Plot Synopsis

Created and executive produced by Mattson Tomlin, TERMINATOR ZERO is an eight-episode anime that centers around new characters in the TERMINATOR franchise created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. In this series, a warrior from a post-apocalyptic 2022 travels to 1997 to protect an AI scientist being hunted by an unfeeling -- and indestructible -- cyborg. In 2022, a future war has raged for decades between the few human survivors and an endless army of machines -- a war that started in 1997 when the AI known as Skynet gained self-awareness and began its battle against humanity. Caught between the future and this past, Eiko arrives in 1997 to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee who works to launch a new AI system designed to compete with Skynet's impending attack on humanity. As Malcolm navigates the moral complexities of his creation, he is hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future which forever alters the fate of his three children. All eight episodes of TERMINATOR ZERO debuted on Netflix on "Judgement Day", August 29, 2024. Characters include:

Kokoro: An advanced AI and Japan's answer to Skynet, if brought online, Kokoro will be endowed with the same power as Skynet. Kokoro must calculate for itself: is humanity the plague Skynet believes? Or are human beings worth saving?

Malcolm Lee: A genius computer programmer and father of three, Malcolm is haunted by prophetic nightmares of an apocalyptic future. He's spent the last decade creating a secret artificial intelligence that he believes will be humanity's last hope.

Eiko: Coming from a post-Judgement Day 2022, Eiko is a resistance fighter sent back in time to stop Malcolm from launching Kokoro.

The Prophet: In the future, the Prophet is the philosophical guide for the human resistance, a light shepherding survivors in the darkness of the unknown future ahead.

The Terminator: Some things about The Terminator haven't changed. The Terminator is still out there. It still can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you're dead.