Badger

One of the crew's contacts on the moon-planet Persephone, Badger, portrayed by Mark Sheppard, appeared in the pilot episode of the series, "Serenity". Badger, an "honest businessman" refused to pay for cargo that he had commissioned the crew to retrieve after they were spotted by Alliance forces. At the time, Badger threatened to provide information to the Alliance about Malcolm Reynolds and his salvage operation. Although Badger can't be trusted, he apparently is consistent enough that Reynolds is willing to do business with him. Badger is clearly a criminal, but views himself as a business man and "better than" Mal and other smugglers who don't have a base of operations.

Badger reappeared in the episode "Shindig", and hired the crew again to collect some cargo (in truth a herd of cattle) from a "fancy reception" where he was unwelcome. In the Serenity comic book, Badger sets events in motion by providing Reynolds with his initial contract. Badger speaks with a cockney accent, identified and imitated by River Tam. Whedon originally wrote the character with the intention of playing the role himself.

Bester

Bester was Serenity's original engine mechanic, portrayed by Dax Griffin. At some point before the events of Firefly (as shown in a flashback in "Out of Gas"), Malcolm Reynolds caught him having sex with a local girl, soon identified as Kaylee Frye, in the engine room. Mal demands to know what's wrong with the engine, and an increasingly flustered Bester is repeatedly embarrassed by Kaylee's knowledge of ship engine workings, then fired by Mal in favour of Kaylee.

Sheriff Bourne

Sheriff Bourne is the sheriff of Paradiso, a mining town on Regina featured in "The Train Job". When Mal, Zoë, and Jayne rob the train between Hancock and Paradiso, Sheriff Bourne questions Mal and Zoë, who are pretending to be newlyweds, coming to Paradiso to find work in the mines. Bourne realized there was something questionable about their story, but when Inara arrived claiming Mal was her indentured servant, he thought that was the problem. Later, as Mal was preparing to return the stolen medicine to Paradiso, Bourne and a posse tracked him down. However, he accepts that Mal has done the right thing by bringing the medicine back, and lets the crew go free. Sheriff Bourne is played by Gregg Henry.

Ranse Burgess

Ranse Burgess, played by Fredric Lehne in "Heart of Gold", is a rancher who ran afoul of the crew of Serenity when he decided to wage war against a brothel run by Nandi, a former Companion and friend of Inara Serra. Malcolm Reynolds and his crew helped lay out the defence of the brothel when Burgess and his cronies attacked to try to take the son he begat on one of the whores, Petaline. Eventually he lost the battle and was killed by Petaline herself.

Lawrence Dobson

Lawrence Dobson, played by Carlos Jacott, is an undercover Alliance agent in pursuit of Simon and River Tam. When he suspects to have found Simon on the planet Persephone, he joins him together with the Shepherd Derrial Book as passenger on board Serenity.

Soon after having left the planet he attempts to contact the Alliance to report his discovery. When the crew discovers the transmission, they find Dobson in the cargo bay with his gun aimed at Simon. After a moment of panic, he shoots Kaylee and is knocked out by Book. He is locked up for a while, and when interrogated by Jayne, he attempts to bribe him for his freedom.

By the time the ship arrives at the moon Whitefall, Dobson escapes his quarters, beats up Shepherd Book and attempts again, unsuccessfully, to contact the Alliance. He then finds River and tries to leave the ship while holding her at gunpoint.

Malcolm Reynolds, returning from his mission, immediately notices the situation and shoots Dobson in the head. Mal and Jayne then toss him from the ship, leaving him for dead.

Lawrence Dobson returns in the three-issue comic book miniseries, Serenity: Those Left Behind, which takes place between the TV series and the film. He appears alive, but with an ocular implant where Mal had shot him in the eye. Obsessed with seeking revenge on Reynolds, Dobson joins the Hands of Blue in finding Serenity, its captain and the Tam siblings. When the two finally meet again, Mal shoots the former agent (first in his good eye), and kills him for good.

In the "Serenity" episode, Lawrence Dobson's initial clumsiness and common appearance contrasts him to the viewer (and the other characters) with the more suspicious-looking Simon Tam, to conceal Dobson's role as villain on the ship. This is an effect shared by other Joss Whedon characters portrayed by actor Carlos Jacott, where he also switches from seeming innocent, clumsy and unimportant to being someone with more malicious intentions.

Jubal Early

Jubal Early is a bounty hunter that appeared in the finale episode "Objects in Space". Jubal boards Serenity with the intention to kidnap River Tam in return for a bounty. Jubal is played by Richard Brooks. Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for this episode reveals that Early was partly inspired by the Star Wars character Boba Fett.

Early is extremely athletic and is clearly adept at unarmed combat. He is also intelligent and somewhat eccentric, given to rambling on philosophic matters in the middle of tense situations. He may be hard of hearing or easily distractible, as he repeatedly mishears what others are saying to him. River mind-reads him, revealing that he is/was a sadist, at least as a kid.

Various websites claim that the producers picked the name because American Civil War Confederate General Jubal Anderson Early is an ancestor of Firefly star Nathan Fillion, especially given the show's repeated references to that historical war, but there is no known reliable source for this claim.

The Hands of Blue

The Hands of Blue are a pair of mysterious men, portrayed by Dennis Cockrum and Jeff Ricketts, who wear suits and blue gloves. They are contractors to the Alliance and are in pursuit of River and Simon Tam. They will not hesitate to kill off anyone who has had contact with River, using a handheld device that induces fatal bleeding to anyone near it (except themselves).

The pair are never officially named in either Firefly or Serenity. In "The Train Job" DVD commentary, Joss Whedon refers to them as "the men with blue hands" and "the blue-hands men". IMDb's cast listings name each of them as a "Blue Glove", perhaps the most accurate moniker. However, "Hands of Blue" seems to have become a fanon name for the otherwise unnamed pair, from River's "two by two… hands of blue…" litany (possibly in reference to there being four blue-gloved hands between the two men, or to the fact that the men are merely one pair and may be followed by more like them.)

In the Serenity comics, the blue "gloves" are shown to extend to and cover the upper body as well. They disappeared and the Alliance passes the assignment to retrieve the Tams to the Operative.

Sir Warwick Harrow

Sir Warwick Harrow, played by Larry Drake in "Shindig", was a nobleman on Persephone who had a cargo he needed to move off planet. He refused to deal with Badger, but Badger managed to hook him up with Mal Reynolds. When Reynolds was challenged to a duel by Atherton Wing, Sir Warwick served as his second. The manner in which Reynolds handled himself leading up to the duel and during the duel made Sir Warwick decide to trust him with his cargo.

Stitch Hessian

Stitch Hessian was a one-time comrade of Jayne Cobb. The two of them carried off a raid on Higgins' Moon, but when their craft was tagged by anti-aircraft fire, Jayne pushed Stitch off. Stitch was captured by Boss Higgins's men and put into solitary confinement until released when the crew of Serenity returned to Higgins' Moon in "Jaynestown." He is portrayed by Kevin Gage.

Fess Higgins

Fess Higgins was the virgin son of the magistrate of Higgins' Moon. His father, known only as Magistrate Higgins or Boss Higgins, contracted with Inara Serra for her to usher Fess into manhood. Inara talked Fess through some of his insecurities with his father and made him look upon himself as his own man, with the result that he was able to stand up to his father when Boss Higgins tried to stop "Serenity" from leaving Higgins Moon with Jayne Cobb on board at the end of "Jaynestown." Fess Higgins is portrayed by Zachary Kranzler.

Magistrate Higgins

Magistrate Higgins is the final word of law on Higgins' Moon, a small moon that had a primary export of mud. Higgins is a man who looks out only for himself. He treats his workers, known as mudders, harshly, almost as slaves, and metes out strict punishment to any who cross him, as evidenced by the confinement cage in which he imprisoned Stitch Hessian after Hessian and Jayne Cobb robbed him. Concern over his son Fess's virginity caused him to hire Inara Serra to turn Fess into a man. Boss Higgins is portrayed by Gregory Itzin.

Dr. Mathias

Dr. Mathias is the doctor who headed the research project which resulted in River Tam's psychosis and increased abilities. He's very proud of his achievements and the importance it brought to him. Mathias is present when Simon Tam manages to free River from the medical centre. Following questioning by the Operative about River's escape, the Operative kills Mathias for his failure. Dr. Mathias is portrayed by Michael Hitchcock.

Mingo and Fanty

Mingo and Fanty are twin brothers who appeared in the Serenity comic as well as the film. They are seen as fences for goods acquired by Mal Reynolds and the crew of Serenity. Although identical twins, Reynolds is able to tell the two of them apart. They are portrayed in the film by twin brothers Yan and Raphael Feldman.

Mr. Universe

Mr. Universe, a reclusive techno-geek, appeared only in the movie Serenity, portrayed by David Krumholtz. He lives (apparently) alone on a moon with his love-bot "wife", Lenore (portrayed by Nectar Rose). He has a great affinity for data, and is capable of intercepting nearly any transmission or recording in the system. He is seen stepping on a cloth-wrapped glass in a video clip of his wedding, indicating that he may be Jewish.

In the novelization for the movie Serenity, he is revealed to have been a student at the same flight school as Wash, achieving the highest possible grades by manipulating the school's software.

He was killed by the Operative, but had set plans in motion for Malcolm Reynolds to broadcast a report from an Alliance officer that revealed the origins of the Reavers.

Monty

Monty is a long-time colleague of Mal Reynolds who also fought on the side of the Independents in the Unification War. Known among his friends for wearing a thick beard and moustache, he shaved the beard off for his wife, Bridget, who turned out to be the con woman Saffron. Monty was portrayed by Franc Ross in the episode Trash.

Nandi

Nandi, played by Melinda Clarke in "Heart of Gold", was a Companion who knew Inara on Sihnon before they both left the planet. Nandi gave up her life as a Companion to become a brothel madame, overseeing common whores. When Petaline, one of her girls, got pregnant with a local landowner's son, she called Inara to see if the crew of Serenity could help against Ranse Burgess. In the resulting shoot out, Nandi and Mal had a brief affair before Nandi was killed and Petaline took over the brothel. Nandi's death led to Inara's decision to return to Sihnon.

Adelei Niska

Adelei Niska is a major crime lord of the Firefly universe, played by Michael Fairman and first seen in "The Train Job". Thoroughly ruthless in his business practices, he is dedicated to maintaining his reputation for exacting terrible reprisals on those that fail him — a reputation well-deserved, as Malcolm Reynolds and Wash discover in "War Stories". He frequently spouts rather brutal philosophy while torturing his victims, notably that of the fictional dictator Shan Yu.

The Operative

Appearing in the comic book miniseries Serenity: Those Left Behind, and the movie Serenity, the nameless and rank-less Operative is the principal antagonist in the film. He is portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor. With no name or rank, he claims that he does not exist.

Working directly for the Parliament of the Alliance, he single-mindedly hunts down River Tam because he believes that his actions "make the world a better place". He is shown to have little problem with killing as part of his job, ruthlessly murdering several people using his sword, and also ordering the attacks that were responsible for the death of, among others, Derrial Book.

By the end of the movie, Mal manages to give the Operative doubts about his mission by forcing him to watch a report by another Alliance officer, revealing that it was the Alliance itself that had been responsible for accidentally creating the Reavers in an attempt to subdue the population of the planet Miranda.

Patience

Patience, an elderly woman, is the maternal leader of the backwater moon, Whitefall, and notorious in the back-story of the crew of Serenity for having previously shot Mal. Despite this, Mal takes the crew to her in order to shift some troubling cargo in the pilot episode, "Serenity", and despite her treachery successfully sells the cargo. She is portrayed by Bonnie Bartlett.

Saffron

Saffron is one of several known aliases of a fictional character, played by Christina Hendricks. She is a very crafty and apparently amoral con artist who assumes convenient identities to commit grand thefts. She is also known to use her feminine wiles on — and occasionally marry — her marks, or those she is trying to con.

Malcolm Reynolds and the crew of Serenity have encountered her twice as of the close of the original Firefly series. In "Our Mrs. Reynolds", Mal finds himself married to her in an obscure native ceremony, as she pretends to be a demure, compliant servant. She ultimately takes the crew by surprise and sends them off in their uncontrollable ship to be killed by pirates who want to steal it. In "Trash", she manages to convince Mal to steal a priceless antiquity owned by a man who turns out to be another former paramour of hers. Although Saffron ends up trapped in a trash bin, apparently awaiting release by the authorities, her actual fate is unknown.

Saffron's real name is unknown to the Serenity crew. She posed as "Bridget" for Mal's smuggler friend Monty, and as "Yolanda" to Durran, the wealthy owner of the antique laser pistol — both of whom had also married her. (Mal quips on this name confusion in Trash by calling her "Yo-Saff-Bridg".) It is also unknown whether any of her marriages are legal, given their frequency and her false identities, but the possibility remains that she and Mal are indeed legally wedded. However, Mal does refer to Durran as her "real" husband, in that she is the only one of her husbands she seems to have genuine feelings for and to regret having lied to.

According to Serenity crew member and Companion Inara Serra, Saffron has had some Companion training. This organization of legal, high-society courtesans appears to provide its members with psychological education to enable them to establish more than a merely sexual relationship with their clients. Saffron uses these skills to help her seduce her marks, even attempting to lure Inara herself.

Both Mal and Durran suspect Saffron is mentally unbalanced, apparently because of her tendency to revert to feminine wiles immediately following bouts of undisguised aggression and contempt for her victims. However, her continued survival suggests that this is not necessarily an unsuccessful strategy.

Tracey Smith

Tracey Smith was a war buddy of Malcolm Reynolds and Zoë Alleyne from the war against the Alliance. Mal helped get Tracey through the war, but after the war Tracey became something of a drifter, eventually falling in with organ smugglers. When he ran afoul of them, he arranged to have his apparently dead body shipped to Reynolds for transportation back home. In reality, Tracey was in cryo-sleep, trying to double-cross the organ smugglers. He informed Mal that he sought out Mal and Zoe because they were chumps. He is portrayed in "The Message" by Jonathan M. Woodward.

Gabriel and Regan Tam

Gabriel and Regan Tam are River and Simon's parents. Well-to-do, they take great pride in their social position and Simon's achievement. They support the Alliance and don't believe it could or would do anything to harm their daughter, River, who was in their care in a special school. As Simon began to jeopardize both his position and their standing, they warned him not to rock the boat. In "Safe", Gabriel Tam is played by William Converse-Roberts and Regan Tam is played by Isabella Hofmann.

Atherton Wing

Atherton Wing is a young nobleman on Persephone who has hired Inara Serra on multiple occasions, on some of which he has proposed a more permanent arrangement with her. In "Shindig", at a fancy ball, he challenged Mal Reynolds to a duel after Mal struck him. Wing was known on Persephone as a master with a sword, a weapon with which Mal was unfamiliar. The character is played by Edward Atterton.