The Terminator (T-101)

The Terminator, or T-101 (an abbreviation of its designation as Terminator T-800 Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, and its Resistance Infiltrator Prototype T-850 Model variant)—a cybernetic organism, initially portrayed as a programmable assassin and military infiltration unit, and then as a bodyguard—is any one of a number of fictional characters portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"The Terminator" character first appeared as the titular antagonist in The Terminator, a 1984 film directed and co-written by James Cameron, and its sequels. The first film in the series features only one cyborg: the one portrayed by Schwarzenegger, although a second T-800 played by Franco Columbu is shown in a future flashback scene.

In the first two sequels, Schwarzenegger's Terminator is pitted against other Terminators; it appears briefly in the third sequel as a CGI model. In the sequels, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Genisys, Schwarzenegger reprises the role, albeit as the hero instead of the villain, playing a different but visually identical Terminator in each film.

Publication Information

• Cyborg : The Terminator
• Alias : Pops
• Gender Program : Male
• Status : Active
• Series : 800
• Model : 101
• Features : Bulky, Adaptive, Possible self awareness, Human-like emotions, Shapeshifting mimetic polyalloy weapons
• Occupation: Protector
• Relationships : Sarah Connor (mission priority / "daughter"), Kyle Reese (ally)
• Affiliations : Resistance
• Franchise(s) : Terminator Genisys
• First Appearance : Terminator Genisys
• Portrayer : Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brett Azar (young)

Within the Terminator universe created by Cameron, Terminators of the same "model" share identical characteristics. In the production of the films, this has allowed multiple Terminators to be portrayed by Schwarzenegger (with varying model iterations accounting for Schwarzenegger's physical aging as the series has progressed). In the context of the stories, this plot device provides a certain continuity for the human characters by exploiting their emotional familiarity with a particular "human" visage.

"The Terminator" is the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in the credits of the five Terminator movies. At different times, the character is given more specific designations such as model and series numbers, in efforts to distinguish Schwarzenegger's character from other Terminators. For his role in Terminator Salvation, Schwarzenegger reprised the role via facial CGI, used because Schwarzenegger's duties at the time as Governor of California prevented him from working on the film. The character's body is physically portrayed by Roland Kickinger. Schwarzenegger returned to the role in Terminator Genisys, a reboot of the series focusing on an alternate timeline where a T-800 is sent to protect and train the young Sarah Connor.

The title has also been used as a generic name for other human-simulating characters in the "Terminator" universe, notably the liquid metal shape-shifting T-1000 antagonist in the sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day and a T-X in the sequel Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

The Terminator from the original film was ranked #22 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains list of villains and was also ranked #14 on Empire's list of the 100 Greatest Movie Characters. The Terminator from the second film was ranked #48 on AFI's list of heroes.

Character nomenclature

The end credits of the first three Terminator films list Schwarzenegger's character as simply "The Terminator". Later films call the newer terminator characters by their series numbers (T-1000, T-X, etc.). The only consistent name for Schwarzenegger's Terminator character has been "The Terminator". Kyle Reese in The Terminator and Schwarzenegger's character in Terminator 2 refer to it as a "Cyberdyne Systems Model 101". In Terminator 3, the Terminator refers to itself as a "T-101", which could be an abbreviation of its model number.

In Terminator Salvation, the T2 Extreme Edition DVD, and the Terminator 2 video game he is referred to as an 800 series and a T-800. The T3 extras refer to him as an "850 series Model 101", a "T-850", and a "T-101".

Additionally, most merchandising for T2 and T3 - both at the time of their original releases and retroactively - (e.g. Action Masters miniatures, Cinemaquette statues, Sideshow Collectables replicas, Hollywood Collectibles statuettes, ArtFX kits, Medicom figures, Hot Toys, and McFarlane Toys) have all used the T-800 and T-850 nomenclature, contributing to this designation having arguably the most popular and widely disseminated usage, especially in direct juxtaposition to the explicitly named T-600s and T-1000. Terminator Salvation has the first on-screen usage of the term T-800, when John Connor sees blueprints of said series' endoskeleton.

In the T2 commentary, Cameron states that the Model 101s all look like Schwarzenegger, with a 102 looking like someone else, leading to speculation that the 101 refers to the physical appearance while the 800 refers to the endoskeleton common to many models. A scene deleted from the theatrical cut, but restored in the Terminator 2 Special Edition, lends the most credence to this explanation. In this scene, John and Sarah shut down The Terminator for modification according to his instructions. When he reboots, the upper-left of his HUD reads "Cyberdyne Systems Series 800 Model 101 Version 2.4". Additionally, the original Terminator 2 teaser trailer further verifies this on a display monitor during cyborg tissue generation, referencing the Series 800 Model 101.

Role in the series

A Cyberdyne Systems series T-800 Model 101 Terminator with living tissue over a metal endoskeleton, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is the main antagonist in The Terminator, the original Terminator film. An identical Series 800 Model 101, having been reprogrammed by the resistance in the future, is one of the protagonists in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Schwarzenegger plays an updated T-850 unit, with the same outward appearance as the Series 800. His character is destroyed at the end of each of these films. The fourth installment, Terminator Salvation, reveals the origin of the 101 Model. Roland Kickinger was cast as the principal actor but CGI was used to superimpose Schwarzenegger's face from the original 1984 film.

The Terminator

Potrayer : Arnold Schwarzenegger

Year : 1984

The original Terminator was sent to terminate a single target, Sarah Connor, in 1984, to prevent the birth of her son, John, the future leader of the human resistance. It survives being caught in a truck explosion, though its flesh cover burns away and it is fully revealed as a machine. The Terminator was finally crushed in a hydraulic press by Sarah after a lengthy chase. However, its damaged main CPU and right arm were recovered by Cyberdyne.

Judgment Day

• Main article : Terminator 2 : Judgment Day

Schwarzenegger's Terminator's role was reversed in the second film. He was reprogrammed by the future John Connor and sent back to 1995 to protect his younger self from the T-1000. While interacting with the Connors as they work to try to prevent Judgment Day, this Terminator is taught how to speak in slang-like terms, such as "Hasta la vista", developing into an almost fatherlike role for John Connor, with Sarah reflecting that the Terminator is the first male figure John has ever had in his life who can be guaranteed to always be there for him.

Rise of the Machines

• Main article : Rise of the Machines

In the third film, he is again portrayed as the hero, this time protecting John and his future wife Kate Brewster from a T-X. He tells John that his efforts in the second film did not stop Judgment Day, but merely delayed it. They are also running from Judgment Day, trying to postpone it again, but they fail, thanks to the counter-efforts of the T-X, a new, highly advanced Terminator designed to be capable of defeating other Terminators; on one occasion, it manages to infect the Terminator with nanites that take control of its body and force it to attack John and Kate, but John is able to 'convince' the Terminator to reboot by reminding it of the conflict between its current actions and its programmed mission to ensure John and Kate's survival.

Salvation

• Main article : Terminator Salvation

In the fourth film, the Terminator has a small role, though once again as an antagonist. Being the very first T-800 produced, it engages John Connor in battle during Connor's attempt to rescue Kyle Reese from the Skynet base in San Francisco. John holds his own with his advanced weaponry, but is unable to stop the Terminator until it is drenched in molten metal and then liquid nitrogen, freezing it temporarily.

Terminator Genisys

Potrayer : Arnold Schwarzenegger

Year : 2015

In Terminator Genisys, a Terminator is reprogrammed by an unknown party- it is speculated that knowledge of who sent it back was deliberately erased so that Skynet couldn't track them down later- and sent back in time to when Sarah Connor was a child, rescuing her from a T-1000 sent to kill her and her parents. The now-orphaned Sarah Connor is subsequently raised by the Terminator to prepare for her future destiny, becoming her surrogate father. Throughout the film, the aging Terminator struggles with its physical limitations- stating at least twice that it is "Old, not obsolete"- include needing Sarah's assistance in destroying the Terminator from the first film before it can begin its search for her.

Characteristics

• Main article : Characteristics

In the fictional Terminator universe, the Terminator is a formidable robotic assassin and soldier, designed by the military supercomputer Skynet for infiltration and combat duty, towards the ultimate goal of exterminating the human resistance. It can speak naturally, copy the voices of others, read human handwriting, and even genuinely sweat, smell, and bleed. However it has no human emotions such as pity or fear and never stops until it fulfills its mission. To detect the Terminators, who are otherwise indistinguishable from humans, the human resistance uses dogs to alert humans to their presence since their smell is different.

Construction

• Main article : Construction

A description from Kyle Reese from the film The Terminator states that : The Terminator is an infiltration unit, part man - part machine. Underneath it's a hyperalloy combat chassis, microprocessor-controlled, fully armored, very tough. But outside it's living human tissue. Flesh, skin, hair, blood, grown for the cyborgs. As seen in the movies, a Terminator can withstand standard 20th century firearms, crash through walls intact, and survive explosions to some degree. Repeated shotgun blasts have enough force to knock it down and temporarily disable it, while heavy amounts of automatic fire are able to compromise the organic disguise layer.

CPU

• Main article : CPU

The Terminator CPU is an artificial neural network with the ability to learn and adapt. It was also briefly referred to as a room-temperature superconductor. In Terminator 2, The Terminator states that "the more contact has with humans, the more learns."

Organic covering

• Main article : Organic covering

The flesh-covering that is used on the majority of Terminator models has similar qualities to real human muscle and skin, as well as the ability to sweat, simulate breathing, and produce realistic body odor. Although Terminator flesh does contain blood, it only displays minimal bleeding when damaged and has never been shown to experience any kind of profuse bleeding even from massive lacerations, dozens of gunshot wounds, or even complete removal. In the absence of a circulatory system, the flesh uses a system of "nanobots" which maintain the skin.

Physical template

• Main article : Physical template

It has been shown that Terminators' flesh coverings are somehow grown identically, producing many multiple copies of exactly the same physical appearance, indicating the use of specific physical templates for different variations of a model or series. The most well known is that worn by multiple T-800/850 Model 101 units portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger; a scene in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles displays a memory of a T-888 model, referred to as "Vick", facing a room (presumably in the factory where he was created) of several dozen units sharing an identical template to himself, naked and moving in unison to his direction.

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Source : wikipedia