After numerous requests I've prepared the following "Highlander at a glance" primer. It reads like this. Part 1...a brief overview of the Highlander Universe. Part 2...snapshot biographies of the main characters. Part 3...places in which I have deliberately violated canon, with intent.
The original movie with Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery launched the Highlander saga. The later movies ruined it IMO, but that's neither here nor there. For the most part you can discount the movie universe other than for certain broad concepts. What follows is TV series canon.
There are Immortals among us. No one knows where they come from. They are foundlings, abandoned children adopted, or left to grow up on their own, with no knowledge of who or what they are. Until the die. At first death they emerge changed. They are now Immortal, and forever locked at they age that they were at first death. They can "die" many times...that is their life functions can cease temporarily due to mortal injury. They simply resurrect. Most are normal adults, both male and female, but the show did introduce a few glitches in the system. A child Immortal...an Immortal trapped in permanent adolescence...and evil as hell. A retarded Immortal, cast in the mold of Lenny from "Of Mice and Men". So the canon is flexible there. Immortals are also sterile, one and all, male and female. They cannot produce children.
The Immortals play "The Game". It involves single combat with edged weapons (usually swords), to the death. Yes, they can die permanently. Once their head is separated from their shoulders their life-force departs their body in an impressive (and destructive) energy release called "The Quickening". Just incidentally, much of what the were passes to the victor, strength, knowledge, wisdom, etc. (There was a creepy episode in which Richie found himself incredibly attracted to a woman, for no reason...only to discover that she was the widow of an Immortal that he'd defeated.)
An Immortal can sense the presence of other Immortals. In the show this was never fully described, but it came with it's own creepy sound effect. Fans have hung the term "the buzz" on it. If an Immortal lasts long enough they develop the ability to sense pre-Immortals, those of their kind that haven't made the jump to full Immortal. Some kill the newbies preemptively
most choose to protect them as the "children" that they are.
Special Note: A Dark Quickening is a special event. One such happened to Duncan. Apparently killing too many evil Immortals can cause you to OD on the evil during the Quickening. This had happened to a friend of Duncan's. One of the good guys (an American Indian BTW) who absorbed too much evil too quickly and went Darth Vader. Duncan killed him in self-defense, and the problem then landed on him. After Duncan did some very bad things, a friend of Duncan's (see Methos) forced him into a sacred spring where he did battle with his dark side...and won.
The rules of The Game are simple. Single combat to the death. Older players break in and train newcomers. There are no exceptions, no way out. If you're an Immortal you learn to fight back if given the chance, or you die like a sheep. No non-combatants allowed (there was one exception...I'll get to him later). The only neutral territory is on consecrated or holy ground. In cemeteries, churches, monasteries, or convents of whatever faith, no fighting is allowed. This is an ironclad rule that not even the worst Immortal may violate. There are two legends associated with the game. One is "The Gathering". The story goes that one day, when there are only a few Immortals left, they will feel a pull "towards a distant land". There they will gather to fight until only one is left. That one will have "The Prize". That's the second legend. "The Prize". What is it? No one has a clue. The Gathering and The Prize contribute to the catch phrase that goes with Immortal combat. "There Can Be Only One." In the movie there were only a handful of Immortals left and "The Gathering" was underway, in New York. In the series it hadn't happened yet, and there were still plenty of Immortals around.
The last element is "The Watchers". They didn't exist in the movie. In the series they are a secret society of normal humans that devote their lives to observing and recording the lives of the Immortals. The series has it that they've been at it for centuries, perhaps for millennia. Every Immortal in existence has at least one or more Watchers following him or her around. They are strictly forbidden from interfering in the lives of those that they observe. Every now and then, this breaks down. (See..Joe Dawson) In the show there was a heretical branch of the Watchers that abandoned their mission of simply observing to begin actively hunting and killing Immortals. This was the point at which The Watchers were brought into canon, and we met some interesting people.
Scottish highlander of the Clan MacLeod, born in 1592, a few generations later than Connor MacLeod (of the movie). He's the title character. In the course of the show he's been an antiques dealer, and a martial arts instructor. He also owns a barge/houseboat on the Seine in Paris. The show spent a season there. This one is a real Swashbuckler and ladies man.
An Immortal of recent vintage and Duncan's student. In fact, for part of the show it was only suspected that he was a pre-Immortal based on hints dropped in dialog. Prior to that he was simply someone who new what Duncan was and hung out with him....until he got "killed" trying to save Duncan's lover from a mugger. Ex street punk, and all around boy next door.
A mortal. Blond, pretty, smart, and sexy. She and Duncan ran an antiques store. Duncan's better half for twelve years, until she was killed by a mugger in the second season. This created major issues for Duncan who scraped the life that he'd built with her completely and started over. He spent the rest of second season and all of the third season mourning her. And major guilt for Richie who went on a berserk manhunt when he caught sight of her killer in a later episode. Late in the show there was an "It's A Wonderful Life" episode in which Duncan was castigating himself for her death. Thinking of the grief that he'd brought on all those that he loved. He was shown what Tessa would have had without him. Instead of twelve years of bliss in an epic love affair with Duncan, she ends up trapped for a lifetime in a loveless passionless marriage. At the time of my story she's been dead for some time.
A mortal. Duncan's post-Tessa foray back into love. A doctor who found out about Duncan. They were seriously involved until she saw him "killed". After a while he contacted her again and explained what he was. They were together again for a time until she revealed that she was pregnant. Apparently she'd had a one nighter when she was grieving for Duncan, and that was enough. Duncan was quite happy to accept her and the baby, but she didn't want her child exposed to the violent world of the Immortals. So she left. Duncan spent most of a season protecting a pregnant Ann and renovating an old house into a showplace, which he then gave to Ann after her baby was born.
This lady is an Immortal. Her DOB is unknown, but she was first killed in England, in 850 AD. She and Duncan have had an on and off love/hate relationship for centuries. She actually had her own series for a season (See Highlander: The Raven). She's a rogue. A clothes horse with expensive tastes and a love of the high life. Dishonest, sneaky, tricky, underhanded, and a professional thief and accomplished acrobat. She's conned Duncan into so much trouble over the centuries that it isn't funny. But she's also fiercely loyal to her friends in the clutch, and has a deep stubborn core of humanity. At the time of this story, she and Duncan are living together full time. She hasn't entirely given up thieving, but she tries to behave for Duncan's sake.
Likewise an Immortal. Her DOB was never mentioned in the canon, and I don't recall her date of death being mentioned either, other than the fact that it occurred in The Bronze Age, at which time she was a healer in a peasant village. After some research I've set her Date of Death at 3500 years ago, give or take a few. Something of an exotic and mystical woman. She has certain abilities outside the norm. What we would call magic. One of these is to use her voice in such a manner that you are unable to deny her anything. If she told you to drive a car into a brick wall, you'd do it with a smile on your face. She and Duncan ran into each other three times in his life. The first was when he was a boy in the Highlands, and she was the local "witch". Later, in modern times, she appealed for his help when a former student of hers outstripped her and began to use the magics that she'd taught him to do evil. And still later she had a run in with an ancient evil called "The Four Horsemen". (see Methos)
Immortal, educated, cool yet passionate. The oldest of the Immortals at 5000 years plus, he barely remembers his childhood. Elusive and slow to make friends he was thought to be a myth by Immortals and Watchers alike. He was introduced as a Watcher. He'd grown tired of The Game, and chose to hide in plain sight by being one of those that observe it. Later in the show it was revealed that, during the Bronze Age, he and three other Immortals pillaged and butchered their way across Asia Minor (modern Turkey), laying down the basis of the legend of "The Four Horsemen". Methos was Death. He'd left that behind long ago, but during that period he was as brutal and vicious as a man can be and still be called human. The Four Horsemen destroyed Cassandra's village and Methos took her captive, that was when she became an Immortal. I'll leave her captivity to your imagination. Suffice it to say that she hated Methos' guts. However she also changed him. The Horsemen had a custom of sharing everything, including women. When the time came to give Cassandra to one of the others, Methos couldn't do it, he chose to give her the opportunity to escape instead. Late in the series Cassandra and Methos hadn't met yet in modern times, yet they were both friends of Duncan's. When Cassandra finally saw Methos for the first time she went berserk. At the same time the three other Horsemen were coming back together to (what else?) conquer the world, and prevailed upon Methos to return to the fold. He'd always been their tactician. To make a long story short, Methos had outgrown the whole "be evil for fun" gig and turned on his former friends, helping Cassandra and Duncan to destroy them. Cassandra set aside her grudge for Duncan's sake, and it was left there. The fans however see something else, which I explore here.
Joe is a Watcher. A fairly high ranking one. His first appearance in the canon had him running a used and rare book store. Later in the series (and at the time of my story) he had a blues bar called "Joe's". He's a legless Vietnam vet you joined the Watchers in 'Nam when he saw one of his dead buddies come back to life. He's Duncan's assigned Watcher, as well as being well up in the Watcher hierarchy. For the purposes of this story he's made it to the top of the North American Watchers. He has also made mincemeat of the "no fraternization" rule by maintaining contact with Duncan after Duncan discovered who he was. This led to some strain between Dawson and The Watchers which very nearly led to his execution.
There are a couple of supporting characters, both good and bad that have been or will be mentioned in the course of this story. I though that I'd detail them for you, whether they're alive or not.
A ruthless Roman era barbarian general over 2000 years old, noted for his brutality, he continued his military career after the fall of Rome, and one day around AD 500 he killed an Immortal holy man at the gates of Paris. The resulting Quickening turned him into a devout pacifist. He ended up a Catholic priest who remained on Holy Ground to avoid The Game. He encouraged other Immortals to turn from The Game at every opportunity. Eventually he was murdered by heretical Watchers.
spelled Callas for the purposes of this story. Estimated age 575 years. He's a bad one who has left a long trail of dead Immortals, many of whom were friends of Duncan. He and Duncan had a mutual hatred going back a long time, which was exacerbated by the fact that he used to have a fine singing voice, which he was quite vain about, until a slash to the throat by Duncan during a skirmish in the early Twentieth Century destroyed it. Duncan finally killed him in 1995. However, Kalas left a legacy. A computer disk stolen from The Watchers, detailing the lives of every then living Immortal, as well as their current identities. This is hidden away in a random book in a Paris bookstore, waiting to be discovered.
Estimated age 800 years. Killed by Kalas in 1995....which ticked me off to no end. I liked Fitz (as Duncan called him). He and Duncan were both swashbucklers who met in the 1630's and became buddies. He was a rogue of sorts. Something like a male counterpart to Amanda in Duncan's life. One recurrent theme was that he and Duncan liked to play golf together....and Fitz liked to cheat. During the "It's A Wonderful Life" episode later in the show, Fitz's ghost played "Clarence the Angel" for Duncan.
Highlander was shot in Vancouver, B.C., however it was supposed to be set in the States. So the fans took to referring to the town that Duncan lived in as Seacouver. An imaginary synthesis of Seattle and Vancouver. The writers of the show picked it up and stuck it into a couple of episodes. I find it idiotic, and in this story Duncan lives in Seattle while the bad guys are in Vancouver. Seacouver does not exist. I've already had one fan complain about this, but it ain't going to change.
In canon Richie is supposed to be dead. He and Duncan were tricked into fighting each other by a demon who made them think that they were both fighting an enemy instead of each other. Sort of a mindwarp. Duncan killed Richie, his best friend next to Methos and Joe. I frickin' hated that like I hated Alex dying in Roswell. So it's not happening in *my* universe.
The whole mass slaughter until only one Immortal is left pisses me off. The tragic waste of so much life and wisdom rubs me the wrong way. Duncan's Seattle "family" is as tight in it's own way as the Podsters' Roswell "family". The thought of some of them pitted against each other in The Gathering turns my stomach. Watch for me to rationalize it out of existence.
The movie spelled the name McCleod, which I liked. The TV show spelled it MacLeod, which I didn't like. Guess which way I spelled it in my fic? Added in Edit: A studious reader has offered compelling evidence that I'm incorrect in my assumptions about the movie spelling. This won't change how the name is spelled in the story, but I will investigate, and should Era prove correct, the story will be editted accordingly when finished.
There's a Cliff Notes version of Highlander. If there are any further questions, drop me a PM.
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