History Film / UniversalSoldier

* TheDeterminator: [=UniSol=]s in general. Even automatic gunfire at close-range doesn't do anything for them, except temporarily incapacitate them. The NGU takes the cake, surviving heavy automatic gunfire that would have \killed an older series [=UniSol=], and walking off a grenade going off at close-range. Getting impaled through the throat and out the back of the neck did nothing but inconvenience him. It took being blown up by a detonator for high-level explosives to shred him into pieces.

* TheDeterminator: [=UniSol=]s in general. Even automatic gunfire at close-range doesn't do anything for them, except temporarily incapacitate them. The NGU takes the cake, surviving heavy automatic gunfire that would of killed an older series [=UniSol=], and walking off a grenade going off at close-range. Getting impaled through the throat and out the back of the neck did nothing but inconvenience him. It took being blown up by a detonator for high-level explosives to shred him into pieces.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: A person can be defined as dead if there's no signs of breathing, pulse, or brain activity. Another interesting detail to consider is that brain damage and even brain death can occur from prolonged oxygen deprivation. So unless a [=UniSol=] candidate is recovered and preserved within 5-10 minutes after death, they'll become incapable of higher-level brain functions and effectively turn into a vegetable which no amount of surgery or medication at the film's current era can even fix completely.

Has absolutely no relation to the 1971 film ''Universal Soldier'', which is most infamous for being Creator/GeorgeLazenby's first post-[[Film/JamesBond Bond]] role.

The original film received a video game adaptation on the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis and UsefulNotes/GameBoy - although it was just a DolledUpInstallment of ''VideoGame/{{Turrican}} 2'' with a few levels taken out and the ''Universal Soldier'' license added on.

* RevengeOfTheSequel: The series has such subtitles as ''The Return'', ''Regeneration'' and ''Day of Reckoning''.

* MonogenderMonsters: Averted in the non-Canon movies, where there are female [=UniSol=]s. Played Straight in the Canon movies. As to why there are no female [=UniSol=]s, no one knows. It is a possibility, that the process of augmenting a female combatant would be much more time-consuming, as they would have to add more bone and muscle mass to make them as physically strong as their male counterparts without the muscle booster. Its also a fact that when the films were made there were far less female soldiers in general and certainly very few in the special forces from which the Universal Soldiers are derived from.

* HumanPopsicle: When they are not being used, [=UniSol=]s are kept in cold-storage, with the temperature regulated to prevent them from overheating. Two things will happen when they overheat: They become uncontrollable, and prone to going berserk, or they overheat and shut down until they are cooled off.

* SuperSoldiers: [=UniSols=] are comprised of BioAugmentation and {{Cyborg}}ing. ''Regeneration'' goes further than the original, and describes the process by which the original [=UniSol=]s(Operation Black Tower) are [[spoiler: created using a combination of freezing the dead soldier, then repairing the body with surgery and then reheating the body with a combination of pituitary and thyroid augmentation, and deep tissue electrical shocks. The BioAugmentation grants them an increased metabolism, recuperative abilities and increased body temperature to match, and increased tolerance towards pain, exhaustion and fatigue. The high-concentrate nutritional supplement they are given, augments their physical performance even further and takes care of their dietary needs.]]

* MutualKill: The beginning of the film sees two Deveraux and Scot in Vietnam killing each other over the war crimes of one of them before they're both frozen and later revived as brainwashed supersoldiers.

* RevengeOfTheSequel: The series has such subtitles as ''The Return'', ''Unfinished Business'' and ''Day of Reckoning''.

* MadeOfIron: Because of their increased pain tolerance, due to their augmented pituitary gland, which increases and improves the production of substances created by the endocrine system, such as endorphins, and their increased rate of recovery and healing, coupled with additional systems in place, [=UniSols=] are incredibly tough. They are able to shrug off injuries that would kill regular humans, such as sustaining multiple gunshot wounds to vital areas without dying, and aren't affected by high falls and harsh impacts. Coupled with the body armour systems they wear, the average [=UniSol=] is incredibly hard to kill. Examples seen are:

The first film, ''Film/{{Universal Soldier|1992}}'', centered around "[=UniSols=]," {{Super Soldier}}s made from the bodies of fallen U.S. soldiers brought back from the dead, and the conflict between two soldiers, Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) and Andrew Scott (Lundgren), who had killed each other in Vietnam, as they start to regain memories of their feud.

* PsychologicalHorror: Of the slow burning kind. You don't realize how terrifying the actuality and reality of the [=UniSol=]s are, and what they're made for and what they do, until ''Regeneration'' and ''Day of Reckoning''. Then it kicks in, and you come to realize the horror of it all, and it sinks it.

* PsychologicalHorror: Of the slow burning kind. You don't realize how terrifying the actuality and reality of the [=UniSol=]s are, and what they're made for and what they do, until Regeneration and Day of Reckoning. Then it kicks in, and you come to realize the horror of it all, and it sinks it.

* RevengeOfTheSequel: The series has such subtitles as "The Return", "Unfinished Business" and "Day of Reckoning".

* NightOfTheLivingMooks: the [=UniSols=] are pretty much Bioaugmented Cyborg Zombie Super Soldiers.

* HealingFactor: Because of their augmented thyroid, [=UniSols=] have an increased metabolism, which in turn, fuels their bodies accelerated rate of recovery. The augmented metabolism, coupled with the nutritional supplement, allows for their bodies to produce newer cells at an accelerated rate, letting them heal and recover from injuries quicker. However, due to their augmented metabolisms, their bodies overheat rather quickly.

The first film, ''Film/{{Universal Soldier|1992}}'', centered around "[=UniSols=]", {{Super Soldier}}s made from the bodies of fallen U.S. soldiers brought back from the dead, and the conflict between two soldiers, Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) and Andrew Scott (Lundgren), who had killed each other, and start to regain memories of their feud.

The first film, ''Film/{{Universal Soldier|1992}}'', centered around "[=UniSols=]", {{Super Soldier}}s made from the bodies of fallen U.S. soldiers brought back from the dead, and the conflict between two soldiers, Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) and Andrew Scott (Lundgren), once they start to regain memories of their feud.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: A person can be defined as dead if there's no signs of breathing, pulse, or brain activity. Another interesting detail to consider is that brain damage and even brain death can occur from prolonged oxygen deprivation. So unless a [=UniSol=] candidate is recovered and preserved within 5-10 minutes after death, they'll become incapable of higher-level brain functions and effectively turn into a vegetable which no amount of surgery or medication at the film's current era can even fix.

* BigEater: Most Unisols are this after coming off of the high-concentrate nutritional supplement they subsist on.

* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Downplayed. The only thing that keeps the [=UniSols=] under control is a memory clearance drug, which (once it wears off) causes the [=UniSol=] to revert back to their former personalities. [[spoiler: A lack of temperature regulation outside of the memory clearance drug, causes the Unisols to go berserk.]] It is shown that the muscle booster that they take to augment their performance even further makes it harder and harder for the memory clearance drug to be effective.
* TheDeterminator: Unisols in general. Even automatic gunfire at close-range doesn't do anything for them, except temporarily incapacitate them. The NGU takes the cake, surviving heavy automatic gunfire that would of killed an older series Unisol, and walking off a grenade going off at close-range. Getting impaled through the throat and out the back of the neck did nothing but inconvenience him. It took being blown up by a detonator for high-level explosives to shred him into pieces.
* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: With the exception of John, all of the Unisols originate from elite infantry and special operations backgrounds. Devereaux and Scott were both US Army Special Forces before their death, and according to the original script for the first movie, The Universal Soldier Strike Force was a black ops unit operating in Special Forces.

** Before someone is made into a Unisol, with the exception of the later Clone Series Unisols like Magnus and John, many of the Unisols are either elite infantry, like Airborne, Rangers, or Special Forces, meaning they already have an incredible advantage before they are augmented. Even without the muscle booster or gene therapy, Unisols are terrifying combatants. Those we see benefit from the muscle booster & gene therapy are a magnitude more dangerous than their fellow Unisols.
** When we get to the Clone Sleepers, they're more improved than their counterparts. Magnus himself outperforms all of his fellow Unisols save for Scott and Devereaux, along with having the ability to regenerate lost limbs and appendages. John himself even more so than everyone else.

* HumanPopsicle: When they are not being used, Unisols are kept in cold-storage, with the temperature regulated to prevent them from overheating. Two things will happen when they overheat: They become uncontrollable, and prone to going berserk, or they overheat and shut down until they are cooled off.

* MonogenderMonsters: Averted in the non-Canon movies, where there are female Unisols. Played Straight in the Canon movies. As to why there are no female Unisols, no one knows. It is a possibility, that the process of augmenting a female combatant would be much more time-consuming, as they would have to add more bone and muscle mass to make them as physically strong as their male counterparts without the muscle booster. Its also a fact that when the films were made there were far less female soldiers in general and certainly very few in the special forces from which the Universal Soldiers are derived from.

* PsychologicalHorror: Of the slow burning kind. You don't realize how terrifying the actuality and reality of the Unisols are, and what they're made for and what they do, until Regeneration and Day of Reckoning. Then it kicks in, and you come to realize the horror of it all, and it sinks it.

* ResurrectedForAJob: The Unisols are comprised of military special forces operators, who are taken off of the battlefield after they have died or sustained critical injuries, repaired through surgery and augmented before being resurrected.

* RuleOfSymbolism: The movie series as a whole is a take on FrankensteinsMonster, and melding it with men of war, genetic engineering and other things. The Unisols themselves are bred for war and conflict, and they're controlled by the faceless government overseers who created them, to be used for black ops and secret war over the world. The movies deal with what happens when that system of control falls apart, and men bred for war, take their driving lust for war, against their oppressors and creators.

** Part of the process that makes an reanimated service member into a Unisol, involves an infusion of various chemicals that help start up the implanted muscles and bone mass that they receive during surgery. These are all brought online and to full operation, by one final chemical injection, which causes the augmented muscle and bone mass to swell up, in a rather painful manner; as they come online. For the first few seconds after the injection and the swelling, the Unisol sounds like they're suffocating, before evening out. It doesn't sound remotely pleasant at all.
** Then we have the Muscle Booster, which is used to further push the performance of the chemical cocktail surging through a Unisol's body and their augmented muscle and bone mass. It allows for a Unisol to reaching incredibly superhuman levels of performance, depending on who the Unisol is and all of those tiny little factors. In the hands of the original Andrew Scott, it allowed for him to throw Devereaux with enough force to flatten a barn door. For Devereaux, it made him outperform Scott and allowed for him to drop kick Scott through a barn wall.
* SuperSoldiers: [=UniSols=] are comprised of BioAugmentation and {{Cyborg}}ing. ''Regeneration'' goes further than the original, and describes the process by which the original Unisols(Operation Black Tower) are [[spoiler: created using a combination of freezing the dead soldier, then repairing the body with surgery and then reheating the body with a combination of pituitary and thyroid augmentation, and deep tissue electrical shocks. The BioAugmentation grants them an increased metabolism, recuperative abilities and increased body temperature to match, and increased tolerance towards pain, exhaustion and fatigue. The high-concentrate nutritional supplement they are given, augments their physical performance even further and takes care of their dietary needs.]]

* SuperStrength: Without the muscle booster and gene therapy, A [=UniSol=] is strong enough to push a 2-ton jeep on empty and reach speeds of 35+ mph while running, swim a mile and a half upriver in under four minutes, barrel through thick walls like they were made from wet paper, lift incredible weights and manhandle full-grown adults like they were children, and without showing any strain. This is all due to their pituitary and thyroid augmentations, which serves as the basis for the strength and vitality that the Unisols have without the muscle booster and gene therapy.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Shooting a Unisol in the heart and head most of the time isn't the best way to kill them. Even without body armour, Unisols have been shown to survive injuries that would kill a regular Human in a heartbeat. Because of their augmented constitution, the best way to ensure that they stay dead, is to overdo it. Stabbing them multiple times before shooting them in the neck and then impaling them in the head with a machete? Go for it. Giving them an impromptu cranirectomy and then blowing out their brains? Sure, why not? Pummeling the crap out of them, impaling them on a wheat thresher and then shredding them to bits? Most definitely!

* MonogenderMonsters: Averted in the non-Canon movies, where there are female Unisols. Played Straight in the Canon movies. As to why there are no female Unisols, no one knows. It is a possibility, that the process of augmenting a female combatant would be much more time-consuming, as they would have to add more bone and muscle mass to make them as physically strong as their male counterparts without the muscle booster.

The first film, ''Film/{{Universal Soldier|1992}}'', centered around "[=UniSols=]", {{Super Soldier}}s made from the bodies of fallen U.S. soldiers brought back from the dead, and the conflict between two soldiers, Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) and Andrew Scott (Lundgren), once they start to regain memories of their feud. It was followed by two direct-to-video sequels in 1998: ''Universal Soldier II: Brothers In Arms'' and ''Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business''. ''Brothers In Arms'' has the [=UniSol=] program being used by mercenaries to smuggle diamonds, while ''Unfinished Business'' has Deveraux helping Veronica Roberts clear her name, while Deveraux's brother is cloned and turned into a new [=UniSol=]. These sequels featured none of the original cast or crew, and are largely considered to be inferior to the original.

The first film, ''Film/{{Universal Soldier|1992}}'', was followed by two direct-to-video sequels in 1998: ''Universal Soldier II: Brothers In Arms'' and ''Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business''. ''Brothers In Arms'' has the [=UniSol=] program being used by mercenaries to smuggle diamonds, while ''Unfinished Business'' has Deveraux helping Veronica Roberts clear her name, while Deveraux's brother is cloned and turned into a new [=UniSol=]. These sequels featured none of the original cast or crew, and are largely considered to be inferior to the original.