New York City is a setting frequently seen and referenced in the various incarnations of the Highlander franchise.
Overview[]
The NYC skyline.
New York City (formerly "New Amsterdam") was a city first settled in A.D. 1624 by Dutch colonists, and later integrated into a single political entity during the nineteenth century. The city currently exists within the borders of the United States of America, and has been the site of numerous encounters between Immortals across the centuries, and across different continuities.
New York and the Immortals[]
A breakdown of various documented Immortal incidents, organized by story line:
Highlander (1986 film)[]
The Gathering begins in NYC.
In the year 1985, The Gathering began when several Immortals were compelled to journey to New York City and battle one another for The Prize. Connor MacLeod, The Kurgan, Iman Fasil, Osta Vazilek, Yung Dol Kim, and Sunda Kastagir confronted each other over a span of days, whittling down their numbers until only two remained: MacLeod and The Kurgan. Ultimately, Connor proved victorious, taking The Kurgan's head (one of the strongest of all the Immortals), and officially inaugurating the advent of The Gathering.
Additionally, the city was the home of MacLeod's cover-business, Nash Antiques, where he maintained his residence and accumulated mementos of Immortality during this era.
Highlander II: The Quickening[]
Decades after Connor MacLeod's victory over The Kurgan, New York City once again became the site of a major battle between Immortals,
The New York City skyline, circa A.D. 2024.
when, in the year 2024, General Katana and his henchmen (Corda and Reno) journeyed from the planet Zeist (or, in the Renegade Version, the Earth's distant past) in order to prevent MacLeod's return to his original home. In a final battle taking place in a Shield Corporation facility outside the city, the Highlander took Katana's Quickening, and destroyed the energy barrier surrounding the planet.
Highlander: The Final Dimension[]
In 1994, Connor MacLeod returns to New York City to confront Kane.
In a different continuity, Connor MacLeod returned to New York in 1994 in order to confront the Immortal Kane, previously entombed beneath a Japanese mountain for 400 years and seeking revenge upon MacLeod for his imprisonment. Connor, at one point committed to a city insane-asylum during the incident, fought and defeated Kane, gaining substantial ability in the Power of Illusion in the process.
Highlander: Endgame[]
Later in 1994, the Immortal, Jacob Kell, struck at Connor MacLeod, destroying the Nash Antiques shop with a bomb, killing Connor's adopted daughter Rachel Ellenstein in the process. Ten years later, in 2004, Connor's cousin Duncan MacLeod would likewise confront Kell and his gang in the ruins of Connor's loft, barely escaping with his head intact, only to be captured by a renegade group of Watchers seeking to re-establish their destroyed Sanctuary. After Connor's death, Duncan battles Jacob Kell in New York, and defeats him.
Highlander: The Series[]
A number of events and incidents are chronicled in the city within the television continuity, including:
- In 1787, future Immortal Slan Quince was born in New York City.
- In 1796, Connor MacLeod, under the alias "Adrian Montague," purchased property in the city located on Hudson Street. The site will one day become the Nash Antiques shop.
- Around the year 1800, the Immortal pirate, Sarah McLaughlin, retired from her previous life, and used her ill-gotten wealth to become a central pillar of New York high-society.
- Future Immortal Bryce Korland was born in New York City in 1838.
- Starting in 1877, Connor MacLeod began delivering a Christmas tree to a particular New York City church orphanage, an annual custom that kept up until his death in 2004.
Duncan MacLeod witnesses a mob slaying in 1905 NYC.
* Between 1900 and 1925, insane Immortal, Marcus Korolus, murdered eleven innocent women in the city before moving on to another hunting-ground.
- Duncan MacLeod, owner of a thriving import/export business within the city, encountered the Black Hand organization in Little Italy in 1905, after witnessing the brutal extortion-slaying of a grocer there.
- Johnny Kelly born in New York City in 1910. Andrew Ballin was discovered as a foundling in Brooklyn during the following year, in 1911.
- Kalas began a career with the Metropolitan Opera starting in 1916, but was initially overshadowed by the legendary Enrico Caruso.
- In 1925, Vincent Margolies lost his head and Quickening to Immortal George Shelby on the opening night of student Cordelia Stanton's dance performance at a friend's nightclub in the city.
- Connor MacLeod attended the 1927 World Series (the New York Yankees versus the Pittsburgh Pirates), and received an autographed baseball from slugger "Babe" Ruth.
- Duncan MacLeod briefly became Johnny "K" Kelly's first Immortal teacher in 1929, after witnessing his First Death and revival as an Immortal following a shootout on the New York City docks.
Herbert Gris, circa the 1930s.
- By the late 1930s, Immortal Herbert Gris became a wealthy New York industrialist, covertly supporting the Third Reich with his resources. He later openly joined the SS as an officer, under the alias "Heinrich Greich."
- In 1943, Connor MacLeod settled down in New York City to raise his adopted daughter, Rachel Ellenstein, after rescuing her from Nazi persecution during the Holocaust.
- At some point during the 1950s, Andrew Ballin became an NYPD detective under an alias, "Andrew Holt."
Bryce Korland, shortly before his beheading.
- Circa 1956, Bryce Korland began a killing-spree around the New York metropolitan area, drawing the attention of fellow Immortals Duncan MacLeod and Kol T'ek. Two years later, in 1958, Kol T'ek (a.k.a. "Coltec") would take Korland's head, receiving a Dark Quickening.
- In December 1963, Connor MacLeod was visited by his old army gunnery-sergeant, W.W. Hicks, at Nash Antiques, and was drawn into a conspiracy involving The Kurgan and Soviet super-soldiers.
- Herbert Gris once again assumed his former role of wealthy New York City industrialist in 1993, this time under the alias "Graydon Hammer," CEO of Amalgamated Industries.
Jason Talbott confronts Xavier St. Cloud and his mercenaries.
- In early 1994, Immortal Jason Talbott, prominent NYC attorney, was murdered in the city by Xavier St. Cloud and his mercenaries.
Highlander: The Raven[]
Several incidents are known as having occurred within the city:
- In 1776, Amanda, working as a camp follower/healer to the British army in occupied New York, instigated the religious conversion of another Immortal, Liam Riley, after the latter accidentally shot and killed the mother of a pre-Immortal boy, Sean.
- Over a century later, in 1897, while visiting New York, Amanda became involved with the adopted son of pre-Immortal silversmith Morgan Kenworthy, who was later killed (along with his son), triggering his Immortality.
- In 1963, Amanda met with an old lover, Marco Becker, in New York's Theater District, but Becker was beheaded by another Immortal, Wilson Geary. Amanda took Becker's young mortal wife, Lucy, under her protection.