Robocop VS. Terminator

Robocop Vs Terminator

It's a clash of the robo-titans. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and in this instalment of versus, we’re pitting the justice hungry Robocop and the time travelling Terminator.

If you think the comments are going to be heated for this video, you should have seen the debate in the Watchmojo office. And yes we are aware there was a Comic and a Video game of the 2 coming face to face, but for this one we’re sticking to their movie canon.

Round 1 - Appearance/Strength/Toughness

Whether he is flexing his pecks in a bar, riding a motorcycle or staring you down with blacked-out sunglasses, the Terminator is a character you don't want to mess with. When it comes to sheer brute force, his uber strong limbs, lack of compassion and ability to make minor repairs to himself pretty much make him an indestructible and unstoppable badass.

On the other hand we have Robocop, with his jacked-up police armoured, robotic limbs, and face grafted onto a metal skull. Programmed to stop crimes, prevent danger and serve up entrées of justice in Detroit, Alex 'Robocop' Murphy is a crime-fighter designed to clean-up the streets. However, his repressed memories and human emotions can make him a little vulnerable at times.

From a durability standpoint Robocop can maybe take more hits, but when it comes to determination, we gotta give it to Terminator.

Winner: Terminator 1 / Robocop 0

Round 2 - Back Story/Origins

Terminator kicks this one of with an origin that jumps up and down the timeline. The first movie iteration of Terminator was a T-800 Model 101, a robot assassin sent back from the machine-ridden future by self-aware defence computer Skynet, to prevent the birth of a human resistance leader, John Conner. It must do this by murdering John’s mother, Sarah. The next film saw the same model of Terminator sent back from the same doomed future to protect John Connor, due to reprogramming.

Then we have Robocop. Although originally leading a happy family life, good cop Alex Murphy has his life cut short while on the job in crime ravaged Detroit. After being brutally dispatched by a street gang limb from limb, Murphy is left terminally injured, but is thankfully saved by Omni Consumer Products (OCP), becoming the crime-fighting cyborg known as Robocop.

We’ve got to give this one to the phoenix that rose from the ashes, Robocop.

Winner: Terminator 1 / Robocop 1

Round 3 - Intelligence

The Terminator's sophisticated artificial intelligence is rooted in its determination to complete a mission. This means it will do whatever it takes to complete it’s directive, be it tricking someone by mimicking a voice, acting as a DIY doctor or even playing detective to track someone's whereabouts. And did we mention the Terminator’s knowledge of all Earth's weaponry and combat throughout history?

The tin man also has a knowledgeable advantage over his opponents, as he has expert police training programmed into is circuits. This means he can storm a room full of bad guys and use his tactical skills to clear them out using a precise targeting system.


But with an encyclopaedic knowledge of everything deadly, this one goes to Skynet.

Winner: Terminator 2 / Robocop 1

Round 4 - Weapons

The great thing about being a cybernetic organism, is that you can pick up and use pretty much anything as a weapon. Terminator doesn't necessarily have a holstered favourite, but give him a grenade launcher, 12 gauge shotgun, mini gun or anything else that a human would find difficult to carry, and you see his mechanical prowess go to work.

Robocop is a bit different. He is a Swiss Army knife of pure firepower. Allow us to give you the tour - ordnance grenades in his left leg, multi-functional arm with machine gun and flamethrower, a data collecting tool that doubles as a nifty shank, and of course his iconic spaghetti western spinning Custom Auto 9 machine pistol.

We've gotta give this one to the one man army that is, Robocop.

Winner: Terminator 2 / Robocop 2

Round 5 - Quotes

In this category, the effectiveness of the Austrian accent just cannot be ignored. Thanks to The Terminator's baritone pipes, he is a walking jukebox of diverse quotes, be it simple requests like "I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle," or playful trash talk like "chill out, dickwad". The Terminator literally has a retort for every occasion, be it a send off line "Hasta la vista, baby", a heroic catchphrase"Come with me if you want to live!" and even an insanely memorable way of leaving a room "I'll be back".

With his police background, Robocop's famous quotes are all centred on him asserting his authority with the bad guys "Dead or alive, your coming with me". His quotes "Serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the law", also reflect that he is a mind-controlled robot "Come quietly or there will be... trouble" and as the movie goes on, we see his human side eventually come through "I can feel them... but I can't remember them."

But, for pure cinematic goose-bump inducing nirvana, Terminator nabs this round.

Winner: Terminator 3 / Robocop 2

Fighting his way to the finish line with a score of 3 to 2, the Terminator wins by a nose, or a robotic arm I guess. It seems you just can't tangle with a time travelling assassin.

Did our cyborg verdict make you short circuit? Be sure to debate in the comments, and subscribe to WatchMojo.com for more intense versus battles.