through middle age. Parents with strollers hogged the auditorium's aisle seats.

They weren't disappointed. Convention guests Sunday included New Zealand resident Kevin Smith, who plays the evil Ares in both mythology-inspired series. Lighted by flashbulbs, he answered more than a half-hour of questions, almost all from women. Which show do you like to work on more? How do you stay in shape? Could you sing the New Zealand national anthem? Do you have any sons?

The applause that greeted Smith, however, couldn't compare to the pounding roar that rose as Lawless took the stage. Camcorders whirred, flashes flared and people rushed forward to dual microphones for a word with their idol.

What are your career plans? Any movies coming up? What have you learned from doing the show? How'd you get that tiny scar above your bustier?

With questions coming at her from both sides of the stage, Lawless sought to show the tribe that she was, in fact, human, not the object of modern, televised myth.

Lawless said she, too, goes home and scrubs out the tub, when needed. ``I do the dishes because my daughter won't.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color)Actress Lucy Lawless belts out her ``Xena'' yell.

(2) Lisa Couper of Placerville and her daughter, Samantha, 8, sport matching Xena outfits.

Evan Yee/Daily News