Tessa Noël
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Race | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Hair color | Dark Blonde |
| Eye color | Blue |
| Age | 35 (at time of death) |
| Born in | 1958, France |
| Affiliations | Duncan MacLeod, Richie Ryan |
| Status | Deceased |
| Killed by | Mark Roszca |
| Portrayed by | Alexandra Vandernoot |
| First appearance | The Gathering |
| Seasons | 1, 2, 4, 6 |
Tessa Noël is a fictional character from Highlander: The Series, portrayed by Belgian actress Alexandra Vandernoot.
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[edit] History
Tessa was a sculptor and part-owner of an antique shop called MacLeod & Noël Antiques located in Seacouver, Washington. Her boyfriend, Duncan MacLeod was also the owner of the shop. Duncan was an Immortal who had lived over 400 years, a fact well-known to Tessa, and that there were many such Immortals in the world.
She first met Duncan MacLeod in Paris after he was running away from evil Immortal Christoph Kuyler, and he jumped on the boat she was working as a guide giving Seine tours. For over 10 years, she was the love of Duncan MacLeod's life. She learned about his immortality in 1983. To show her he couldn't die, Duncan made her shoot him in the chest. Tessa was in shock, but realized how lonely an Immortal's life can be. She truly understood Duncan's life but still couldn't accept the Game of Immortals.
One day, Connor came to Duncan to ask him to return to the Game and help good win over evil. Tessa was aghast and disagreed with the immortals' life, and argued with Connor about it. Torn between Tessa's and Connor's points of view, he had to make a decision about his involvement in The Game. Slan Quince, an evil Immortal, challenged Duncan to a duel; because Slan Quince threatened Tessa's life, Duncan accepted his challenge and killed him. After defeating Quince, Duncan was clearly caught up in the Game again.
She welcomed Richie Ryan when he moved in with her and Duncan, and she established herself as an older sister or surrogate mother figure to him. Richie found out about Duncan's immortality, and like Tessa, he became part of his life. She even survived several encounters with other Immortals who tried to use her and threat Duncan MacLeod. Duncan, Tessa and Richie moved to Paris when she was invited to work as curator of a traveling collection for the Paris Bureau of Arts & Monuments. Duncan bought a barge which was located in the Seine river, and they lived there. After some months, following Duncan's Immortal mentor, Darius, death by the hands of The Hunters, they returned to the Seacouver.
She died tragically after being shot by Mark Roszca. The day before, Duncan had proposed to her. Her death had actually been predicted by a local fortune teller, named Greta.
[edit] Fake Tessa
Renegade Watcher and leader of The Hunters James Horton wanted to kill Duncan MacLeod. He knew that Duncan was still in love with Tessa after her death. He wanted to use Duncan's weakness for his dead fiancé by using a female serial killer named Lisa Halle who underwent plastic surgery to resemble Tessa. Duncan was smitten and slept with Lisa because of her likeness to Tessa despite knowing that Horton was playing dirty by using Tessa's memory against him, and finally faced Horton. Lisa was also killed by Horton when she tried to save Duncan. Duncan had to let go of "Tessa" once and for all.
[edit] Alternative Tessa
In an alternative universe where Duncan was never born, Tessa was alive but led an unhappy married life. She had an affair with Duncan, but still felt miserable. In the end, Duncan decided to accept her death.
[edit] Personality
She was beautiful, strong, loving, intelligent, loyal and an independent woman. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Even when she had to face Immortals, she could defend herself in any means necessary. She may not have been an Immortal nor have knowledge in any martial arts, but she could take care of herself.
[edit] Appearances
Episodes - The Gathering, Family Tree, The Road Not Taken, Innocent Man, Free Fall, Bad Day in Building A, Mountain Men, Deadly Medicine, The Sea Witch, Revenge is Sweet, See No Evil, Eyewitness, Band of Brothers, For Evil's Sake, For Tomorrow We Die, The Beast Below, Saving Grace, Lady and the Tiger, Eye of the Beholder, Avenging Angel, Nowhere to Run, The Hunters, The Watchers, Studies In Light,Turnabout, The Darkness, Counterfeit Part 2, Leader of the Pack, To Be, Not To Be
[edit] Trivia
- She attended the Sorbonne, in Paris.
- She drove a white four-door Mercedes convertible in Seacouver.
- After her character's death in "The Darkness", Alexandra Vandernoot appeared in five more episodes of the series: she appeared at the end of "Counterfeit" playing Lisa Halle, the "Fake Tessa", a role that would continue in "Counterfeit Part 2"; in that episode she would also played Tessa in a flashback scene; in "Leader of the Pack" an extended scene of her death was shown with unseen footage of Tessa after her death; finally, in the series double episode series finale ("To Be" and "Not To Be") she played Tessa in an alternative life where Duncan was never born.
[edit] Quotes
- "Please ! Don't say anything in front of the lady ! Let me just go in the next room and crochet, while you have cigars and brandy and talk about beheadings !"
- "And you didn't think it was important enough to mention."
- "I'm an artist. I'm supposed to have this tremendous imagination. But who could imagine this ?"
- "Richie ! The whole world cannot revolve around your hormone level !"
[edit] External links
- Highlander: The Series at the Internet Movie Database
- The Nitpicker's Guide to Highlander
- Highlander Page for Beginners
- The shows & movies summed up
- Highlander Watcher Chronicles - Fan page of the series
