History NightmareFuel / Firefly

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reaver_s_5.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Ladies and gentlemen, these are the Reavers.]]

** The scene on Miranda where they watch the hologram ending in the scientist begins committing suicide before being overpowered by the Reavers...

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* "Two by two... hands of blue...". They show up in the episode "Ariel" and assassinate the federal agents in the most '''terrifying way possible''': their [[spoiler: teeny tiny sonic wand that makes you bleed from the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and FINGERNAILS as it kills you]].
* The Reavers' origin: [[spoiler: humans, only just more ....everything]]. And the fact that they're psycho cannibals who are so terrible that people often kill themselves or beg for death rather than be captured by them.

* How Simon describes what is wrong with River: [[spoiler: "She feels everything; she can't not."]]

* The ending to ''Serenity'', where [[spoiler: River is standing over a pile of slaughtered Reavers, blood dripping off her weapons, eyes wide and perfectly projecting how deadly she is at that moment, and then very calmly, slowly turning toward the Alliance soldiers, ready to slaughter them, too, without a [[TranquilFury hint of emotion.]] Right then, you know what they meant when they called River a "living weapon."]]

* The fate of the majority of citizens on [[spoiler: Miranda. The entire planet was used as a test environment for the government's experimental chemical Pax, intended to make people happy and peaceful. Most of the citizens became so apathetic that they just lay down and let themselves die. Those who didn't starve to death were torn apart by the tiny fraction of the population that turned into Reavers after exposure to the chemical.]]

* [[spoiler:As Serenity floats through the Reaver fleet, the terrified screams of Reaver captives over the communications]]. Along with, of course, [[spoiler:the fate of Miranda]].
** The scene on Miranda where they watch the hologram ending in the scientist begins committing suicide [[spoiler: before being overpowered by the Reavers...]]

* More Miranda goodness: [[spoiler:River crying, screaming, and pleading as the millions of dead invade her mind saying "nothing"]].
* When Mal [[spoiler:orders everybody to take the dead bodies of their very close friends of Haven and strip them to blood and bone to attach to their ship so they could disguise as Reavers]].
* Just when you thought it was safe to land...[[spoiler: WHAM! Harpoon through the sternum. Way to kill off the funny guy.]]

* It’s easy to imagine Zoe having a fair amount. Imagine encountering a machine that looks, talks and acts just like your dead husband. Not to mention Washbot himself. Imagine your whole identity being built around someone else’s and you have no idea who you really could be outside of their life, name and memories.

-->'''Zoe''' ''(stoically):'' "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}}."

* "Two by two... [[ThoseTwoBadGuys hands of blue]]...". They show up in the episode "Ariel" and assassinate the federal agents in the most '''terrifying way possible''': their [[spoiler: teeny tiny sonic wand that makes you bleed from the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and FINGERNAILS as it kills you]].

* It’s easy to imagine Zoe having a fair amount. Imagine encountering a machine that looks, talks and acts just like your dead husband. Not to mention Washbot himself. Imagine your whole identity being built around someone else’s and you have no idea who you really are outside of their life, name and memories.

Comics:

* Once you see, in "Objects in Space", the way Book's mind works, you can't help but feel your skin crawl. Everyone else sees him as this kindly preacher man, but what does River get to see? Just how twisted could Book really be? Joss said that Book was supposed to have a checkered past, and Jubal says "that ain't no preacher". You can't help but feel terrified of how trapped River must feel, not able to communicate how scared she could be of a nice person. Puts the whole hair/bible scene a few episodes before into a slightly new light.

** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sj89hMVYhI Target the reavers. Target the reavers! Target everyone! Somebody FIRE!]]"

* More Miranda goodness: [[spoiler:River crying, screaming and pleading as the millions of dead invade her mind saying "nothing"]].

* The Academy themselves.

* "[[JumpScare I can]] [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou see you.]]"

* Ships can travel at close to the speed of light, and humanity has colonized worlds that we can't even see now. If we can travel to them, then our observable part of the universe just became ginormous, yet humanity is still the only species known to exist. We've finally spread out among the stars, and started exploring the Galaxy, only to find that we're alone. And when you think about how big the universe really is, depending on who you ask, the only idea scarier than aliens existing is that they don't.

!!Series/{{Firefly}}:

* Jubal Early threatening Kaylee with rape to terrify her into submission.

* Once you see, in ''Objects in Space'', the way Book's mind works, you can't help but feel your skin crawl. Everyone else sees him as this kindly preacher man, but what does River get to see? Just how twisted could Book really be? Joss said that Book was supposed to have a checkered past, and Jubal says "that ain't no preacher". You can't help but feel terrified of how trapped River must feel, not able to communicate how scared she could be of a nice person. Puts the whole hair/bible scene a few episodes before into a slightly new light.
* River in "War Stories", especially once you remove the FourthWallMyopia and see it how Kaylee does. River, who we have never seen hold a gun before, who was playing happily with Kaylee just a few scenes ago, suddenly knows how to shoot people dead without looking. ''And she's grinning afterwards''. Add to that the episode before she rather nonchalantly cut someone with a knife, and suddenly you have a mentally unstable person on board who's had god knows what done to their brains, and if that person goes off you are dead.

* Ships in Firefly can travel at close to the speed of light, and humanity has colonized worlds that we can't even see now. If we can travel to them, then our observable part of the universe just became ginormous, yet humanity is still the only species known to exist. We've finally spread out among the stars, and started exploring the Galaxy, only to find that we're alone. And when you think about how big the universe really is, depending on who you ask, the only idea scarier than aliens existing is that they don't.
* In "Heart of Gold," when the prostitute who called the father of Petalline's baby is forced to give him a blow job in front of the entire town.

!!Film/{{Serenity}}:

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reaver_s_5.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Ladies and gentlemen, these are the Reavers.]]

* Ships in Firefly can travel at close to the speed of light, and humanity has colonized worlds that we can't even see now. If we can travel to them, then our observable part of the universe just became ginormous, yet humanity is still the only species known to exist. We've finally spread out among the stars, and started exploring the Galaxy, only to find that we're alone. And when you think about how big the universe really is, the only idea scarier than aliens existing, is that they don't.

-->'''Zoe''': "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}}."

[[caption-width-right:350:The Reavers]]

** In particular, the {{Leitmotif}} that plays whenever the Reaver ship appears. The other ''Firefly'' themes tend to rely strongly on acoustic guitar or piano. The Reaver music is heavy with percussion and metallic clashing, in a furious tempo. It's an UncannyValley for the ear.