Firefly: Every Main Character Ranked From Worst To Best

The bad-ass female warrior is a staple of Sci-Fi TV, as the medium grew to utilise its female characters in exceptionally decent ways ahead of its time. However, while there were still many issues in the genre, Zoe was a fine example of how to write one of these character types without pandering. She was utterly fearsome, loyal, and had a wicked sense of humour that complemented her severe tone.

Gina Torres brought Zoe to life expertly, as although these kinds of roles can often feel unrealistically stoic, she managed to balance out her severity with a convincingly real performance. Zoe was incredibly believable and acted as the perfect antithesis to Mal. While the Serenity captain joked around during work and acted overly serious in his downtime, this character took the other angle. Her professional behaviour was astute, and her casual personality was far more relaxed.

Without her, there is no way the ship would have flown, as she helped the other crew members and passengers out on multiple occasions. She could have very easily felt like a simple subordinate partner to Mal, but her confidence, power and a great sense of humour caused her to be much more.