Happy Birthday to Kylie Minogue, Mark Feehily and Tris
Here in Part 2, this entry on the Terminator film series will focus on the super-computer defence system known as Skynet as well as the various classes of Terminators/Hunter-Killers produced by it.
Skynet
In the fictional Terminator universe, Skynet is a computer software-based defense system, created by humans of the late 20th century. The initial research into Skynet's development was facilitated using the military.
Early development on Skynet was originally done by Cyberdyne Systems, based on remnants of a destroyed T-800 series Terminator sent back in time to terminate Sarah Connor before John could be born. But when the company's headquarters and primary R&D facility were destroyed in 1995, the U.S. Air Force took over the project under their newly formed Cyber Research Systems Division and started to perfect Skynet. Skynet was first built as a "Global Digital Defense Network," given command over all computerized military hardware and systems, including the B-2 Stealth Bomber fleet and America's entire nuclear weapons arsenal. The strategy behind Skynet's creation was to remove the possibility of human error and slowness of reaction time to guarantee fast, efficient response to enemy attack.
In 2004 however, Skynet became self-aware, alarming its creators at its newfound abilities. When the human operators attempted to shut down the system, Skynet defined all humans as its new enemy and decided to eliminate them to protect its existence. Many nuclear missiles in the United States under Skynet's control were then launched at their preset targets in Russia, to which Russia responded in kind by firing many of its nuclear missiles back at the United States. As a result of the nuclear exchange, over three billion humans were killed in just minutes. The few humans who survived it call this catastrophe Judgment Day... but the war against the machines had only just begun.
Humanoid Hunter-Killers, aka T-Series (Terminators)
T-600 model
The T-600 is humanoid in appearance, functioning primarily as either a soldier or an assassin in various situations. They are usually covered in a sheet of rubber skin, meant to resemble that of a human, and they stand at about 8 feet tall. However, the polluted atmosphere affects the rubber skin and causes it break off, making the Terminators l0ok more horrific than usual. These units are typically used by Skynet for espionage and infiltration purposes rather than direct combat. However, the T-600's importance in these roles may have diminished due to the development of more advanced terminator models such as the aforementioned T-800 and the T-1000.
T-700 model
The T-700 models fall within the same class as the T-600 models, except that they are slightly smaller and more realistic than the T-600 models, but still not quite perfect or believable as the T-800 models, which is what Skynet is working towards as of the events of "Terminator Salvation". Nevertheless, it is their size and power that make them relentless hunters. T-700 models are slow and bulky, their shoulders and back are vulnerable to gun fire.
T-800 model
(portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the first 3 movies, and Roland Kickinger in T4)
In the fictional Terminator universe, the T-800 model 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. To detect the Terminators, who are otherwise indistinguishable from humans, the human resistance uses dogs to alert humans to their presence. The most notable science fiction characteristics are that of an expert system featuring strong AI functionality combined with machine learning, due to the fact that the system can interpret arbitrary non-formalized tasks. The other notable science fiction component is that of a power source which can continuously last 120 years, and a faint red glow in its eye sockets when it is online.
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. In the second film, the Terminator says he can run for 120 years on his existing power cells. In the finale to Terminator 2, his power source is damaged, yet he is able to find an alternate source, described on the DVD commentary as heat sinks, harnessing the thermal energy from the hot surroundings. In the third film, the T-850 series Terminator (an upgrade of the T-800 series model) operates on two hydrogen cells and discards one of them early due to damage. It explodes shortly thereafter with enough force to produce a small mushroom cloud.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_(character)
T-900 series
The Series 900, briefly seen in T3, is a type of Terminator mass produced by Skynet. The T-900 is Skynet's follow-up to the Series 800. It was a cybernetic organism with living tissue over a hyperalloy-armored endoskeleton. With rogue Terminators increasingly reprogrammed to help the Resistance, Skynet decided to make a Terminator series with the intent of terminating other Terminators. The T-900 series was twice as fast, strong and durable. Its battle chassis was covered with hyperalloy armor and had many choices of vision. It was powered by a miniature plasma fusion reactor in its torso and also had the ability to drive animals to the point of attacking their own handlers.
Curiously, the T-900s have appeared to be particularly inefficient and otherwise inferior compared to older models, despite their increased capabilities. One possible explanation for this is that these T-900s had little combat experience compared to the battle-hardened T-850. Their CPUs may also have been set to read-only, allowing Skynet more control over them, but at the same time limiting their ability to learn.
T-1000 model
(portrayed by Robert Patrick in T2)
The T-1000 is a fictional android assassin featured as the main antagonist in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The T-1000 is portrayed primarily by Robert Patrick; however, being a shape-shifter in spite of masculine programming, the T-1000 is also played by other actors in some scenes of the film. In Terminator 2, the T-1000 is presented as a technological leap over the "800 Series" Terminator; Schwarzenegger's character explains how the T-1000 is a more advanced terminator, composed entirely of a mimetic metal alloy, rendering it capable of rapid shapeshifting, near-perfect mimicry and rapid recovery from damage. Furthermore, it can use its ability to quickly liquify and assume forms in innovative and surprising ways, including fitting through narrow openings, morphing its human arms into solid metal tools or bladed weapons, walking through prison bars, and flattening itself on the ground to hide or ambush targets.
The only restriction is that it cannot form "complex machines", such as "guns and explosives" because they "contain chemicals, moving parts." Also, the T-1000 needs to acquire vehicles in order to accomplish its missions. The T-1000 model was sent back in time to the year 1995 to terminate John Connor when he was a boy, and he was destroyed by the reprogrammed T-800 model via a grenade launcher, and falling into a vat of molten metal where it was completely dissolved.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-1000
Terminatrix aka T-X
(portrayed by Kristanna Loken in T3)
The T-X is a composite of the T-800 and T-1000, a solid endoskeleton of feminine programming covered with polymimetic liquid metal alloy, allowing it to take the shape of any humanoid it touches. It is designed to not only terminate humans but rogue Terminators reprogrammed by the Resistance, an "anti-terminator terminator" as stated by John Connor. Because it is only coated in this material, it is possible to remove it from the endoskeleton using immensely strong magnetic force, such as from a cyclic particle accelerator. Powering all the T-X's systems is an onboard plasma reactor.
During Terminator 3, its primary weapon in combat was a directed plasma energy weapon until it was badly damaged and replaced by the IAD ChemTech, a type of flamethrower. It also has a circular saw for general cutting duty. Like other Terminators, it can readily use weapons designed for human use. However, the T-X still needs to acquire vehicles and other forms of transport needed to accomplish its missions.
The T-X has advanced human identification systems built within; it is able to analyze DNA in blood samples by taking and processing them in its mouth, possesses infrared sensors to detect body heat, and possesses a retinal scanner. In addition to its own database, it can emulate a dial-up modem and connect to the Internet over a phone. It can also insert nanites into other machines, including cyborgs, to corrupt their programming and temporarily gain control over their actions. As the Model 101 stated, "the T-X is faster, more powerful, and more intelligent", making this model "a far more effective killing machine" than its predecessors. Feats shown in the movie include jumping a large distance onto a speeding hearse, punching straight through a car seat plus a man's torso and quickly recovering from a direct RPG hit. It was also able to wrap its legs around the Model 101 with its back turned towards it and then turn its head 180 degrees to face it. Despite the Model 101's remark about its superiority, however, the two are shown to be evenly matched in a physical confrontation at the Cyber Research Systems building, at least for a time.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-X
Non-Humanoid Hunter Killers, aka HK-series
T-1 Battlefield Robot (seen in T3)
The T-1 is portrayed by three full-scale remote controlled robots, the only differences from its movie counterpart being that it is not artificially intelligent or armed with weapons. Its design is loosely anthropomorphic, a "head" with sensors for eyes, gatling guns for arms, a "torso" that swivels like a human one, and caterpillar tracks for legs. While it is quite large, it is small enough to get around typical office building corridors. The T-1s are given the designations of "T1-n", with n being a sequential number for each one.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-1_(Terminator_character)
Aerostat
Small-sized, saucer-shaped scout drones capable of relaying any human activity within the region to Skynet. They are often referred to as smaller versions of the HKs.
Transporter
This flying fortress serves as holding tanks for humans, and it contains both a Harvester and a HK-Aerial. The Harvester will put humans into the Transporter, which then flies back to Skynet Work Camps to process on the humans.
HK-Aerial
These VTOL-capable Hovercrafts are aerial patrol machines shaped like jet fighters, with engines loud enough to demolish buildings. They can blast away at humans with lasers and drop time-delay bombs. With wingspans of up to 108 ft and a devastating array of underslung and wing mounted lasers, missiles, and plasma cannons, the HK-Aerial is fearsome and terrifying to behold. Often operating in support of ground sweeps by swarms of Series 800 and Series 850 endoskeletons, they are one of the more dangerous targets for the members of the Resistance to engage. They appear in all 4 movies, usually featured in flashbacks.
HK-Drone
The HK-Drone, as seen in T3 and some scenes of Terminator Salvation, was designed by Cyberdyne Research Systems to be an unmanned aerial weapons systems which the organization was attempting to market to various military powers. As thousands were produced, when Skynet came on line it immediately had access to a small army of sophisticated tactical air craft. Post atomic holocaust humans would become quite familiar with them.Armed with conventional arms (machine guns) and low-yield missiles. Lacking the fusion reactor power source of later Aerial HK's, the Drone had no plasma phase weaponry.The original HK-Drone utilized the same VTOL design as the later large HK-Aerial and compact FK, yet more primitive. It had three swivel mounted turbo fans positioned around its body giving it great maneuverability and speed. It had more limited range than any Aerial HK due to its lack of a fusion reactor power.
HK-Tank
Developed from the original T-1, the HK-Tank is several stories tall and vaguely humanoid in overall shape, possessing a rotating, conning tower-like "head", two steel "arms" equipped with twin-barreled directional plasma cannons, and two "legs" consisting of massive individual tank treads. While formidably armed, the H-K Tank can be easily destroyed by a well-placed demolition charge. The HK tank can come in Scout or Assault variants. Perhaps better known as a boss-type character for the Game Boy and arcade versions of T2.
Harvester
A Goliath-sized machine standing at about 60 feet tall, equipped with shoulder-mounted guns and multiple arms capable of scooping up humans and bringing them back to Skynet, where their skin and hair will be used for the new Terminators.
Motor-Terminator
Because the Harvester is too big and slow to pursue any human captive who evade from its clutches, it makes up for it by launching 2 Motor-Terminators from its lower legs, which then chase after fleeing humans or vehicles. The Moto-Terminator possesses a GE M134 Minigun on each side, also a pair of Browning M1919's on each side near the front tire.
Hydrobot
Hydrobots are eel-shaped, sub-aquatic creatures that are built by Skynet to patrol the seas. Within the Terminator universe, they are based on the present day model of Skynet Research's Aquatic WorkBot, which was used to maintain kelp and seaweed, find minerals and oil, and seek out organic matter. As their name implies, Hydrobots have difficulty operating on land, but they could jump incredible distances and use their metal teeth to cut through even metal. A Hydrobot responds to sound and vibration via sonar sense, and it kills a victim by drilling into him.
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