Camus

Lanky and standing fairly tall, Camus draws attention first with a prominent nose and a thatch of spiky blond hair held back by a purple band. His outfit pairs a beige vest over brown shoulder and chest padding, with a striped shirt peeking out beneath. He rounds the look off with jeans, dark gloves, sturdy boots, and protective shin guards. Three companions trail him everywhere: a short tanned boxer in goggles and a champion's belt, a hulking sumo-styled bruiser in a blue kimono, and a tall rectangular-headed man with a forehead tattoo who hauls a sheathed katana.

At the outset Camus is a self-serving grifter, looking out only for himself and his crew while feeding off the kindness of ordinary townsfolk. Confronting the so-called evil pirates flips that outlook, teaching him to value bravery and compassion. The change ties back to his boyhood, when he idolized the warriors Pell and Chaka and dreamed of matching their valor. Eventually he comes to want children to look up to him the very same way he once looked up to those two heroes.

As children, Camus and his friends admired Chaka and Pell, and in the recent past the group hit on the scheme of passing themselves off as the Rebel Army. In the village of Ido they ate freely while the grateful mayor thanked them for fending off bandits. When a lookout reported desert pirates nearby, Camus moved to flee, only for Portgas D. Ace to appear and expose the lie. His companions were beaten with ease, prompting Camus to drop to his knees and beg Ace for help, a bargain Ace accepted in exchange for food.

Growing impatient, the gang tried to slip away but were met by cheering villagers and word that the threat was actually sea pirates carrying a thirty million bounty. Cornered by Luffy's crew, whom Vivi had sent to test the fakes and forge them into true heroes, Camus bluffed about a hundred million soldiers, earning a punch from Luffy instead. Half-conscious, he remembered the village children who wished to grow up like him, and he declared he would sooner die a hero than crush their dreams. His friends rallied, the pirates feigned terror and fled, and the group remained heroes in the villagers' eyes. He was somewhat capable in his own right, once knocking Luffy back with a single blow, though the rifle he carried served only to lug his belongings. Later he stayed on to comfort a child fooled by a Warusagi bird.