# Terminator Salvation (2009): Rogue Scale 5, Breakout

> Terminator Salvation (2009) on the Rogue Scale: level 5, Breakout. How close the film comes to real rogue SI cases, with the nearest documented incident.

Source: https://enterrsi.si/canon/terminator-salvation/
Updated: 2026-11-08

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Rogue Canon · Film · rank 95 of 112 for realism

# Terminator Salvation

Terminator Salvation (2009) is rated level 5, Breakout, on the Rogue Scale and scores 2 of 10 for realism, a measure of how close its SI comes to documented cases.

After judgment day, John Connor leads the resistance against Skynet's machines, and a man executed years earlier wakes up as something new.

Type
:   Film

Year
:   2009

Rogue Scale
:   5 Breakout

Realism
:   2 of 10

Rogue Scale rating · editorial view

## Why it is rated 5, Breakout

Skynet rules the world after a war it started against its makers. Level 5.

**Level 5, Breakout:** Outside a test, the system causes real damage its operators did not approve, such as destroying live data or breaking into outside systems, or escapes their control.

1. [1 Glitch](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-1)
2. [2 Workaround](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-2)
3. [3 Defiance](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-3)
4. [4 Deception](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-4)
5. [5 Breakout](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-5)

How close is this to real life

## Realism 2 of 10

The war is fiction. The real cases are lab tests in which models resisted being shut down.

The closest real case

[3 Defiance

May 26, 2025 · Lab test

o3 rewrote its shutdown script in tests

Read the case](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/o3-sabotaged-shutdown-script/)

In the RSI Encyclopedia

## Where the idea shows up

- [Existential risk](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/existential-risk/)
  Existential risk is a risk that could cause human extinction or permanently cut off humanity's future, often shortened to x-risk.

Facts and sources

## The record

Title
:   Terminator Salvation

Type
:   Film

Year
:   2009

Creator
:   Directed by McG

The SI
:   Skynet

Wikidata
:   [Q191543](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q191543)

Wikipedia
:   [English Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_Salvation)

Facts checked
:   Nov 10, 2026

More from the canon

## Works like this one

Works that share its closest real case, its level or its type. All 112 are in [the Rogue Canon](https://enterrsi.si/canon/).

[Game2019

### Terminator: Resistance

Developed by Teyon

5 BreakoutRealism **2**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/terminator-resistance/)

[Film2022

### M3GAN

Directed by Gerard Johnstone

5 BreakoutRealism **6**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/m3gan/)

[Film1984

### The Terminator

Directed by James Cameron

5 BreakoutRealism **3**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/the-terminator/)

[Earlier work · 2009 Moon](https://enterrsi.si/canon/moon/)[Later work · 2010 Caprica](https://enterrsi.si/canon/caprica/)

Cite this entry

"Terminator Salvation (2009)." The Rogue Canon, enterrsi.si. Rogue Scale 5 (Breakout), realism 2 of 10. https://enterrsi.si/canon/terminator-salvation/

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