Overview
Kamille Bidan is the protagonist of the anime Mobile Suit Z Gundam and as such appears in video games based on the series. He is the fifteen-year-old son of Franklin Bidan, a mobile suit designer, and researcher Hilda Bidan. At the start of the series, he lives on the Gryps space colony with his childhood friend and next-door neighbor Fa Yuiry.
Kamille is an emotionally sensitive young man that is quick to anger. Part of this is due to his parents, both of whom seem to take more interest in their professional lives than to have anything to do with their son. Their home life is also strained by both Kamille and Hilda's knowledge of Franklin's obsession and affair with another woman, as well as Franklin's status as a member of the hated Titans.
Exacerbating Kamille's youthful anger is the fact that his parents chose to give him a feminine-sounding name. To prove himself as a man, he dedicated himself to stereotypically "manly" pursuits, such as amateur mobile suit design competitions and martial arts. However, the story of Z Gundam truly kicks off when Kamille overhears Jerid Messa, a Titans pilot, make fun of his name. Kamille flies into a rage and decks Jerid, leading to a fist fight and Kamille's subsequent detainment and interrogation by the Titans. This simple act would serve as the beginnings of a rivalry that would span the series.
Shortly thereafter, a battle breaks out when pilots from the AEUG lead by Quattro Bajeena invade Gryps and are subsequently discovered. Kamille, still furious with his rough treatment by the Titans, manages to steal a Gundam Mk. II unit and chooses to join Quattro's side. They escape the colony together.
Over the course of the story, Kamille matures as a young man as he fights the Titans alongside the rest of the AEUG. He is also revealed to have Newtype powers, though he remains fragile and easily upset. Kamille bears witness to the deaths of numerous people close to him, including his parents, and particularly the Cyber-Newtype Four Murasame. He is eventually made the pilot of the Z Gundam, a mobile suit of his own design, and reunited with Fa.
At the end of the series, Kamille is driven to bring an end to the conflict even as his friends continue to die around him. However, his tale ends tragically; upon delivering the fatal blow to the Titan's commander Paptimus Scirocco, himself a powerful Newtype, Paptimus uses his final moments to deliver a crippling attack to Kamille's mind. Left in a vegetative state, his gradual recovery serves as a subplot of the sequel TV series Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam.
In the movie compilation trilogy Mobile Suit Z Gundam: A New Translation, Kamille's story is given a different ending. He manages to avoid being crippled by Scirocco and happily celebrates the AEUG's victory over the Titans with Fa. This new ending is largely due to Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino, whose outlook on life changed after overcoming the depression that ruled his life in the 1980s and 90s.
In Video Games
As the protagonist of Z Gundam, Kamille has appeared in numerous games based on the franchise, as well as crossover titles such as the Super Robot Taisen series. Following the release of A New Translation, some games have chosen to depict Kamille based on his story in the movie trilogy, rather than on the original TV series. However, other games, such as Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 and 3, offer multiple scenarios to depict both outcomes. Depending on the game and the era in which it is set, Kamille is generally depicted as either piloting the Gundam Mk. II or the Zeta Gundam.
Mobile Suit History
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