Forward/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


This is a character sheet for the original characters in the Firefly fanfic Forward, as well as minor canonical characters that get a bigger role in the story. For more information on the primary canonical characters, see the Firefly character sheet.


Mr. Armand and Mr. Domali, Mr. Quinn and Mr. Eisen

Two of the mysterious Hands of Blue teams. Armand and Domali were dispatched to recapture River when Niska attempted to collect the bounty on her. Quinn and Eisen appear later in "Hunt," where they are hunting River and Inducer One-One-Nine.

Corporal Ashley Frye

Kaylee's sister and a soldier with the Alliance military. Appeared during the events of the second story arc, "Condor." Somewhat estranged from her sister, implied to be because of her service with the Alliance. Appears later, and currently teamed up with John Garis in order to find her "missing" sister.

Colonel Lee Obrin

Mal and Zoe's commander during the Unification War, who is leading a resistance cell of Browncoats on Persephone. Wants to use River as a weapon against the Alliance, and is willing to use Mal and Zoe as leverage.

The Operative

A different Operative from the original, who is assigned to hunt down Lancaster after he recovers data on the Academy for Book.

Colonel (ret.) Rishard Dannett

Combat instructor at the Academy who was responsible for River's physical training. River confronts him at the end of the "Silver" arc.

  • The Atoner: Was so deeply guilt-ridden by his work at the Academy that, in his own words, he had to either retire or kill himself.
  • Cool Old Guy
  • Pet the Dog: he sees River as a person, not a weapon, which is why he left the Academy.

Shin Yan Dumant

Prominent art and artifact dealer on the colony of Silverhold. Also head of an enhanced organ smuggling operation, and grows organs in the bodies of lobotomized human slaves.

John Garis, aka "Echo," aka Blank One-One-Seven

An agent of the Academy, and a Blank - a person who is immune to psychic effects. Was assigned to River as an "emotional anchor" during her time at the Academy to prevent her from committing suicide, and has been dispatched to find and bring her back.

Inducer One-One-Nine, aka Kathryn Wade

An Inducer-type psychic, who can effect human minds to generate emotional responses. Believed to be both one of the most powerful Inducers the Academy has produced, and also one of the most stable. Has been hiding out on the moon Victoria, and encountered by Serenity's crew in the "Charity" story arc. Is actually a nine-year-old girl who mind-controlled one of the Academy's doctors and made him extract her from the facility, and the subsequently killed him.

  • Creepy Child
  • Didn't See That Coming: Didn't anticipate Zoe's ability to shut her emotions off with iron discipline. That allows Zoe to get the drop on her.
  • Emotion Bomb: Her primary weapon.
  • Enfante Terrible: Deconstructed; as a child, she has extremely poor impulse control, driving her to kill perceived threats or people who she hates without thinking about the consequences.
  • Expy: Of Alma Wade. Its even there in her name.
  • Foil: To River.
  • The Nondescript: Has the ability to make people literally not notice her at all, either by distracting them or by simply making herself appear unnoticable.
  • Mind Manipulation
  • Mind Rape
  • Moral Event Horizon: Making Pherson shoot Mal and then mindraping River into helping her escape certainly counts.
  • Villainous Breakdown: When River fights back against her, she becomes much more violent and hysterical. She goes to extremes when River compares her to the doctors at the Academy.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Claims to be one of these, at least.

The Six Rifles

Six men came to kill Jayne one time. Turns out they were a famous team of mercenaries who were hired to go after him (and the robbery crew he was on) after he killed the wrong man's relations. The Six are generally referred to by their nationalities instead of their names. One of them appears to have survived their tussle with Jayne, and comes for payback years later.

  • A Father to His Men: Konstantin really does care about the rest of the Six, which results in him getting epically pissed when Jayne starts killing them. This attitude seems to have faded by the present, where getting revenge on Jayne has consumed him completely and he no longer cares about his men.
  • Badass Crew
  • Berserk Button: Jayne is the Cossack's, and doubly so when Jayne deliberately taunts him about his missing arm and leg.
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: The Mongol is mostly kept around by Konstantin because he's an expert with electronics, despite the fact that he's apparently a complete psycho.
  • Determinator/Made of Iron: The Frenchman. Caught in two explosions, set on fire, and dropped into a collapsing dam, and he's still kicking.
  • Dwindling Party: Jayne keeps killing the Six one by one in the flashback, usually through high explosives and cleverness. The chapter titles lampshade this, keeping track of how many of the Six are still present. The Brit was killed by being set on fire and shot repeatedly, and the Syrian was killed by mining explosives.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Konstantin does not condone torture, and he's not a fan of collateral damage. The American also seems to hate being contracted to kill teenagers, to the point where he is deliberately missing Jayne and trying to keep the rest of the Six from killing him.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": All of the Six are known by their nationalities/ethnicities, and only three of them have known names. None of the Six know the Mongol's name.
  • Friendly Sniper: The American is a pretty friendly guy (except to the Mongol) who seems to be affected by all the killing he's had to do.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble
    • "The Cossack" (aka Alexi Konstantin) is Sanguine
    • Both "the American" (aka Andy) and "the Brit" are Choleric
    • Both "the Mongol" and "the Syrian" are Melancholic
    • "The Frenchman" (aka Gustav) is Plegmatic
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: The Brit and the Frenchman.
  • Man On Fire: The Brit, when Jayne catches him in an improvised gasoline bomb. It just pisses the Brit off.
  • The Medic: The Syrian
  • Hollywood Cyborg: Konstantin appears to have lost both an arm and a leg and had them replaced by cybernetic limbs.
  • Noodle Incident: the "Boros job."
  • The Quiet One: The Frenchman, who mostly communicates through grunts and smacks to the back of the head. When he does talk, it is in unclear mutters.
  • Posthumous Character: Everyone except Konstantin is apparently dead by the time he shows up get revenge. Four of them appear to have been killed against Jayne the first time, and the Mongol was killed in the Third Interlude.
  • Sarcastic Devotee: The Brit.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The American hates the Mongol.
  • Those Two Guys: The Brit and the Frenchman.
  • Torture Technician: The Mongol, though Konstantin does not let him "indulge."
  • Tranquil Fury: When the Brit is killed by Jayne, the Frenchman's response is a very directed, but very cold fury as he relentlessly pursues Jayne.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Konstantin steadily loses it over the course of the storyline, both in the flashback and in the present. He's more controlled in the flashback, where he only gets angrier as his men get killed, but in the present, he becomes so singularly obsessed with killing Jayne that he shoots one of his own men when he suggests they stop and get reinforcements.