Nathan Fillion

#25

Mal Reynolds

Profession Captain; smuggler; civil war veteran

Played by Nathan Fillion

In Serenity (2005)

There’s a profound contradiction at the heart of Captain Reynolds’ character. On one hand, he’s your typical maverick, showing at best a casual attitude to criminal law and customs inspections. On the other hand, he offers unconditional loyalty and total responsibility in all matters concerning his crew. In other words, he’s the bad boy with a heart of gold, which is basically all most women want. The fact that he can also rock those tight pants and futuristic space-gun is a mere bonus, and a more-than-passing resemblance to a certain H. Solo (keep reading) doesn’t hurt either.

Moment of hotness Any scene where he’s wrangling with Inara, really. She may "fog things up" and "spin him about", as he claims, but it’s kind of a joy to watch. Ideal chat up line "Fancy misbehaving?"

Any drawbacks? You’re never going to get him off that ship for any length of time, so get used to it. Also, you’ll be expected to be fluent in Whedon-level banter to fit in with his mates.