Wash

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Hoban "Wash" Washburne was played by Alan Tudyk. Wash serves as the pilot of Serenity, and is married to the ship's first mate, Zoe. A laid-back guy with a dry and occasionally laconic sense of humor, Wash tends to represent the pragmatic, cut-and-run opinion in any shipboard debate, and often serves as the calming influence in heated arguments. His actions sometimes appear cowardly (or at least less than heroic), but Wash has proven his resolve and willingness to both put himself in harm's way and do violence on behalf of his friends on many occasions. Tudyk has described Wash as "the Space Xander", referring to the character's similarities with Xander Harris from Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer.[2] The origin of his nickname "Wash" is unknown, likely derived from the first syllable of his surname. When Mal confronts him in the Serenity film novelization, Wash's reasoning is "Why would anyone call themselves Hoban?"

Raised on an unnamed polluted planet, Wash became a pilot in part to see the sky beyond his home. Some of his backstory is given in the Serenity novelization. After Wash's friend Mr. Universe hacked the records and became top of the class before Wash, Mr. Universe silenced him by offering his services whenever they were needed. On the commentary on War Stories, Tudyk believed that Wash served in the Unification War as a pilot, although he did not specify which side. Tudyk also jokes that Wash's ship was shot down after a single flight and he was put in a POW camp, where he spent the remainder of the war entertaining the other prisoners with shadow puppets. Later travelling widely, Wash's pilot skills and reputation grew so that he was actively courted by multiple captains when he met Malcolm Reynolds. Wash accepted Mal's offer and eventually fell in love with and married Reynolds' second-in-command, Zoe.

Wash dies near the end of the 2005 film Serenity when a harpoon launched by a Reaver ship impales him, killing him instantly. His shipmates erect a memorial to him (it is unclear if this is a tomb, as well) on Mr. Universe's moon. River Tam then takes up his duties as pilot of Serenity under the supervision of Mal Reynolds; as a tribute to Wash the collection of toy dinosaurs remains on the pilot's station of the bridge.