History Franchise / Highlander

* ''Highlander: The Raven'' (1998-1999) was a short-lived SpinOff of the TV series. Partly-inspired by the 80's hit ''{{Series/Moonlighting}}'', it co-stars Duncan's OldFlame Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen) and her ex-cop sidekick Nick Wolfe (Paul Johansson). The series suffered from low-quality scripts, lower budgets, creative differences and actors in revolt. ''Raven'' ended after one season with an unresolved cliffhanger.

* OffWithHisHead: When chopping off someone's head is the only way to kill an Immortal, you end up with a lot of these.

* RatedMForManly: Dudes running around lopping each other's heads off with swords and hooking up with beautiful women throughout all of human history. The introduction of female Immortals doesn't significantly curb this.

The above paragraphs contain the agreed-upon facts. Beyond that, [[ContinuitySnarl things get a bit fuzzy]]. Calling it "a canon" is being charitable. More accurate would be "an assortment of films, sequels, spin-offs, and remakes, all with only one connecting concept and made with very little regard for continuity." But hey, [[CashCowFranchise who's counting]]?

* ''Highlander: The Raven'' (1998-1999) was a short-lived SpinOff of the TV series. Partly-inspired by the 80's hit ''{{Series/Moonlighting}}''. it co-stars Duncan's OldFlame Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen) and her ex-cop sidekick Nick Wolfe (Paul Johansson). The series suffered from low-quality scripts, lower budgets, creative differences and actors in revolt. ''Raven'' ended after one season with an unresolved cliffhanger.

* ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening'' (1991) flash forward to the year 2024. The now-elderly Connor is a wealthy man, having parlayed The Prize into building a planetary force field to repair the [[GlobalWarming ozone layer]]. CEO David Blake (John C. Micginley) has wrestled away control of the company and is in cahoots with another Immortal, General Katana (Creator/MichaelIronside), who reveals Connor's [[RecycledInSpace interplanetary origins]].\\\

* ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening'' (1991) flash forward to the year 2024. The now-elderly Connor is a wealthy man, having parlayed The Prize (the ability to read the minds of all the world's mortals at once) into building a planetary force field to repair the [[GlobalWarming ozone layer]] CEO David Blake (John C. Micginley) has wrestled away control of the company and is in cahoots with another Immortal, General Katana (Creator/MichaelIronside), who reveals Connor's [[RecycledInSpace interplanetary origins]].\\\

* It all started with a single film: ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' (1986) introduces Connor [=MacLeod=] (Creator/ChristopherLambert), an Immortal born in the Scottish Highlands. In a series of flashbacks, Connor is mentored by Juan Ramírez (Creator/SeanConnery), a wise Immortal who teaches him the basics before being beheaded by an old foe of the [=MacLeods=], a barbarian known only as the Kurgan (Creator/ClancyBrown). The film's other half takes place in [[TheEighties Eighties]]-era [[BigApplesauce New York City]], where all the world's Immortals, whose numbers are now growing thin, are drawn together to battle to the last man in a reunion known as "The Gathering". By the end of the film, Connor and "Victor" Kurgan are the only Immortals left. Connor beheads him, saves the girl (Roxanne Hart), and gains The Prize: enlightenment and mortality.
* ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening'' (1991) borrows liberally from 80's sci-fi movies such as ''Film/BladeRunner'', ''{{Film/Dune}}'' and ''[[Film/Robocop1987 Robocop]]''. Flashing-forward to the year 2024, the now-elderly Connor is a wealthy man, having parlayed The Prize (the ability to read the minds of all the world's mortals at once) into building a planetary force field to repair the [[GlobalWarming ozone layer]]; the downside is that CEO David Blake (John C. Micginley) has wrestled away control of the company and is in cahoots with another evil Immortal, General Katana (Creator/MichaelIronside). Although it enjoyed a much-higher budget, the lapses in logic and continuity kept compounding on each other throughout the movie: the Immortals are revealed to be [[HumanAliens space aliens]] from the planet "Zeist", Connor [[ResetButton regains his youth and immortality]], Ramírez is {{Hand Wave}}d back to life, Katana wants them both dead despite personally sentencing them to Earth in the first place, and more. It was panned by critics, spurned by fans and rode high on "Worst Movies Ever" lists for a long time. The film was also plagued with creative and budgetary problems, which resulted in a private entity taking over post-production and finishing it on the cheap. Several years after the theatrical screening, the director re-edited the film into ''The Renegade Cut'' for release on home video -- ''twice''. The edits had all references to Zeist removed. The troubled history of the film's production is explained in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMcXvG_DoiY this mini-documentary.]]
* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' (1992-1998) -- Popularly referred to as ''Highlander: The Series'', it follows the life of Duncan [=MacLeod=] (Creator/AdrianPaul), another Immortal and kinsman of Connor [=MacLeod=]. It coined the term "The Game", which refers to the Immortals' ongoing battle. According to the TV continuity, the original film is canon apart from Connor winning The Prize; The Game is still ongoing. Later seasons go further and suggest that it [[ForeverWar will never really 'end']] due to millions harboring the "potential" to become Immortal in the event of sudden and traumatic death. The series also introduces the Watchers, a [[TeamSwitzerland neutral group]] who have observed and chronicled Immortal activities throughout history; one of their agents is Joe Dawson (Jim Byrnes), an OlderSidekick who bends the rules from time-to-time to keep Duncan alive. The other major recurring character is Methos (Peter Wingfield), the oldest Immortal on record, whose [[ImmortalImmaturity aloof personality]] masks a [[MrExposition wealth of knowledge]]. For the most part it was well-received and internally consistent.
* ''Film/HighlanderIIITheSorcerer'' (1994) -- Alternatively titled ''Highlander: The Final Dimension''. It ignores the second film and the TV series, making it a direct sequel to the original film. It turns out that The Kurgan was ''not'' the only savage Immortal out to claim Connor's head, as Kane (Mario Van Peebles) and two {{Mooks}} were trapped in a cave for 400 years and thus didn't quite make it to The Gathering. Kane and company were considered by whatever governs Immortals to be "dead" as they were trapped [[RocksFallEverybodyDies in a cave under a rock slide with no air,]] allowing them to be resurrected as if the universe were saving them for a sequel. Despite following an identical formula to the first film, ''Highlander 3'' was better-received than ''The Quickening''.[[/index]]
* ''Highlander: The Raven'' (1998-1999) was a short-lived SpinOff of the TV series partly-inspired by the 80's hit ''{{Series/Moonlighting}}''. It centered on Duncan's [[OldFlame sometimes-love interest]] Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen) and her ex-cop sidekick Nick Wolfe (Paul Johansson). The series suffered from low-quality writing, even-lower budgets, creative differences and hostile actors. Gracen was in self-exile from the U.S. after being linked with [[UsefulNotes/BillClinton the Monica Lewinsky scandal]] in '98, and only agreed to participate in the show because it was shot in Paris. Johansson was constantly at loggerheads with the writers over the show's quality and his own [[OutOfFocus diminishing role]] in it. ''Raven'' ended after one season with an unresolved cliffhanger.
* ''Film/HighlanderEndgame'' (2000), the fourth film to be made, followed up with the TV series and attempted to incorporate Duncan's story into Connor's (although it ended up contradicting both). Duncan and Connor are targeted by Jacob Kell (Bruce Payne), a [[SinisterMinister religious zealot]]-turned-Immortal with a deep-seated grudge against Connor. The gimmick of the film is that Kell doesn't play by "The Rules" and can kill other Immortals wherever and however he pleases, but the reasons for his exemption are unclear. (The eruption of Mount Vesuvius was previously hinted to have been caused by two Immortals breaking The Rules.) ''Endgame''[='=]s poor editing left fans confounded and casual viewers completely adrift. Like ''The Quickening'', ''Endgame'' saw an extended cut which gives it at least some semblance of order.
* ''Film/HighlanderTheSource'' (2007), released as a [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci-Fi Channel]] [[Film/SyfyOriginalMovie Original Movie]], marks (probably) the final appearance of Duncan [=MacLeod=] and the rest of his gang. Following an [[AfterTheEnd apocalyptic event]], the dissolution of the Watchers, and a lot of other, more-interesting stuff not explored in this movie, Duncan, Methos, Joe, and the few remaining Immortals on Earth embark on a search for the fabled "Source" of their immortality. Standing in their way is an [[AlbinosAreFreaks albino]] Immortal (Cristian Solimeno) who tried to obtain the Source long ago; as punishment, he was cursed to become its "Guardian." In the end, Duncan wins what may be the lamest interpretation of The Prize yet: [[BabiesEverAfter he gets to be a daddy]], which means that The Game was a gigantic, cosmic case of penis envy. Word of God stated that it was AllJustADream.
* ''Reunion'' -- As it turned out, Wingfield wasn't burned out on playing Methos just yet. In 2008, he released a ShortFilm starring himself, Jim Byrnes and Elizabeth Gracen. It depicts the characters 10 years after the series finale. Wingfield shot the film in his house (and it shows), but as far as send-offs go, it still beats ''The Raven'' and ''The Source''.

[[AC:ComicBooks published by Creator/DarkHorseComics]]

A [[LongRunner long-running]] {{Historical|Fantasy}} and UrbanFantasy [[SeriesFranchise franchise]] created by Gregory Widen (who wrote the original screenplay for the [[Film/{{Highlander}} original movie]] during his college days), about a rare collection of beings known as The Immortals. They can live forever, but with a catch: When one Immortal [[OffWithHisHead takes the head]] of another, the winner [[VictorGainsLosersPowers gets the loser's power]], while the beheaded Immortal is dead for good. This power exchange manifests as an explosion of energy called The Quickening, in which [[MadeOfExplodium everything within 50 yards blows up]]. They can only spar with each other [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen one-on-one]], and never on {{holy ground}}.

* ''Film/HighlanderTheSource'' (2007), released as a [[Creator/{{SyFy}} Sci-Fi Channel]] [[Film/SyfyOriginalMovie Original Movie]], marks (probably) the final appearance of Duncan [=MacLeod=] and the rest of his gang. Following an [[AfterTheEnd apocalyptic event]], the dissolution of the Watchers, and a lot of other, more-interesting stuff not explored in this movie, Duncan, Methos, Joe, and the few remaining Immortals on Earth embark on a search for the fabled "Source" of their immortality. Standing in their way is an [[AlbinosAreFreaks albino]] Immortal (Cristian Solimeno) who tried to obtain the Source long ago; as punishment, he was cursed to become its "Guardian." In the end, Duncan wins what may be the lamest interpretation of The Prize yet: [[BabiesEverAfter he gets to be a daddy]], which means that The Game was a gigantic, cosmic case of penis envy. Word of God stated that it was AllJustADream.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

* They also announced a videogame for the 360 / [=PS3=] generation, and after numerous release pushbacks, it was set to be released but was cancelled in late 2010.

->''"In the end, there can be only one."''

A [[LongRunner long-running]] {{Historical|Fantasy}} and UrbanFantasy [[SeriesFranchise franchise]] about a rare collection of beings known as The Immortals. They can live forever, but with a catch: When one Immortal [[OffWithHisHead takes the head]] of another, the winner [[VictorGainsLosersPowers gets the loser's power]], while the beheaded Immortal is dead for good. This power exchange manifests as an explosion of energy called The Quickening, in which [[MadeOfExplodium everything within 50 yards blows up]]. They can only spar with each other [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen one-on-one]], and never on {{holy ground}}.

* MasterSwordsman: FridgeLogic would imply that ''any'' Immortal who lives long enough would eventually have to become one, but the [=MacLeods=], Ramirez, and Graham Hash (Ramirez's teacher) are explicitly referred to as such.

* ''Highlander Origins: The Kurgan''

* ''Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods'' (1995)

* ''Anime/HighlanderTheSearchForVengeance'' (2007) is an {{Anime}} unrelated to any of the films or other adaptations. It starts in AD 125, somewhere in UsefulNotes/RomanBritain. A small village is wiped out by Roman troops led by Immortal Marcus Octavius. He is a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist who thinks an Empire is [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans necessary to build a utopian society]]. This battle leads to the rise of another Immortal, Colin [=MacLeod=]. He is mentored by Amergan, the ghost of a druid. Colin devotes his life to seeking vengeance by killing Octavius. The film follows them in brief scenes taking place during a period of two millennia. The film was a critical hit and is thought to have a far more complex plot than most of the live-action sequels.
* They also announced a videogame for the 360 / [=PS3=] generation, and after numerous release pushbacks, it was set to be released but was cancelled in late 2010.[[/index]]

* ''Highlander: The Duel'' (2018)

[AC:TabletopGames]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Highlander}}: The Trading Card Game'', first published as the TV series was gaining serious steam.

* ''Highlander: The Board Game'' (2018) A BoardGame from River Horse with up to 6 immortals battling to claim the prize.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: If you pay attention to the histories of some of the Immortals and where they've been their particular WeaponOfChoice makes so much more sense.

* WeaponOfChoice: Each Immortal uses a different style of sword, usually related to what they grew up using. Some are very exacting about what kinds and qualities of sword they'll use. Notably, Xavier St. Cloud uses a katana in his first appearance, but switches to a lighter rapier in his second. Makes sense, since his first appearance ended with him losing a hand, and rapiers are easier to use one-handed than katanas.

** It's usually downplayed, but there are two notable explicit invocations. In the variously-titled Highlander 3, Kane gets the illusion powers of The Sorcerer Nakano after taking his head, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero after Nakano offered his Quickening to Connor, who refused to strike down his friend and mentor.]] In the series, the Immortal Coltec, who makes it his mission to take the heads of truly evil Immortals, takes one too many and suffers a Dark Quickening, not only turning evil but embracing the same crimes the various evil Immortals he'd killed indulged in. [[spoiler:Duncan is forced to kill him and suffers the same fate, temporarily.]]

* RetiredBadass: Duncan is almost always trying to retire from "The Game" to various degrees of success. On the one hand he probably has more immortal friends than any other, but he also has countless enemies who come looking for him too. He refuses to "hunt" other immortals unless they personally threaten those he cares about and keeps a cabin on Native American holy ground he's been known to live on for very long periods of time.

* RealMenLoveJesus: Both Connor and Duncan are, astoundingly, still devout Catholics in spite of the fact that the superstitious xenophobia of their Catholic kin is precisely what caused them them to be hated and feared exiles driven from their homes.

** General Katana carries one to complement his VillainBall in ''Highlander 2''. For no apparent reason, he sends a couple of assassins to Earth after [=MacLeod=], then goes himself. Never mind that [=MacLeod=] won The Game ''years'' ago and had no intention of going back to Zeist - within less than a decade, he'd be dead by old age. Instead, the new arrivals make him immortal again, makes him young, and also alerts him ahead of time that he has to deal with Katana. One of the assassins even ''points out'' how pointless this is, and gets smacked for it. [=MacLeod=] practically spells it out for Katana what a huge, stupid, meaningless mistake stirring up this trouble really was.

* FriendlyEnemy: Some Immortals, such as the [=MacLeod=] protagonists, have (very) old friendships with others, as they can relate to each other in a way mortals cannot, and weave in and out of each other lives over the centuries, but they still know that sometime, they will either be killed by someone else, or fight each other to the death.

* ''Highlander: Imagine'' is a currently in-production series of AlternateUniverse novels where Tessa becomes immortal instead of dying in season 2.

* A ContinuityReboot was announced in 2008, but has been in Development Hell for years. Creator/RyanReynolds was attached to play Connor, but has since dropped from the project. [[Wrestling/{{Batista}} Dave Bautista]] was cast as The Kurgan in early 2015 and ''Film/JohnWick'' co-director Chad Stahelski signed on to direct in late 2016.

* ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening'' (1991) borrows liberally from 80's sci-fi movies such as ''Film/BladeRunner'', ''{{Film/Dune}}'' and ''[[Film/Robocop1987 Robocop]]''. Flashing-forward to the year 2024, the now-elderly Connor is a wealthy man, having parlayed The Prize (the ability to read the minds of all the world's mortals at once) into building a planetary force field to repair the [[GlobalWarming ozone layer]]; the downside is that CEO David Blake (John C. Micginley) has wrestled away control of the company and is in cahoots with another evil Immortal, General Katana (Creator/MichaelIronside). Although it enjoyed a much-higher budget, the lapses in logic and continuity kept compounding on each other throughout the movie: the Immortals are revealed to be [[HumanAliens space aliens]] from the planet "Zeist", Connor [[ResetButton regains his youth and immortality]], Ramírez is {{Hand Wave}}d back to life, Katana wants them both dead despite personally sentencing them to Earth in the first place, and more. It was panned by critics, spurned by fans and rode high on "Worst Sequels" lists for a long time. The film was also plagued with creative and budgetary problems, which resulted in a private entity taking over post-production and finishing it on the cheap. Several years after the theatrical screening, the director re-edited the film into ''The Renegade Cut'' for release on home video -- ''twice''. The edits had all references to Zeist removed. The troubled history of the film's production is explained in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMcXvG_DoiY this mini-documentary.]]

* ThoseWackyNazis: A flashback to Connor saving Rachael during the Holocaust ("Whatever you say, Jack; you're the Master Race") got cut from the first film's theatrical release, along with about four additional minutes of footage. There are a few Nazi Immortals; there was one or two in the TV series, both beheaded by Duncan. One of the failed tryouts for ''The Raven'', Akex Raven (hence the odd title), worked as an Allied spy.