4. Sarah and John Connor (Terminator / Terminator 2: Judgement Day / Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines)
THE QUEST To stop Judgement Day.
WHAT HAPPENS? Sarah is targeted by a cyborg from the future for termination. She encounters a man sent back to save her, has a night of passion with him, watches him die, manages to kill the terminator and gives birth to the saviour of mankind, John Connor. An even more awesome Terminator travels back to kill John while he is a teenager. Sarah is transformed into one of the greatest bad asses in film history and helps blow up the company responsible for the rise of the machines, kill the Terminator and saves humanity. Then she gets leukaemia and dies. John Connor goes off the grid, surviving on veterinary medicines and Judgement Day happens anyway...
WHY DID THEY FAIL? First you've got to ask...did we need any more films after
Terminator 2: Judgement Day? Not really. Because had that actually been the end of the saga 1) we would have only had fantastic films in the franchise and 2) Sarah Connor would have succeeded. Instead, all her actions in T2 and John's in T3 are for naught. What was a heroes victory against incomprehensible odds because a miserable tragedy where mankind is doomed to its fate.