Cameron is an unknown model of Terminator—a fictional type of android envisioned as a soldier and assassin, with living tissue over a metal endoskeleton.

[1] Cameron is from the apocalyptic future described throughout the Terminator franchise, in which a self-aware computer program, Skynet, launches a nuclear destruction and wages war against a rebellion led by John Connor.

[2] The decision to make the character appear to be a teenaged female with a small physical stature was also influenced by James Cameron's infiltrator idea.

The scene detailed Cameron revealing to John how, in the future, she came to find and attempt to kill him after torturing a resistance fighter for information on his location.

[7] In any case, the character's robotic interactions with humans were manipulated for humor, but Friedman did express a wish to avoid "cheap jokes" in favor of more seriously exploring Cameron's existence as a cyborg.

"[11] Friedman also hoped to use Cameron as a device to advance the "coming-of-age" theme, of John Connor's maturation from an adolescent into a man that he intended to incorporate into the narrative.

Glau did not plan on auditioning, however, because she had a preconceived idea that the producers wanted "statuesque, icy blondes" for the role, and felt that she did not suit such an image.

About bringing the practice to Terminator, Glau said, "When you're working with a stunt guy ... and you need to anticipate every swing he's going to take at you ... it's important that you know exactly the timing that it's all going to play out.

At some point, the cyborg is captured and reprogrammed by John to serve as their ally, as were the T-800 and T-850 in the second and third films, and another Terminator in The Sarah Connor Chronicles episode "Dungeons & Dragons".

In the episode "Mr. Ferguson Is Ill Today", Cameron claims to be the confidant of a lonely John Connor in the future (as Allison was prior her death).

Jesse (Stephanie Jacobsen), a rogue time-traveling resistance fighter, confirms the pair's close relationship in "Strange Things Happen at the One Two Point" and suggests that the present-day Cameron may still be John's confidant twenty years in the future.

In the fall semester, sometime after the Connors leave Nebraska on August 24, 1999, John enrolls in the high school and is immediately greeted by his classmate, Cameron, fully aware of his identity.

Chased by Cromartie, Cameron takes the Connors to a bank branch, sealing themselves in the vault, where she assembles and activates a time displacement device with their assistance, sending them forward to 2007 with the intention of preventing the creation of Skynet, thereby eliminating the threat it would later pose.

[22] The first season's main story arc concerned the efforts of Cameron and the Connors to locate and retrieve a chess-playing computer called The Turk, which was destined to evolve into Skynet.

[24] Two episodes later, Andy was killed, The Turk was stolen[25] and, in a story arc that encompassed the second half of the season, Cameron worked with Sarah, John and Derek to acquire it from a man named Margos Sarkissian (James Urbaniak).

In the fourth episode, "Heavy Metal", Cameron discovered that Cromartie (now portrayed by Garret Dillahunt) continued to pursue John after the events of the pilot.

In the second season finale, Cameron denies that exposure to Terminators and their shielded nuclear power cells cause cancer in humans, as John believes that if his mother is sick it could be from living with her for so long.

While rescuing Sarah from the Los Angeles County lockup, Cameron sustains heavy damage, including the loss of her left eye covering.

When John and the T-1001 give chase into the future, a character portrayed by Glau is present, but it is Allison Young and not Cameron, as Friedman stated in the episode's audio commentary.

"[34] In another negative review, Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Glau "looks like a teenage Ally McBeal" who might "get her teeth punched in by wispy Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

A reviewer for the Los Angeles Times said that Cameron "conveys an intriguing, if limited, humanity that, one hopes, will enrich future story lines".

[38] Travis Fickett of IGN also noted the change in the character's writing, calling it "an unintended continuity problem", and describing the response as "a point of contention with fans".