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Annie Devlin was an Immortal, seen on Highlander: The Series, and featured in the novel Highlander: Scotland the Brave.
Early Life[]
Ann Elizabeth Deane was a foundling, born in 1855 in Dublin, Ireland. She was adopted by Mary Deane, a member of the Ladies’ Land League, a social activist group opposed to the mistreatment of native Irish tenants by their English landlords.
Her adoptive mother’s hatred of the English infected her for the rest of her natural life.
Immortality and MacLeod[]
In October 1881, she suffered her First Death at a women’s rights rally in Dublin, Ireland. She was bayoneted by British police moments after her adoptive mother, Mary Deane, was shot down. The Immortal, Hugh O'Neill, then took her in, and taught Deane the rules of The Game and Immortality. The two eventually become lovers.
She first met Duncan MacLeod in Ireland in 1919, with her then husband, Kerry Devlin. Already fighting for the cause of Irish independence from English rule, despite MacLeod's admonitions that it wasn't her cause to begin with, she was still eager to recruit the Highlander.
A surprise attack, however, cut her sermon short, and took the life of her husband. When MacLeod helped her to escape to a boat on the shore, she refused to go further. She intended to avenge her husband and free Ireland, becoming more determined as each mortal fell to her cause.
Later Years[]
For seventy years, she fought a guerrilla campaign against the English government, creating her own little band of terrorists, now using Kerry's surname as her own. At some point in the late 20th century, she also met and married her second mortal husband, Tommy Harrigan.
In November 1993, attempting to deal a decisive blow to gather attention to her cause, she carried out an assassination attempt on the British ambassador to America, who was then in Seacouver. The attack went as planned, until two strangers got in the way: Duncan MacLeod, and his newest protege, Richie Ryan.
In the ensuing firefight, Richie grappled with her, but not before she fired a random burst of gunfire. To her horror, her bullets struck and killed her husband, Tommy. As police arrived on the scene, and took her into custody, she called out a Gaelic code-word to her team, signifying a rendezvous at a lighthouse. She swore she would see Richie dead by her hands, blaming him for the death of Tommy despite the fact it had been her shot that killed him.
She sat through hours of interrogation by police and an Irish liaison-officer, then, in a wild rush, she hurled herself out of the interrogation room's window, falling several stories to her "death" below. Reviving in the morgue, she easily dispatched the coroner, departing with her personal effects. Free of police scrutiny, she sought out her teammates, and prepared an ambush for Richie.
When the unsuspecting young Immortal picked up his new motorcycle, he found himself herded into an abandoned warehouse by her henchmen. She herself struck the first blow, first knocking Richie from the bike, then pummeling him with a flurry of punches and kicks, before drawing her blade for the kill. Richie, however, having been trained by MacLeod, was able to spring back on his cycle, and made a daring jump through the warehouse window to freedom.
Later, at the lighthouse, MacLeod came calling. Over a bottle of Irish whiskey, he appealed to her better nature, preaching the pointlessness of her cause. When the shouting match was over, and an unexpected tryst ensued, Annie still remained unconvinced. MacLeod left with a warning: to face Richie, she would have to go through him.
Annie challenges Richie
Richie, however, showed up to the lighthouse the next day, having decided to settle the matter himself. Accepting her challenge, he drew his sword and attacked. She was quick to counter his opening moves, driving him down towards the rocks and the water. As Richie became more and more agitated, she unleashed her signature move: luring Richie into a lateral cut, she drove her blade downward, pinning Richie's sword and leaving his head exposed. Richie then unleashed a trap of his own, devised by his teacher: he stepped back and enveloped hers blade, then swept her sword out of her hands. At the last instant, however, Richie lowered his own sword, and walked away. MacLeod stepped foreword and declared the matter settled, the blood debt had been paid, she had her life. Chastened, she walked away, returning to Ireland.
Final Death[]
In 1996, they met again when, in the course of the novel, Scotland the Brave, she was duped by another Immortal, James Douglas, who had been hunting MacLeod for almost 200 years, and she challenged the Highlander. After he reluctantly took her head, he was vulnerable to attack, exactly as his enemy had planned. However, Douglas himself soon met his end at the hands of the Highlander.
Personality[]
She was fiercely loyal, devoted, and utterly fanatical. She was possessed of a temper, and carried a chip on her shoulder. Like MacLeod, she was not afraid to love mortals, but unlike him, she was unable to control her grief at their inevitable loss. She had an Immortal's patience, however, and knew how to use her gifts to her advantage.
Fighting Style[]
She was well versed in swords, small arms, and explosives. Her blade of choice was a Duke of Alba short sword, which she used well. Her one fatal flaw was her reliance on a feint-and-trap move which could pin her opponent's blade, but which also had a counter that could disarm her.
Trivia[]
- Annie Devlin was Irish, but the actress who played her, Sheena Easton, is Scottish, and another of the pop stars that served as guest on the series.