A Highlander Primer

So maybe you’ve heard of Highlander, that wacky franchise of movies and TV series that involve swordfights, bolts of lightning, and lots of 80s and 90s cheese. Maybe you’ve even seen some of the movies or the TV series and are would like to know more about how it all fits together. Well, brace yourself, because Highlander continuity is a doozy.

1) Immortals walk among us. In the Highlander universe, there are an unknown number of immortals who look exactly like normal human beings. They don’t age beyond adulthood, and they heal from any wound. The only way an immortal can die is if somebody cuts off his head.

2) Immortals can’t have children. Immortals usually wind up alone and isolated as the years go on. In the first movie, Connor MacLeod, the titular highlander, watches the love of his life grow old and die. After that, he is a lonely wreck of a man, afraid to get close to other women because he knows he’ll outlive them. Immortality is not always a blessing. More often than not in the Highlander universe, it is a cause of endless pain.

3) No fighting on holy ground. Good immortals and bad immortals fight all the time throughout the series, often with swords that represent the era they were born in. There are a number of different rules that get made and broken throughout the franchise, but the one golden rule is that immortals cannot fight on holy ground. It’s never specifically said why – reasons range from Sean Connery simply saying, “It’s tradition,” to vague suggestions of divine retribution should one immortal actually kill another on holy ground.

4) There can be only one. This is the tagline of the whole franchise. Good immortals and bad immortals face off in a fight to the death, and the winner gets the knowledge and power his opponent once possessed. All of this leads to a time called the Gathering, when all the remaining immortals will fight to the last. The last immortal will have all the knowledge and power of every immortal who ever lived – enough to rule the world forever if he wants to.

If you want to explore the Highlander franchise, the best place to start is with the first movie. Many people think the franchise should have stopped there, and it’s really the only thing that almost everybody can agree on as being good. From there, you have several options:

Highlander II: The Quickening is a terrible movie. Only watch this one if you like laughing at bad movies. This film is considered one of the worst sequels of all time.

Highlander III: The Sorcerer (aka Highlander III: The Final Dimension) is no great shakes, but not as bad as Highlander II. It rehashes the original movie and adds a sorcerer to the mix. Not great, but not painfully bad, either.

Highlander: the Animated Series is a low-quality animated show that changes a lot of the rules of the franchise to make it more kid-friendly. While most people don’t like it, it does have its fans due to some interesting new things it did with the mythology.

Highlander: the Series is a six-season TV show that generally got better as it went on. It introduces a new hero, Duncan MacLeod, and has some excellent moments to it. There are some stinker episodes, but this series is generally very well-regarded.

Highlander: the Raven is a spin-off from the series that tells the story of an immortal thief named Amanda. It was plagued with behind-the scenes strife and started off slowly, then got cancelled just when it was picking up steam.

Highlander: Endgame is the studio’s attempt to bridge the movies and the series. It has both Connor and Duncan MacLeod, but is poorly edited and has a villain who is ridiculously bad. Again, not as bad as Highlander II, but not the type of movie you should go looking for.

Highlander: the Source is a Syfy original movie. That alone should tell you how bad it is.

Highlander: the Search for Vengeance is an anime adaptation that isn’t connected to the movies or TV series. It’s very good, but definitely has that “anime” feel to it. If you like movies like Ninja Scroll and Akira, then you’ll find yourself at home here.

There are also comics and novels based on the series out there, but you’ll probably want to start off with one of the films. Good luck, and remember that there can be only one.