Rafe Cameron (2024)

Rafe Cameron is one of the main characters and one of the two main antagonists (along side Ward Cameron) in Outer Banks. He is portrayed by Drew Starkey.

Rafe is the eldest son of Ward Cameron, the older brother of Sarah and Wheezie, and the stepson of Rose Cameron.

Early Life[]

Not much is known about Rafe's early life. At some point during his childhood, it can be assumed that his biological mother either passed away or left the family, as she is never mentioned in the series. His stepmother, Rose, implies during season 2 that Rafe began exhibiting disturbing behavior around the age of 10.

History[]

Biography[]

Rafe is Ward Cameron's eldest child and Sarah and Wheezie Cameron's older brother. It is not known whether or not Rafe was attending college prior to the events of the series, but he does not appear to be currently enrolled in any educational institution. He has a somewhat strained relationship with his father, although he tries to win his approval.

Rafe is disrespectful and leering towards Sarah, calling her a bitch on multiple occasions, directly and indirectly to his friends. However, he does not display the same behaviour to his youngest sister, Wheezie. As a contrast he seems to care for her and want to help her when she asks for it, just as she tries to help him when he needs it.

Rafe struggles with cocaine addiction and is implied to have a troubled past, although much of it has not been specified. It is unknown when his drug abuse began. As the oldest son, Rafe was on track to inherit Cameron Development and shows interest in taking over the company early on.

His reckless behaviour and desperation for his father's approval eventually lead him to shoot someone.

It is unknown what happened to Rafe's biological mother. He has a strained relationship with his stepmother, Rose.

Throughout the Series[]

Season 1[]

Throughout Season 1, Rafe is seen most often hanging out with his best friends, Topper and Kelce, doing "kook" activities such as partying in mansions, going to the beach and golfing.

Rafe gets into some trouble with Barry, the town's drug dealer, and he owes him a lot of money. Rafe tries to steal from his father to pay Barry back, but Ward catches him. Ward goes with Rafe to bail him out and warns Barry to back off. Then, Ward kicks Rafe out of his house.

Rafe squats at an empty house in the meantime, spending his days getting high. When Ward is about to be arrested by Sheriff Peterkin, Rafe shoots her thinking he is protecting his father. Ward then pins the blame for the murder on John B to protect his son. Rafe gets let back into the family home.

During the manhunt for John B, he and Kelce go out looking. When the morning comes Rafe has a panic attack and goes to Barry for cocaine. When Barry doesn't have any Rafe breaks down in tears and attempt to tell Barry about what he has done. Barry suggests Rafe come with him to find John B and claim the reward for his capture, they both go out on their motorbikes to try and find him and deliver him to the police. The pair follow Kiara and JJ to where Luke keeps his boat. After a fight with the Pogues, where Rafe and Barry comes out as the losers, Barry makes it clear to Rafe that "he owns him now" after finding out he killed Sheriff Peterkin.

Season 2[]

In Season 2, Rafe is still trying to get in the good graces of his father — constantly looking for reassurance that he's Ward's favourite. Ward takes Rafe with him to Nassau in the Bahamas where he finds out about the gold and he helps his father to transport it so that it can be sent to a bank in Switzerland. During the transport they are held at gunpoint by Terrance and Cleo, Rafe and Ward find out about Sarah and John B being alive. Rafe accidentally shoots his sister as she and John B steal the truck with the gold in it. This makes Rafe question if there is something wrong with him and he begs his father for help but Ward doesn't listen.

Later in the season, in episode 5, Rafe tricks Sarah into meeting him to talk about what she is going to tell the police about the day Peterkin died. Sarah tells Rafe that she rather see him get the death penalty than John B, she attempts to run away. Rafe catches up with her and tries to drown her. Sarah is moments away from death once again but is saved at the last minute when her former Kook love interest, Topper, arrives out of nowhere to drag Rafe off her. Topper then beat up Rafe and tell him to stay away.

The following morning the police raid Tannyhill searching for Rafe, they have a warrant for his arrest on murder in the first degree for Peterkin. Ward sends Rafe an encrypted message not to come home, and instead sneak out of Tannyhill to meet him at Barrys place where Rafe has spent the night. Ward gives Rafe instructions on how to leave Outer Banks, along with a lot of money. Rafe tells Barry to help him, unknowing that Barry still holds a grudge against Ward. Barry sells Rafe out to the police, Rafe is arrested and put in jail. He is informed by Deputy Plumb that Ward might be joining him there soon as the police are getting ready to go after Ward on murder charges. Ward fakes his own death and leaves behind a recorded video claiming responsibility for the murder of the sheriff, thereby clearing Rafe's name.

Rose informs Rafe that she doesn't have the account for the gold and that they are in a bad place financially, Rafe is then employed by Limbrey to find the Cross of Santo Domingo. After finding the cross Limbrey gets into an argument with her brother, resulting in his death, Rafe then takes the cross and bring it with him on the Costal Venture, a ship chartered by Rose to take the family to Guadaloupe. Rafe suspects that the Pogues are on the ship and as they try to capture the crew Rafe goes off and fight John b. At the same time Pope is trying to get the cross off the ship, but need to release it into the water to save his own life. Rafe grabs the rope holding the cross and with the help of several members of the crew they pull it back up.

Season 3[]

Rafe sets up a meeting with Michel Arnaud who has a buyer interested in the Cross of Santo Domingo. He brings Rafe to Carlos Singh, who wants Rafe’s help to find the treasure.

Rafe doesn’t know how to help Singh locate the treasure, causing him to flee together with Kiara who is also held at Singh's estate. Eventually, he found his way back to Guadeloupe by stealing a tourist's ID and going on a cruise ship. Back in Guadaloupe, he finds that his father is out of his coma and is getting better. Ward asks Rafe to go back to the Outer Banks to sell off their home and businesses, as he wants to set up his family for the future.

Rafe finds out that his father want to sell his childhood home, Tannyhill, and also donate Cross of Santo Domingo to charity. Rafe makes a deal with Barry to steal the Cross, and melts it down for gold to sell. Ward confronts Rafe about the stolen cross. Rafe declares he is the head of the family now.

Ward tells Rafe he signed papers leaving everything in Rose’s name instead of his. Rafe warns Ward he will go to the police and tell them he’s alive. Ward threatens him back claiming he will tell the police Rafe killed Peterson. Rafe points a gun at Ward but doesn’t shoot. Later, Rafe meets with Barry and makes a plan to have him kill Ward.

Rafe tells Barry he changed his mind about killing Ward. He tells Ward to leave town. Barry says he already found a hitman to kill Ward. Rafe tries to intercept but Ward still gets stabbed in the leg. Rafe brings Ward to the airstrip where his plane is waiting, to get him away before the police arrive. Rafe is last seen covered in his father's blood approached by Sheriff Shoupe.

Relationships[]

Sarah[]

Main article: Rafe and Sarah

Rafe and Sarah are siblings and both members of the dysfunctional Cameron family. They have a very chaotic and complex relationship. Rafe is often leering and disrespectful towards Sarah, calling her a bitch more than once, both to indirectly and directly. He is often aggressive towards her and he has threatened her on more than one occasion and he went as far as trying to drown her. Their relationship appears to have been strained since before the events of the show, likely due to the fact that their father usually favors Sarah.

When Rafe found out that Sarah and The Pogues stole from Barry, he expressed concern for her and showed her what Barry did to his him when he owed him money.

In Season 2, Rafe accidentally shoots Sarah, and he then tells Ward that while he didn't mean to do it, he does not care that he did. He feels that the family is doing better with Sarah out of the picture. After Sarah returns to OuterBanks she keeps in touch with Wheezie, Rafe uses her phone to set up a meeting with Sarah hoping to persuade her to protect him but not telling the police what she saw on the tarmac. When he realizes that Sarah would turn their father and him in if she got the chance, he tries to drown her in a nearby tub of water. In the Season 2 finale, he has the chance to kill her when she was escaping with the Pogues on a boat from the Costal Venture, but he can not go through with it.

Topper[]

Main article: Topper and Rafe

Topper and Rafe were close friends during the time when Topper dated his sister Sarah. They both have a feud against the Pogues and they are frequently seen picking fights with them. Rafe frequently manipulates Topper into joining his violent exploits, such as attacking Pope at the golf course, kicking off a "war" with Pope and JJ featuring retaliation.

When Sarah tells Topper that Rafe is the one that killed Sheriff Peterkin at the end of Season 1, Topper appears to believe her. In season 2, he does not appear to be hanging out with Rafe or their other friend Kelce. Topper discovers Rafe attempting to drown Sarah Season 2 and physically attacks Rafe.

In season 3, they appear to have a cordial relationship, with Rafe warning Topper about romantically pursuing Sarah for his own sake.

Barry[]

Main article: Rafe and Barry

Rafe and Barry have a very chaotic friendship. They met because Barry sells Cocaine to Rafe. The pair eventually became allies, until Barry turned Rafe in to the police at the end of Season 2.

Rafe and Barry are first seen together in the third episode of Season 1 when Rafe bought cocaine from him. Rafe owed him money because he used to sell at parties for Barry. Rafe then tried to repay Barry by offering to sell more cocaine, and allowing Barry to take his bike as colleteral. When Rafe didn't have his money and stated that he needed more time, Barry burned his arm.

In Season 2, Rafe and Barry are still buddies. Rafe needs help with getting the gun that he used to kill Sheriff Peterkin with back, so he goes to Barry for help. The morning after Rafe tried to drown Sarah, he wakes up at Barry's house and reads a text that he got from Ward and learns what had happened while he was gone. Rafe, determined to not be taken alive, attempts to flee the Outer Banks with Barry. However, Barry betrays Rafe by alerting the authorities.

Wheezie[]

Wheezie is Rafe's younger sister. Rafe seems to get along better with Wheezie than with Sarah, most likely due to Sarah being their father's favorite. Wheezie and Rafe have been seen bonding over that fact.

Family[]

Personality[]

Rafe is reckless, violent, and unstable. His drug use and other crimes cause other characters to refer to him as a "psychopath." He is a negative influence on Topper and the rest of The Kooks. He is physically aggressive toward those whom he deems a threat, especially The Pogues. He often encourages bad blood between the two feuding groups. He is a cocaine addict and appears to suffer from a untreated form of borderline personality disorder.

After shooting Sarah in season 2, Rafe opens up to Ward Cameron, informing his father that he suffers from intrusive thoughts he cannot control. In response to this, his father tells him to "man up." Rafe also seems to obsessively seek his father's attention and favour, claiming that everything he's done was for him and his family. He needs validation from Ward and uses that to convince himself that his actions aren't wrong.

Despite his psychotic tendencies, Rafe does show empathy and feels deeply guilty by what he has done, such as crying and apologizing after opening up to Kiara, whom he seems to dislike significantly less than the other Pogues. He's often seen on a verge of a panic attack when he isn't acting out in anger. He's aware that something is wrong with him, saying it multiple times throughout the show, but everybody has been ignoring and avoiding his issues.

Physical Appearance[]

Rafe has dark blonde hair and blue eyes. He stands at 6 ft 2 and is very fit. Like all Kooks, he is usually seen wearing preppy clothes. During season 1 and 2, his hair is kept in a longer well maintained hairstyle, whereas in Season 3 he has a buzzcut.

Appearances[]

Rafe: "You understand right? You understand why I did it? You were in trouble, and I was protecting you. Me, dad. Rafe."

Rafe: "What if I'm not ok?"

Rafe: "I have all these thoughts and I don't know if I can control them. I am afraid. I need help, ok."

Rafe (to Ward): "I was gonna be better, you know? I was... I was planning on getting clean."

Rafe: "Little fried Sarah"

Rafe to Topper: "Congrats, puss*, you're officially her bitch."

Rafe (about Pope): "Tell your boy we know what he did."

Rafe: “I don’t think your friends will like me.”

Rafe: "Everybody saying nature is so chill. Everything trying to kill everything else all the time. And everything must kill to live. Killing is nature."

Rafe to Ward: "I think we should kill them all."

Trivia[]

• He is a drug addict, showing usage of mostly cocaine but also weed.
• Rafe is a member of the golf community in Figure 8, and often golfs with Topper.
• Rafe is aware that he has an addiction, he mentions several times that he wants to be a better person and to get clean. ^[1]
• When he was around the age of 10 he began showing traits of mental health problems.

Gallery[]

References[]