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Firefly is an American space Western science fiction television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The series is set in the year 2517, when humans are living a new star system, and follows the adventures of the renegade crew of Serenity, a "Firefly-class" spaceship. The ensemble cast portrays the nine characters who live on Serenity: Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), first mate Zoe Washburne (Gina Torres), pilot Hoban "Wash" Washburne (Alan Tudyk), Companion Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin), mercenary Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin), mechanic Kaylee Frye (Jewel Staite) fugitives Dr. Simon Tam (Sean Maher) who serves as medic and his sister River Tam (Summer Glau), and preacher Shepherd Derrial Book (Ron Glass).

Main characters
The series features an ensemble cast of characters who live aboard Serenity, the titular Firefly-class spaceship. Six of the characters became residents aboard the ship prior to the series: Captain Malcolm Reynolds, first mate Zoe Washburne, pilot Hoban "Wash" Washburne, Companion Inara Serra, mercenary Jayne Cobb, and mechanic Kaylee Frye. In the pilot episode, the remaining three main characters—trauma surgeon Dr. Simon Tam, his sister River Tam, and preacher Shepherd Derrial Book—board the ship and join the crew. All nine characters appear throughout the Serenity comics published by Dark Horse Comics and in the continuation film Serenity.

Malcolm Reynolds
Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) is the owner and captain of Serenity. He volunteered to fight for the Browncoats during the Unification War. He held the rank of sergeant and, according to Whedon on the film's DVD commentary, was promoted in the field to captain. He and Zoe Washburne became close during the War and are the only two members of their squadron to survive the Battle of Serenity Valley. To remain free from Alliance law, he purchased a secondhand Firefly-class spaceship, which he named Serenity, and turned to smuggling and other illegal activity. He eventually accumulates a crew, which Fillion notes he keeps close because each member comes to represent a part of himself he lost during the War. Mal claims to have little interest in the kinds of jobs he completes or who he works for, and he states that he is only interested in pay. However, he also displays a reluctance to hurt innocent bystanders during a job, exemplified by his decision to return medicine to an ailing community and draw the ire of a feared crime lord.

Mal's desire for Inara Serra is a recurring subplot throughout the series. Their relationship is often confrontational; Mal enters her shuttle without her permission, and he degrades her work by referring to her as a whore. Despite their antagonism, Mal keeps a photo of her after she leaves the ship and she proves an effective lure for Mal during an attempt to trap him. By the events of the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic, set roughly nine months after the film, the pair have begun a sexual and romantic relationship.

Zoe Washburne
Zoe Washburne née Alleyne (Gina Torres) is the first mate of Serenity and wife of pilot Hoban Washburne. She is a Browncoat veteran of the Unification War, and she and Malcolm Reynolds became close during the War and are the only members of their squadron to survive the Battle of Serenity Valley. She gives birth to Wash's daughter in the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic.

Hoban Washburne
Hoban "Wash" Washburne (Alan Tudyk) is the pilot of Serenity and husband of first mate Zoe Washburne. He is killed by Reavers in the Serenity film, and the surviving crew erect a memorial to him in the film's conclusion. Zoe gives birth to his daughter Emma in the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic.

Inara Serra
Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin) is a Companion renting a shuttle aboard Serenity. She announces in "Heart of Gold" that she is leaving the ship, and she finally departs to join a Training House located outside the Core to train future Companions in the Serenity: Those Left Behind comic title. She is still at this Training House in the Serenity film. The Operative visits her and uses her as a lure to trap Mal Reynolds, but she and Mal escape. At the film's conclusion, she decides that she will remain on Serenity.

Inara's desire for Mal is a recurring subplot throughout the series. Their relationship is often confrontational; Mal enters her shuttle without her permission, and he degrades her work by referring to her as a whore. Despite their antagonism, Inara is deeply hurt when he has a one-night stand with her friend Nandi. By the events of the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic, set roughly nine months after the film, the pair have begun a sexual and romantic relationship.

Jayne Cobb
Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin) is a mercenary. Before the events of the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic, Jayne leaves the Serenity because he dislikes Mal's decision to remain on the run and in hiding. Jayne instead spends his time making guerrilla attacks against the Alliance for profit. In the title's first and second issues, he accepts a hefty payment from Bea and the New Resistance for his services in locating Mal. Despite Mal's disappointment in Jayne's behavior, Jayne remains with the crew at the conclusion of the comic.

Kaylee Frye
Kaywinnet Lee "Kaylee" Frye (Jewel Staite) is the mechanic of Serenity.

Kaylee's budding romantic relationship with Simon is a recurring subplot throughout the series, though at every turn Simon seems to find a way to unwittingly foil his own attempts at romance. During the film, he confesses to Kaylee, "My one regret in all of this is never being with you," and the pair consummate their relationship at the film's conclusion. Their relationship continues through the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic, set roughly nine months after the film.

Simon Tam
Dr. Simon Tam (Sean Maher) is the medic of Serenity and older brother of River Tam. He is a federal fugitive running from the Alliance government after breaking River out of a top secret government research facility. Before boarding Serenity, he lived as a wealthy resident of the Core planet Osiris, where he enjoyed a privileged upbringing with access to the best education. He graduated top three percent of his class at a top medical school, and he was working as a resident trauma surgeon. After River entered the Academy, he received puzzling letters from her and grew suspicious. He sacrificed a highly successful future, over his stern father's severe objections with the knowledge that it may harm his family's social standing, to rescue her. Simon's life is defined by caring for his sister, and he states his mission to be keeping her safe and figuring out what the Alliance had done to her. His devotion to her safety compels him to finally leave the ship in the Serenity film, though he and River are quickly forced to return.

Though he is initially unwelcome aboard the ship because his and River's fugitive status burdens the Serenity crew, Simon comes to be a valued member of the crew. Despite this, Simon develops a belligerent relationship with Jayne Cobb, who expresses his dislike of Simon and even attempts to sell the siblings back to the Alliance government. Upon learning of Jayne's failed betrayal, Simon emphasizes that he has no intention of retribution and reiterates that Jayne will always be safe on his surgical table.

Simon's bumbling attempts at a romantic relationship with Kaylee are a recurring subplot throughout the series, and at every turn he seems to find a way to unwittingly foil his own attempts at romance. During the film, he confesses to Kaylee, "My one regret in all of this is never being with you," and the pair consummate their relationship at the film's conclusion. Their relationship continues through the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic, set roughly nine months after the film.

River Tam
River Tam (Summer Glau) is the teenage younger sister of Simon Tam.

Derrial Book
Shepherd Derrial Book (Ron Glass) is a preacher from the Southdown Abbey. He acts as the crew's moral and spiritual guide, and he also advises them in strategic matters. In the Serenity: Those Left Behind comic, he announces that he is leaving the crew over concerns that their lifestyle is changing him into a man who is unbothered by violence. By the events of the film, Book is a member of a mining community on Haven, from where he offers shelter and advice to the crew. He is killed by the Alliance during the Operative's attempt to leave Serenity no place to hide. The crew erect a memorial to him in the film's conclusion.

His life before becoming a Shepherd is a recurring subplot throughout the series. His combat ability, familiarity with crime and the criminal underworld, knowledge of the methods of Alliance government operatives, and the access to Alliance facilities his identification card allows him raises suspicions in the crew, but Book is unwilling to discuss the details of his past. The Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale comic reveals that he was born Henry Evans and after escaping his abusive alcoholic father as a teenager, he turns to crime. He becomes belligerent and violent, and he incites fights for the sake of fighting. He kills and steals the identity of Derrial Book and becomes a mole for the Browncoats from within the Alliance army during the Unification War. However, he is disinterested in who wins the war. After his reckless desire to win a battle causes significant unnecessary casualties, he is stripped of his rank and discharged. A subsequent revelation pushes him to join an abbey.

Badger
Badger (Mark Sheppard) an established smuggling middleman on the planet Persephone. He appears in the episodes "Serenity" and "Shindig" and reappears in the Those Left Behind comic title.

Lawrence Dobson
Lawrence Dobson (Carlos Jacott) is an undercover Alliance federal agent pursuing siblings Simon and River Tam. In the pilot episode, he boards Serenity on the planet Persephone as a passenger and attempts to arrest Simon en route to the planet Whitefall. Though captain Malcolm Reynolds is initially supportive of the attempt, He opposes Dobson when Dobson intends to arrest the crew too for knowingly transporting federal fugitives across planetary borders, a false charge as the crew is unaware the Tam siblings are fugitives. He is eventually tied up in the passenger quarters. After the ship lands in a wasteland on Whitefall, he escapes and attempts to take River off the ship. Ultimately, he is shot through the eye by Malcolm, and his body is left behind. Series creator Joss Whedon intended for Dobson to survive the shooting and return to seek vengeance, but the series was canceled before this could occur. Instead, Dobson returns in the Serenity: Those Left Behind comic series. In the time since his encounter with the Serenity crew, he was declared dead and his missing eye was replaced with a prosthesis. He is enlisted by the Hands of Blue to recapture River. Dobson, who has developed an obsession with seeking revenge on Malcolm, agrees on the condition that he be the one who kills Malcolm. The plan fails, and Malcolm shoots Dobson twice, once through his remaining eye and again for "just makin' sure."

Jubal Early
Jubal Early (Richard Brooks) is a bounty hunter hired by the Alliance to capture Simon and River Tam. He is ejected from the ship. Despite his apparent death, he reappears in the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic to continue his pursuit of the crew. He fails for a second time and is dropped from the ship in low atmosphere in the third issue. However, the final issue reveals he survived. Though he asks Kalista to allow him to die, she sends him after the Serenity a third time, this time promising aid.

Hands of Blue
The "Hands of Blue" (Jeff Rickets and Dennis Cockrum) are a pair of independent contractors hired by the Alliance government to pursue River Tam. They are unnamed, and their "Hands of Blue" epithet comes from a chant River repeats—"two by two, hands of blue"—referring to the fact that the pair always appears together and that they are wearing what appears to be blue gloves. They first appear in "The Train Job" and reappear in "Ariel", in which they kill Alliance personnel who have spoken with River by using a hand-held device that causes fatal hemorrhaging in anyone it is aimed at. They again appear in the Serenity: Those Left Behind comic, and they enlist the aid of Lawrence Dobson. The comic reveals that their blue gloves are part of a larger body covering underneath their suits. They are killed in the conclusion of the comic, and their task is taken up by the Operative.

Adelai Niska
Adelai Niska (Michael Fairman) is a criminal kingpin who has a reputation for violent reprisals, including severe, prolonged torture, against those who fail him or even irritate him. He is protective of his reputation and assesses others entirely on theirs. He first appears in "The Train Job", where he hires the Serenity crew to rob a train. However, the crew does not complete the job, and Niska has Mal Reynolds and Hoban Washburne captured and tortured in "War Stories" in retribution. Despite his ruthless reputation, Niska is terrified when Mal attacks him. He escapes. He works out of a skyplex orbiting the Border planet Ezra.

The Operative
The Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is an agent of the Alliance government tasked with recapturing River Tam and is the principal antagonist of the Serenity film. He receives this mission in the Serenity: Those Left Behind comic series when the Hands of Blue are killed. The Operative has no name, and he describes himself as someone who "doesn't exist." He is highly combat trained, notably in the use of a sword, and is described by others as an assassin. He is highly devoted to furthering the Alliance's vision of a perfect future, to the point of willingly murdering children, and is obsessed with the idea of sin. However, though he tirelessly works toward this perfect world, he believes that he has no place in it because of his sinful actions. He presents as calm, rational, and unemotional, only breaking this facade when faced with an army of Reavers. When he learns of the Alliance's actions on the planet Miranda, he is disillusioned with the Alliance and abandons his task, ordering the Alliance army to stand down. He provides the Serenity crew medical aid and resources to repair their ship, and he decides to truly disappear. He reappears in the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic series, where the crew seeks his aid in breaking into the Academy. The Operative gladly aids them, and he takes up arms against his fellow government operatives. At the conclusion of the series, Zoe Washburne confronts him in a duel as his actions during the Serenity film caused the death of her husband. Zoe returns to the ship, and the Operative's fate is left uncertain.

Saffron
"Saffron" (Christina Hendricks) is a con artist whose real name is unknown and is jokingly addressed as "YoSaffBridge", a portmanteau of her three known aliases: "Yolanda", "Saffron", and "Bridget". She tends to marry her marks during her scams. Companion Inara Serra remarks that Saffron has Companion training, which gives Saffron psychological insight of others; Saffron uses these skills to seduce or manipulate her marks. She is unable to trust others, saying, "Everybody plays each other. That's all anybody ever does." Saffron first appears in the episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds" as Mal Reynolds' involuntarily acquired wife. By pretending to be meek and subservient, she lulls the crew into security and disables the ship, setting up the crew for death at the hands of salvagers. She returns in "Trash", where she enlists the crew's help in stealing a priceless Earth-that-Was antique belonging to Durran, one of her numerous husbands. Though Saffron initially admits that she intended to live her life with Durran, it appears to be part of a ruse to lower Mal's guard. She attempts to double-cross the crew, but they expect the betrayal and steal the artifact from her. She is last seen trapped in a trash dumpster, awaiting release by authorities en route to her location.

Mr. Universe
Mr. Universe (David Krumholtz) is a reclusive a "techno-geek" with good relations with the crew of Serenity, especially Wash. He lives alone with his "love-bot" wife Lenore (Nectar Rose) on a remote moon and monitors incoming signals from around the universe. He is asked by the crew to analyze the recording of River Tam's assault on the patrons of the Maidenhead, and he finds that there is a subliminal message hidden in a television commercial. He agrees to broadcast Dr. Caron's video to the entire system, but he is luring the crew to the Operative. Mr. Universe does not receive his expected payment. Instead, he is fatally stabbed and his equipment is destroyed. Before he dies, Mr. Universe uses Lenore to record a final message to Malcolm Reynolds, informing him of the location of his back-up transmitter, and dies in her lap. However, Lenore plays the message for anyone who approaches her, and she relays the message to the Operative also.

Bea
Bea is a leader of the New Resistance movement. She is introduced in the first issue of the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic series. She is the daughter of a Browncoat and, believing in the heroic image her father drew of Mal Reynolds, she believes Mal to be the leader the New Resistance needs. With Jayne Cobb's help, she seeks Mal out, inadvertently leading bounty hunter Jubal Early to Serenity. Early kills her crew and destroys her ship, stranding her on Serenity. She offers the crew New Resistance aid, giving Alliance troops the opening to destroy New Resistance outposts in the Core worlds to scatter the movement. Though Mal refuses to lead the New Resistance, she intends to continue fighting against the Alliance and to rebuild the New Resistance.

Caron
Dr. Caron (Sarah Paulson) was an Alliance scientist researching the effects of the Pax chemical on the planet Miranda. Before she was killed by Reavers, she recorded a video message detailing the experiment and the Alliance's inadvertent creation of the Reavers. Tearfully, she noted of Miranda, "We meant it for the best, to make people safer." This recording is broadcast across the system by the Serenity crew. The events of the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic series are a reaction to this broadcast.

Iris
Iris is a student of the Academy introduced in the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic series. As a student of the Academy, she is a highly trained and agile fighter conditioned to obey the Alliance and presumably possesses psychic abilities. However, unlike River Tam, she is described as "complete." When the Serenity crew breaks into the Academy, Iris is sent to kill them. She is eventually incapacitated by River and taken aboard Serenity, where she regains lucidity and self-possession with Dr. Simon Tam's help. She wishes to exact vengeance for what the Alliance has done to her, and she accepts Bea's offer to join the New Resistance.

Kalista
Kalista is a government operative pursuing River Tam and the Serenity crew and a main antagonist of the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic series. She is a former student of the Academy. As a result, she is a highly skilled and agile fighter and presumably possesses psychic abilities. The Operative believes that fighting her is certain death. When the crew escapes at the conclusion of the comic, she continues pursuing River, believing that she is attempting to return River to her family.

Mathias
Dr. Mathias (Michael Hitchcock) is the Alliance doctor heading the research project at the Academy. He is proud of his work, to the point that the Operative notes that his pridefulness is sinful, and is most especially proud of his most promising subject River Tam. Because of his hubris, he showcases River to members of the Alliance government, exposing sensitive government secrets to her psychic abilities, and inadvertently allows her brother Simon Tam to free her. He is killed by the Operative for his failures. Though Mathias is unnamed in the Serenity film, he is named in the film's shooting script and is mentioned by name in Session 416.

Nandi
Nandi (Melinda Clarke) is a former Companion from the Core planet Sihnon and a friend of Inara Serra. Feeling constrained by the Companion lifestyle, she left Sihnon to become a brothel madame on the Rim planet Deadwood. When a local rancher impregnates one of her women and attempts to take the child, Nandi bans him from visiting her brothel. She chooses to defend her brothel from his attacks, saying that she fought to establish it and she will not let a man take it from her. She and Mal Reynolds have a one night stand, which upsets Inara greatly. Upon learning the depth of Inara's feelings for Mal, she attempts to admonish Mal for not telling her. She is killed by the rancher in his final attack on the brothel.

Tracey Smith
Tracey Smith (Jonathan M. Woodward) is a Browncoat veteran and war buddy of Mal Reynolds and Zoe Washburne. After the war, Tracey was a drifter and eventually became an organ smuggler. When he runs afoul of the smugglers, he drugged himself into a temporary death-like coma to escape them and had his body shipped to Mal and Zoe, requesting the pair return him to his family on the planet St. Albans. He chose Mal and Zoe because he believes they are soft-hearted. When Serenity crew is cornered by Alliance officers, the crew inadvertently wakes him in their attempt to understand the situation. Tracey misunderstands their intentions, believing they will hand him to the Alliance, and takes mechanic Kaylee Frye hostage. Ultimately, he is shot and killed by Mal. His body is returned to his family, as he originally requested.

Gabriel and Regan Tam
Gabriel (William Converse-Roberts) and Regan Tam (Isabella Hofmann) are the parents of Simon and River Tam and are wealthy residents of the Core planet Osiris. They take great pride in their social status and their children's achievements, especially Simon's, and pushed their son to pursue a medical career. When Simon expresses concern over River's time at the Academy, they dismiss it and warn him that fixating on this will threaten his position at the hospital. Later, when Simon is arrested attempting to learn about River's situations, Gabriel posts bail for his son. However, feeling that Simon will ruin the family, Gabriel states that should Simon be arrested again or get "mixed up in something worse", Simon will be on his own.

Alliance
The Union of Allied Planets, colloquially termed the Alliance, is the government of the Verse. It began as a coalition between the wealthier and more established Core planets, and it sought to bring "enlightenment" and "civilization" to the more frontier-like outer planets. Tensions between the Alliance and the Browncoats escalated into the Unification War, or the War for Unification, which was eventually won by the Alliance five years before the outset of the series. The Alliance military has a steady presence throughout the Verse and maintains law and order. The Alliance government also employs government operatives to carry out top secret tasks.

The Academy
The Academy is a top secret government facility where the Alliance carries out experiments to mentally and physically condition young people from the Core planets into psychic assassins. It presents itself publicly as an elite school with invitation only admissions offering advanced academic programs. The Academy models its students into "living weapons" by experimentally inducing physic abilities, mentally conditioning them for various behaviors, and training them for combat purposes. River Tam, Kalista, and Iris are former students of the Academy.

Browncoats
The Browncoats, a colloquial name for the Independents referencing the color of their coats, were people from the Rim and Border planets who opposed the unification of all the planets into the Alliance. The tensions between the Browncoats and the Alliance grew into the Unification War, or the War for Unification, during which the Browncoats maintained resistance unexpectedly well. However, the Browncoats' defeat at the Battle of Serenity Valley, five years before the outset of the series, cost them the war. After the war, some Browncoat fighters became Dust Devils, commonly viewed as terrorists. Those who fought at Serenity Valley became prisoners of war, eventually released in a gesture of goodwill by the Alliance. During the series, Browncoat veterans are met with disdain by the Alliance and are seen as potentially troublesome. Browncoat veterans who appear in the series--such as Malcolm Reynolds, Zoe Washburne, and Tracey Smith--have turned to smuggling and other illegal activity to support themselves. Browncoats is also a term used to refer to Firefly fans.

New Resistance
The New Resistance, introduced in the Serenity: Leaves on the Wind comic series, is an anti-Alliance movement developing as a reaction to the Miranda broadcast released during the Serenity film. The movement is a successor to the original Browncoats: its leader Bea is a daughter of a Browncoat, it uses Browncoat iconography and colors in its symbols, it seeks former Browncoat Mal Reynolds as a leader, and an Alliance officer refers to its members as Browncoats. The Alliance military destroys the movement's Core planet outposts and scatters its members while the New Resistance focuses its attention on storming the Academy to aid Mal.

Companion's Guild
The Companion's Guild is an association of a 26th century equivalent of escorts or mistresses called Companions.

Reavers
Reavers are cannibalistic humans who live in the region of space outside the Verse, though it is noted that they continually venture farther into the Verse over time. They are exceedingly aggressive and sadistic, and they are known to flay their victims, eat their victims alive, torture victims to the point of insanity, and rape victims to death. The Serenity film reveals that Reavers were originally citizens of the planet Miranda changed by the Pax chemical released into the planet's air; while most of the population calmed to the point of complete passivity, a minority had an opposite reaction. This minority murdered the Pax research team on Miranda and later became known as Reavers. Many people of the Core believe Reavers to be a fiction, and some continue to doubt their existence in the Leaves on the Wind comic series, set nearly a year after the film.