OUTLANDER's Dougal MacKenzie Is the Biggest BAMF on TV

Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for all 6 previously aired episodes of Outlander.

If you aren’t watching Outlander yet, you should be. Yes, it’s basically a historical romance, but most historical romances don’t have disturbingly graphic flogging scenes like the one we saw on Saturday. Good hell, that was awful. Also, there is time travel, so it’s a fantasy historical romance. Plus, it’s about tension betweens Scots and the English, and that is very on trend. There are a lot of reasons to watch, but as time goes by and the show gets better and better, Dougal MacKenzie has become my absolute favorite thing on any TV show ever.

Played by Graham McTavish, Dougal MacKenzie is the image of the tough, rugged highlander. He is large and physically imposing, bald and bearded, with a strong nose and craggy features, plus a jawline that could cut glass. This is the leader of a highland clan. Only, he’s not. His brother Colum is the MacKenzie. Dougal is the War Chieftain, subordinate to his brother. The dynamic between the brothers is one of the most interesting things on the show because it is all subtext. Dougal is the stereotypical strong warrior, while Colum is sickly and bookish. But don’t think that makes Colum weak because he is tough as nails, and his brother is properly allegiant, even if he sometimes bristles at his secondary position. When Dougal vows loyalty to his brother in episode 4 everything is tense, but nothing is spoken.

Since the second episode, Dougal has been a consistent antagonist for Claire, a thorn in her side who knows she is lying about where she comes from (although, to be fair, even Jamie thinks Claire is lying, because she is), thinks she is probably an English spy, and has her followed day and night. He also might be using his side-piece Geillis to pretend to be Claire’s friend to pump her for information (that is total speculation and only half of my Geillis theory). He is a pretty formidable foe, and Claire has never felt quite safe around him. Until episode 4, “The Gathering,” in which Claire wins Dougal’s respect and gratitude when she comforts his old friend Geordie as he bleeds out after being gored by a boar. Dougal took the opportunity to tell Geordie that he had, in fact, fucked his sister. It’s a really sweet moment, and an important shift in their relationship. Although they are unlikely to ever be friends, her horrific encounter with Black Jack Randall in the most recent episode has shown that Dougal is actually Claire’s protector, and a ferocious one at that.

Here is an incomplete* list of Dougal’s badassery:

• When we first meet Dougal he shuts down his sexually menacing soldiers by telling them that he doesn’t hold with rape, and “we don’t have time for it anyway.”
• He gets most of the best lines. After Claire helps his sickly brother he tells her, “Seems that the feral cat we found on the road is trying to pull in her claws.” He seems to expect her to see this as a compliment.
• He intercepts Claire when she is trying to escape, saves her from sexual assault, tries to assault her himself, comes to his senses after she knees him in the groin, and tells her to run from him. I don’t know. Dougal contains multitudes?
• The aforementioned statement about Geordie’s sister. “Aye, I did bed her. But you know, she was a bonny lass.”
• Just before that, while looking for Claire to medic Geordie, he saves her from being gored herself with the crackest shot I’ve ever seen with an 18th century gun. Then he takes a minute to glower at her.
• When he wanted to put Jamie in his place, he joined a game of Shinty already in progress, and seemingly without regard to teams or sides, just started beating people with his stick.
• Claire wins his respect when it is clear she’s “seen men die before. And of violence.” Basically, game recognizes game.
• He brings a woman he believes is an English spy with him on the road and then actively commits acts of treason against the English crown right in front of her. 
• In a room full of English officers, he challenges one to a fight. “You pull that needle and we’ll see who pricks it.” Also he throws out insults of all kinds without rising to whatever they throw back at him.
• He threatens Captain Randall with war if he doesn’t release Claire, even though he still kind of thinks she’s a spy and definitely isn’t ready for war with the English. Yet.
• While he finally believes Claire when she says she isn’t a spy, he totally would have sliced her up if he thought she wasn’t telling the truth. He didn’t want to, though, because she’s “a handsome woman.”
• When he tells Claire that she has to marry a Scotsman, she assumes he means himself. “Well, I must admit the idea of grinding your corn does tickle me, but it's not myself I'd be nominating for the position.”

So there you go. No wonder some fans are shipping Claire and Dougal.

Here's the Shinty scene:

*Incomplete because an exhaustive list would just be everything he's ever done.