Any Highlander fans out there? I have some questions.

[thefourthvine]

Do you know HL? I need some help from people who have seen Highlander canon. Here's what I'd like to know:

1. What are all the ways to permanently kill an immortal? I know cutting off heads, but is there anything else? And is it different the first time they die? And does it matter if the whole head doesn't come off - like, can they come back if the neck is only mostly severed?
   
   
2. What happens the first time they (don't) die? I mean, they think they're mortal for a period of time, right? And then they die, except they don't, and they say, "Whoa, dude. I must be immortal, because that sure as shit should've killed me." (Although I think most people would assume the injury or whatever just hadn't been as bad as they thought, so - do some of them have to die a lot before they figure it out?) But I'm a little foggy on the whole deal, frankly. Do they have to be buried and then rise again, like vampires? Or is it more of an instantaneous thing?
   
   
3. What happens if you shoot an immortal (who has already done the first not-death, if that matters) in a way that would kill a human but won't kill him? (Like, gaping chest wound, something like that.) I'm pretty sure he has at least a period of, shall we say, limited activity, but how long is he down for? And exactly how limited is his activity? And what happens - like, do the wounds visibly close over and heal, or does he just suddenly sit up all better, or what?

As much detail as you've got, that's how much I'd like.

And if you know any sources for getting this kind of information without bugging my friends list - like, a Highlander encyclopedia or whatever - I would love to know about it.

Comments

[umbo.livejournal.com]

It's been a while since I've seen the canon, but I'm pretty sure cutting their heads off is the only way to permanently kill them. Anything else that would kill a normal person will kill them, but it's only temporary--they come back to life. How long that takes depends on the way they were killed and, of course, the needs of the script. Same thing with the first time they die--they die, and then they come back to life. The age they die the first time is the age they remain, so if they're killed the first time as a kid, they stay a kid, and if they die late, they're older. Oh, and I think they have to die a violent death the first time to come back as an immortal.

[thornsilver]

I think they have to die a violent death the first time to come back as an immortal

Not really. Just an untimely one. Amanda dies from the plague the first time around, if I recall correctly.

[thornsilver]

The first time an immortal dies (and any other time after that, when a mortal wound is given) they spend a little time sort of "dead", while they are healing, and then start up again.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

So, like, they have some down time. And then they just start like a new battery has been swapped in. Okay, good to know. Thank you!

[cereta.livejournal.com]

I'm sure others will answer more completely, but here goes:

1. Pretty much the head thing is it. I would imagine that in the future, total disintegration would do it, but right now, head is it. I think one was even burned at the stake and came back. Don't know how severed the head has to be - however, based on one arc, a wound to the throat will not heal as completely as other wounds. Oh, and they can't regrow limbs.

2 & 3. Don't have to be buried, no. How long it takes is a bit inconsistent, as it how long it takes for them to come back from a "death" after they become immortal. It might depend on the severity of the wound(s). There've been times when the new or not-new immortal has made it all the way to the morgue before waking up, and times when it happened in minutes. They do, actually, even after becoming immortal, seem to "die" from serious wounds. It just doesn't take, as it were.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I would imagine that in the future, total disintegration would do it, but right now, head is it.

I had wondered about that - like, presumably if the head is destroyed, into component atoms, that counts as severing. But merely having it crushed probably wouldn't kill them?

Oh, and they can't regrow limbs.

I totally did not know that. Oooops. But, hey, it's fixable.

They do, actually, even after becoming immortal, seem to "die" from serious wounds. It just doesn't take, as it were.

I bet the "I'm getting better! I think I'll go for a walk. I feel happy!" joke has been done to death in that fandom.

[azarias.livejournal.com]

1. Beheading's pretty much it. Probably vaporizing or incinerating or engineering a nasty transporter beam accident would do it, but beheading's all we get in canon. Canon suggests that the spinal column and cord have to be severed at the neck for it to stick. Lesser neck-wounds won't kill, but can permanently disfigure. There are a few villains who have permanently damaged vocal cords or scarred throats from having their throats cut but the spine left intact.

2. I think this one's been debated in fandom for a long time, but to be honest, I was never really in fandom for this one. The pre-Immortal seems to have to "die" violently for Immortality to kick in. Going peacefully in your sleep won't do it. Being hit by a bus will. There's a suggestion in canon that pre-Immortals who have lived too long without dying will feel their biological clocks implode and kill themselves violently, but we never see it happen -- some characters aren't surprised by the suggestion it could happen, however. They don't have to be buried or share blood or any mystical whatsits, but traditionally there are embarrassing incidents in hospital meatlockers.

3. He appears, in all important senses, to be "dead" for as long as the plot requires. This can range from about fifteen seconds (the time it takes a hysterical lover who has just seen a point proven to stop sputtering and get on the phone to EMS) to several hours (the time it takes for the designated hero to do his thing). When the plot allows for his revival, cool crawly lightning things flicker over the wound and the Immortal wakes up gasping and feeling like ass. Ass that's been dead for a bit.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Probably vaporizing or incinerating or engineering a nasty transporter beam accident would do it, but beheading's all we get in canon.

I had wondered about that, as I was saying to cereta. And now I'm thinking - I bet there's a lot of HL crossover FF that answers questions like, "What happens if an immortal is hit three times by a Jaffa staff weapon?"

The pre-Immortal seems to have to "die" violently for Immortality to kick in. Going peacefully in your sleep won't do it. Being hit by a bus will.

Ah-ha! This is precisely what I needed to know, and it works nicely. (Also, I notice that a lot of people seem to be capitalizing "Immortal." Is that canonical, or fannish convention, or just, you know, because?)

He appears, in all important senses, to be "dead" for as long as the plot requires.

How very handy. I bet that frustrated the hell out of the fans - "But there's no logic to it!" - but it's very useful for me. *pleased*

When the plot allows for his revival, cool crawly lightning things flicker over the wound and the Immortal wakes up gasping and feeling like ass. Ass that's been dead for a bit.

Again, this is key. So I'm guessing immortals try to avoid dying, even in a non-fatal way, when they can.

And, hmmm. Seems like the non-fatal kinds of kills would be very useful to do to your immortal opponents in a duel; that way, they're down for the count while you lop off the head. Cutting a head clean off is not easy, even with a very good sword.

[cold-poet.livejournal.com]

According to canon the only way to permanantly kill an immortal is to cut off their head. There is one bad guy whose throat got slit badly but not enough to decapitate him, he was left with a scar and it fucked up his voice (he used to be a singer)

Immortals do not know they are mortal until after their first death. The first death seems to take longer to recover from. But yeah, they pretty much just pop back up - unless, like, they have been stabbed in the heart and the knife gets left in the wound, they don't recover until the knife is removed and the body heals itself.

Non fatal wounds heal almost instantly, and it's visible - little blue lightening-looking arcs of light sizzle over the wound and close it.

Do you need more specifics than that? Anything else? (HL was my first fandom ever, I can tell you pretty much whatever you need. *G*)

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

There is one bad guy whose throat got slit badly but not enough to decapitate him, he was left with a scar and it fucked up his voice (he used to be a singer)

Great. And he had to live with it forever. I bet that made him grouchy.

But yeah, they pretty much just pop back up

Probably causing heart attacks in everyone around them who doesn't know about this neat trick. Yeesh.

Do you need more specifics than that?

Not right now - y'all have been incredibly helpful. (If you want to know things, ask a fan - that is my motto.) But since you offered - if I end up with more questions later, may I email you with them? That way I could just spam you, instead of my whole friends list! (Yes, I know, not such a hot deal for you. But I will be grateful and stuff, if that helps any.)

[deconcentrate.livejournal.com]

1. Cutting their head off is the only way to ensure an immortal is dead. It's the only permanent method.

2. They live normal lives, just like you and me, till suddenly something comes along and BAM dead. Like, say, being run over by a train. problem is, they're frozen at whatever age they're at when they die the first time, which raises troubling issues with the few children who become immortals. It's also one hell of a mindjob. It also gives them a "sixth sense" that allows them to notice when other immortals are nearby, which is a double-edged sword - it lets them know to hightail it out of there if they get too close, but it also means the other immortal can sense them, too!

3. There's like maybe a period of thirty seconds for any recovery time from anything other than decapitation, I think. Basically, enough time to shoot them and make a break for it, but not enough time to hail a cab and get far enough away to really get some headway. And yes, the wounds visibly heal, although the series has never been too clear on where the bullets go when they recover from being shot.

Used to be a big HL-series nut when I was a kid.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

They live normal lives, just like you and me, till suddenly something comes along and BAM dead.

And now, thanks to recent experiences (http://thefourthvine.livejournal.com/71955.html), I am picturing immortals saying, "1, 2, 3, BAM! Dead! Whoops, no, fooled you - totally not dead!"

It also gives them a "sixth sense" that allows them to notice when other immortals are nearby, which is a double-edged sword - it lets them know to hightail it out of there if they get too close, but it also means the other immortal can sense them, too!

Well, now I'm confused. I mean, this isn't something I need to know for my nefarious purposes, but - okay. Isn't it true that when Duncan first met Methos, he was pretending not to be immortal? And Duncan didn't know right away? Shouldn't he have known, if he had the immortal-sensing thing going for him?

Used to be a big HL-series nut when I was a kid.

The closest I came was endlessly renting the HL movie with my sister. And, sadly, it turned out (when I re-watched the movie as an adult) that I totally did not understand it.

[aderam.livejournal.com]

I'm just going to nodd encouragingly at what they said, since I don't think you need it repeated again. However I will point you at a site I know of with good Higlander Reviews. It's not really set up for easy brousing for facts about the show, but they do have some really detailed episode reviews for (I think) all of the episodes in the series. I hope it's useful.

http://members.tripod.com/~theheasleys/reviews.html

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! That will be helpful.

*clicks*

*bookmarks*

[destina.livejournal.com]

Aw, Highlander. One of my first fandoms, lo, these many years ago. Everybody else has covered the answers to your questions, pretty much. I just wanted to wallow in the nostalgia for a moment. *g*

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

*grins*

Feel free to wallow. My comments section is totally open for all wallowing-related activities!

(And did I know you were a HL fan and forget, or did I somehow miss that? Either way, I am learning many things about people tonight.)

[springwoof.livejournal.com]

Hi! ::waves::
there are more knowledgeable HL fans than me, (and movie HL canon is somewhat different than tv HL canon--I'm basing my answers on the tv show) but this is what I understand:

1.cutting off heads is it. If the immortal's Quickening goes to another immortal, then the first immortal is definitely gone. (in canon, immortals *have* survived serious wounds to the throat/neck area, but with longlasting scars--immortals usually heal w/out scars.)

2. most people would assume the injury or whatever just hadn't been as bad as they thought, so - do some of them have to die a lot before they figure it out?
That's exactly what happens. Eventually, another immortal finds them and (usually) either becomes their teacher or finds them a teacher. Sometimes, a bad immortal who preys on baby immortals finds them first and kills them permanently by cutting off their head and taking their quickening.

3. If an immortal is shot in a way that would kill a mortal, he'll go down and appear to be dead. For how long depends on how serious the "killing blow" was. When the wounds heal themselves, the immortal will suddenly "wake up"--in the tv show, usually with a dramatic gasp. The immortal is vulnerable while "temporarily dead," in that another immortal can come along and cut off his head while he's helpless. (this is one area where tv and movie canon differ. I think in the movies, the immortal just keeps on walking around and heals pretty much instantaneously. I'm not sure though, since I haven't watched the movies as often as the tv show.)

hope that helps...

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *waves back*

and movie HL canon is somewhat different than tv HL canon--I'm basing my answers on the tv show

This is good. I'm looking for TV canon - I have, technically, seen the movie, although my memory of it is not just shaky but downright wrong.

That's exactly what happens. Eventually, another immortal finds them and (usually) either becomes their teacher or finds them a teacher.

And teaches them, like, sword fighting and stuff? But isn't that sort of counter-productive, since eventually they'll have to kill each other? (I've always wondered why the first immortal didn't end up being the one - Highlander is where "there can be only one" comes from, isn't it? - just by dint of methodically hunting down all the others before they got good at sword fighting.)

The immortal is vulnerable while "temporarily dead," in that another immortal can come along and cut off his head while he's helpless.

Ah-ha! I asked someone about that up above. Question answered!

hope that helps...

Yup! Thank you.

[blade-girl.livejournal.com]

I haven't read through every comment here, so I'm probably being redundant.

As has already been stated several times, beheading is the only way to permanently kill immortals as far as canon has stated. In the series, we've seen immortals "killed" by car bombs but revived afterward. (Which doesn't make a lot of sense, but the main rule in the HL franchise is that the "rules" of immortality change according to the needs of the plot. Thus, the same immortal at about the same chronological age can die and revive almost instantly in one episode and then stay dead long enough to have a funeral and be buried in another.)

Of course, in the original HL movie, immortals didn't actually die for any period. They just survived stuff that would kill normal people rather than appearing dead and then coming back to life. In the series universe, however - which seems to be the most common universe for fanfic - they do indeed die and revive.

And consistent with the motto "the needs of the plot outweigh the needs of logic," sometimes they revive completely healed and intact, and sometimes they are weakened for a period of time, during which we presume some of the more catastrophic injuries are still being repaired. My personal preference is to believe that the worse the injuries, the longer it takes you to revive, but that your age and number of heads taken also factor in. I also like to see the healing process like this: the revival takes place as soon as the injuries have healed to the point where the damage is no longer severe enough to be fatal. Then the remainder of the injuries go on healing after the immortal comes back to life.

But this, like any other such fan theory, can be found to be contradicted in at least one episode of canon. So, if you're writing a fic, you can find justification somewhere in canon for almost any interpretation of death and revival.

[starwatcher]

.
Whee! My first fandom; ask what you will. Everyone else has answered the basics, so here's a few odds and ends --

1. Yes, Immortal is usually capitalized, depending on usage. "Yes, he's an Immortal," or "Yes, she's Immortal" (the 'an' may or may not be used), but "Do you seriously expect me to believe that he's immortal?"

2. It is hinted that Immortals aren't strictly human. There are no recorded incidences of an Immortal woman giving birth -and- no one knows where Immortals come from; they are always found as foundling babes.

3. Check out highlander_lj; I'm sure they can point you to sources. And here's a FAQ I found about some HL stuff. Scroll down for synopses of most of the episodes.

4. What I haven't seen mentioned is that, when one Immortal cuts off another's head, he receives the other Immortal's "quickening" -- a frequently violent surge of life-force flowing from the dead to the living. It can be lightning-like, and explosive enough to blow out lights (streetlamps, auto headlights, etc) and break glass in the area.

5. Therefore, there are some Immortals who make a habit of hunting and killing other Immortals; they believe that more quickenings makes them more powerful. Also, the belief is that "there can be only one" -- their fate is to fight each other until only one remains, and he/she will receive some unknown, mystic "prize".

6. Receiving a quickening appears to be painful, and the Immortal is frequently temporarily weakened afterward. BUT fanon holds that, when recovered from that temporary weakness, the Immortal becomes unbelievably aroused, almost to the point of no control. There are quite a few fics floating around of post-quickening sex.

And here's Seventh Dimension, the main HL fiction archive, with links to other, author archives.

Have fun.
.

[starwatcher]

.
Oh! Another one!

7. No beheadings on consecrated ground, ever. Any religion, it doesn't matter. No Immortal knows what will happen, but they all believe it will be bad. (The legend is that Pompeii exploded because one Immortal killed another on Holy Ground.) Thus, if an Immortal can reach Holy Ground, the fight is over until he leaves the premises.
.

[melannen.livejournal.com]

1. Beyond what's already been said, there was a canon incident in which an Immortal committed suicide by putting his neck on a train track when there was a train coming, (I have no idea where the line between "crushed" and "cut" is, however, when you're run over by the wheel of a locomotive.) The main sticking point in show canon for this questions is the episode where a character blows himself up repeatedly (like, with a belt packed with C4 blows himself up) and this is treated as light comic relief rather than any sort of risk at all. Spine-severing definitely isn't enough to do it, though, because they get lynched with depressing regularity.

I don't know what would happen if a Pre-Immortal got their head cut off. I've never seen that question addressed.

2. Also, First Death varies - some young Immortals end up declared dead and in a morgue, others wake pretty fast and just think they passed out a little and don't realize what happened until maniacs start coming after them with swords or they find an Immortal Teacher. There was one Immortal who 'died' in a car crash, eventually figured out that he could no longer be injured, and started putting on daredevil shows until MacLeod found him and set him straight. It also seems fairly common for Immortals to recognize Pre-Immortals before they die and then keep an eye out for them. Or kill them and then take the new Quickening, whichever. There does seem to be some sort of unstated taboo against telling people that they'll become Immortal, though, even if they already know about Immortals.)

3. Yes, you have it right in the show: they stay 'dead' for exactly as long the plot requires, which can not be predicted by any form of human logic, although the Immortals themselves sometimes seem to be able to call it pretty exactly when necessary for plot reasons. If they're stuck in a fatal environment or situation, like mummification or a knife through the heart, they stay 'dead' until they get rescued. However, this is *completely* contradicted by movie canon, in which Connor just keeps going no matter what you throw at him.

Basically the questions you've asked here are the equivalent of asking a Stargate fan why everyone speaks English, except when they don't; or trying to get someone to explain the aliens on XF. You just *accept* it, don't ask questions. :D There *are* some fairly good HL compendia online, although they tend to be rather tunnel-visioned - there's one site that goes into gory detail on all the quickenings, there's a timeline somewhere, there's a bunch of one-character sites that have a *lot* of material - I could hunt up the links, but honestly? Wikipedia is one of the better online sources on HL canon, unless they've cleared it out lately.

There was also a Watcher Files CD put out by the offical creators that had a lot of encyclopedia-type stuff, but I've never actually seen one. (I solved it by going to a slash con and snagging a complete set of lovingly-taped VHS off the swap table, only now I have to *watch the episodes* if I want to find something. Which is fun, because the show's very visually striking even for a text-based person, but it uses time I could be using reading fic. :(

Other questions that came up in the comments (to answer all at once): We have St. Cloud as evidence that immortals don't regrow limbs, yet fanon seems to have decided that they do anyway, only ver-y slowl-y. (I'm not sure if there's actual contradictory evidence on the show - I seem to remember that there was, but I haven't seen every episode yet, and it's been awhile.)

Most of the SG/HL crossovers I've read get too distracted by the uncanny similarity of Quickening to Ascension that they don't address staff weapons. But there was that one really good ST/HL cross with the threesome and Mulder and Scully, that had phasers and disruptors being a major problem. (Please tell me that this is why you're asking. Have I mentioned yet how delighted I am to see you getting sucked into HL?)

And I'm pretty sure capital Immortal is canon, even if I only bother with it about half the time. They even capitalize it when they *say* it on the show - you can definitely hear the capital letter in the opening sequence, I swear.

[cold-poet.livejournal.com]

They even capitalize it when they *say* it on the show - you can definitely hear the capital letter in the opening sequence, I swear.

*snort* Just hijacking comments to say dude, totally. I always loved that.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_la_la_la/]

Kind of related to the issue of an Immortal dying: the Quickening. It's the lightning effect/ power that heals the Immortal of his/her injuries, and has aspects of being like a "soul." When an Immortal is killed (either in a challenge with another Immortal, or if he's decapitated by a mortal, or an accident), there's a lightning-storm effect where the Quickening is transferred to the other Immortal present (usually the victor in the duel, but in a couple instances, the Immortal was just present when the other one died).
In Highlander: Endgame (the 2000 movie), the plot revolved around an evil Immortal who was incredibly strong due to the number of Quickenings he's taken. There's the idea that the more Quickenings you've had, the stronger you are (possibly tied to the healing power).
A Quickening is also a bit mystical, in that it's like an Immortal's soul -- there's an arc in Highlander that involves Duncan taking a "Dark Quickening" and turning evil, because the person he'd taken the Quickening from was a shaman who'd accumulated too many Quickenings from evil Immortals.

But the most important point (& I'm shocked no one has brought it up yet!): it looks like the Immortal's having an orgasm while taking a Quickening. (which has of course led to a lot of fanon that taking a Quickening leaves the Immortal highly aroused - hm, not exactly sure if it's only fanon, but I can't recall any canon evidence)

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

...Great. Now I have to dig out my Highlander: The Immortal Edition DVD. It’s the only way I can lay the Spectre of Freddy Mercury. (“Who wannnnnnts to liiiiive forevahhhhhhhh? How daaaaaaaares to loooooove forevahhhhhhhh? OOOOOOOOOoooooooooOOOOOOO...”)

[stillane.livejournal.com]

I'm actually just now trying to learn all of the ins and outs of this one myself. From what I can tell, these seem to be helpful points to keep in mind (and anyone older and/or wiser, feel free to correct me):

1. As others have said, don't lose your head. (Which I am personally finding to be a bit of a bitch. I want long, drawn out scenes of soul-wrenching mortal terror, damn it, and the whole "head on or off" thing seems pretty inarguable. I need the Immortal equivalent of the magic vampire poison from Buffy.)

2. Someone who has seen more than I could probably tell you definitively, but the first time seems to be a little longer in terms of recovery requirements. Again, as others have said, they typically stay dead exactly as long as the plot requires them to stay dead, but there's usually some extra weight to the first bucket kicking. This translates as a little longer time spent assuming room temperature. I think.

3. Sometimes, the temporarily life challenged individual seems to wake up cranky, but otherwise whole. Other times, he spends a while limping through the healing even after he comes back online; in particular, I'm thinking of an outtake scene with Methos reviving, and then having the fatal injury tweaked by a not-so-friendly party. Basically, death works like sleep, I figure: sometimes a quick nap is enough, and sometimes anything less than a good twelve hours leaves you angrier than a nest of hornets on PCP.

Also: you mentioned above the idea of just whacking the guy you're fighting prior to... well, whacking him. This apparently is not against The Rules - which have presumably dire consequences which are never fully explained - but it is bad form. Provided you care about that sort of thing. (Which Methos evidently doesn't, given that he does exactly that at at least one point... after temporarily offing MacLeod, come to think of it. This is why I love this character.) MacLeod, however, disapproves mightily.

So, yeah. Jack Sparrow rules are in effect, mainly. Aside from having it out on holy ground, I'm pretty sure everything else is more like a guideline.

[lunardreamed.livejournal.com]

Hmm. As far as mortal terror goes, hope you don't mind me jumping in, the first canon example that comes to mind is Claudia Jardine. She chose not to learn to defend herself so that she would keep a sense of mortality. Another example is of an Immortal being hunted to exhaustion because he was famous for his skill with a sword. He couldn't handle the contant fighting for his life and became addicted to heroin. Many lack the skill to win in a fight and when someone chooses to challenge them or hunt them, they seem to be in pretty mortal terror. Of course, there is always torture while trapped in some way, while knowing that it will eventually come to a beheading.

On holy ground, I think I recall a plotline in which an Immortal set himself up as a god and would kill Immortals in his temple. Now, whether this was sanctified ground, given that he was the one worshiped there, might be debatable. I think there is an Immortal fairy-tale that Vesuvius went up when an Immortal killed on holy ground.

[lunardreamed.livejournal.com]

The sixth sense that Immortals have for each other also works on pre-Immortals. Duncan knew Richie would become an Immortal. Richie had no sense of his or others' mortality. It is unknown whether the sixth sense works on an Immortal that is temporarily dead.

The Immortal-sense doesn't tell you anything about the Immortal beyond his Immortality - though the first time Duncan felt Methos's, it was extra sound-effecty. In the first season, an Immortal named Felicia pretended to be a newbie so that Duncan would protect her (or possibly to get him to let down his guard so she could kill him - it's been a long time).

Kenny is 800 years old and became Immortal when he was about 10. Amanda took him in originally, but when he was on his own, he would trick people with his vulnerable, "what happened to me, I'm just a kid" act and then behead them when they turned their backs.

We do not know what happens to the Foundlings that are never found and die as babies. There are several speculatory stories. There was a big deal story called Seeds, that can probably be found on Seventh Dimension, that described how Immortals were born. Immortal women basically went into heat, got it on with some Immortal guy, got pregnant, and gave birth, all within 24 hours, and then abandoned their babies where they thought they would be found and forgot the whole thing.

Immortals do not get scars from their First Death, but do have them from all injuries before their First Death. Some have speculated that severe facial wounds would have the same problem as neck wounds. Though limbs do not regrow, some stories have speculated that lining up the severed limb to the body would cause the healing to jump into action and reattach the limb. It is thought this would have to happen extremely quickly, before the wound on the body sealed. Nothing in canon supports or denies this. Xavier - who lost his hand - had his hand fly off, into a river, I think, somewhere he couldn't recover it quickly.

Some theorize that Quickenings are the Immortal drug - extremely addictive. There have also been episodes where a Quickening affected an Immortal's personality. Darius was a priest who originally tried to conquer the world. When he killed a peaceful monk and took the guy's Quickening, he put up his sword and never killed again - a light Quickening. A friend of Duncan's killed so many evil people that he became evil himself and when Duncan killed him, he also became evil - a dark Quickening. This is the result of taking a Quickening that is vastly more powerful than your own, usually because the opponent has taken so many Quickenings himself and/or is very old. One story speculated that Methos's Quickening was so powerful that it would completely subsume another. That is why he is tall, white, and unscarred, rather than a Middle Eastern guy from 3000BC. It is speculated that a less powerful Quickening might have more temporary personality effect - a genial Immortal acting snappish for a few days.

Fanon says Immortals are claustrophobic because of the times they were buried and had to wait until someone dug them up or they clawed their way out themselves - usually dying of suffocation many times before they finally made it out. I believe there have been canon instances of Immortals who were buried "alive". Amusing stories have been told in canon of Immortals being forced to get across town in a morgue sheet after dying publicly. The realism of this mythos is questionable since canon seems to maintain that after even the worst death an Immortal can recover in less than 24 hours. Obviously, bodies usually don't get buried that fast (I have no idea how fast ME's get around to stripping the corpses).

There does seem to be an indication of a recovery time necessary after dying - the longest is thought to be for a newborn Immortal - age and number of heads taken seeming to make healing faster. They often lean on someone and stagger a little, clutching the wound site after rising. I imagine exhaustion is a physical result of using so much healing energy, but the pain is psychological. (I also suspect I think about this way too much - this was not only my first fandom, but the one I speculated and discussed the most).

[lunardreamed.livejournal.com]

When I started writing this, most of these things were not mentioned. By the time it was posted, they were all covered. Argh!

[grey-bard.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I just thought of another, possibly irrelevant fact about immortal healing - scars acquired while a preimmortal remain after turning into an immortal.

[emma-in-oz.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered if they revert to exactly the condition they were in before they died the first time. Like if they had a hangnail, or a bad hairdo, or PMS, do they revert to that each time they die?



Also, they must have nightmares o f being ritually prepared for death with a knife left in their hearts as this keeps them suspended in death indefinitely. There's a very bad episode where they find a mummy which, da da, contains an immortal who has been wrapped up since the late Egyptian era.

[maygra.livejournal.com]

I am laughing my ass off over here, because your questions, just remind me of what I Was like when we saw the first the movie and then the series.

"What? He was totally dead. What's that mean? Tell us oh Wise Sean O'Connery"

Also, it is apparently a mostly Immortal trait to be able to pontificate rather poetically after a violent sword fight, but before you actually to the cutting off of heads.

A lot of the "Canon" that you here is actually just derived Fanon, because while the Series was more or less consistent...sometimes, not so much.

I'm still of the mind that Soft tissue injuries can be healed but if you slice through bone or something, not so much...because they can and do cut their hair and it doesn't grow any faster than it normally would. And they can shave and such.

Your question about the staff weapon -- I'm thinking the three shot rule would have t be done quickly, because it's entirely possible that at a cellular level an Immortal's cells would heal/repair a lot more quickly so you might get a nasty surprise if you wait say ten seconds between shots.

Of couse, then I've alway wondered if you shot someone once in May then again three weeks later and then again a month later, do they disintegrate? Is like once you've been shot you have this clock ticking.

Although I would guess not since I think the SG-1 character have all been shot more than three times just over long stretches.

Also, Immortals are apparently impotent but not unable to perform...and all orphans...so you know -- born under a cabbage leaf time.

[rydra_wong]

Of couse, then I've alway wondered if you shot someone once in May then again three weeks later and then again a month later, do they disintegrate? Is like once you've been shot you have this clock ticking.

No, but there's no Stargate canon of any sort on what the time lag is for zats - how much later a second shot can be after the first for it to count as a "second shot", and not a new first shot.

Of course, there's also completely inconsistent canon on whether someone hit by a first zat shot will: a) writhe around in agony but remain conscious, b) pass out briefly, c) pass out for as long as is required by plot purposes, or d) be mildly annoyed.

Not that I'm bitter after having had to try to make sense of this for a fic.

[gelliaclodiana]

I think you have all the bases covered here, but this has been an excellent trip down memory lane!

(I do recall a lot of discussion about regeneration, because sure, St. Cloud's hand doesn't grow back, but then, these people spend hundreds of years playing with sharp objects -- most of them ought to be missing a couple fingers, at least. My handwave is that limbs do grow back, but very slowly.)

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Most of your questions have been answered, and I just had a lot of fun answering some details.

Because Highlander...well. It's sort what got me into fanfiction. See, my husband liked the really bad cartoon HL, and then we discovered the series (in its fourth season, I believe.) and he looked around Usenet (web was just starting up at that point) and found an ftl site full of HL fanfiction. Most of it was gen or het, of course. I remember one very clever one that had Al from Happy Days as an Immie - in the late sixties, he'd become a cop named Murray (from the Odd Couple.) It was cute.

There was some slash, but very little. I remember using Altavista on Lynx to find slash HL and finding three stories. Then came "Comes a Horseman" and it all exploded. :)

Anyway, it's a way fun fandom. Just remember that Methos is NOT a main character, appeared in relatively few episodes and that Joe is *much* sexier to some of us. :)

[unovis-lj.livejournal.com]

Some misinformation in the answers I've seen. Most of the things you're asking about were not addressed directly within the original TV show or were inconsistantly shown, on a plot by plot basis as the stories demanded.

As far as Highlander canon goes, you have a choice of what sources to accept (You have to make choices, since there are contradictions among these) -- the movies; the two TV series that aired; the out-takes of those series on DVDs (some interesting developments shot but not aired); the Watcher Chronicles, which came out on CD and then in expanded form on the DVDs; and the tie-in novels. The numerous commentaries and interviews on the DVDs over the past couple of years reveal the intentions and interpretations of the actors, writers, and producer, and there have been arguments over whether or not their ideas were clear onscreen. Some things I've seen in your comments branded as fanon actually came from behind the scenes or tie-in novels. The movies don't jibe with TV series canon (or each other) at all, not even the last two movies that include Duncan and Methos et al.

For 2) The violent first death requirement was only canon in Highlander: The Raven (spinoff series), where it became a major plot point for the series finale episodes (Amanda shoots pre-Immortal Nick, who is dying of disease, to make sure he becomes Immortal). Otherwise, it never came up in Highlander: The Series.
There were several shows that dealt with Immortals who didn't know what was happening when they kept reviving after death--at least three that I can think of offhand. The necessity for a teacher, for someone to show the new Immie the ropes, was discussed frequently. Recovery time in *all* cases depended on the needs of the plot. Richie revives after his first death in a matter of minutes. Others are shown taking hours to a day.

For 3) The main writer and others said that they originally wanted the loss of a limb for an Immortal to be permanent. Two characters in canon have wounds that never healed: Kalas had a scarred throat and impaired voice for at least 70 years after Duncan cut him; Xavier St Cloud had his hand cut off by Duncan and it was still gone a few years later. The issue was never discussed or made clear within the series, however. Later, some of the behind the scenes folks suggested that limbs might regenerate very slowly.

A good place to ask is highlander_lj. Wikipedia has good lists of characters and episodes, but the in-depth canon information isn't reliable. Some older sources were posted before the DVDs came out. Seventh Dimension hasn't been updated with new stories in about three years; you can find newer things on the Highlander Fiction archive (http://hlfiction.net/) or in the LJ story lists maintained by hl_flash.

[fanofall.livejournal.com]

I love that you have been sucked into Highlander, and I didn't even have to do it. YAY!!!

[casapazzo.livejournal.com]

Highlander! My first fandom! *tear* All of your questions seem to be answered here - and someone's directed you to highlander.org, which has the most complete FAQ that I know about. Couple other things - just because I saw them mentioned:

Where do Immortals come from? There was, unfortunately, a second Highlander movie, which attempted to explain Immortals as aliens from the planet Zeist. However, if you ask any HL fan about this they will start saying, "What? Hunh? I don't...I can't hear you. No, what?" while revving the nearest loud motor. The "Seeds" story which someone mentioned can be found here (http://www.galacticfed.com/mcdonald/seeds.html) at the author's website -- and I highly recommend her other stories as well.

Couple other people have mentioned this, but it's worth repeating - there is a difference between movie canon and series canon. (And only the first movie is worth watching, so please, don't hurt yourself on the others.)

As to whether Immortals can sense pre-Immortals or not, it seems to vary. Connor and Duncan picked up on Richie's pre-Immie status, but other Immortals he came into contact with didn't seem to. So handwave that away to experience, or to whether Richie's pre-Immortal Buzz was masked by Duncan's. (The FAQ will go into all this, I promise.)

Give a shout again if you have more questions - always happy to revisit the old fannish ground. :)

[alias_sqbr]

Hello, I came across this rather at random, and must admit I haven't read the comments in much depth so apologies if someone else has said it, but: I recently discovered canon_details, which is useful for these sorts of questions. (they were even happy to answer my costume-related enquiries :))