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{{Short description|Fictional group of humans in the science fiction series Firefly}}
{{About|a fictional group in the television series Firefly|the rocket engine|Firefly Aerospace#Reaver}}
{{In-universe|subject = television|category = television|date = October 2009}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Reaver (''Firefly'')}}
[[File:Fireflyreaver.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Glimpse of a Reaver during their raid on Lilac in ''[[Serenity (2005 film)|Serenity]]'']]
'''Reavers''' are a fictional group of humans in the television series ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'' and subsequent film ''[[Serenity (2005 film)|Serenity]]'' who live on the fringes of civilized space and have become animalistic. Within most of the timeline of the series and movie, the existence of Reavers is officially denied by the [[Alliance (Firefly)|Alliance]], the ruling government of humanity in the ''Firefly'' franchise, but they are a harsh reality around the outer planets.
The Reavers are mentioned several times during the course of the television show. A Reaver ship is seen in the [[Serenity (Firefly episode)|pilot episode]], and the episode "[[Bushwhacked (Firefly)|Bushwacked]]" shows someone who was exposed to the Reavers’ madness and starts to mimic them. The movie ''Serenity'' featured Reavers and reveals their origin.
==Concept==
[[Joss Whedon]], creator of the ''Firefly'' series and director of ''Serenity'', has said of Reavers, "Every story needs a monster. In the stories of the old west it was the [[Apache|Apaches]]". He explained how he removed the racial aspect of the Apache metaphor by using the Reavers. "I used that example by saying that anyone who goes out into space and goes mad can become a monster."<ref>{{cite web | author=Arroyo, Sam | title=Joss Whedon Panel @ Wondercon: Full Report. | work=Comic Book Resources | publisher=2005 Boiling Point Productions DBA Comic Book Resources | date=February 20, 2005 | url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=4841|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050406092014/http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=4841|archive-date=2005-04-06}}</ref>
The purpose Reavers serve in the show has been compared to the Hollywood "Injuns" of the 1950s in [[western movie]]s by outside sources.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://slayageonline.com/essays/slayage25/Curry.htm | author=Curry, Agnes B. | title="We Don't Say 'Indian'" On the Paradoxical Construction of the Reavers | access-date=July 5, 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119125407/http://slayageonline.com/essays/slayage25/Curry.htm | archive-date=November 19, 2012 }}</ref>
[[Comic book]] artist [[Bernie Wrightson]], co-creator of ''[[Swamp Thing]]'', contributed Reaver concept designs for the film ''Serenity''.<ref name="wrightson">
[[Category:Firefly]]▼
{{cite web
| last = Epstein
| first = Daniel Robert
| date = 30 September 2005
| url = http://suicidegirls.com/words/Joss+Whedon/
| title = Joss Whedon
| work = SuicideGirls.com
| access-date = 2007-08-03
}}</ref> The "[[mythology]]" of the Reavers in ''Firefly'' and ''Serenity'' has been said to be different.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8dkAAAAMAAJ&q=firefly+reaver | first1=Jane | last1=Espenson | first2=Glenn | last2=Yeffeth | title=Finding Serenity | page=17 |date=March 2005 | publisher=BenBella Books | isbn=9781932100433 | access-date=July 5, 2012}}</ref>
==Behavior==
In ''Firefly'', Reavers are readily recognized in any situation by both appearance and behavior. Whether ritually or in fits of rage, they are portrayed as self-mutilating creatures, peeling off parts of their own skins and shoving pieces of metal into the flesh. Reavers are savage, brutal, and primal, though they engage in some form of social behavior and cooperation within their own group. In the franchise, their contact with normal humans appears to be limited to combat, [[Effects and aftermath of rape|rape to death]], [[torture]], and [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]]. These contacts are brief and survivors few. As a result, little is known of Reavers' social structure.
Reavers growl and snarl like beasts; even radio transmissions within their flotilla seem to be little more than shrieks and moans. However, they presumably communicate on some level as they are still able to cooperate and act purposefully enough to use spaceships and set sophisticated technological traps. In ''[[Serenity (2005 film)|Serenity]]'', the Reavers only begin to closely inspect the disguised ''Serenity'' after it fails to respond to a red light pulse<ref>1:23:52 in the film ''Serenity''</ref> from a Reaver ship. This suggests that Reavers have retained some level of higher intelligence and social structure, though they are guided solely by their impulse to capture and consume any humans they come in contact with.
The Reavers live on the edge of the human-controlled binary solar systems, rarely venturing deep into occupied space. As a result, most of the inner worlds and many Alliance officials believe them to be myths made to cover for violent criminals. Reavers are known to capture ships and raid colonies on the edge of populated space – as [[Zoe Washburne|Zoe]] puts it:
<blockquote>"If they take the ship, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing – and if we're very, very lucky, they'll do it in that order."</blockquote>
They occasionally leave intentional survivors of their raids, apparently subjecting them to a form of brainwashing – forcing them to witness the torture of other Reaver victims – that may drive them into the same state of cannibalistic depravity.<ref name="Bushwhacked">
{{cite episode
| title = Bushwhacked
| episode-link = Bushwhacked (Firefly)
| series = Firefly
| series-link = Firefly (TV series)
| network = Fox
| airdate = 2002-09-27
| season = 1
| number = 3
}}</ref>
They travel in macabre ships stained with blood and decorated with corpses chained to the hulls. They appear to live their whole lives in space, only touching down on a planet or moon to carry out a raid.
==Technology and battle tactics==
Reaver ships, captured from their victims, are instantly recognizable by the haphazard red stripes and bodies of victims adorning their hulls. They are also known for flying without proper safety measures such as nuclear engine [[radiation]] [[Containment building|containment]], a practice tantamount to suicide. This makes Reaver ships faster than their normal counterparts, but also makes it easier for their prey to detect their approach and to hide by powering down their ships rather than fleeing.<ref name="radiation">
{{cite episode
| title = Serenity
| episode-link = Serenity (Firefly episode)
| series = Firefly
| series-link = Firefly (TV series)
| network = Fox
| airdate = 2002-12-20
| season = 1
| number = 1
}}</ref>
Reavers' habit of [[Aerial ramming|ramming]] their victims with indifference to damaging their own hulls tends to leave their ships appearing battered or torn.
Their craft possess a wide variety of exotic weaponry, many of which are designed to snare and capture other ships including [[electromagnetic pulse|EMP]] cannons, grappling lines, and energy nets. They use weapons that fire giant sharpened disks similar to [[circular saw|buzzsaws]] or [[shuriken]], in addition to more traditional anti-ship ordnance. They also fire long, lance-like metal rods. Rather than firearms, Reavers will use any sharp object as a weapon in personal combat. They also fire toxic darts to cripple their opponents but not kill them. The goal of their weaponry is most likely to increase the number of survivors on victim ships (since Reavers have no interest in victims who are already dead<ref name="film-mercy">''[[Serenity (2005 film)|Serenity]]'' (2005); Captain Mal mercy-kills a man being dragged away by Reavers, who then abandon their victim</ref>). To cripple rescue ships, they have been known to leave a bait ship intact with a bomb planted on board, set to detonate when another ship docks to help, destroying the already-derelict ship and crippling the ship that tried to provide aid.
The Reavers operate a variety of vessels, from ''Firefly''-sized vessels to captured Alliance warships. In the movie ''[[Serenity (2005 film)|Serenity]]'', the most notable of the Reaver ships was a huge colony vessel orbiting Miranda, which is several times larger than any of the Alliance vessels it subsequently attacked. Even with its greater size, the Reavers used the same tactics as with smaller ships, ramming an Alliance flagship and splitting it in half due to the vast difference in mass.
==Human response==
Reavers terrify most non-Reaver humans. Even the most battle-hardened will opt to leave any space where Reavers are present rather than risk capture. For instance, in the show, when Reavers are coming, Mal becomes very serious and escapes quickly. Reavers are also possibly the only thing that even Jayne fears, as the mere suggestion of traveling where there is a risk of encountering Reavers makes him extremely agitated; although he claims to fear no man, Jayne declares that "Reavers ain't ''men''!". In the movie ''Serenity'', the normally calm and collected [[List of Firefly characters#The Operative|Operative]] is visibly terrified as Reaver ships appear through an ion cloud and hastily orders his ships to fire on them.
Reaver methods are so horrifying that, when faced with capture, victims have been known to attempt suicide. Survivors have been known to cut their own faces, act and think like Reavers, and eventually become Reavers themselves.<ref name="film-caron-shoot">''[[Serenity (2005 film)|Serenity]]'' (2005); playback of Dr. Caron's audiovisual log</ref> [[Mercy killing]]s of people who are captured or who fall into the hands of Reavers are considered humane, as evidenced in one scene in the movie ''Serenity'' when Mal shoots and kills a man who is grabbed by a few Reavers, who respond by dropping the dead man to the ground.<ref name="film-mercy"/>
Because of their part in the unethical, if accidental, creation of the Reavers, the [[Alliance (Firefly)|Alliance]] government denies their existence, even withholding information on them from Alliance commanders of patrol ships in or near Reaver-space.
==Origin==
The original theory within the series is that Reavers are men who traveled to the edge of the [[star system]] and were driven mad by the open vastness of space. This theory is discussed among most of the crew members of ''Serenity''. In "[[Bushwhacked (Firefly)|Bushwhacked]]", [[Derrial Book|Shepherd Book]] states that he believes that they are "just men" who have been removed from civilization far too long—men who could be helped. Both [[Jayne Cobb|Jayne]] and [[Malcolm Reynolds|Mal]] strongly disagree with the Shepherd's opinion.
The Reavers' true origin is revealed later in the movie ''Serenity''. The crew of ''Serenity'' find evidence, in the form of an Alliance scientist's holographic message, that Reavers were originally humans from the planet Miranda. The Alliance government used Miranda as a testing ground for the chemical agent G-23 Paxilon Hydrochlorate, or simply "Pax" (Latin for "peace"). It was added to the planet's air processors in order to calm the population and weed out aggression. The agent worked, but too well: 99.9% of the population became so lethargic that they stopped working, talking and, eventually, eating and moving. They simply lay down where they were and allowed themselves to die. The remaining 0.1% <!-- Please do not change the percentages. The movie said ONE TENTH OF ONE PERCENT - 0.1%, NOT 10%. Read "Reaver population percentage" on the talk page, or listen to the sound clip below, if you doubt. --> of the planet's 30 million people (approximately 30,000 total) <!-- only 30 000 --> had the opposite reaction to the Pax, becoming mindlessly violent and extremely aggressive. In fact, the scientist is violently killed by one of these survivors, the original Reavers, while recording the message.<ref name="film-pax">''[[Serenity (2005 film)|Serenity]]'' (2005); playback of Dr. Caron's audiovisual log. ([[q:Serenity (film)|Relevant dialog excerpt transcribed]] on Wikiquote.)</ref>
Following the events of Miranda, the Alliance sealed all records regarding the event and deemed the world unsuitable for colonization. When Reavers began attacking outer colonies, only a few officials within the Alliance knew the real cause. This changes, however, when the crew of ''Serenity'' arrange for what they have uncovered to be broadcast throughout the colonized system, what they refer to as "the 'verse".
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Firefly}}
[[Category:Fictional cannibals]]
[[Category:Fictional rapists]]
[[Category:Fictional mass murderers]]
[[Category:Barbarians in popular culture]]
[[Category:Science fiction film characters]]
[[Category:Fictional characters from the 26th century]]
▲[[Category:Firefly (franchise)]]
[[Category:Firefly (TV series) characters]]
[[Category:Fictional species and races]]
[[Category:Television characters introduced in 2002]]
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