- —Tagline
Terminator VS RoboCop is the 31st episode of Death Battle, featuring The Terminator from the Terminator series and RoboCop from the RoboCop series in a battle between iconic movie cyborgs. The Terminator was voiced by Joe Gaudet and RoboCop was voiced by Xander Mobus.
Interlude
Boomstick: Sci-fi movies have taught me two very important things. One, I want my own lightsaber, and two, the future blows.
Wiz: It's unavoidable. The warrior of the next millennium is the machine. Such as The Terminator, the time-traveling metal assassin.
Boomstick: And RoboCop, Detroit's cyborg defender.
Wiz: These mechanized combatants have fought before, but never in a no-holds-barred, one-on-one duel to the death.
Boomstick: Or without brand restrictions. He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
The Terminator
Wiz: In the distant future of 2004, the government deployed the world's first automated defense network, Skynet, to keep everybody on the planet safe and happy.
Boomstick: So Skynet used the planet's nuclear arsenal to annihilate most of humanity and take over the world. The age of machines had begun.
Wiz: To combat the remaining human resistance, Skynet developed a specialized breed of robotic soldier.
Boomstick: Affectionately called... the Terminator.
Wiz: Standing 6'2" and weighing almost 400 lbs, the T-850 Terminator is a cybernetic organism — living tissue surrounding a hyper-alloy endoskeleton. This made the perfect disguise, capable of infiltrating enemy ranks with its human visage.
Boomstick: Basically the whole point of the Terminator was to blend in with normal people, and then kill them. Yes, because two-time powerlifting champion ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER is totally your average guy!
Wiz: Sure, but only the Model 101 Class looked like that. The Terminator has hundreds of different possible faces.
Boomstick: What was that one designed for? Attracting women and making men feel inadequate?
Guy in hallway: Damn!
I'll Be Back - Terminator 2: Judgement Day by Brad Fiedel |
Wiz: Using time displacement equipment, the Terminator was sent back in time to stop Skynet's greatest rival: John Connor, leader of the human resistance.
Boomstick: This model was first sent to super early abort John Connor, then protect John Connor, then protect John Connor again, and then blow up this bitch.
Terminator: You are terminated.
The Terminator blows up himself and the T-X using his hydrogen fuel cell.
Wiz: The T-850 is powered by twin hydrogen fuel cells. A single cell can last up to 120 years, but extensive damage may rupture the cell to critical condition.
Boomstick: And it blows up like a small hydrogen bomb.
Wiz: Similar to the explosion that brought down the Hindenburg.
Boomstick: Luckily for Arnie, he can ditch a damaged cell before that happens, and he works just fine with just only one left, like Lance Armstrong, without the steroids.
Wiz: The Terminator is programmed with an abundance of subroutine data, including Skynet's extensive logs on all combat and weaponry throughout Earth's history. This even includes data on all previous T-800 models. Through this, he technically has more experience and skill then any human being could ever possibly achieve.
Boomstick: But while he's a master in all weaponry, he does have his favorites. In the future, the Terminator wields an M-27 Phased Plasma Rifle, which is too heavy and powerful for any ordinary person to use. When the time period doesn't have any space guns lying around, his weapons of choice include a Hardballer Longslide pistol, a 12-gauge Franchi shotgun, a portable M79 grenade launcher, and the beautiful M134 minigun. Oh man, just looking at it makes me feel wonderful pants feelings.
Wiz: Speaking of feelings, the Terminator is a learning machine, adapting to human behavior through observation and interaction. It can even learn to feel genuinely sad, which is odd, since Skynet designed it to be a merciless mass murderer.
John Connor: Jesus, you were gonna kill that guy!
Terminator: Of course, I'm a Terminator.
John Connor: Just put up your hand and say "I swear I won't kill anyone".
Terminator: I swear I will not kill anyone.
The Terminator shoots a security guard in the knees.
Terminator: He'll live.
Boomstick: Sad or not, The Terminator is a beast in combat. He's even taken down superior models like the next-gen T-900s, the nearly invincible T-1000, and even the T-X, which is actually an anti-Terminator.
Wiz: The Terminator is a master marksman, with advance analysis, calculative, and observational tools. He can survive massive blows, power shortages, and getting dragged through an entire city. Plus, after the last T-800 was melted in a steel mill, Skynet upgraded his titanium endoskeleton to coltan, which can withstand extreme temperatures over 3000°C.
Boomstick: Why even bother making new Terminators? The T-850 is clearly the best.
Terminator: Hasta la vista, baby.
He shoots the frozen T-1000, shattering it.
Wiz: Each Terminator is not unique, made by assembly for quick deployment. To save time, Skynet forgoes high-end software protection, leaving the Terminator easily hackable. In fact, the one T-850 who protected Connor on Judgment Day was reprogrammed not once, but four separate times. Just screams lazy, lazy design.
The Terminator scrolls through different phrases to say and selects one.
Terminator: Fuck you, asshole.
Boomstick: But it's a little hard to hack something that can kill you with one hand in twenty million different ways. The Terminator is one of the deadliest assassins in movie history. If you get in his way, don't bother running; you're already dead.
Terminator: I'll be back.
He walks out of the police station, only to come back driving a car right through the front door, crushing the policeman.
RoboCop
Wiz: Alex J. Murphy was a good police officer with a good family, as with many good cops. That all changed when he was transferred to Detroit, Michigan. What began as a routine patrol through the city became the most important moment of Murphy's life: his death.
A shotgun-wielding thug blows Murphy's hand off.
Boomstick: HOLY SHIT!
As Murphy screams, he is repeatedly shot by multiple thugs wielding shotguns.
Boomstick: Damn! That guy can eat more bullets than 50 Cent!
Wiz: Murphy would have been six feet under if the mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products had not stepped in. By privatizing Detroit's police force, OCP technically owned Murphy's corpse.
Boomstick: That doesn't seem legal at all.
Wiz: With unchecked crime on the rise, OCP's... uhh... forward-thinking executive, Bob Morton, proposed a bailout plan so ridiculously absurd, it just might work.
Boomstick: They would rebuild Murphy. Better, stronger, with less flexibility, which of course means robo-parts. The result was one bad mother fucker: RoboCop.
Multiple scenes of RoboCop stopping crimes are shown.
Bob: What are your prime objectives?
RoboCop: Serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the law.
He shoots through a female hostage's dress to nail a criminal in the crotch.
Boomstick: With the durability of a tank, and the firepower of a one-man army, RoboCop nearly annihilated all of Detroit's street crime in just a couple of days. The man was unstoppable.
Wiz: But was he man, or machine?
Male Officer: This guy is really good.
Female Officer: He's not a guy; he's a machine.
Wiz: RoboCop is 99% artificial, but he relies on the most complicated known machinery: a human brain.
Boomstick: Even after OCP tried to make him their own personal robo-pet, the man called Murphy still lived.
Wiz: With no family, a contorted public image, and the constant threat of deactivation by his corporate owners, the struggle to regain his humanity would consume Murphy's every waking moment. While also fighting crime, and that's just his good days.
RoboCop Overture - RoboCop: The Series by Joe Walsh |
Boomstick: Fortunately, his cutting edge arsenal makes locking up the bad guys the easiest part. Housed in his nifty right leg is the custom Auto-9 machine pistol, one of the most powerful hand cannons ever made. In his left leg, he's got several tactical Ordinance grenades, each with adjustable power levels.
Wiz: At level three, a single Ordinance can annihilate a metal security door. So just imagine what maximum level ten can do.
Boomstick: If he needs a bit more firepower, Murphy has an attachable Weapon Arm, complete with machine gun, flamethrower, and anti-tank smart bomb missile. And for those extra special moments, there's the Cobra Assault Cannon, which goes boom, and then there's no more anything.
RoboCop shoots the ED-209 with the Cobra Assault Cannon and the top of it explodes.
Sitcom Guy: I'd buy THAT for a dollar.
The legs of the defeated ED-209 fall over and then twitch.
Wiz: He also has a subsonic jetpack, which helps him jump sharks.
Boomstick: I, I don't even...
William Ray Morgan: Where's your sense of humor?!
RoboCop: Right here.
RoboCop raises his fist and punches him in the face.
Boomstick: Jesus Christ...
Wiz: Murphy is also equipped with state of the art hardware and software, Including a thermograph, a video recorder, and a terminal strip for collecting data.
Boomstick: Or for ripping out throats! Just look at that thing!!
Wiz: No wonder Detroit's falling apart! All their USB flash drives can double as shivs!
Boomstick: Murphy's armor is made up of carbo-ceramic-reinforced titanium, with laminated Kevlar, which basically means it'll stop pretty much anything. It's like the Pepperidge Farm bread packaging of armor!
RoboCop: I'm composed of titanium. I don't believe you are. (draws the Auto-9) Your move.
The entire SWAT team scatters.
Boomstick: Each leg has two rambolts, which can anchor him into the ground to stop fleeing motorboats and speeding cars.
Wiz: He also has a targeting system so precise, he can catch and even shoot bullets out of thin air.
Boomstick: Expert marksman? More like master of the impossible!
Criminal: Don't try to follow me!
RoboCop: We won't.
Criminal: The baby is going with me!
RoboCop: No.
Criminal: I'll kill it, man! I'll do it! I'll fucking kill it!
RoboCop: We can't have that.
He uses his advanced targeting to calculates the ricochet angle from a nearby steel door, then fires, hitting the criminal in the head, allowing his partner to rescue the baby.
Wiz: Murphy has defeated plenty of technically superior combat machines, and endured dozens of seemingly fatal situations. He's strong enough to lift a 10-ton armored door, tough enough to survive a bazooka, brave enough to plunge into a giant nuclear plant monster thing and kill it from inside...?
Boomstick: Note to self: remember to weed garden.
Wiz: And if that's not crazy enough for you, he's even rescued Sting from the Four Horsemen in WCW wrestling. Yes. This is real.
Boomstick: Murphy may be a walking tank, but he also moves like one. He's SOOOOOOO SLOW!!
Wiz: His main function is to chase the bad guys! You'd think OCP would've prioritized running legs over, say, his Frisbee skills. Also, Murphy's battery can only last about 24 hours without recharging, but consistent damage can quickly drain his power. In prolonged combat with someone his equal, Murphy is in constant danger of power failure.
Boomstick: To top it off, his human parts add extra vulnerability, which is stupid because it means he can even get a common cold and...
RoboCop sneezes what looks like a bolt of electricity, which hits the ground.
Boomstick: FUCKING SNEEZE LIGHTNING BOLTS OUT OF HIS FACE! It doesn't matter how many flaws he's got! RoboCop is a badass!
Owner: Nice shooting son. What's your name?
RoboCop: Murphy.
Prelude
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A ROBO DEATH BATTLE!!!
Death Battle
The scene is in a busy city. Terminator enters the area via time travel in a gun store.
Salesman: Holy shit! Hey, where'd you come from? How'd you do that?
Terminator: Give me your guns... and your clothes. Now!
Salesman: Whoa, hey buddy, that's not really my thing. Hey... what are you doing? Don't touch that! AAAAAHHHH!!
Suddenly, an explosion occurs, blowing up most of the store and killing the salesman.
The Terminator then proceeds to exit the fiery building with all of his guns and wearing his trademark outfit, with his sunglasses being the last piece put on.
RoboCop arrives in a police car in order to arrest the Terminator.
RoboCop: Freeze, creep. You are under arrest. Come quietly or there will be... (draws his Auto-9) ...trouble.
The Terminator then takes out his Hardballer and analyzes RoboCop, classifying him as a cyborg with a high threat level, and noting his titanium and laminated kevlar, as well as two vital weak points: his human brain and "human heart".
Terminator: Negative. Walk away if you want to live.
RoboCop also analyzes his opponent, classifying him as a cyborg of unknown origin, then noting his weapons, his two hydrogen fuel cells and the danger posed if they're damaged, and the Terminator's cool sunglasses.
RoboCop: You are coming with me. Alive... or dead.
The Terminator fires his hardballer pistol, which has no effect on RoboCop. Robocop then fires multiple shots from his hand cannon, which slightly staggers Terminator. Afterward, the two continuously fire their handguns as they walk towards each other. Terminator throws away his hardballer and pulls out his shotgun, then proceeds to shoots RoboCop multiple times at close range, knocking him back.
Terminator: Out of my way!
Terminator proceeds to hit RoboCop with the shotgun a few times and while Robocop attempts to counter by shooting with his hand cannon, Terminator grabs his arm and evades the shots, then continues hitting him with his shotgun. RoboCop then twirls his hand cannon and shoots the shotgun out of the Terminator's hand, but Terminator dominates him in hand to hand.
RoboCop: Take that, criminal sc—
Then RoboCop manages to get two hits in, the last one breaking his opponent's sunglasses. Angered, the Terminator punches him repeatedly, slams him into the ground, breaking the road, pummels him, then throws him through the window of his own police car. Terminator takes out his grenade launcher, throws up a round, catches it, and places it into the chamber as he prepares to send RoboCop off.
Terminator: Hasta la vista... baby.
The Terminator fires his grenade launcher, completely obliterates the entire car, seemingly winning the whole battle right there.
However, RoboCop comes out of the wreckage with his flight pack and Cobra Assault Cannon.
RoboCop: Good news, scum. (aims the Cobra Assault Cannon) You are no longer under arrest.
He fires it at the Terminator, who is knocked back. Terminator evades all of the other shots, retrieving his shotgun, and hides. As RoboCop flies around searching for his opponent, the Terminator is climbing a building. RoboCop stays floating in midair, unable to find his adversary.
RoboCop: Hmm... do you plan on hiding forever?
The Terminator is shown at the top of a rooftop, revving up his minigun.
Terminator: No!
He then proceeds to fire and lands several solid hits on the surprised RoboCop, who is knocked back. RoboCop manages to evade the remainder of the fire and analyzes the minigun, finding a weakness in its 6 barrel pivot. He fires six shots, each of which hit their marks, jamming the minigun, which Terminator discards. RoboCop charges at him, but Terminator aims his grenade launcher, calculating the arc angle.
Terminator: Time to bring you down to earth!
He manages to hit the flight pack with the grenade launcher, causing it to malfunction. With his flight pack out of control, RoboCop jumps off onto the rooftop as it flies off towards the ground without him. RoboCop attaches the weapon arm, and Terminator throws aside his grenade launcher for his shotgun and jumps down towards him.
RoboCop: Your move.
Terminator lands a hit, but RoboCop retaliates with his flamethrower, continuously burning him.
RoboCop: Property damage. Resisting arrest. Assaulting an officer. Murderer, your hot streak ends here.
RoboCop stops firing the flamethrower and the Terminator, a part of his face burned, is agitated.
Terminator: Fuck you, Dick-wad!
RoboCop: You have the right to remain silent. (kicks the Terminator off of the building and aims at his falling opponent with his weapon arm) I suggest you exercise it.
He fires his smart bomb missile, which hits the Terminator, forcing him into an oil tank, which creates a massive explosion. RoboCop jumps down from the building...
...but the Terminator makes it out, his human skin and clothes destroyed but the machine underneath unscathed and still holding his shotgun in his left hand. He then opens a hidden compartment in his chest, and reaches inside it with his right hand, pulling out a plasma rifle. He then fires at RoboCop, two of the shots which hit, stunning his weapon arm and right leg. RoboCop is then forced to limp away into cover behind a car in order to evade the plasma rifle blasts. Once he gets behind the car, he lifts it up with one hand and throws it towards the Terminator, trapping his right arm. The Terminator is forced to tear itself away from its right arm and then marches towards RoboCop with his shotgun.
Terminator fires shot after shot, damaging part of RoboCop's visor display and draining his battery level from 6% to 5%. RoboCop scans for a weakness, finding one in the Terminator's waist hinge. Eventually, RoboCop is forced into a corner as Terminator points his shotgun at his opponent's head. But just as the Terminator pulls the trigger... the weapon's out of ammo.
RoboCop: Nine shots. You're out.
Without another hand, for the Terminator to reload his shotgun, RoboCop attaches a level 10 ordinance grenade to the Terminator, grounds himself with his rambolts, and then takes out his auto-9.
RoboCop: Checkmate.
He then shoots the grenade with his pistol, causing a huge explosion. RoboCop is damaged, but is alright, and thinks the fight is over.
RoboCop is surprised to see that Terminator is still functional, crawling with one arm and with its head turned the other way. He proceeds to lift up the Terminator by his neck.
RoboCop: What are you doing? This fight is over.
The Terminator then turns his head in the right direction towards RoboCop.
Terminator: Not... yet.
RoboCop, at 1% charge, realizes that the fuel cells have been ruptured.
RoboCop: Hydrogen fuel cells... ruptured!
The Terminator, intent on taking his opponent with him, tries reaching out to grab RoboCop.
Terminator: You... are... terminated.
Thinking quickly, RoboCop straps Terminator to the flight-pack, which crash-landed on a car nearby, and sends him into the air.
Terminator: I'll... be... BACK!
Shortly after he says this, the hydrogen fuel cells explode, creating a huge explosion as the screen goes white. The head surprisingly comes down with the red eyes still glowing. RoboCop proceeds to twirl his pistol and places it back into his leg.
RoboCop then walks forward and stomps on the Terminator's head, shattering it, then continues walking.
Results
Prime Directives Overture - Robocop: Prime Directives by Norman Orenstein |
Boomstick: I don't think he'll be back from that one.
Wiz: Terminator may have held the speed advantage, but RoboCop trumped everything else. His arsenal certainly had more destructive force behind it.
Boomstick: You'd think the Terminator's space rifle would be enough, but RoboCop has tanked plasma shots before.
Wiz: In fact, the difference in survivability is very clear cut. RoboCop fell from the top of a skyscraper on to a gas main, which then exploded, and he was fine.
Boomstick: The Terminator was blown up by a homemade pipe bomb.
Wiz: RoboCop pushed a building-busting bomb into a warehouse (that's solid brick by the way), which then detonated IN HIS FACE, and he was fine.
Boomstick: The Terminator was obliterated by the same kind of explosion.
Wiz: RoboCop stopped and reversed a 3000 psi hydraulic press with his bare hands.
Boomstick: Y-you guys see where this is going now, right?
Wiz: And being part-human means that Murphy can think more creatively, adding a level of unpredictability the Terminator could not immediately understand.
Boomstick: The Terminator almost had a victory... until it blew up in his face.
We cut to the "Winner" card.
Wiz: The winner is RoboCop.
Trivia
Production
- The core connections between The Terminator and RoboCop are that they are both iconic 1980s action movie characters who are robotic one-man armies built and programmed by a company (Cyberdyne Systems and Omni Consumer Products, respectively). In addition:
- Both were created to replace primitive and obsolete robots (T-600 and ED-209, respectively) and faced and defeated their successors with more advanced technologies than their own (T-1000 and Robocop 2, respectively).
- Both have ties to pro-wrestling, with the Terminator having appeared in a WWE video game and RoboCop having saved Sting from the Four Horsemen.
- This is also a battle of opposites, as while Terminators are robots in human skin manufactured by a machine to eliminate humanity (unless they are reprogrammed), RoboCop is a human with robot parts created by humans to protect them.
- RoboCop had officially fought Terminators before within the RoboCop Versus The Terminator comics and video game, but did not encounter the specific T-800 or T-850 Terminators famously portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- Both would eventually become guest kombatants in Mortal Kombat 11, with RoboCop mentioning that "they have done this before," though this more likely refers to their official crossover comics and game rather than this episode.
- This makes it the first match-up to be playable in a Mortal Kombat game, with the next one being Omni-Man VS Homelander.
- Both would eventually become playable skins in Fortnite together.
- The Terminator having a plasma rifle stored in its torso is unique to Death Battle, as the Terminator series has never had any Terminator with a similar function.
- The city backdrop used in this episode's fight would later be reused in Godzilla VS Gamera and Deadpool VS Deathstroke.
- This is the first episode to feature a fight animated by Torrian Crawford.
- As part of the Save Death Battle Kickstarter, any backers who pledged for any of the reward tiers could vote in a survey to decide a rematch to be made for Death Battle '25, with this episode having been one of the available options, though it ultimately lost to Master Chief VS Doomguy.
Easter Eggs
- The Terminator killing the gun store owner is a reference to a similar scene in his first movie.
- RoboCop breaking the Terminator's glasses and the Terminator retaliating angrily references a similar scene in Terminator 2.
- RoboCop burning the Terminator's face with his flamethrower is similar to how the T-X does the same thing to the latter in Terminator 3.
- The Terminator's endoskeleton being completely revealed after emerging from the flames of the exploded oil tanker is a reference to a similar scene in his first film.
- RoboCop running for cover after receiving a few shots from the Terminator's plasma rifle is similar to how he does the same thing to avoid RoboCop 2's armor piercing assault cannon in his second film.
- The Terminator's endoskeleton still functioning after being partially blown-up by RoboCop's ordinance grenade is a reference to what happened to the Terminator in the first film.
Errors
- A significant amount of Terminator's hair in the current thumbnail was noticably removed when rendering it out, leaving blank spots that shouldn't be there.
- Almost none of the firearms used by either RoboCop or the Terminator in the fight match what they were described as using in the analysis.
- RoboCop's Auto-9 (a modified Beretta 93R) is replaced with a Heckler & Koch USP Match.
- RoboCop's Cobra Assault Cannon (a modified Barrett M82) is replaced with a Barrett XM500.
- The Terminator's M79 grenade launcher is replaced with a Milkor MGL.
- It also doesn't seem to bother using shells that are already inside the launcher.
- When Terminator analyzes RoboCop's vital weak points, both his head and his heart are listed as a human heart.
- Additionally, RoboCop's heart being listed as a human one was actually incorrect information used in RoboCop's analysis preview, though this would be fixed in the final episode, as it is referred to as a mechanical heart in his analysis proper.
- When RoboCop takes cover behind the car from the plasma rifle shots, the car is moved slightly from its original spot in the next shot.
- RoboCop takes out the ordinance grenade from his right leg instead of his left, though this was done to compensate for the fact that his left arm was disabled.
- The Terminator fires his Hardballer pistol endlessly without reloading.
Other
- This is the first Movie-themed episode, with the next five being Godzilla VS Gamera, Boba Fett VS Predator, James Bond VS John Wick, Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers, and Gru VS Megamind.
- This is the first Live Action-themed episode, with the next six being Godzilla VS Gamera, Dragonzord VS Mechagodzilla, The Seven Battle Royale, Boba Fett VS Predator, James Bond VS John Wick, and Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers.
- This is the first Robots-themed episode, with the next nine being Fulgore VS Sektor, Tigerzord VS Gundam Epyon, Mega Man VS Astro Boy, Power Rangers VS Voltron, Metal Sonic VS Zero, Optimus Prime VS Gundam, Ultron VS Sigma, Mega Man Battle Royale, and Dragonzord VS Mechagodzilla.
- This is the fifth episode where Boomstick yells a variation of his pre-fight catchphrase (via saying "IT'S TIME FOR A ROBO DEATH BATTLE!!!"), after Akuma VS Shang Tsung, Rogue VS Wonder Woman, Felicia VS Taokaka, and Eggman VS Wily, and with the next 24 being Pokémon Battle Royale, Fulgore VS Sektor, Tigerzord VS Gundam Epyon, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Guts VS Nightmare, Solid Snake VS Sam Fisher, Hercule Satan VS Dan Hibiki, Bowser VS Ganon, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, Meta VS Carolina, Mega Man Battle Royale, Dragonzord VS Mechagodzilla, Scarlet Witch VS Zatanna, James Bond VS John Wick, Trunks VS Silver, SpongeBob VS Aquaman, Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers, Sauron VS Lich King, Gogeta VS Vegito, Phoenix VS Raven, Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog, Galactus VS Unicron, Kratos VS Asura, and Ghost Rider VS Spawn.
- WatchMojo.com listed this episode as an honorable mention on their "Top 10 Screw Attack: Death Battle Episodes" list alongside Vegeta VS Shadow, Starscream VS Rainbow Dash, Chuck Norris VS Segata Sanshiro, and Wolverine VS Raiden.

