<P> John Connor is a fictional character of the Terminator franchise . Created by writer and director James Cameron , the character is first referred to in the 1984 film The Terminator and first appears in its 1991 sequel Terminator 2 : Judgment Day initially portrayed by Michael Edwards ( briefly as the older Connor ) and then by teenage actor Edward Furlong throughout the remainder of the film ; in addition , Linda Hamilton 's real - life son Dalton Abbot played John as a toddler in a dream sequence . The character is subsequently portrayed in the films , Nick Stahl in Terminator 3 : Rise of the Machines ( 2003 ) , Christian Bale in Terminator Salvation ( 2009 ) and Jason Clarke in Terminator Genisys ( 2015 ) and from the television series Thomas Dekker and John De Vito in Terminator : The Sarah Connor Chronicles ( 2008 -- 2009 ) as the teenager and little John respectively . In the fifth film , where John Connor who becomes the T - 3000 and serves as the antagonist of the series . </P>
who played john connor in the original terminator
Michael Edwards ( briefly as the older Connor ) Edward Furlong throughout the remainder of the film