Japanese seiyū: Hiro Shimono
English voice actor: Chris Patton
First appearance: Episode 1
At the beginning of the series, Ayato Kamina is a student and artist living with his mother in Tokyo. Most of his artwork shown in the series consists of drawings or paintings of a girl on a cliff looking towards the sea. He has birthmark-like symbols on his belly resembling runes, which are revealed to be a sign of his being a potential instrumentalist for the RahXephon.
After being taken from Tokyo by Haruka and the RahXephon, Ayato moves in with Rikudo Shougo, Haruka's uncle on Nirai Kanai. At first, this arrangement does not sit well with Ayato, as Haruka and her younger sister Megumi live in Rikudo's annex, but they slowly adapt to each others' presences. As a stranger from Tokyo Jupiter, Ayato struggles to find his place and acceptance in the outside world. Although he pilots the RahXephon in defending Nirai Kanai, he questions his abilities and self-worth. He also struggles with trying to piece together and understand his relationship with Haruka, handling the feisty Megumi, and interacting with the other TERRA personnel, who regard him with a broad spectrum of reactions, from acceptance and friendship to cool scientific interest to distrust and even contempt.
It is revealed that Ayato is actually the biological son of Quon, conceived with the help of Ernst von Bähbem and raised by Maya as an instrumentalist — someone who can successfully use the RahXephon to re-tune the world. There are several other instrumentalist candidates, but at this point of the series most have passed their ideal age.