# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/21 "2003-07-28T12:54:32Z")
Data, if he was prepared… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/22 "2003-07-28T15:48:25Z")
Don’t forget the feat of strength when Data was on trial to determine if he was property or not. A solid bar of a very strong futuristic alloy was presented to him and he bent it into a u-shape. I’d guess that he could really do some damage to even high-quality steel(which is what the Terminator’s endoskeleton is built of). Enjoy, Steven ---
**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, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/23 "2003-07-28T16:06:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mtgman \* > **Don’t forget the feat of strength when Data was on trial to determine if he was property or not.** Data could probably win at The Airing of the Grievances, too. The T-800, though, is designed specifically for combat. If one could get a grip on Data’s ankle and bash him around against the walls for a while, I expect Data’s more complex systems would suffer significant damage. Oh, well… Now, how about Odo vs. a T-1000? ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/24 "2003-07-28T16:08:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BraheSilver \* > \*\*Data also feels bloodlust and rage. He strangled a lot of Borg in the Holodeck for the sheer pleasure of killing them. \*\* Not trying to be argumentative, but when did Data strangle a Borg, holographic or otherwise, for sheer pleasure? I’ve never seen Data do anything like this, and such recreational violence seems _waaay_ out of character for him. Still, I haven’t seen every _Next Generation_ show, so . . . ? Thanks in advance. Oh, and regarding the debate–Data would probably defeat the terminator, but not before the terminator wiped out half the _Enterprise_’s crew. ---
**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, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/25 "2003-07-28T16:42:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mephisto \* > Not trying to be argumentative, but when did Data strangle a Borg, holographic or otherwise, for sheer pleasure? He did something like this in “Descent, Part I”, but that was only because Lore was transmitting certain emotions to him. ---
**Author:** ![Twin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@Twin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twin)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/26 "2003-07-28T16:46:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Not trying to be argumentative, but when did Data strangle a Borg, holographic or otherwise, for sheer pleasure? I’ve never seen Data do anything like this, and such recreational violence seems waaay out of character for him. Still, I haven’t seen every Next Generation show, so . . . ? POSSIBLE SPOILER \ Actually, Data didn’t strangle the Borg for sheer pleasure. In the episode “Descent”, Data was attacked by a Borg. The Borg was equipped with technology created by Dr. Noonian Sungh and modified by Lore to cause Data to feel emotions, but only negative emotions. This caused him to take joy in choking the Borg. Puzzled by his response, he attempted to recreate the scenario in the holodeck, causing him to choke to death several simulated Borg. However, he could never reproduce an emotional response. So he wasn’t doing it for sheer pleasure, it was an experiment\ God help me…I need a life. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/27 "2003-07-28T17:54:14Z")
Am I the only one who read the title of this thread and instantly thought of the Goonies? If we’re talking Data from Goonies… well, Data was able to make common toys (the clicking teeth thingies) into life saving devices that were able to hold the force of him falling at near terminal velocity, stopping him inches away from a gruesome death on spikes. I feel like this speaks of an almost Batman like prepared-ness. In this case, if Data were prepared, then I think he could possibly rig up something to beat the Terminator down to scrap metal. Of course, if Data were surprised, it’d be finished pretty decisively in favor of the Terminator. -Audiobottle ---
**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, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/28 "2003-07-28T18:06:05Z")
In a related vein, who’d win – _Terminator_ fanboys vs. _Star Trek_ fanboys? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/29 "2003-07-28T18:14:21Z")
Much thanks to **Achernar** and **Twin**! After reading your posts, I vaguely remember some of the stuff you two describe. Time to see if I can rent _Descent_. And of course apologies to **BraheSilver** (not that I doubted you so much as was surprised by what you wrote). Have a great day, all! [Arnold]I’ll be back.[/Arnold] And to answer **rjung** , whom I see on preview . . . the Trek fanboys, no doubt . . . assuming of course a certain level of preparedness . . . ---
**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, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/30 "2003-07-28T19:52:42Z")
Since **Achernar** and **Twin** have helped me out (thanks, folks!) by filling in some gaps in my own memory, I’ll amend my statement: Data killed a lot of holographic Borg to try to recreate the feeling he had when he killed a live one, which happened to be pleasure. That should cover all the bases. ---
**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, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/31 "2003-07-28T20:28:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > **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.** You’re forgetting the shuttle crash that debilitated Data in the first place. Let’s see Arnold fall five miles to the ground and survive. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/32 "2003-07-28T21:04:19Z")
The Terminator goes directly for the kill, while Data is not so inclined. Upon their first meeting, The Terminator would hit Data with everything he had and Data would go into a purely defensive mode. **If** Data survives the inital encounter, he will eventually figure out a way to destroy the Terminator. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/33 "2003-07-29T03:41:24Z")
I’m not sure exactly how their strengths and toughnesses compare, but I suspect it’s close enough not to matter much. The Terminator is purpose-built for combat, and if the fight started with both of them in a steel cage match, he’d rip Data to shreds in seconds. But Data is a heck of a lot more intelligent. Start them in any situation short of a steel cage together, and Data would easily be able to avoid Ahnuld long enough to put together some sort of devastating plan. ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/34 "2003-07-29T04:13:56Z")
If Data was Arnie’s target, he is quite amazingly toast. It also seems to me that strength is less of an issue than inertia. If Data punches the Terminator, not much happens. (Could probably dead lift him, though.) But a punch from Ahnold would send Data flying. The tactical advantage this would offer in any melee situation cannot be underestimated. ---
**Author:** ![alpinedigital](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@alpinedigital](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alpinedigital)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/35 "2013-05-28T21:37:30Z")
If you’ve watched enough Terminator vs Terminator fights, you’ll note they have very obvious and deliberate actions. They lock their hands into a ‘hold’ in one move, then throw the other across the room in a second, separate move. It’s quite literally some of the easiest choreography I’d imagine. Since both are built to exhibit the strength and durability of what the technology of their time was capable of (give or take), I’d have to say a Terminator would throw Data across the cage a few times, giving data sufficient time to adapt to the older series attack patterns. However, the advanced model Cameron from Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles has far superior thinking ability. If any terminator had a chance, it’d be her. She has all the grace of a ballerina, too, so in theory, she has the dexterity to fight with more fluid motion than the clunkier robotic movements displayed by a typical android. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/36 "2013-05-28T21:42:00Z")
Data would know enough not to restart a fight after 10 years of peace. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/37 "2013-05-28T23:17:26Z")
Why waste a Terminator on eliminating Data? Send one back to eliminate Dr. Soong before he invents Data. and it’s not a zombie thread, it’s a temporal anomaly ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/38 "2013-05-28T23:56:47Z")
::💍:💍:💍:: Hello? [thick Austrian accent] Is this Eugene Wesley Roddenberry, writer of Defense Plant Gambling for the television show Mr. District Attorney? [/tAa] Yes, that’s me. :::click:::dial tone::: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/39 "2013-05-29T00:21:55Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Why waste a Terminator on eliminating Data? Send one back to eliminate Dr. Soong before he invents Data. By definition, any Terminator sent back to eliminate Soong will be opposed by a time-traveler assigned with protecting the target. ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382/40 "2013-05-29T01:24:37Z")
Data carries a phazer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-vs-data/191382.md?page=3)