After launching an attack that triggers a nuclear war in what becomes known as Judgment Day, Skynet takes over the world and uses a wide range of machines to fight what is left of humanity. This includes the Terminator models. Skynet also gets access to time travel and uses it to fight the war before it even begins. Originally conceived by the US military as an AI-powered automated defense mechanism that would control the country’s defenses, Skynet always becomes self-aware and turns against humanity.

Skynet Became Self-Aware And Decided Humanity Was A Threat

Skynet Is A Defense Mechanism That Turned Against Its Creators

In most versions of the Terminator universe, Skynet became self-aware shortly after being activated and decided that humanity was a threat. However, whether humans were a threat to themselves or Skynet’s existence is open for debate. In some of the Terminator timelines, it is implied that Skynet was trying to protect its own existence, which is why it tried to wipe out the human race. In other timelines, it is suggested that Skynet concluded that humankind was a threat to itself and needed to be controlled. Regardless of the reason, Skynet always tries to trigger a nuclear holocaust.

In The Terminator, Kyle Reese implies that Skynet judged that humans were a threat to themselves and the rest of the planet, hence the necessity of killing billions of them. However, in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the T-800 tells John and Sarah that Skynet was acting in self-defense when it realized that humans were trying to shut it down. In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, it seems like Skynet had more sinister goals from the start, as it disguised itself as a virus to trick the military into connecting it to the internet.

One explanation for such different approaches to Skynet’s motives is that each Terminator movie and series takes place in its own timeline. Therefore, the Skynet that Kyle Reese knew is not necessarily the same one the T-800 was telling John and Sarah about in T2. Likewise, by changing the course of history in 1995, John and Sarah may have indirectly caused an eviler Skynet to arise in Terminator 3. Either way, Skynet turns against humanity in every version of the story. It then proceeds to fire U.S. nuclear weapons against other countries, which then launch their own in retaliation.

Every Version Of Skynet In Terminator Explained

Skynet Has Had Plenty Of Versions Throughout Terminator

In the original Terminator timeline – the one from which Kyle Reese was sent – Skynet was created by Cyberdyne Systems for the United States Defense Department. In Terminator 2, we learn that the wreckages of T-800 from the first film were used by Cyberdyne Systems to create a new microchip that would become the basis for Skynet. In other words, Skynet’s origin story in the first two movies is a paradox. By sending the T-800 to kill Sarah Connor, Skynet was also making sure it would exist. This is one of the fundamental Terminator paradoxes, the other being Kyle Reese’s mission.

In Terminator 2, Skynet goes online on August 4, 1997, and becomes self-aware on August 29 of that same year. It then proceeds to launch a nuclear attack against Russia, triggering a nuclear war that decimates most of humanity. However, in T2, the heroes prevent Judgment Day from happening – or at least they thought so. In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, John Connor learns that Judgment Day was only postponed for a later date. Skynet goes online on July 25th, 2004, and launches a nuclear attack an hour later.

In Terminator Salvation, we visit the post-apocalyptic world where John Connor’s Resistance is fighting Skynet. The movie was designed to be both a sequel and a prequel to the original films, with the T-800 appearing at the end ahead of Skynet’s original time travel mission. Therefore, this version of Skynet is virtually the same as the previous ones, although it’s unclear when exactly Judgment Day happened in this timeline. In Terminator Genisys, Judgment Day happened in 1997 in the original timeline but was avoided in a new timeline created when a T-800 was sent back in time to raise Sarah Connor.

In Terminator: Dark Fate, which ignores everything that came after T2, the heroes saved the day in 1995 and prevented Skynet from ever causing Judgment Day. However, a different artificial intelligence known as Legion replaced Skynet in this new timeline, becoming a major threat to humanity and taking over the world in the near future. In The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which considers The Terminator and Terminator 2 canon but not Rise of the Machines, Judgment Day was postponed from 1997 to 2011.

Lastly, in Terminator Zero, Skynet gains a competitor in the form of Kokoro. Born and raised in the post-apocalyptic future we know from the movies, scientist Malcolm Lee started to develop a new artificial intelligence that could be powerful enough to destroy Skynet. Malcolm did not give this new A.I. an original mission, allowing it to decide for itself what it would want to be. He completed his creation in the past, and by 1997, Kokoro was ready to be launched. However, Kokoro also turned against humanity, prompting the Resistance to send a soldier back in time to destroy it.

Why Skynet Has Never Been Truly Defeated In Terminator

Skynet Always Fights Back In Terminator

One of the themes in the Terminator franchise is inevitability. While Rise of the Machines was not as great as its predecessor and has been “decanonized” by all of its sequels, it introduced the interesting concept that Judgment Day cannot be avoided. Created by humans, Skynet is an enhanced version of humankind’s worst traits. Whether it sees humans as a threat to the world or to itself is debatable and varies with each film, but the fact is that Judgment Day is always a result of humanity’s actions.

Related

Terminator 7: Script Announcement & Everything We Know

James Cameron has announced he's currently penning a script for Terminator 7, and here's everything we know about the new Terminator movie.

Posts

In Terminator Zero, Malcolm Lee specifically tries to teach Kokoro about what makes humans special, and why they should be saved from Judgment Day. However, Kokoro struggles to realize what is so special about the human race, especially when it has been destroying itself already. So far, the only Terminator timeline in which Skynet was fully defeated is Dark Fate’s. Even still, a different A.I. replaced Skynet’s role in history. The fact that Skynet has access to time travel also makes it difficult to be defeated, with every change made to the past restarting the cycle.

Terminator

Movie(s)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation (2009), Terminator Genisys (2015), Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Created by

James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd

First Film

The Terminator

Latest Film

Terminator: Dark Fate

First TV Show

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

TV Shows

Terminator Zero (2024)

The Terminator franchise, launched by James Cameron in 1984, explores a dystopian future where intelligent machines wage war against humanity. The relentless pursuit of key human figures by time-traveling cyborg assassins known as Terminators is central to the narrative. John Connor, the future leader of the human resistance, is the core target of the malicious machines.

First Episode Air Date

January 13, 2008

Cast

Emilia Clarke, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes

TV Show(s)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008)

Video Game(s)

The Terminator (1990), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), RoboCop versus The Terminator (1993), Terminator 3: War of the Machines (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009), Terminator: Resistance (2019)

Expand Collapse