Highlander (franchise)
Highlander is an American–British film and television franchise created by American screenwriter Gregory Widen. The series began with Highlander, a 1986 fantasy film starring Christopher Lambert, who played Connor MacLeod, the titular Highlander. There have been four theatrical Highlander films, one made-for-TV film, two live-action television series, an animated television series, an anime film, a flash animation series, original novels, comic books, and various licensed merchandise.
"The Highlander" redirects here. For the first film in the series, see Highlander (film). For the newspaper, see The Highlander (newspaper).Highlander
Highlander (1986)
1986–2007
- Highlander (2006–2007)
- Highlander: Way of the Sword (2007–2008)
- Highlander Origins: The Kurgan (2009)
- Highlander: The American Dream (2017)
- Highlander (1986)
- Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
- Highlander III: The Sorcerer (1994)
- Highlander: Endgame (2000)
- Highlander: The Search for Vengeance (2007)
- Highlander: The Source (2007)
- Highlander: The Series (1992–2001)
- Highlander: The Raven (1998–2004)
Highlander: The Animated Series (1994–1994)
- Highlander (1986)
- Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods (1995)
- Highlander: The Game (canceled)
Highlander: The Original Scores
"A Kind of Magic" (1986)
The main character of the series, Connor MacLeod, was born in Glenfinnan in the Scottish Highlands in the 16th century, MacLeod is one of a number of immortals empowered by an energy called the Quickening and only able to die if beheaded. Other immortal protagonists from the MacLeod clan were introduced over time, including Duncan MacLeod, Quentin MacLeod and Colin MacLeod, each of whom exists in their own timelines.
On television, Highlander: The Series aired for six seasons from 1992–1998, starring Adrian Paul as Connor's kinsman Duncan MacLeod, another immortal Highlander born decades later. Recurring characters in the series included the immortal thief Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen) and oldest immortal Methos (Peter Wingfield) who each had spin-off shows, Highlander: The Raven and The Methos Chronicles respectively, which each lasted one season.
Other media[edit]
Books[edit]
A number of Highlander novels were released, including a novelization of the first film by Garry Kilworth and a line of books based on the television series by various authors.
The 9 published Warner Books Highlander novels are:
The Element of Fire by Jason Henderson (October 1995)
Scimitar by Ashley McConnell (February 1996)
Scotland the Brave by Jennifer Roberson (September 1996)
Measure of a Man by Nancy Holder (May 1997)
The Path by Rebecca Neason (August 1997)
Zealot by Donna Lettow (November 1997)
Shadow of Obsession by Rebecca Neason (June 1998)
The Captive Soul by Josepha Sherman (August 1998)
White Silence by Ginjer Buchanan (March 1999)
There was a 10th novel in the works entitled Barricades that was to be published in July 1999, but the author Donna Lettow fell ill before she could complete it, and by the time she had recovered, the books were no longer being published.
Non-fiction Highlander books include The Best of Highlander: The Book by Maureen Russell and Fearful Symmetry: The Essential Guide to All Things Highlander[41]—a guide to the Highlander films and television series, with explorations of the movies and series, interviews with many of the key players in front and behind the camera.
Comics[edit]
The Highlander comic book series from Dynamite Entertainment, featuring the creative team of Brandon Jerwa, Michael Avon Oeming (Red Sonja) and artist Lee Moder followed Connor MacLeod after his battle with the Kurgan in New York, adopting the TV-series idea that this wasn't the final battle for the Prize because many immortals still existed on Earth. It was followed by two mini-series acting as prequels to the original film and a mini-series explaining the Kurgan's past before meeting Connor MacLeod.
In 2015, Emerald Star Comics released Highlander 3030, written by Lennit Williams and Matt Kelly. The comic was an officially licensed story following the adventures of Connor MacLeod in a far-off dystopian future, and even received social media support from the official Highlander account on Facebook.[42] Highlander 3030 only had one issue digitally released and was poorly received by critics.[43] In an interview on the podcast Ten Cent Takes, Kelly confirmed the comic had production problems, including the initial artist having to drop out due to health issues and Davis-Panzer Productions demanding replacement artist Dan Goodfellow draw the book in a style that wasn't his own. As such, the book was a financial failure and Emerald Star Comics went out of business soon after.[44]
Audio[edit]
Highlander: The Original Scores, an album featuring music from the first three films, was released in 1995.[45]
Big Finish Productions temporarily held the license to produce original Highlander audio stories. While many Big Finish products are full cast audio dramas, some involve one actor narrating the story and several parts while another actor narrates one or two other important roles. This format was followed for the Highlander audios. The first four audios star Adrian Paul as Duncan MacLeod and were released monthly starting in June 2009. The stories are set after Highlander: Endgame. In the audio Kurgan Rising, both the Kurgan and Connor MacLeod seem to return from the dead.
Big Finish released a second series of four Highlander audio stories, each based around one of the Four Horsemen: Kronos read by Valentine Pelka, Silas read by Richard Ridings, Caspian read by Marcus Testory, and Methos read by Peter Wingfield.
Video games[edit]
Highlander, a video game tie-in to the first film, was released for home computers in 1986. The player faced a few opponents from the film, each of whom had to be struck three times to be beaten. It was poorly received.
1995 saw the release of Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods, a video game based on Highlander: The Animated Series, for the Atari Jaguar CD.
A Highlander massively multiplayer online role-playing game video game was planned by Kalisto Entertainment.[46] Following the developer's closure, rights to the Highlander video game franchise went to SCi Entertainment in 2004.[47] The new developer decided not to release a Highlander video game. Trailers showed the game title would have been Highlander: The Gathering.[48]
Highlander: The Game and a PC version of Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods[49] were likewise cancelled.
Collectible card games[edit]
Highlander: The Card Game is a collectible card game produced by La Montagnard Inc., intended to simulate a sword fight between two Immortals.