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* [[Abandon Ship]]: Two separate cases in the film's climax.
* [[Absent Aliens]]
* [[Aesoptinum]]: {{spoiler|The Pax}}.
* [[Affably Evil]]: The Operative, who [[Worthy Opponent|praises his enemies]], [[Apologetic Attacker|apologizes]] for his [[Necessarily Evil|evil deeds]], is perfectly willing to negotiate, and {{spoiler|spares and helps the crew once he believes killing them would not serve any useful purpose.}}
{{quote|"This is a good death. There is no shame in this."}}
* [[Air Vent Passageway]]: Played straight with Mal, played for laughs later with River.
* [[All Planets Are Earthlike]]: [[Justified Trope|Justified]], as all available planets and moons have been [[Terraform|Terraformed]].
* [[All Your Base Are Belong to Us]]: In the [[Big Damn Movie]], the crew is left with no ground to go to.
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* [[Anyone Can Die]]: {{spoiler|Book and Wash.}}
** According to the commentary, this is precisely ''why'' {{spoiler|those two died}}, to heighten tension and make that final fight scene, in which {{spoiler|nearly everyone else is hurt}} all the more scary. Well, thanks.
* [[Apocalyptic Log]]: Given by the scientist {{spoiler|on Miranda}}.
* [[Apologetic Attacker]]: River beats up Simon to get to the bridge. Afterward, she explains that she didn't know if he was going to make her sleep, whereupon Simon wryly says, "you could have asked." Simon of course, always forgives his dear little sister.
* [[Ascetic Aesthetic]]: Miranda. To drive it home, everyone there {{spoiler|is either dead or went crazy.}}
* [[Asshole Victim]]: The Operative's first kill in the movie was a scientist who vivisected and abused children without either their consent or that of their parents, and without the knowledge of the latter, to turn them into human weapons.
* [[Atop a Mountain of Corpses]]: {{spoiler|River}}.
* [[Ax Crazy]]: River, though it turns out she has a reason for it. {{spoiler|She absorbed a number of the Alliance's dirtiest secrets, including Miranda. Knowing that your benevolent government was behind the Reavers would be enough to drive anyone crazy, let alone reliving the events leading up to it.}}
* [[Badass Crew]]:
** [[Badass Bookworm]]: Simon. Do not threaten his little sister. Just don't.
** [[Badass Longcoat|Badass]] <s>[[Badass Longcoat|Longcoat]]</s> [[Badass Longcoat|Browncoat]]: Mal
{{quote|"I aim to misbehave."}}
** [[Badass Driver]]: Wash.
{{quote|"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."}}
** [[Badass Preacher]]: Book. He is not going to tell you who or what he was before he was a Shepherd. {{spoiler|But they did release a comic, "A Shepherd's Tale,", that did just that.}}
** [[Cultured Badass]]: [[Silk Hiding Steel|Inara]].
{{quote|{{spoiler|"And that's not incense."}}}}
*** The movie antagonist, the Operative.
{{quote|"I want to resolve this like civilized men. I'm not threatening you. I'm unarmed. [Mal shoots him, but he gets back up and jumps Mal] I am, of course, wearing full body armor. I am ''not'' a moron."}}
** [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|Crouching Crazy Hidden Badass]]: River.
{{quote|"My turn."}}
** Just plain [[Badass]]: Jayne, Zoe.
{{quote|"Let's be bad guys."
"You want to leave this room." }}
* [[Bad Dreams]] / [[Daydream Surprise]]: The schoolhouse.
* [[Band of Brothels]]: The Guild of Companions.
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* [[Better to Die Than Be Killed]]:
** Mal, Jayne and Zoe share this view. When a bystander is captured, Mal shoots him dead before the Reavers can cut into him, an act later described by Zoe as "a piece of mercy". When Jayne looks like he is going to be captured, he asks Mal to do the same to him.
** Cruelly subverted with the {{spoiler|Miranda recording, in which the scientist tries to shoot herself after it becomes clear that she is not going to escape the Reavers. She does not do it quickly enough.}}
* [[Big Badass Battle Sequence]]: Alliance Fleet. Reaver army. 'Nuff said.
* [[Big Brother Instinct]]: The rescue of River. Simon generally.
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* [[Black Dude Dies First]]: {{spoiler|Shepherd Book}}, if we're talking just about the main cast. Otherwise, we've got whole settlements wiped out before him.
* [[Black Screen of Death]]: During the fight between River Tam and the Reavers.
* [[Blessed with Suck]]: River.
* [[Blind Idiot Translation]]: Although (according to the DVD) a translator worked hard to get Chinese slang correct, and the actors studied tape recorders, apparently it was still mangled in the pronunciation.
* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]: Jayne Cobb.
* [[Book Ends]]: *crunch* "What was that?"
* [[Brain Bleach]]:
{{quote|'''Kaylee''': It's been going on a year now [[A Date with Rosie Palms|I ain't had nothin' betwixt my nethers that weren't run on batteries!]]<br />
'''Mal''': Oh ''god''! I CAN'T KNOW THAT! }}
* [[Break the Cutie]]: In this case, comes conveniently pre-broken. There are [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T2mz4JJzEo&feature=related the R. Tam Sessions], and enough flashbacks to see her being broken.
* [[Break the Haughty]]: Mal does a perfect hatchet job on [[Knight Templar|The Operative]], systematically destroying [[Utopia Justifies the Means|every belief he's based his horrific actions on]].
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* [[Bulletproof Vest]]: {{spoiler|The Operative is ''not'' a moron.}}
* [[Cannibal Clan]]: The Reavers are based on the legendary [[wikipedia:Sawney Bean|Sawney Bean]] clan.
* [[The Caretaker]]: Simon to River.
* [[Casual Danger Dialogue]]: {{spoiler|Mr. Universe}} records his last words:
{{quote|''Guy killed me, Mal. Killed me with a sword. How weird is that?''}}
* [[Catch Phrase]]: ''Lots'' of these, including:
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{{quote|'''Mal:''' No grenades.
(Later) '''Jayne:''' Boy, sure would be nice if we had some GRENADES, don'tchya think?
(Final Stand) '''Mal:''' [[Brick Joke|Tell me you brought 'em this time.]] }}
* [[Chewing the Scenery]]: [[Nathan Fillion]] (Mal) does quite a bit of this in the DVD outtakes.
{{quote|'''Mal:''' Did you see us fight?
'''Others:''' No.
'''Mal:''' TRAP!!! }}
** River also does this in the deleted scenes.
{{quote|'''Simon:''' What will Miranda show us?
'''River:''' Death.
'''Simon:''' Whose death?
'''River:''' EVERYBODY'S!!!!!! }}
* [[Chronic Hero Syndrome]]: Mal suffers a vicious case of it. It's mostly under control at the start of the film, then has a flare-up about half-way after it's been irritated by exposure to {{spoiler|the truth about Miranda}}.
* [[Close-Knit Community]]: Haven.
* [[Cold Open]]: The movie opens with a narration that turns out to be a school lesson that turns out to be a hallucination; then River is rescued, which turns out to be security footage being played back, ''then'' we fade into the title sequence and ''Serenity''.
* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: The Alliance wears primarily blue and grey to match all their shiny tech. The Browncoats wear, um, brown, red, yellow, and orange, which goes with the Wild West setting. This symbolizes the Alliance's cold modernism versus the Browncoats' heart. The Reavers wear... red. [[Gorn|Lots and lots of red]]. And what isn't red, is, well... [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|skin tone]].
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* [[Coming in Hot]]: ''Serenity'' crash-landing after being disabled by an EMP weapon.
* [[Command Roster]]:
** [[The Captain]]: Mal.
** [[Number Two]]: Zoe.
** [[The Big Guy]]: Jayne.
** [[Wrench Wench]]: Kaylee.
** [[Ace Pilot]] & Communications Officer: Wash.
** [[The Medic]]: Simon.
** [[Ace Pilot]]: River, she shows a skill for it in ''Serenity''.
*** It's stated in the show that she's naturally talented at literally EVERYTHING, so she probably can fit every one of these.
** [[The Heart]]: Book.
* [[Continuity Nod]]: During Mal's [[Shirtless Scene]], you can see the scar where he got stabbed in ''The Train Job,'', and another from Niska's torture device in ''War Stories.''. Speaking of which, the "Mule II" hovercar is the official replacement for the "Mule" ATV that was destroyed in that episode.
** Further, the barrels ejected from Serenity as they escape the Training House look and function just like the pilot's "Crybaby".
** The second Reaver ship to appear in the climax is the one from the pilot episode.
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* [[Cruel Mercy]]: Mal does this to the Operative near the end.
{{quote|'''Mal''': Hell, I'm gonna grant your greatest wish. I'm gonna show you [[Ironic Echo|a world without sin]].}}
* [[Cultured Badass]]: The Operative.
* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: {{spoiler|River, completely, totally, utterly ''obliterating'' the Reavers by herself.}}
* [[Curse of the Ancients]]: All the swearing that isn't done in "Mandarin"(-ish) has an Old West feel to it. Gorramit.
* [[The Cutie]]: Kaylee and River.
* [[Danger Deadpan]]: Wash is a completely different character when flying the ship: normally he's loud and panicky, but at the helm, he is completely calm and collected, no matter what imminent doom might be following him.
{{quote|'''Wash:''' This landing is gonna get pretty interesting.
'''Mal:''' Define "interesting."
'''Wash:''' ''[deadpan]'' "Oh God, oh God, we're all gonna die"? }}
* [[A Date with Rosie Palms]]:
{{quote|'''Kaylee:''' We're on a year now, and I ain't had nothin' 'twixt my nethers weren't run on batteries!
'''Mal:''' Oh, ''God!'' I can't know that!
'''Jayne:''' I could stand to hear a little more. }}
* [[Dead Man Writing]]:
{{quote|'''{{spoiler|Mr Universe:}}''' "Guy killed me, Mal. He killed me with a sword. How weird is that?"}}
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** Zoe to Jayne: "You want to leave this room."
* [[Derelict Graveyard]]: Reaver Territory... Including the Reaver ships.
* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: River's dialogue indicates that she crossed it at some point during her time at the Academy. {{spoiler|The Operative crosses when he learns the Alliance made the Reavers.}} The R. Tam Sessions used to promote the movie sees the entire [[Break the Cutie]] process in action. Poor River...
* [[Determinator]]: Mal, who does not let little things like {{spoiler|swords in his stomach}} get in the way.
* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: A well-done type four.
* [[Do Not Adjust Your Set]]: A rare heroic example when {{spoiler|Mr. Universe broadcasts the Miranda file and everyone in the universe finds out the truth about the Alliance and the Reavers.}}
* [[Dramatic Irony]]: The Audience and Mal know what the Reavers are, but The Operative does not, and boy is he in for a ''surprise''...
{{quote|'''The Operative:''' "There are a lot of innocent people in the air being killed right now."
'''Mal:''' "You don't know how true that is." }}
* [[The Dreaded]]: The Reavers.
* [[Driving Into a Truck]]: The Mule escapes the Reavers by driving up the ramp into ''Serenity''.
* [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]]: {{spoiler|Poor Wash.}}
* [[Drop Pod]]: The Alliance escape pods, and possible others.
* [[Dual-Wielding]]: River {{spoiler|uses a sword and axe taken off the Reavers during the big showdown}}.
* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]: It says something when movie's ending is one of the more ''positive'' ones Joss Whedon wrote.
* [[Earth-That-Was]]: [[Trope Namer]].
* [[Environmental Symbolism]]
* [[Epic Tracking Shot]]: After 10 minutes of schizophrenic, [[Smash Cut]]-ridden intro, we get the title card, and then a 4-minute-long [[The Oner|Oner]] that brings us home to the ship and her crew. (Movie Magic Tidbit: the sets for ''Serenity'' are divided between top and bottom levels. The cut was disguised with a whip pan on one of the stairwells so that it looks like a single take.)
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{{quote|'''The Operative''': In older, more...civilized cultures, when a man failed as utterly as you have, he would throw himself upon his sword.
'''Director''': [''sarcastically''] Well, unfortunately I don't have a-
[''the Operative pulls out a sword''] }}
* [[Evil Versus Evil]]: The Alliance vs the Reavers.
* [[Exclusively Evil]]: Reavers, explained.
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* [[Future Slang]]
* [[Get Out!]]: "You wanna leave this room."
* [[Ghost Planet]]: {{spoiler|Miranda}}.
* [[Gone Horribly Wrong]]/[[Gone Horribly Right]]: What happened on {{spoiler|Miranda}}.
* [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]: The Operative is a trained and skilled martial artists, Mal just hits things.
* [[Gory Discretion Shot]]: Sarah Paulson's recording {{spoiler|ends with her being attacked by the Reavers}}. She's moved out of the frame, but the sound leaves no doubt about her fate.
* [[The Government]]: The Alliance.
* [[Government Conspiracy]]: [[All There in the Manual|Possibly]] a private sector conspiracy by Blue Sun, but with definite government involvement.
* [[Government Drug Enforcement]]: {{spoiler|The G-23 Paxilon hydrochlorate introduced into the air processors of Miranda, to keep the populace quiet and non-violent. It ended up causing apathy and lethargy so extreme that the majority of people just laid down and died and caused the remainder to become the hyper-aggressive Reavers.}}
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* [[Grand Finale]]: The film is pretty much this for [[Firefly|the series]].
* [[Gratuitous Foreign Language]]: The Mandarin-ish and Cantonese-oid phrases scattered through the dialogue, often as [[Unusual Euphemism|family-friendly swearwords]]. Doubles as a [[Bilingual Bonus]]. As the DVD set shows, they used actual Mandarin phrases, although as mentioned above, the pronunciation is so atrocious that even native speakers will have trouble deciphering them, and some of them are absolutely hilarious in English.
** The trigger phrase that Simon uses {{spoiler|to put River to sleep after she clears out the bar}} is Russian, "Это курам насмех", meaning literally "This is hilarious to chickens", an old Russian saying used to denote something ridiculous.
** Another [[Bilingual Bonus]] for the name of {{spoiler|the chemical used on Miranda. Pax is Latin for "[[Gone Horribly Right|Peace]]"}}.
* [[Groin Attack]]: When River is triggered in the bar on Beaumonde, in the middle of trashing the place and beating the crap out of everyone within reach, she grabs Jayne's package and squeezes. Hard. Jayne is icing it down in the next scene.
* [[Hand Signals]]: While the crew is exploring the planet {{spoiler|Miranda}} Zoe takes the point position and uses gestures to guide the movements of the rest of the team.
* [[Hard Work Montage]]: atAt the very end.
* [[Hate Plague]]: {{spoiler|A small portion of Miranda's population had an extremely violent reaction to the Pax, becoming the first Reavers.}}
* [[Heel Realization]]: {{spoiler|The Operative}} upon seeing the evidence of what happened on {{spoiler|Miranda}}.
* [[She Is Not My Girlfriend|He Is Not My Boyfriend]]: Inara's reaction to the suggestion that she had a torrid affair with a pirate. [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|Also, he's not a pirate, he's a smuggler, and VERY annoying.]]
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Subverted by {{spoiler|River}}; see the main page for details. Played straight with Simon in what amounts to a lingering [[Heroic Sacrifice]] through the entire series and movie when he gives up status and fortune and lives with outlaws, so he can rescue and comfort his sister.
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* [[Hidden Depths]]: You wouldn't count on Mal [[Overly Long Gag|having read]] [[Warrior Poet|a poem]], or River being a death machine. The Alliance didn't expect Simon to be a criminal mastermind.
** Shepherd Book knows an awful lot about Operatives for some reason he flatly refuses to elaborate on.
* [[High-Class Call Girl]]: Inara.
* [[Hilarious Outtakes]]:
{{quote|"TRAPPPP!"
"I will turn this spaceship around! Do you want to fly? Fuckin' fly! ''I'll be in my bunk!''" }}
* [[Honor Among Thieves]]: The crew of Serenity. Notably Mal of course.
* [[Honor Before Reason]]: Especially Mal. Jayne calls him out on it when he gets fed up, but brings it up himself later.
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* [[Hooker with a Heart of Gold]]: Inara, to name one.
* [[Car Fu|Hovering Transport Cart and Personnel Vehicle Fu]]
* [[Humans Are Flawed]]: Joss states in the commentary that the point he wanted to make with this film is that while the [[Seven Deadly Sins]] are bad, they're also inseparable from human nature. This is demonstrated with {{spoiler|Miranda,}}, a world where everyone is either dead or completely inhuman.
* [[Humans Are White]]: For a universe which is heavily Asian inspired and merged completely with Chinese culture, ''none'' of the main cast members even have Asian features; Tam is likely a Chinese surname, but Simon and River don't look at all Chinese.
* [[I Cannot Self-Terminate]]: "Put a bullet to me. Bullet in the brain pan. Squish."
* [[Identical Twin ID Tag|Identical Twin ID Tags]]: Parodied. Mal can tell them apart because "Fanty's prettier,", but there is no easy to spot distinction between them.
* [[I Did What I Had to Do]]: The Operative.
* [[I Just Want to Be Normal]]: River.
* [[Ill Girl]]: River, of course.
* [[I'm a Humanitarian]]: One of [[I Love the Dead|three]] [[Nemean Skinning|things]] the Reavers do to their victims. And if you're very, very lucky, [[Complete Monster|they kill you first]]. Of course, from the [[Mercy Kill]] scene, it's clear they prefer their dinners alive and screaming.
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* [[In the Back]]
* [[Intro Dump]]: For viewers who haven't seen ''[[Firefly]]'', the intro has explain that Earth has been abandoned and humanity now occupies another star system, the [[Backstory]] elements of the Alliance/Independents war, River's treatment at the Academy and Simon's rescue, and introduce us to the Serenity and nine characters who already know each other. All done in ten minutes with admirable deftness.
* [[Ironic Echo]]: When Mal shows {{spoiler|the Miranda recording}} to the Operative, he forces the latter to eat his words about how he was building "a world without sin" by showing him what such a world would actually look like.
* [[Jumped At the Call]]: Simon's rescue of River.
* [[Karmic Thief]]: Mal Reynolds and crew take a job which involves stealing a [[Law Enforcement, Inc.|private security payroll]]. It's a job hurting [[The Empire|The Alliance]], so they're [[Jerkass Victim|Jerkass Victims]], but Mal has no intentions of handing out his crew's cut to the poor.
* [[Kick the Dog]]: afterAfter the Serenity crew prevent the Operative from tracking them down ''twice'' - he takes it out on every settlement that's harbored Serenity in the past.
* [[Kick the Son of a Bitch]]: It's safe to say that there was no sympathy for Dr. Mathias when the Operative killed him at the beginning.
* [[Killed Mid-Sentence]]: {{spoiler|Wash}}.
* [[The Kirk]]: Mal.
* [[Knight Errant]]: Mal.
* [[Knight in Sour Armor]]: Also Mal.
* [[Knight Templar]]: The Operative.
* [[Lens Flare]]: Intentionally on Whedon's part.
* [[Let's Get Dangerous]]: The Alliance had no idea what they set loose when they {{spoiler|triggered River's implanted [[Waif Fu]]}}.
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* [[Lodged Blade Recycling]]:
{{quote|'''Operative:''' ''(stabs Mal)'' Do you know what your sin is, Mal?
'''Mal:''' Aw hell, I'm a fan of [[Seven Deadly Sins|all seven]]. ''(pulls sword back out)'' But right now, I'm gonna have to go with Wrath. }}
* [[Make It Look Like a Struggle]]: Mal has an exchange with a guard early in the film about doing this so it doesn't look like the guard just rolled over and let them take the cash.
* [[Manchurian Agent]]: River.
* [[Maybe Ever After]]: {{spoiler|Mal and Inara}} seem to end on this vaguely good note.
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Combined with a [[Bilingual Bonus]], The Pax <ref> Pax is Latin for [[Irony|Peace]].</ref>
Line 251:
{{quote|'''Jayne:''' I won't get et! You shoot me if they take me!
'''Mal:''' ''[aims pistol at Jayne]''
'''Jayne:''' Well, don't shoot me first! }}
* [[A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read]]: Simply being put in a room with {{spoiler|[[The Government|Key Members Of Parliament]]}} was enough to drive River completely monkey-shit. It is expanded on in the [[Novelization]] - she was writing coherent secret messages to Simon right up until that point, upon which they immediately degraded to hash.
* [[Mind Rape]]: Whatever the Academy did to River, she didn't turn out very well.
Line 261:
* [[Nay Theist]]: Mal. More specifically, he is a ''[[A Worldwide Punomenon|mal]]''[[Genius Bonus|theist]]. He equates belief to God, giving Book two of his better lines:
{{quote|'''Book''': When I talk about belief, why do you always assume I'm talking about God?
'''Book''': It doesn't matter what you believe in. As long as you believe. }}
* [[Necessarily Evil]]: The Operative views his crusade this way. {{spoiler|He abandons this notion after finding out the truth about Miranda.}}
* [[Nerds Are Sexy]]: Both Simon and Kaylee.
* [[Neutral Female]]: Subverted.
Line 271:
* [[No Place for Me There]]: The Operative is the [[Trope Namer]].
* [[Nose Art]]: The ship's name is painted in a stylized seal on the bow of the ship, in [[Bilingual Bonus|both English and Chinese.]]
** The crew later invokes this trope by disguising their ship {{spoiler|as a Reaver vessel, complete with lots of red paint and human corpses lashed to the hull.}}
* [[Now Let Me Carry You]]: "My turn."
* [[Oh Crap]]: "Target the Reavers! Target the Reavers! Target ''everyone!'' ''SOMEBODY '''FIRE!'''"''
** When Inara meets the Operative. She's very good at reading and controlling body language, so the way her smile fades before he even said anything speaks volumes.
** The head scientist gets an understated one when Simon says, "She always did love to dance." He has just enough time to realize that this isn't a government official he's been escorting into Top Secret research areas before he is knocked out by the stun grenade.
* [[One-Man Army|One Waif Army]]: River.
* [[One-Scene Wonder]]: Sarah Paulson's monologue (which gets played twice) is chill-inducinglyinducing brilliant:
{{quote|''"These are just a few of the images we've recorded, and as you can see... it isn't what we thought..."''}}
* [[Only a Flesh Wound]]: When Mal gets stabbed during his fight with the Operative, though having Alliance medical care available soon after may make it somewhat less applicable. In all other cases, averted.
* [[Organ Dodge]]: The Operative's [[Pressure Point]] technique targets a nerve cluster {{spoiler|Mal had moved due to an old war wound}}. [[Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty|The Operative is led to believe that it actually worked before a devastating surprise counterattack]].
* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: Mal's big plan to slip past the Reavers is to disguise Serenity as a Reaver ship - it's just rundown enough to pass for one too.
** Also when Mal slips into Inara's rooms dressed as another Companion.
{{quote|'''The Operative:''' "I'm impressed that you would come for her yourself. And that you would make it this far in ''that'' outfit."
'''Mal:''' I can be very graceful when I need to. }}
* [[Pass the Popcorn]]: whenWhen Inara calls Mal.
* [[Perfect Pacifist People]]: The Alliance tried to create a world like this artificially, {{spoiler|and ended up creating the [[Exclusively Evil|Reavers]].}}
* [[Playing with Syringes]]: River at the academy.
* [[The Power of Love]]: The core of Simon and River's relationship. [[Big Brother Instinct|Simon's]] [[I Will Protect Her|love]] for [[The Woobie|River]] is practically the only thing holding her [[Mind Rape|fractured psyche]] together. {{spoiler|As a result, this is [[The Power of Love|the force]] that allows her to [[Mama Bear|pull herself together]] at the end of the film and [[Waif Fu|save]] [[You Shall Not Pass|everyone]].}}
* [[Pow Zap Wham Cam]]: Used when River "scans" the occupants of the trader outpost in [[The Movie]].
* [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]]: "My turn."
{{quote|"She always did love to dance..."
"You know what your sin is..."
"Ah, hell. I'm a fan of all seven... But right now... I'm going to go with '''WRATH.'''" }}
* [[Precision F-Strike]]: "Eight months. ''Eight months'' you had her on my boat knowing full well she could go '''monkeyshit''' at the wrong word and you never said a thing." It's easy to miss it, but this is a cuss word they couldn't drop on Fox, but could in a [[Big Damn Movie]].
** In the movie's novelization by Keith R.A. DeCandido, a version of the scene on Haven where Mal {{spoiler|announces his plan to use the corpses of the murdered settlers as part of a disguise for ''Serenity'' to cross Reaver space}} is featured where Mal drops the F-bomb to emphasize his point. Pretty sure the same scene is featured in the early draft of the film's script floating around the 'Net, the version where {{spoiler|Wash and Book don't die}}.
* [[The President's Daughter]]: River.
* [[Pressure Point]]: Used by the Operative.
** {{spoiler|And brutally subverted by Mal in his final fight with The Operative when he pretends to fall victim to this technique. In truth that particular pressure point was rendered invalid from a war wound, and he just played along so he could catch The Operative off-guard.}}
* [[Psychic Powers]]: River.
* [[Public Secret Message]]: The code that makes River flip out is hidden in an ad spot for Fruity Oaty Bars.
* [[Quick Nip]]: Jayne.
* [[Quote Overdosed]]: It's ''very'' quotable. You can't stop with just one.
* [[Radial Ass-Kicking]]: [[Summer Glau|River]] fights off Reavers coming at her from all sides.
Line 310:
* [[Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves]]: After {{spoiler|Mr. Universe}} sells out Mal, The Operative instead {{spoiler|kills him with a sword. How weird is that?}}
* [[Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense]]: Averted. Simon's time on the ship has stripped this element from him, replacing it with [[Darker and Edgier|a tired bitterness behind much of his actions.]]
* [[Sacrificial Lion]]: {{spoiler|Book and Wash}}.
* [[Schizo-Tech]]: The just-settled Outer Planets have no infrastructures or industries built yet, and the Alliance considers anything past terraforming a low priority.
* [[School for Scheming]]: The Academy.
* [[Science Fiction]]
* [[Send in the Search Team]]: Miranda.
* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: River occasionally. Possibly Simon. Possibly Kaylee, too, via mechanic talk.
* [[Seven Deadly Sins]]: What the Operative seems to be obsessed with. Given that they think they can "make mankind better", the Alliance's chief sin seems to be [[Pride]].
** Mal is also a fan of all seven, but right now he's going with wrath.
* [[Shirtless Scene]]: Both Mal and Simon get this. Joss Whedon actually apologizes in the commentary for shooting shirtless!Mal at such a close angle and not allowing a full look at his physique.
* [[Shoot the Rope]]: Mal needs several shots to sever the mini-harpoon from Jayne's leg. While he's hanging from the back of Mule II ''at full tilt.''.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Numerous.
* [[Shrouded in Myth]]: Reavers, at least until their origin is revealed.
* [[A Simple Plan]]: Mal has these a lot. And they go wrong with [[Finagle's Law|alarming regularity]]
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* [[Sliding Scale of Shiny Versus Gritty]]
* [[Someone to Remember Him By]]: At the end of ''Serenity: Float Out'', it is revealed that {{spoiler|Zoe is pregnant with Wash's daughter.}}
* [[Something They Would Never Say]]: invertedInverted: a character ''doesn't'' say something they normally would, which tips Mal off.
{{quote|'''Mal:''' Did you see us fight?
'''Kaylee:''' No.
'''Mal:''' ''Trap.'' }}
* [[Sonic Stunner]]: Simon apparently found one that only works ''at head level'', then uses it to rescue River by setting it off and ducking (she's conveniently seated at the time).
** Inara's flashbang-incense is a very crude version.
* [[Sorry That I'm Dying]]
** {{spoiler|Book}} to Mal.
** Simon to River.
* [[Space Clouds]]: The ion cloud around Mr. Universe's planet. [[Joss Whedon]] admitted that he knew exactly how unscientific this was, but he needed it there for [[Rule of Cool]] in the battle scene.
* [[Space Is Cold]]
Line 343:
* [[Summon Bigger Fish]]: Captain Mal does this by getting {{spoiler|the Reavers to attack the Alliance}}.
* [[Survival Mantra]]: "I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar." Savagely subverted when {{spoiler|Wash [[Killed Mid-Sentence|dies in the middle of saying it.]]}}
** Yes, but he's {{spoiler|not flying any more. Flying is his super power. His milieu.}}
* [[Swallowed a Fly]]: After a horrific encounter with the Reavers, the crew barely makes it back, and crashes the runabout back onto Serenity. Simon (who stayed behind) is frantic over River, who is oddly calm:
{{quote|'''River''': "I swallowed a bug."}}
* [[Sword Pointing]]: The Operative does this to Captain Mal when he first draws his sword during their fight in Mr. Universe's complex.
* [[Take a Moment to Catch Your Death]]: {{spoiler|Wash}}, as per the above.
* [[Talkative Loon]]: River.
* [[Thememobile]]: The good ship ''Serenity''.
* [[Theme Music Withholding]]: The "Ballad of Serenity" only appears in the end credits.
Line 357:
* [[Throw the Dog a Bone]]: River, in particular, is the one getting the bone.
* [[Tired of Running]]: "I aim to misbehave."
* [[Token Evil Teammate]]: Jayne Cobb. (Oror at least more amoral than the rest of them anyway).
* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: River. Boy did she ever.
* [[Tranquil Fury]]: Zoe and River both get this when their respective loved ones are hurt {{spoiler|(or in Zoe's case, killed).}}
Line 368:
* [[True Companions]]: Serenity's crew. Mal will protect everyone on his ship and will punish anyone on his ship for harming anyone else.
* [[Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty]]: Not that you need to try very hard.
* [[Tyke Bomb]]: River.
* [[Undying Loyalty]]: "loveLove...something far more dangerous".
* [[Unrequited Love Switcheroo]]: Mal and Inara.
* [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]]: No, it is not your imagination that whenever Mal and Inara get within a foot of each other, electricity shoots out of your screen. It's the UST trying to explode your television/computer.
Line 380:
* [[Waif Fu]]: River, again. Those poor Reavers.
* [[Waif Prophet]]: River.
* [[Watching Troy Burn]]: {{spoiler|Haven}}.
* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: The Operative.
* [[What a Piece of Junk!]]: Serenity, but [[Berserk Button|never tell Kaylee]].
* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Zoe points out that Mal could have saved a man's life simply by dumping the loot from a heist.
Line 388:
* [[Worth Living For]]: Played for laughs when Simon [[Cannot Spit It Out|spits it out]].
* [[Wrap It Up]]
* [[Wrench Wench]]: Kaylee.
* [[You Are Already Dead]]: A variant, the Operative uses a nerve strike, that while not deadly in and of itself, does leave them paralyzed so he can stab them with his sword.
* [[You Can't Go Home Again]]: Mal, Simon, and River.
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* [[You Might Remember Me From]]: Ron Glass, who plays Shepherd Book, is probably best known as Detective Harris on ''[[Barney Miller]]''.
* [[You Rebel Scum]]: From most Alliance officials.
* [[You Shall Not Pass]]: {{spoiler|River}}, when the only thing standing between the badly injured and exhausted crew and {{spoiler|the oncoming Reaver hordes}} are some broken blast doors.
 
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