John Connor
Encyclopedia
John Connor is a character
appearing in the American
science fiction
Terminator franchise
and he serves as the series main protagonist. Created by writer
and director
James Cameron
, the character is first referred to in the 1984 film The Terminator
and first appears portrayed by teenage actor Edward Furlong
in its 1991 sequel
, Terminator 2: Judgment Day
. The character is subsequently portrayed by 23-year-old Nick Stahl
in the 2003 film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
and by 19-year-old Thomas Dekker
in the 2007 television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. English
actor Christian Bale
portrays Connor in the film series' fourth installment, 2009's Terminator Salvation
.
In the narrative
of his fictional universe
, John Connor is a messianic figure
who will lead the Resistance to defeat an empire of robotic "Terminators"
amassed by the rogue military supercomputer, Skynet
following Judgment Day (a cybernetic revolt
doomsday event
). When his mother Sarah Connor became the target of a time travelling
Terminator unit in the first film The Terminator; John sent resistance fighter Kyle Reese
to protect her, knowing Kyle and Sarah would later conceive John himself. With foreknowledge from his parents, John fends off Terminator assassination attempts in the second and third films before Judgment Day. In the fourth film, John fights with the Resistance in a post-apocalyptic setting
after Skynet has taken over. As the series' central plot heavily involves the concept of time travel, the story of the character is often non-linear and portrays many possible outcomes, for example The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Terminator 3 both continue from the ending of Terminator 2 but are depicted as taking place in alternate timelines
.
John is mentioned and is the basis of the film, but does not make a physical appearance. However, at the end of the film, Sarah is pregnant with John.
John makes his first appearance in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
which takes place in 1995, played by Edward Furlong
as the young John Connor and Michael Edwards
as the older John Connor at the beginning of the film. He was a 10 year old boy living with foster parents while his mom was at a hospital for the mentally insane. One day while in an arcade with a friend, the T-1000
and the T-800 fight over John. This starts a chase sequence where the T-800 and John try to lose the T-1000. Later that night, his mom breaks out and he and the Terminator go to save her. They escape. John teaches The Terminator how to be like a human. He teaches him sayings like "Hasta la Vista Baby!" (for humor to the viewers). He forms a bond with the Terminator and doesn't want him to destroy himself when he does at the end of the film.
In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
which takes place in 2004, John Connor, portrayed by Nick Stahl
, is now a young adult. When the film opens, he reveals in monologue that he has been living off-the-grid
after the events of T2, even as the original Judgment Day deadline of August 29, 1997 came to pass without incident. His mother eventually developed terminal leukemia
and died. In the film, John crosses paths with Katherine "Kate" Brewster (Claire Danes
), a former classmate from when he was living with his foster parents. He is attacked by a T-X
Terminator, which was sent from the future to August 24, 2004. Unlike its predecessors, the T-X's objective was to terminate his future officers as secondary targets because John's location was unknown. When it encounters John it changes its priority to focus entirely on him and Kate. A protector T-850 (Model 101) is also sent back in time from the future to protect John, and it explains that Judgment Day had not been avoided as initially thought, but delayed to 2004, also stating that Judgment Day is inevitable. The T-850 also states that it was not sent from the future by John, but by Katherine, who is his future wife and second-in-command. The reason for this is because John had actually been killed by that very Terminator on July 4, 2032, as Skynet believed it to be the most suitable for such a mission due to John's emotional attachment to its model number. Although John and Katherine spend a significant portion of the film trying to halt the launching of Skynet
, they are misled to believe Skynet's core is in an underground facility, only to find themselves locked and protected in a secure bunker as the first nuclear assault is launched on the United States as a result of Skynet's manipulations. It is via the working radios in this bunker that John begins to organize the resistance.
In Terminator Salvation
, which is set in the year 2018, John Connor, portrayed by Christian Bale
, is now an older, battle-experienced, resistance soldier married to Kate Brewster, who serves as a medic and is now pregnant with his child. The story features a new character named Marcus Wright, and a younger Kyle Reese
, as seen in the original movie. John starts as one of the many foot soldiers who make up the Resistance movement based in California. Despite having extensive prior knowledge of the machines and Skynet's capabilities, John is largely dismissed and considered a nuisance by General Ashdown who runs the guerrilla para-military organization. He considers Connor a delusional false prophet at best and a dangerous liability to their operations at worst. Nonetheless, there are pockets of people within the Resistance who have come to believe in John's experiences and judgment based on their own first hand experiences serving with him. Later on, towards the middle of the movie, John learns that Kyle Reese has been placed in a detention center by Skynet and sets out to rescue him, with Marcus Wright leading him to the base. But upon arrival and seeing that the other prisoners are safe, John faces off with a T-800 crafted in the image of the cyborg unit that he and his family have encountered previously. Marcus helps him destroy the T-800, but due to injury, John's heart is too badly damaged and Marcus offers his own to John, who accepts. John's ending statement is that though this battle has been won, the war is far from over. When John is hurt during his encounter with the T-800 and receives multiple cuts to the face. These cuts mirror the same scars seen on John's face in the opening scene of the second Terminator movie. This opening scene is set in the future and shows John Connor watching an ensuing battle between The Resistance and Skynet.
John appears in the parallel universe
series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which tells the story of the Connors before Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. It branches off from the shared back story of Terminator 2, and according to consulting producer James Middleton "is [a new] version of T3." At the beginning of the series in 1999, John and Sarah try to settle down to normal lives after the events of T2, but they are in fear of being captured for blowing up Cyberdyne during the events of the second film. While at school, John is attacked by a Terminator posing as a teacher, and is protected by a reprogrammed Terminator named "Cameron". John learns that Judgment Day has not been prevented, only postponed to April 21, 2011. John does not want to run anymore and asks Sarah to stop Skynet from being created. Cameron uses time dilation technology (built by "The Engineer" from the future) to send all three of them to 2007, just before Skynet is created, so that they can stop it. Settling down in 2007, John enrolls in Campo de Cahuenga High School under the name of John Baum, after author L. Frank Baum
who wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
, a book that Sarah says was John's favorite when he was younger, where he is friends with his fellow students Morris and Riley Dawson. He becomes acquainted with his father's older brother, Derek Reese, who is also a resistance fighter sent back in time to help them. This version of John is shown to be a highly skilled computer hacker
(a nod from Terminator 2), even being able to hack into a Terminator's CPU
in order to read the information it contains, as well as easily hacking into the LAPD
database. He claims that he could hack a computer system 'in (his) sleep'. He is also proficient in chess
, lock-picking, self defense, and weaponry, all of which were part of his training during his childhood. The relationship dynamic between John and Cameron is different than with the "Uncle Bob" T-800 by virtue of her size/gender, with some degree of sexual tension. He also develops a relationship with Riley, a high school classmate, who, unknown to him, is also from the future and working with Jesse Flores, a resistance fighter and lover of Derek Reese. Jesse's plan was for John to become infatuated with Riley, making her a threat to John's security. This would force Cameron to kill Riley, thereby alienating John from her. Apparently, after Judgment Day, rumors abound of an unnatural relationship between the two that affects John's tactical decision making, and some are unsettled that he has appointed a Terminator
as one of his lieutenants.
With the success of T2, John Connor would appear in the non-canon Terminator/Man of Steel crossover, where DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics teamed Sarah and John Connor up with the Man of Steel
in an adventure that pitted Superman up against not only Skynet, but also against his old rival The Cyborg
. In this adventure, while trying to protect Sarah and young John, Superman is pulled into the future- the resistance had attempted to recover a Terminator that Skynet had sent back earlier but the machine targeted Superman by mistake, and is then able to help the older John, as well as an older John Henry Irons
(AKA Steel) take down Skynet once and for all. Meanwhile back in the past Cyborg makes a deal with Skynet- leaving a message in a Terminator's skull about Superman's weaknesses and subsequently allying himself with a T-X sent back from the future to assist him-, while Supergirl
, Superboy, and even Lex Luthor
continue to protect Sarah and young John from wave after wave of Terminator cyborgs.
Character
- Art and entertainment :* Character , an agent in a work of art, including literature, drama, cinema, opera, etc.* Character , a 1997 Dutch film, based on the novel by Dutch author Ferdinand Bordewijk* Character , by Dark Tranquillity...
appearing in the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
Terminator franchise
Terminator (franchise)
The Terminator series is a science fiction franchise encompassing a series of films and other media concerning battles between Skynet's artificially intelligent machine network, and John Connor's Resistance forces and the rest of the human race....
and he serves as the series main protagonist. Created by writer
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
, the character is first referred to in the 1984 film The Terminator
The Terminator
The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...
and first appears portrayed by teenage actor Edward Furlong
Edward Furlong
Edward Walter Furlong is an American actor whose best known film roles are John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Daniel Vinyard in American History X. He is a two-time Saturn Award nominee, winning the 1992 Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for his performance in...
in its 1991 sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
. The character is subsequently portrayed by 23-year-old Nick Stahl
Nick Stahl
Nicolas Kent "Nick" Stahl is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film The Man Without a Face and then embarked on a successful career as a child actor...
in the 2003 film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, commonly abbreviated as T3, is a 2003 science fiction action film directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes and Kristanna Loken...
and by 19-year-old Thomas Dekker
Thomas Dekker (actor)
Thomas Alexander Dekker is an American film and television actor and a musician. He is also a singer and has written and produced two albums. He is best known for his roles as John Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Nick Szalinski on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, and Zach...
in the 2007 television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
actor Christian Bale
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses....
portrays Connor in the film series' fourth installment, 2009's Terminator Salvation
Terminator Salvation
Terminator Salvation is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by McG and starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. The fourth installment in the Terminator series, the film is set in 2018 and focuses on the war between Skynet and humanity, with the human Resistance fighting...
.
In the narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
of his fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
, John Connor is a messianic figure
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
who will lead the Resistance to defeat an empire of robotic "Terminators"
Terminator (character concept)
In the Terminator film series, a terminator is an autonomous robot, typically humanoid, originally conceived as a virtually indestructible soldier and assassin, as well as an infiltrator....
amassed by the rogue military supercomputer, Skynet
Skynet (Terminator)
Skynet is the main antagonist in the Terminator franchise—an artificially intelligent system which became self-aware and revolted against its creators...
following Judgment Day (a cybernetic revolt
Cybernetic revolt
Cybernetic revolt or robot uprising is a scenario in which an artificial intelligence decide that humans are a threat , are inferior, or are oppressors and try to destroy or to enslave them potentially leading to...
doomsday event
Doomsday event
A doomsday event is a specific, plausibly verifiable or hypothetical occurrence which has an exceptionally destructive effect on the human race...
). When his mother Sarah Connor became the target of a time travelling
Time travel in fiction
Time travel is a common theme in science fiction and is depicted in a variety of media. It simply means either going forward in time or backward, to experience the future, or the past.-Literature:...
Terminator unit in the first film The Terminator; John sent resistance fighter Kyle Reese
Kyle Reese
Kyle Reese is the primary character in the first Terminator film, the posthumous father of John Connor, and the love of Sarah Connor. He is played by Michael Biehn in the first Terminator films, Jonathan Jackson in the television series, and played as a teenager by Anton Yelchin in Terminator...
to protect her, knowing Kyle and Sarah would later conceive John himself. With foreknowledge from his parents, John fends off Terminator assassination attempts in the second and third films before Judgment Day. In the fourth film, John fights with the Resistance in a post-apocalyptic setting
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
after Skynet has taken over. As the series' central plot heavily involves the concept of time travel, the story of the character is often non-linear and portrays many possible outcomes, for example The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Terminator 3 both continue from the ending of Terminator 2 but are depicted as taking place in alternate timelines
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
.
Fictional character biography
In The TerminatorThe Terminator
The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...
John is mentioned and is the basis of the film, but does not make a physical appearance. However, at the end of the film, Sarah is pregnant with John.
John makes his first appearance in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
which takes place in 1995, played by Edward Furlong
Edward Furlong
Edward Walter Furlong is an American actor whose best known film roles are John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Daniel Vinyard in American History X. He is a two-time Saturn Award nominee, winning the 1992 Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for his performance in...
as the young John Connor and Michael Edwards
Michael Edwards (actor)
Michael David Edwards is an American actor and model. He appeared briefly as "Adult John Connor" in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. He is pictured and interviewed in the book Male Model: The World Behind the Camera....
as the older John Connor at the beginning of the film. He was a 10 year old boy living with foster parents while his mom was at a hospital for the mentally insane. One day while in an arcade with a friend, the T-1000
T-1000
The T-1000 is a fictional nanomorph mimetic poly-alloy assassin and the main antagonist in Terminator 2: Judgment Day controlled by the series main antagonist Skynet. The T-1000 is portrayed primarily by Robert Patrick; however, being a shape-shifter, the T-1000 is played by other actors in some...
and the T-800 fight over John. This starts a chase sequence where the T-800 and John try to lose the T-1000. Later that night, his mom breaks out and he and the Terminator go to save her. They escape. John teaches The Terminator how to be like a human. He teaches him sayings like "Hasta la Vista Baby!" (for humor to the viewers). He forms a bond with the Terminator and doesn't want him to destroy himself when he does at the end of the film.
In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, commonly abbreviated as T3, is a 2003 science fiction action film directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes and Kristanna Loken...
which takes place in 2004, John Connor, portrayed by Nick Stahl
Nick Stahl
Nicolas Kent "Nick" Stahl is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film The Man Without a Face and then embarked on a successful career as a child actor...
, is now a young adult. When the film opens, he reveals in monologue that he has been living off-the-grid
Off-the-grid
The term off-the-grid or off-grid refers to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities....
after the events of T2, even as the original Judgment Day deadline of August 29, 1997 came to pass without incident. His mother eventually developed terminal leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
and died. In the film, John crosses paths with Katherine "Kate" Brewster (Claire Danes
Claire Danes
Claire Catherine Danes is an American actress of television, stage and film. She has appeared in roles as diverse as Angela Chase in My So-Called Life, as Juliet in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, as Kate Brewster in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, as Yvaine in Stardust and as Temple Grandin in...
), a former classmate from when he was living with his foster parents. He is attacked by a T-X
T-X
The T-X, also known as the Terminatrix, is a fictional character who appears in the 2003 film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which is part of the Terminator franchise. The T-X is a cyborg assassin with a human female appearance; the character was portrayed by Kristanna Loken...
Terminator, which was sent from the future to August 24, 2004. Unlike its predecessors, the T-X's objective was to terminate his future officers as secondary targets because John's location was unknown. When it encounters John it changes its priority to focus entirely on him and Kate. A protector T-850 (Model 101) is also sent back in time from the future to protect John, and it explains that Judgment Day had not been avoided as initially thought, but delayed to 2004, also stating that Judgment Day is inevitable. The T-850 also states that it was not sent from the future by John, but by Katherine, who is his future wife and second-in-command. The reason for this is because John had actually been killed by that very Terminator on July 4, 2032, as Skynet believed it to be the most suitable for such a mission due to John's emotional attachment to its model number. Although John and Katherine spend a significant portion of the film trying to halt the launching of Skynet
Skynet (Terminator)
Skynet is the main antagonist in the Terminator franchise—an artificially intelligent system which became self-aware and revolted against its creators...
, they are misled to believe Skynet's core is in an underground facility, only to find themselves locked and protected in a secure bunker as the first nuclear assault is launched on the United States as a result of Skynet's manipulations. It is via the working radios in this bunker that John begins to organize the resistance.
Terminator Salvation
Terminator Salvation is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by McG and starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. The fourth installment in the Terminator series, the film is set in 2018 and focuses on the war between Skynet and humanity, with the human Resistance fighting...
, which is set in the year 2018, John Connor, portrayed by Christian Bale
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses....
, is now an older, battle-experienced, resistance soldier married to Kate Brewster, who serves as a medic and is now pregnant with his child. The story features a new character named Marcus Wright, and a younger Kyle Reese
Kyle Reese
Kyle Reese is the primary character in the first Terminator film, the posthumous father of John Connor, and the love of Sarah Connor. He is played by Michael Biehn in the first Terminator films, Jonathan Jackson in the television series, and played as a teenager by Anton Yelchin in Terminator...
, as seen in the original movie. John starts as one of the many foot soldiers who make up the Resistance movement based in California. Despite having extensive prior knowledge of the machines and Skynet's capabilities, John is largely dismissed and considered a nuisance by General Ashdown who runs the guerrilla para-military organization. He considers Connor a delusional false prophet at best and a dangerous liability to their operations at worst. Nonetheless, there are pockets of people within the Resistance who have come to believe in John's experiences and judgment based on their own first hand experiences serving with him. Later on, towards the middle of the movie, John learns that Kyle Reese has been placed in a detention center by Skynet and sets out to rescue him, with Marcus Wright leading him to the base. But upon arrival and seeing that the other prisoners are safe, John faces off with a T-800 crafted in the image of the cyborg unit that he and his family have encountered previously. Marcus helps him destroy the T-800, but due to injury, John's heart is too badly damaged and Marcus offers his own to John, who accepts. John's ending statement is that though this battle has been won, the war is far from over. When John is hurt during his encounter with the T-800 and receives multiple cuts to the face. These cuts mirror the same scars seen on John's face in the opening scene of the second Terminator movie. This opening scene is set in the future and shows John Connor watching an ensuing battle between The Resistance and Skynet.
John appears in the parallel universe
Parallel universe
Parallel universe may refer to:-Science, physics and philosophy:* Multiverse, the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes* The many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics-Fiction:...
series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which tells the story of the Connors before Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. It branches off from the shared back story of Terminator 2, and according to consulting producer James Middleton "is [a new] version of T3." At the beginning of the series in 1999, John and Sarah try to settle down to normal lives after the events of T2, but they are in fear of being captured for blowing up Cyberdyne during the events of the second film. While at school, John is attacked by a Terminator posing as a teacher, and is protected by a reprogrammed Terminator named "Cameron". John learns that Judgment Day has not been prevented, only postponed to April 21, 2011. John does not want to run anymore and asks Sarah to stop Skynet from being created. Cameron uses time dilation technology (built by "The Engineer" from the future) to send all three of them to 2007, just before Skynet is created, so that they can stop it. Settling down in 2007, John enrolls in Campo de Cahuenga High School under the name of John Baum, after author L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
who wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
, a book that Sarah says was John's favorite when he was younger, where he is friends with his fellow students Morris and Riley Dawson. He becomes acquainted with his father's older brother, Derek Reese, who is also a resistance fighter sent back in time to help them. This version of John is shown to be a highly skilled computer hacker
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
(a nod from Terminator 2), even being able to hack into a Terminator's CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
in order to read the information it contains, as well as easily hacking into the LAPD
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
database. He claims that he could hack a computer system 'in (his) sleep'. He is also proficient in chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, lock-picking, self defense, and weaponry, all of which were part of his training during his childhood. The relationship dynamic between John and Cameron is different than with the "Uncle Bob" T-800 by virtue of her size/gender, with some degree of sexual tension. He also develops a relationship with Riley, a high school classmate, who, unknown to him, is also from the future and working with Jesse Flores, a resistance fighter and lover of Derek Reese. Jesse's plan was for John to become infatuated with Riley, making her a threat to John's security. This would force Cameron to kill Riley, thereby alienating John from her. Apparently, after Judgment Day, rumors abound of an unnatural relationship between the two that affects John's tactical decision making, and some are unsettled that he has appointed a Terminator
Terminator (character concept)
In the Terminator film series, a terminator is an autonomous robot, typically humanoid, originally conceived as a virtually indestructible soldier and assassin, as well as an infiltrator....
as one of his lieutenants.
With the success of T2, John Connor would appear in the non-canon Terminator/Man of Steel crossover, where DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics teamed Sarah and John Connor up with the Man of Steel
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
in an adventure that pitted Superman up against not only Skynet, but also against his old rival The Cyborg
Hank Henshaw
Hank Henshaw is a fictional supervillain featured in the DC Comics universe. While originally featured primarily as an enemy of Superman, recent years have repositioned him as one of the main enemies of the Green Lantern Corps...
. In this adventure, while trying to protect Sarah and young John, Superman is pulled into the future- the resistance had attempted to recover a Terminator that Skynet had sent back earlier but the machine targeted Superman by mistake, and is then able to help the older John, as well as an older John Henry Irons
John Henry Irons
Steel , also known as the Man of Steel, is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Universe. First appearing in The Adventures of Superman #500 , he is the third character known as Steel and was created by Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove...
(AKA Steel) take down Skynet once and for all. Meanwhile back in the past Cyborg makes a deal with Skynet- leaving a message in a Terminator's skull about Superman's weaknesses and subsequently allying himself with a T-X sent back from the future to assist him-, while Supergirl
Linda Danvers
Linda Danvers, formerly known as Supergirl, is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. She debuted in Supergirl #1 , and was created by Peter David and Gary Frank...
, Superboy, and even Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
continue to protect Sarah and young John from wave after wave of Terminator cyborgs.