11 Movie Sequels That Turned Badasses Into Total Wimps

1. The T-800 AND John Connor - Terminator 3

From vicious, no-holds-barred !*$% killing machine to comedy sunglasses wearing nincompoop in two quick steps. The twist of having Arnie's killing machine reinvented as a body guard in the second film was a brilliant creative decision, because it not only completely messed with the audience and Sarah Connor's expectations - and introduced a never-quite-diluted spectre of threat - but it also turned him into a plucky underdog against a more advanced villain. Sort of like vinyl fighting off CDs.

But then Terminator 3 went too far and completely removed everything that defined the T-1000's success: he's neither a kill-bot nor a futuristic guide, designed to teach the Connors how not to die. Instead he's basically just a spirit guide, leading the young John Connor away from harm to the extent that by the end it is utterly unbelievable that this wet fish kid could ever rise up to be the leader of humanity's last stand.

The arc should have come full circle with Connor learning the tools of survival and protecting himself, and instead he ended up being a molly-coddled dork protected by a guard dog well past his sell-by date.

Which other former movie bad-asses were completely betrayed by uneven sequels? Share your picks below in the comments thread.