Description
The Terminator (also known as the T-800)—a cyborg, initially portrayed as a programmable assassin and military infiltration unit—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 Terminator 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 and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Schwarzenegger reprises the role, but with a twist: Schwarzenegger is the hero instead of the villain playing a different but visually identical Terminator in each of the three films. 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 three 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. The Terminator appears in Terminator Salvation. Schwarzenegger reprises the role via facial CGI (he was unable to appear in person as he was Governor of California at the time), while the character itself is physically portrayed by Roland Kickinger. 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.
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. It is unknown what biological processes take place to sustain the flesh covering, since Terminators do not require the consumption of food. Under 2007-era analysis, this blood is shown to be similar to human blood, using a synthetic oxygen carrier rather than human red blood cells, as Terminator endoskeletons contain no bone marrow. Terminator flesh heals by itself, and at a much faster rate than normal human tissue and has never been shown to bruise or discolor from trauma, even after several days. However, a Terminator’s flesh covering can die if it sustains adequately massive damage without maintenance, at which point it takes on a waxy, corpse-like pallor and begins to decompose.
The Terminator CPU is an artificial neural network with the ability to learn. It was also briefly referred to as a room-temperature superconductor. In Terminator 2, The Terminator states that “the more contact he has with humans, the more he learns.” In the original film, he learns how to swear from the punks he encounters in the beginning of the film. In the second movie’s Special Edition, he says that Skynet “presets the switch to ‘read-only’ when Terminators are sent out alone”, to prevent them from “thinking too much”. Sarah and John activate his learning ability, after which he becomes more curious and begins trying to understand and imitate human behavior. This leads to his use of the catchphrase “Hasta la vista, baby.” He ultimately “learns the value of human life” as mused by Sarah in the closing narration. The Terminator apologized – something he had never done previously – when John was frantically trying to convince him not to be sacrificed. His last words to John were “I know now why you cry, but it is something I can never do.”
For the role of the Terminator, Cameron envisioned a man who was not exceptionally muscular, who could “blend into” a crowd. Lance Henriksen, who had starred in Piranha II: The Spawning, was considered for the title role, but when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Cameron first met over lunch to discuss Schwarzenegger’s playing the role of Kyle Reese, both came to the conclusion that the cyborg villain would be the more compelling role for the Austrian bodybuilder.
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