Skynet's Ultimate Terminator Is Closer to Alien's Xenomorphs Than Arnie's T-800

In the five-part miniseries Terminator: Revolution by Simon Furman and Lui Antonio, fans are introduced to a Terminator unlike anything they’ve seen before: the Dire Wolf. The Dire Wolf is a massive canine-like killer robot with a nearly unbreachable exterior, an even tougher endoskeleton, razor-sharp teeth with a bite force strong enough to rip a tank apart, and a long tongue with a smaller mouth at the end of it that’s complete with its own set of razor-sharp teeth.

The Dire Wolf is shown to be capable of ripping a small army of T-800s to shreds like it’s nothing - but that’s not why it’s considered Skynet’s ultimate Terminator. To understand how powerful the Dire Wolf is, fans must first become familiar with another ultra-powerful Terminator model: the T-Infinity. The T-Infinity is a Terminator with the ability to travel through time without a time-displacement machine, as it has that capability built directly into it. It’s known as a Temporal Terminator, and its purpose is to slide through time, ‘correcting’ the timestream in an effort to ensure Skynet’s victory over humanity.

Due to the immense energy it takes to time-travel on-the-fly, the T-Infinity is insanely powerful, capable of transforming its limbs into deadly weapons (like the T-X from Terminator 3), with its most powerful being its plasma cannons and energy blades. But, while the T-Infinity is arguably Skynet’s greatest weapon against humanity, it’s also the AI’s greatest concern. If it fell into humanity’s hands, then the Resistance could reprogram the T-Infinity to work against Skynet’s interests. That’s where the Dire Wolf comes in.

Terminator’s Dire Wolf is Strong Enough to Destroy Skynet’s T-Infinity

The T-Infinity was Believed to be Skynet’s Strongest Terminator, but the Dire Wolf Can Beat It

When the T-Infinity was on the precipice of being defeated by John and Sarah Connor in 1996 in Terminator: Revolution, Skynet sent the Dire Wolf back in time to destroy the T-Infinity before its technology fell into humanity’s hands. The Dire Wolf quickly found the T-Infinity, and upon confronting the Temporal Terminator, the Dire Wolf jumped on its back, clamped down on its head with its insanely powerful jaws, and ripped the T-Infinity’s head off.

The Dire Wolf destroyed the T-Infinity with ease, which is utterly shocking to see, as the T-Infinity was believed to be the strongest Terminator in Skynet’s arsenal. However, that honor must now go to the Dire Wolf, as it’s the Terminator sent to kill the T-Infinity when nothing else could possibly do the job. It’s interesting to consider that Skynet’s strongest Terminator is such a deviation from the version of the Terminator fans were first introduced to with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800, and actually closer to Alien’s Xenomorphs.

The Dire Wolf Isn’t the Only Xenomorph-Like Terminator in the Franchise

Aliens vs Predator vs The Terminator by Mark Schultz and Mel Rubi

The Dire Wolf is closer to Alien’s Xenomorphs than Arnie’s T-800 given its biomechanical animalistic appearance and its inner-jaw, all of which contribute to the fact that it’s Skynet’s ultimate Terminator. However, while interesting, that’s not unique to the Dire Wolf alone in The Terminator franchise. Another ‘ultimate Terminator’ was introduced in this universe’s distant/alternate future, one that was actually a Terminator/Xenomorph hybrid.

Aliens vs Predator vs The Terminator takes place after the events of Alien: Resurrection, and reveals that the entire Alien franchise takes place in The Terminator’s alternate future after humanity defeated Skynet. However, despite Skynet’s defeat, a few T-800s survived through the events of the Alien franchise, and have come up with a plan to merge the Xenomorphs’ DNA with their own mechanical bodies, creating Terminators more vicious and powerful than ever before to usher in a new age for Skynet.

Alien has seemingly had a major impact on The Terminator franchise in regard to Skynet’s deadliest Terminators. But, while the Terminator/Xenomorph hybrids were definitely powerful, it’s fair to say that even they didn’t come close to the Dire Wolf, as that Xenomorph-like Terminator was strong enough to destroy the T-Infinity like it was nothing - something neither the Alien hybrids nor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 could never hope to do.