Graziano Cassitta (Terence Hill), a young Sardinian shepherd who considers honor to be more important than life, has taken revenge for the death of his brother by killing one of his murderers. He is arrested but succeeds to escape three times, the last time from the prison of Sassari, together with the Spaniard Miguel Tienza, with whom he hides in the woods of the mountains in the heart of the region Barbagia. Graziano forms a gang together with the dishonest lawyer Spina and begins to kidnap rich men for ransom. While police tries to catch him, Graziano - who justifies his own actions by claiming to take money just from the rich - becomes extremely popular and dreams to become the head of a separatist movement. Scared by his megalomania, Spina and the others decide to get rid of him by setting him up for a wrong move: The kidnapping of Nino Bedetto, an honest man, and not rich at all. The action provokes indignation all over the island; the whole population joins the police officers to find him and the members of his gang don't trust and obey him any more. During a fight with police officers, Miguel, the only one who remained Graziano's friend, dies. Graziano tries to esacpe the police again, but not for long.