Firefly (TV series)/Characters: Difference between revisions

** The Alliance in general acts as his, to the point that he'll deck you if you accuse him of being in league with them.

* [[Big Brother Instinct]]: Towards Kaylee, their relationship is pretty much summed up in the movie;

'''Mal''': Oh GOD! [[Too Much Information|I can't]] ''[[Brain Bleach|know that]]''! }}

** On a good day, he has a bit of this towards Simon as well. Only on a good day though.

* [[Jade Coloured Glasses]]

* [[Leeroy Jenkins]]: Displays shades of this in the flashback to his army days:

* [[Living Emotional Crutch]]: Every person on Serenity for Mal.

* [[Lovable Rogue]]

* [[Team Dad]]: To the younger members of the crew especially.

* [[Undying Loyalty]]

** Also has a tendency to ''inspire'' this. Nowhere shown more clearly than in ''Serenity,'' after his crew seems ready to mutiny at the prospect of flying through Reaver space:

** And ''every one of them gets to work.''

* [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]]: With Inara, of the [[Belligerent Sexual Tension|constant-arguing]] kind.

* [[Happily Married]]: To Wash.

* [[Hot Amazon]]:

* [[Just Following Orders]]: A non-villainous, sometimes questioning, but very pragmatic version. Especially evident in a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FFO-QaBjoc deleted scene] from the pilot. (The "He" being mentioned is Mal).

'''Zoe:''' -- I kill you. }}

* [[Lady of War]]

* [[Characterization Marches On]]: In early episodes, Wash is a calm, masterful pilot, all nerves of steel while the other characters are panicking. By "The Message" he's just as excitable as anyone else, because Alan Tudyk bought himself an Xbox and discovered he's not the naturally-calm-pilot type, which [[Tim Minear]] [[Throw It In|threw in]] on grounds of [[Rule of Funny]]. (And, just to confuse things, Wash shows elements of both performances in the [[Big Damn Movie]].)

** Taken as a whole, his level of panic seems to be inversely proportional to the actual level of danger. When there's Reavers on their tail and they're running for their lives, he's oddly calm, while if it's something more mundane, he gets more excited.

'''Wash''': ''Oh my god.'' '''What can it be?''' '''''We're all doomed!''''' '''''WHO'S FLYING THIS THING!?''''' ([[Beat]]) [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Oh right, that would be me]]. Back to work! }}

* [[The Conscience]]: Frequently enough to be noticeable, though others fill this role as well. (Probably one of the things that draws him and Zoe together: they both try to keep things grounded.)

* [[Going Native]]

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]:

'''Simon:''' Mei-Mei, everything I have is right here. }}

* [[Honor Before Reason]]: Basically his whole storyline. He gave up a lucrative job and lifelong dream to help his sister (His hunch being based on some pretty thin logic), ruining his life and turning himself into a fugitive. Later he says he will never harm Jayne or break his oath as a physician, despite Jayne betraying him and threatening him on multiple occasions. And one gets the impression He'd do it all again in a minute.

* [[Sibling Yin-Yang]]: Simon is cooler, calmer, and more disciplined compared to his more sensitive and (for obvious reasons) erratic little sister.

* [[The Smart Guy]]:

* [[Sharp-Dressed Man]]

* [[Sugar and Ice Personality]]

* [[Brain Critical Mass]]

* [[Brainy Brunette]]:

* [[Breakout Character]]: Probably the most well-known and popular character on the show.

* [[Break the Cutie]]: In a convenient pre-broken package. The R.Tam Sessions show the whole process from start to finish.

* [[Mystical Waif]]

* [[Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant]]:

** In another episode, after she's been yelling loud enough to spook the cattle in the cargo hold:

'''Mal:''' See, morbid and creepifying I got no problem with, so long as she does it quiet-like. }}

* [[Noble Fugitive]]

* [[Talkative Loon]]

* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: The series had one notable moment where she displays [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]. In [[The Movie]], she's a full-blown [[Lightning Bruiser]].

* [[Undying Loyalty]]: To her big brother in particular, but also to the whole crew.

* [[Unkempt Beauty]]

* [[Cool Old Guy]]

* [[Dark and Troubled Past]]

'''Book''': ''[[You Do NOT Want to Know|No, I don't.]]'' }}

** [[Wild Mass Guessing]] was all over the place until [[Joss Whedon]] finally [[Jossed|settled it]] in A Shepherd's Tale by [[Deconstructed Trope|Deconstructing]] a [[Dark and Troubled Past]]. {{spoiler|[[Badass Preacher|Book]] was a feckless thug who tried to become [[The Unfettered]] to escape from an [[Abusive Parents|Abusive Father]].}} Then he became {{spoiler|an Independent [[The Mole|Mole]] and an Alliance torturer}}, but his inability to choose something to believe in {{spoiler|killed over 4,000 people}}. After finally hitting rock bottom, he found [[God]] and religion, dedicating himself to spreading a message of peace and love to compensate for his wasted life.

* [[Berserk Button]]: He may not care for much of the rest of the crew, but touch a hair on [[Genki Girl|Kaylee's]] head...

** When Dobson shoots Kaylee, and Book moves to defend his unconscious body from Jayne.

'''Jayne''': [[Cold-Blooded Torture|Not right away.]] }}

* [[BFG]]: Vera, of course, but he has quite a few.

* [[The Big Guy]]

* [[Black and Gray Morality]]: One of his primary beliefs, best exemplified when yelling at the Mudders:

* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]

* [[Book Dumb]]

* [[Catch Phrase]]: "[[I'll Be in My Bunk]]"

* [[Cold-Blooded Torture]]: He doesn't get to, but he ''really'' wanted to. He was gonna get himself an ear, too.

* [[The Friend Nobody Likes]]

* [[Gender Blender Name]]: His mother must have liked this trope, since his brother also has a traditionally female name, Mattie.

'''Jayne:''' "Well, Jayne ain't a girl!" }}

* [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot]]: Upon learning that Inara will be servicing a female client on board her shuttle, he has only this to say:

* [[I Call It Vera]]: [[Trope Namer]]!

* [[I'll Be in My Bunk]]: Also the [[Trope Namer]].

* [[Foil]]: Jubal is calm, intelligent (though not quite all there), a skilled combatant with a decidedly precise style, and deeply intuitive, able to suss out a person's nature in an eerily quick fashion. Just like River.

* [[Insistent Terminology]]: Subverted, in a surreal way:

'''Early''': Yeah, but you didn't say it well. }}

* [[Psycho for Hire]]

* [[Catch Phrase]]: "Do you know what your sin is?"

* [[Combat Pragmatist]]:

* [[Cool Sword]]: He likes swords ''way'' too much for a guy living in a sci-fi world with laser guns..

** Lampshaded by Mr. Universe

* [[Determinator]]: Practically to a Mal Reynolds degree.

* [[Finishing Move]]: A particularly sweet one where he effectively paralyzes his victim, then places his sword at such an angle that the victim slowly overbalances and is impaled.

* [[Better to Die Than Be Killed]]: ''No one'' wants to be taken alive by the Reavers, and no one who can stop it will allow someone else to be, leading to several [[Mercy Kill|Mercy Kills]].

* [[Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon]]:

* [[Go Mad From the Revelation]]: Reavers have a penchant for breaking and torturing people into becoming second-generation Reavers simply by exposing them to what they do to others.

* [[The Horde]]