Connor MacLeod

Full name: Connor MacLeod Other aliases: Highlander, Russell Nash, Various Occupation: Antiques dealer Legal status: Currently a U.S. citizen with no criminal record Place of birth: Glenfinnan, Scotland Known relatives: Lachlann MacLeod (father, deceased), Caoilin MacLeod (mother, deceased), Duncan MacLeod (distant cousin) Base of operations: New York City, Mobile

History: Since the dawn of humanity there have been those known as "Immortals." Bonded to their physiology is a very powerful electromagnetic field known as the "Quickening" and it allows them to live forever if they are first killed by something other than disease, poisoning or natural causes. Upon their 'first death', Immortals resurrect, stop aging and can only be permanently killed when they are beheaded. The Immortals are involved in an epic conflict of battle. They duel each other to the death (via decapitation), with the victor absorbing the Quickening of the defeated. This dueling is done for a legendary and unknown power beyond comprehension known as the "Prize". Nobody knows what it is exactly, but it's supposed to be powerful. According to legend they must fight each other until there's only one Immortal left. When there are only a few Immortals left, they will feel a mysterious pull to a certain place where they will fight till the last. The last one gets the Prize. This event is referred to as "The Gathering". This battle through the ages until then is called "The Game," and there are certain rules, such as only one Immortal can challenge another, and that no Immortals will fight on holy ground.

Connor MacLeod is one of these Immortals. He was born in 1505 in Glenfinnan, Scotland near the shores of Loch Shiel. During a battle between the Clan MacLeod and the Clan Fraser in 1536, he faced an evil Immortal referred to as The Kurgan, and was dealt what should have been a fatal blow. When Connor did not die, the townspeople (including his family) believed his recovery was the work of witchcraft, and threatened to burn him at the stake. Connor's kinsman, and clan chieftain, Angus MacLeod, instead demanded that he only be banished. Connor wandered around the land until arriving at Glencoe, where he met a local blacksmith named Angus MacDonald. He worked on the MacDonald's farm and learned the skill of blacksmithing. He also began a relationship with MacDonald's daughter, Heather MacDonald. Eventually, the two fell in love. After Angus MacDonald died in 1539, Connor married Heather and the two moved near the village of Jedburgh to a small stone castle next to a small forge.

In 1541, he met an Immortal named Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez, who became Connor's mentor and taught him the ways of Immortals, and of The Game. Ramírez taught Connor the overriding rule of the Immortals: "There can be only one."

One night, the Kurgan, while Connor was away hunting, found his home, killed Ramírez, and raped Heather. During the battle between Ramirez and the Kurgan, Connor and Heather's home was destroyed. Connor aquired Ramirez' Katana sword and vowed to avenge his death. Connor and Heather then moved to a make shift house/barn and began farming about 100 yards from their destroyed home. In 1587, Heather died. Connor buried her near-by and used a Clan MacLeod sword to mark her grave. He then burnt the farm and then travel to Edinburgh where he learned to read and write.

He stayed in Edinburgh for ten years. During the last six months of this time, he lived with a farmer and the man's young daughter until bandits tried to rape the girl. Connor killed the bandits, but not before taking a crossbow bolt in the chest in full view. Because he saved them from the bandits, the farmer helped Connor by sneaking him away from Edinburgh and faking his burial. Connor then traveled to London, where he met an Immortal named Thomas Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh introduced Connor to many other Immortals and also instilled in Connor a belief that the Prize must not be won by an evil Immortal. Connor and Cavanaugh later left England for France. In France, Connor courted Isabelle Tourez, a cousin of the King, but barely a month into the relationship, Cavanaugh reminded Connor of Heather and convinced him to break off with her. Late at night after telling Isabelle he must leave, Connor and Cavanaugh were caught by the King's guards who arrested them after a short fight. The next morning, Cavanaugh was executed by beheading and Connor received his friend's Quickening and then escaped while the guards were too stunned and scared to try and stop him. He left Europe for Asia.

In China, Connor honed his swordfighting abilities under the training of a Japanese Immortal named Nakano, who was an old friend of Ramirez. One day an Immortal barbarian named Kane arrived in Nakano's cave home with two of his henchmen. Kane killed Nakano, however Kane and his henchmen were trapped in the cave when Nakano's Quickening caused it to collapse. Connor managed to escape. He then spent the next few decades traveling the world as a crewmember of various ships.

By 1611, he was picked up off Cape Horn by a ship named the "Jugleor." Five weeks later Connor saved Captain Farrell from drowning during a storm at sea. While on the Jugleor, Connor also befriended first mate Carmichael. In 1625, Connor returned to Scotland and heard stories of another MacLeod rising from the dead. He investigated and found his clansman, Duncan MacLeod, wedged between rocks on the shore after trying again to kill himself. Connor taught him about Immortals, passing on the warnings against letting an evil Immortal win the Prize.

On February 13, 1626, Connor and Duncan arrived in Aberdeen to take care of some of Connor's business interests. They spent the next day, feasting with Connor's old friend Carmichael, who was now captain of his own ship. The day after that, Carmichael was killed when his ship was destroyed by Immortals named Khordas and Nerissa. Connor and Duncan watched helplessly from the shore. Before Connor could kill Khordas, he was shot in the chest by Nerissa.

Connor then spent the next few years training Duncan while simultaneously honing his own skills and acquiring new ones. In 1631, Connor and Duncan trained at the fencing academy in Ravenna, Italy. The following year, while in Beinn Bhan, Duncan defeated Connor durng practice for the first time. At the very time, the nearby town of Applecross was being attacked Khordas. The next day, Connor and Duncan arrived in the devastated Applecross and discovered that Khordas the responsible for the destruction. They then began to track Khordas. Three months later, they tracked Khordas to Rannoch Moor. There, Duncan killed Nerissa but Khordas escaped. After two more years of mentoring, in 1634, Connor told Duncan it was time for the younger Immortal to strike out on his own.

Connor went out again on a decades long journey all over the world. During this time, in 1672, he received a degree in Latin from Trinity College. In 1680, Connor Duncan met up again with Duncan briefly in China. He saw him again in 1712. Traveling together in Kildare, Ireland, the two defeated a group of bandits preying on travelers. In 1723, Connor settled in England, near Sheffield, and farmed. By 1736, he had become disenchanted with the monotony of farm life, so he entered a monastery, and stayed for many years, changing identities twice as not to arouse suspicion. In 1750, while traveling through East Africa, Connor befriended an Immortal named Sunda Kastagir. In the 1770s, Connor became involved in the American Revolution and made the acquaintance of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. He later served in the Continental Army and he was in the encampment at Valley Forge. After the war ended, Connor moved to France and stayed for over a decade.

In 1789, he began a relationship with Sarah Barrington after meeting her at the estate of her uncle, DeFernet. In early 1794, an Immortal named Pierre Bouchet convinced Connor to aid in helping victims of the Reign of Terror escape execution. As a result of his involvement, he was forced to end his relationship with Sarah. A few months later, Connor was caught and sentenced to die at the guillotine for treason. However, Bouchet, tired of his Immortal life, knocked Connor unconscious and took his place. Connor then returned to the United States. Using the alias Adrian Montagu, in 1796 Connor acquired the land in New York City which would become 1182 Hudson Street.

In 1808, Connor arrived in Madrid, Spain where he met an Immortal named Michele de Vicenzo. While Madrid, Connor became aware of a terrorist group known as "the Cry" who planned to rid the country of Napoleon's troops who had occupied the city since the recent 'abdication' of the king. Connor and Michele later discovered that this movement was led by a man named Luis Mendes, better known by his alias of 'Mallos' - an Immortal. Michele was outraged at the extent to which this Immortal believed he could affect the lives of mortals and ventured forth to stop him. Connor believed that as none of this was their affair, then they ought to leave this well alone. After Michele set out to battle Mallos alone, Connor had second thoughts and departed to aid his friend in battle. However, he soon discovered that Mallos had a devious plan to defeat his foes: by tiring Michele, he would force him onto a tripwire and as he lay prone, his marksmen would pepper him with crossbow bolts, leaving his head an easy target. Connor tries to warn Michele of this but it was to no avail, because as he was distracted, Mallos took Michele's Quickening. Connor watched in horror, but fled before Mallos could kill him as well.

Connor went on to fight in the Napoleonic Wars as Major "Dupont." In 1815, Connor fought alongside Wellington at Waterloo. The night before the battle, he dueled and beheaded an Immortal named Mulet. Soon after, Connor found Mallos and unwittingly made an Immortal out of a Clara Ballesteros Lobo - one of Mallos's followers. After convincing her that Mallos was evil, Connor became her teacher and together they traveled throughout Europe helping people hurt by Mallos's path of destruction. And slowly, throughout those years, their friendship became something more and they fell in love. In 1820, Connor faced Mallos for the last time. After an epic duel, Connor was faced with death. Mallos was tempted to take his head but decided that there is no need because he had already taken away the jewel Connor treasured most - Clara. He had convinced her that the 'Scottish pig' did not truly understand their ways and was in no way worthy of the purity of Spanish blood. In a stunned state, still shocked by the loss of his love, Connor wandered Europe for the next 33 years hiring himself out as a 'problem-solver' to numerous individuals and organizations.

By 1853, Connor was serving as the captain of the HMS Rosemarie. In December of that year, he gave passage to America to Duncan and his young Immortal student, Amber Lynn. After leaving China with a shipload of guns and explosives in March of 1854, Connor's ship was attacked by Khordas and his new student, Lauren, who beheaded Amber Lynn. The ship was lost with all hands save for Connor and Duncan.

In 1856, he returned to the U.S. and bought a farm near Roanoke, Virginia. Under his new alias of Paul McFarland, Connor joined the Confederate Army in 1861. When he heard about President Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation in September of 1862, Connor decided that he could no longer fight to defend a system that supported slavery against people who were trying to end it. A few weeks later, he deliberately got himself killed in battle. After reviving, Connor headed to Canada and stayed there for the remainder of the war. When he returned home, his farm was in shambles, so he worked on it for a few years. He told people that he was Daniel Harris, one of Paul's friends he'd met in the war, and he'd told him to take his farm if anything happened to him. By 1872, he was working as a trapper in the Dakota territory. There, he met up with Duncan, who was living with the Lakota tribe. Soon after, an Immortal named Kern led a calvary massacre of the tribe. Connor then helped Duncan attend the dead. Afterwards, Duncan went off in a rage in search of Kern. Months later, Connor caught up to Duncan after the younger MacLeod had given up the search and decided to retreat to Holy Ground for a while. While Connor initially disapproved, he realized that his kinsman needed some time alone and wished him well.

Connor was with the 17th Lancers during the Zulu Wars on January 22, 1879. The only survivor of his unit, he was captured by Cetewayo's troops at the battle of Rorke's Drift after they saw him revive from a killing blow; at their encampment, he met the Immortal Sunda Kastagir, who helped Connor escape.

In 1890, Connor transfered his New York property to "Alfred Nicholson." By 1897, he was back on the sea. Using the name "David Carruthers", he was serving as the captain of the Dido as a gunrunner. In February of that year, Khordas and Lauren captured the steamer Gratiano. Khordas "killed" Duncan's friend Gabriela Maria Cuadra de Savedra, revealing her Immortality. Connor helped Duncan finally defeat Khordas in Nantucket, though Lauren escaped. Connor then spent the next two decades in attending schools. He began attending Yale in 1902. While there, he was on the rugby team, which won a state championship. Upon the outbreak of World War I, Connor joined the British Army and went on to serve as an ambulance driver. After the war, he began attending Cambridge, where he was a member of the rowing team.

In 1928, Connor sold his farm in Virginia and bought another small farm in Worstick, Pennsylvania. He lived there until 1940, when transferred his New York property to "Rupert Wallingford" and joined the Canadian Army. He went on to fight in World War II. During this time, he saw some of the worst atrocities he had ever seen. After the war, he wandered the globe, going to various monasteries, trying to restore his faith in mankind. In Denmark, he fought several Immortals, nearly losing his head a few times. In 1951, he went to Canada, and created a new alias, Jack Mercier, and lived in Vancouver. During this time, he began learning to regular play the guitar as a hobbie. In 1954, he returned to Worstick, and lived on the farm for about eight years.

In 1962, he traveled abroad, settling in Amsterdam under a new name, Charles Van Hoogstraten. During this time, Connor took the head of a powerful Immortal, Daniel Riley, whose Quickening caused a massive power outage. Concerned with the fighting in Vietnam, in 1968 Connor went there as a freelance journalist to see what exactly was going on.

Returning to the U.S. in 1970, Connor moved to Los Angeles took a new alias and became part-owner of a boxing gym. After three years, he sold his share of the gym and bought a cabin in Au Gres, Michigan. There, he used his knowledge of swords to open a custom shop in Bay City. The shop would become known for its high quality weapons. Earning a considerable amount of wealth, Connor sold the shop in 1985 and established a private detective agency in Detroit. In 1990, he returned to Virginia and completely restored the cabin and later sold it. In 1992, the established a new identity and joined the Chicago Police Department. After five years as a police officer, he left the force and spent over a year traveling around the world. He then settled in Glasgow, Scotland and set up a pawn shop.

Three years later, he established a new identity as "Russell Nash" and enlisted in the United States Army. He would eventually see combat in both Afghanistan and Iraq. After four years in the U.S. Army, Connor again established a new identity. This time under his real name. He then moved to New York City, transferred the New York property to the 'new' Connor MacLeod and set up an antiques store.

Height: 6'0" Weight: 175 Hair: Light-brown Eyes: Blue

Know Superhuman Powers: Connor MacLeod is an Immortal. He has a mystical energy field bonded to his physiology. This "Quickening" can allow him to live forever. He has stopped aging and could only be permanently killed if he was beheaded. As a very powerful electromagnetic field, the Quickening repairs Connor's body whenever it's damaged by rebuilding his flesh from scratch by stimulating the cells still there to divide far more rapidly than normal, and revives him from temporary death even after his main organs have stopped operating. It acts like a jump start on cells and the major organs to get them going again. The Quickening speeds up the healing process to such an extent that it happens within minutes, and the process is perfect, leaving no scars or marks because the Quickening allows Connor's cells to access the genetic blueprint to a greater extent than normal human cells.

The Quickening completely protects Connor's cells from free radicals and ambient radiation, preventing any oxidative and ionization damage to his DNA. In addition, the Quickening has an effect on certain protein structures to drastically stimulate the production of telomerase (an enzyme that prevents chromosomal degeneration), so Connor continuously possess the enzyme in every cell in his body. This completely prevents cellular senescence and therefore gives every cell replicative immortality. Due to a perfect cellular replication and no added damage to DNA, the development of a degenerative condition or cancerous cells is impossible. The Quickening also suppresses the functions of the genetic sequences responsible for the natural metabolic processes involved in aging. As a result of these effects of the Quickening, Connor no longer physically ages.

When Connor is shot, the bullets are absorbed by the Quickening. This is because when a solid object is completely contained inside the flesh of his body, the Quickening dissolves it. However, if something is swallowed, it will not be dissolved. It will simply pass through the digestive system like anything else that is eaten.

Connor can sense the presence of other Immortals, although he only gets a vague sense of their proximity, not where or who they are.