All 7 Terminator Characters Played by Arnold Schwarzenegger Ranked

Ever since The Terminator first exploded onto movie screens in 1984, this murderous machine from the future played by Arnold Schwarzenegger has become one of the most legendary characters in cinema. It was a big hit, with fans marveling at the title character’s neverending quest to kill Sarah Connor to prevent her from giving birth to the leader of resistance forces decades later. Despite its modest budget, the film’s director and co-writer James Cameron managed to forge an iconic sci-fi action flick that blended thrills with thoughtful commentary on humanity vs. artificial intelligence. The Terminator was so popular that it spawned numerous sequels and a TV show, all expanding the lore of the series in interesting new ways.

However, not all of the Terminator films were great, and despite Schwarzenegger’s constant presence throughout the decades-long franchise, not every one of his portrayals of the Terminator was a home run. Some were chilling, some were thoughtful, and some were just plain weird.

7) Sgt. Candy in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Deleted Scene)

A Cyber Research Systems preview video previews its artificially intelligent military technology product line such as its “soldier of tomorrow,” the T-1 battlefield robot, and the Hunter Killer aerial weapons platform. It’s all very serious until Sgt. Candy (played by Schwarzenegger) appears with a goofy, over-the-top Southern accent, revealing that he’s the physical model for the T-800. His personality and speech pattern are so cheesy that even top military brass are miffed by it.

While Candy’s appearance is brief, it’s more than enough to tarnish the image of the unstoppable menace of the T-800. It was probably so bad that even the filmmakers realized this and simply had to leave it on the cutting room floor.

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6) “Pops” in Terminator: Genisys

Schwarzenegger’s T-800 – referred to as “Pops” – in this film is pretty annoying. Despite his age, he still knew how to kick some serious butt, but his clumsy attempts at humor and humanity just added an unnecessarily cringe-inducing element to the character that undermined his “protector” status. Because of his surrogate father role to Sarah Connor, he comes off more like an out-of-touch parent than a lethal machine from the future.

5) CGI T-800 in Terminator Salvation

While Schwarzenegger technically didn’t play this version of the T-800 in Terminator Salvation, his facial likeness was digitally recreated and attached to the body of Roland Kickinger. While he only appeared in the climactic showdown with John Connor and Marcus Wright at the Skynet base in San Francisco, this T-800 felt closer to the one that was introduced in the very first Terminator film. It doesn’t speak, it shows no emotion, and is programmed only to kill. The CGI used to resurrect a younger Schwarzenegger hasn’t aged very well, but the menacing presence is mostly there.

4) T-800 / Carl in Terminator: Dark Fate

In Dark Fate, Schwarzenegger plays a T-800 who killed John Connor in 1998, but after he realizes he is free from Skynet’s programming, he develops consciousness and starts living life as “Carl.” While he still had robotic mannerisms, this Terminator was one of the more complex versions of the character, as it showed signs of compassion towards others, and even regret for his past killing of John, making for a fascinating rumination on the duality of humanity and machine.

Still, we can’t quite get over the decision to make Carl the owner of a drapery business; why not give him a job a tad more Terminator-y, like a demolition expert or Navy Seal?

3) T-101 in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Schwarzenegger returned to the franchise for this needless sequel as the T-101, which is almost identical to the T-800 except for reasons that are never really made clear. Anyway, this Terminator model acts almost exactly the same and performs the exact same role – protecting John Connor – as in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, so if you like that version, then you’ll like this one. He’s got some pretty killer fight scenes with the T-X in this film, so Schwarzenegger gets points for bringing the physicality. However, he loses some points for the clunky attempts at sounding human (someone really thought having him say “talk to the hand” was what Terminator fans wanted to see.)

2) The Original T-800 from The Terminator

In this film, Schwarzenegger’s massive unstoppable killing machine was unleashed on an unsuspecting world and instantly became one of cinema’s most recognizable silver-screen baddies. Armed with a large muscular body, extensive weapons knowledge, and the personality of a great white shark, this T-800 set the standard for all the versions that followed. Even when its synthetic flesh has been blown off and he’s nothing more than a metal endoskeleton, this Terminator just wouldn’t stop hunting his prey, Sarah Connor, until she was, well, terminated.

Though his tech may have evolved over the years, no other Terminator has come close to this model’s power and ferocity.

1) T-800 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Another T-800 has been sent back in time from the future and it’s every bit as dangerous as the one from the first film. However, this machine was reprogrammed by John Connor to protect his younger self from the more advanced T-1000 that was sent to kill him. Schwarzenegger plays this version much like his previous portrayal of the T-800, but having him serve as a bodyguard and, ultimately, father figure to John was a brilliant narrative and character twist. The touches of compassion are much more subdued than later iterations of the character which took his humanization too far, often verging on parody.

Schwarzenegger’s Terminator in T2 is not only the most badass version of the character, it’s also the most complex, showing just enough cognizance and even humor while still preserving the toughness of his mechanical innards and prime directives.