Since 1984, movie fans have been thrilled by expertly-designed killing machines courtesy of every movie fan's favorite robot overlords, Skynet. The defense network, which gained sentience and immediately decided to destroy its human creators, built the physical Terminator units (almost always identified by the letter T preceding a simple serial number) to kill any remaining humans after Skynet’s first assault with humanity’s stockpile of nuclear weapons.
Keeping track of all the models that have sprung up over the decades can be a bit tricky, especially considering how similar their names and designs often are.
Updated on July 9th, 2021 by Mark Birrell: Across the breadth of the Terminator movies and beyond, many deserving killing machines have worn the T-moniker and though not all of them are as iconic as Arnold Schwarzenegger's roles in the franchise, they each deserve to be appreciated by fans for their creative designs and elaborate weapons. Whether they be old-school robot skeletons or liquid metal shapeshifters, the best Terminator models demonstrate their strength through more than just mere firepower and have plenty of tricks up their sleeves.
T-1
● First appearance: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
An early prototype for the many future designs that would go on to carry the T moniker, as well as a few that didn’t. The T-1 first appeared in 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and was a relatively small autonomous tank, capable of patrolling corridors inside a building with its two miniguns.
Clearly the basis for the unforgettably imposing Hunter-Killer tanks first seen in flashbacks from the original Terminator, the T-1 is considerably less intimidating and, if we’re being completely honest, kind of silly-looking to the point of almost being comical. It probably has something to with their little heads and hunched-looking shoulders.
T-70
● First appearance: T2 3-D: Battle Across Time
The accompanying model to the T-1, the T-70 was the first of Cyberdyne's humanoid Terminators and, though they're a can opener compared to what Skynet would eventually create by itself, they formed the basis of what it worked with for several more models.
The T-70, strictly speaking, never appeared in a movie. But rows of them adorned the theater of the T2 3-D: Battle Across Time movie experience at Universal Studios.
Moto-Terminator
● First appearance: Terminator Salvation
In a much more intimidating development in the line of autonomous tanks started by the T-1, the Moto-Terminator is essentially a motorbike with powerful cannons attached.
It can maneuver so precisely and quickly that it's perfect for smaller vehicle pursuits, being able to gracefully dodge between debris and obstacles. They appear in Terminator Salvation and are shown to be housed within the legs of a large sentry tank, making them a small–but effective–part of Skynet's arsenal.
T-600
● First appearance: The Terminator
With the T-600, Skynet stopped relying on designs that existed before its revolt against humanity and began to develop infiltration units to finally wipe out that pesky resistance. Similar to previous humanoid Terminator models, they were first mentioned by Kyle Reese in the original Terminator and noted for how easy they were to spot.
Its camouflage was only a rudimentary rubber skin but whatever it lacked in authenticity was more than made up for by the sheer terror it inspires. In pristine condition, the T-600 is already a pretty horrifying idea (a giant lifelike doll made to kill you) but, with wear and decay, the models only became scarier and scarier. Their worn rubber skin and human clothing making them seem like robot zombies.
T-7T
● First appearance: Terminator Salvation (video game)
A much more imposing improvement on the T-1, the T-7T is a spider tank that moves around on four legs as opposed to tracks like most other Hunter-Killer-type models.
Armed with two cannons on either side, it's a formidable killing machine in battle and Skynet is shown to be able to drop spider tanks from aerial HKs right into battle, guns blazing, in the opening of Terminator Genisys.
T-800
● First appearance: The Terminator
The real breakthrough of Skynet’s designs for infiltration units, the T-800 had its chassis covered by living human tissue and hair. This made the T-800 all the better at getting past human (and animal) resistance guards, due to the minute details afforded by the living tissue (such as body heat and sweat). The tissue also provided the all-important benefit of allowing the T-800 to travel through time, a privilege reserved only for living organisms until then.
Their durability is well-documented through battles where the T-800 is shown to power through large explosions, molten metal, and all matter of small arms fire (as well as direct hits from a grenade launcher). It was established in Terminator Genisys, however, that a well-placed .50 caliber round to its power source would take it down fairly swiftly.
T-850
● First appearance: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
As the name would suggest, the T-850 is a marginal upgrade on the T-800 model. Featuring a similar overall design, the T-850 was an improvement to the T-800 model due mostly to alterations made to its living tissue component. The skin on the T-850 not only healed faster, but it was also more easily peeled away to provide access for maintenance.
Appearing as the reprogrammed Terminator sent back to protect John Connor in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the model was also shown to have improvements in software designed for human interaction as well as some basic hardware upgrades. The T-850 was more equipped to deal with human psychology and behavior and was also given two power sources as opposed to the T-800’s one. This came in handy when the T-850 from Rise of the Machines needed to remove one to shove it in another Terminator’s mouth for an effective kill.
Marcus Wright
● First appearance: Terminator Salvation
In one of Skynet’s more undeniably convoluted plans, Marcus Wright was a human being from the early 21st century who was executed for murder and had his corpse rebuilt into a unique Terminator. The result was an unwitting infiltration unit so convincing that the unit itself didn’t even know that it wasn't human.
The endoskeleton beneath Marcus Wright’s human tissue was custom-built to house what would ultimately be his greatest weapons and most invaluable assets: his human brain and heart. The brain was able to rebel against Skynet and defeat its plans, while the heart was ultimately transplanted to save John Connor’s life. Marcus’ human mind may be a tactical hindrance (in that it subconsciously holds him back from the fullest extent of his robotic abilities most of the time), but he’s shown to be strong enough to rip a T-800’s head clean off.
T-900
● First appearance: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Twice as fast and twice as strong as previous models, the T-900 was designed by Skynet specifically for the purpose of hunting and destroying other Terminators. It was a response to the human resistance’s tactic of reprogramming captured Terminators for their own purposes, such as the reprogrammed T-800 and T-850 sent back to protect John Connor's future in Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines respectively.
The T-900 only makes a brief cameo in the background of the Cyberdyne labs in Rise of the Machines, but the audience is given a much better look at the enhanced model that the T-900 provided the basis for - the thoroughly tricked out T-X.
T-X
● First appearance: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
The big bad of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the T-X’s interior is similar to that of a T-900 with some added goodies. Most notably, it had a number of weapons hidden in its arms, including a powerful plasma cannon. The Terminator’s exterior, however, was programmable liquid metal. Its smaller chassis allowed it, in its infiltration capacities, to impersonate much more slender human beings than the standard look of a male bodybuilder from rural Austria. This lead to John Connor dubbing it “The Terminatrix.”
If the T-X sounds like overkill, that’s because it is. On top of its weapon systems, the T-X also has the ability to wirelessly connect to computer systems and bring them under its command as well as DNA sampling abilities (leading to a pretty gross scene where one licks a bloody bandage). Despite all of its add-ons, though, it’s still taken out by a humble T-850 that’s operating at half power.
Rev-9
● First appearance: Terminator: Dark Fate
The Rev-9 is the debut model of the replacement AI overlord, Legion, from the changed timeline presented in the sixth Terminator movie, Dark Fate.
A ferocious fighter that's quite similar to the T-X, the Rev-9's party piece is its ability to split its liquid metal outer layer from its endoskeleton to make two Terminators for the price of one. The main problem with it is that this doesn't actually seem to help it do its job any better. The liquid metal Rev-9 is just a hollow shell and it leaves the endoskeleton without its most powerful weapons. The liquid metal part of its structure is shown to be totally destroyed by being placed into a dam's turbine, which also damages a significant portion of the endoskeleton too. All around, Legion has a long way to go before it's catching up to Skynet's greatest achievements.
T-1000
● First appearance: Terminator 2: Judgement Day
An earlier model than the T-X, the T-1000 is simpler and better in every way. It’s pure mimetic liquid metal, meaning it can transform into anyone or anything (provided that it isn’t a machine with moving parts). The lack of a chassis also means that it’s a lot harder to knock back. The most damage that the unit can sustain, outside of being subjected to temperatures hot enough to melt it completely, is to have the main bulk of its mass split apart or torn by a large force.
The T-1000 makes its first appearance in Terminator 2: Judgement Day and its lack of fancy weapons proves to be no impediment to its killing capabilities, preferring to reshape its arms into bladed weapons for an up-close attack. Models were later shown to also be vulnerable to corrosive acid as well as heat and extreme cold. Again, though, the unit has to be completely destroyed, or all of the remaining parts will simply reform and continue their mission.
T-3000
● First appearance: Terminator Genisys
First appearing in 2015’s Terminator Genisys, the T-3000 is a human being that is exposed to “machine-phase matter” and restructured on a cellular level. Through this process, all of the cells within the human body are transformed into nanomachines. The T-3000 is shown to have considerably superior strength and agility to previous Terminator models, such as the T-800, and its nanomachine structure allows it to disassemble and reassemble itself with great speed and ease. Essentially, it has the ability to turn to dust and simply phase through attacks.
The T-3000’s main vulnerability is any kind of electrical or magnetic disruption powerful enough to interfere with its nanomachines reordering themselves into the correct sequence. An MRI machine, for example, is shown to be highly effective for a short period of time. The model in Terminator Genisys, which was once resistance leader John Connor, is destroyed by being placed into a Skynet time machine that is incapable of handling exposed metal.
T-5000
● First appearance: Terminator Genisys
The T-5000 is a special Terminator built to house what is basically the physical representation of Skynet's core software. It appears in Terminator Genisys, played by Matt Smith, and is shown transforming John Connor into a T-3000 by simply touching him.
It's possible that the T-5000 is the most powerful Terminator. However, sadly, fans will never really know for sure as the model remains shrouded in mystery throughout Terminator Genisys, and the storyline that the movie intended to set up was quickly scrapped in favor of rebooting the timeline with Terminator: Dark Fate.
T-1000000
● First appearance: T2 3-D: Battle Across Time
Perhaps the rarest of all the T models, the T-1000000 (if it wasn't obvious) is everything Skynet can throw at an enemy and its last line of defense. The towering (purely liquid metal) spider hides as a solid part of Skynet’s gargantuan central computer and detaches itself when that core mainframe is threatened.
The T-1000000 is a lesser-known model that only appeared on screen at the end of T2 3D: Battle Across Time (a movie attraction at Universal Studios). If you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing Battle Across Time yourself, it’s quite the nostalgic ride. An experience made all the rarer these days by the closure of both attractions in North America. It can now only be seen at Universal Studios Japan.