Are all Immortals foundlings?

[Darth Reaper]

Well, I figure there's no harm in responding to this. Hopefully, someone will notice.

The idea might have been that all Immortals are foundlings, but personally I don't think it has to be that way. I think it would be perfectly acceptable to say that Immortals are born to human parents, and some mysterious twist of fate causes them to be born with latent immortality while most aren't.

If anything, I think that keeps the concept a bit more down-to-earth, rather than just having them appear out of nowhere for someone to find.

[dubiousbystander]

Well, I figure there's no harm in responding to this. Hopefully, someone will notice.

The idea might have been that all Immortals are foundlings, but personally I don't think it has to be that way. I think it would be perfectly acceptable to say that Immortals are born to human parents, and some mysterious twist of fate causes them to be born with latent immortality while most aren't.

If anything, I think that keeps the concept a bit more down-to-earth, rather than just having them appear out of nowhere for someone to find.

That would be fine for a new series trying to tie people to it by using the Highlander name, you know as BSG did. It would be no good to try and say (which some would) that it's actually what was going on in the original series. However, at the same time that's pretty much what was going on in Forever. That's what's going on in the book by James Gunn, The Immortals, and subsequent TV shows based off of it. The problem for me would be that it takes the concept down-to-earth, rather than "makes". It removes one of the unique points. Of course, they've been trying to remove Highlander's unique points, especially "There can be only one".

[Ceridwen]

The idea might have been that all Immortals are foundlings, but personally I don't think it has to be that way. I think it would be perfectly acceptable to say that Immortals are born to human parents, and some mysterious twist of fate causes them to be born with latent immortality while most aren't.

It did not seem to be the idea in the original movie, it only became a thing in the series. I've never seen the sense in the ALL foundling theory, Immortality can be likened to a genetic mutation. Just as some people are born with heterochromia, it's extremely rare, just so some people are born with latent immortality. It's just that easy, having them be alien or fairies changelings, or whatever adds a lever of silly that just doesn't need to be there. And before the creation of latex, of course there were loads of mysterious foundlings, every unmarried girl who got knocked up had to have a story as to where that kid came from.

[Darth Reaper]

Personally, I'm fine with the idea that Immortals are born to mortal parents just like everyone else. Some of those children are abandoned by their parents for one reason or another and some of them aren't. Connor Macleod was raised by his birth parents, while Duncan was abandoned. It's simple and I think it works.

Sadly, I suspect that if you could look back at every single human being who has ever lived, you'd find A LOT of children being abandoned, particularly back in the earlier days of human history, when day to day life was harder.

[dubiousbystander]

It's too heavily in the TV series that all Immortals are foundlings, no way to track the parents. Modern day, that would be nearly impossible. If the mothers die of their births, there would be trail of corpses. If they're just abandoned, since we know a few from Seacouver born during the 70s, they could have been tracked. It's a point of the series. A point written into their bible. No one knows where they come from. No one. That can only hold if there is no way to easily connect their biological parents. Furthermore, of course if they're born from mortal parents, there would be siblings. There would be siblings within the same age group. Of course, also, that leads to my running joke that Connor MacLeod and Jacob Kell are probably twin brothers.

[Darth Reaper]

It's too heavily in the TV series that all Immortals are foundlings, no way to track the parents. Modern day, that would be nearly impossible. If the mothers die of their births, there would be trail of corpses. If they're just abandoned, since we know a few from Seacouver born during the 70s, they could have been tracked. It's a point of the series. A point written into their bible. No one knows where they come from. No one. That can only hold if there is no way to easily connect their biological parents.

Connor Macleod won The Prize in the original movie and ended The Game. Then, they rewrote history for the TV series so that was no longer the case. They can do that again for a new series so that not all Immortals are foundlings.

If They're just abandoned, since we know a few from Seacouver born during the 70's, they could have been tracked.

I don't think it's always that easy. If somebody just leaves their baby on someone's doorstep and makes a run for it, how do you track them? And, the further back in time you go, the harder it would become.

Furthermore, of course if they're born from mortal parents, there would be siblings. There would be siblings within the same age group. Of course, also, that leads to my running joke that Connor MacLeod and Jacob Kell are probably twin brothers.

Not necessarily. Not all people have multiple children. Some choose to have only one child. And, some have a hard time having children period. Perhaps, the same circumstances that lead a woman to have a Pre-Immortal child also make it difficult for her to have more children.

And, of course, if the pregnancy was unplanned and unwanted, that increases the odds that the parents wouldn't be in a hurry to have more kids.

Then again, it could be interesting to tell the story of an Immortal who had siblings and watched his or her family line progress through several generations.

[dubiousbystander]

Connor Macleod won The Prize in the original movie and ended The Game. Then, they rewrote history for the TV series so that was no longer the case. They can do that again for a new series so that not all Immortals are foundlings.

Yes. That would be a new series. One using the Highlander name to draw an audience, and hopefully giving quality.

Then again, it could be interesting to tell the story of an Immortal who had siblings and watched his or her family line progress through several generations.

Queen of the Damned, by Anne Rice. Lots of other stories.

All of that is very good, and would work fine for a new series where they change the paradigm.

Just remember this lesson:
According to producer Bill Panzer, the idea of exploring the origins of the Immortals was a result of fans constantly asking about it after the 1986 original. “The question we were most asked by fans after the first film was, 'Where did the immortals come from?'” he told Video Watchdog. “It made sense to answer that question in the second film. What we didn't realize at the time was that the fans didn't really want to know their ... origins because then the romanticism and mystery of the story was stripped away." Good job, fans.

[Darth Reaper]

Just remember this lesson:
According to producer Bill Panzer, the idea of exploring the origins of the Immortals was a result of fans constantly asking about it after the 1986 original. “The question we were most asked by fans after the first film was, 'Where did the immortals come from?'” he told Video Watchdog. “It made sense to answer that question in the second film. What we didn't realize at the time was that the fans didn't really want to know their ... origins because then the romanticism and mystery of the story was stripped away." Good job, fans.

Saying that Immortals are born to mortal parents doesn't really strip them of much of their mystery since it leaves a great many questions appropriately unanswered.

[dubiousbystander]

Saying that Immortals are born to mortal parents doesn't really strip them of much of their mystery since it leaves a great many questions appropriately unanswered.

If you try and apply it retroactively to the 1992 series, it's crippling. If they use it in a reboot, that's their prerogative.