Jayne Cobb

[ray gower]

What makes the characters in Firefly tick?

The series finished before it got going, leaving a huge hole in what we know and understand about them. So there must be some good theories about them, so let's have some thoughts?

Let us have a go at Jayne here?

[ray gower]

Not the sharpest stick in the box, for me Jayne comes across as a money grubbing mercenary, who would sell anybody if there was a resonable amount of money involved. An archetypal Hill-Billy?

He was bought by Mal, and Mal has had to deal with the potential effects of his treason.

He does love his weapons though and a good fight, whether or not winning is on the cards.

Suspect also quite a lonely bloke though?
Prepared to offer his hitherto most favoured possession in trade for a captive wife?

[Lonewolf89]

Ah, Jayne. Sometimes he seems like a complete idiot, and at other times he’s surprisingly intelligent.

I think deep down he’s just looking to make some sort of attachment with someone. He tried to find that in Kaylee and then when Simon came around he felt threatened because Simon got closer to her than he ever did.

Another interesting relationship is Mal and Jayne’s. I think Jayne has a professional respect for Mal. He sees that Mal has created for himself everything he’s always wanted.

[Brit Chick]

As Ray says, its hard to really get into their Characters cos we only got a limited number of eps, but I always thought that Jayne was, from a female point of view, quite straightforward - a mercenary who liked a good fight and pretty much an old fashioned straightforward male chauvanist pig - altho he was OK with Kaylee being the engineer, but that was prolly only cos he wanted to get into her knickers.

Bull in a china shop approach to pretty much most things

Then we saw a couple of flashes where it seemed he might not be all bad, and maybe even the kind of guy you'd want on your side in a pinch - for the brute force if nothing else

Then came the Ep Ariel and we saw the true colours - a man driven by needs for money and revenge and not a little bit of spite I think. He wanted money, was ****ed off with the Doc and River and saw the ideal opportunity of cover all his wants in the one go. Shame he was so stupid not to think ahead that the feds would just use his info to get the fugitives and then more than likely get rid of him.

So......thats me and me barrow's outside..............

[libelula]

I think there is more to the character of Jayne than him being a idiot waiting to betray for good money. FOr instance why would a man go by the name Jane? After the Areil incident when River was doing her mind reading thing Jane got all offensive when River said ¨"What name is Jane for a guy anyway?" Maybe something there.

[ray gower]

Perhaps he was named like the chap in the Johnny Cash song, @A Boy Named Sue'. Dad wanted him to grow thick and tough?

[Rik_the_Riff]

Man, was ever a character more interesting than Jayne? Well, yeah, but he aint as 2-dimensional as you guys make out.

I point you in the direction of Jaynestown - where he began to believe in a cause, then felt severe guilt when he realised it was only his stupidity (he also felt pretty remorseful about Ariel - remember the apples in War Stories?) You might have seen my crazy theory about what Joss had planned for the show (it becomes a war against the Reavers, in which Mal has to unite the outer planets because the Alliance is too busy developing weapons - like River - to actually use any). Jayne, I think, fits in as the people's hero, the down-to-earth guy who, once he realises the validity of this particular cause (remember he's terrified of Reavers) will probably do the legwork as far as bringing people onto Mal's side is concerned, much like he rallied the folk of Canton.

Just a thought,

Rik

[Dave]

He doesn't have many friends though. In 'Jaynestown' we find that he had dropped the guy he had worked with four years ago rather than drop the money. As his ex-partner said, you just don't do that.

The crew of Serenity is probably the closest thing to family that he has ever had. In 'Serenity' there is a scene with the Fed agent that is cut short when he says that he can't sell out Mal for money. But it is obvious later that he did untie the Fed agent and would allow River to be captured, as long as he didn't have to cross Mal.

This shows that he has a very high regard for Mal. Something must have happened for Mal to earn this respect.

[Rik_the_Riff]

He didn't technically untie the fed - he gave him a knife to cut the duct tape with. I think maybe he used to be the @$$hole who chucked his partner out of the ship, but he's starting to get wise now. Maybe

Just a thought,

Rik

[obcooke]

I think Jayne is supposed to be the good-bad enigma and yeah I could easily see him selling everyone out. If Firefly had lasted I could imagine Jayne as the Big Bad, maybe at the end of Season Two.

It is an untold-story - how Mal became someone who's opinion Jayne cared about.

************************************
Episode 1.10 War Stories ---- SPOILER FOLLOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*************************************

His unexpected loyalty shows up even better in War Stories, where Jayne tells them that trying to save Mal is a suicide mission, but when they get ready Jayne's there to join them.

[Rik_the_Riff]

Jayne as the big bad, maybe at the end of season 2

That's a bit Buffy-ish, isn't it?

I can't see Jayne turning on Mal, for all his bravado - I reckon he's beginning to be something other than a cold, heartless, chauvinistic, rude mercenary.

Just a thought,

Rik

[Joel007]

Sex. Muscles. Humor. Thuggery. Jayne."
-- Adam Baldwin

[Brys]

Originally Posted by Rik_the_Riff

That's a bit Buffy-ish, isn't it?

I can't see Jayne turning on Mal, for all his bravado - I reckon he's beginning to be something other than a cold, heartless, chauvinistic, rude mercenary.

Just a thought,

Rik

I can't see Jayne turning on Mal either

***Spoiler***

especially since Ariel, when he sold out Simon and River -and found out that there was no point in treachery.

[ray gower]

Think it is quite unlikely Jayne would turn on Mal directly, unless given the right incentives e.g. plenty of money and a clean get-a-way.

As it is, even up to and including the film, nobody has really put a better offer on the table, so Jayne follows.

The question is, considering they aren't exactly overflowing with dosh, is Jaynes' price going up or down?

[Brown Rat]

The movie left me with the impression that Jayne has changed since the series began--that he's buying into the mission now. He's the one who, according to Joss's screenplay "speaks for them all" when Mal calls on them to act in his "I aim to misbehave" speech. Jayne got more than muscles from pumping iron with Shepherd Book: he got righteous, so now he says that "if you can't do something smart, do something right."

I admit that Jayne washes down that righteous declaration with a swig of what might be alcohol, which could indicate the need to steel himself, but he seems sincere. And he passes the jug to Simon, his erstwhile main critic on the ship, which underscores the feeling that Jayne's seeing himself as part of the group.

And we know he's capable of great love for his biological family (that silly hat he wore so proudly!), so I can believe that he's capable of feeling a kind of love for the Serenity crew.

But Ray's question makes me wonder: what is Jayne's price?

Did he ever want money for money's sake? Or did he just want money for the guns and shelter and womanly companionship that money could buy?

If money was just a means to comfort, then maybe he's getting enough guns and shelter and companionship (at least in "Heart of Gold") to not feel so tempted to betray Mal?

Then again, plot twists involving gray areas of morality are Joss's thing.