# Terminator VS Data. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382 "2003-07-28T05:24:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/1 "2003-07-28T05:24:56Z")
I know, Im stupid. I just got to thinking if the T-101 model (Arnie) faced off in hand to hand combat with Data (from Star Trek) who would win? I guess the Terminator would win… hmm…:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/2 "2003-07-28T05:43:21Z")
**Moderator’s Note:** Off to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/3 "2003-07-28T05:46:11Z")
Not that I don’t love Data or anything, but the T-101 would rip Data’s head off within 5 seconds. ---
**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:** [July 28, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/4 "2003-07-28T05:56:55Z")
Data has displayed extreme speed of both thought and motion several times. The Terminator has not. Data would most likely dodge any move the Terminator made. Then he’d reverse the Terminator’s polarity! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/5 "2003-07-28T06:03:48Z")
The Terminator can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, remorse, or fear. Data, on the other hand, does all those things (with his emotion chip.) ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/6 "2003-07-28T06:17:40Z")
T-101: Are you Data? Data: Uh, no, I am Lore. T-101: Oh, My Bad. Data: Ha-HA! Geordi, beam out his endoskeleton! ::Lump of Schwartenflesh collapses to the floor:: ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/7 "2003-07-28T06:28:33Z")
Did you see _Star Trek: First Contact_? Data jumps down three stories, lands on his feet, takes three dozen machine gun bullets to the chest, brushes it off, and says, “Greetings.” I honestly don’t know what the Terminator is capable of, but that’s got to count for _something_. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/8 "2003-07-28T06:37:48Z")
Data. He has Wesley! ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/9 "2003-07-28T06:54:52Z")
What’s Data gonna do with Wesley? Threaten to throw him at the Terminator if he doesn’t give up? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/10 "2003-07-28T07:02:15Z")
No, use Wesley to annoy Arnie to death. “Brain… melting…” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/11 "2003-07-28T07:03:32Z")
Something else to chew on: Data is superintelligent. Ah-nuld doesn’t fit that category even if you remove the “super.” ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/12 "2003-07-28T07:05:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ricksummon \* > \*\*The Terminator can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, remorse, or fear. > > Data, on the other hand, does all those things (with his emotion chip.) \*\* Data also feels bloodlust and rage. He strangled a lot of Borg in the Holodeck for the sheer pleasure of killing them. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/13 "2003-07-28T07:11:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > \*\*Something else to chew on: Data is superintelligent. Ah-nuld doesn’t fit that category even if you remove the “super.” \*\* Don’t talk about my future governor that way!!! 😉 (the only good thing about everyone in Predator becoming govenors is that Carl “Apollo Creed” Weathers will be governor somewhere…) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/14 "2003-07-28T07:12:47Z")
The Terminator might be nearly unstoppable, but Data has the more advanced positronic brain, faster reflexes, and comparable endurance/strength. Data can easily avoid the Terminator until he has time to formulate a plan, then carry it out to the exact picosecond needed to win. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/15 "2003-07-28T07:23:42Z")
Why do I get the feeling that the answer depends on whether or not the Terminator can whistle? (I must point out in the interests of accuracy that the “Arnie” model designation is more properly \*\* Series T-800, Model 101.\*\* If you just ask for a **“T 101”** without specifying the series, you’re liable to wind up with one of those inferior **Series 600’s** with rubber skin. _Caveat emptor._) Anyway, **Hymie the Robot** would kick both their asses. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/16 "2003-07-28T07:24:38Z")
Data can’t regenerate. So he can’t do it toe to toe. So, like the O’Connors he has to run and find a convenient open foundry. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/17 "2003-07-28T08:20:38Z")
I think the answer depends on whether Data’s positronic brain contains movie archives that date back to the late 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/18 "2003-07-28T11:32:38Z")
For all Data’s allegedly superquick reflexes, he’s been remarkably slow when the episode calls for it (i.e. he and Picard dressed up as Romulans on an undercover mission get arested, and a Romulan soldier waltzes up and snatches away Data’s phaser, no sweat). If you want a comparison, the T-1000 slammed a metal rod through the chest of a T-800 in the foundry, causing many sparks and a shutdown. The T-800 took some time, rerouted damaged systems, pulled the rod out and carried on. Data, by contrast, had a metal rod slammed through his torso by an angry human (the blacksmith on the primitive planet where an amnesiac Data was suspected of being an “iceman”) and lay in a dormant state until Crusher and Riker showed up to recover and repair him. Conclusion: the T-800 has a much more rugged design and would be able to take much more damage than Data, and thus wins if the fight lasts long enough. ---
**Author:** ![GilbertZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b19c9b/32.png) [@GilbertZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilbertZ)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/19 "2003-07-28T11:42:42Z")
Depends on the screenwriter matching them up but one thing’s for sure, Arnold Schwarzenegger the Governor would beat Brent Spiner to a pulp. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/20 "2003-07-28T12:39:25Z")
What feats of the Terminator’s strength have we seen? I haven’t seen **T3** yet, but in the trailer, he seems strong enough to toss another terminator model around no problem, but outside of that, I don’t recall seeing him lift up a car or throw a motorcycle or anything like that. Data, on the otherhand, has been shown to move incredibly heavy objects and move busted automated doors that wieghed incredible amounts. If we’re talking fist fight, I’m thinking Data has the upperhand. The T-800 may be able to sustain getting a pipe run threw him, but Data’s been shown to go straight for the head in some cases, and I don’t think any backup batery is going to help move a decapitated terminator around. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382.md?page=2)