History WhatAnIdiot / Terminator

'''You'd Expect:''' Kyle to keep it simple and explain that, while their actions were extreme, they were desperate--the police already know a deranged killer is after Sarah Connor, who is present and obviously scared, and the Tech Noir club was shot up when he came after her, so any number of witnesses can vouch that she obviously ran from something serious. Kyle just has to say that he was doing what he could to save Sarah's life.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' ''Anything at all'' -- Skynet's biggest source of opposition is right inside its building, they know he's there, and even remark upon this to Marcus. They should be activating every tool at their disposal, regardless of whether it's a stationary unit or some other part of the building's defences, to impede or kill him. Literally nything that ensures its most dangerous enemy is dead for good.\\

* Skynet has decided to send a new, much more advanced Terminator, the T-1000, to finish what the previous could not.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Skynet to send the T-1000 to 1984, back when Sarah and Kyle were being chased by the first Terminator. By doing this, it keeps the surprise factor and forms a powerful unit by having two almost indestructible robots teaming up against the already overwhelmed couple.\\
'''Instead:''' It sends it to 1995, a much later date that has no special significance. By this time, John is already a boy old enough to take care of himself and he and his mother are aware of Skynet and its Terminators, eliminating all the surprise factor. Moreover, the T-1000 will be alone in its task.\\

* The T-1000 has both of its primary targets locked in a small metal box - admittedly with the T-800 protecting them, but they're in a confined space.\\

'''Result:''' The T-1000 only manages to wing Sarah after it gets a better idea of where she is and only flows into the elevator ''after they've already gotten out,'' which leads to their latest escape.

* The T-1000 is giving chase through the steel mill wants to attract John.\\

'''Instead:''' It concocts a weirdly convoluted plan where it activates an unaware Terminator and has him roam around, find the real Kyle, reach John, get him to move, and finally return. Some of those events happen by entire chance, as Marcus was a relatively unpredictable pawn who might have not even found Kyle or gained Connor's trust in the first place, leaving unclear how probable they were in the first place. Even more weirdly, the plan more or less works, and John does venture himself alone to rescue Reese, but the plan's uncontrolled factors come to bite Skynet in the ass when Marcus breaks free from its control, destroys the T-800 meant to kill John and saves his life by giving his heart.
* General Ashdown and his staff are going to mass broadcast the radio signal.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' Skynet to order him to be executed right there. This version of Skynet is aware of the time loop and knows he will be John's father, which is the reason why both John and Skynet were searching for him. By killing Kyle, the timeline is changed and Skynet wins the game regardless of whether it manage to kill Connor in present time or not. Even if this doesn't happen, it is worthy a try, as Kyle has no value for Skynet anymore; John has learned from Marcus that Kyle was captured and is heading to the Skynet base as the supercomputer wants.\\
'''Instead:''' It keeps Kyle alive all the time, which allows him to be rescued and come out alive by the end.
* Skynet finally has John inside its facilities, where it can be killed.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Skynet to pump nerve gas in the level where John is, or swarm him with dozens of war machines, or blow the building up, or everything at once, anything that ensures its most dangerous enemy is dead for good.\\

'''Instead''': Due to Skynet inexplicably placing a command in all of its units that functionally allows them to continue learning (via putting them in "independent" mode), Carl comes to realize that [[spoiler:killing John]] was AllForNothing, gains a conscience (and even becomes a successful businessman), and decides to start helping Sarah Connor as a shadow benefactor by giving her the heads-up on incoming T-800 units. By the time Sarah, Dani and Grace reach him in Texas, he's amassed a stockpile of weaponry and is all but jumping at the chance to help them defeat the Rev-9.

* The T-X has knocked out the T-800 with its built-in plasma cannon.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The T-X to capitalize and then either disable the T-800 completely or infect him with its nano-machines.\\

* The T-X manages to impersonate Kate and get the drop on her father at the military base where Skynet was created and is currently taking over. Immediately after she arrives, the real Kate arrives along with John and the T-800\\

'''Instead'': Due to Skynet inexplicably placing a command in all of its units that functionally allows them to continue learning (via putting them in "independent" mode), Carl comes to realize that [[spoiler:killing John]] was AllForNothing, gains a conscience (and even becomes a successful businessman), and decides to start helping Sarah Connor as a shadow benefactor by giving her the heads-up on incoming T-800 units. By the time Sarah, Dani and Grace reach him in Texas, he's amassed a stockpile of weaponry and is all but jumping at the chance to help them defeat the Rev-9.

* Skynet sends multiple Terminators back in time to kill John Connor.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Multiple Terminators to be sent to the same point in time or in close succession so they can work together.\\
'''Instead:''' Skynet decides to give them a sporting chance and sends the T-800 models one at a time, with multi-year gaps between them.\\
'''Result:''' The heroes have enough time to prepare between appearances, and even manage to destroy Skynet itself in the interim.

'''You'd Expect:''' Kyle to keep it simple and explain that, while their actions were extreme, they were desperate--the police already know a deranged killer is after Sarah Connor, who is present and obviously scared, and the Tech Noir club was shot up when he came after her, so any number of witnesses can vouch that she obviously ran from something serious. He only has to say that he was trying desperately to save Sarah's life.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' Both of them to attack Sarah, as without her John Connor can't be born.\\
'''Instead:''' The reactivated T-800 chases down Kyle for some reason and attacks him.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' Kyle to keep it simple and explain that, while their actions were extreme, they were desperate--the police already know a deranged killer is after Sarah Connor, who is present and obviously scared, and the Tech Noir club was shot up when he came after her, so any number of witnesses can vouch that she obviously ran from something serious. He only has to say that they ran from the place and ended up in the same car.\\

'''Instead:''' It forgets all about him, even although the T-X don't leave the place either, but stays there waiting for the cops to come to infect their cars.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' John recognizes an old Terminator trick and approaches warily, if at all, getting eyes on the situation from longer-range.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' The T-1000 to get enough of a visual on John and/or Sarah to direct a single killing blow and finish up the others later. Barring that, disable the elevator and flow into the car entirely and overwhelm them since it knows it can't be effectively destroyed with the weapons they have. Or simply cut the cables and send the elevator plummeting to its doom along with them.\\

'''You'd Also Expect:''' John, a highly-trained fighter who knows how to fight Terminators, to be prepared to withdraw quickly and safely.\\
'''Instead:''' John pitches himself bodily over a railing and lands badly, injuring himself.\\

'''Instead:''' The T-X wastes time shooting Kate's father, who isn't a target at all.\\

* In a flashback, Kyle remembers when he and Corporal Ferro went to destroy a H-K tank patrolling the area. Planning to use their grenades to destroy it. Kyle throws his grenade under cover, continuing to hide behind rubble as he does so.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Ferro would also stay in her hiding place and throw the grenade from there like Kyle did.\\
'''Instead:''' Ferro stands up to throw her grenade, blowing her cover in the process.\\
'''Result:''' The H-K Tanks notices, and the plasma cannon blows Ferro to bits. Just a good thing Kyle's grenade proved to be enough to destroy it.

* The original T-800 has arrived in the past, and attempts to acquire clothes as it tried to initially. Pops and Sarah, knowing where it's going to be, set a trap for it.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Pops and Sarah to disable it with the element of surprise while it's standing still rather than drawing its attention and turning things into a real fight.\\
'''Instead:''' Pops dramatically engages the T-800 with a shotgun and then hand-to-hand while Sarah sets up a shot with an anti-materiel rifle.\\
'''You'd Also Expect:''' Sarah to pick a vantage point with a clear line of fire.\\
'''Instead:''' Sarah lines up ''directly behind Pops'', meaning it's not until Pops is knocked down that she has a clear shot.\\
'''Result:''' Pops takes unnecessary damage while Sarah breaks out the rifle and lines up the shot, drawing attention and making it harder for Pops to blend in.

* The second T-1000 reactivates the disabled T-800, leaving Sarah, Pops, and Kyle to deal with two Terminators at once.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Both of them to attack Sarah, literally the only person whose death matters at that point in time.\\
'''Instead:''' The reactivated T-800 chases down Kyle for some reason and attacks him.\\
'''Result:''' Kyle manages to destroy the T-800 and Sarah and Pops' trap for the T-1000 takes it out as well.

* In a flashback, Kyle remembers when he and Corporal Ferro went to destroy a H-K tank patrolling the area. Planning to use their grenades to destroy it. Kyle throws his grenade under cover, and the tank stops to wonder what it rolled over.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Ferro would also stay in her hiding place and throw the grenade from there like Kyle did. Or at least wait until the tank is not looking in their direction.\\
'''Instead:''' Ferro throws her grenade just as the tank is looking around where she and Kyle were.\\
'''Result:''' The H-K Tank's plasma cannon blows Ferro to bits. Just a good thing Kyle's grenade proved to be enough to destroy it.

* In a flashback, Kyle remembers when he and a female corporal went to destroy a H-K tank patrolling the area. Planning to use their grenades to destroy it. Kyle throws his grenade under cover, and the tank stops to wonder what it rolled over.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Ferro would also stay in her hiding place and throw the grenade from there like Kyle did.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' The T-1000 to get enough of a visual on John and/or Sarah to direct a single killing blow and finish up the others later. Barring that, disable the elevator and flow into the car entirely and overwhelm them since it knows it can't be effectively destroyed with the weapons they have.\\

* Three punks at the Griffith Observatory see the naked Terminator approaching them.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Them to laugh and joke, evidently, but not without trying to keep their distance from the hulking, Mr. Olympia-like streaker who is demanding them to hand over their clothes.\\
'''Instead:''' They mock and then try to fight him.\\
'''Result:''' As if wasn't a really bad idea, it turns out the streaker is actually an android from the future. It kills two of the thugs and takes the third guy's clothes.

'''You'd Expect:''' Them to laugh and joke, evidently, but not without trying to keep the distance with the hulking, Mr. Olympia-like streaker who is demanding them to hand over their clothes. They might be three on one and have switchblades, but from their perspective, their opponent is a mass of muscle who is either insane or high in something really nasty; in a potential fight, he might perfectly be able to take a dozen stabs and still break the neck of any of them with his bare hands before going down. Ultimately, running away and calling the cops would be the best actions.\\
'''Instead:''' They try to fight him.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' The T-1000 to just behead wordlessly Kyle in the spot, capitalizing on his rush and the fact that he doesn't know he's in front of a Terminator.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' Them to set the machine to travel forward to 2016. They will have an entire year to adapt themselves, rest a bit from their dangerous life, and develop a plan to discover what is Genisys and what is the best way to stop it. True, the T-3000 might have been already around, but none of them knew that, and it would have been still a better situation for them than meeting him while chained in a hospital.\\