In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the T-800 portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger described himself to John Connor as "a cybernetic organism, living tissue over metal endoskeleton".
Scientists this week created perhaps reality's closest-yet version of this sci-fi horror in the form of humanoid robot faces covered in lab-grown self-healing skin.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo announced their breakthrough was achieved by copying tissue structures in people to attach the 'living' skin to robot faces, allowing them to imitate more realistic smiles and other expressions.
In their paper published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, the scientists explain how "perforation-type anchors" inspired by skin ligaments can stretch the skin over robot faces.
Most humanoid robots thus far are covered in silicone rubber which not only cannot quite mimic human facial expressions, it also cannot heal as human skin can.
The University of Tokyo team made their artificial skin in laboratories using living cells.
"The primary advantage of using skin equivalent as a covering material for robots is its self-healing capability," the researchers explain in the paper.
"In unpredictable environments, minor scratches and damages that robot skin inevitably incurs can escalate into serious impairments if left unattended. Therefore, the capacity for self-repair becomes a critical feature for humanoid robots.
"Unlike other self-healing materials, which require heat or pressure to trigger adhesion at cut surfaces, skin equivalent can regenerate defects through cellular proliferation without any triggers."
Lead researcher Professor Shoji Takeuchi said challenges remain beyond the attachment solution his team has come up with, including the integration of sophisticated actuators inside the robots. These would act like muscles.
The researchers said it will be many years before the technology is an everyday reality, but that hasn't stopped horrified readers acting with alarm online.
"I for one welcome our new skinsuited serial-killing overlords," tweeted one American academic.
Author Nick Kapur linked to the paper and called it "today's nightmare fuel".
"To quote Ian Malcolm, 'Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't start to think if they should'," he added, in reference to Jurassic Park.
Nate Crowley, another author, tweeted: "Me, a science fiction author known for writing about robots and skin: please, for the love of God, do not give the robots skin."
Although the University of Tokyo work won't mean skin-covered robots roaming around any time soon, it may also be useful in studies on skin ageing, cosmetics and surgical procedures, including plastic surgery.
