Gabrielle is sometimes referred to as the Battling Bard of Potidaea.

Once a farm girl, betrothed by her parents to Perdicas, she decided to find herself a new life with the Warrior Princess, Xena. Helping her in convincing the villagers of Amphipolis to defend themselves against the warlord, Draco, she became Xena's self-appointed biographer, and eventually her best friend.

She has one sister, Lila, and her parent's names are Herodotus and Hecuba.

Gabrielle became an Amazon when she defended a dying Amazon princess during an ambush. Before she died, the Princess Terreis passed her "right of caste" to Gabrielle, making her the heiress presumptive to the Amazon Queen Melosa. Gabrielle became a rival of Velasca as Queen of the Amazons after Melosa died, but Velasca herself was put out of commission when her plan to ascend to godhood was literally buried in lava. Wishing instead to travel with Xena, Gabrielle had Ephiny act as Amazon Queen in her place. Through Ephiny, Gabrielle has a nephew, a centaur named Xenan.

Gabrielle learned to defend herself using her trusty quarterstaff. She later learned how to fight with a sword and a pair of sai.

She has been known to be in love, including with Hercules' partner, Iolaus, and with her childhood friend, Perdicas, whom she married, and who was killed shortly thereafter by Callisto. She also developed a strong bond of love and friendship with Xena. A source of humor (see subtext) was the implication - but never outright affirmation - among fans, and later characters within the show, suggesting the two may have been lovers. Although during the series, Gabrielle and Xena do share a kiss on camera.

When helping to defend Britannia against Julius Caesar, she came in contact with an evil cult that tricked her into killing one of its priestess, Meridian. Using her, the dark god, Dahak, had managed to impregnate her, as Xena was able to rescue her. For two weeks, the child inside Gabrielle grew, and eventually was born a girl. Gabrielle named her Hope. Fearing that the child would become a danger to the world and a pawn for its evil father, Xena wanted to kill her, but unbeknownst to Xena, Gabrielle saved her daughter by putting her in a basket and sending her downriver. This precipitated a major rift between Xena and Gabrielle, a story arc that spanned several episodes and included Gabrielle betraying Xena by foiling Xena's attempt to assassinate the tyrant Ming Tien. Gabrielle alerted Ming Tien to the plan and unintentionally caused Xena to be imprisoned and tortured.

A year later, Gabrielle found Hope again, now looking like a nine year old, and already in the process of helping her father, Dahak, implement his plan to take over the world. Hope allied herself with Xena's enemy, Callisto. In revenge for Xena's attempt to kill her as a baby, Hope murdered Xena's only son, Solan. This forced Gabrielle to accept that Hope was indeed dangerous. She killed her daughter by giving her poison, an act that continued to haunt Gabrielle throughout the series. She held herself responsible for Solan's death, as well as for betraying Xena a second time, even after reconciliation with Xena was effected through the musical journey in The Bitter Suite. Therefore, when she once again encountered Hope, who had been saved from the funeral pyre by her father Dahak, Gabrielle sacrificed herself to save Xena by jumping into a lava pit and taking Hope down with her. Gabrielle survived this fall, and was later reunited with Xena.

After her first kill, and the traumatic events with Hope that followed it, Gabrielle temporarily explored pacifism as an alternative to fighting by Xena's side. She and Xena travelled to India, where they encountered a series of false prophets and gurus, as well as a genuine healer and teacher, Eli. Eli claimed to have found enlightenment and Gabrielle became interested in his philosophy of nonviolence and independence from the gods, which he called the Way of Love. Gabrielle attempted to follow this way, but when both she and Xena were captured by Romans, she ultimately chose to fight to try to save Xena. The two were crucified on the Ides of March.

After being crucified, Gabrielle was restored to life by Eli. She carried her sai from this point forward until the end of the show. During this time, she also protected Xena, as Xena was pregnant, and learned further what it meant to fight, kill, and choose to take a life.

She continued to question the morality of fighting and her own role throughout the show, even as she evolved from a largely peaceful writer to a fully fledged warrior fighting alongside Xena. Ultimately she chose to follow what she called the Way of Friendship. Once Xena died, Gabrielle carried Xena's chakram to continue Xena's legacy of doing good. However it appears that Xena is still with Gabrielle in spirit, at least.