Fighting Robots 5 · 9:17pm Jul 14th, 2020
Fighting Robots 1 (Nightmare, Chaos 2, BioHazard, Razer, Hazard, Deadblow, Blendo)
Fighting Robots 2 (Hypno-Disc, Tombstone, Supernova, Son of Whyachi, Carbide, Minotaur, Apex, Icewave, PP3D)
Fighting Robots 3 (Killerhurtz, Terrorhurtz, beta)
Fighting Robots 4 (Pussycat, Complete Control, Stinger)
You know the drill by now.
Tornado
Series: Robot Wars
Division: Heavyweight
Win-Loss record: 32-9
The shovebot of Robot Wars and Razer’s biggest rival. Tornado’s looks are pretty deceptive: yeah, it doesn’t have highly-damaging weaponry (nor has it ever, frankly), but it’s monstrously durable and boasts an incredible amount of pushing power.
Top speed: 10 mph, actually average for combat robots. That was fine, because its strategy hinged on shoving opponents around; with four-wheel drive and 750-watt motors, Tornado did that very well—barring in its major upset loss to Diotoir in Series 5.
Starting out in Series 4, Tornado made an immediate impression, winning the Best Newcomer award. At the end of its career, the simple red box possessed two Challenge Belts, one Championship title and a third-place Series 7 finish.
One of the team members built their own robot inspired by Tornado, and Team Tornado actually contributed to its build process!
There is one black (or rather, gray) mark on Tornado’s career: its Series 6 Grand Final victory against Razer, for which Tornado fitted a controversial cage* to keep the robot’s vitals out of reach of Razer’s crusher.
*After the battle, the judges confirmed that the cage did comply with the rules.
Bombshell
Series: BattleBots
Division: Heavyweight
Win-Loss record: 5-11
You know how a Swiss army knife has multiple tools in one package? Bombshell is a Swiss army robot, sporting multiple interchangeable weapons that are equipped according to the opponent it’s facing: an axe, lifting forks, a wedge with a vertical spinning disc, and a horizontal spinning blade.
Named because it was built inside an old World War II bunker, Bombshell debuted in Reboot Season 2, but lost its first fight. However, it was later reinstated as a wildcard and proceeded to defeat Cobalt, Red Devil, Poison Arrow and Minotaur (a major upset, that was) to reach the Finals... where it was promptly demolished by Tombstone.
For Reboot Season 3, Bombshell received a sleeker design that could now only equip the vertical disc, and the bot ditched its ineffective drone, Short Fuse.
The new design proved ineffective, however, with Bombshell losing its first four battles. But it later won the Last Chance Rumble to qualify for the Top 16, avenged its Reboot Season 2 loss by defeating Tombstone, and was ultimately defeated by Lock-Jaw.
Reboot Season 4 ended up being Bombshell’s worst run: it lost all four of its fights and failed to re-enter the tournament later. It retired from the competition afterward.
Behemoth
Series: Robot Wars
Division: Heavyweight
Win-Loss record: 29-20
The oldest active fighting robot in the world. Behemoth was originally built in 1998 and is one of the rare few combat robots that have used the same name and basic design for 20 years.
The bulldozer-like bot from Team Make Robotics is a fine demonstration that solid construction and sky-high defensive ability can bring just as much success as destructive weaponry. Its trademark feature is a titanium lifting scoop sturdy enough to tank hits from just about any spinner. Though only referred to in the show as “Behemoth,” subsequent iterations of the bot have had “Evo #” added onto the end; the most recent iteration’s full name is “Behemoth Evo V.”
Making it to the Semi-Finals in its Series 2 debut, Behemoth subsequently encountered a years-long string of bad luck that stopped them from getting further than the Heat Finals; in Series 7, for example, when Mute was attempting to self-right, it flipped over Behemoth, clipped it, and shorted out something that locked the black and yellow bot into forward drive.
More notoriously, team captain Anthony “Ant” Pritchard abruptly left the control booth rather than stay for the post-battle interview after Behemoth lost to Cherub in Series 9. This wasn’t, as many people incorrectly assumed, because Behemoth lost to a team largely made up of children; rather, it was because, despite Ant’s objections, Team Make Robotics fitted Behemoth with an untested experimental weapon instead of its usual scoop, ultimately costing it the match.
Come Series 10, with the whole team on the same page once more, Behemoth made it to the Grand Finals for the first time, and ultimately scored a joint 3rd place finish.
Mauler
Series: BattleBots
Division: Heavyweight
Win-Loss record: 6-7
The iconic spinner from the South Bay Robo Warriors—whose leadership position, by the way, isn’t called “Captain,” but rather “Supreme Commander”—competed in BattleBots and the ‘90s US Robot Wars events that preceded the series. It went by multiple names over the years: South Bay Mauler pre-BattleBots; The Mauler, Mauler 2000, and Mauler 51-50 during BattleBots; and HellFire 666 post-BattleBots.
At this point, I will point out that the “51-50” refers to the corresponding section of the California Welfare and Institutions Code; the section states that a qualified officer can hold an individual with a mental disorder in institution if they deem the person a threat to themselves or others. Make what you will of this.
Weaponry? A full-body spinner: either a spinning lid on top of a stationary body, or a spinning body; both fitted with blunt attachments, and indeed able to maul opponents. Mauler was scheduled to compete in the Robot Wars First World Championship, but ultimately was disqualified before it could battle because its weapon was deemed too powerful for the Arena to contain.
It actually looked quite plain in the ‘90s US Robot Wars events.
It wasn’t until BattleBots that Mauler received its eye-catching looks that included the trademark of a monster face painted somewhere on it.
Probably the most memorable moment of this robot’s career was when it created a BattleBots fan term: “pulling a Mauler.” Definition: a full-body spinner robot unbalances itself. Origins: Mauler 51-50 vs. Bigger Brother in Season 2.0.
Storm 2
Series: Robot Wars
Division: Heavyweight
Win-Loss record: 17-3
Razer’s runner-up finish in Series 6 was controversial, and remains so to this day, but it pales in comparison to the controversy surrounding Storm 2’s runner-up finish in Series 7.
But more on that later; first, the magnificent robot itself. Stated above, Tornado inspired, and actively contributed to, another robot. That robot was Storm 2. The two shared the same basic concept: lots of traction, tough construction, invertible, powerful drivetrain. But while Tornado was four-wheel drive and built to push opponents around, Storm 2 was six-wheel drive and built to charge at opponents like an angry bull and slam into them like a freight train.
To this day, it’s the only robot in the show’s history to throw another bot out of the Arena without using a lifter or flipper; it did so with the sheer kinetic force of its ramming!
Debut: the Extreme 2 New Blood Championship, whose winner would receive a seeding and automatic entry into Series 7; Storm 2 won.
Which brings us to the controversy.
For Series 7, there was a new rule that required all competitors to have an “active weapon”; Tornado and Storm 2 complied by simply fitting small moving weapons that were very rarely, if ever, used in battle.
The controversial rule is believed to have been a direct response to Tornado winning Series 6, with the show’s producers not liking the possibility of a simple box bot winning the title again. But by this point, you’ll know that Storm 2 put on much more exciting battles than its mentor.
And the six-wheeler bulldozed its way to the Grand Finals, even eliminating Tornado along the way. The producers’ fears were becoming true. So they resorted to a very underhanded tactic.
Series 7 title match: rammer Storm 2 vs. full-body spinner Typhoon 2. The battle went to a judge’s decision, but the rammer was clearly the one on top throughout.
At the producers’ behest, the judges ruled in favor of Typhoon 2.
The audience was pissed; they booed so much that cheers were edited in! To this day, it is the single most controversial battle in the history of Robot Wars.
This robot actually became less successful after the original run of Robot Wars. This was because, A) the smaller mobile arenas used for live events didn’t have the space for Storm 2 to build up metal-crunching speeds, and B) it received less-powerful motors and gearing in the interest of reliability, since the Series 7 setup tended to burn through a speed controller each match.
