T-800
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The T-800 (full designation: Cyberdyne Systems Series 800-850 Model 101) is a cyborg, programmed to kill, in the fictional universe of the Terminator movies.
Description
The T-800 was to be the ultimate weapon devised by the military supercomputer Skynet to be used against the remaining human resistance. It was thought that a machine designed to the specifications of the human skeleton, and subsequently wrapped in specially grown flesh and tissue, would be able to infiltrate military structures disguised as a human and, subsequently, terminate human life from within the outpost. Every aspect of this android is geared toward infiltration without detection. Not only does it look human, but it sweats, smells, bleeds and can even mimic specific human voices perfectly. However, dogs can sense the machine's presence and are often used at guarded checkpoints to detect one entering the area. Also, the original Terminator script mentions that distortion in the electronic devices (specifically, television receivers) - evident when the Terminator is in the close proximity and is probably caused by its power source - is another give-away.
To aid in its role as a killer, its endoskeleton is constructed from a hyperalloy to form a combat-chassis, and thus is rendered essentially immune to small arms fire (pistols, rifles,derringers,etc.) In the books made on the basis of the Terminator franchise it is said that the alloy used for construction is titanium-tungsten (Ti-W) steel. Nominal duration of its power source batteries is 120 years. However, a T-800 has the ability to enter into a reduced-power mode. In this setting, its hydraulic servomotor strength is limited to 50% of normal capacity, and its vision is limited to infrared only. In this setting, a T-800 can function far beyond its normal 120 year span. The T-800 power cell may be similar to the modern day RTG device, which uses nuclear decay to produce energy.
The android foot soldiers, seen in the future war sequences in Terminator 2 and Terminator 3 are endoskeletons of two makes: the T-800 and its predecessor, the T-500. These T-800 units are not built with the time-consuming and delicate process of applying live tissue. Instead, this "infantry" version of the T-800 endoskeleton is faster and easier to produce in large numbers. In the special edition of Terminator 3, the endoskeletal infantry was also reported to include T-850 endoskeletons. Whether this was a canonical revision or an addition with the advancement of technology is unclear.
A Series 800 Terminator, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, was the antagonist in the original Terminator film along with a counterpart from the future war (played by Franco Columbu) and the protagonist of the [[Terminator 2: Judgment Day|second]] and [[Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines|third]] Terminator films.
The original Terminator sent to eliminate Sarah Connor in 1984 was destroyed at the end of the first Terminator movie, but the remains were not destroyed (after first being recovered from Cyberdyne) until the end of the second movie when both terminators where destroyed in a vat of molten steel.
A deleted scene from T3 reveals that Model 101 used as its physical template an Air Force Chief Master Sergeant William Candy. However, this scene is uncharacteristically humorous for the Terminator films (even considering the escalating use of humor in the two sequels) and also explicitly indicates that the Terminators were developed by human beings before Judgement Day, rather than being purely creations of Skynet as previously indicated. Not only does this make little sense, it contradicts information provided in the previous two films, such as that earlier T-600 model Terminators with easily-spotted rubber skin existed in Kyle Reese's future timeline before the development of the 101 T-800 (see below). The only possible explanation for this disparity is that it is somehow a result of the shifting of the timeline which occurs between T2 and T3. However, the fact that the scene was deleted suggests that its content was deemed by its makers to be either too blatant a violation of Terminator canon, too humorous in tone, or both.
At any rate, as a deleted scene, this origin of the T-800 should not be considered canon. An entirely different origin of the T-800s physical and vocal templates is provided in the novel T2: Infiltrator (published prior to T3). However this too cannot be regarded as canon due to contradictions with T3 and its inherently lower canonical status as a spin-off novel.
Comparison between series
Differences between the 600 and 800 series
The first incarnation of the Terminator was the T-600 series. The series of Terminators were mentioned in a scene from the first Terminator film by one of the main characters, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn). This version of the Terminator was a similar infiltration unit, but unlike its 800 series counterpart which appears to be human, it had rubber skin. It also lacked a combat worthy protection system for its cranial cavity. Its major design flaws in its cranial cavity proved fatal many times, due to lack of shock dampers protecting the CPU. If struck square in the head, it could result in data loss or corruption, many times due to loss of programming, the machines would gain a form of autonomy, or would serve the first person to claim to be a "Skynet". Its voice was also a design flaw, it was at a very low bit rate, and was very cybernetic in audibility, this made it easily detectable in verbal situations because of this and its two year old mentality. Skynet deemed the T-600 a failure, thus being recalled and reconstructed into the T-600G, and later replaced by the T-700 and 800 series. The rubber skin was unnaturally smooth and was unconvincing except at far distances and/or in low light conditions. A later T-700 series model is reported to have existed. Unlike its predecessor, the T-700 boasted cloned human skin, making it a very effective weapon for Skynet. Although the T-700 series looked real enough to pass for human for short periods of time, its weaknesses included its rigid, zombie-like appearance, and although boasting a high memory capacity, fast raw data processing rates, and had many human emotional and expressional subroutines, the T-700 had the equivalent reasoning capabilities of a five-year-old, thus if a relatively smart Tech Com soldier spent a moderate amount of time interacting with it, its disguise would fail due to its immature emotional affect. Underneath its disguise, the T-700 series combat-chassis looked very similar to the T-800, except that its body appeared very rigid, and the neck was unsegmented and it lacked the auxiliary neck support structures that are present on the T-800. Even with the realistic appearing flesh, the 700, 800, and 850 models were easily detected by dogs.Hypothetically, the skin composition evolved from smooth rubber all the way to living tissue as Skynet began to learn more about human anatomy. The initial choice of using rubber for a disguise is explained rather simply, since from the point of view of an artificial intelligence like Skynet, a human being is nothing more than an endoskeleton (the human skeleton) designed to provide support and housing for vital systems (internal organs like heart, lungs, etc.) and the CPU (brain). To a machine, this human endoskeleton would appear to be independently functional and would be merely covered in a nonfunctional watertight casing (skin) to hide the internal chassis (skeleton and organs). To provide this, rubber seemed like the most logical choice. As Skynet learned more about human anatomy, it began to revise its design and composition materials of the external disguises of the Terminators in order to more closely match the creatures that the Terminators would be infiltrating and mimicking.
However, the 600 series was easily detected by humans. In time, it was replaced by the 800 series as Skynet was able to successfully synthesize human tissue. The tissue of the T-800 series was able to live for a time without blood, oxygen, or nutrients due to changes made to the flesh material's genome by Skynet. This artificial flesh was essentially human material, containing real skin, underlying flesh, and hair, but it was heavily modified at the genetic level. It produced heat and sweat like natural skin, and a pressurized layer of synthetic blood was present under the layer of skin so the T-800 would appear to bleed realistically when injured. This blood was kept pressurized by a miniature pump located on the T-800's chest where the human sternum would be. For all its resilience, this artificial living flesh had a definite shelf life, and if it was left in service for too long, it would begin to rot and necrotize, and the T-800's cover would be blown. Untreated damage to the flesh disguise would create a suitable breeding ground for microorganisms and would therefore accelerate the degradation process. To prevent this problem, Skynet stored flesh-covered T-800 units in cryogenic pods when they were not in service in order to prevent premature degradation of the synthetic flesh. Normal T-800 units do not require cryogenic storage and would be stored in a large chamber until they were deployed. Skynet corrected this problem later by installing vital organs the size of a small animal's to keep the tissue alive; with this eating subroutines were also installed. It was able to go far longer than an average human without food due to the genetic alterations in the tissue. The T-800s were also programmed to limit their movements unless cover was blown and it assessed that the only way to function is to retreat, because the machine could move in ways a human body couldn't (such as having the ability to sprint at 60 mph) and would tear the tissue. The T-800 also had a device called the "Inner Plug" that disabled full autonomy and protected Skynet from its fear of treason from its machines. After the resistance found a way to disable and sometimes remove the plug, the Machines would join the resistance by choice, this proved fatal for Skynet, due to the fact that the inner plug prohibited any machine to abtain a depth of intelligence far superior to humans, the fully autonomous T-800's who joined Tech Com far surpassed those of Skynet's army. Some say these rogue Cyborgs helped the resistance end Skynet before its full potential could be reached and its final prerogative completed: the ultimate genocide of the human species.
Differences between the 800 and 850 series
The 800 series has one compact nuclear power cell, while the 850 series has two hydrogen fuel cell power sources. The T-850 power cells are rectangular cartridges, each slightly larger than an ammunition magazine and are made out of the same material as the T-850 endoskeleton. They fit into a special rack inside the T-850s chest cavity, about where a human's heart would be. The T-800 nuclear power cell is probably in the same place. When removed or damaged, these hydrogen fuel cells become unstable and quickly explode with the same power as a miniature nuclear weapon. It is likely that Skynet included that property as a last-ditch effort for infiltrator units in the event of mission failure (a discovered or severely damaged T-850 could turn itself into a powerful bomb to dispatch its target and other humans in the vicinity.) The T-850 can lose one of these cells and retain much of its original capabilities, except it would not be quite as strong or fast as before. The T-850 can operate for short periods of time even with both cells removed, probably due to a backup battery or capacitive energy reservoir of some sort (most likely similar to the T-800's alternative power supply which it can use when its power cell becomes damaged). Flesh covered T-850s had their external skin disguise improved in order to make it easier to remove (T-850 skin peels off rather easily for maintenance compared to the T-800 skin, which had to be forcefully yanked off), plus it has improved ability to heal from battle-incurred wounds. Since the T-800 series was created, the human resistance also began to acquire more and more plasma rifles from destroyed Terminators, so the T-850 series boasted improved armor since the original T-800s were more susceptible to plasma damage. The T-850 is also believed to be vastly stronger (The T-850 was able to hold its own in a hand to hand fight with a T-X model for a limited amount of time, while the T-800 was only about equal or weaker than the T-1000) though probably not faster than the original T-800, and is also standard-equipped with data that the original T-800 lacks (such as basic human psychology and some knowledge of popular culture, although to which purpose the latter knowledge would serve is unknown, it is possible it was to help the unit to predict Human behaviour to make it a more efficient killing machine, or so that it was able to infiltrate and blend in with Humans). Both the T-800 and the T-850 are capable of learning from their environments and thinking outside of their mission parameters (according to a deleted scene from Terminator 2, the Terminators CPUs must be reset in order to access the latter ability however, as Skynet presets them to Read-Only to prevent them from becoming distracted by thoughts). The T-850 also has the ability to shut itself down and reboot its systems in the event of data corruption. It is probable, but still unknown at this time whether or not the T-800 can also reboot itself.
Trivia
- Although referred to as hydrogen fuel cells in dialogue, the 850's power supply would probably be more accurately termed hydrogen fusion cells. Fuel cell technology is based on generating electrical energy by means of a chemical reaction, and would be incapable of lasting more than a few days without exhausting the fuel, no matter how refined the technology. Fusion cells using the hydrogen isotopes of deuterium and/or tritium would be more than capable of matching the 120-year lifetime of the nuclear cell in the 800 series, as mentioned in [[Terminator 2: Judgment Day|Terminator 2]].
- "Loading COMMAND.COM" message can be seen in a HUD view of the T-800.
External links
| The Terminator series | |
|---|---|
| Films | The Terminator | [[Terminator 2: Judgment Day]] | [[Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines]] |
| Characters | Sarah Connor | John Connor | Kyle Reese | Miles Dyson | Kate Brewster |
| Terminators | T-800 | T-1000 | T-X |
| Locations | Los Angeles | Skynet | Cyberdyne Systems Corporation |
| Cast | Linda Hamilton | Arnold Schwarzenegger | Michael Biehn | Edward Furlong | Robert Patrick | Nick Stahl | Claire Danes | Kristanna Loken | Earl Boen |
| Crew | James Cameron | Jonathan Mostow | Mario F. Kassar | Andrew G. Vajna | Stan Winston |
| Spin-offs | [[T2 3-D: Battle Across Time]] | RoboCop vs. The Terminator | Aliens vs. Predator vs. The Terminator |
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