T-1000

The T-1000 Advanced Prototype, also known as the 1000 Series, is a Terminator series produced by Skynet in 2029. The 1000 Series Terminator is fully autonomous, and unlike previous Infiltrator models that used rubber skin — and then finally living tissue over a metallic endoskeleton, the T-1000 is made entirely out of a liquid metal called "mimetic polyalloy", meaning it can reform into any shape it touches of the approximate size, thus calling it a "shape-changer". It cannot transform into any random object, such as a pack of cigarettes, as that size is considerably smaller. Neither can the T-1000 transform into any object that requires machinery to operate, such as a bomb. Another severe limitation of the T-1000 is that it cannot generate conventional weapons on its own volition, although it can utilize weaponry and vehicles found. It can, however, organically form primitive and blunt weaponry such as hooks, or stabbing weapons like knives. The usual modus operandi of the T-1000 is to impersonate civilians found or killed, only attacking once the target has been identified.

A T-1000 features a liquid molecular brain gathered by mimetic polyalloy. The molecular brain grants the T-1000 advanced reasoning capabilities, emotions such as humor, and even self-awareness. As a result, a T-1000 can make its own decisions contrary to that of Skynet. In order to protect itself from its own creation, Skynet did not mass produce the T-1000. For this reason, Skynet later discontinued the T-1000. The T-1001 and O110.X apparently went rogue possibly due to this capability.

Each nanoparticle of the T-1000 is a self-similar part of the single whole. Based on those nanoparticles is a hivemind that is composed of billions of them. With the loss of mass, the T-1000 will become less efficient. Should it lose too much of its mass, such as being blown apart by a grenade, the T-1000 is unable to carry out its task until regenerated.

Owing to its amorphous nature, the T-1000 is ironically more susceptible to ballistic force than the less advanced T-800 which can "tank" through small arms fire with little difficulty, if any at all. Several times after being shot, the impact was sufficient to not only damage it, but knock it back and even briefly incapacitate it before its self-repair capabilities were able to restore it. In fact, it was also nearly sliced in half when the T-800 impaled it with a metal rebar during the fight in the steel mill. In Terminator 2, the T-1000 was assaulted by the reprogrammed T-800, the latter of which used a shotgun to deter it from killing John Connor. It swiftly reformed and attempted to shoot the human dead, but the T-800's lightning reflexes allowed it to block the bullets it fired. The barrage it fired only killed an innocent mall worker. In the ensuing duel, the T-1000 and the T-800 both get knocked around, even smashing into and through walls. The T-1000 gained the upper hand and disabled the T-800 by throwing it through a plate glass window. John Connor attempted to deter the T-1000 by driving underneath a bridge that the truck, commandeered by the android, could not pass for it was too low. This barely had any effect. The T-1000 was then caught in an explosion when its vehicle careened into a second bridge that was even lower than the first. Aside from damaging its camouflage ability, it remains unknown what damage exactly the unit suffered from. The T-1000 was then caught in a second shootout, during which the T-800's shotgun blasts caught it in the face at point-blank range in a mental institute. Though its head split fully apart, it remained unfazed, and, reforming, pursued the protagonists once more. However, it was deterred from a combined barrage of Sarah Connor's .45 ACP rounds and the T-800's 12-gauge shells. As it attempted to kill John Connor, the T-1000 was stopped by the T-800 with yet another shotgun blast. This ripped off part of its arm, but the unit was again unaffected. It later recovered by reconstituting itself using the part that John hurled to the road. The T-1000 was then hindered by the explosion of its commandeered helicopter, but again suffered little visible damage. The T-800 used a grenade launcher to attempt to stop the T-1000, but failed. It then grabbed an assault rifle, clambered onto the truck which the T-1000 had stolen and fired a magazine of rounds into its face and body. Once again, the unit was damaged and it reformed. However, this distraction was enough for the T-800 to then seize control of the vehicle and bring it down on its side. The tank which the T-1000 was hauling behind the main vehicle ruptured when it hit a steel pillar and while the T-800 was only slightly damaged, the T-1000 became frozen as it waded through the liquid nitrogen. It then became immobile. It is possible the T-1000 may have been stopped following the above attack, but the T-800 then fired a gun at it, shattering the frozen android. The heat from the environment caused the pieces to thaw, and though it suffered from glitches, it remained resolute in its mission to kill the Connors as it reformed itself. Engaging the T-1000 in a close-quarters fight, the T-800 was proven to be significantly inferior as the more-advanced machine used its liquid metal structure to its advantage. As it gained the upper hand, it shoved the T-800 backward with almost superhuman force, trapping its adversary inside a massive gear machine. It is seen to suffer from glitches at this point. As the T-1000 closed in on Sarah Connor, Sarah attempted to slow it down with a few shotgun blasts. The android absorbed a round into its face again, but recovered and almost killed Connor until the T-800, having freed itself, intervened. In the ensuing duel, the T-1000 proved its aggression and superiority again, disabling the T-800 with a metallic rebar that impaled it through its power cell until the inferior cyborg could use the surrounding heat to activate its secondary power system. The T-1000 then confronted Sarah again - this time, she drove it to the edge of a platform and almost destroyed it, had she not run out of shotgun shells, because unlike the previous times it was attacked, this time Sarah gave it no time to recover by firing consecutive shot after shot. At the climax of this fight, the T-800 by this time had acquired a secondary power source. It used a giant gear to ride up to the Connors and, as the T-1000 attempted to kill the humans, fired its M-79 grenade launcher at the T-1000. Being a liquid structure unlike the solid T-800, it was blown apart and lost its balance. It fell into the molten liquid vat behind and below it; despite frantically attempting to reform itself, it was ultimately denatured by the extreme heat. As it "died", it frantically recalled the other people it had imitated, finally taking on a blank human form and melting into the liquefied steel. In Terminator Genisys, the T-1000 was shot several times by Kyle Reese and Detective O'Brien with a .38 special revolver, and run down by Sarah with a truck. Neither did any permanent damage. Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese shoot the T-1000 multiple times with an M16 and a 12-gauge shotgun as it pursues them while riding the hood of a police car. The bullets pass through the T-1000's liquid metal form with little to no detrimental effect, but at point blank range a dead-center shotgun blast is able to knock it backwards. The T-1000 turned his arms into blades and grabbed onto the back of the truck only for Sarah and Kyle to shoot at the blades to make it fall onto the hood of its police car. Kyle then fired a grenade launcher at the car detonating its fuel tank, destroying it. Whatever damage the T-1000 sustained remains unknowns. When the T-1000 breaks into their factory hideout, Sarah and later Kyle shoot it with several bursts from an M16. Again, the gunfire passes through the T-1000's liquid metal without staggering it noticeably. The mimetic polyalloy of the T-1000 was shown to be extremely vulnerable to acid compared to the more resistant endoskeleton of the T-800 as when Sarah shot at containers of hydrochloric acid on the ceiling, causing it to rain on the T-1000, its mimetic polyalloy immediately started to dissolve. The T-1000 managed to get out, but the Guardian forced it back under and held it there, losing only part of the sleeve of his jacket and the skin over his hand, while the T-1000 was completely annihilated. The T-1000s that have been encountered in combat were notoriously difficult to destroy, even feared indestructible by some Resistance members. This highly-resilient battle unit was able to withstand a wide variety of temperatures ranging up to at least 300 degrees Celsius.