Firefly -> Apocalypse World?

My players have been asking for examples of each of the playbooks, and I also happen to be rewatching Firefly, so I was trying to categorize each of the characters on Serenity into AW playbooks. Apologies if this has been done here before. I did a search and nothing definitive came up on this topic.

Mal Reynolds = Hardholder (this was the toughest one for me to figure out and the one I'm least confident is accurate)
Zoe = Gunlugger
Wash = Driver
Jayne = Battlebabe
River = Brainer
Simon = Angel
Inara = Skinner
Book = Operator
Kaylee = Savvyhead

My rationale for Zoe being the gunlugger and Jayne the battlebabe is that Zoe seems to be the model of competence, while Jayne stirs up trouble and mayhem wherever he goes.

Correct me if I'm wrong, and please explain why you think so. I think this will help me solidify my understanding of the playbooks.

I think it's:

Mal - Operator (he leads the crew, they take on odd jobs, he has contacts, etc.)
Zoe - Battlebabe (she's more stylish when she commits violence)
Jayne - Gunlugger (he has tons of firepower and he's a big, scary brute)
Book - Hocus (although if you read about the Touchstone, Vincent says, paraphrasing, "The Hocus never really did capture Book, did it?" - but someone who spouts truth, spiritually leads.)

Everything else is dead on.

I'm still not sold on Zoe as Battlebabe and Jayne as Gunlugger. Whenever Jayne is onscreen, he is either starting trouble or conniving. That seems more Battlebabe-ish to me. Zoe is all about just doing her job, being stolid. Yes, she's more stylish because she's a beautiful woman kicking ass and Jayne is a moronic oaf, but I think in personality, she suits the Gunlugger more. JMO, would be interested in hearing other opinions.

The reason I said Book was an Operator is his backstory, where he's a double agent, has a fake identity, etc. The whole Shepard Book persona is a front for him. But if you assume he is transformed now, I guess Touchstone could work (I am not all that familiar with that book, having just received it yesterday). Mal as Operator could work, but is Hardholder out of the question for him?

Hardholder's way too much of a stretch. You have to squint to see it. Operator's nice and tidy, with maybe a dash of the Hardholder's personality, I'd say.

Imagine the playbooks as broad strokes and not personalities. Like, Jayne's a conniving and scheming Gunlugger - just being a troublemaker doesn't make him a Battlebabe, even though that's what Battlebabes will sometimes do. The Battlebabe just lets you use that behavior as currency.

Like, Vincent will have to give you final word, but I don't think you can find their mates by drawing analogues in their personalities and antics: you have to look at the basic description.

Kaylee is a Savvyhead, because she's good at working on things - sometimes spooky good. Don't concern yourself with, say, her cheerfulness, her heart, or her undying optimism. Just that she's a techie. Your savvyhead can have any kind of personality, after all.

Wash is a Driver because he pilots the main vehicle, and because he's most competent behind the wheel, so to speak. Don't concern yourself with his knowledge, capability, or enduring love for his wife. Just that he drives.

Mal is an Operator because he commands a crew of people and takes jobs, some of which go well, some of which don't. Yeah, he runs his crew with a bit of Hard, just like a Hardholder, but that's really it. Your Operator could be a jerk, also - hard-hearted, stoic, "the crew is my family". Your Hardholder could be the exact opposite.

In that way, Jayne becomes the Gunlugger because he dishes out hardcore pain, has a lot of weapons, and is the baddest ass (no offense to Zoe and all, but I'd much rather have Jayne as security when it gets down to it - providing I can pay him enough.)

Your explanations make sense. I guess I can see it both ways. Zoe is loyal, which is suggested to be by the dog names (and to me, Zoe is a dog name). She seems to care about getting the job done. Jayne cares about making a scene, making money, being cool, etc. I would be interested in hearing what Vincent has to say.

I go by their sex moves.

-Vincent

Hmmmm. That's a pretty cryptic answer. If Wash is the Driver, he'd get -1HX every time he and Zoe had sex, unless she was the Battlebabe, which would nullify his -1. That makes sense. If Zoe were a Gunlugger, they'd have to have 10 sex every time for them not to lose HX... also not impossible, considering ;)

Nobody will ever believe me but I still think River is a Battlebabe, and Zoe is consequently without a playbook.

River is an NPC for a while but turns into a Touchstone.

River is a Quarantine. She brings psi-harm into the game.

Well it just goes to show, you can't stat up the same River twice.

River's a Brainer in the series but switches to Battlebabe in the movie.

lin_fusan speaks the truth.  As a Brainer, River has Weird as a commonly highlighted stat, and when she uses Open Your Brain to catch the subliminal message in the advertisement, she marks her sixth advance by changing to the Battlebabe playbook.

Okay guys, SHENANIGANS.

If River is a Brainer, when does she ever use Brainer moves? (anybody can have their weird highlighted).

If she's a Battlebabe, when does she ever use a Battlebabe move?

If she's an NPC, when does she make an MC move? What kind of threat is she?

If she's an NPC, when does she make an MC move? What kind of threat is she?

Well, she Puts her brother In a Spot all the time. She Inflicts Harm on Jayne because he missed a move (most likely Read a Person). She Announces Future Badness with her supposed "reader" abilities. She Offers Opportunities. So on and so on. Most of her time she spends laying around and crying, which is really no kind of move at all except to be obnoxious. She's a delivery device for the MC to make moves against the crew without tearing the ship apart.
What kind of threat? That's open to interpretation. On the surface she could easily be called a Grotesque: Mindfucker, but the impulse doesn't really fit.
I see her as an Affliction. She Exposes People to Danger, Leaves them Bereft, and Impoverishes them by her presence on the ship. She's nothing but trouble from the moment Simon carries her aboard, and a great deal of the series is about the crew dealing with her psychotic bullshit. From their perspective, yes, she is very much an affliction.
Then she turns into a Touchstone with Indomitable.