Cameron Watanabe

 

Cam is the sarcastic, but intelligent son of Sensei Kanoi Watanabe, the head of the Wind Ninja Academy, the nephew of Lothor and cousin to Kapri and Marah. Though his father never allowed him to become a ninja himself (something he was frequently annoyed by), he was often at the academy where his father taught, acting as a mentor for the other students, being the most skillful.

 

After the academy was destroyed by Lothor and his minions, he took the three remaining students (Shane Clarke, Dustin Brooks and Tori Hanson) into a high-tech underground dojo. Under instruction from his father, who had been turned into a guinea pig, he presented three Wind Morphers to the students, allowing them to become the Wind Rangers.

 

Throughout the series, he used his brilliant intellect to construct power spheres, Zords and weapons for the Rangers to use in battle. For example, when his father was captured by the Thunder Rangers, Cam created a powerful force-field to protect his father. After the two Bradley brothers joined the team, it was Cam that discovered the mystery piece in their Megazord that would allow the Storm Megazord to combine with theThunder Megazord. However, he was still troubled by his father's stubborn refusal to let him become a Ranger himself. When Shane, Dustin, Hunter, and Blake realized this, all of them argued on Cam's behalf, thinking that he should be a Ranger.

 

A Samurai's Journey

 

When the Rangers lost their powers temporarily, Cam's father revealed to Cam that his mother had made him promise not to let Cam become a ninja, due to a ninja's dangerous life. However, still conflicted by his promise, he revealed that there were other powers that Cam could use instead. On his father's advice, he used the Scroll of Time to travel to the past. Once in the past, he encountered a younger version of his father when he was ambushed by him. Cam found himself laughing at the fact that his father was a bit pushy even back then. The Sensei of the Wind Ninja Academy didn't suspect Cam as Kanoi did, and allowed Cam to enroll into the Ninja Academy for a short period of time.

 

In the past, Cam found out that his father had a twin brother, Kiya. He was at first shocked that his father would keep such a secret from him. The shock of finding out he even had an uncle subsided when his father faced off against a mystery samurai during a demonstration of swordsman skills. Kanoi was beaten easily, and the sensei of the Wind Ninja Academy revealed that the new coming samurai was Miko, Cam's mother. Miko, after defeating Kanoi Watanabe, became the first female student to enroll at the Wind Ninja Academy.

 

Cam became fast friends with his mother (though he didn't reveal their connection), and she said his mother's decision would've changed if she saw the kind of person Cam was now. Cam realized that his mother possessed a green amulet with special powers. However, Kiya, who was power-hungry, tried to steal it by framing Cam as the thief (by wearing clothes similar to Cam's). Before Cam's judgement was carried out, Kanoi arrived and claimed Cam as innocent. He held Kiya before the sensei and revealed Kiya had been practicing dark ninja arts. Kiya used his knowledge of the dark ninja arts in his attempt to escape, but the amulet landed in Cam's hands. Cam and Kiya grabbed wooden practice swords and dueled in a one-on-one swordfight, and Cam emerged the victor. Cam witnessed Kiya's banishment from the Academy, at which point Kiya foreswore his family name and took on the name Lothor. Despite Cam's protests, the sensei stated that they would only banish Kiya, now Lothor, because of the sins he had committed in the present, not the future they cannot see.

 

Before Cam could explain, the time scroll re-opened. He tried to hand the amulet back to his mother, but she told him that Cam was its rightful owner when it unleashed power during his duel with Kiya. Cam brought the amulet back to the present and used it to morph into the Green Samurai Ranger.

 

As the Samurai Ranger, he helped the others fight Lothor's evil, still shocked by the discovery that Lothor was in fact his uncle. He created a holographic "virtual" duplicate of himself called "Cyber Cam" to take over day-to-day running of the dojo and maintenance of the equipment. Cyber-Cam was given an "urban" persona - wearing skull caps, speaking in slang, and being highly skilled in extreme sports.