Every Actor Who Has Played A Terminator

While Terminator onscreen, he's one of a growing fraternity of performers to do so. One might think playing a machine would be a role actors could sleepwalk through, but as Schwarzenegger and others have demonstrated, that's not the case. A cyborg would behave quite differently than a human being as certain aspects of humanity are hard to duplicate.

Once Terminators are no longer trying to blend in, that's when they can truly unleash the full power of their inhuman nature, shrugging off severe damage like it was a bee sting, and moving at speeds people aren't capable of. They also tend to speak, even when not trying to attract attention, in a rather subdued, monotone fashion, and when they try and force a human spark into their words, it's noticeable to those paying attention.

Schwarzenegger originated playing a Terminator in James Cameron's original 1984 classic, but as the franchise has expanded outward, more and more people have gotten to portray Skynet - or Legion's - forces onscreen. Here's a rundown of every actor who's played a Terminator, including all six feature films and the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV show.

The Terminator (1984)

The Terminator obviously served as the debut of the entire Terminator concept, and its first onscreen representative, the T-800 model killing machine played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Austrian Oak was still fairly new to Hollywood at that point, and The Terminator was one of the movies that helped kick his burgeoning career into high gear. However, whiles some viewers might think Arnold is the only Terminator actor in the first film, he isn't. A different Terminator appears in a flash-forward to Kyle Reese's future, played by Italian bodybuilder Franco Columbu, a close friend of Arnold's that he knew from prior Mr. Olympia competitions.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Robert Patrick as T-1000 wearing a police helmet and sunglasses while on a motorcycle in Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Robert Patrick's remains peerless.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

The T-X shows off its robot arm in Terminator 3

Terminator 3 again brought back Schwarzenegger to play his third variation on the T-800, this time another reprogrammed cyborg, but definitely not the melted one John Connor bonded with as a child. Again, the villain was the new spice added to the Terminator formula, this time in the form of Kristanna Loken's T-X, or as she's often dubbed, The Terminatrix. Like the T-1000, the T-X could morph itself into other people and weapons, although it had additional advanced abilities, such as the ability to control other machines, including Terminators. Before landing the T-X role, Loken was best known for TV work, including stints on Unhappily Ever After, Mortal Kombat: Conquest.

Terminator Salvation (2009)

Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright looking intense in Terminator Salvation

Clash of the Titans. Arnold also made a quick CGI cameo as a T-800, with his young face placed on the body of Roland Kickinger, another Austrian bodybuilder.