Ryūji Nomoto, known as "Scam" (Baremoto), served time at Shōnan Special Reformatory for fraud, embezzlement, and theft—crimes rooted in childhood extreme poverty where he and his mother starved. Discovering her sex work to survive bred his profound distrust of others, convinced everyone aimed to exploit him.

Initially isolating at the reformatory, he buried himself in books or smoked alone, avoiding socialization and resenting Rokurouta Sakuragi for perceived arrogance. Cell 6 of Block 2 changed him; shared suffering forged bonds with cellmates. His tactical intelligence proved vital, earning the "Scam" moniker for crafting intricate escape and survival strategies. A reformatory fire became pivotal when he salvaged a discarded key to rescue trapped cellmates, cementing his loyalty.

Physically, he had black hair, black eyes, and glasses prone to slipping. Post-release, he grew his hair longer. Cynical yet strategically gifted, he shielded others intellectually despite lacking combat skills. An early romance with a prostitute ended when she used his money for a joint suicide with another lover, deepening his emotional wariness.

After release, he studied law under Prosecutor Takada via night school. Failing the bar exam seven times never deterred him; he pursued it to honor his father—a respected man whose wartime death in Manchuria first shattered Ryūji’s trust in humanity. His legal focus centered on aiding friend Tadayoshi "Soldier" Tooyama, whose military career collapsed after taking blame for a foreign con group’s crimes. Ryūji relentlessly worked to mitigate Soldier’s penalties while financially supporting his mother and two younger brothers.