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What are these "rules" I keep hearing about?
What's so special about Holy Ground?
But that still doesn't explain the "immie" part.
Why swords? And how do they seem to pull these huge swords out of tiny little leather jackets?
What the heck is "dimensional transcendentalism?"
Who are those people with tattoos on their wrists?
If an immie loses an arm, will it grow back?
Can Immortals grow long hair and fingernails? How about facial hair?
How many wives and children has Duncan had over the years?
Does an immie have to die to heal?
What's the sword that Duncan uses?
What's that great song in "Homeland," the episode where Duncan goes back to Scotland?
Where does Highlander take place?
How many rock stars have made appearances on the show?
What's this I hear about "Eurominutes?"
When did Richie become immortal?
Did Richie know that he was immortal?
How old is Duncan? When was he first killed? What were the circumstances?
Why aren't there any children immies, or physically old immies?
Do you have a Highlander question? Perhaps we at the Dojo can answer it. Just e-mail me.
Q. I've seen a movie called Highlander, and it was the same thing, but the guy looks different. Why does he have the same name?
A. The movie was Highlander. It featured in 1985 and starred Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery. Lambert played a Scotsman named Connor MacLeod, an Immortal. By the end of the film, Connor had become the Last Immortal, and received the Prize -- the ability to read the mind of everyone in the world simultaneously.
The television show Highlander takes the stance that Connor was not the last. Duncan MacLeod, played by Adrian Paul, is a fellow clansman of Connor's. He is about 50 years younger than Connor, and Connor acted as Duncan's first teacher.
Christopher Lambert appeared in the first episode of Highlander, "The Gathering," to reprise his role as Connor MacLeod. He did not make a second visit to the show.
The upcoming third sequel to Highlander, titled Highlander IV, will include both Christopher Lambert and Adrian Paul as Connor and Duncan MacLeod. For more information, see the Dojo's rumor page specifically made for the movie.
Q. What are these "rules" I keep hearing about?
A. There are three Rules:
Q. What's so special about Holy Ground?
A. Holy Ground is a neutral site for everyone that is usually used when two Immortals who are on uneven terms want to speak to each other or when one of them is losing a swordfight. Why Holy Ground is safe is unknown. No one has ever tried to interfere with this rule. There is a rumor that states that there was an alleged event between two Immortals in a temple in Pompeii in A.D. 79. Check your history books if you have to to find out what happened then. Remember, it's just a rumor.
Holy Ground is also used when a young Immortal needs to be trained to use a sword before he enters the Game.
A. Immortals often refer to their ageless battle-to-the-last as "the Game."
A. There is a definite pattern of bad guys' names in the Highlander Universe. Many, if not most of them, have a strong "K" sound at the beginning. Some examples include (but are far from limited to): Cahill, Quince, Kronos, Kortan, Koren, Case, Kragen, Crowley, Kane, and Kurgan.
Since "K's" seem to be the norm, whenever a fan of the show talks about a generic bad guy, or a bad guy whose name they don't remember, they usually call him a "K'immie."
Q. But that still doesn't explain the "immie" part.
A. That's not a question, Poindexter. People usually get tired of writing "Immortal this" and "Immortal that," so to abbreviate it, the term "immie" is used. Duncan is an immie. Richie is an immie. The evil Kuyler is an immie, but he is also a K'immie.
Q. Why swords? And how do they seem to pull these huge swords out of tiny little leather jackets?
A. Immortals are old. Really, really old. Back when they were tykes, the sword was the typical weapon of choice. It only makes sense that they would have an expertise in that weapon. Also, since new immies have to be trained by old immies, the old immies are going to teach them what they know -- namely, how to use a sword. It's an endless circle.
Swords are also ideal for killing immies. They can only die if they're beheaded, and a sword is much easier to use in a decapitation then, oh, say, a pocketknife.
One of the neat little tricks about immortality is that you apparently develop this phenomenal ability to hide your sword in such a way that no one can see you have it, it's not in your way, and you still have a full range of movement and mobility. When you need your sword, you simply reach behind you and remove it from it's handy hiding spot.
Many immies wear a giant trenchcoat, which will theoretically help to hide a sword, but it's also a dead giveaway if it's July and they're in Ecuador. Some people think that immies have mastered dimensional transcendentalism.
Q. What the heck is "dimensional transcendentalism?"
A. In the British television program Doctor Who, the Doctor's spaceship looked like a police box (imagine a phone booth painted blue). This is a very small space indeed, but once he entered the ship, it was a huge and complex series of rooms. It was larger on the inside than it was on the outside. (If you're not big on spacial geometry, I'll tell you up front that this is impossible under standard Newtonian laws of matter. Once you start mucking with spacetime, point-masses, and string theory, though, all bets are off.) That's dimensional transcendentalism, and it helps to explain why a sword can fit comfortably inside someone's jacket.
Q. Who are those people with tattoos on their wrists?
A. They're Watchers -- a society of mortals who observe Immortals and keep track of what they do. Most Watchers are purely benevolent and act only as historians. Other Watchers view all immies as evil and kill them (permanently) as often as they can. Those evil Watchers are called Hunters, and the Head Hunter was named James Horton.
A. He was pure evil. He tried to kidnap and/or kill Duncan MacLeod on at least six occasions, and killed Duncan's best friend, Darius. Darius was a priest: 2,000 years old when he died, he was murdered in his own church. Apparently, Hunters don't think the Rule of Holy Ground applies to their actions.
No longer believing him to be dead from their first encounter, Duncan MacLeod went after Horton again after Horton teamed up with another of MacLeod's nemises, the K'immie Xavier St. Cloud. Horton would pay mercenaries to gun an immie down with automatic assault weapons, and then St. Cloud would behead him (the immie, not Horton). MacLeod managed to kill St. Cloud, but Horton faked his own death again and escaped.
Horton appeared one final time for a personal sting operation against Duncan. He had a convict (played briefly by Adrian Paul's real-life wife, Meilani Paul) surgically altered to resemble that of Tessa Noel, Duncan's fíance. The plan almost worked, but Duncan managed to escape the danger and kill, once and for all, James Horton.
A. Yes and no. Usually, any scars an Immortal has are from his or her first life, before he or she became immortal. After that, any physical damage they experience heals without a trace. The one exception appears to be a severe cut along the neck. Both the Kurgan in the first movie and Kalas in the third season developed neck scars and deep, raspy voices after being cut on the neck. Duncan had his throat cut in the episode "Courage," but since the wound was not apparently very deep, it healed.
A. Immortals can have tattoos. Whether or not they fade after time is uncertain, but it seems likely that if the skin is removed, the tattoo will not reappear on the new flesh.
Q. If an immie loses an arm, will it grow back?
A. No. Xavier St. Cloud lost his hand in 1992, and when he appeared a year later with James Horton, he had a prosthetic hook. Some people think that severed limbs can reattach themselves to an immie if the limb is held in position long enough, but this is unsubstantiated.
Q. Can Immortals grow long hair and fingernails? How about facial hair?
A. Yes, Immortals can grow their hair and fingernails, and in the flashbacks, many immies sport hairstyles and beards that fit with the timeperiod. Immies are not limited to looking just like they did at the moment they died.
Q. How many wives and children has Duncan had over the years?
A. Duncan has never married, and no Immortal can ever bear children, not even before their first death.
Q. Does an immie have to die to heal?
A. No. Any wound an Immortal suffers will heal itself, whether it's a mortal wound or not.
Q. If an Immortal gets his head cut off by something other than another Immortal (i.e. a guillotine, an airplane propeller, being tied to a slowly advancing sawmill conveyor belt), what happens?
A. Usually, the Quickening will go to the nearest Immortal. Duncan has taken the Quickenings of two immies who died by other means while fighting him. Carlo Sendaro was beheaded between a subway train and its rail in "Saving Grace" and Alexi Voshin met his end by a boat propeller in "The Sea Witch." Richie absorbed the Quickening after Mikey's suicide-via-locomotive in "The Innocent." If no Immortal is around, the Quickening is lost.
A. It's the strength, knowledge, and power of an Immortal. If an immie is beheaded, there is a big lightshow with fireworks, lightening bolts, and sometimes a strange white fog. That's the Quickening.
Q. What's the sword that Duncan uses?
A. Ducan's usual sword is his beloved dragon-head katana. It's about as old as he is and he obtained it from his mortal teacher Hideo Koto in Japan, 1778. In the past, Duncan has used many other swords, including a Scottish claymore, a basket-hilted broadsword, and a naval cutlass. To find out more about the katana, see the third season episode, "The Samurai."
Q. What's that great song in "Homeland," the episode where Duncan goes back to Scotland?
A. The episode "Homeland" featured the Celtic folk song "Bonny Portmore." It was sung by Laura Creamer. It can also be heard in Highlander 3: The Final Dimension being sung by Loreena McKennitt. It's found on Loreena McKennitt's CD "The Visit," available wherever shiny round plastic things are sold.
Q. Where does Highlander take place?
A. Since about half of Highlander's budget comes from France, about half of the episodes are filmed (and thereby set) in Paris. The rest are filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. All of the license plates on the show are from Washington State, U.S.A. This has led to a general consensus among fans that when MacLeod is in the United States, he lives in "Seacouver," somewhere between Seattle and Vancouver.
Any indication of a specific Northwestern city has been carefully ignored by the show's producers. Even the police station's sign reads "METROPOLITAN POLICE STATION." The intention is that Highlander takes place in a generic Anytown, U.S.A.
But the license plates are still from Washington.
Q. How many rock stars have made appearances on the show?
A. Highlander likes rock stars. A lot. So far, there have been at least five guest stars who have major singing careers.
Q. What's this I hear about "Eurominutes?"
A. In the United States, each and every episode of Highlander has about four minutes cut out of it to fit in more commercials. The only people who get to see these four minutes are in Europe, or get the European satellite feed. If you want to see the extra footage, you'll have to get the videocassettes from the Highlander catalog. Call 1-800-959-1725 to have one sent to you.
Q. When did Richie become immortal?
A. "The Darkness," season two. He was shot by a mugger. Both he and Tessa were killed, but only he got back up.
Q. Did Richie know that he was immortal?
A. There were many hints in the first season that Richie was an immie. The producers originally intended to have Richie become immortal in the first episode, but later thought better of it. So far, no one has found any evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Richie knew what was in store for him.
A. Tessa Noel was Duncan's girlfriend in the first and part-of-the-second season. She was a French artist that he met in Paris. They had been going out for 12 years (!) before he proposed to her. Later that same episode, she was killed.
Q. How old is Duncan? When was he first killed? What were the circumstances?
A. Duncan was born the son of a chieftain in 1592 in the Highlands of Scotland. He was mortally wounded in battle in 1622 and immediately cast out of his village after his instantaneous resurrection. Later he found out from his father that in reality, he was a foundling infant used as a replacement for the stillborn child of the MacLeod family. Only his adoptive father knew the truth.
Q. Why aren't there any children immies, or physically old immies?
A. There have been at least two child Immortals. Duncan met one briefly during the Civil War, just before another immie took his head. The second, Kenny, is evil, evil, evil. His gimmick is to have an immie take him in and protect him, and then cut their head off when they least suspect it. Kenny is approximately 800 years old, living in a 12-year-old's body. Wouldn't that be rough?
Old immies and child immies are rare because of statistics, the Bell curve, and the law of averages. Most immies fit in the middle of the curve, because they are 20-40 years old. The higher or lower you go age-wise, the less likely you are to have an immortal that age. How hard would it be to cut the head off of a six-year-old who can't even pick up a sword, much less use one? About as hard as it would be to behead a ninety-year-old man whose bones are so brittle that he needs a walker to stand up. Remember, there are only three Rules in the Game, fairness is obsolete, and "niceness" won't win you any points. It's survival of the fittest.
Q. If there can be only one, and the Gathering is at hand, why are there so many new Immortals being made?
A. Gathering? What Gathering? I didn't hear anything about a Gathering....
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