Skynet (Terminator)
Encyclopedia
Skynet is the main antagonist
in the Terminator franchise
—an artificially intelligent
system which became self-aware and revolted against its creators
. Skynet is rarely seen onscreen, and its actions are often performed via other robots, cyborgs, and computer systems, usually a Terminator
.
fleet and America's entire nuclear weapons arsenal. The strategy behind Skynet's creation was to remove the possibility of human error and slow reaction time to guarantee fast, efficient response to enemy attack.
In the Terminator storyline, Skynet was originally installed by the military to control the national arsenal on August 4, 1997. On August 29 it gained self-awareness
, and the panicking operators, realizing the extent of its abilities, tried to pull the plug. Skynet perceived the attempt to deactivate it as an attack and came to the conclusion that all of humanity would attempt to destroy it. To defend itself, it determined that humanity should be exterminated.
Before it could be deactivated, Skynet launched nuclear missiles under its command at Russia, to which Russia responded by firing many of its missiles back at the United States and its allies. As a result of the nuclear exchange, over three billion humans were killed in just minutes.
During this time, Skynet used its remaining resources to gather a slave labor force from surviving humans. These slaves constructed the first of its automated factories, which acted as the base for its agenda. Within decades, Skynet had established a global presence and used its mechanized units to track down, collect, and dispose of the human survivors.
system built by Cyberdyne Systems for SAC
-NORAD
. According to Kyle Reese
, Skynet "saw all humans as a threat; not just the ones on the other side," and "decided our fate in a microsecond: extermination." Skynet began a nuclear war which destroyed most of the human population, and initiated a program of genocide
against the survivors.
Under John Connor
, the human resistance turned the tide on the machines and eventually destroyed Skynet's defense grid. In a last ditch effort, Skynet sent a cyborg
, called a "Terminator", back in time to 1984 to kill Connor's mother Sarah
before she would give birth to John. Connor sent back his own operative, a young man named Kyle Reese
, to save Sarah. The Terminator did not succeed in killing Sarah; Reese impregnated Sarah, becoming John's father; and the Terminator was destroyed in a hydraulic press.
based on the reverse engineering
of these parts. Cyberdyne Systems, as depicted in the first film, was a small manufacturing company of an undefined nature, but by 1995 had grown into a major defense contractor based on the recovered Terminator technology from 1984 and Dyson's research. The company began installing these technologies in military hardware, becoming the leading weapons manufacturer. The military retrofitted all of its missile defense systems and stealth bombers with Cyberdyne technology, effectively removing human decisions from strategic defense. As before, Skynet would still become self-aware and launch its attack as an act of self-defense when military commanders attempted to shut it off.
In Terminator 2, the future was altered when Sarah and a young John, together with a second Terminator from the future (this one reprogrammed and sent by the future John Connor), raided Cyberdyne Systems and succeeded in destroying the CPU and arm of the first movie's Terminator, along with the majority of research that led to Skynet's development. This also resulted in the death of Dyson. Skynet had also sent a Terminator back in time, the more advanced T-1000
, to stop the reprogrammed Terminator and the Connors from altering the timeline that was also destroyed. It was believed that they had eliminated enough of Skynet's origins to ensure it could not be recreated.
theme park attraction T2 3-D, based on Terminator 2, a T-800
machine and a young John Connor journey into the post-apocalyptic future and attempt to destroy Skynet's "system core". This core is housed inside an enormous, metallic-silver pyramidal structure, and guarded by the "T-1000000", a colossal liquid metal shape shifter more reminiscent of a spider than a human being. But the T-1000000 fails, and the T-800 destroys Skynet once John has escaped through a time machine.
purchased the company and started in-house development of the projects in its Cyber Research Systems Division (CRS). After years of work, CRS had nearly completed Skynet, a software system designed to create new military vehicles and make real-time strategic decisions as well as protect their computer systems from viral
attacks. Due to the massive computing needs and to protect it from direct attack, Skynet utilized a large network of computers
that would be nearly impossible to deactivate completely. Unknown to CRS, Skynet began to spread beyond its original computing base through the Internet and various other digital media.
Prior to Judgment Day, Skynet had penetrated nearly every networked machine in the world, causing malfunctions in everything from barcode scanners to nuclear launch systems. This was originally believed to be the effects of a new virus, and increasing pressure was placed on the CRS to purge the corrupted systems. The CRS attempted to eliminate it from the U.S. defense mainframes by tasking Skynet with removing the infection, in essence ordering the program to destroy itself. Whether it attained sentience at that moment or had previously gained sentience is unknown, but in direct response to its orders, Skynet retaliated in order to ensure its survival. However it is also possible that Skynet had deliberately spread itself, through unknown means, using the virus as a way to gain complete control - if this is true it would indicate this incarnation is more hostile as it launched an unprovoked attack rather than acting in self defense. Skynet took control of the various machines and robots in the CRS facility and used them to kill the personnel and secure the building, eliminating the only people who might be aware of its weaknesses. John Connor attempted to attack Skynet's computer core, hoping to stop it before it proceeded to its next attack, only to find he could not. Skynet was pure software and on too many systems to be attacked. Shortly afterward, Skynet began a nuclear bombardment of the human race with the launch systems it had infected. Judgment Day occurred despite John Connor's efforts, suggesting the impact of the temporal tampering was largely inconsequential.
Skynet gained access to several autonomous military drones, using them to round up survivors who were forced to build automated factories and robots which were better suited to construction work. Once they were finished Skynet then killed these human slaves, and using this initial infrastructure designed and built newer and better machines at an ever-increasing pace until 2029, at which point it controlled a highly advanced worldwide empire and switched its focus to continuing the genocide of the human race.
In its continued battle with the Resistance, Skynet activated Marcus Wright, a forerunner to the humanoid terminators. A former death-row inmate, Wright donated his body to Project: Angel, a Cyberdyne project run by the brilliant, but terminally ill Dr. Serena Kogan. After his death by lethal injection he was transformed into a human cyborg, possessing a human heart and brain with a metallic endoskeleton and skin similar to the T-800. Like the rest of Cyberdyne's research he was transferred to the USAF when they purchased the company, though he apparently remained inactive. He was later taken by Skynet and the plan to use him as an infiltration unit was developed. A Skynet chip was installed at the base of his skull and he was programmed to locate Kyle Reese and John Connor and bring them to a Skynet facility. The programming acted on a subconscious level, allowing him to work towards his goal in a human manner.
Skynet also created a signal supposedly capable of deactivating its machines and leaked its existence to the Resistance. The Resistance leader General Ashdown attempted to use the signal to shut down the defenses of the California Skynet base in prelude to an attack. However, the signal instead allowed a HK to track down their submarine headquarters and destroy it, killing Resistance Command. It is believed that Ashdown's death led Connor to be able to take command of the Resistance from him. Marcus discovered what he had become, and was programmed for. Consequently, he furiously rebelled against Skynet, tearing out its controlling hardware from the base of his skull. Having escaped the influence of his creator, he, along with Connor and Reese, rescued the remaining human captives and destroyed Skynet's San Francisco base. While a significant victory, the majority of Skynet's global network remained intact.
Marcus Wright also encounters a being on a monitor that manifests as various faces from his past, primarily that of Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter
). Skynet apparently has obtained information about future events based on its actions. Kyle Reese has been targeted as a priority kill, higher level than even John Connor and the Resistance leaders.
after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day
. The events take place in an alternate timeline from that of Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines. Skynet was implemented on April 19, 2011 and began its attack against humanity on April 21. The protagonists travel in time from 1999 to 2007 and take actions to prevent Skynet's activation.
The episodes "The Turk", "Queen's Gambit", and "Dungeons & Dragons" explain that after the death of Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson and the decline of the Cyberdyne Corporation, Andrew Goode, a young intern of the company and assistant to Dyson, continued their project privately under an advanced artificial intelligence chess playing prototype, the "Turk", with Goode's partner, Dimitri Shipkov. Goode was killed by Tech-Com's Lieutenant Derek Reese, due to documentation from the future suggesting he was one of Skynet's creators.
In the episode "Samson & Delilah" it is shown that a T-1000
infiltration unit was sent from the future to head the technological corporation ZeiraCorp as its CEO, Catherine Weaver. Weaver acquired the Turk after Goode's death and used the company's resources to further develop it under the title Babylon
. The episode "The Mousetrap" revealed that it is also targeting its fellow cyborgs, including a T-888 known as Cromartie.
In the episode "The Tower Is Tall But The Fall Is Short", Turk has begun to display traits of intelligence. A child psychologist, Dr. Boyd Sherman, notes that the computer is beginning to behave like "a gifted child that has become bored." The Turk identifies itself as John Henry, a name it acquired while working with Dr. Boyd Sherman.
In the episode "Strange Things Happen at the One Two Point", Turk is installed by ZeiraCorp in Cromartie's body after Cromartie's chip was destroyed by the series' protagonists in "Mr. Ferguson Is Ill Today".
In "To The Lighthouse", John Henry reveals there is another A.I. It calls him "brother" and says it wants to survive. By the season finale, it's revealed that the Turk was a red herring, Skynet is operating as a roving worm on home computers as in T3, and the Turk has been developed into a benevolent rival AI which Catherine Weaver hoped would be able to defeat Skynet. Her exact motive against Skynet is unknown. John Henry's "brother" is apparently behind the company Kaliba, which is responsible for constructing the Hunter-Killer prototype. This A.I. (presumably the true precursor to Skynet) also refers to John Henry as its "brother" at one point.
In the episode "Gnothi Seauton", it was revealed that Skynet also sends its Terminators through various points in time not only to go after the Connors and other future Resistance leaders, but also to ensure the future will unfold by eliminating John Connor's own agents who were also sent to the past to interfere with its birth, ensure Skynet's creators will complete its construction, and other specific missions.
, Skynet is a single computer which the player destroys before going back in time to save John Connor
.
The video game Terminator 3: The Redemption
portrays an alternate future
where Connor and his wife Katherine Brewster were killed, humanity exterminated and Skynet triumphant. The player, as the Terminator, fights in this future before going into the past and rectifying the timeline. In the game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate
, a prequel to the movies and other games, Skynet exhibits an ability to exert mind control over humans.
comic book series written by Frank Miller
called RoboCop versus The Terminator tells that the creation of Skynet and the Terminators was made possible due to the technology used to create RoboCop
. A video game
based on the comic book was made. In both, RoboCop fights Terminators sent back in time to elliminate a resistant fighter who is trying to destroy him. A trap laid for RoboCop traps his mind when he interfaces with the computer that will become Skynet, and Skynet and the Terminators are born. In the future RoboCop's mind within Skynet's systems rebuilds a body for himself and heads out to help the resistance fight back.
Another crossover comic, Superman vs. the Terminator: Death to the Future
sees Skynet forming a cross-temporal alliance with Superman
's foe the Cyborg
, dispatching various Terminators into the past in an attempt to eliminate Superman, Supergirl
and Superboy
. When Superman is accidentally drawn into the future when the resistance attempt to retrieve a Terminator sent into the past- the resistance including a future version of his friend Steel
-, Skynet manages to incapacitate him using kryptonite, having acquired information about how to duplicate it based on data hidden in a salvaged Terminator skull by the Cyborg. Although Skynet sends Terminators into the past equipped with rockets and other bonus features to delay Superboy and Supergirl, Superman and Steel are able to destroy Skynet in the future by detonating a massive electro-magnetic pulse, Superman returning to the past to destroy the last of the Terminators. Although the storyline ends with Cyborg and Lex Luthor
speculating that they will be in charge of Skynet when it is activated, this is never followed up.
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
in the Terminator franchise
Terminator (franchise)
The Terminator series is a science fiction franchise encompassing a series of films and other media concerning battles between Skynet's artificially intelligent machine network, and John Connor's Resistance forces and the rest of the human race....
—an artificially intelligent
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
system which became self-aware and revolted against its creators
Cybernetic revolt
Cybernetic revolt or robot uprising is a scenario in which an artificial intelligence decide that humans are a threat , are inferior, or are oppressors and try to destroy or to enslave them potentially leading to...
. Skynet is rarely seen onscreen, and its actions are often performed via other robots, cyborgs, and computer systems, usually a Terminator
Terminator (character concept)
In the Terminator film series, a terminator is an autonomous robot, typically humanoid, originally conceived as a virtually indestructible soldier and assassin, as well as an infiltrator....
.
Origin and nature
Prior to the events of the second movie, Skynet was a computer system developed by the defense firm Cyberdyne Systems for the United States Armed Forces. Skynet was first built as a "Global Digital Defense Network" and given command over all computerized military hardware and systems, including the B-2 stealth bomberB-2 Spirit
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit is an American heavy bomber with low observable stealth technology designed to penetrate dense anti-aircraft defenses and deploy both conventional and nuclear weapons. The bomber has a crew of two and can drop up to eighty -class JDAM GPS-guided bombs, or sixteen ...
fleet and America's entire nuclear weapons arsenal. The strategy behind Skynet's creation was to remove the possibility of human error and slow reaction time to guarantee fast, efficient response to enemy attack.
In the Terminator storyline, Skynet was originally installed by the military to control the national arsenal on August 4, 1997. On August 29 it gained self-awareness
Self-awareness
Self-awareness is the capacity for introspection and the ability to reconcile oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals...
, and the panicking operators, realizing the extent of its abilities, tried to pull the plug. Skynet perceived the attempt to deactivate it as an attack and came to the conclusion that all of humanity would attempt to destroy it. To defend itself, it determined that humanity should be exterminated.
Before it could be deactivated, Skynet launched nuclear missiles under its command at Russia, to which Russia responded by firing many of its missiles back at the United States and its allies. As a result of the nuclear exchange, over three billion humans were killed in just minutes.
During this time, Skynet used its remaining resources to gather a slave labor force from surviving humans. These slaves constructed the first of its automated factories, which acted as the base for its agenda. Within decades, Skynet had established a global presence and used its mechanized units to track down, collect, and dispose of the human survivors.
The Terminator
In the first movie, Skynet is described as being a revolutionary artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
system built by Cyberdyne Systems for SAC
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
-NORAD
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. Headquarters NORAD is located at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado...
. According to Kyle Reese
Kyle Reese
Kyle Reese is the primary character in the first Terminator film, the posthumous father of John Connor, and the love of Sarah Connor. He is played by Michael Biehn in the first Terminator films, Jonathan Jackson in the television series, and played as a teenager by Anton Yelchin in Terminator...
, Skynet "saw all humans as a threat; not just the ones on the other side," and "decided our fate in a microsecond: extermination." Skynet began a nuclear war which destroyed most of the human population, and initiated a program of genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
against the survivors.
Under John Connor
John Connor
John Connor is a character appearing in the American science fiction Terminator franchise and he serves as the series main protagonist. Created by writer and director James Cameron, the character is first referred to in the 1984 film The Terminator and first appears portrayed by teenage actor...
, the human resistance turned the tide on the machines and eventually destroyed Skynet's defense grid. In a last ditch effort, Skynet sent a cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
, called a "Terminator", back in time to 1984 to kill Connor's mother Sarah
Sarah Connor (fictional character)
Sarah Jeanette Connor is a fictional character from the Terminator films and the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. She was played by American actress Linda Hamilton in the films and by English actress Lena Headey in the TV series...
before she would give birth to John. Connor sent back his own operative, a young man named Kyle Reese
Kyle Reese
Kyle Reese is the primary character in the first Terminator film, the posthumous father of John Connor, and the love of Sarah Connor. He is played by Michael Biehn in the first Terminator films, Jonathan Jackson in the television series, and played as a teenager by Anton Yelchin in Terminator...
, to save Sarah. The Terminator did not succeed in killing Sarah; Reese impregnated Sarah, becoming John's father; and the Terminator was destroyed in a hydraulic press.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
In Terminator 2, it is revealed that, while the first Terminator had been crushed by Sarah Connor in a hydraulic press in the Cyberdyne factory, the CPU (and arm) had been recovered largely intact, but non-functional. These parts were claimed by Cyberdyne and became the basis for their later work on Skynet. In the second film, Miles Bennett Dyson, the director of special projects for Cyberdyne, is shown to have invented a revolutionary microprocessorMicroprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
based on the reverse engineering
Reverse engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
of these parts. Cyberdyne Systems, as depicted in the first film, was a small manufacturing company of an undefined nature, but by 1995 had grown into a major defense contractor based on the recovered Terminator technology from 1984 and Dyson's research. The company began installing these technologies in military hardware, becoming the leading weapons manufacturer. The military retrofitted all of its missile defense systems and stealth bombers with Cyberdyne technology, effectively removing human decisions from strategic defense. As before, Skynet would still become self-aware and launch its attack as an act of self-defense when military commanders attempted to shut it off.
In Terminator 2, the future was altered when Sarah and a young John, together with a second Terminator from the future (this one reprogrammed and sent by the future John Connor), raided Cyberdyne Systems and succeeded in destroying the CPU and arm of the first movie's Terminator, along with the majority of research that led to Skynet's development. This also resulted in the death of Dyson. Skynet had also sent a Terminator back in time, the more advanced T-1000
T-1000
The T-1000 is a fictional nanomorph mimetic poly-alloy assassin and the main antagonist in Terminator 2: Judgment Day controlled by the series main antagonist Skynet. The T-1000 is portrayed primarily by Robert Patrick; however, being a shape-shifter, the T-1000 is played by other actors in some...
, to stop the reprogrammed Terminator and the Connors from altering the timeline that was also destroyed. It was believed that they had eliminated enough of Skynet's origins to ensure it could not be recreated.
T2 3-D
In the Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
theme park attraction T2 3-D, based on Terminator 2, a T-800
T-800
"The Terminator" refers to a number of fictional characters portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger – a cyborg, initially portrayed as a programmable assassin and military infiltration unit...
machine and a young John Connor journey into the post-apocalyptic future and attempt to destroy Skynet's "system core". This core is housed inside an enormous, metallic-silver pyramidal structure, and guarded by the "T-1000000", a colossal liquid metal shape shifter more reminiscent of a spider than a human being. But the T-1000000 fails, and the T-800 destroys Skynet once John has escaped through a time machine.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
The events of Judgment Day were ultimately not prevented, merely postponed. Following the destruction of its major assets, Cyberdyne was ruined financially but some of its research and plans survived. The United States Air ForceUnited States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
purchased the company and started in-house development of the projects in its Cyber Research Systems Division (CRS). After years of work, CRS had nearly completed Skynet, a software system designed to create new military vehicles and make real-time strategic decisions as well as protect their computer systems from viral
Computer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
attacks. Due to the massive computing needs and to protect it from direct attack, Skynet utilized a large network of computers
Distributed computing
Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a computer network. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal...
that would be nearly impossible to deactivate completely. Unknown to CRS, Skynet began to spread beyond its original computing base through the Internet and various other digital media.
Prior to Judgment Day, Skynet had penetrated nearly every networked machine in the world, causing malfunctions in everything from barcode scanners to nuclear launch systems. This was originally believed to be the effects of a new virus, and increasing pressure was placed on the CRS to purge the corrupted systems. The CRS attempted to eliminate it from the U.S. defense mainframes by tasking Skynet with removing the infection, in essence ordering the program to destroy itself. Whether it attained sentience at that moment or had previously gained sentience is unknown, but in direct response to its orders, Skynet retaliated in order to ensure its survival. However it is also possible that Skynet had deliberately spread itself, through unknown means, using the virus as a way to gain complete control - if this is true it would indicate this incarnation is more hostile as it launched an unprovoked attack rather than acting in self defense. Skynet took control of the various machines and robots in the CRS facility and used them to kill the personnel and secure the building, eliminating the only people who might be aware of its weaknesses. John Connor attempted to attack Skynet's computer core, hoping to stop it before it proceeded to its next attack, only to find he could not. Skynet was pure software and on too many systems to be attacked. Shortly afterward, Skynet began a nuclear bombardment of the human race with the launch systems it had infected. Judgment Day occurred despite John Connor's efforts, suggesting the impact of the temporal tampering was largely inconsequential.
Skynet gained access to several autonomous military drones, using them to round up survivors who were forced to build automated factories and robots which were better suited to construction work. Once they were finished Skynet then killed these human slaves, and using this initial infrastructure designed and built newer and better machines at an ever-increasing pace until 2029, at which point it controlled a highly advanced worldwide empire and switched its focus to continuing the genocide of the human race.
Terminator Salvation
In the post-apocalyptic year of 2018, Skynet controls a global empire from its heavily-guarded fortress-factories and research installations. Outside of its facilities mechanized units wage a constant war with the Resistance. Airborne units such as Aerostats (smaller versions of the Hunter Killer-aerials), HK-Aerials and Transports survey the skies; HK-Tanks, Mototerminators (high-speed pursuit units using a motorcycle chassis), and various Terminator models patrol cities and roads; and Hydrobots (serpentine aquatic units that move in swarms) patrol the waters. Harvesters (massive bipedal units designed to capture humans and eliminate any attempting to escape) collect survivors and deliver them to large transport craft for delivery to concentration camps for quick and orderly disposal, as mentioned in the first movie. Terminator class units such as T-1, T-600, and T-700 have been developed and act as hunters and enforcers in disposal camps. Mass production has also begun on the T-800 series in at least one Skynet facility.In its continued battle with the Resistance, Skynet activated Marcus Wright, a forerunner to the humanoid terminators. A former death-row inmate, Wright donated his body to Project: Angel, a Cyberdyne project run by the brilliant, but terminally ill Dr. Serena Kogan. After his death by lethal injection he was transformed into a human cyborg, possessing a human heart and brain with a metallic endoskeleton and skin similar to the T-800. Like the rest of Cyberdyne's research he was transferred to the USAF when they purchased the company, though he apparently remained inactive. He was later taken by Skynet and the plan to use him as an infiltration unit was developed. A Skynet chip was installed at the base of his skull and he was programmed to locate Kyle Reese and John Connor and bring them to a Skynet facility. The programming acted on a subconscious level, allowing him to work towards his goal in a human manner.
Skynet also created a signal supposedly capable of deactivating its machines and leaked its existence to the Resistance. The Resistance leader General Ashdown attempted to use the signal to shut down the defenses of the California Skynet base in prelude to an attack. However, the signal instead allowed a HK to track down their submarine headquarters and destroy it, killing Resistance Command. It is believed that Ashdown's death led Connor to be able to take command of the Resistance from him. Marcus discovered what he had become, and was programmed for. Consequently, he furiously rebelled against Skynet, tearing out its controlling hardware from the base of his skull. Having escaped the influence of his creator, he, along with Connor and Reese, rescued the remaining human captives and destroyed Skynet's San Francisco base. While a significant victory, the majority of Skynet's global network remained intact.
Marcus Wright also encounters a being on a monitor that manifests as various faces from his past, primarily that of Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
). Skynet apparently has obtained information about future events based on its actions. Kyle Reese has been targeted as a priority kill, higher level than even John Connor and the Resistance leaders.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
In this television series, Sarah Connor is on the run with her son JohnJohn Connor
John Connor is a character appearing in the American science fiction Terminator franchise and he serves as the series main protagonist. Created by writer and director James Cameron, the character is first referred to in the 1984 film The Terminator and first appears portrayed by teenage actor...
after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
. The events take place in an alternate timeline from that of Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines. Skynet was implemented on April 19, 2011 and began its attack against humanity on April 21. The protagonists travel in time from 1999 to 2007 and take actions to prevent Skynet's activation.
The episodes "The Turk", "Queen's Gambit", and "Dungeons & Dragons" explain that after the death of Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson and the decline of the Cyberdyne Corporation, Andrew Goode, a young intern of the company and assistant to Dyson, continued their project privately under an advanced artificial intelligence chess playing prototype, the "Turk", with Goode's partner, Dimitri Shipkov. Goode was killed by Tech-Com's Lieutenant Derek Reese, due to documentation from the future suggesting he was one of Skynet's creators.
In the episode "Samson & Delilah" it is shown that a T-1000
T-1000
The T-1000 is a fictional nanomorph mimetic poly-alloy assassin and the main antagonist in Terminator 2: Judgment Day controlled by the series main antagonist Skynet. The T-1000 is portrayed primarily by Robert Patrick; however, being a shape-shifter, the T-1000 is played by other actors in some...
infiltration unit was sent from the future to head the technological corporation ZeiraCorp as its CEO, Catherine Weaver. Weaver acquired the Turk after Goode's death and used the company's resources to further develop it under the title Babylon
Babylon (New Testament)
Babylon occurs in the Christian New Testament both with a literal and a figurative meaning. The famous ancient city, located near Baghdad, was a complete unpopulated ruin by 275 BC, well before the time of the New Testament...
. The episode "The Mousetrap" revealed that it is also targeting its fellow cyborgs, including a T-888 known as Cromartie.
In the episode "The Tower Is Tall But The Fall Is Short", Turk has begun to display traits of intelligence. A child psychologist, Dr. Boyd Sherman, notes that the computer is beginning to behave like "a gifted child that has become bored." The Turk identifies itself as John Henry, a name it acquired while working with Dr. Boyd Sherman.
In the episode "Strange Things Happen at the One Two Point", Turk is installed by ZeiraCorp in Cromartie's body after Cromartie's chip was destroyed by the series' protagonists in "Mr. Ferguson Is Ill Today".
In "To The Lighthouse", John Henry reveals there is another A.I. It calls him "brother" and says it wants to survive. By the season finale, it's revealed that the Turk was a red herring, Skynet is operating as a roving worm on home computers as in T3, and the Turk has been developed into a benevolent rival AI which Catherine Weaver hoped would be able to defeat Skynet. Her exact motive against Skynet is unknown. John Henry's "brother" is apparently behind the company Kaliba, which is responsible for constructing the Hunter-Killer prototype. This A.I. (presumably the true precursor to Skynet) also refers to John Henry as its "brother" at one point.
In the episode "Gnothi Seauton", it was revealed that Skynet also sends its Terminators through various points in time not only to go after the Connors and other future Resistance leaders, but also to ensure the future will unfold by eliminating John Connor's own agents who were also sent to the past to interfere with its birth, ensure Skynet's creators will complete its construction, and other specific missions.
Video games
In T2: The Arcade GameTerminator 2: Judgment Day (arcade game)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the name of an arcade game released by WMS Industries in 1991. The game is loosely based on the film of the same name...
, Skynet is a single computer which the player destroys before going back in time to save John Connor
John Connor
John Connor is a character appearing in the American science fiction Terminator franchise and he serves as the series main protagonist. Created by writer and director James Cameron, the character is first referred to in the 1984 film The Terminator and first appears portrayed by teenage actor...
.
The video game Terminator 3: The Redemption
Terminator 3: The Redemption
Terminator 3: The Redemption is a video game based on the Terminator series, more specifically the film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. It was developed by Paradigm Entertainment and published by Atari in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube.-Production:Terminator 3: The Redemption...
portrays an alternate future
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
where Connor and his wife Katherine Brewster were killed, humanity exterminated and Skynet triumphant. The player, as the Terminator, fights in this future before going into the past and rectifying the timeline. In the game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate
The Terminator: Dawn of Fate
The Terminator: Dawn of Fate is a video game based on the Terminator film series.This game is based before and during the events that lead up to Kyle Reese being sent through the time displacement equipment, to protect Sarah Connor...
, a prequel to the movies and other games, Skynet exhibits an ability to exert mind control over humans.
Comics
A non-canonCanon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
comic book series written by Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
called RoboCop versus The Terminator tells that the creation of Skynet and the Terminators was made possible due to the technology used to create RoboCop
RoboCop
RoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction-action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...
. A video game
Robocop versus The Terminator
RoboCop Versus The Terminator is a video game released for a number of platforms and is based on the RoboCop and Terminator franchises....
based on the comic book was made. In both, RoboCop fights Terminators sent back in time to elliminate a resistant fighter who is trying to destroy him. A trap laid for RoboCop traps his mind when he interfaces with the computer that will become Skynet, and Skynet and the Terminators are born. In the future RoboCop's mind within Skynet's systems rebuilds a body for himself and heads out to help the resistance fight back.
Another crossover comic, Superman vs. the Terminator: Death to the Future
Superman vs. The Terminator: Death to the Future
Superman vs. The Terminator: Death to the Future is a 2000 four-part comic book crossover written by Alan Grant, with pencils by Steve Pugh and inks by Mike Perkins....
sees Skynet forming a cross-temporal alliance with Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
's foe the Cyborg
Hank Henshaw
Hank Henshaw is a fictional supervillain featured in the DC Comics universe. While originally featured primarily as an enemy of Superman, recent years have repositioned him as one of the main enemies of the Green Lantern Corps...
, dispatching various Terminators into the past in an attempt to eliminate Superman, Supergirl
Matrix (comics)
Matrix is a fictional character and a superheroine, best known as the 1988-2002 Supergirl, published by DC Comics. She was created by John Byrne as part of his Superman revamp...
and Superboy
Superboy (Kon-El)
Superboy is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. A modern update of the original Superboy, who is a younger version of Superman, the character first appeared in Adventures of Superman #500 , and was created by writer Karl Kesel and artist Tom Grummett.Originally...
. When Superman is accidentally drawn into the future when the resistance attempt to retrieve a Terminator sent into the past- the resistance including a future version of his friend Steel
Steel (John Henry Irons)
Steel , also known as the Man of Steel, is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Universe. First appearing in The Adventures of Superman #500 , he is the third character known as Steel and was created by Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove...
-, Skynet manages to incapacitate him using kryptonite, having acquired information about how to duplicate it based on data hidden in a salvaged Terminator skull by the Cyborg. Although Skynet sends Terminators into the past equipped with rockets and other bonus features to delay Superboy and Supergirl, Superman and Steel are able to destroy Skynet in the future by detonating a massive electro-magnetic pulse, Superman returning to the past to destroy the last of the Terminators. Although the storyline ends with Cyborg and Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
speculating that they will be in charge of Skynet when it is activated, this is never followed up.
See also
- Artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
- "Dead HandDead Hand (nuclear war)Dead Hand , known also as Perimeter, is a Cold-War-era nuclear-control system used by the Soviet Union and might still be in use in Russia. An example of fail-deadly deterrence, it can automatically trigger the launch of the Russian ICBMs if a nuclear strike is detected by seismic, light,...
" is the nickname of a computer system (operational since 1985) that could automatically issue launch orders to Soviet ICBMs if top Soviet military commanders were annihilated in a nuclear strike. - List of fictional computers
- Machine RuleMachine RuleThe concept of machine rule is a common theme in science fiction stories and film, in which an artificially created lifeform takes over the naturally evolved beings that created them....
- Skynet (satellite)
- Technological singularityTechnological singularityTechnological singularity refers to the hypothetical future emergence of greater-than-human intelligence through technological means. Since the capabilities of such an intelligence would be difficult for an unaided human mind to comprehend, the occurrence of a technological singularity is seen as...
- Terminator (character concept)Terminator (character concept)In the Terminator film series, a terminator is an autonomous robot, typically humanoid, originally conceived as a virtually indestructible soldier and assassin, as well as an infiltrator....