Hugh Fitzcairn
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| Hugh Fitzcairn | |
|---|---|
| Highlander character | |
 | |
| First appearance | "The Hunters" |
| Portrayed by | Roger Daltrey |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | male |
| Born | c. 1190, Sussex, England[1] |
| Immortality | 1224[1] |
| Death | 1995 (aged 804-805)[1] |
| Teacher | Henry Fitzmartin[1] |
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.
Fitzcairn is introduced in the season one finale episode "The Hunters" (1993) as a ladies' man and bon vivant; he is first seen entering MacLeod's barge while MacLeod and his girlfriend Tessa Noël are sleeping together, and tells Tessa, "Forgive me, my Lady... (...) Hugh Fitzcairn... I was so taken with your loveliness."[2] Fitzcairn is actually worried about fellow Immortals disappearing unexpectedly. Darius is the next one, found beheaded in his chapel by MacLeod and Fitzcairn. While investigating, Fitzcairn is abducted by Darius' killers, the Hunters, led by James Horton, who tells him, "you are an abomination before nature and in the eyes of man."[2] Even prisoner, Fitzcairn retorts, "You know, you really should do something about that temper of yours. One of these days it's going to get you in terrible trouble."[2] Fitzcairn is fastened to a guillotine but MacLeod saves him at the last minute and Fitzcairn tells him, "The women of the world thank you, my friend."[2] This episode also reveals that while Fitzcairn and MacLeod were in service to Duke diMilano in Italy in 1639,[1] they first noticed the Watcher symbol that a Watcher disguised as a beggar wore on a pendant.
History
Born in 1190 in Sussex, England, as a latent Immortal, Hugh Fitzcairn's first death in 1224 summed up his habit of getting himself into sticky situations over women: he was skewered by a jealous husband. He was first taught in the ways of the Immortal by Henry Fitzmartin. Fitzmartin either shared Hugh's exuberant ladies' man nature or spent his time exasperated by the young man. Fitz was a carefree well endowed man. Well loved by his friends, among them Duncan MacLeod, he was the life of every party and could charm any lady in the room.
Fitz was also a friend of Connor MacLeod and Darius. He flirted with a Montague woman named Selene, who was involved with Connor at the time, and called Connor a "renegade who would break her heart". Connor was so angry at Fitz, he refused to attend Robert and Gina DeValicourt's wedding, a decade later. Centuries later, he helped Duncan with Connor's recovery from a Dark Quickening, in early 1987. Fitz spoke fondly of "Brother Darius", and remarked to Duncan, that he had been one of the best Immortals.
In 1720 Fitz tried to copy the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 by assassinating King George I whom he regarded as a usurper. He was loyal to the House of Stuart at the time and remained a Roman Catholic in resistance to the Protestant Reformation. Duncan MacLeod inadvertently foiled the assassination attempt as he was trying to steal the Stone of Scone at the same time. ("Stone of Scone").
He was killed in 1995 by Antonius Kalas, who was on personal vendetta against MacLeod, whose objectives were to kill MacLeod's friends and later MacLeod himself. "Fitz" would be avenged by MacLeod when he killed Kalas. He will always be remembered for his carefree, romantic style. Mostly Duncan, with whom he shared innumerous adventures, going from a golf bet with MacLeod where he was found to be cheating and profusely denied it, to the theft of the Stone of Scone, the stone on which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned.
Characterization
Fitzcairn thinks of himself as "kind and brave".[2] The script of "The Hunters" says he is "no slouch"[3] at sword fight. He appreciates mead, "the honeyed nectar of the gods."[2] The Watcher Chronicles say of him, "Athos, Porthos and Aramis all rolled into one. (...) Although occasionally his loyalty to the women in his life lasted only until the next light of his pipe, he was tenaciously loyal to his friends. (...) Fitzcairn believed there was no greater goal in life than love, and it was the only thing worth dying for."[1] The Chronicle article about his sword states, "Fitzcairn was a man of impeccable taste with an exaggerated sense of style, who adopted the most fashionable sword of any period. (...) The cup-hilt rapier seemed to suit his swashbuckling personality and flair for the dramatic."[4]
