Firefly : River Tam

Played by Summer Glau

INFORMATION

Whereas Simon is gifted, River Tam is some level above that. Born on Osiris, River enjoyed a comfortable childhood. She was more intelligent than her older brother and was often seen not only to be correcting his school work but also the textbooks from which he would be working from. Because of River's huge intelligence she was found an Academy to go to. River wanted to go there, but it wasn't what it seemed. There, she was what could only be described as tortured. Her brain was "played with". A portion of it was removed, which means that now River feels everything. She can't not feel things she doesn't want to feel. Simon managed to figure out what was happening to River, via a slew of coded messages River was sending him. He saved her from the Academy. It is not known who ran the Academy, even though it was paraded as a government-run boarding school. River was brought aboard Serenity in a cryogenically frozen state. She was woken up before her time by Mal, who wanted to see what was in the box. Ever since the experiments that were done on River in the Academy she's seen to be a bit mad, not quite with it... Her symptoms appeared to be getting worse, until Simon managed to find out exactly what was wrong with River and get some drugs together to begin treating her. Even though she is seen as a bit of a mental nutcase, her intelligence is intact. She outwitted a bounty hunter and she's managed to shoot three men during a gun fight with her eyes shut. Some may even say she's got psychic abilities, being able to read people, and their actions before they say anything... a valuable asset to a potential assassin...

APPEARANCES: FIREFLY SEASON ONE

Regular cast member

Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds | Zoë Alleyne-Washburne | Hoban "Wash" Washburne