| James Horton | |
|---|---|
| Highlander character | |
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| First appearance | "The Hunters" |
| Portrayed by | Peter Hudson |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | male |
| Born | 1945 [1] |
| Death | 1994 (aged 48–49) |
James Horton is a fictional character from Highlander: The Series , portrayed by actor Peter Hudson. A mortal Watcher, he is protagonist Duncan MacLeod's archenemy and fellow Watcher Joe Dawson's brother-in-law.
James Horton is first introduced in the first season finale episode, "The Hunters" (1993), as the leader of the men who enter Darius's (Werner Stocker) chapel and behead him. Those men, called the Hunters, [2] then kidnap MacLeod's friend, fellow Immortal Hugh Fitzcairn (Roger Daltrey). Horton later sets up a plan to meet MacLeod's lover Tessa Noël (Alexandra Vandernoot) and check a wound she has on her hand to see if she is immortal. Tessa is frightened and bewildered by this encounter. [3] In the meanwhile, Fitzcairn has been brought to the Hunters' headquarters. The script says that Horton and his accomplices "study Fitzcairn as one would a large, interesting insect," [4] then shoot him with a crossbow to see if he will revive, proving that he is an Immortal. When Fitzcairn awakes, Horton tells him, "I've often wondered how much pain an Immortal could bear before he went mad." [5] MacLeod searches for the Hunters' hiding while Horton is addressing his men: "We have won a great victory. We have destroyed a malignant evil that has walked this earth in the form of a man for the last two thousand years. People do not cheer us, people don't even know we exist, but we know the battle we fight. We know the evil we must destroy. I would like to send you back to your homes... to your lives... but our work here is not finished." [5] Horton tells Fitzcairn, "You are an abomination before nature and in the eyes of man. There is no glory but ours. No destiny that is not of our making." [5] Horton is about to guillotine Fitzcairn when MacLeod enters. In the ensuing fight, Horton tells MacLeod, "When you kill me, others will come. To continue what we have begun. (...) We've always understood. We will never be dominated. (...) We know about the Gathering. (...) It's about power. There is nothing greater that the power of man. Nothing. (...) You must die. All of you." [5]
In "The Watchers" (1993), after MacLeod meets his Watcher, Joe Dawson (Jim Byrnes), Horton remarks to Dawson, "You spoke with one of them. That's never happened before." [6] When Robert (Cameron Bancroft), one of his men who is also the fiancé of his daughter, Lynn (Kehli O'Byrne), expresses doubts about the Hunters, Horton answers, "It doesn't matter if they're good or evil, Robert. They're here to dominate us. They fight for their right to rule us. And one day, that is what they will do." [6] When Robert expresses the wish to leave the Hunters because MacLeod spared his life, Horton kills him, but is able to comfort Lynn afterwards when she learns of her fiancé's death. Horton then mounts a trap to behead MacLeod, but Dawson confronts him, saying, "What you are doing is totally wrong. It betrays everything we stand for. (...) They aren't all evil." [6] Horton answers, "I felt like a doctor watching a cancer grow." [6] MacLeod enters and Horton admits to having killed Robert, saying, "Sometimes in war innocents get harmed. I believe that the generals call it collateral damage." [6] MacLeod is about to kill Horton but renounces because Lynn begs him not to. Horton is infuriated and shoots MacLeod in the back. MacLeod is able to stab him with his sword before collapsing dead. When he revives, the others have disappeared.
In "Unholy Alliance" (1994), Horton concludes an agreement with Immortal Xavier St. Cloud (Roland Gift), in which Horton provides mercenaries that shoot Immortals dead so that Xavier can safely behead them. Horton also uses Xavier's Watcher, Barton, to manipulate Dawson so that Dawson tells MacLeod where Xavier is, and Xavier is waiting for him with his mercenaries. MacLeod comes as planned, but his friend Charlie DeSalvo (Philip Akin) has followed him and witnesses the fight between MacLeod and Xavier, then MacLeod being mortally shot by Horton, before being shot himself by Horton. MacLeod revives and breaks open Horton's grave in the Dawson family crypt. But it is empty, and MacLeod finds Horton alive and standing in front of him. MacLeod moves to attack him, but Horton warns him, "Holy Ground, MacLeod! Shame on you... You're forgetting the rules. I tried to get Xavier to come but even he wouldn't kill here." [1] When MacLeod asks if Horton does this to feel powerful, Horton replies, "This is not about me, MacLeod. This is about you, you and your kind. You're an abomination." Then Horton boasts, "I'm the man you can't kill. Frustrated? I know I would be in your position. How would you like to kill me? ...with your sword? No, I think you'd prefer to do it with your bare hands, feel the life drain away from me." [1] Eventually Horton hints that Dawson knows everything and escapes. Later, MacLeod watches Dawson join Horton on their boat, and corners Dawson to hear the truth from him. Dawson explains, "After you fought with Horton, I had to take him to the hospital. He was dying. (...) I made sure he was through with the Watchers, MacLeod. No one was to contact him, and not even his own people. He was an outcast. (...) I've known the man for twenty-five years, he's my sister's husband. I couldn't just let him die. He said he just wanted to leave the country, live quiet." Dawson says he did not tell this to MacLeod "because I knew you'd kill him." [1] MacLeod is hurt that Dawson has lied to him and turns his back on him.
In "Unholy Alliance Part Two" (1994), Horton and Xavier are still plotting MacLeod's death together. During their conversation Xavier puts a friendly hand on Horton's shoulder and Horton shows disgust at this physical contact with an Immortal. He remarks, "It would give you great pleasure to kill Duncan MacLeod, would it not ?" [7] When MacLeod enters, Horton gets a helicopter to allow Xavier to flee the ensuing fight. Later in Paris, when MacLeod finds their hiding, Horton tries to flee again on a boat, but Dawson stops him. Despite Horton's claim that "we're family," [7] Dawson shoots him and Horton falls in the river. Horton is next seen in the episode tag, watching MacLeod from a distance and apparently unharmed.
In "Counterfeit" (1994), Horton sets up an elaborated trap to kill MacLeod. He uses Pete Wilder (Martin Cummins) to befriend Richie and make MacLeod suspicious, which spreads discord between the two. At the same time, he has murderer Lisa Halle (Meilani Paul) kidnapped and her appearance altered by plastic surgery so that she looks like MacLeod's deceased lover Tessa. While she recovers from the operation, he muses, "Do you know what true greatness is, Lisa ? Someone who is truly great celebrates in silence. He doesn't hold up his trophy to the world. (...) True greatness is completing a task that others have found impossible. (...) I am going to do something that many have tried and that none have ever achieved and that only a handful have lived to know about. I'm going to destroy Duncan MacLeod. And, every day, to the rest of my life, I'm going to remember and relish it. (...) In a way, it's sad, because whatever else I do, I shall never equal this." [8]
In "Counterfeit Part Two" (1994), Dawson mentions that he and Horton designed the Watcher's computer security system together "to be bullet-proof" and that it uses thumb print to get in. [9] MacLeod rationalizes that Horton might have survived Dawson's shot by wearing a ballistic vest. Horton tries to kill Dawson but Richie takes the bullet instead. Horton waits for Lisa to kill MacLeod on Tessa's grave. Horton enters after hearing a gunshot, tries to behead MacLeod but MacLeod stops him. Horton kills Lisa and runs for his life, but MacLeod catches up with him and kills him.
Horton's character was subject to a number of changes. Hudson commented, "I suddenly found out that he had a daughter and was established in the States and so on. (...) Horton did change, even though it was sometimes more of a brutal change than a revolution." [10] Hudson thought that Horton "had a genuine hatred for the Immortals [and] was an intelligent man. [Hudson] always tried to play him as someone who had definitely had military training. And [Horton] felt that he had a mission, which was to remove the Immortals." [10] Hudson thought that Horton "used Joe whenever it suited him, and there was never any sign of his having any real affection for Joe at all, not any more that he had any real affection for his own daughter." [10] Hudson commented that Horton "got good dialogue." [10]
Executive Script Consultant David Tynan thinks, "Other characters we've killed off, but they weren't dead. Horton would not die. Of course, his brother-in-law, Joe Dawson, was the shakiest gun in the West. He seemed to not be able to hit the guy in any part of the body that would actually kill him. Horton kept surviving." [11] Kirsch believed that Hudson "saw [Horton] as being somebody who was very hostile to what was going on around them. [Horton] doesn't think he's a bad guy." [12] Paonessa agreed that Horton was "on a mission. (...) He cannot stand about this evilness that surrounds him." [13]
The script of "The Hunters" describes Horton as "an imposing man, muscular and intelligent in appearance". [14] Horton was initially supposed to be the villain in only "The Hunters" and "The Watchers". Hudson believed that because those episodes went well, "they wrote me back in a couple more episodes" and that "when they got short of ideas they thought of me again, over the years." Hudson believed that "partly, it was geography because I spend a lot of time in France, anyway," so he was available for filming when production moved to Paris. [10] Paul thought that Hudson "has an amazing stillness about him which has an evil quality to it." [15] Kirsch thought Hudson "was so simple, (...) he would listen to everything and react to everything around him. He never had a preconception of how a scene should be (...) I think that he never liked to play [Horton] because [Hudson] didn't get over it, of being the bad guy, he was just very available." [12] Paonessa thought Hudson "makes it look effortless." [13]
During the shooting of "Counterfeit Part Two", Hudson was injured while filming the scene in the graveyard. He "tripped over a tombstone, fell on the corner of [a] marble tomb, and [he] had the beginning of a collapsed lung." [10] However he did not stop shooting immediately, resulting in a few days' hospital. [10] He had to be replaced by a body double in the scene where MacLeod chases him in the fields. [11] Hudson commented that "You think you're a hero when you're playing somebody like Horton; you forget that you're not really invincible." [10] While Hudson was at the hospital, Adrian Paul took his place off-camera for the scenes Vandernoot had to play with Hudson. [16]
Lettow remembered that there was "not a dry eye in the room" when the producers watched the dailies of the "Armageddon" scene in which Ahriman-Horton offers Dawson his legs back. [17] For the scene in which Horton's head turns into a skull, the only available elements were the images of Horton and of the skull. Paonessa had the idea of adding a series of segments from previous episodes to the transition and Editor Stein Myhrstad spend two hours doing it. [18]
Reviewer Kathie Huddleston of Scifi.com wrote that "Horton's silly plots to get Duncan, first joining with St. Cloud and later using plastic surgery to turn a criminal into a Tessa look-alike, make little sense, but they're fun to watch. He's kidnapping people and using elaborate plans when a sniper, a pretty girl with a gun or one of St. Cloud's gas bombs could do the trick to immobilize Mac long enough for Horton to take a sword to him." [19] Reviewer Abbie Bernstein of Audio Video Revolution thought that "Avatar" "makes excellent use of guest actor Peter Hudson as Ahriman, who’s impersonating MacLeod’s dead foe, the fanatically anti-Immortal Horton." [20] Reviewer Rick Sanchez of IGN wrote that "Horton, one of the Watchers, decides to go rogue and eliminate the immortals so they can't rule over the more fragile folks like you and me. Since this is a television series after all, it turns out that Duncan is the only one who can stop Horton's mad plans and Highlander gets an ongoing villain." [21]
Highlander is a 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.
Duncan MacLeod is a fictional character and the protagonist of Highlander: The Series, which ran for six seasons from 1992 to 1998. The character also starred in two spin-off films, Highlander: Endgame and Highlander: The Source.
Tessa Noël is a fictional character in the television series Highlander: The Series, portrayed by Belgian actor Alexandra Vandernoot. A professional artist and sculptor, Tessa is the lover and confidant of the series protagonist Duncan MacLeod, played by Adrian Paul, an immortal swordsman born centuries before in the Scottish Highlands. In the pilot episode "The Gathering," Tessa is said to have been in a relationship with Duncan for twelve years already and the two co-own MacLeod and Noël Antiques in the fictional city Seacouver, Washington. Alongside Duncan, she is a mentor and friend to young Richie Ryan.
Highlander: The Series is a Canadian-French science fantasy action-adventure television series featuring Duncan MacLeod of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the eponymous "Highlander". It was co-produced by Rysher Distribution in the United States, Gaumont Television in France, Reteitalia in Italy, RTL Plus in Germany, and Amuse Video in Japan. An alternate sequel to the 1986 feature film Highlander, it features a storyline in which the protagonist of that film has not won "the Prize" sought by all Immortals, who still exist post-1985. Christopher Lambert reprised his role as Connor in the pilot episode, which introduced series protagonist Duncan MacLeod, an Immortal who was taken in by the same clan of Scottish Highlanders who had found and raised Connor generations before.
Richie Ryan is a fictional character from Highlander: The Series, portrayed by actor Stan Kirsch. Introduced in the pilot episode "The Gathering" (1992) as a young, quick-talking petty thief, his life changes when he realizes the existence of immortals, people born with an energy called the Quickening that makes them ageless and invincible to injury after they experience the shock of a violent death. These immortals are unable to die permanently unless beheaded. Richie meets Duncan MacLeod, an immortal born centuries ago in the Scottish Highlands. He becomes an apprentice, friend and helper to Duncan and his mortal love Tessa Noël, often providing comic relief and youthful enthusiasm for their adventures.
Joe Dawson is a fictional character in the Highlander franchise, created for the live-action TV show Highlander: The Series. A marine who leaves active service after losing his legs during the Vietnam War, he finds a new calling by joining the order of Watchers, people who record the lives and actions of immortals who secretly live on Earth. His main assignment during the course of the show is to chronicle the life of protagonist Duncan MacLeod, an immortal swordsman born in the Scottish Highlands. When the Highlander learns about the Watchers, he meets Joe and the two eventually become friends. Joe Dawson is portrayed by actor Jim Byrnes.
Amanda is a fictional character in the television series Highlander: The Series and Highlander: The Raven, portrayed by actress Elizabeth Gracen. She is one of the Immortals, immune to old age and death except by taking the head off. Some Immortals play The Game, seeking each other out for a duel to the death, for which the survivor is rewarded with a Quickening.
Highlander: Endgame is a 2000 American fantasy action film directed by Doug Aarniokoski and starring Adrian Paul, Christopher Lambert, Bruce Payne, and Lisa Barbuscia. It is the fourth theatrical release in the Highlander film series and it serves as a continuation of both the Highlander film from 1986 and the Highlander television series. The film reunites Duncan MacLeod, the lead character of the series, and Connor MacLeod, the lead character of the films. In the film, the Macleods need to deal against a new enemy named Jacob Kell, a powerful immortal who is willing to break any rule to win the Prize. This marks Lambert's fifth and final appearance as Connor. Highlander: Endgame was released on September 1, 2000. A stand-alone sequel, Highlander: The Source was released seven years later, with Paul reprising his role.
The Kurgan is a fictional character from the first Highlander film. He is portrayed by Clancy Brown. He is an Immortal, the main antagonist to Connor MacLeod in Highlander, and the latter's ultimate opponent in the Gathering.
In the Highlander franchise, human beings born with the power of "the Quickening" become immortal if they suffer a premature death by unnatural means. After the First Death, they are ageless and invulnerable to death unless their head is removed or destroyed. From the time they are born, immortals and "pre-immortals" cannot biologically have children. Immortals can sense each other's presence and may take Quickening power from another of their kind by beheading them. They duel each other across the centuries, a deadly "Game" with few rules. One day, the last few will fight during "the Gathering" and the survivor will win the Prize, the collected energy of all immortals who ever lived, enough power to conquer or destroy humanity. "In the end, there can be only one."
Darius is a fictional character from Highlander: The Series, portrayed by actor Werner Stocker. He first appeared in the season one episode "Band of Brothers" (1993) and is featured in four subsequent episodes of the same season, as well as in one Highlander novel. A two-thousand-year-old Immortal living as a monk in Paris, France, he is a friend and mentor of protagonist Duncan MacLeod.
Charlie DeSalvo is a fictional character from Highlander: The Series, portrayed by actor Philip Akin. A martial artist and former Navy SEAL, he works with and befriends the series protagonist Duncan MacLeod, an immortal swordsman from the Scottish Highlands. He was introduced in the third episode of the second season, "Turnabout", and was a recurring character throughout season two and three. Like MacLeod's allies Richie Ryan and Joe Dawson, Charlie often aided the Highlander in adventures where they attempted to protect people from criminals and evil forces. In the season four episode "Brothers in Arms", he appeared in his twelfth and final episode.
Hugh Fitzcairn is a fictional character from Highlander: The Series, portrayed by actor and musician Roger Daltrey. An Immortal, he is a friend of protagonist Duncan MacLeod.
Maurice Lalonde is a fictional character from Highlander: The Series, a mortal homeless cook portrayed by actor Michel Modo.
The Watchers are a fictional order of humans who record the lives and activities of immortals in Highlander: The Series and Highlander: The Raven, as well as related stories and movies.
The first season of the international fantasy series Highlander: The Series, part of the Highlander franchise, consisted of 22 episodes produced between 1992 and 1993, and began airing on October 3, 1992 in broadcast syndication. Highlander: The Series follows the adventures of Duncan MacLeod, a 400-year-old Immortal who can only die if he is beheaded; conflict inevitably finds him because he is part of the Gathering, an ongoing battle in which all Immortals have to fight and behead each other until only one is left. The season was released on DVD as a nine-disc boxed set on November 12, 2002 by Anchor Bay Entertainment. It is also available at the online video on demand service Hulu, a joint venture between NBC and Fox Broadcasting Company.
The second season of the international fantasy series Highlander: The Series, part of the Highlander franchise, consists of 22 episodes produced between 1993 and 1994. The first episode of the season aired on September 27, 1993 in broadcast syndication and the last aired on May 23, 1994. The series continues to follow the adventures of Duncan MacLeod, a 400-year-old Immortal who can only die if he is beheaded. MacLeod is involved in the Game, an ongoing battle during which all Immortals have to behead each other until only one is left.
The fourth season of the American drama/adventure television series Highlander began airing 25 September 1995 and finished on 26 May 1996. The series continues to follow the adventures of Duncan MacLeod, a 400-year-old Immortal who can only die if he is beheaded. MacLeod is involved in the Game, an ongoing battle during which all Immortals have to behead each other until only one is left.
The fifth season of the American drama/adventure television series Highlander began airing 23 September 1996 and finished on 19 May 1997. The series continues to follow the adventures of Duncan MacLeod, a 400-year-old Immortal who, just as the Immortals of the movies, can only die if he is beheaded. MacLeod is involved in the Game, an ongoing battle during which all Immortals have to behead each other until only one is left.
The sixth season of the French/Canadian drama/adventure television series Highlander began airing 5 October 1997 and finished on 16 May 1998. It was the final season of the program. The series follows the adventures of Duncan MacLeod, a 400-year-old Immortal who can only die if he is beheaded. The ongoing battle between Immortals is known as the Game.
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