Zev or Xev is a fictional character from the sci-fi television series ''

Lexx ''Lexx'' (also known as ''LEXX: The Dark Zone Stories'' and ''Tales from a Parallel Universe'') is a science fiction television series created by Lex Gigeroff and brothers Paul Donovan (writer), Paul and Michael Donovan (producer), Michael Dono ...

''. The character of Zev was portrayed by three actresses during the series' run and the character of Zev has had three incarnations. Zev's character was originally played by Lisa Hynes, after which she was portrayed by

Eva Habermann Eva Felicitas Habermann (born 16 January 1976) is a German actress who has appeared in numerous films and TV series. She is best known for playing the role of Zev Bellringer in the television series ''Lexx''. While studying for (the German eq ...

and

Xenia Seeberg Xenia Seeberg (born Anke Wesenberg; 4 April 1967) is a German film and television actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Xev Bellringer in the science fiction television series ''Lexx''. She also debuted as a singer in 1996 on the E ...

. Habermann portrayed Zev for the first six episodes of the series, after which the character was renamed Xev and portrayed by Seeberg.

Background

The character was born on the planet B3K, where she was sold by her parents to the Wife Bank. During her initial years Zev was raised by computers that taught her to become a perfect wife. As a result, the character became overweight and was rejected by her bridegroom. Zev was then sentenced to become a love slave by being run through a device called the Lusticon, intended to transform her into a beautiful and brainless servant. Before the process could be successfully completed, a carnivorous reptile called a cluster lizard attempted to eat her but was fused to her

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

in the process. This enabled Zev to free herself. She then substituted the detached robot head of a

790 __NOTOC__ Year 790 ( DCCXC) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 790th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 790th year of the 1st millennium, the 90th year of the 8th century, and the ...

robot in the machine to be subjected to brainwashing. This prompted the robot to fall in love with her. Zev's character died early in the second season in the episode "Terminal", but was re-animated in the next episode by the character Lyekka as a present for Stanley Tweedle. The character was renamed Xev (the pronunciation remaining the same) and was thereafter portrayed by a different actress,

. During the series' run the character has had feelings for Kai, which remained unrequited throughout the series. Seeberg has described the character as being one of the more moral characters of the show, but that her aspect as a potential love slave still factored heavily into the character's motivations.

Cluster lizard

As Zev and Xev, the character has the ability to transform into a cluster lizard and shares many similarities with the fictional creature. Cluster Lizards are portrayed as being very vicious reptilian creatures resembling

centipedes Centipedes (from Neo-Latin , "hundred", and Latin language, Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', "lip", and Neo-Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphyl ...

that can curl up into a wheel-like shape and travel at considerable speeds. Otherwise they resemble by appearance a small Sandworm. They reproduce in mating cycles every seven years and are used as a form of capital punishment by His Divine Shadow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellringer, Zev Lexx Science fiction television characters Fictional shapeshifters