Immortal (Highlander) - First Death

First Death

According to Panzer, Immortals "carry within them the seed of their immortality which is triggered by a non-natural death." In the movie Endgame, it's established that without a violent first death to trigger their Immortality, pre-immortals will age and die as other humans. According to the Watcher CD, "non-natural" and "violent" death are not due solely to weapons. Physical trauma (car crashes, falling off a cliff, runaway carts) can trigger immortality. So too does being struck by lightning (Sharon Collins), burning (Angelina de Valincourt), hanging (Grace Chandel and Kenneth), poisoning (Caroline Mortimer, Carlos Sendaro, Mei-Ling), and excessive alcohol consumption (Timon). Although death by disease is not "natural", being caused by outside agents, and the symptoms before death can be physically traumatic, it is not listed as a trigger for immortality.

Duncan MacLeod explains this to Felicia Martins in the Highlander: The Series episode "Free Fall"; he says, "It's only when we die that we become Immortal." They come back to life some time later, fully healed. This is called the First Death. Most Immortals feel their resurrection is a miracle. In "Avenging Angel", Duncan MacLeod comments, "That's what we all say... the first time."

Mortals usually react violently when they witness reviving from a First Death; Connor MacLeod was banished from his clan for witchcraft in 1536, and this had become legendary in Duncan MacLeod's time 1592, which he recalls (likely referring to Connor), "When I was growing up there was a legend in my clan about a strange man in my grandfather's time. He was killed in battle and then miraculously revived. (...) I thought it was an old wives tale."

New Immortals are vulnerable because they do not know about the Game and they can get beheaded before they learn what they are. Immortal reactions to their first deaths vary - one character in the original Highlander TV series becomes excited and begins performing death defying stunts from the sheer thrill of knowing that he can't die. Nick Wolfe, from the spin-off series Highlander: The Raven, however, reacts angrily, not wanting to have become Immortal, knowing the dangerous lives they lead and regarding it more than anything else as a curse.