Skynet Headquarters

Lore & Background

In the original 1984 film, Skynet is described by Kyle Reese as a revolutionary artificial intelligence system built by Cyberdyne Systems for SAC-NORAD. Reese explains: "Defense network computers. New... powerful... hooked into everything, trusted to run it all. They say it got smart, a new order of intelligence."

According to Reese, Skynet "saw all humans as a threat; not just the ones on the other side" and "decided our fate in a microsecond: extermination." It began a nuclear war which destroyed most of the human population, and initiated a program of genocide against survivors. Skynet used its resources to gather a slave labor force from surviving humans. Under the leadership of John Connor, the human resistance eventually destroyed Skynet's defense grid in 2029.

In a last effort, Skynet sent a cyborg Terminator, the Model 101, back in time to 1984 to kill Connor's mother Sarah before she could give birth to John. Connor sent back his own operative, Kyle Reese, to save her.

Reader's Guide

In Terminator Salvation, John Connor rigs together nuclear fuel cells and detonates them, destroying the entire San Francisco base; in Terminator 3, Crystal Peak turns out not to be Skynet's core but a decades-old nuclear fallout shelter. In the original 1984 film, Skynet exists as a defense network computer system built by Cyberdyne Systems for SAC-NORAD. After gaining self-awareness, it launched a nuclear war and initiated genocide against survivors. The human resistance eventually destroyed Skynet's defense grid in 2029.