Camille Bidan

"You had better listen to me, damn you! I'm not just some child!"

Camille Bidan was a normal boy from Green Noa, the Side 7 colony that was later converted into the spaceborne headquarters of the Titans. There, he wound up aligning with the Anti-Earth Union Group. The Titans struck at him by killing both his parents, which put his loyalties (albeit sometimes precariously) with AEUG. He remains as hot-headed and stubborn as ever, and is often insubordinate. However, he is a Newtype of incredible strength, and pilots the RX-178 Gundam Mk. II prototype stolen by AEUG.

Background Information
Like so many of those unfortunate enough to find themselves forced into war, Camille Bidan is the product of a malfunctioning family and an almost non-present family. His parents -- both profoundly talented Mobile Suit designers -- were more interested in their work than each other or their son, and as a Spacenoid born and bred on Green Noa, had more than enough freedom to take care of himself -- with only the care of his neighbor and friend, Fa, to provide him some connection to the outside world.

So, what's a young man from a well-heeled family with nothing but independence to do? Grow up angry and impulsive, what with little-to-nothing to keep yourself in check. Extremely clever -- matching his impetuousness tit for tat, Camille maintained an interested in Mobile Suits and Super Robots -- at first in an attempt to have something in common with his parents, and later out of a distinct interest. As a boy he followed the Robot Wars as closely as he could, though he was only a child during the One Year War. Familiar with the functions of the most famous Super Robots and a follower of the Gundam Fight, Camille's interest in robotics was, perhaps, an omen of things to come. He became a junior champion in weird space hanglider thingy racing, and, furthermore, won numerous awards for junior Mobile Suit design, following in the footsteps of his parents.

Still, Camille's early youth was hardly a picnic; all but ignored by his parents, he was constantly berated and picked on for his feminine-sounding name, which he loathed. He learned quickly how to assert himself and became angry and impulsive; he studied karate to strike back at the kids that picked on him, and fought constantly. Trouble was seldom far removed from Camille, but he learned quickly to keep his head held high and protect his pride with violence if he had to.

Despite the positive influence of Fa, Camille's other relationships remained strained. Though his mother was loving even if she was often absorbed elsewhere, he resented his father, not only for his poorly hidden extramarital affairs (and his mother's apathy towards them) but for his involvement with the brutal and controversial Titans.

Everything, however, went wrong in the same very bad day.

After overhearing Jerid Messa -- a name he would hear again and again in coming months -- badmouthing him, Camille (in a classic act of Camille Bidan Failure of Impulse Control) socked the military officer square in the jaw and found himself arrested at a base on his then-renamed Gryps Colony home. Verbally assaulted by his interrogator, Camille was pacified only long enough to meet his lawyer. In /another/ classic act of poorly thought out actions, Camille, furious, socked /another/ military officer, even AFTER he learned he was being released.

It was all somewhat downhill from there, and Quattro Bageena's attack on Gryps was all the confluence that fate required.

Camille used the sudden onset of battle to escape, and ran for the Mobile Suit hangar -- where he knew, having "borrowed" his father's files, that the mk. II Gundams (the so-called "Black Gundams") were being kept. Impetuously furious, Camille met for the first time -- with the exception of Bright Noa, who he would later realize he had met before (for an autograph) -- Emma Sheen and Bright Noa. He met them, of course, while he was stealing a Gundam.

Ignoring commands to stop, Camille activated the mk. II. His intentions were, perhaps, not really thought out at that point; part of him wanted to support the AEUG, which he perceived as far more ethical than the malevolent Titans. And part of him just wanted to torment the officer who interrogated him, which he immediately /did/ using the mk. II Gundam until he was drawn into the battle. Once he made sure that the only person he cared about -- Fa -- was safe and sound, Camille escaped Gryps with Quattro, Roberto, and Apolly. He saw space, and what he saw as freedom, for the first time rendevousing with the AEUG ship in his stolen Gundam.

Even then, it was becoming clear that Camille was no normal case; if he had just been a boy in the wrong place at the wrong time, his story may have ended there. But already waves were spreading through the pond. Both Bright Noa and Quattro Bageena could feel the "pressure" from the boy, the same feeling that followed Amuro Ray. History was repeating itself, and Camille had nowhere to return to after having cast his lot in with the AEUG.

And not a second too soon, as the Titans gave bitter chase to reclaim the stolen Gundam. After brief negotiations conducted by Emma Sheen, the Titans' plan to get their Gundam back became apparent in a two-part plan: His father infiltrated the Argama under the guise of a negotiator, and his mother -- his only other real emotional connection in the whole of space -- was put in a tiny opaque capsule, filled with air. She was a hostage, a bargaining chip to regain the mk. II and, less importantly, Camille.

Secrets are ill-kept on a tiny ship, and the moment he found out Camille ran for the mk. II in an impassioned but foolish attempt to rescue his mother. Once he reached for the capsule, Jerid -- the same pilot that he had fought with earlier that day -- opened fire and unknowingly blasted his mother into the vaccuum. Camille watched his mother suffocate and burst in deep space.

Traumatized, Camille went berserk, attempting to kill the Zaku, piloted by Jerid, that had done the deed. He was only stopped when he encountered his father, escaping in a Mobile Suit of his own. After a brief radio discussion it became clear that his father was not only unconcerned by his mother's death but may well have known about the plan from the beginning. Enraged, Camille attempted (in vain) to destroy his father's Mobile Suit; he was only stopped by his own hesitation, but in that moment fire from the capital ships destroyed his father's Mobile Suit. In a single battle, Camille had been orphaned.

Mentally shattered, Camille was only saved by the help of Quattro Bageena and Reccoa Londe. Camille was taken under their wing. His impetuous and foolish behavior had (arguably) caused his mother's death, but his plight was understood by the others, particularly those who were already developing a Newtype rapport with Camille, whose immense potential was impossible not to sense.

Once he began to pull himself together, Camille shunted all of his mixed up emotions into one: Hatred for the Titans. Motivated half out of vengeance and half out of a genuine sense of moral responsibility, Camille agreed to fly for the AEUG though officially a civilian without rank. His recruitment came just in the nick of time; the AEUG could use every hand it could get in order to advance their operation: A surgical strike against Jaburo, on Earth, tangentially one of the opening salvos in the war, with the Orb Union ultimately responsible for the AEUG's actions.

Under the tutelage and mentorship of Quattro, Camille began to develop into a formidable pilot. Despite his emotional difficulties -- i.e. his behavior as the quintessential adolescent -- he began to contribute, and his contributions began to grow appreciated. After meeting up with Bright Noa and, more importantly, Fa -- who gave Camille a friend who understood his pathos on board with him -- Camille began to grow comfortable with his role, at least as comfortable as one could get; with Quattro present to guide him, Camille was fortunate to avoid many of the pitfalls that his immaturity may otherwise have led him to; so many of the tragedies, that is, that his predecessor, Amuro, had to endure.

Though information available to him was limited, Camille's Newtype abilities began to manifest, as well, both actively and passively. He began to become aware of his intuitive flashes, and of the emotional rapport that he could develop with those around him -- his hyper-sensitivity, in others words, to the plight of those around him.

By the time the Argama was due to descend to Earth, Camille had proven a talented and effective -- if not undisciplined and sometimes insubordinate -- pilot. The greatest test, however, would be the Jaburo operation. Immensely successful in the descent to the planet, Camille unknowingly killed two of Jerid's few friends, ensuring that the enmity between the two men would only strengthen; though they knew basically nothing about each other, they had each brought the other such great tragedy.

However, his experience during the descent to Earth began to remind him that his enemies were people, too, even if they were Titans. Between the sometimes merciless killing of otherwise immobile Titan officers during re-entry to Jerid's fury at the death of his comrades, Camille began to see, perhaps too late, that war was not as clean cut as he may have thought.

Camille distinguished himself at Jaburo, the AEUG's part in the May 3rd attacks strikes initiated by the Orb Union, performing admirably and rescuing Reccoa and Kai Shiden, a veteran of White Base during the One Year War. The Argama overran Jaburo successfully, and withdrew, fleeing from EFA reprisal. Meanwhile, the Orb Union -- AEUG's parent -- declared a "war of peace" on the whole of the Earth Sphere. Though troubled by the sudden eagerness for battle demonstrated by the group he had thrown in with -- a feeling perhaps mirrored by his superior officer, Quattro -- Camille, a rookie just coming into his own -- prepares to play his part in the coming torrent, a part which may be more critical than he realizes.

Personality and Traits
Impetuous, immature, and passionate, Camille Bidan captures something essential about the breed of young man that seems drawn to war in space. An expression of an archetype -- and strikingly similar to the story of his predecessor, Amuro Ray -- Camille suffers from the unfortunate confluence of potential, passion, and foolishness; he has the moral sense and the power to change the world around him, but for all his youth and energy he has found time and time again that violence alone only breeds tragedy.

Camille's most pressing apparent personality trait is his impulsiveness; once he has made up his mind about something, he does it. He broken countless laws stealing the Gundam mk. II and joining the AEUG on a day when, that morning, he had woken up to the same life he was used to every time he had woken up before. He made himself a war criminal -- in the eyes of some -- simply because he had been offended by his interrogator. He does what he wants to, and when he decides he wants something, few forces can stop him (except for Bright Noa's fist, in most cases, but that says more about Bright than it does about Camille.)

However, Camille's most significant unexpressed personality trait -- the thing that makes him "tick" -- stems from parents who never particularly noticed him, despite his best efforts. The absence of an authority figure in his life made Camille fiercly independent and willing, almost eager to prove to the world that he was no mere kid; he learned to bark before he learned to bite, in a desperate to attempt to be heard by someone -- anyone -- since there was simply nobody around for him. The effects of his isolation are clear: He seldom makes close friends, and aside from Fa has no one in the whole of space that he seems to particularly cares for. Many of his actions can ultimately be traced to back to this need, either for attention or to convince himself -- or the universe -- that he, Camille Bidan, is a real person who matters, and that futility, the wolf cub shouting at the moon because he can, defines so many of his actions.

Partly as a side-effect of his unfortunate name, Camille is extremely defensive and hot-headed; he grew up always ready to defend his pride if anyone insulted him or his name, and that hot-headed behavior persists. If his pride is threatened or hurt he reacts with anger, throwing up a shield of bark and bite in an attempt to keep himself safe, and as a soldier that fury can sometimes turn violent, though he has fortunately not yet killed for the "wrong" reasons, keeping separate his anger and his duties with the AEUG.

Prideful to a fault, Camille is extremely stubborn; he hates to admit he was wrong after taking a course of action. On one notable incident, Camille accidentally destroyed AEUG testing equipment. Though he wrote a lengthy formal apology, all but the first few sentences were a diatribe on how he was not responsible and how merely writing an apology letter was silly in the first place.

Camille is still altogether immature, and a side-effect of that immaturity is self-centeredness; by reflex, Camille only thinks of himself first, and this can lead him to act without thinking about the effect it might have on the people around him, most notably when he casually and unknowingly hurts Fa's feelings, or those of others around him. For his immaturity, however, Camille recognizes the role of his mentors, and respects -- really respects -- Quattro and Bright, though the latter mainly because he can and will deck him at any time when his impulsiveness leads him to insubordination.

That insubordination, of course, is the most dangerous demonstration of Camille's unfortunate combination of anger, foolhardiness, and impulsiveness. When he feels strongly enough about something -- whether it is actually worth feeling strongly over or not -- he acts on it, without fail. Lacking the discipline of a seasoned soldier, he puts his own interests and desires ahead of those of his shipmates, and as a result gets himself in trouble (along with, potentially, the whole of his crew). And he also gets pummeled by Bright, which is usually enough to put a damper on future bendings of the rules, at least for a little while.

However, Camille has, at heart, a solid moral sense. He fights not strictly for revenge for the death of his parents, but because the incident made absolutely clear that the Titans -- and perhaps the whole of the EFA -- were evil and had to be stopped. He participates not simply because he is driven to but because he feels he must. Furthermore, despite his anger and impetuousness, Camille has a sensitive heart beneath so much of his adolescent mess, and he is capable of remarkable perception; some of this, no doubt, is a product of his Newtype powers. He had a natural rapport and empathy with those around him, in some cases an extremely potent and unspoken connections, and has the potential to connect even to the plights and pathos of his enemies.

'Potential' is the word of the day regarding Camille; though immature and youthful, he is already beginning to show the signs of greater emotional development. He has weathered several tragedies and difficult moral quandaries, and has thus far emerged stronger -- though by no means unscathed. The boy is beginning to grow into a man, and no doubt the fires of war, which forged Amuro Ray, a child like Camille, into a somber, mature warrior. The same potential exists within Camille, if only he can live long enough to seize it.

Talents and Abilities
In addition to being a budding ace Mobile Suit pilot, Camille is apparently skilled at judo after learning it in an attempt to play the part of the "tough kid". In addition, he is a skilled pilot with several varieties of machine in addition to Mobile Suit, including weird space hang-glider thingy and conventional planes.

Furthermore, Camille has a special talent for Mobile Suit design, and was recognized for this in numerous junior leagues throughout Gryps Colony. This talent is being realized more practically in his ideas for a new kind of Gundam, which he is already developing in his head.

Most significant, however, are Camille's Newtype abilities. Already, he is demonstrating telepathic links, emotional rapport, and intuitive, almost precognitive leaps of awareness. All those who know him have confirmed the feeling of considerable "pressure" coming from the young Newtype; even those very far away, separated by the gulf of space, like Paptimus Scirocco, can sense something unusual about Camille. Indeed, Camille is the most powerful Newtype that has yet been born in the Earth Sphere, and has vast, untapped potential in his mind as, perhaps, the most "evolved" human in the Earth Sphere.

Don't tell *him* that, however; he'd never shut up about it.