It seems that the characters of Firefly are spot on - so other reviewers tell us. Time will tell of course and I hope they are half as good as those found in Babylon 5, Red Dwarf and LEXX.

To see the full bio, click the name link or the picture. 

Mal 
The Captain Or Captain Malcolm Raynolds to you and me, is an ex-soldier who opposed the unification of the planets by the Alliance. His side lost and he lost more than most. His home world is gone and he's left with an ugly spaceship and nowhere to go.

Book
The Shepherd
Book is an old priest. He's not so much a religious nut as much as a pain in the bum. He's not really sure what it is that he's supposed to do. He's the worst of all people, someone who's found God and lost himself.
 

Inara
The Ambassador
Clearly these are enlightened times! When a high class hooker can be called Ambassador, it must mean something pretty special. Perhaps there is more to this character than a good time in bed. And what the hell is she doing on a low-class transport ship? 
 

Jayne
Big, tough and a great girlie name. He's the typical 'I'm the hard dude but I'm deep too'. I really hope they don't string that out too much. {I personally think that all writers are wimps! They have this strange tendancy to believe that big dudes are hard. The softest geezers I've ever met were all over 6 feet tall!}

Kaylee
The Engineer
The ship's tooly and apparently quite chipper too. Unfortunately she's a bit of an agoraphobic and prefers to stay on the ship.

River Tam
The Fugitive
She's on the run from the Alliance because she's got some cool special powers. Unfortunately she's a bit of a nutter too.

Simon Tam
The Doctor
The brother of River and a real pain in the ass (as far as the Captain is concerned).

Wash
The Pilot
Wash is Zoe's husband. Which is a bit difficult when she's so loyal to her Captain. Lucky for the Capt. Wash is very easygoing.

Zoe
The Soldier
Zoe is the loyal second officer to Mal. She's very capable and is also indebted to Mal for once saving her life.