Golden Ball

Tall and blond, Golden Ball sports a brown goatee and a laid-back wardrobe of loose pants, a hoodie layered under a letterman jacket, and a white beanie. His name is stitched across the jacket's back and left breast, while the right breast carries a cheeky line insisting his name reads as "Golden Ball" rather than the vulgar Japanese slang "kintama." A lollipop is his usual accessory, a lingering trace of the smoking habit he gave up.

Self-assured to a fault, Golden Ball figures he can win a fight without any preparation. Yet his years of hunting experience give him a cunning streak: when Garou baited him into an alley, he played the part of a stumbling drunk, dropping the act only after landing a surprise shot.

Marksmanship is where Golden Ball shines. Firing from a metallic slingshot fitted with a laser pointer, he launches shape-memory gold bullets that can bank off nearby surfaces so an enemy cannot read their path, a trick he formalizes as the barrage move Golden Breakout. His strength is enough to work a sling that punches through steel, his speed lets him bound across a city block, and his senses are sharp enough to calculate ricochet angles precisely. His long-range game dovetails with Spring Mustachio's close-quarters skill.

The Hero Association trusted the pair to investigate the mysteries of Z-City, where they lost to Kombu Infinity after the monster dragged Golden Ball into a wall and knocked him out. His finest hour came against Garou: feigning drunkenness, he bounced a shot off the pavement to pierce the Hero Hunter's leg, making him the first A-Class hero to wound Garou and forcing the martial artist to resort to the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist he had previously reserved for an S-Class opponent. Garou ultimately shrugged off his bullets and downed both heroes. Golden Ball was later promoted to Rank 26 following the Z-City affair.