Mikaela Banes

Mikaela Banes is a fictional character from the Transformers universe. She is differentiated from "typical" women in her age group, having inherited mechanical skills from her father, Cal, a grease monkey and paroled car thief. The character is portrayed by Megan Fox in the first and second films and serves the role of Sam Witwicky's first love interest.

IDW Publishing
Mikaela was present shortly after the battle at Mission City in Transformers: Alliance #1 (December 2008) by IDW Publishing.

Films
In the 2007 Transformers film, Mikaela is initially the girlfriend of football player Trent; however, she soon ditches him because of his snobbish attitude and because he treats her like a trophy wife. Sam offers her a ride home, as he has a crush on her, and Mikaela accepts Sam's offer. She inspects Sam's broken-down 1976 Chevrolet Camaro (nicknamed Bumblebee) in an empty lovers lane and is astonished at the various modifications present in the engine bay. Unfortunately, the visuals of the actual engine under the hood show a discontinuity error on the part of the filmmakers: the shot shows that Bumblebee has a Kinsler crossram fuel injection intake manifold, as her character discusses a double-pumper carburetor. She also surprises Sam with her knowledge about cars which he finds more attractive than the popular shallow girl she acts like around others. When why she keeps her mechanical expertise a secret, she says, "guys don't like it when you know more about cars than they do." This scene is similar to Spike and Carly's first meeting in 1985, with Carly showing more interest in Bumblebee rather than in Spike. Mikaela criticizes the poor conditions of Bumblebee's vehicle mode, causing him to scan a passing 2007 Camaro Concept and transform into the same model. She fights in the Battle of Mission City, initially pulling the seriously injured Bumblebee out of battle, but is ultimately unable to leave them to fight alone. She tells Bumblebee that if he's willing to fight, she'll take him back in and navigate. He acquiesces and with her help, Bumblebee rejoins the battle and destroys Brawl. After the battle, she and Sam begin dating.

Mikaela returns in the 2009 sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, carrying on a long-distance relationship with Sam. As he goes off to college, Sam entrusts her with a fragment of the Allspark, which he found in the jacket he was wearing when he killed Megatron. Mikaela hides the fragment in a safe at her father's motorcycle repair shop, but she is followed by the Decepticon spy Wheelie, who is intent on recovering the fragment. She catches the spy and interrogates him. After going to inform Sam, Mikaela saves him from the Decepticon Pretender Alice (whom she kills and also found kissing Sam), only to be captured by Grindor and taken to the recently repaired Megatron. Rescued by Optimus Prime, Mikaela and everyone escape, and on the recommendation of Sam's roommate Leo, they seek help from a man who runs a robot conspiracy website. He is later revealed to be Agent Simmons. Simmons and Wheelie lead them to Jetfire, who uses a Space Bridge to transport the group to Egypt, where the Autobots and their allies battle the Decepticons and The Fallen. She is devastated when Sam apparently dies, but is ecstatic when he is revived and finally tells her he loves her. She survives the battle and returns home. Seen in the credits Sam kisses Mikaela goodbye as he returns to college.

Mikaela does not appear in the 2011 sequel Transformers: Dark of the Moon due to Megan Fox being fired. Mikaela is said to have broken up with Sam. She apparently left Wheelie and Brains with Sam in Washington, and both retorted, saying she was "mean" and that they did not like her, which contradicts the previous film where Wheelie worshiped her as his "Warrior Goddess". However, in said movie Mikaela injured Wheelie's eye and threatened to take out his other eye, so he could still have that grudge. Despite this, a photo of Mikaela appears on Sam's dresser.

Books
In the novelization for Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Sam remembers being dumped by Mikaela, and fears the same will happen with his new girlfriend, Carly.

Video games
Mikaela made appearances in Transformers: The Game and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. In both games, she is a non playable character. Rather, several "missions" in the game revolve around the Transformers reaching her and Sam to either save them or get their help.

Titan Magazines
Note: The information in italics occurs in the alternate storyline where Megatron won the battle for the Allspark.

Mikaela was a member of the Autobot resistance to the Decepticon takeover in Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 1'' by Titan Magazines. She snuck into the Sector 7 page in an attempt to free the frozen Optimus Prime. In part 3, Bumblebee attempted to take on Megatron in the Sector 7 base as Mikaela attempted to free Optimus Prime, but she was attacked by Frenzy. In part 4 Mikaela frees Optimus Prime and freezes Frenzy just as Bumblebee gets some unexpected help fighting Megatron by the arrival of Elita One, Skyblast and Strongarm.''

Toys

 * Transformers Deluxe Longarm and Bumblebee Screen Battle: Final Stand (2007)
 * Deluxe Longarm comes packaged in this mini-diorama with a legless version of Robot Replicas Bumblebee. Unlike the regular packaged version, this version of Longarm is decorated with "Mike's Towing" labels as seen on the film instead of "Orson's Towing." It also has a little driver figure of Mikaela inside.


 * Transformers Deluxe Barricade with Frenzy Screen Battles: First Encounter (2007)
 * A gift set packaged as a mini-diorama with Deluxe Barricade and figurines of Sam and Mikaela, along with an extra, non-poseable Frenzy figure.


 * Revenge of the Fallen Human Alliance Autobot Skids with Arcee and Mikaela Banes (2009)
 * A 2-inch action figure of Mikaela comes with Human Alliance Skids and a small, transformable Arcee figure.


 * Transformers Human Alliance Shadow Blade Sideswipe with Mikaela Banes (2010)
 * A black/silver redeco of Human Alliance Sideswipe with a figure of Mikaela that wears a black leather jacket and blue jeans.