Highlander: The Animated Series

Lore & Background

The series is set in the 27th century, after a meteorite collision triggers nuclear weapons and nearly destroys civilization. The Immortals, including Connor MacLeod, forswear the Game and swear to preserve human knowledge, calling themselves Jettators. One Immortal, Kortan, refuses the oath, seeks the Prize, and kills Connor in a duel—Connor lost because Kortan was stronger, not because of any curse. A prophecy foretells a new Immortal unbound by the oath who will defeat Kortan. Seven hundred years later, Quentin MacLeod, a Highland youth, is killed by Kortan's slavers and resurrects as the prophesied Immortal. He is trained by the Jettator Ramirez (simply called Ramirez, not Don Vincente Marino Ramirez) and seeks other Jettators to gain their knowledge through a sharing ritual, not by beheading. One Jettator, Stevenson, betrays Quentin but is killed by Kortan's henchman, not by Kortan directly, and Kortan does not steal his knowledge—he already has it from the blueprints.

Reader's Guide

Highlander: The Animated Series is significant as Gaumont Télévision's first animated production and as a unique expansion of the Highlander franchise into a far-future, post-apocalyptic setting. It introduces the concept of Jettators—Immortals who renounce the Game to preserve knowledge—and a new protagonist, Quentin MacLeod, who gains power through sharing rather than killing. The series features mature themes and morally complex characters, with Kortan's henchmen showing good traits and Quentin occasionally tempted by greed. It also includes notable Jettators like Mangus, Yashoda, and Stevenson, and villains such as Arak, Malone, and Gorth. The show's legacy lies in its attempt to blend the Highlander mythos with animated storytelling for a younger audience while retaining violent and philosophical elements.

Did You Know?

• The Jettator who trains Quentin is simply called 'Ramirez' in the series—the full name 'Don Vincente Marino Ramirez' is from the live-action films, not the cartoon.
• Connor MacLeod lost his duel with Kortan because Kortan was stronger, not because of any curse on Immortals who break the oath—the series never states that breaking the oath is doomed.

Production & French Origins

Highlander: The Animated Series arrived on screens on September 18, 1994, as an English-language production born from French television studios. Rather than being a straightforward American venture, the show was the first animated production ever commissioned by Gaumont Télévision, a milestone that marked the company's entry into the animation world. The creative team behind it would go on to evolve into Gaumont Multimédia and eventually the studio known today as Xilam, meaning this single series planted the seed for a long-running French animation house. Worldwide distribution fell to Bohbot Entertainment, which later rebranded as BKN International. The series positioned itself as a loose spin-off and sequel to the 1986 live-action film Highlander, expanding the franchise's mythology into a new medium and a far-future setting while retaining the core concept of Immortals and their eternal conflict. This French-American hybrid production model gave the show a distinctive creative sensibility that set it apart from typical Western animated programming of the mid-1990s.

The 27th-Century World & The Jettators

The series transports the Highlander mythos to the 27th century, where a catastrophic meteorite impact has triggered a cascade of nuclear detonations that nearly extinguished all human civilization. In the aftermath, Connor MacLeod and the remaining Immortals collectively renounce the ancient Game—the ritual of fighting one another until a single survivor claims the Prize. They cast aside their swords and adopt the name Jettators, derived from the French word jette, meaning "thrown away," symbolizing their rejection of violence. However, one Immortal, Kortan, refuses to swear the oath and instead declares himself the Game's winner, building a vast empire and ruling from the arcology fortress of Mogonda. When Connor challenges Kortan to a duel, he is killed, fulfilling a prophecy that a new Immortal, unbound by the oath, will one day rise to defeat the tyrant. Seven centuries later, a young Highlander named Quentin is slain while defending his clan, the Dundee, from Kortan's slavers, and resurrects as that prophesied warrior. His dying mother reveals his true identity: Quentin MacLeod, "The Last of the MacLeods." He is taken in by the Jettator Don Vincente Marino Ramirez, who becomes his mentor, training him in combat and philosophy.

A Cast of Nuanced Heroes and Villains

Though structured as a good-versus-evil narrative, the series deliberately avoids painting its characters in stark moral terms. Quentin MacLeod, the protagonist, wields Connor's sword and a boomerang, yet is repeatedly tempted by greed and selfishness whenever the prospect of immense power is dangled before him—his better nature ultimately prevails each time. His adoptive sister Clyde of the Dundee frequently finds herself in peril during missions, occasionally serving as a diversion, while their pet Gran, Gaul, a highly intelligent hybrid of ape and canine, uses his animal instincts to protect both. On the antagonist side, Kortan's henchmen are given surprising depth. Arak, the cybernetically enhanced leader of the Hunters, was once a manufactured being designated RY407. Malone, a former mime whose memories were erased by Kortan's oblivion chamber, serves as a court jester and weapons-lock key while displaying genuine cunning. Gorth, a skilled swordsman, can match Arak in both leadership and physical combat. Even Asklepios, the brilliant Bureaucrat #76, and his implied lover Valka, Bureaucrat #28, operate within a rivalry for Kortan's favor that adds political texture to the villain's court.

Mature Themes & The Sharing Mechanic

Despite being redesigned to appeal to a younger audience, the show carried a notably mature and violent tone. Minor characters died with regularity, and the narrative treated death as a genuine consequence rather than a temporary setback. A key distinction in the series' combat philosophy is the Sharing: rather than beheading fellow Immortals to absorb their power, Quentin and his allies perform a ritual in which a Jettator and MacLeod simultaneously grasp the same sword. The transfer of knowledge and Quickening is still explosively destructive to the surrounding area, but the Jettator survives, becoming mortal as their sword shatters to mark the transition. This stands in sharp contrast to Kortan, who continues the old way—beheading his opponents. The series also explored creative loopholes in the Jettators' oath: Matsuda constructed a cyborg to fight Kortan in his stead, while Cornell simply changed his name to Orion to technically bypass the prohibition. These narrative choices reinforced the show's central theme that the path to defeating tyranny need not replicate the violence of the tyrant himself.

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