# What would a real life terminator be like **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882 "2012-10-25T23:04:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/21 "2012-10-26T21:46:13Z")
Skynet unwittingly made their own resistance leader by sending the T-800 back in time to begin with. If it don’t do that, Kyle Reese wouldn’t have been sent back by John Connor to protect his mother, eventually leading to Reese knocking his mother up and conceiving his very own existence. So, the perfect Terminator would’ve been… none at all. Whoa. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/22 "2012-10-27T02:18:10Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Skynet unwittingly made their own resistance leader by sending the T-800 back in time to begin with. If it don’t do that, Kyle Reese wouldn’t have been sent back by John Connor to protect his mother, eventually leading to Reese knocking his mother up and conceiving his very own existence. > > So, the perfect Terminator would’ve been… none at all. > > Whoa. But then Skynet would not have been built either. Skynet requires John Connor, and John Connor requires Skynet. Infact it would be better for the human resistance to send someone back and off Sarah Connor before the events of Terminator, just to prevent Skynet being built in the first place. Ah-ha! That’s the plot of a future movie…Skynet has to prevent the killing of Sarah Connor! ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/23 "2012-10-27T02:43:13Z")
This is starting to sound like a robot chicken episode, I could see them doing that. Skynet and the human resistance constantly going further and further back in time to kill more and more people to alter the future to their benefit. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/24 "2012-10-27T02:54:33Z")
Trivia nitpick re: the OP: Arnold wasn’t cast to play the Terminator; Cameron originally approached him to play Kyle Reese, but once he had a chance to read the script, he said he wanted to play the robot instead. They had also (in the spirit of what would make a terminator fit in better than Mr. Universe) planned to cast Lance Henrikson as the terminator, and had him play the motormouth cop instead. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/25 "2012-10-27T05:29:37Z")
> [@Szlater](#): > > But then Skynet would not have been built either. > > Skynet requires John Connor, and John Connor requires Skynet. > > Infact it would be better for the human resistance to send someone back and off Sarah Connor before the events of Terminator, just to prevent Skynet being built in the first place. > > Ah-ha! That’s the plot of a future movie…Skynet has to prevent the killing of Sarah Connor! Holy shit, I’m calling James Cameron!.. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > This is starting to sound like a robot chicken episode, I could see them doing that. Skynet and the human resistance constantly going further and further back in time to kill more and more people to alter the future to their benefit. Holy shit, I’m calling Seth Green!.. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/26 "2012-10-27T11:17:44Z")
A self-replicating nanotech weapon. It would be about flea sized. Creating new copies of its self, it would exterminate all life on Earth within a few weeks. The surface of the planet would be covered in a thin layer of computers. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/27 "2012-10-27T15:47:34Z")
The US Navy modeled their new robot on C-3PO from Star Wars. It’s for firefighting duties right now. Not that big a leap before its modified for combat. > **[PSY-ops? Navy robot goes 'Gangnam Style'](https://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/psy-ops-navy-robot-goes-gangnam-style-1C6615778)** [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/post/star-wars-robot-joins-the-navy/2012/10/08/4add2668-0803-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf\_blog.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/post/star-wars-robot-joins-the-navy/2012/10/08/4add2668-0803-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_blog.html) > [@](#): > > The Navy is developing a version of C-3PO, the lovable “Star Wars” robot who appeared on the big screen 35 years ago, to fight shipboard fires. > > The Navy robot’s name is Autonomous Shipboard Humanoid (ASH). It’s hoped > ASH will be able to walk in any direction, keep its balance at sea and go through narrow passageways and up ladders. > > Naturally it’ll have all sorts of sensors and cameras and will be able to see through smoke — but maybe not through walls. And it will be able to respond to human gestures and hand signals. > > What’s more, ASH would be able to throw PEAT (propelled extinguishing agent technology) grenades, and be able to use hoses and fire extinguishers. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/28 "2012-10-27T17:19:01Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > A self-replicating nanotech weapon. > > It would be about flea sized. > > Creating new copies of its self, it would exterminate all life on Earth within a few weeks. > > The surface of the planet would be covered in a thin layer of computers. That’s kind of the problem with messing around with the past. If they just wipe out everything there wouldn’t be anybody left to invent Skynet, so it would never have existed and couldn’t have built the nanofleas. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/29 "2012-10-27T18:44:10Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > My question is, why would a terminator go back to a time when the intended target is at their fittest and less than a year from enacting the event that’s trying to be prevented? A smart terminator would go back when Sarah Conner was a lityle girl and be disguised as a nurse, babysitter, teacher or a second-grader. They didn’t know much about the world before the war. All they knew about john connor’s mother was her first name and the city she lived in when john was born. They wouldn’t have known where or when to send a terminator to kill baby sarah. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/30 "2012-10-27T18:57:44Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > They didn’t know much about the world before the war. All they knew about john connor’s mother was her first name and the city she lived in when john was born. They wouldn’t have known where or when to send a terminator to kill baby sarah. Explicitly stated in the damn movie, also explicitly stated why Skynet did not send back an army of Terminators(using the temporal displacement device was a last ditch desperate effort). ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/31 "2012-10-27T19:09:46Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Explicitly stated in the damn movie, also explicitly stated why Skynet did not send back an army of Terminators(using the temporal displacement device was a last ditch desperate effort). Yep. Some of the criticisms of terminator kinda show that people didn’t watch the film too closely. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/32 "2012-10-27T21:14:35Z")
I’d make it look like an elderly person. That way, normal people would help it around and aid it. “I’m looking for my niece, Sarrah Connor. Damned if I can remember her address though. Could you give me a ride?” Any defect in affect or speech that is too formal could be chalked up to being a senior. Opponents would underestimate it. It could carry a cane or walker that is actually an extension of itself and filled with weaponry- IE what looks like an oxygen tank and mask is actually a flamethrower and nozzle. In the White Wolf game Mage The Ascension, one group makes terminators called Hit Mark V’s. They can pass for human except for one thing, a red laser light intermittently appears in their pupils. My geriatric solution covers this too. Old folks are known for wearing wrap-around glasses that fit over their prescription glasses. Not a bright day? “I just came from the optometrist and he put those drops in my eyes.” Re Killing John Connor As A Baby Dark Horse has held the comic book rights to Terminator for around 20 years now. They’ve done all kinds of Terminator mini series. Termintaor- Endgame is based on the idea of a terminator sent to kill Connor on the day he was born. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/33 "2012-10-28T01:41:26Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The US Navy modeled their new robot on C-3PO from Star Wars. It’s for firefighting duties right now. Not that big a leap before its modified for combat. When someone talks about putting an android called “Ash” on a ship, _Terminator_ is not the first movie I think of. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/34 "2012-10-28T07:01:01Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > They didn’t know much about the world before the war. All they knew about john connor’s mother was her first name and the city she lived in when john was born. They wouldn’t have known where or when to send a terminator to kill baby sarah. That’s why the first robot they sent back should have been a Researchinator! ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/35 "2012-10-28T20:09:53Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > This is starting to sound like a robot chicken episode, I could see them doing that. Skynet and the human resistance constantly going further and further back in time to kill more and more people to alter the future to their benefit. If you can stomach T3 and T4 you can see that Skynet is winning decisively and advancing their level of technology along the way. T1: Terminators are simple, non-intuitive and they speak from a list of options. The Terminator does not use any information technology more advanced than a rotary-dial phone. The resistance is winning at this point and the time machine is a last-ditch effort by Skynet. T2: Terminators are interactive, intuitive, emotional and much better at using technology. The new model of Terminator is incredibly powerful and much better at passing for human. T3: Terminators are all of the above plus more. Now a new model can bring back a whole arsenal of powerful weapons. Terminators understand human psychology and can use it to their advantage. Terminators can also take direct control of other machines (including anything from a T-1 to a T-850) and entire computer networks. Skynet successfully assassinates several of John Connor’s lieutenants. In the future war, Skynet has succeeded in killing John Connor. T4: The future war shows us that in 2018 the Skynet arsenal is absolutely vast and incredibly powerful. Skynet can run pure deception operations and has a very sophisticated infiltrator model ready to go years early. Terminators can wirelessly data-link, an ability they have never had before. The resistance wins this battle but the war is still going on ten years later. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/36 "2012-10-28T20:36:13Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > What kind of movie would this be? “Kindergarten Terminator” ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/37 "2012-10-28T21:30:02Z")
Do terminators have…radiators? A cyborg with that strength and speed would need some kind of nuclear power…which needs a heat sink to dump waste thermal energy. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/38 "2012-10-28T21:52:54Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > Do terminators have…radiators? > > A cyborg with that strength and speed would need some kind of nuclear power…which needs a heat sink to dump waste thermal energy. They have heat sinks, it’s even mentioned in one of the films. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/39 "2012-10-28T22:04:06Z")
Well, their eyes glow red… maybe it’s the heat of a thermonuclear D-cell. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882/40 "2012-10-29T01:16:10Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > A “mother” with her “baby”; the “baby” is also a Terminator. No one expects a Mom to throw her baby at them, much less for the baby to explode or rip their face off like a killer monkey. A similiar device was used by a hitwoman in Prizzi’s Honor. She posed as a mother with a baby using a doll in place of an actual baby and threw the doll at the bodyguard of her target hoping to distract him. It didn’t work. The bodyguard made no attempt to save the “baby” thrown at him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-real-life-terminator-be-like/638882.md?page=3)