The Terminator robots, ranked by level of terror they strike in our hearts

The Terminator movies were the first to instill that inherent fear of robots in us. Before that, sure, robots were a little creepy, but they weren't trying to straight up murder us.

That all changed when a naked Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped out of that fog in 1984's Terminator, strapping on a machine gun and going after Sarah Connor.

And three movies later, we're getting another kind of robot with a supposedly familiar face (kind of a spoiler except it's right in the trailer) -- a Terminator in the shape of John Connor sent to kill his mother. We have no idea if it'll beat the terrifying Terminators who have preceded it, or even the first Arnold-shaped T-800, who has now become a comforting face in the series.

But in anticipation of yet another Terminator set to change the game, we're ranking the scariest Terminators in the film series.

4. Marcus, Terminator Salvation

OK, so this guy wasn't technically the villain of the movie, but he was a cyborg/human hybrid who was unknowingly programmed to lead John Connor to his death. He may be a death-dealing cyborg, but he thinks he's a good guy, so that knocks down his scare factor. And he's played by vanilla dreamboat Sam Worthington, so it's hard to think of him as the slightest bit intimidating.

3. The Terminatrix, Terminator: Rise of the Machines

It's as if the writers of Terminator 3 were like, "What can beat Robert Patrick as a shapeshifting robot?" A HOT BLONDE CHICK." The T-X, otherwise known as the Terminatrix because females, is a pretty awful villain. She basically as the same powers as the T-1000, but she does it while dressed in red leather and looking like an ice cold Bond girl. Which, it turns out, isn't that scary.

2. The Terminator (T-800), Terminator

Ah, the original. The Terminator was big, hulking and looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his action hero heyday, so yeah, we were scared. The T-800 was a relentless, seemingly bulletproof robot with a zombie-like gait that gave a sense of impending doom. And when his human face was torn off, the reveal of his cyborg face was even more terrifying, with his glowing red eyes and metal skull. It was the stuff of our nightmares for weeks after.

1. The T-1000, Terminator 2: Judgment Day

The T-1000 doesn't instill the same primal fear in us as the T-800, but the fact that he can take the shape of any human being is the reason he's number one. That's some Invasion of the Body Snatchers stuff right there. Not only is the T-1000 played by the cold-eyed Robert Patrick, he can also imitate the mannerisms of everyday human beings and not stand out like the Arnold's hulking T-800. Plus he can turn his arms into sharp, sword-like weapons so that's just terrifying in itself. The T-1000 is so memorable that he's being brought back in Terminator Genisys 

Korean actor Lee Byung-hun.