Although a common myth, the reavers are not spacers who reached the edge of space. No, they were criminals from the Kingdom of Khador. As punishment for their crimes they were chained to ancient Orgoth blades and other artifacts which destroyed their minds and drove them berserk with blood lust.

For many years Khador used them as effective and terrifying shock troops, but eventually they lost control of the legions of mad berserkers and the empire crumbled. Now all that remains of the once proud empire are the drifting ships full of reavers.

The more recently discovered documentary Serenity makes a strong case for the Reavers being accidental victims of human drug testing gone very wrong, which, since the drug was created in conjunction with dodgy governmental programs focused on post-human biological tampering in order to create a more easily controlled population, led to the huge cover-up and creation of The Operatives, emotion-crippled assassins devoted to the twisted ideals of being monsters for the sake of future Utopia.