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Antonius Kalas
Kalas1994
First appearance Highlander: The Series season 3 episode Song of the Executioner
Last appearance Highlander: The Series season 3 episode Finale: Part Two
Appeared in Song of the Executioner, Star-Crossed, Methos, Finale 1 & Finale 2
Statistics
Name Antonius Kalas
Aliases Brother Kalas, Antonio Neri
Born AD 369, Rome
First Death AD 408, stabbed by a slave
Teachers Brother Paul
Pupils Andrus Keradoc
Origin Roman
Watchers Roger Harris
Status Deceased, Beheaded by Duncan MacLeod 1995
Occupation Monk, tenor, music impresario, proprietor of Nosferatu Jazz club, owner of Vanderbilt Hall
Portrayed by  David Robb

Antonius Kalas was an evil Immortal. He was the pupil of Brother Paul, and was responsible for nearly bringing not only Duncan MacLeod, but all immortal society to its knees, when he got a hold of a disc containing all the information of the Immortals and the watchers.

Early life[]

Antonius Kalas was born in AD 369 in Rome, a foundling taken in by the family of Senator Flavius Kalas. An intellectual prodigy, he quickly became a respected citizen and soldier of the Empire. In 408, he was stabbed 30 times by a runaway slave and died, then became Immortal. Kalas soon met the Immortal Paul, also a Roman, and became his student. After the fall of Rome, Paul and Kalas turned to Christianity, founding a monastery and scriptorium. In keeping with their new principles, they also made the monastery a Sanctuary for Immortals disillusioned by years of fighting in the Game, where they could live in peace, free from all those who wanted their heads. Kalas soon became known for his angelic voice and his mastery of calligraphy. Unknown to his brothers, however, Kalas developed a darker diversion: recognizing the potential for advancing his power as an Immortal, he began ambushing his fellow immortals the moment they stepped off holy ground, taking their heads in secret.

Exposure[]

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Brother Kalas, living in a monastery in 1658

In 1658, Duncan MacLeod arrived at the monastery, seeking shelter like so many of his fellows. MacLeod also was looking for his Immortal friend, Peter Hale, who had come to the monastery several weeks earlier. Accepted into the fold by Brother Paul and Brother Timon, MacLeod and Kalas soon met, and formed a loose friendship. However, when Kalas let slip certain details about Peter Hale, the Highlander became suspicious. When Timon decided to return to the outside world, Kalas departed to take Timon's head as he had done with so many others. This time, however, Duncan followed Kalas, and witnessed the entire affair. In a fit of rage, Duncan confronted Kalas the second the latter walked back in through the door, promising to expose his dark deeds to the entire brotherhood. Kalas all but laughed in the Scotsman's face. He was a respected founder of the monastery, Duncan was a mere visitor. He boasted arrogantly that no one would believe MacLeod's word over his, ever. In so doing, however, Kalas damned himself. Duncan had had Brother Paul hide behind a column during the entire exchange, and now Paul was incensed, expelling Kalas from the monastery and branding him a traitor. Barely able to speak with anger and hatred, Kalas promised the highlander that he would see him suffer.

Reinvention[]

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Kalas in the 1920s

With his former life in ashes, Kalas turned his talents towards his own enlightened self-interest. By 1920, he had made himself famous as the world-class tenor Antonio Neri, performing side by side with such legends as Adelina Patti and Enrico Caruso. Unknown to all, he had also adapted his scripting skills to the art of forgery, and was a master at producing counterfeits. It was in 1920 when he re-encountered Duncan MacLeod, who was sponsoring a lovely young soprano, Maria Campalo. Almost immediately, the two began a new rivalry over her, after her and Kalas together sang "O soave fanciulla" in front of a small audience. Neri offered Maria a position beside him, and an immediate audition with the director of the Paris Opera. Duncan countered with an appointment to the Metropolitan Opera in New York. When Maria made the choice to leave for America, Kalas decided to end the jousting, and strangled her, as an act of spite against MacLeod.

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Kalas and Duncan MacLeod face off 1920, Paris

Arriving just in time to save his charge, Duncan drew his sword and challenged his enemy. Crashing his opponent through a glass door, Kalas pinned MacLeod to the ground, slowly bringing his blade into position for a killing strike. The Highlander grabbed a shard of broken glass, using it to slice Kalas' throat and forever destroying Kalas's one great prize - his singing voice. In a panic, Kalas broke off his attack and fled. The battle forever changed the evil Immortal. With a voice to match his persona, Kalas lost his one true love; his own voice.

Over the next seventy years, he began buying up properties across the world, including Seacouver's Vanderbilt Hall and the Nosferatu Jazz Club. He formed a drug smuggling operation unknown to all authorities. He also formed a cover corporation, Magna Records, which specialized in rare and unconventional music.

Assault on MacLeod[]

By 1993, Kalas was ready to strike. He had studied MacLeod, and knew his habits, preferred locations, and most importantly, his friends and lovers. Through Magnus Records, Kalas lured Brother Paul off holy ground by offering him and his choir a record contract. When the monk and his choir arrived at Vanderbilt and performed, Kalas waited until the end of the performance, and ambushed Paul, beheading him. As a message to Duncan, he sent the Highlander Paul's crucifix.

He arranged to have drugs planted at Joe Dawson's bar through a junkie musician, Max Jupe, who had been fired by Joe. Kalas then tipped the police about the drugs , which were duly found and saddled Joe with drug dealing charges and resulted in closing his bar. Most insidiously, Kalas then attacked Duncan MacLeod's lover, Dr. Anne Lindsey, forging bogus prescriptions and medical orders in her name which killed some of her patients, including a good friend. Anne suddenly found herself suspended and under investigation of medical malpractice.

All of it was intended to unhinge the Highlander. Though Duncan uncovered Kalas's hand in the arrest of Joe Dawson and the false prescriptions, he could not prove it sufficiently to implicate Kalas himself. Kalas, however, was ready for his next step. Calling Duncan, he issued his challenge and invited MacLeod to meet him at Vanderbilt Hall. Eager to avenge his friend's, Duncan arrived to face off with Kalas. Luring MacLeod into the rafters in the ceiling, Kalas unleashed a final snare: he had tricked Anne into coming, forging a note from the Highlander.  Kalas drove MacLeod into a fatal fall, effectively ending his relationship with the mortal, Anne.

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Fitz falls to Kalas

Kalas returned to Paris, Duncan arrived and met up with his long time friend, Hugh Fitzcairn. Wasting no time, Kalas began harassing MacLeod through Fitz, first trying to have the pair run off the road, then creating trouble at Fitz's new teaching job in the world-famous Cordon Bleu culinary school. Through Patrick, an ex-boyfriend of Naomi, Hugh Fitzcairn's girlfriend, Kalas accessed Fitz's computer file, and retrieved evidence that Fitzcairn forged his credentials. Kalas had Patrick place two calls: first to Naomi, Fitz's girlfriend, asking her to meet him at the school, and then to the police. Kalas then killed Patrick, and called Fitzcairn to the school. Fitz,  ran straight into the setup, caught standing over Patrick's corpse before Naomi and the French police. After Fitz escaped from MacLeod's barge, Kalas followed him from there, challenging him at the pair's rendezvous point in the water tunnels under the Bastille. Holding the vengeful Fitzcairn at bay, the fight continued until MacLeod arrived, and Fitz warned his friend of, "It's my fight, laddie." Kalas proved the better duelist, however, beheading Fitz in front of a horrified MacLeod. Enraged, the Highlander came after Kalas, but the sadistic former singer refused to face him yet, diving into the Seine to escape.

The Search For Methos[]

Kalas then spent several days deciding on his next move. Determining to amass enough power to defeat Duncan once and for all, Kalas decided to search for the legendary oldest Immortal, Methos. With Methos' Quickening, he thought no one would be able to stand against him. A surprise break came when Kalas noticed a strange man following him from his headquarters at the Nosferatu. Easily ambushing the man, Kalas imprisoned him and tortured him for information. Soon, the man broke, and revealed himself as Roger Harris, Kalas' Watcher. Intrigued at the idea of records identifying immortals, Kalas uncovered the location of Don Salzer, Watcher Historian and keeper of the Methos Chronicle.

In Salzer's bookstore, Kalas accosted the elderly Watcher, and tortured him for information regarding Methos. After uncovering the next link in the Watcher chain; Watcher Researcher, Adam Pierson, Kalas left Salzer for dead. Returning to the Nosferatu, Kalas discovered MacLeod had come calling, and was hot on his trail.

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Kalas, at Adam Pierson's apartment

Realizing that it was now a race to find Methos first, he hurried to Pierson's flat, only to find Methos' journals that suggested, to his amazement, that Pierson himself was Methos.  He awaited the return of the scholar, and then had his suspicions confirmed. He attacked the ancient immortal. The duel was brief and intense, Kalas chided Methos about having been away from the Game too long, Methos responded by tumbling them both into a river, ending the fight.  When he surfaced, Kalas was alone, Methos long gone. Further frustrated, Kalas decided to finally challenge MacLeod. Methos, however, was not done with Kalas. Having alerted the police, he fingered Kalas for the murder of Donald Salzer, the police arrived,  breaking up the duel between MacLeod and Kalas, and to his humiliation, Kalas found himself hauled off to prison.

Imprisonment and Endgame[]

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Amanda tries to take Kalas's head

Convicted by the French courts, Kalas found himself sentenced to life in prison, all of his money and possessions gone. When fellow inmate, Nino, a psychopath, stabbed him to "death" during a prison riot, Kalas subdued the lunatic, but decided not to kill Nino, sensing an opportunity to turn him into a weapon for his purposes. Receiving an offer of escape from an unknown source on the outside, Kalas put Nino into action. Two dead guards later, Kalas and Nino made their way to the prison wall, where they found and scaled a rope thrown over the wall by Kalas' benefactor. Surprisingly, the mysterious accomplice turned out to be Amanda, come to take Kalas's head for his treatment of MacLeod. When Nino struck her from behind, however, Kalas seized the opportunity, and slipped away with his new pet, leaving a frustrated Amanda to curse over what she had done.

Through robbery, Kalas and Nino quickly acquired new clothes, money and a vehicle. When Kalas sensed the Immortal Auberon, passing nearby, he had Nino run the Immortal over, crippling him. His objective completed, Kalas collected his target, Auberon's sword. His first act with it was to take Auberon's head, indulging himself in a fresh Quickening. Returning to the Nosferatu, Kalas killed the bartender, severing his link to MacLeod. He then set up shop in the basement of a small chapel near the Eiffel Tower, recruiting a new gang of thugs through Nino. He taunted MacLeod at Maurice Lalonde's new restaurant, relying on Nino to watch his back. He also had Amanda captured to be held hostage against MacLeod, though his new gang underestimated Amanda's escape artistry, and the former cat burglar soon broke free.

However, when Christine Salzer, widow of Don Salzer, came forth to reveal a secret prototype Watcher database to the world in retaliation for her husband's murder, Kalas, quickly got wind of it. He hurried to the Tribune, had his henchman kill both Christine and the editor, and seized the database. Kalas put his new information to immediate use, arriving at the Watcher Headquarters and murdered Western Europe's Head Watcher, Jacques Vemas, throwing the Watchers into chaos. But he also devised a diabolical scheme: he rigged a computer to automatically distribute the database to every news agency and government in the world should his head be taken, by anyone. With this latest weapon, Kalas delivered his ultimatum to MacLeod: he would trigger the distribution unless the Highlander laid down his sword and deliberately offered up his head to Kalas.

Leaving MacLeod to brood over his new dilemma, Kalas waited for MacLeod's answer. Soon the Highlander sent a message: he would meet Kalas at the top of the Eiffel Tower that evening. Ready to take his final victory over the Highlander, Kalas hurried to meet MacLeod. When he found him, the Highlander drew his blade and told Kalas "this was a good place to die".

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Kalas, about to be beheaded by Duncan MacLeod on the top of the Eiffel Tower

Kalas drew his own blade and attacked, committing himself to the duel. Kalas drew first blood and had MacLeod on the defensive. Then MacLeod crippled Kalas and lined him up for the kill. In desperation, Kalas reminded MacLeod of the distribution computer, but an approaching storm caught their attention. MacLeod pointed out they stood atop the world's largest lightning rod. With no more words, the Highlander struck, beheading Kalas. As MacLeod had hoped, the resulting Quickening agitated the storm, triggering a massive electrical surge that fried half of the electronic equipment in Paris - including Kalas's doomsday computer.

Personality and Abilities[]

Kalas had a very special gift, he was a very talented singer. Additionally, over the years, he developed a talent for forgery. Cold and calculating, he could be openly cruel and kept grudges for centuries, and, in later years, would have developed a complete disregard for human life. He was also regarded as one of the very finest master swordsmen amongst the Immortals, his combat skills matched by only a very select few known immortals.

Fighting Style[]

Kalas preferred fighting with a long sword (a two-edged, straight sword mainly wielded with both hands), favoring power over speed and dexterity.

Kalas in the Game[]

1. Ailell of Kells, 1582 (Watcher CD)

2. Peter Hale, 1658 (Song of the Executioner)

3. Timon, 1658 (Song of the Executioner)

4 . Paul, 1995 (Song of the Executioner)

5. Hugh Fitzcairn, 1995 (Star-Crossed)

6. Auberon, 1995 (Finale: Part One)

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