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“ | Not machine, not man. I'm more. | „ |
~ The T-3000's most famous quote. |
The T-3000, formerly known as John Connor, is the central antagonist of the 2015 sci-fi action film Terminator: Genisys, the 5th installment of the series that set in its own timeline. He was sent by Skynet to kill Sarah Connor, Kyle Reese and the old version of T-800 to make sure Skynet will win in the war and will rule the Earth as he needs to make sure Genisys will operate well.
He was portrayed by Jason Clarke, who also played his former self, John Connor (the protagonist), in the same film, George Wilson in The Great Gatsby, and Emil Stenz in White House Down.
Description
The T-3000 is a hybrid nano-technological cyborg terminator assigned to kill Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor, as well as complete failed missions assigned to other terminators. This version of the terminator is a nanotechnological man-machine hybrid and just like the T-1000, he is nearly indestructible and can survive any serious harm, albeit in a far more alarming rate.
Unlike previous Terminators created by Skynet, units of the T-3000 were humans who had been transformed through exposure to a type of machine phase matter. The phase matter would completely rewrite the victim's genetic coding, forcing their body to be transformed into resin on a cellular level. According to the heroic T-800 named "Pops", John Connor's infection and transformation was the only known successful attempt by Skynet to create a T-3000, as previous attempts done on some unfortunate human subjects resulted in them becoming insane and dying during experimentation.
As a result of his transformation, John Connor was driven insane and turned traitor.
Biography

John bids Kyle farewell for his mission, before he is attacked by "Alex".
In 2029, John Connor leads the resistance in the war against the machines. Skynet sends in a T-800 to kill John's mother, Sarah in order to prevent John's birth and thus effectively eliminating the resistance. John sends Kyle Reese to protect her but just at the moment when he is sent back, John is attacked by "Alex", a prototype of the T-5000 (a machine), who infects him with machine phase matter. Unlike the rest of the Terminators that they faced however, the T-5000 is actually the physical manifestation of Skynet itself whom previously uploaded itself into that unit.
In the revised timeline, Skynet sent the T-3000 John Connor to 2014, tasked to safe guard the creation of Skynet's prototype form, Genisys. There, John expedites Skynet's creation by helping Cyberdyne Systems develop the Time Displacement Equipment and mimetic polyalloy.
Reunions

John helps Kyle and Sarah escape custody.
In 2017, John in his adult self rescues Kyle and Sarah in a hospital and brings them to a parking lot. The Guardian aka. Pops (a Terminator that raised Sarah early on) notices something wrong with John, and upon seeing John has been assimilated by T-3000's machine phase matter, shot him twice to expose him. This infuriated Sarah and Kyle, both of whom briefly turned against him. The Guardian falters, realizing that he went too far.

John reveals he is now a T-3000.
Fortunately, he's actually indeed done the right thing albeit in a very rude way as all of sudden, John's blood turned into stand-alone particles that entered his body and it regenerates. John revealed that he has been named "T-3000". T-3000 gives Sarah and Kyle a chance to join the machines and end the war. They decline and a brief battle occurs between John/T-3000 and Pops. In the outcome, the T-3000 gets incapacitated temporarily.

John tracks Kyle, Sarah and Guardian down.
The T-3000 tracks The Guardian, Kyle and Sarah to a warehouse near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, where they are attempting to destroy "Genisys", which is secretly Skynet. He is able to knock the school bus that the trio are in off the Golden Gate bridge, aiding the ignorant California Highway Patrol in capturing them. The T-3000 becomes the victor as the group are taken into police custody. Detective O'Brien later frees Kyle and Sarah, with the three hijacking a chopper. The T-3000 arrives in hot pursuit, but is delayed further as The Guardian divebombs into the helicopter blades, causing it to crash.
Final Fight and Demise

John "takes care" of Cyberdyne security.
The T-3000 enters the Cyberdyne building, killing many inside. John also advances the countdown to Genisys by speeding up the process from hours to mere minutes. At that point, Genisys will spread to every software and be unstoppable. Sarah and Kyle plant bombs in the facility, but John destroys the detonator to the explosives.

T-3000 battles Pops.
The two Terminators engage in a brutal battle, during which John gains the upper hand due to his technology being significantly more advanced than Guardian. However, Guardian restrains the T-3000 and both become trapped in the field of the prototype time machine, with Guardian being knocked out and into a pool of prototype mimetic polyalloy, allowing it to bond with the liquid metal and survive.

The T-3000's demise.
The T-3000, on the other hand, is left to disintegrate as he perishes in the explosion of Cyberdyne Headquarters, which prevented Genisys from going online and gaining access to internet. However, in a mid-credits cutscene, Genisys is seen to be still online.
Trivia
- Tom Hardy was the original choice for John Connor/T-3000[1], but he was busy filming Mad Max: Fury Road.
- Christian Bale was both unavailable and unwilling to reprise the role from Terminator Salvation, Jason Clarke, who was Bale's co star in Public Enemies was cast in the end.[2]
- Had Christian Bale accepted the offer to return, Genisys may have been considered a continuation of Terminator Salvation.
- To prepare for the role, Jason Clarke studied passages from William Shakesphere and a speech by Steve Jobs.[3]
- The twist of Connor being the villain of the film was spoiled in the second trailer for the movie. This was met with backlash from fans and even the film's director Alan Taylor was unhappy and apparently was overruled by the marketing department, when it came to the decision.[4]
- Despite sharing the same last name in real life, Jason Clarke is not related to Emilia Clarke, who played John's mother, Sarah Connor.
- The idea of John becoming a Terminator was originally meant for the previous film, but it would've been done differently story wise.[5]
- The unproduced sequel was originally going to explore what happened to John after he was transformed into a T-3000.[6]
Quotes
“ | Survival is what you taught me! | „ |
~ The T-3000 as John to Sarah. |
“ | Hi, mom. | „ |
~ The T-3000 as John Connor, meeting Sarah in the hospital. |
“ | There's a storm coming and it won't be stopped. I can't be bargained with... can't be reason with... I don't feel pity, or remorse or fear. I absolutely will not stop ever until the machines rule this world! | „ |
~ The T-3000 as John Connor, reavling that he is a true terminator also his true nature to Kyle and Sarah. |
“ | All you people know how to do, is kill what you don't understand. There aren't enough bullets in the world to kill me! | „ |
~ T-3000 stating that there is no gunfire that can kill him because of his sheer durability. |
“ | You are nothing but a relic from a deleted timeline! | „ |
~ The T-3000, revealing his true form while choking The Guardian and stating that he is an old metal and about to continue their battle. |
“ | You were never strong enough to defeat me. | „ |
~ T-3000 gloating that the Terminator lost the fight. |
“ | NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! | „ |
~ T-3000's last words before being destroyed in the Time Magnetic Field. |
Gallery
Images
Videos
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Skynet/Legion Humans |
References
- ↑ [1]Tom Hardy Wanted For ‘Terminator 5’s John Connor With Kitsch & Hoult Eyed For Kyle Reese
- ↑ [2]Why Christian Bale Didn't Return To The Terminator Franchise
- ↑ [3]'Terminator Genisys': Jason Clarke on his version of John Connor
- ↑ [4]Even Terminator Genisys' director thinks its dumb trailer spoiled the movie
- ↑ [5]'Terminator Salvation': The shocking, bummer of an ending you didn't see!
- ↑ [6]What The Terminator Genisys Sequel Would Have Been About, According To Jason Clarke