thefourthvine | Any Highlander fans out there? I have some questions.

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

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?
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?
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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

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.

I M smART enough to kNOw you're making me feel STUpid? (http://community.livejournal.com/debate/4119446.html?replyto=177390742)

Any Highlander fans out there? I have some questions.

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