From the moment he appeared on the big screen, audiences fell in love with the world and character that was The Terminator and as such, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most iconic role was born. Since the first film debuted in 1984 all those years ago, there has been a total of six Terminator films, multiple games, a spin-off tv show, and a number of decent Terminator ripoffs that Arnold frequents every now and then to fan’s pleasure and excitement… most of the time.

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The sad truth is, even though Arnold always does come back to the iconic role, over the years, the quality of his character, the T-800, has slowly faded. Blame it on studios interference, lack of ideas, or just unnecessary comedic element, Arnold’s Terminator roles have slowly gone from being the best of the best to some of the worst of the worst. And yet, even after the recent film, one can’t help but know that Arnold will “be back” to add some more roles.

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Honorable Mention: CGI T-800: Terminator Salvation (2009)

Now, while Arnold has appeared in most of the Terminator flicks, that’s not to say that’s he’s ACTUALLY been in all the films. That might sound confusing but here’s the gist: in 2009, a new Terminator film, Terminator Salvation, came out, one that some people see as being incredibly bad and others believing the opposite. It followed John Conner, the savior of humanity, and a new character, Marcus Wright, in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Towards the end of the film, John found himself facing off against the T-800.
However, while the T-800 had Arnold’s face, it was actually all CGI, recreating Arnold on a stunt double instead of bringing the big man back. No matter the reasons, while Arnold isn’t actually in Terminator Salvation, his CG double does an excellent job taking on John Conner, expressing the same stone-cold silence and malice that the real Arnold embodies. A shame he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) show up.

Pops/Guardian: Terminator Genisys (2015)

After Salvation came out, there was a lack of time traveling, cyborg assassins going through time until 2015, when not only did Arnold return t0 the role but a new film, Terminator: Genisys was released as a soft reboot to the series. Unfortunately, what could’ve been a return to glory for the franchise was anything but, and it had nothing to do with the spelling of the title. No, the problem came about with Pops.
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In an attempt to recapture the same feel of Judgement Day with a sympathetic Terminator sent back to protect Sarah Conner instead of John, the film instead creates one of the saddest versions of the Terminator. Reducing Arnold to a parody of himself, cracking stupid jokes and sad attempts at “being human” not to mention a half-cocked death and rebirth that really thought a sequel was on the way, this is probably one of the worst versions of the Terminator to grace the silver screen.
Probably a good thing audience didn’t get to see Terminator: Exodys. And yes, that was actually a planned sequel.

T-850: Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003)

Before the disaster of Genisys, there was another attempt at bringing the Terminator franchise back. This was around the time when a lot of classic films that had been given just about perfect endings decided to add a third movie to create an unholy trilogy. Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines was the capstone of such a trilogy. Even after meeting his end in the previous film, Arnold returned as a flawed model T-850, sent to protect John Conner and his future wife.
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Despite the comedy coming through in the previous sequel, T3 was really where the studio tried to push too much comedy into Arnold. While the T-850 as a whole was a decent character who went out with a literal bang thanks to a nuclear core, there was still that poor attempt at comedy that muddied his badass character. From wearing star-studded sunglasses to quotes like “talk to the hand” and even a poor replica of his classic line, the T-850, although somewhat cool, was still not nearly as good as the others.

Carl: Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

This may be a bit of a controversial take on Carl. When the Terminator series tried for a third time to revive the franchise just a year ago with Terminator: Dark Fate, audiences were divided on seeing it as a worthy sequel or believing that it fell short of the mark. Some liked the action, the return of Linda Hamilton, and the R-rating while others disliked the plot and some of the characters. One such character, was the return of the T-800, Carl, a terminator who succeeded in his mission and killed John Conner.
While yes, this pretty much made the events of Judgement Day ineffective, the concept of Carl was interesting despite being a little flawed. It showed a different look into a Terminator, one that did complete the mission and had to live in the aftermath of their actions. There’s even a decent amount of epic action that Carl brings to the screen while keeping the goofiness to a minimum and even giving the character a sacrifice almost worthy of T2.
Emphasis on almost.

T-800, Model 101, The Terminator: The Terminator (1984)

Everyone remembers where all the names began. The T-800. Model of 1010. The Terminator. It all began back in 1984, with the original movie that truly started it all. The film that followed a helpless woman named Sarah Conner, mother of the savior of humanity and who would become one of action film’s top female protagonists, hunted by a cyborg sent from the future: The unstoppable and brutal Terminator.
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Unlike the other films, where Arnold was either seen as a joke, a savior, or protector, the original terminator, as all fans know, was a ruthless killing machine. Equipped with human skin and an impenetrable exoskeleton made from some of the strongest metal on the planet, The original Terminator has become an icon of both Sci-fi and horror over the years that can’t be stopped no matter what.
Something, perhaps the franchise took a little too literal.

T-800, Model-101: Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1992)

If there’s anything better than a fantastic first film, it’s a sequel that raises the bar in every possible way. There have only been a few movies over the years that have pulled this off and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, considered to be one of the best action movies ever made, is such a film. Not only did it offer some truly mind-blowing action scenes, some Oscar-winning visual effects that still hold up in 2020 a new story but it also provided one of the best role reversals in any film.
Instead of keeping the T-800 as a brutal killing machine, the character was made into a protector sent to guard John Conner from the equally nefarious T-1000. The film allowed for audiences to see Arnold’s brutal villain in a new light, allowing for him to try and connect with humanity, be human, and in the end, give a heart-wrenching sacrifice to defend those he cared about in one of the ’90s action films best endings.
Oh, and the epic one-liners like “Hasta La Vista, Baby” helped a lot too to create one of Arnold’s best roles.
NEXT: 5 MCU Heroes Who Would Survive A Terminator Attack (& 5 Who Would Be Terminated)