4. Duncan MacLeod - The Highlander
The Highlander TV show is undoubtedly one of the top two instalments in the franchise. I would not go so far to say its better than the original film, but this hit and miss series is head and shoulders above any of the sequels. Throughout the run of the show we followed life of Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod, in both the past and the then present 1990s. Of course an immortal is cursed to suffer great loss, but by the end of the series, Macs life was a sad, pathetic mess. Over the course of the show we watched as he suffered loss after loss and it didnt get any better by the time the series ended. We first met Duncan in the pilot of the show, he runs into his clansman, and the films protagonist Connor MacLeod and it is clear the Duncan has the life that Connor wants. He stays out of the game, runs a business and has a happy relationship with his girlfriend Tessa. Perhaps Connor is something of a curse, because his arrival drew Duncan back into the game and sparked the misery that would ensue. In the following years, Tessa was killed in a random mugging- Mac felt personally betrayed by the revelation of his friend Methos horrific past- and he suffered further loss upon the death of his mortal confidant Charlie. The worst however, was still to come. Richie Ryan was a young man that Duncan took under his wing, he was shot in the same mugging that claimed the life of Tessa, but he was revealed to be an immortal and their bond was further solidified. Richie was Duncans Robin and he moulded him into a decent and capable man. A friendship that could have lasted centuries came to a short, abrupt and shocking end, when Duncan was tricked into beheading Richie in the fifth season finale. It came out of nowhere and was the final nail in the coffin of the Duncan MacLeod from the years of the show. Duncan in the sixth and final season was a broken man, a shadow of what he had been during his time with Tessa. In the finale he walks away from his friends- disillusioned with what the game has done to his life- yet knowing he is destined to live on, for that is the curse of an immortal.