Kaminari Ishihara

Kaminari Ishihara is a human from the live-action film and Generation 1 continuity families.

Doctor Kaminari "Kami" Ishihara is a specialist in cybernetic motivation. She has PhDs in both physics and engineering from MIT. She has black belts in four martial arts and is a former Japanese intelligence agent. Her home is Tokyo, Japan.

She is reportedly very easy on the eyes.

Fiction

The Veiled Threat

Kaminari's grandfather had wanted a grandson to join the army, so to please him, she studied traditional martial arts, while her father encouraged her to pursue her academic studies. After being recruited by NEST, Ishihara developed a hi-tech weapon which could deliver a directed EMP, which she hoped would be useful in the fight against the Decepticons.

When the Pearl of India arrived at the dock at Diego Garcia, Ishihara was there to meet Captain Lennox, Epps, and fellow scientist Petr Andronov. After the initial briefing, she told Epps about her EMP gun, and he confessed he'd rather stick to sabot rounds. An attack in Zambia led the four humans to travel there with Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Ratchet, Salvage, and Beachbreak. While riding in Prime's cab, Ishihara began to find Andronov's sense of humor irritating. They located the Decepticons Macerator, Dropkick, and Payload waiting in the Zambezi River, but the river's speed meant she couldn't swim out to get close enough try out her gun. With the aid of Beachbreak's jet ski mode, she and Andronov did manage to join in, aiding Ironhide in his fight against Payload, before Ishihara warned the Autobot to return to shore as they were approaching Victoria Falls. Though Optimus actually went over the falls, he was saved from plunging too far by Beachbreak's tow line and the other Autobots. When Starscream, enraged by the Autobots' escape of their trap, killed Beachbreak, Ishihara was hit particularly hard, as she'd grown fond of the small Autobot. The NEST team tracked the Decepticons to the Kariba dam downstream, but Lennox ordered Ishihara to hang back with Ratchet and Salvage. It was therefore Ishihara who noticed that Payload's attack on the dam was going to succeed, prompting Ratchet to execute a last-minute save. She also tagged Dropkick with her EMP gun as he fled the dam.

Following a return trip to Diego Garcia, Ishihara went to Australia with Lennox, Optimus, Ironhide, and Salvage in search of more Decepticons. Lennox was unimpressed with the way she waited until the last moment to deploy her chute when they parachuted in, but their frosty working relationship began to thaw. Ironhide was thankful Ishihara was sleeping in Prime's cab, as he didn't think he'd have been able to stand the J-Pop she was listening to on her music player. While searching, they speculated that the Decepticons were trying to find fissionable materials in an attempt to resurrect Megatron. They encountered Kickback, Trample, and Tread. While Ironhide confronted Tread, Ishihara ran up to the Decepticon and allowed herself to be taken hostage so she could shoot the Decepticon in the eye with her gun. The tactic worked well enough that Ironhide was subsequently able to kill Tread, though he told her afterwards she had taken a terrible risk. She merely quoted The Art of Close-Quarter Fighting at him.

Back at Diego Garcia, Ishihara and Andronov discussed ways the Decepticons might get enough power to revive Megatron. When Deadend and Swindle began causing trouble in Rome, a NEST team including Ishihara traveled there to investigate. Though it turned out to be a trap, drawing Optimus into the Colosseum to face Barricade, Ishihara, Andronov, Lennox, and Epps provided their own aid to the Autobot leader by attacking Barricade at a crucial moment, before escaping through the subway.

Ishihara later returned to the university at Tsukuba to present an official report. The Veiled Threat

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Doctor Ishihara was one of several Japanese scientists to contribute to the creation of the Trainbots. She was responsible for creating their neural networks and for the initial specifications of their personality components. As a Tokyo native, she felt a special affinity for the Tōkai-type 153 express train, and named it Suiken after her favorite style of martial arts. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/27

Notes

• The word "Kaminari" is usually written as "雷鳴", literally meaning the sound of the roaring thunder. Yep, strange for using as a girl's name.