Early was very athletic and clearly adept at unarmed combat. He was also intelligent and incredibly eccentric, given to rambling on philosophic matters in the middle of tense situations, frequently asking, "Does that seem right to you?" He may have been hard of hearing or easily distracted, as he repeatedly misheard what others were saying to him. When River Tam read his mind, she revealed that he was a sadist, who tortured his neighbor's dog as a child. This is directly contradicting his own words, when he stated that he doesn't enjoy harming people. He also implied he would rape Kaylee Frye if she did not do as he told her, and used the same threat of raping Kaylee when he dealt with Simon Tam.