Behavior
In Firefly, Reavers are readily recognized in any situation by both appearance and behavior. Whether ritually or in fits of rage, they maim themselves, 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. Their contact with normal humans appears limited to combat, rape, torture, murder, and 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. This suggests that Reavers have retained some level of higher intelligence, 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 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 puts it:
"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."
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.
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.
Whedon has said of Reavers, "Every story needs a monster. In the stories of the old west it was the Apaches". The purpose Reavers serve in the show has been compared to the Hollywood "Injuns" of the 1950s in western movies.
Read more about this topic: Reaver (Firefly)
Famous quotes containing the word behavior:
“Fatalism, whose solving word in all crises of behavior is “All striving is vain,” will never reign supreme, for the impulse to take life strivingly is indestructible in the race. Moral creeds which speak to that impulse will be widely successful in spite of inconsistency, vagueness, and shadowy determination of expectancy. Man needs a rule for his will, and will invent one if one be not given him.”
—William James (1842–1910)
“He is not a true man of science who does not bring some sympathy to his studies, and expect to learn something by behavior as well as by application. It is childish to rest in the discovery of mere coincidences, or of partial and extraneous laws. The study of geometry is a petty and idle exercise of the mind, if it is applied to no larger system than the starry one.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“School success is not predicted by a child’s fund of facts or a precocious ability to read as much as by emotional and social measures; being self-assured and interested: knowing what kind of behavior is expected and how to rein in the impulse to misbehave; being able to wait, to follow directions, and to turn to teachers for help; and expressing needs while getting along with other children.”
—Daniel Goleman (20th century)