Brutus

The idea here is to create something closely (initially) resembling a rehash of the original firefly and it's characters but then to subvert the audience expectations -- as well as the expectations of the characters themselves. Just as the, for example, the main character deceives the other crew members with his persona of 'the captain' so too are the audience members deceived. All of the characters are either running from their past or pretending to be something they're not.

As a result another theme of the show is about adapting to changing times and an inability to relive the past, which i'll get more to later.

The crew do the usual thing that is expected of the crew until the plot is really kicked into motion by the broadcast of the reaver origins during the end of the Serenity. From then on the crew have some tough choices to make about where they stand in the eyes of both the colonists and the government. Some people fight for the government, some people against it, while others merely seek to exploit the growing turmoil and fear of the reavers for their own personal gain.

While the original Firely showed us more of the outer colonists perspective as they occasionally glanced inward at the inner colonies, this show would take a more oppositional approach as we see things from the perspective of more 'law abiding' citizens who spend a little bit more time working with the Alliance than against it. For example just as the crew of Serenity used Inara to get more access to the inner colonies, here the inner colony member of the crew is instead using them to get more access to the outer colonies. As the crew get more involved in subversive anti government activities, they eventually run into the members of the Serenity who have gone into hiding, many of which are now married and raising children. Mal Reynolds tells the captain that the war is over and that he needs to move one and that the crew of Serenity are 'just folk now.' The crew of Brutus decide that they need to let go of the past, and that instead of relying on it or emulating it, they should go and embark on creating their own unique future



The Captain: He is young but carries with him the persona of 'the captain.' He's cocky to boot. He is a combat veteran who fought for the rebels and fought in the infamous battle of Serenity valley. As a child he grew up as part of traveling circus, performing as a trick shooter. As he grew up he became a competition handgun shooter and has a reputation for having the fastest draw in the outer planets.
In truth, he is a coward who deserted the battle of Serenity, went AWOL and pretends to be a war hero. His tough captain persona is largely a cover for his lack of bravery or competence.

The First Mate: Secretly a former Major for the Alliance army during the war, he participated in the valley of Serenity Valley, though he never saw combat. As an officer in the army, he served in logistics -- essentially as a clerk. His son, however, fought and died in the battle of Serenity Valley.
After his son's death, he resigned from the military and began working for the private sector. He functions essentially as a prospector, purchasing land on the frontier to be exploited by his corporation on the inner colonies. As a result, he feels hated by both the government for being a member of the private sector, and by colonists who see him as an extension of the inner colonies. As a result he hides his involvement in the war from all of the crew except the captain. As the first mate, he handles all of the business decisions and uses his attachment to the ship and the captain to smooth things over with the locals and get his hands dirty to make deals (basically as an inverse Inara). While the Captain runs the ship, he is the one really running the show, but knows that none of the crew would respect him and follow his orders given his background.

The Mechanic: An old, stocky, grizzled, hard drinking, bar fighting Latino. He also acts as the ship's cook and as muscle when the situation requires it. He is loud and boisterous, but open and friendly. He's the sort of blue collar guy that's done it all, before being picked up by the captain to work on his ship.

The Pilot: A very quiet and emotionally reserved girl. While she has trouble relating to other people, she has a very intuitive feeling for piloting, proffering to keep both her own room and the cockpit in a 0-G environment. As a result, she is also very frail. While she is distant, she is never cold, autistic, robotic seeming. As a matter of fact, she has a very colorful inner world of fantasy and greatly enjoys reading. However, the real world is like a dream and she uses her job in a ways merely as the time spent between her actual dreams. While she dresses plainly and speaks prudishly, part of her need to push her fantasy world involves her frequently using recreational substances and engaging in a-romantic casual sex with passengers.

The Mercenary: the Captains hired gun, he is a goofy and harmless seeming Chinese man who is a deadly sharpshooter. His apparent clumsiness and spastic enthusiasm for astrophysics and guns conceals his incredible military professionalism. As a result, he often finds himself running his mouth and venting to the pilot, who usually couldn't care less but puts up with him anyway.

The Welder: The new member of the crew. he is a former dive welder, but after suffering a bad case of decompression sickness following a diving accident, decides to look for other welding work as his years of off gassing will most likely significantly shorten his life. With his underwater experience, he is uniquely qualified for welding in 0-G space. He has a calm and quiet personality which hides his rather violent dark streak. While he pretends to be a meek and polite, it becomes apparent that he is a former criminal with a lot of street smarts and and the ability to commit horrible acts of violence at a moments notice. He develops a romantic attraction to the pilot, who he relates to in his own distant personality and need to feel the freedom of weightlessness (possible latent psychic?)

The Urchin: A girl that's stowed away onto the ship. she grew up pick pocketing on the streets. She gets taken in to the fold of the ship and accepted -- somewhat begrudgingly by certain members -- as part of the crew. She is feisty twelve year old girl struggling to understand both her place and what it means to grow up while living out on the edge of the badlands. She is often involved in cons with The Welder and is used to by The First Mate as a prop to generate sympathy by pretending that she is his daughter of his dead wife. This is a point of struggle for the First Mate, who tries to reject her from the crew because in truth she reminds him of his son.

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The Bounty Hunter: A femme fatale bounty hunter. Part of her own crew on her own ship, she often works both for, with, and sometimes as an antagonist against The Captain. In order to her job she often teams up with The Captain both for transport and for cons. While she gives the appearance of professional and well mannered, she comes from a dirt-poor colony of a particular religious belief that is looked down upon by other colonies. She became a bounty hunter to provide money for her family, as it was the only well paying off-planet job someone of her colony could find. When she returns later, she finds the people of her town have been 'civilized and domesticated,' but rife with crimes and problems they never had before. She keeps this past hidden from her companions.
In truth, she is using her resources as a bounty hunter to track down wanted 'terrorists' which she secretly recruits into an anti-alliance resistance movement. She is the real player and driving force in the shows plot, which the crew inadvertently find themselves dragged along in. She is romantically attracted to The Captain.