History Awesome / Firefly

* Along with the moment in "War Stories" where we see her kill three of Niska's men with three shots with her eyes closed. No power in the 'verse can stop her.

* Also, in this [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness fairly hard sci-fi setting]], she convinces Jubal that she has melded with ''Serenity.''

* In the canonical "Leaves On The Wind" comics, Early comes back to the ship and has disarmed the entire crew, but feels he's forgetting someone. Finally, it dawns on him: "[[OhCrap The Mechanic.]]" Cue Kaylee [[HeyYouHaymaker knocking him cold]] in one hit with a wrench and then threatening to torture him as he's chained up in a perfect bit of retribution:

** Jayne and Simon are being handcuffed and covered by two armed Feds. Not willing to accept this unfortunate turn of events, they take ''both Feds'' down, ''while'' both of them are still handcuffed. The best part is how Jayne manages to snap one guard's neck, and Simon takes down the second with a surgical, incapacitating kneecap to the throat, proving (yet again) that even TheMedic can be a BadAss on this show.

* An implied one in ''Objects in Space''. [[{{Badass}} Jubal]] [[BountyHunter Early]] fights Mal and wins. And yet when Book turns out to still be up, Jubal seeks him out and ambushes him so he doesn't have a chance to fight back. From a ''single conversation'', Jubal could tell that he could not even risk getting in a fight with Book.

** The Train Job: [[AccidentalAimingSkills "I was aiming for his head."]]

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* A subtle one at the beginning of "The Message:" while walking through a crowded fair with Inara, a child bumps him. Mal, without breaking stride, grabs the brat and takes back his wallet from the pickpocket.

-->'''River''': ''(laughter)'' "Its very interesting here....all these ''buttons....''"

** To make it even better, he just repeats exactly what he said earlier to Crow to the next henchman with a straight face.

* How about the end of the pilot?

** What makes this even better is that he had no prior warning that the Fed had escaped. Without even questioning what was going on he just pulled the trigger.
*** Which is why I am a proud owner of a [[ShootTheDog Mal Shot First]] [[http://www.cafepress.com/+mal_shot_first,55999565 t-shirt]].
*** Oh, he had some warning. He hears a shot go off inside his ship (Dobson fired a round just before the whole standoff started), walks in, sees Dobson with a hostage... 2 + 2 = '''''BANG.''''' Pure and simple.

* And the nekkid scenes at the beginning and end of "Trash". That grin!

* Jayne's speech at the end of "Jaynestown". Added bonus for knocking down his own statue. Thought that's also a TearJerker moment.

* Jayne's speech at the end of "Jaynestown". Added bonus for knocking down his own statue.

--->'''Alan:''' HELL-OH!
--->'''Nathan:''' Yeah, I want to go back and do that again.
--->'''Alan:''' That scene, that moment? Really? I thought it was just swell!
--->'''Nathan:''' You see, that's where we differ.

---> "Now, you can luxuriate in a nice jail cell, but if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet ''I will end you.''"

---> "Cut her down."
---> "The girl is a witch!"
---> "Yeah, but she's our witch." [[[DramaticGunCock KA-CHINK!]]] "Now cut her the hell down."

--->'''Zoe:''' "[[ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself This is something the captain's gotta do himself.]]"
--->'''Mal:''' "No! No it's not!"
--->'''Zoe:''' "Oh."
--->* hail of gunfire*

--->'''Niska:''' [[SadisticChoice There is not enough here for two. But enough, perhaps, for one]] --
--->'''Zoe:''' ''(indicates Wash)'' [[DefiedTrope Him]].
--->'''Niska:''' ...
--->'''Zoe:''' [[DissonantSerenity I'm sorry. You were going to ask me to choose. Do you want to finish?]]

--->'''Mal:''' Well, look at this! Appears we got here [[JustInTime just in the nick of time]]. What does that make us?
--->'''Zoe:''' BigDamnHeroes, sir.
--->'''Mal:''' Ain't we just?

--->'''Jayne:''' Make somethin' up. [[WhatHaveIDone Don't tell 'em what I did]].

--->'''Zoe:''' He'll make it last as long as possible. Days, if he can.
--->'''Wash:''' *drags himself to his feet with the most determined, enraged, and downright scary look he's ever had up to this point in the series* Bastard's not gonna ''get'' days.

--->'''Bester''': Mal, what do you need two mechanics for?
--->'''Mal''': I really don't.

--->'''Zoe:''' "Preacher, doesn't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?"
--->'''Book:''' "Quite specific. However, it is somewhat more fuzzy on the issue of ''kneecaps''."
* Aaand then he shoots people in the kneecaps.

---> '''Simon''': Well, I don't know. I've never shot anyone before.
---> '''Book''': I was there, son. I'm fair sure you haven't shot anyone ''yet''.

** You don't talk at the theatre when Book is at the theatre. You might just lose a kneecap.

--->'''Mal:''' Gonna have to explain that to me someday.
--->'''Book:''' No, I don't.

---> ''(River is about to be burned as a witch: Simon climbs up onto the pile of firewood, embraces her, and stares down the crowd.)''
---> '''Village Headman:''' [[KnightTemplar That's not going to stop us, Doctor.]]
---> '''Simon''': [[FaceDeathWithDignity Light it]].

--->'''Early''': "Then are you gonna come out, stop me from doing what I don't want to? You gonna be smart here, River? ... River? ... [[MoreHypnotizableThanHeThinks Serenity?"]]

---> '''Sir Warrick Harrow:''' You'll have to rely on your winning personality to get women...God help you.

---> '''Simon:''' Are you Alliance?
---> '''Jubal Early:''' Am I a lion? I don't think of myself as a lion. You might as well, though - I do have a mighty roar.

--->'''Crow:''' "Keep the money. Use it to buy a funeral. It does not matter how far you run: I will track you down. And the last thing you see will be my blade."

* "No, ''this'' is your blood."

* In the canonical "Leaves On The Wind" comics, Early comes back to the ship and has disarmed the entire crew, but feels he's forgetting someone. Finally, it dawns on him: "The Mechanic." Cue Kaylee knocking him cold in one hit with a wrench and then threatening to torture him as he's chained up in a perfect bit of retribution:

** "Looks like business isn't running so much as crawling away. ''You want to meet the '''real''' me now''?"

---> ''(Simon climbs up onto the pile of firewood and embraces River, who is about to be burned as a witch)''

---> ''(Simon climbs up onto the pile of firewood and embraces River, who is about to be burned as a witch)

** And then Petaline, the woman who just went through a ScreamingBirth, calmly walks up to a helpless Rance Burgess with his baby in her arms, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor just like he demanded]].
--> '''Petaline''': Rance, this is Jonah. Say hi to your daddy, Jonah. ''(Takes Mal's gun and shoots Burgess in the head.)'' Say goodbye to your daddy, Jonah.

** Oh Yeah!!!! She didn't even need to add what she was really saying: [[{{Subtext}} Shouldn't'a messed]] with [[BerserkButton my hubby]], bitch.
* In "War Stories," Zoe walks into Niska's space station solo and unarmed with a ransom for Mal and Wash. Pretty damn brave. When Niska tries to make her choose between the two men, she cuts him off and chooses Wash -- because she knows that to rescue Mal, they need the best pilot they have. Then Niska cuts off Mal's ear and hands it to her. Without a word, looking him in the eye, she takes the ear, tucks it inside her vest, and practically carries Wash out the door. This scene forever cemented Zoe's status as a [[{{Badass}} stone cold badass]] in this troper's mind.

* Jayne in the pilot really struck me with how freaking [[BadAss Bad Ass]] the man is. The fact that he was willing to shoot down Book to make Dobson pay for shooting Kaylee...shockingly enough, that episode also had a few [[CrowningMomentofHeartwarming Crowning Moments of Heartwarming]] for Jayne.
** "...I was gonna get me an ear, too."
** "Pain is scary."
*** Really, the entire interrogation scene.
**** That scene, to me, is one of several moments where Jayne shows (to an attentive observer) that he is not the total idiot that he sometimes comes across as. He is able to quickly, accurately and confidently deduce from Dobson's behavior just how much Dobson was able to accomplish - ''while giving Dobson the impression that he is just a simpleminded, sadistic thug''. Jayne Cobb is not a genius, and he may be the worst-educated member of the crew, but he is not witless by a long shot.

* ''' ''THE OPENING MUSIC.'' '''

** Of course Simon wasn't going to kill Jayne on the operating table. [[TheMedic First Do No Harm.]] Not to mention his reasoning for forgiving Jayne: Being unwilling to kill him while Jayne was under his care, the only alternative was for the two of them to constantly be watching each other lest one of them get a knife in the back. And Simon finds that prospect tiring. He simply doesn't want to put up with the hassle. [[spoiler: Also, River can kill Jayne with her mind.]]