T-800 models are all identical in appearance: a muscular, male human exterior made up of living tissue, covering a metal endoskeleton actuated by a powerful network of hydraulic servomechanisms, which provide superhuman strength.

In the Terminator sequels, armies of skinless T-800 endoskeletons are shown to be used by Skynet during future war sequences, serving as soldiers rather than infiltrators.

With the exterior appearance applied, they are the first Terminator model capable of blending in with humans; as a result, the resistance began using dogs to detect them.

Kyle Reese, a future soldier sent back to stop the Terminator, describes the latter as such: The skin is prone to aging and injury related deterioration,[3] but can heal itself with enough time.

Repeated shotgun blasts have enough force to knock down and temporarily disable the cyborg, while heavy amounts of automatic fire are able to compromise the organic disguise layer.

In the third film, the Terminator is slightly modified, operating on two hydrogen fuel cells; when damaged, these explode with enough force to produce a small mushroom cloud.

The origin of the Terminator's physical and vocal templates is provided in the 2001 novel T2: Infiltrator, in the form of former counter-terrorist Dieter von Rossbach, who meets and joins forces with the Connors in the present.

The reason stated for copying Dieter was that Skynet was looking in the old military files for someone whose body could effectively conceal the Terminator's massive endoskeleton.

In the scene, the Terminator's human appearance is said to be based on that of Chief Master Sergeant William Candy, also portrayed by Schwarzenegger but with a dubbed-over Southern accent, which would be replaced in-universe by the more menacing Austrian-accented voice of one of the developers.

He is later caught in a fuel tanker explosion, burning away his flesh covering to expose his mechanical nature and causing minor damage to one of his legs, slowing him down.

Kyle sacrifices himself to damage the Terminator with a pipe bomb that destroys his legs, and Sarah crushes the remaining endoskeleton in a hydraulic press to shut him down permanently.

During his time with the Connors, this Model 101 is taught how to speak in slang-like terms, such as "Hasta la vista, baby", and encouraged to act more human, to the point that he develops into an almost fatherly role for John.

The T-1000 chases the trio into a steel mill and overpowers the Model 101 in hand-to-hand combat, impaling him through the chest and destroying his main power supply.

Prior to the film's events, Cyberdyne Systems had recovered a forearm and the damaged CPU chip from the Terminator in 1984 and used those components to radically advance its research and technology, which will eventually lead to the creation of Skynet in 1997.

Since the T-101's core consciousness is still intact and he just lacks physical control of his body, John is able to incite him to shut down by noting the conflict between his current actions and his programmed mission.

As John and Kate retreat to a bunker to wait out the now-inevitable nuclear war, the T-101 battles the T-X, using his remaining fuel cell to destroy them both in a massive detonation.

John holds his own with his advanced weaponry, but is unable to stop the Terminator until the latter is drenched in molten metal and then liquid nitrogen, freezing him temporarily.

As John begins planting hydrogen fuel cells, cyborg prototype Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) arrives to stall the T-800.

Months after killing John, Carl experienced compassion towards an abused woman, Alicia, and made a choice of rescuing her and her child, Mateo, from her uncaring husband.

Since John's death, Carl used his awareness of "chrono displacements" and sent Sarah text messages with the GPS coordinates of where and when other time-traveling Terminators would arrive.

[42] Orion executive Mike Medavoy, in a phone call with Cameron, suggested that O. J. Simpson play the role of the Terminator, with Arnold Schwarzenegger as Kyle Reese.

[76][77][78][79] Azar returned as body double for the opening scene in Terminator: Dark Fate,[80][81] with de-aging techniques used by Industrial Light & Magic to add a younger version of Schwarzenegger's face.

[41][84] According to Clark Collis of Empire, mainstream audiences had previously viewed Schwarzenegger as "little more than a joke, a mumbling behemoth whose grasp of both acting and the English language, appeared minimal at best.

"[85] Variety found the character to be "perfectly cast",[86] while Colin Greenland of Imagine called Schwarzenegger "eerily wonderful as the unstoppable cyborg.

"[88] David Ansen of Newsweek felt that Schwarzenegger was "born to play a machine," writing about Terminator 2, "Here, as an emotionless cyborg acting out the part of a foster father, he's impressive, hilarious, almost touching.

"[16] In his review of Terminator 3, Mike Clark of USA Today wrote that Schwarzenegger "still looks spectacular, but the script is short on deadpan zingers, and his heart doesn't seem in it.

Club wrote: "Like Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator has been spoofed, ripped off, and paid homage far too often to retain much of its original menace.

[91] Todd McCarthy of Variety felt that this Terminator's "physical inferiority to his opponent [the T-X] invests Schwarzenegger with an unaccustomed underdog status that brings him closer to the viewer.

[96][97][98] Reviewing Terminator: Dark Fate, Angie Han of Mashable found Schwarzenegger to be the film's best aspect: "His deadpan delivery makes him distinctive, while the performance beneath it suggests an interiority deeper and more complicated than even the character himself seems able to comprehend.

[102] Likewise, Cathal Gunning of Screen Rant believed that the character, once a threatening antagonist, had been "ruined" by repeated humanization attempts throughout the film series.