Browncoat is a term from the science fiction Western TV series Firefly (and its big-screen "sequel", Serenity). It has two connotations, one within the original show, and one among the show's fans. A science fiction Western is a work of fiction which has elements of both the science fiction and Western genres. ... Firefly is a science fiction television series that premiered in the United States and Canada on 2002-09-20. ... Serenity is a film written and directed by Joss Whedon. ...

Fictional meaning

In the Firefly universe, Browncoats were soldiers who fought for the Independents, who lost to the Alliance in the Unification War. They were named after the simple, brown leather trench coats they wore as uniforms. They also wore red scarves around their necks. The simplicity of their gear was greatly due to the fact that technology and resources were scarce on the Outer Planets. Conversely, the Alliance's soldiers were called "Purple Bellies", because of the purple tinted body armor they wore on their chests. In both the series and the film, Captain Malcolm Reynolds and Zoë Alleyne wear the signature brown coat. Alliance Flag Alternate Alliance Flag In the Firefly television series, the Alliance is a powerful government and law-enforcement organization that controls a large sector of colonized core planets. ... The Unification War is a major event in the backstory of Joss Whedons cancelled television show, Firefly and its motion picture sequel, Serenity. ... Malcolm Mal Reynolds is a character in the science fiction television series Firefly, played by actor Nathan Fillion. ... Zoë, First Mate of Serenity Zoë Alleyne Washburne is a character in the television series Firefly, played by Gina Torres. ...

Fan term

"Browncoat" also describes an especially devoted fan of the fictional Firefly series. Bootleg Blue Sun (a fictional corporation from the TV series) t-shirts and caps, or character costumes make them instantly recognizable at conventions. Unexpectedly strong sales of the Firefly DVDs have been largely attributed to word of mouth among Browncoats; Universal Studios had numerous early screenings of Serenity to existing fans of the series in an attempt to foster high ticket sales. In astronomy, stellar classification is a classification of stars based initially on photospheric temperature and its associated spectral characteristics, and subsequenly refined in terms of other characteristics. ... DVD-R writing/reading side DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... Word of mouth is the passing of information by verbal means, especially recommendations, but also general information, in an informal, person-to-person manner, rather than by mass media, advertising, organized publication, or traditional marketing. ... The current Universal Studios logo Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal, has production studios and offices located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County between Los Angeles and Burbank. ...

Many comparisons have been made between Browncoats and Trekkies. The groups' respective television shows were canceled, and subsequently turned into movies due to strong fan bases. Both groups also have an associated language: where Trekkies have Klingon, Browncoats have Mandarin Chinese mixed with a future form of English, new words and ones recalling the Old West. One example is "gorram", which is a modified form of "god-damn". Trekkie (or Trekker) is a term that in recent decades has been used to describe a fan of the Star Trek science fiction franchise. ... The Klingon language or Klingonese (tlhIngan Hol in Klingon) is the constructed language spoken by Klingons in the fictional Star Trek universe. ... Mandarin, or Beifanghua (Chinese: 北方話; Pinyin: Běifānghuà; literally Northern Dialect(s)), or Guanhua (Traditional Chinese: 官話; Simplified Chinese: 官话; Pinyin: Guānhuà; literally official speech) is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. ...

Browncoats are also sometimes known as "flans". Flan, besides the Flan dessert dish, also refers to the following: A flan (flæn - rhymes with American-English fan) is a term applied to fans of Joss Whedons Firefly (television series). ...

Quotations

• "Firefly went on the air a few years ago and was instantly hailed by critics as one of the most cancelled shows of the year. It was ignored and abandoned, and the story should end there. But it doesn’t, because the people who made the show and the people who saw the show—which is roughly the same number of people—fell in love with it a little bit too much to let it go, too much to lay down arms when the battle looked pretty much lost. In Hollywood, people like that are called unrealistic, quixotic, obsessive. In my world, they’re called Browncoats." — Joss Whedon, "Joss Whedon Introduction", Serenity DVD [1]

Joss Whedon at the premiere of Serenity. ...

References

• Firefly: The Complete Series (2003) DVD, UPC 024543089292
• Serenity (2005) DVD, UPC 025192632723
• Done the Impossible: The Fans' Take of Firefly & Serenity (2006) DVD

External links

• Browncoats.com fan community, an unaffiliated Firefly resource site.
• Browncoat board, a forums site set up when the Universal forum was closed down.
• Fireflyfans.net
• BigDamnBoard.com, a directory of Firefly/Serenity related sites, including local Browncoat groups from all over the world.
• WhedonWiki
• FireflyWiki
• Chonin, N. (2005). "When Fox canceled Firefly, it ignited an Internet fan base whose burning desire for more led to Serenity". SFGate.com. Retrieved January 22, 2006.