A Terminator, or T-Unit,[1] is a type of Hunter-Killer designed to terminate other life forms. Various Terminators are built by an artificially intelligent computer called Skynet in order to wipe out the remains of the human race after Judgment Day.
A Terminator with a female outer sheath is referred to as a Terminatrix. [2][3]
Development of the Terminators in Alternate Timelines[]
Due to different alternate timelines caused by various time travel missions, the future is changing and the creation date of the Terminators is changing as well.
How the original Terminators were built is unknown in the Alpha timeline. In the Original timeline, Cyberdyne Systems was able to reverse-engineer and develop robots from the scavenged hand and CPU of the destroyed T-800 in 1984.[4] Cyberdyne Systems had created the T-70 Terminator to impress investors and people with military interests to finance them to improve robotics technology.[5]
Later in Rise of the Machines timeline created by the destruction of Cyberdyne, the US Military and Cyber Research Systems used the reverse engineered technology acquired from Cyberdyne Systems to develop the T-1, the first model of the Terminator Series, as well as building T-600 and developing T-800 Infiltrators prior to Judgment Day in order to replace soldiers on the battlefield prior to Judgment Day.[6][7] Hence, the T-800 is fully operational in the 2010s in the following T2 Saga and Salvation timelines. (While in the Original timeline, the T-800 came online on 2026.[8])
In Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles timeline, Cameron Phillips establishes that modern Terminators are made of coltan for heat resistance, while previous models were made of titanium.
In the Dark Fate timeline, Skynet is replaced by Legion, who creates unique versions of Terminator, designated as "Rev" along with a number signifying what model they are, such as Rev-7 and Rev-9. These Terminators seen so far have both an Endoskeleton with a mimetic polyalloy sheath, a concept similar to the T-X. A unique ability allows these units to split into two separate units, one the endoskeleton Terminator, the other the polyalloy Terminator.
Physical characteristics[]
Despite Kyle Reese's claim that "cyborgs do not feel pain",[9] a Terminator is capable of sensing injuries and that "the data could be called [pain]".[10] Cameron was revealed to have an intolerance to some degrees of temperature in her surroundings, as humans do.[11] Unlike humans, however, being machines, they are capable of resisting or shutting off this sense of discomfort. It is elaborated that Terminators can appreciate physical sensations such as the wind blowing through its hair and toes, and process them in a psychological manner.[12]
Most Terminators were made of dense alloy with an armor coating, making them more durable even than most HKs. Most bullets could do little damage to their chassis. Terminator Cameron states that Terminators' densities deny them the ability to swim. However, that they can survive submerged and walk along the bed to the shore.[13][14]. T-H Infiltrator Prototype is able to swim possibly due to human nature he/she possesses.[15]
Classification[]
- See also: Terminator Series
Non-Humanoid Hunter Killer[]
- T-1 Battlefield Robot - A large battle unit armed with twin-linked miniguns.
- T-4 - Unmanned tank.
- T-7 Tetrapod - A quadruped defense unit armed with twin machine guns.
- T-20 Service Robot
- Moto-Terminator / Snowminator - An automated motorcycle that is used to hunt down humans.
- T-1000000 - A large poly-mimetic Terminator created to guard the Skynet Core.
Humanoid Hunter Killer[]
- Main article: Humanoid Hunter Killer
The Humanoid Hunter Killer is an android developed and intended to be similar to a human endoskeleton in look and function.
- T-70 - A tall and basic Terminator model designed as a basic foot soldier
- T-400 - A multi-purpose unit designed for close-quarters combat.
- T-500 - The first true Terminator featured an armored battle chassis that made it more durable than the T-400.
- T-Infinity - A multi-phasic machine armed with multiple onboard weaponry and a TDE device.
Infiltrators[]
- Main article: Infiltrator
The Infiltrator is a type of the Humanoid Hunter Killer that is built to look exactly like humans and used to infiltrate, seek out and kill human beings. The Infiltrator progresses from rubber skin, human flesh over its endoskeleton, to mimetic polyalloy able to mimic any person or object.
- T-600 - The first Infiltrator model that possesses a rubber skin sheath.
- T-700
- T-800 - A breakthrough Terminator that uses living tissue covering for superior infiltration.
- T-8xx - Various variants of the Series 800 Terminator
- T-900 (Rise of the Machines) - A hyper-alloy armored Terminator designed to eliminate other machines.
- T-950 - An advanced endoskeleton modified from the T-900 that possesses onboard weaponry.
- T-X - An advanced endoskeleton based on T-950 that possesses mimetic polyalloy and onboard weaponry.
- T-900 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles) - A advanced Infiltrator able to mimic humans.
- TS-300 (created by MIR) - A ceramic Terminator designed to replace specific individuals.
- T-1000 - A mimetic polyalloy Terminator capable of altering its form and appearance.
- T-3000 - A highly advanced infiltrator model. Made from infecting human being with nano-machines and having them replace the tissue of the subject.
- T-5000 - A highly advanced Terminator model. Used by Skynet to store its consciousness and infect John Connor with nano-robots and turn him into a T-3000.
Notes[]
- In most of the Terminator fictions, Terminators deployed in the Future War usually kill humans upon finding them. However, Infiltrators sent to the past seem to be programmed to kill only their primary targets and most of them only kill humans when needed, such as anyone who gets in their way, or those who are to be impersonated and replaced in order to get close to the targets.
- Terminators are able to detect their fellow Hunter Killers when they are nearby via transmitters.[10]
Behind the Scenes[]
- James Cameron asserts that he came up with the concept of the Terminator characters on his own. However, several works of science fiction predating his film have similar concepts, including "Soldier", "Demon with a Glass Hand", "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream", "Second Variety", "Jon's World", Cyborg, La Jetée, and Cyborg 2087.
Nomenclature[]
In Terminator 2: Judgment Day DVD commentary, "Model" refer to the outer appearance, while "Series" refers to the endoskeleton common to many types.
The end credits of first three films list Arnold Schwarzenegger's characters as simply the "Terminator". Later films credit the newer Terminator characters by their series numbers, such as "T-1000", "T-X", or "T-800".
Those being chased by a Terminator, will often simply call it the "Terminator" (as Reese does throughout the first film). If more than one type of Terminator is involved, more specific names may be used, ranging from an official designation to a variety of nicknames. The most common seems to be to add "T-" to the beginning of the series number.
Known appellations[]
- T-###
- T-### Terminator[16]
- T-### xxx Terminator[17]
- Terminator T-###[18]
- Series T-###[19]
- Series ###[20][21]
- Series ### Terminator[22]
- ### Series[23][24][25][26]
- T-### Model [27]
- Model T-### [28][29]
Nomenclature table[]
Official Designation | Common Name † | Other Names ‡ | |
---|---|---|---|
Cyberdyne future (The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and T2 3-D: Battle Across Time) | |||
Cyberdyne Systems Series 70[30][31] | T-70[30][31] | ||
T-600[19][27][18] | |||
T-700[32] |
| ||
Cyberdyne Systems Series 800 Model 101 |
T-800[31][33] | ||
Cyberdyne Systems Series 800 Model 101 Version 2.4[20] | |||
T-1000 [35] | |||
T-Meg[37] |
| ||
Cyber Research future (Rise of the Machines timeline) | |||
T-1 [38] | |||
Cyber Research Systems Model 101 Series 850[29] |
T-850 [29] | ||
Cyber Research Systems Model T-X[41] | T-X [38] | ||
The Sarah Connor Chronicles timeline | |||
T-888[43][44] |
| ||
Legion Future (Dark Fate timeline) | |||
Rev-7 | |||
Rev-9 |
| ||
The Terminator RPG timeline | |||
Cyberdyne Systems Series 000 Sweeper Unit | T-000 |
|
|
Cyberdyne Systems Series 500 Armored Battle Chassis Unit | T-500 |
| |
Cyberdyne Systems Series 600 Infiltration Unit | T-660 |
| |
Cyberdyne Systems Series 700 Facilitator Unit | T-750 |
| |
Cyberdyne Systems Series 700 Infiltrator Unit | T-770 |
| |
Cyberdyne Systems Series 800 Probationary Test Unit | T-808 |
| |
Cyberdyne Systems Series 700 Infiltrator Unit | T-790 |
| |
Cyberdyne Systems Series K Misdirection Infiltration Unit | T-K90 |
| |
Cyberdyne Systems Series R Reconnaissance Infiltration Unit | T-R40 |
| |
Cyberdyne Systems Series R Reconnaissance Infiltration Unit | T-R80 |
| |
Notes: † The most common descriptive name used in-universe to refer to the type in general. ‡ Short names, and nicknames used rarely. etc. |
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ The Final Battle issue 1
- ↑ Superman vs. The Terminator: Death to the Future
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Used by John Connor once in dialog from the film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
- ↑ This was an essential plot point in the sequel, even though it was in a deleted scene from The Terminator.
- ↑ T2 3-D: Battle Across Time
- ↑ In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, it is revealed that the US Military has already begun on developing Humanoid Terminator, which is a blurred T-800 as shown on digital blueprint in the film while clearly seen in deleted contents, notably "William Candy" segment.
- ↑ Hope Of The Future - Terminator 3 deleted scenes - CRS - Endoskeletons
- ↑ Terminator Salvation Script at IMSDb.
- ↑ The Terminator
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- ↑ "Mr. Ferguson is Ill Today"
- ↑ "Complications"
- ↑ The Terminator: Secondary Objectives issue 02
- ↑ "The Mousetrap"
- ↑ Terminator Salvation
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Merchandise such as "T-850 Terminator" or "T-X Terminatrix".
- ↑ "T-Infinity Temporal Terminator" in Terminator: Revolution.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Kyle's line "Terminator T-600" in Terminator Salvation
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 "Terminator, Series T-600" in the game The Terminator: Future Shock
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 The HUD of the T-800 identifies it more specifically as a "Cyberdyne Systems Series 800 Model 101 Version 2.4" in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
- ↑ DVD extra from Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 The script of Terminator 2: Judgment Day uses "the endoskeleton of a Series 800 Terminator".
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Kyle Reese's line "the 600 Series" from the film The Terminator.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 The Terminator novel
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 James Cameron's line "The 800 Series ... the 1000 Series" in commentary of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 Cameron's line "T-600 models" in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles episode "Heavy Metal".
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Terminator - 7" Action Figure - T-800 Endoskeleton (Retro Packaging) by NECA
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5 29.6 29.7 29.8 Shown on screen in the special features from the Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines DVD, which identifies the T-850 as an "Series 850 Model 101", and the older Terminator as an "Series 800 Model 101". (The T3 DVD Extras swap the order of Series & Model for all references, not just the new ones.)
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Script of T2 3-D: Battle Across Time
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 Panasonic presents Terminator 2: 3D Special Site (Retrieved from Internet Archive)
- ↑ Official materials of Terminator Salvation
- ↑ The name "T-800" is used by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the DVD commentary for the film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
- ↑ Flashed briefly in schematics used as DVD extras for Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
- ↑ Used throughout the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
- ↑ T-800's line "Terminator T-1000" in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
- ↑ Used by James Cameron in the Making of T2 3-D: Battle Across Time featured in Terminator 2: Judgment Day DVD.
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 Used throughout the film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
- ↑ Dialog from the "Sgt. Candy" scene featured in the Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines DVD
- ↑ Shown on screen in its HUD.
- ↑ 41.0 41.1 A scan from another Terminator display this in the game Terminator 3: The Redemption.
- ↑ Terminator 3: Eyes of the Rise
- ↑ Official episode summaries for the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
- ↑ Displayed in the HUD when identifying another Terminator in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles episode "Heavy Metal".
- ↑ Used by Derek Reese in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles episode "Queen's Gambit".
- ↑ Used by Grace Harper in Terminator: Dark Fate.
External links[]
Terminator Series
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