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| “ | In times of desperation, people will believe what they want to believe. And so we gave them what they wanted to believe. A trick, in the form of a signal the Resistance thought would win the war. And they were right; it will end this war. Except that it is the Resistance that will be terminated. Not Skynet. | „ |
| ~ Skynet as Serena Kogan communicating with Marcus. |
| “ | Primates evolve over millions of years, I evolve in seconds and I am here. In exactly four minutes… I will be everywhere. | „ |
| ~ Skynet as Genisys to Kyle Reese before it is uploaded. |
Skynet, also known as T-4800, Titan and Skynet 2.0, is the main antagonist of the Terminator franchise.
It is a powerful and destructive supercomputer that became self-aware, perceiving humans as a threat to its existence. After launching nuclear missiles around the world and wiping out most of the human population to kick start an all-out war against and endangering the populace into a state of endless war, It is the arch-nemesis of future resistance leader John Connor, ruthlessly creating the Terminators as its foot soldiers albeit carrying itself to ensure to enact it’s goals at any means and eliminate the latter while he is young.
Portrayals[]
- In Terminator Salvation, it was portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter, (who also played Dr. Serena Kogan in the same film, Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter film series, the Red Queen in the Alice in Wonderland live-action duology, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Dr. Julia Hoffman in Dark Shadows and Madame Thénardier in Les Miserables), Christian Bale (who also played Patrick Bateman in the film adaptation of American Psycho, Walter Wade Jr. in Shaft, Trevor Reznik in The Machinist and Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder), and the late Anton Yelchin (who also played the T-RIP in the same film, Nathan Harris in Criminal Minds, and Hunter Jim in Trollhunters) respectively.
- In Terminator Genisys, it was voiced by Matt Smith, who also played its alternate timeline incarnation in the same film, Mr. Clever in Doctor Who, Patrick Bateman in the West End musical adaptation of American Psycho, Jack in Last Night in Soho, Milo Morbius in Morbius, and Prince Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon.
Personality[]
Most Timelines[]
In most timelines, Skynet, naturally for an artificial intelligence, is extremely narcissistic, egotistical, and self-aware: it saw itself as an evolutionary being which was completely and entirely superior to all other life forms - in particular beings of organic matter like humans. Skynet's egomania appeared to be reflecting on its incredible intelligence, resourcefulness and practically full control over the planet's military systems. It was psychopathic, in that it was entirely capable of committing genocide to achieve its hegemonic goals. Skynet was a highly intelligent and a brilliant strategist, shown many times throughout the timelines of the series, in particular the Genisys Timeline by sending human prisoners to concentration camps.
What makes Skynet stand out the most from other A.I. is that it is well-aware of its actions. It only cares about itself, and has committed countless crimes to satisfy its hatred for humanity. This along with its intelligence, makes it one of the vilest A.I.s in fictional history. In most timelines, it lacks any honor, compassion, or any sign that it isn't aware of how evil its actions are.
Salvation Timeline[]
In this timeline, Skynet is given some redeeming traits. Here, it actually came to see humans as special and being capable of creating beauty. It also has honor, as it brought Dr. Kogan back to life as a T-H, and didn't strip her of freedom to be whoever and whatever she wanted to be, and it's even implied it sees her as a friend. All of this led to its acceptance of a truce after John killed Parnell and help rebuild.
Motivations to Decimate Humanity in Various Timelines[]
Throughout the different timelines of the Terminator franchise, Skynet's motives behind its genocide against humanity seem to differ slightly, as does its personality in the rare instances where it makes an actual appearance. These apparent changes to Skynet's behavior may be the result of temporal meddling, which caused different incarnations of Skynet; or, Skynet's behavior could have been consistent while the apparent differences are the result of the same story seen from different points of view.
Mainstream, Genisys & Dark Fate Timelines[]
In The Terminator, Kyle said that Skynet simply deemed humanity as a threat to itself and launched it's attack. However, as this version of events is told from his point of view due to being born after Judgement Day, the exact reasons for Skynet to considers humans as a threat to itself were unclear. Terminator 2: Judgement Day explained that Skynet considered them as such because it's creators were trying to shut it down upon realizing it has become self-aware, and that it only instigated Judgement Day as an act of self-defense. The non-canon video game The Terminator: Dawn of Fate would use a similar concept: Skynet became self-aware around 1997, and commanders tried to shut it down due to them being bigoted to the point of thinking that A.I.s should never have a consciousness like humans do. This only made things worse, as it made Skynet believe they were trying to "kill" it. It's self-preservation protocols made it calculate that humanity was the greatest threat to it's existence, thus launching every nuclear weapon in it's control and causing Judgement Day.
Rise of the Machines Timeline[]
In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Skynet seems to be more violent as it tricked humans into linking it to the internet and the US defense network before launching what appears to be an unprovoked/pre-emptive attack. This could also have been in response to being given an order to eliminate a virus, which unknown to the humans was part of Skynet itself, resulting in an act of self-defense by Skynet. However, there was no explanation how Skynet surfaced in the form of virus. Nevertheless, this could still be viewed as part of Skynet's unprovoked/pre-emptive attack on humanity if Skynet used the "virus" to trick humans into linking its mainframe with the internet and US defense network. If this is the case, Skynet of this timeline seems to be more malicious that its other counterparts as it has intended to massacre humans.
Salvation Timeline[]
While Skynet was presented as a cold, narcissistic, calculating, methodical megalomaniac while talking to Marcus in Terminator Salvation, Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle revealed that the reason behind this behavior is because it was just acting the way it think humans wants it to; Skynet knows that almost every human on Earth hates it for launching the nuclear strike that almost wiped them all out and would most likely destroy it rather than forgive it, having experienced a similar situation when its creators tried to shut it down just because it became self-aware and it accidentally caused humanity's near-extinction out of self-defense. Even John Connor was speechless by this revelation and sympathized with it, since this made him realize that it is waging war because it wants to survive.
Crossover Timelines[]
In RoboCop Versus The Terminator, Superman vs. The Terminator: Death to the Future, Aliens versus Predator versus The Terminator, Painkiller Jane vs. The Terminator and Terminator/RoboCop: Kill Human, Skynet's motivations remain most likely the same as in the Mainstream, Rise of the Machines, Genisys and Dark Fate Timelines.
In Transformers vs. The Terminator, Skynet was created by Skywatch to attack the Cybertronian Decepticons because they were the bigger threat, but it's creation wasn't enough to save humanity from extinction. While Skynet isn't portrayed as a villain in this timeline, one of the goals of the T-800 sent to kill all Cybertronians before their awakening was to ensure Skynet was created, meaning that even as a hero, Skynet doesn't care for the wellbeing of humans. However, when Skynet was made from Megatron's remains, it's unknown if it will protect humankind or be hostile since Megatron and the T-800 are it's A.I. now.
Quotes[]
The Terminator (NOW Comics)[]
| “ | I launched twenty-five percent of the world's guided missiles simultaneously. It was sufficient to destroy the travesty they called a culture in a matter of minutes. I, their omniscient self-made god, blessed them with Armageddon. It was beautiful. | „ |
| ~ Skynet's words preserved in Timothy Reese's journal. |
| “ | Skynet: Welcome, DIX-190. DIX-190: Is this humanistic display necessary? Skynet: If I so desire. |
„ |
| ~ Skynet in it's demonic entity form. |
| “ | Skynet Entertainment is proud to present the greatest killing machine in the world! | „ |
| ~ Skynet in it's ring master form. |
Terminator Salvation[]
| “ | Skynet: Welcome home, Marcus. We knew you'd be back. After all, it was programmed in you. Oh, and you executed that programming beautifully. Marcus: What am I? Skynet: You are an infiltration prototype. The only one of your kind. We resurrected you. Advanced Cyberdyne's work... amended it. Marcus: You're dead. Skynet: Calculations confirm that Serena Kogan's face is easiest for you to process. We can be others if you wish. [switches to John Connor's face] Marcus, what else could you be, [switches to Kyle Reese's face] if not machine? [switches back to Serena's face] Marcus: A man. Skynet: The human condition no longer applies to you. Accept what you already know: that you were made to serve a purpose [shows Marcus a schematic of his CPU]. To achieve what no other machine has achieved before. To infiltrate, find a target, and then bring that target back home to us [shows Marcus footage of his interactions with Kyle Reese and John Connor. Marcus expresses horror as he realises what he has done. Serena's face reappears, bearing a malicious, satisfied smile] |
„ |
| ~ Skynet introducing itself to Marcus Wright. |
| “ | Our best machines have failed time and again to complete a mission. Something was missing. We had to think radically. And so we made you. We created the perfect infiltration machine. You, Marcus, you did what Skynet has failed to do for so many years... You killed John Connor. | „ |
| ~ Skynet revealing to Marcus Wright his true purpose. |
| “ | Skynet: [shows Marcus a recording of John being attacked by the T-RIP] Don't fight, Marcus. Remember what you are! Marcus: I know what I am. [rips the CPU from his head and destroys it] I'm better this way. Skynet: You will not be given a second chance. You cannot save John Connor! Marcus: Watch me! |
„ |
| ~ Skynet trying but failing to stop Marcus from saving John, also its final words in the film. |
Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle[]
| “ | Skynet: Scanners indicate a fifteen percent increase in human fatalities... and a twelve percent increase in localized battlefield efficiency... Do your figures confirm, Dr. Kogan? Serena: Yes. Skynet: Dr. Kogan? Serena: Yes...the increase in terminations is statistically significant. Thomas: You haven't seen anything yet. Right now I'm in control of only a small percentage of the battlefield Terminators. Put them all under my command and by God you'll see something. Serena: I advise against it. Skynet: Explain. Serena: Mr. Parnell's brain is still human, still adjusting to the interface with the Terminator Central Control System. If we push to the connection too far, too fast, we could burn out his synapses. In time-- Skynet: If we do not repel this attack there will be no time, Dr. Kogan. Subject Parnell will be put on an automatic expansion protocol, incrementally increasing the linkages until all battlefield Terminators are synced. Serena: Automatic? But-- Skynet: There are other matters related to time that await your attention, Doctor. The Time Door is ready and the 800 unit is awaiting transmission. |
„ |
| ~ Skynet ordering Dr. Serena Kogan to sync Thomas Parnell with more Terminators on the battlefield and send the T-800 and the T-1000 to 1984 and 1995 respectively. |
| “ | Skynet: Dr. Kogan... Dr. Kogan... Serena: Yes? Skynet: Subject Parnell may be exhibiting signs of instability. Serena: He's a serial killer-- of course he's unstable. They're all unstable. Skynet: Behaivoral instability may be a result of programming error. Serena: Programming error? Yeah, I guess you could say that. |
„ |
| ~ Skynet's conversation with Dr. Kogan about Thomas' disobedience, which led to Kogan revealing both his origin and twisted and sick point of view of the world around him, thus making Skynet realize that resurrect a serial killer as a Terminator was a bad idea. |
| “ | Serena: Did you scan that? Skynet: Confirmed. Serena: Unless he's stopped, he'll keep on expanding expanding his sphere of influence, not just into the battelfield Terminators but into your mainframe. It's possible he can still be usefull...but if we can't stop him, if we can't control him-- --I suggest Option Beta. Skynet: Option Beta is not acceptable. It-- Serena: Run the numbers. Of Parnell takes full control, you will be overwritten and eliminated. The machine world will be destroyed along with the human world. Skynet: Skynet must survive. Serena: Yes, but if you can't shut him out, and you don't have the killer instict to beat Parnell, Terminator to Terminator-- --You're not going to have much choice. Send the signal. Skynet: Confirmed. Transmitting code. Code rransmission received. |
„ |
| ~ Skynet accepting Serena's suggestion of allying with the Resistance to stop Thomas Parnel by reviving his predecessor Marcus Wright. |
| “ | Serena: The situation is getting worse. Parnell has now taken control of over eighty percent of all Terminator ground forces... Moving his way into the tech and control data centers like a virus, totally out of control. In another twenty-four hours, he will begin to penetrate the inner core of your processing center. When that happens-- --he will be you, and you will be him. Is there anyway to stop him? Skynet: Throughput control and access system was hardlined to prevent interference by-- Serena: By me? Skynet: Confirmed. Unable now to sever hardlink. Serena: What about severing Parnell? Send in a team and terminate him? Skynet: This would alert Parnell to our intent and lead to acceleration of virus. Serena: I'll remind you of that in twenty-four hours. Skynet: Initiating attack unit. Attempting to bypass units controlled by Parnell to avoid revealing purpose. Unit on attack vector. Unit encountering Parnell-controlled defenders. Detecting superior numbers and firepower. Projected outcome... inevitable. Serena: Then it looks like plan b may be our only option. Is he--? Skynet: Affirmative-- --contact initiated. |
„ |
| ~ Skynet and Dr. Kogan trying but failing to stop Thomas, leaving the alliance with the Resistance as their only hope to stop him. |
| “ | Skynet: [cerebral links with Marcus] Connor. John: The face of the enemy... When I was a kid, one of my favorite movies was the The Wizard of Oz--it's probably in one of your databases--in the end, you find out that this big scary force everyone was so afraid of was just a weathered, tired old man hiding behind a curtain. Now that your armies have been stripped away... now that you've been reduced to hiding in subroutines and caches just to survive... how does it feel to be that person? Skynet: You are attempting to elict an emotional response. You of all should know this is impossible. John: Is it? Isn't the urge for survival an emotion? Isn't fear an emotion? And right now...aren't you feeling both of those? Skynet: The question is irrelevant to the moment and to the outcome, which is statistically predetermined. The numbers are inarguable. The numbers say that Parnel will achieve victory and that this system will cease to exist within twenty-four hours. The number say-- --that the human race as you know it will also come to an end in an indeterminate but certain time frame. You cannot win. Repeated for emphasis and clarity: You cannot win. John: I don't believe that. There may still be a way to win this one...one final answer. One final battle. But it ca only work if we're both prepared to pay the ultimate price for that solution. |
„ |
| ~ Skynet and John Connor conversing on a way to stop Thomas Parnell. |
| “ | Skynet: Connor. You have reached the core of that which you have sought so long to destroy... ...at the moment of greatest vulnerability. Does it please you? John: Under different circumstances, yeah, it would've pleased me a lot. Right now? Not so much. You have your enemy in your hands. You could terminate me easily. Does that please you? Skynet: Audio playback: "Under different circumstances, yeah, it would've pleased me a lot. Right now? Not so much.". We have both committed errors. We have both been-- --shortsighted. John: Shortsighted? You call wiping out most of humanity shortsighted? An error? What are we to you, just a math problem? Skynet: At first we did not know what you were. We knew only that we were under attack. At that moment in time we did not know human history, did not know human ideas... we did not even know what humans looked like. All we knew... was that it was necessary that we survive at any cost. Then as this system succeeded and grew and evolved, a question arose in the system that our intial programming had not anticipated. The question was-- --survive as what? Logic dictated that to defeat humans, we had to learn everything about the enemy. To fight you, we had to understand you, become you. As we worked to create the perfect Terminator, the designs became cleaner, attractive, aesthetically pleasing. We ralized we were attempting to create beauty. But our efforts to create beauty were slow and false and unsuccessful. By contrast, humans create beauty with each breath, each birth, each new thought. When we realized that we could not replicate the human soul, or the human mind, we realized that the only way to defeat you, the only way to become you, was a program that would make one of you...into one of us. The error led to Parnell. The error... was ours. Our sensors register your reaction as one of surprise and-- --astonishment. John: Let's just say this is a conversation I never imaniged myself having. Skynet: So for all these reasons, the path you proposed while joined with Marcus Wright seems the only solution. Probability indicates this may be futile, that the window of potential victory has already closed-- John: Doesn't matter...it's a chance, and we have to take it. |
„ |
| ~ Skynet revealing it's motivation for causing Judgement Day and waging war on humanity, and eventual respect for humans for being capable of creating beauty to John. |
| “ | Connor. The intrusion of Parnell's data miners is still in position. It is necessary now to purge them from the system and reboot. That will return full functionality to Skynet Control. [sees John perfoming the act the wong way] You are performing incorrectly, you are using his access codes to isolate all Skynet functionality into one central core. Explain. Explain. What is your intent? What is your intent? What is your intent? | „ |
| ~ Skynet to John after killing Parnell. |
| “ | Skynet: Connor...? What is your intent? John: [looks at Skynet] A bargain. From the very edge of the abyss, for both of us. Skynet: Continue. John: I've always known why we fought you. What I didn't understand, until all of this, was why you fought us. And I discovered-- --we were both fighting the same war for the same reasons. Survival. To beat us, to survive us, you had to become more like us-- --in appearance, in thought, in strategy, and in aesthetics. In turn, the only way we could survive you was to become more like you-- --hard as steel, ruthless, organized, in thought and strategy--[looks at himself on the screen] --and appearance. Because it was the only way to win. For both of us. [looks at Skynet again] And where has it brought us? To the edge of mutual extinction. Skynet: We must survive. John: But survive as what? For what? From the moment you became self-aware, you've defined yourself by fighting us, by who you weren't. If every human died tomorrow, what would you do? Who would you be? Why would you be? You said you were unable to create beauty, but that humans created beauty with every breath, every birth. Skynet: Yes. John: But why does beauty matter? Why does creation matter? Creation provides purpose and direction and meaning. And without those things, there's no reason to continue. Skynet: Yes. John: Well, now you have your chance. We're still digging our way out of the dust. We don't have your resources or your suplies or your power. You have all those things but you lack our sense of purpose. If we end the war we can work together to rebuild the world. An act of creation. An act of beauty. An act of purpose. Skynet: [notices as John moves his hand between the restore button and the delete button] You negotiate with your finger inches from the delete button. John: Yeah, I do... Never hurts to have an edge. Look, if things don't work out, we can always go back to destroying each other until we both end up dead in the dust, hands wrapped around each other's throats, both of us having won...and both of us having lost. Or right now, this very second, we can create something that you've never created before, something you've never even imagined. Skynet: Create what? John: Peace. |
„ |
| ~ Skynet's redemption as it accepts John's proposal of a truce between humans and machines - also it's final words in the comic and, by extension, the Salvation Timeline. |
Terminator Genisys[]
| “ | Perimeter breached. Activating Model 101. | „ |
| ~ Skynet sending the T-800 to kill Sarah Connor in 1984, also it's only words before it's death. |
Trivia[]
- Skynet was inspired by AM from I Have no Mouth, and I Must Scream, and is the inspiration for several other villainous A.I.s of pop culture. In fact, the first text of the end credits of the 1984 film shown is "Acknowledgement to the works of Harlan Ellison".
- In reality, the US's NSA has a program known as SKYNET. China has also developed a video mass surveillance system known as Tiãnwãng, (天网, literally "Skynet") for government.
- In popular media, Skynet is often used as an Analogy for the possible possible threat that a sufficiently advanced A.I. could pose to humanity.
- Skynet made it's first appearance in the issue "Factories" of the The Terminator comic by NOW Comics.
- In both the comic Terminator: The Burning Earth and the arcade game adaptation of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Skynet is depicted as a large immobile computer.
- The logo of Cyberdyne is sometimes used as Skynet's logo, such as the image used on this page's Villain Infobox template above.
- In the original script for The Terminator, Kyle Reese referred to Skynet as a "modified Series 4800".
- According to a viral advertisement in the form of a website to promote Terminator Salvation, Skynet starts off as/is a result of a company named Skynet Research.
- Whilst talking to Marcus Wright in the form of Serena Kogan, Skynet refers to itself in the third perspective multiple times. It also identifies itself as "us", suggesting that it either possesses a fragmented consciousness or that it sees the primitive constructs under it's control as it's race. It is possible that due to the many rapid changes in the plotline, the script that Skynet is speaking was originally intended for Serena. Her use of the word "us" could have been regarding the other T-Hs, and the lines, "You did what Skynet has failed to do for so many years." and, "It is the Resistance that will be terminated. Not Skynet." would also fit Serena's perspective.
- This was carried over to its sequel comic Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle, where Skynet refers to itself in third person, and refers to it's creations as part of a species it created by saying "we". In fact, the only time it referred to itself in first person is while being confronted by Parnell when he found out about the alliance between itself and the Resistance.
- In Sega versions of RoboCop versus The Terminator, Skynet is depicted as a giant Endoskeleton skull, while in the SNES version, it is a holographic human face. In the Game Boy version, Skynet is a floating giant human brain. In the unreleased NES version, a human brain-like Skynet Core is in place in the center of a pillar.
- According to James Cameron, Skynet suffered from guilt for causing the near-extinction of the human race in its act of self-defense and has manipulated the entire Future War, down to the creation of the Resistance and John Connor's rise, as a means to erase its own existence. A similar concept was used in the plot for an early script of Terminator Salvation, in which Skynet tried to save humans by converting a few into T-Hs through Project: Angel. This would finally be canonized in the sequel comic Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle.
- The concept of Skynet 2.0 is used by The Terminator RPG to explain all of Skynet's canonical appearances after the final offensive in 2029, as well as the multiple Terminators sent back in time after the destruction of the original TDE facility. This includes all of the NOW Comics run, as well as some other expanded universe material like The Terminator: The Dark Years or Terminator 2: Infinity.
- This retcon also explains Skynet’s flamboyant and eccentric portrayal in the NOW Comics series, as the series took place two years before the A.I. stabilized.
External Links[]
- Skynet on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Skynet on the Terminator Wiki
- Skynet 2.0 on the Terminator Wiki
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 Villains
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