Kenneth Onishi

Kenneth Onishi is a human from the Robots in Disguise continuity family.

Dull surprise! Sharp hair!

Doctor Kenneth Onishi, also Daichi Ōnishi (大西ダイチ Ōnishi Daichi), is Koji's dad. He's an archaeologist, who also happens to be the world's leading expert in the use of energy. Talk about diversification. He has a rarely seen or mentioned wife.

He also REALLY likes vintage trains.

Fiction

Cartoon continuity

2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon

Voice actor: Kirk Thornton (English), Shōji Izumi (Japanese), Herman López (Latin-American Spanish), Duda Espinoza (Brazilian Portuguese)

Doctor Onishi was leading an excavation under Metro City to locate some ruins from which powerful energy readings were emanating. The excavation was hampered by some sort of energy shield. Fortress Maximus With the excavation stalled, Dr. Onishi attended an International Scientific Symposium in New York. The Symposium was attacked by Megatron, who rendered everyone unconscious with his Sonic Pain Wave and, after a battle with the Autobots, abducted Dr. Onishi. Battle Protocol!

And this is pretty much what he looked like for most of the series.

The Predacons subjected Onishi to the psycho-probe, which pointed them to the Payuma ruins. Sky-Byte was dispatched, but discovered that Koji and Side Burn were already there—Dr. Onishi and Koji had explored the ruins together on several occasions. After the Autobots fought Sky-Byte off, Koji found a microchip hidden in a picture frame by his father. The microchip would provide the Autobots with many important clues. The Secret of the Ruins

A disk held by Dr. Onishi's friend Doctor Yoshimoto was stolen by the Predacons. The information it contained was interpreted by Megatron and his cronies to detail a new super weapon, but in reality was footage of a steam train, as the disk was intended for Koji. Dr. Onishi's memories of the train gave him hope that he would be rescued. Secret Weapon: D-5

More information gleaned from Dr. Onishi's mind pointed the Predacons to the Cave of the Dragon. Additional news footage of the cave gave Gas Skunk the impression that the cave was important because it contained a powerful transforming robot, but in reality the "robot" was an effect for a movie currently in production, and the real treasure in the cave was a hidden O-Part. The Ultimate Robot Warrior

The psycho-probe also pointed the Predacons to Montrose Island where a second O-Part was recovered (though again by the Autobots), Volcano and to a location in America, where a crashed Cybertronian spaceship was dug up by the Predacon trio. The Autobots also extracted the location of the spaceship from Onishi's microchip. The Decepticons

D'awwwww.

Much later, more use of the probe was able to draw information about the dig Onishi had been working on under Metro City. At the same time T-AI found similar information on the micro-chip, and the Autobots were able to unearth Fortress Maximus. Fortress Maximus When Sky-Byte was sent to explore the ruins, the wily shark removed Dr. Onishi from the Decepticon base to give him an advantage over the Decepticons who were also trying to find Maximus. Sky-Byte's meanderings led him to face the Autobot Brothers, and he threw the pod he was carrying to Koji in order to be free to fight. To the boy's surprise, inside the pod he found his father, who quickly recovered and the two were finally reunited. Koji happily wished his dad a happy birthday and introduced him to the Autobots. Koji Gets His Wish

Working with T-AI, Dr. Onishi was able to help the Autobots locate the rest of the O-Parts, A Friendly Contest enabling them to find the Orb of Sigma and Cerebros and introducing Fortress Maximus into the equation. Peril from the Past The pair also attempted to work out how to control Maximus, a breakthrough coming when Koji was able to command the giant to stop after it was unleashed on Metro City. Maximus Emerges

I...PROBABLY WILL SUCCEED!

The Decepticons again attempted to control Maximus in the desert, when Scourge magnified the human part of his bio-signature. Dr. Onishi and his son accompanied the Autobots to the area. Although Koji was unable to override Scourge's control, Dr. Onishi contacted T-AI and had her send Team Bullet Train and the Build Team loaded down with children. The collective humanity of the children was able to override Scourge's control. Koji apologised for endangering himself, but Dr. Onishi merely said he was proud of his son for helping his friends. The Human Element Dr. Onishi continued to work on a control program for Maximus. Surprise Attack!

During the last Autobot battle, Dr. Onishi found Koji with a cyber-bat attached to his forehead, and was able to let Omega Prime know what was happening. Galvatron's Revenge

Ask Vector Prime

Developing the Spark Engine, Dr. Daichi Ōnishi worked with Dr. Haruma Gō to upgrade the Spy Changers into Super Spy Changers, in order to deal with an incursion of Mutants from Cybertron. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/01 He also contributed to the creation of the Trainbots as part of the Raiden Initiative. He was primarily responsible for their power systems, and chose to name the DE10 diesel locomotive due to his love of vintage trains. He went with the name "Kaen" to symbolize a flame burning brightly in service of Japan and mankind. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/27

Animated cartoon continuity

Working with Doctors Brian Jones, Felix Adle, and Peter Morris, Doctor Daichi Onishi was able to make solar fusion commercially viable. The AllSpark Almanac

Legends World

The Daichi Ōnishi of the Legends World was talking outside Tokyo Toy Show when he saw the Sky-Byte of other universe entering. Bonus Edition Vol. EX

Notes

• Similarly to fellow Robots in Disguise character Kelly, Doctor Onishi's first name is never given in the animated series, and comes from Fox Kids' episode summaries, made available after the fact on Maximum Entertainment's Region 2 DVD release of the series.