Cameron (Terminator)

Cameron (Terminator)

Cameron is a fictional character on the FOX television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles which is a spin-off of the Terminator film franchise. Cameron first appeared in the series' pilot episode as an unknown model of Terminator — a fictional type of cyborg envisioned as a soldier and assassin. Cameron is portrayed by actress Summer Glau who, in 2008, won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television for her performance.

Although initially referred to as Cameron Phillips, that surname was used only in the pilot episode. Since then, she generally poses as John Connor's sister and, accordingly, uses whatever surname is being used by the Connors at the time. In the first season, that name is Baum, an in-episode homage to L. Frank Baum, whose novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Sarah used to read to John when he was a young boy.

Cameron is a cyborg from the apocalyptic future described in the timeline of the Terminator universe, in which a self-aware computer program, Skynet, launches a nuclear holocaust and wages war against a rebellion led by John Connor. In the pilot, Cameron is sent back in time to 1999 by John to protect John and his mother, and if possible to prevent the creation of Skynet. Cameron's role is that of John's guardian, much like Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in the second and third Terminator films.