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

[azarias.livejournal.com]

(Also, I notice that a lot of people seem to be capitalizing "Immortal." Is that canonical, or fannish convention, or just, you know, because?)

I ... think it's canon? Pretty sure the tie-in novels capitalize it, and characters on the t.v. series always seem to say it with Portentousness of Great Capitalization. If it's not canon, then it's fannish convention I never questioned. Dou have Immortals a.k.a. Immies, pre-Immies who haven't met their first death yet, and Kimmies/K-Immies/K'Immies, immortal villains of the week whose names seem to use more than their fair shares of the K supply.

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

Yep. Most of them seem to think it pretty much sucks every time. There's a conversation a newbie Immortal has with Our Hero, who is trying with rapidly failing patience to explain the facts of semi-eternal life to her:

n00b: You mean I can drink all of this and not die? *hugs Our Hero's liquor cabinet*
Our Hero: Not permanently, but you'll wish you could.

Oh, and that's a note of interest: alcohol, opiates, potent poisons, and other entertaining chemicals affect Immortals, though not necessarily in the way they affect the rest of us, and, of course, any resultant fatalities just piss them off more when they wake up.

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.

Well, in our world, no, but in Highlander-verse, human necks and warm butter seem to share a consistency. Quite often, when an Immortal has clearly been bested, i.e. disarmed and forced to his knees, he'll just give up and kneel their passively while Our Hero gets the last word in and delivers the coup de swish.

Some bad baddies like to use ambushes, projectiles, or other cheats to disable their opponents before going for the kill. Non-baddies -- and some villains -- consider this a violation of the cardinal rules of the Game, but, uh, who's gonna tattle when it happens?

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Well, in our world, no, but in Highlander-verse, human necks and warm butter seem to share a consistency. Quite often, when an Immortal has clearly been bested, i.e. disarmed and forced to his knees, he'll just give up and kneel their passively while Our Hero gets the last word in and delivers the coup de swish.

It's not that it's passive. If you watch closely, you'll see that Duncan has struck the backs of their knees with his katana, severing the tendons and crippling them. They can't do any thing but be killed at that point.