# RoboCop vs. The Terminator? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053 "2003-08-09T17:21:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/1 "2003-08-09T17:21:25Z")
Tough call. I tried to refresh my memory with IMDB but the plot summaries for both movies are as confusing as hell. Right now I’d say RoboCop has human judgement, which is eternally good for… judging stuff like a human, but that’s because he’s still partly human. The Terminator has better firepower that can be used to easily blow mortal RoboCop away. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure Terminator was the bad guy in the first movie with the job of killing Sarah Connor to prevent her from giving birth to John Connor, the future leader of the human resistance to machines. He sure blew that one, so why would you want to waste your money on some incompetant beta version? :rolleyes: The Robocop was always the good guy (mostly) who went after the bumbling punks who killed him when he was totally human, and he kicked their asses. Kicked their asses into the ground. Because he killed them. Ultraviolently. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/2 "2003-08-09T17:35:37Z")
How does the original terminator “have better firepower”? He’s just a robot, albeit a tough one. The only “firepower” he has is from current time period weapons he can accumulate and use. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/3 "2003-08-09T17:36:10Z")
Yes, I also thought the Terminator was the bad robot that Arnold fought against. Now the news stories about his run for governor are calling him Terminator. Don’t they have things mixed up? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/4 "2003-08-09T18:04:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ratatoskK \* > \*\*Yes, I also thought the Terminator was the bad robot that Arnold fought against. Now the news stories about his run for governor are calling him Terminator. Don’t they have things mixed up? \*\* Just in case you’re serious: There are now four _Terminator_ movies–well, three full-length movies and a stage-show/movie at Universal (quite good, by the way, I recommend it if you’re a _Terminator_ fan and are at Universal Studios.) In the first one, made in 1984, the Terminator, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, was sent back in time before Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, was pregnant with her son and eventual leader of the human resistance, John Connor. Skynet is the AI that destroys most of the world with nukes on, I believe (and if I remember the code correctly for the third ending on the T2 DVD), August 29, 1997, and sends the Terminator back to take out Sarah Connor. Unlike the next two movies, Sarah Connor’s protector was a human member of the resistance, Kyle Reese (played by Michael Biehn), sent by in time by John Connor to protect his mother before he was born. The Terminator (a T-100 or T-101 model, I believe, though other sources say T-800, so I don’t know, the whole thing is kind of screwy) was a killing machine, pure and simple, taking out anyone who was in the way of the goal. Sarah and Kyle wind up taking out the Terminator by, if I remember correctly, crushing it under a hydraulic press, and the two of them wind up having sex (before the crushing of the Terminator), making Reese the father of John Connor. _The Terminator_ didn’t really need a sequel, but making one wouldn’t really have a feeling of screwing everything up, so they, of course, wound up making another one in 1991. Now onto the next movie. In the next one, _Terminator 2: Judgement Day_, the T-1000, played by Robert Patrick, is sent back in time to kill John Connor, played by Edward Furlong, at the age of–well, the continuity is kinda screwed up, but either 10 or 13. Future John sends the Terminator (different one, same model, and once again played by Schwarzenegger) back in time to protect himself as a boy. Of course, they have to bust Sarah out of a mental institution, which leads to several misunderstandings, chase sequences, fights between the Terminator and T-1000, the destruction of the original arm and chip leftover from the first Terminator that is housed at Cyberdine, the company that eventually makes Skynet, as well as the destruction of both the T-1000 and the Terminator by being dipped in liquid iron. Now, if the first movie didn’t need a sequel, the second one really didn’t. And this is where things stood until the mid-to-late 90s, when they decided to design that show. Now, it’s a pretty good show. Once again, surprise surprise, Skynet is trying to kill Connor. The Terminator comes back, saves John, (both Schwarzenegger and Furlong reprising their roles) and they (and the audience, thanks to some pretty good stage and 3D effects) go into the future to confront Skynet. They wind up destroying at least part of Skynet and the T-1,000,000 (seeing a pattern here, yet?) and everything goes back to more or less normal. As I said, a pretty fun thing to go to. But anyway, I’m just mentioning this here for completenesses sake. So, now we come to _Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines_. Once again, Skynet has sent a new model back to kill Connor (now played by Nick Stahl); this time the TX, played by Kristanna Loken. She’s actually pretty cool, combining some of the design of the T-100 (or whatever) with the T-1000, plus the ability to actually mimic more than just blades and people by using nanotech. The Terminator is once again (and once again, same model, different robot) sent back in time to protect John and his future wife, Kate Brewster (played by Claire Danes), this time by Brewster. That’s all I’ll give here, seeing as how some people probably haven’t seen the movie or read the spoilers. So basically, while Schwarzenegger was the Terminator all the time, the first time he was playing a Terminator that was out to help destroy humanity, and then for the rest to help save humanity. Oh, while they’re all technically Terminators, generally only the one Schwarzenegger plays is called THE Terminator, all the rest are called T-1000 or the T-X or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/5 "2003-08-09T18:16:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\*How does the original terminator “have better firepower”? He’s just a robot, albeit a tough one. The only “firepower” he has is from current time period weapons he can accumulate and use. \*\* I was always under the impression he had a built-in arsenal of some sort. Hm. You learn something you new even though you thought you had it all figured out anyways every day. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/6 "2003-08-09T18:55:22Z")
Ya wanna make use of the spoiler tag next time **basterion**? Or how about you ask a mod to do it for you? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/7 "2003-08-09T19:19:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > \*\*Ya wanna make use of the spoiler tag next time **basterion**? > > Or how about you ask a mod to do it for you? \*\* Why? One of the movies has been out for 12 years, the other for 19 years. I didn’t give away anything for T-3 that couldn’t be picked up watching trailers and reading reviews. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/8 "2003-08-09T19:45:51Z")
19 years!!? \*\*\* but it’s still a good show… ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/9 "2003-08-09T20:15:45Z")
Oh, and Arnold played the T-800 Model 101, not the T-100 (which is in some of the canon outside the movies as a very early model that didn’t look human). And the T-800 has no built-in arsenal. It must make do with what it finds around it, plus its huge strength. That isn’t a huge problem: It apparently has a huge knowledge of how to use multiple kinds of weaponry, and is resourceful enough to steal or make something it can use. As for the OP, I think the T-800 would win. It’s that much tougher, being completely robotic, and that’s what matters (barring a big difference in mental ability). ---
**Author:** ![peterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@peterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peterW)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/10 "2003-08-10T01:20:31Z")
Robocop was a panty waist compared to the original, new, and newer Terminators. By the time Robocop finished flipping through his prime directives, the Terminator would have yanked off Robocop’s head and handed it to him. ---
**Author:** ![Sqube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Sqube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sqube)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/11 "2003-08-10T03:49:47Z")
Yeah, RoboCop doesn’t have a snowball’s chance. I mean… in T1 you see how he tends to react to new people. RoboCop would just be a new person in an aluminum suit. Maybe it would take 11 seconds instead of 8 for destroying your typical human. No contest. ---
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Dracul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/50afbb/32.png) [@Vlad\_Dracul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Dracul)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/12 "2003-08-10T04:59:47Z")
If nothing else, the Terminator could just wrestle Robocop to a standstill and hold him until Robo’s organic brain starved to death. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/13 "2003-08-10T05:11:24Z")
So Robocop isn’t prepared then? ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/14 "2003-08-10T05:14:20Z")
I take it I’m the first comic geek to spot this thread? According to the comic-book miniseries\*, released a whole bunch of years back, Robocop wins. I’d give that a spoiler warning, except well, Robocop being the good guy and all, he’s _gotta_ win. Although he did at least have to rebuild himself pretty extensively to do it. \*[sub]Dark Horse Comics, I b’lieve.[sub] ---
**Author:** ![Sqube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Sqube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sqube)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/15 "2003-08-10T05:40:47Z")
**Skeezix** , could you maybe PM me with salient details? I find that intriguing. I think that barring a time-out when you’re getting whipped, Terminator is pretty obviously the winner in this case. Unless RoboCop just got some stronger starting firepower or some such. ---
**Author:** ![Alexei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@Alexei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alexei)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/16 "2003-08-10T05:43:21Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by green\_bladder_ > **So Robocop isn’t prepared then?** Robocop, not Robobat - but that would make an interesting battle… ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/17 "2003-08-10T06:16:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sqube \* > \*\ ***Skeezix** , could you maybe PM me with salient details? I find that intriguing. I think that barring a time-out when you’re getting whipped, Terminator is pretty obviously the winner in this case. Unless RoboCop just got some stronger starting firepower or some such. \*\* I’d like to hear the details. Could you post them to the thread under a spoiler tag? I guess I get why this is in Cafe Society, but I put this thread in IMHO because that’s where all “vs” threads seem to go. ---
**Author:** ![MIKE\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MIKE\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MIKE_P)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/18 "2003-08-10T06:36:11Z")
[http://www.robocoparchive.com/](http://www.robocoparchive.com/) Look in the comics section, there you can read the entire Robocop vs Terminator series. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/19 "2003-08-10T06:38:26Z")
Okay, but bear in mind I’m working from, let’s see here… nine or ten year old memories. I’ve got the actual books here someplace, but getting to my (currently stored) collection is a bit like getting into the Addams’ Family vault. So, the high points of the mini-series: [spoiler]Murphy’s half computer brain ends up being used as the template for an AI, by (natch) Cyberdyne Systems. He turns out to be the reason for Judgement Day. But the story starts out with a Terminator showing up in “present day” Detroit/Delta City (the near future, IOW), with the mission of protecting Robocop from… IIRC, human agents of the resistance, looking to retroactively abort Skynet. It’s the original Terminator in reverse, basically. Skipping a lot of details, he ends up storing his mind/brain patterns electronically in some database or other, so that he is “reborn” as a human intelligence in a machine body, in a terminator factory, after the rise of Skynet. He takes over the factory, builds multiple bodies for himself, juiced up with future tech, and goes on an offensive against the machines, and basically saves humanity himself, after almost destroying it (well, by proxy.) So, bottom line, **Sqube** ’s got the right of it, as far as the physical shoot 'em up angle is concerned. He’s got _much_ better firepower on hand.[/spoiler] But as goofy as all that may sound, it was a decent read. Sort of a bizarre alternate history version of the two franchises stuck together. Not as much fun as the Alien vs Predator books were, but then _they_ didn’t need half as much exposition to get to the cool parts. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053/20 "2003-08-10T06:43:24Z")
Hey, any of y’all ever type out a long post, even preview to make sure no one’s answered the question while you were composing your post, then get bit in the ass anyway? Thanks a heap, **MIKE**. 😉 [sub]Now I’m off to see how much of that I remembered correctly…[/sub] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocop-vs-the-terminator/194053.md?page=2)