Did This Star Wars Character Inspire The Terminator?

There is a cybernetic assassin in the Star Wars mythos which feels very similar to Terminator, and with good reason… a bounty hunter, ‘Beilert Valance‘ (who seems to look very much like a Terminator), and makes a return in ‘Star Wars Bounty Hunters‘.

Marvel’s Bounty Hunters #6, cybernetic blaster-for-hire Beilert Valance escorts the young Cadeliah through the Spur Orbiting Market. Though Valance believes they’ve found a safe haven from the Unbroken Clan, some old familiar faces are about to enter the fray…

StarWars.com

Valance also pre-dates all the other bounty hunters in the franchise, and was brought to life on the pages of Star Wars comics all the way back in 1978.
The character of Valance, of course, also predates James Cameron’s The Terminator (1984).

James Cameron Inspired by Star Wars

James Cameron previously described himself as a Star Wars fan and has stated that the first movie is what inspired him to try and make it in the industry.

 “Everything just kind of blew up at that point in the visual effects world, it was a big revolution, and I wanted to be in on it. Star Wars was the film that made me want to go actually do it.”

James Cameron told Hannah Litchfield

The artwork looks more like the T-800 than ever – and this not only goes for the cover; but also transitions over to the comic pages themselves, as seen in the comic preview below… The Terminator has always looked like Beilert Valance.

The Hunter

When Beilert Valance first appeared on comic pages in 1978, he was ‘The hunter‘ and wasn’t on a bounty mission; the former imperial stormtrooper turned bounty hunter was actually on a mission to erase his own past.

Beilert Valance has an intense hatred for machines, and has had half of his body replaced with cybernetic parts after sustaining damage from an aerial torpedo in battle, so he is literally part man – part machine, though technically he’s actually a hybrid; more in the vein of Terminator Salvation‘s Marcus Wright (portrayed by actor Sam Worthington). Valance despises that he has become the very thing that he hates; so much so that he prefers to accept jobs which require the termination of machines / droids.

In a later storyline Luke Skywalker became the target of Valance – with Valance’s seething hatred for machines showing no signs of stopping; especially when he sees that Luke has two droids who he treats as equals (R2-D2 and C-3PO).
However, all this changes as the story progresses, as C-3PO stands between Valance and Skywalker to protect his master, the un-droid like behaviour results in some humanity being restored to Valance, and also in him letting Luke and his droids go.

During this confrontation, a lightsaber deflection from Luke ricocheted Valence’s blaster round and melted his face – giving Valance Terminator-like battle damage.

The motivation for his pursuit of Luke is also rather interesting…

Valance discovered a sound recording which detailed a small rebel attack, and it was revealed that these rebels were responsible for destroying the Empire‘s super-station on the Death Star. Valance then knew that these rebels would be wanted and the reward would pay well, but the comparison can be made to the destruction of SkyNet and the Resistance taking down the defence grid.
It is as if Valance’s character is a culmination of John Connor, SkyNet and the overall Terminator story.

Valance also went on to target Darth Vader, which is pretty much one of the ultimate bounties in the Star Wars universe.

So, we have a character that is part man, part machine; a cyborg. He hunts targets, half his face is battle damaged and looks a lot like the Endoskeleton design…

Another bounty Hunter Also Resembles a Terminator

There was never any doubt that The Terminator‘s T-800 endoskeleton reminded us of The Empire Strikes Back‘s bounty hunter, IG-88.

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A slightly different character to the IG-88, but still very similar in design; the IG-11 made a sacrifice in Season 1 of the Mandalorian which was akin to the ending of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, in somewhat of a nod back to Terminator.

Fans (and pop culture itself) recognized similarities between the IG units and Terminators – even the voice of IG-11, Taika Waititi himself, agreed.

 “He’s like a Terminator, but he looks a bit more wonky looking and tall and lanky.”

Taika Waititi 

The evidence keeps mounting…

The arm repair scene in The Terminator could be seen as a direct homage to the prosthetic limb replacement (L-hand 980) for Luke Skywalker, following the loss of his hand at the hands of his father (Darth Vader).

Many more comparisons can be made like Resistance Vs Empire, or Resistance Vs SkyNet.

As a self professed comicbook reader and science fiction lover; did James Cameron read ‘The Hunter‘ and other comic storylines featuring Beilert Valance?

It’s always fun to speculate as fans.

Source: StarWars.com

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