You can't take the sky from me..

Malcolm Reynolds is the Captain of the firefly class transport called Serenity.

Mal was born the son of a rancher on the planet Shadow. During the war for Unification against the Alliance, he was a Sergeant fighting alongside the Independents. This period of time is not documented except for the bloodiest battle which ended the war - the battle of Serenity Valley on the planet Hera. It was there that Mal and Zoe took their final stand and the Independents lost the war.

Afterwards, Mal purchased a ship (which he named "Serenity" after the battle) in the hopes of getting himself away from the Alliance, and closer to the border worlds. Out there he could find work as a smuggler, a trader, and a salvager. So long as the pay was right, Mal would take just about any job, in the hopes that he could keep his ship flying and his crew paid and fed. He slowly built up a crew that he knew could handle just about any situation, starting with Zoe. Serenity's pilot, Wash, was the second person to be recruited, and then Kaylee - ships mechanic. The companion Inara began renting one of Mal's shuttles shortly thereafter, and Jayne was hired on after a heist he was trying to pull on Mal.

While Malcolm Reynolds may find himself at the wrong end of the law on occasion, he is not without some measure of honor and moral conscience. This may do him more harm then good, as it routinely brings trouble from both his seedier contacts and fine upstanding folk alike.