Who did it better?
We know that Dragon Ball, the franchise created by Akira Toriyama, has taken inspiration from different. In fact, at the beginning not even an action work, but a comedy, for this reason it is not surprising that from time to time, we discover new references to other works, either as a tribute or a comedic nod to this action work. We didn’t expect Toriyama to be a Terminator fan though..
In Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball chapter 58, Goku is storming the gates of a Red Patrol Army base after the organization’s evil nature draws his attention. This occurs after Goku was looking for the Dragon Balls and was attacked by the Red Patrol, while they were also looking for the orbs that grant wishes. As Goku fights his way through the guards with ease, the leaders inside the tower launch their own secret weapon to stop the Saiyan boy in his tracks: his own “Terminator”, known as Metal Sergeant.
The Dragon Ball franchise has no shortage of android characters, with Android 17 and 18 being the most prominent, as well as the bio-android Cell. However, where this particular robotic fighter differs is in the general aesthetics of the android, which makes it look like it was inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator because of the similar hairstyle, the giant muscles, the way of speaking and even the iconic sunglasses. Given their similarities in appearance, one can’t help but compare the power levels of the two, though unfortunately for fans of the Terminator franchise, Arnie’s T-800 doesn’t even come close to the strength exhibited by Sergeant Metal.
Throughout the Terminator movies, it has been shown that while Terminators are difficult to kill, all it takes to defeat them is extreme pressure, heat, or destroying the machine with a strong enough weapon. While Arnold’s T-800 was killed in the first Terminator movie by being crushed by hydraulics and died in the second movie after entering a vat of molten liquid, Sgt. He took a Kamehameha to the face from Goku and continued to fight, something the T-800 clearly couldn’t do..
Dragon Ball or Terminator, who did it better?
However, unlike the robot starring Arnold Schwarznegger, it is not only more durable, but also more deadly as it is equipped with extreme weaponry. Metal Sergeant can fire a rocket from his mouth and use his hands as detachable projectiles. His attacks are so strong that Goku is almost defeated by the robotic villain., though the Saiyan proves too tough to get rid of that easily. However, if the Metal Sergeant were to go up against the Terminator’s T-800, the Dragon Ball version would completely destroy the original without taking almost any damage in return, even though they both look nearly identical.
While it’s no secret that any android model within the Terminator franchise wouldn’t stand a chance against virtually any fighter in the Dragon Ball universe, the manga did introduce a character that was apparently a direct copy of the Terminator’s T-800, except for Dragon. Ball. The almost identical killer robot version makes the original look absolutely pathetic.
The T-800, made famous by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, made its debut in the movie Terminator, which was the movie that launched the franchise into what it is today. In the film, the T-800 is sent back in time to kill the last remaining hope for the mother of humanity: a woman named Sarah Connor. Sarah was destined to raise John Connor, who would become the leader of the human resistance against the machines in the not-too-distant future after killer robots took over the planet. While the T-800 was sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor, a man named Kyle Reese was also sent back in time to protect her, though her mission was much more difficult than the Terminator’s. Regardless of what the two humans did, the T-800 proved to be an unstoppable force of imminent deathas it was almost completely indestructible.