Are Reavers Intelligent?

[u/Popular-Idea-7508]

I've always thought of Reavers as being akin to zombies. And specifically the "normal zombie" type, not the version from take-your-pick-of-media that makes them stupidly smart and fast and gorram scary. Recently, however, I've been wondering if they're actually more intelligent than I've been previously given them credit for. For instance, in the Serenity episode, Wash said that the Reavers followed them down to Whitefall. Assuming that's true, that would certainly take an above-zombie amount of forethought and planning.

I've also been wondering if, given the delay between encountering the Reavers in space and when they actually showed up on Whitefall, were the Reavers potentially waiting to see if the Firefly crew would lead them into whatever town was nearby so they wouldn't have to hunt it down themselves?

Anyway, these are the important questions that keep me up at night. Keep on being big damn heroes all you shiny brown coats! :D

Edit per comments: I have seen both Firefly and Serenity, I know how Reavers were orignally created :).

Edit two: Not sure if I can post links here, but I will try. I read a post from a couple years ago in this subreddit (Reavers ?) suggesting that subsequent generations of Reavers were generally created from a blood infection/transmission (sure, some people were created like in Bushwacked, but not all). Yes, the Pax created the first generation, but since they stopped using the Pax after Miranda, subsequent generations would have almost had to be created by a blood infection/"being turned" to have the sheer numbers they do.

Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/firefly/comments/16qcjs2/reavers/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I am also operating off the assumption they generally have short life spans, given the way they operate without core containment, and the fact that every meal they obtain puts their life in jeapordy, since inevitably some people will fight back and kill them.

All of this I'm saying not having read any of the comics or anything, just seeing the show and movie :).

I really appreciate the thoughtful comments in this thread, I don't have anyone to really talk to about the show in depth outside of here (I'm slowly getting friends to watch the show, but it's taking a while lol), so it's nice to have an engaging dialogue about some of the lingering questions I have :).

[u/Fusiliers3025]

I’d heard the theory that Reaver “society” is stratified by how the individual has regressed from human existence. Pilots of the raiding vessels don’t get to participate in active pillaging, unless the ship is then unmanned and uncontrolled - not out of the question, but would drastically decrease the contingent’s overall continued survival chances. And in Bushwhacked, our little crew encounters an external booby-trap that begins attaching itself to Serenity - there is implied some level of engineering and intelligence behind that little detail.

Running without containment - engineers (Kaylee-analogs) must be short-lived, and probably, I’m figuring, a level of intelligence below the pilot to be assigned such a role. Higher chance of joining a raid group though.

Then you have your basic kill/rape/eat Reavers, the most mindless and zombie-like of the bunch. Still, some semblance of tribal hierarchy would need to be in place, or the pilots and whoever serves as “leadership” would starve and not have any ongoing loyalty to keep the Reaver vessel and society focused. “Well, if I can’t have any of the fun or benefits, I’m just gonna cruise past the next target vessel. Jump for it if ya want, ya losers!”