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Johnny Kelly
Johnnykelly
Appeared in Highlander: The Series, in the Season Five episode Glory Days
Statistics
Name Johnny Kelly
Aliases Johnny K
Born 1910, in New York City
First Death 1929, shot by a bootlegger
Teachers Duncan MacLeod
Origin American
Watchers Joe Dawson
Status Deceased, 1996, beheaded by Duncan MacLeod
Occupation Assassin
Portrayed by  Ian Tracey

Johnny Kelly was born in New York City in 1910, a neighborhood kid growing up during prohibition, who had dreams of being something big. He wanted to be like Al Capone and some of the other big name gangsters. As a pre-Immortal, he worked for a bootlegger, Gino DiGennaro, running numbers and booze. MacLeod met Johnny while playing poker with Gino. Johnny went outside to get more whiskey for Gino, and saw a hit go down. The cops interrogated Johnny and he told them nothing. Johnny then told Duncan to tell Gino that he quit.

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Johnny and Duncan, 1929

Later that night, he went to a rival bootlegger, and offered to join his organization, but instead gets shot. The rival gang then dumped Johnny's body in front of Gino's place, and Duncan sensed the new Immortal and went outside to wait for Johnny's revival to complete. Duncan then told Johnny what he was and what the rules were. He was ready to take Johnny as his pupil, but the new immortal didn't care about the rules, he just wanted revenge. Johnny makes his first hit on the man who had killed him, making $3,000.

Over the years, Johnny learned how to use a sword by watching pirate movies, while he continued working as an assassin. As the years passed he began demanding and getting $200,000 a hit, and became a master of disguise.

In 1996, Johnny went to the corporate headquarters of a businessman,  wearing artificial legs to make him look taller. Johnny killed his mark and escaped, took off his disguise in the elevator, put on street clothes, and left the building riding a skateboard.

Johnny was at his storage unit in a warehouse when he saw Duncan MacLeod again. Since MacLeod could ID him, Johnny shot Duncan in the back and was about to take his head, when two men arrived in the elevator and Johnny ran off. Later, Johnny tried to kill Duncan with a bomb planted in the trailer where he had been staying, but Duncan escaped.

Johnny later phoned Duncan who said that he would pay Johnny to target someone else, offering him $100,000. Johnny said he'd consider it, and they set a meet in  a church. There, Johnny told Duncan that his hit list numbered 249 people and no one knew his face.  MacLeod and Joe Dawson had set Johnny up in order to get his photo, and as Johnny stepped outside the Church, Joe, posing as a photographer for the wedding which had just ended, took pictures of Johnny.

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Johnny fights Mac

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The next day, Johnny was disguised as a hot dog vendor, and about to do a hit. He sees pictures of himself plastered up all over town, which ended the anonymity so necessary for an assassin. Johnny called Duncan and told him he was a dead man. Johnny tried to shoot Duncan with a rifle but hit a dummy which MacLeod had set up as a target. Johnny then sensed the presence of another Immortal, as MacLeod approached him. He and MacLeod faced off, but a man who learned fencing by watching pirate movies was no match for MacLeod, who defeated him and received his Quickening.

Weapon[]

Kelly used an Italian style broadsword.  According to Rudy Bryant, Watchers Associate Curator for Bladed Weapons When you learn how to sword fight from pirate movies, it makes sense that a pirate sword is what you'll fight with. This Italian-style broadsword is of an interesting design. It has a guard similar to a rapier...of course...Johnny K was prone to shooting first and taking heads later." During his fight with MacLeod, he used at least two auxiliary weapons; a stun gun and a Bowie knife. While the use of similar auxiliary weapons are used in many forms of martial arts across the world, Johnny's use was less a form of technique so much as an underhanded surprise attack. He showed a disregard for any form of the honor in battle even some of the evil immortals show. As he was effectively raised by gangsters, this is no surprise.

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