10 Iconic Movie Characters Only ONE Actor Could Play

Old Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't the only Terminator in James Cameron's classic sci-fi franchise, but he's arguably the only one fans care about. He debuted as the villainous T-800 in the first film and returned for cinema's greatest babyface turn in the sequel, completing his arc and sacrificing himself in molten metal (but not before netting another cinema best in the movie industry's greatest thumbs up).

At that point two different versions of Arnie's character had been destroyed, and yet following movies continued to bring him back, even when the actor couldn't turn up in the flesh. Shocked and appalled at the very thought of having either someone else play the T-800 or having another Terminator introduced, Salvation even CGI-ed Arnie into the movie onto the body of another actor.

The desire to see him come back is because nobody can quite mix mechanical menace and alien endearment the same way Schwarzenegger's T-800 can. With only a few looks and a couple lines, the hulking performance was burned into the minds of audiences everywhere, to the point where for better or worse, there's no franchise without Arnie.