Plunderbird

"Shout out loud, make lots of noise! There's damage to be done by the Plunderbird boys! Gunna stamp on you, gunna hit you hard! Gunna send your robot to the breaker's yard. What's the word? Plunderbird!"

- Mike and Bryan after Plunderbird 4's loss

Plunderbird was the name given to five separate box-wedge shaped competitors that competed in the first five series. Plunderbird 1 had an interchangeable saw and spike. Plunderbird 2 and Plunderbird 3 (known as Plunderstorm) were rammers and Plunderbird 4 and Plunderbird 5 both had a hydraulic slicing claw, referred to as a "Slicer Dicer" and "Plunderthocker", respectively.

Plunderbird was well known for its team, who portrayed themselves with a "tough-guy" attitude, and frequently sang raps. This tough-guy attitude was later emulated by Team Scutterbots and also by Team Falcon in the American series. They also had a long-standing grudge with the Sir Chromalot team, mainly because of the entertainment they both provided. The team were nominated for the Sportsmanship Award on three occasions, winning the award in Series 2. Plunderbird were also known fo their famous Theme Song, which stayed the same throughout the first 3 series, before changing to a parody of 'My Old Man's A Dustman', with the main chorus being: "We're big boys and we build big toys we're handy with a spanner/If it don't work, we go berserk and hit it with a hammer"

- Mike and Brian.

The robots themselves were mostly unreliable, driving into the pit in series 2 and not getting off the mark in series 3. They lost in the first round in three of the five wars they entered, which curiously were the odd-numbered wars. However, it did reach the semi-finals of Series 2 (despite the aforementioned pit incident) and won the Best Design Award in the first series.

Mike Onslow, the team captain, still has the Plunderbird shells, except for that of Plunderbird 5, as that was destroyed, and occasionally brings them to various live events.

Appearances in Merchandise

 * Plunderbird/Minibot

Series 1
Plunderbird 1 had an innovative set of interchangeable weapons pods at the front which gave it a choice between a flip-out circular saw and a laser-guided ramming spike. It unluckily went out in the gauntlet after getting stuck on a grille, before being peppered by Shunt's axe. However, the interchangeable weaponry gave it a nomination for the Best Design Award, which it won.

Series 2
Plunderbird 2, the successor of Plunderbird, was armed with just a pneumatic ramming blade this time. In its Gauntlet run, it shot past the Sentinel and drove into a pit. This prompted the other teams to call Mike, Bryan and Ken "chickens", because they chose to avoid the house robots. It was victorious in its Trial run, after it knocked Dead Metal off the podium, with Sgt. Bash quickly following suit.

"Well maybe they're not all talk and no trousers"

- Johnathan Pearce as Dead Metal is knocked off the ring.

Plunderbird 2 faced Enzyme in the Third Task, and wedged underneath it, before pushing it into Bash. The two machines were eventually separated, and the judges gave the win to Plunderbird. In the Heat Final, it faced The Mule, and wedged underneath it repeatedly. Plunderbird was unable to pit its opponent, but won on points.

However, Plunderbird only travelled 0.9m in the Gauntlet, as it drove through the blocks, but was pushed back by Shunt, before Matilda hammered the final nail into the coffin by tearing off the aerial with her chainsaw. However, Plunderbird won the Sportsmanship Award for this Series.



Series 3
"The forecast's bad. You better keep running. Its gunna be tough. There's a Plunderstorm coming!"

- Mike, Bryan and Ken

Plunderbird 3 (Renamed as Plunderstorm for this year) had a very short war. Shortly before the fight, they were asked by the crew to remove a saw blade, which they weren't too happy about. It had only one fight against newcomers Thermador. It started off with only one drive, but after a couple of seconds, broke down completely, leaving it at the mercy of the House Robots and Team Lobster's machine, eventually finishing with Sir Killalot spearing the beaten Plunderstorm with its lance, before lifting it up, carrying it around, and lowering it into the Pit. "Plunderstorm? It's not even a shower!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Series 4
Plunderbird did little in its first round battle with Vercingetorix and Fat Boy Tin. Plunderbird and Vercingetorix ganged up on Fat Boy Tin, forcing the huge machine into Killalot's CPZ. Vercingetorix levered Fat Boy Tin up and over onto Killalot's face, rendering Fat Boy Tin stuck. Helpless, it was lowered to the ground, facing the roof. Shunt axed Fat Boy Tin's smiley face, penatrating it. Fat Boy Tin was then placed on the Floor Flipper, with Vercingetorix hovering around it. Vercingetorix dug its axe into the fallen Fat Boy Tin, Plunderbird watching from a safe distance. Fat Boy Tin was then thrown by the flipper, taking Vercingetorix with it. Vercingetorix self righted then took out its frustration on Plunderbird, flipping it. Despite this, Plunderbird went through to face Knightmare. This was the only fight in which Plunderbird's "Plunderthocker" claw was working, and even then, it wasn't working to its full potential. In round 2, Knightmare slipped underneath Plunderbird, backed away before ramming it again. The two constantly bumping each other but no significance could been seen at all. Plunderbird got underneath Knightmare, rendering the robots stuck together for a short while. The pit suddenly opened and Refbot pushed Knightmare off of Plunderbird to let the battle continue. Plunderbird showed a liitle sign of agression, pushing Knightmare, but Knightmare darted away to attack again. Finally, in one fell swoop, Knightmare toppled Plunderbird onto its side. The house robots closed in, before Sir Killalot dumped it into the pit, confirming that Plunderbird 4 was out of the wars.

Plunderbird teamed up with Bigger Brother in the Tag Team Terror of Series 4. Against Firestorm 2 and Scorpion, the two faced a tough opposition. Bigger Brother and Scorpion were out first. Bigger Brother flipped Scorpion very quickly, but Scorpion was righted by Firestorm 2. Plunderbird 4 then came out of the Blue Zone to push Scorpion around, jabbing it with its Plunderthocker claw also. Firestorm rammed Plunderbird from behind, but was sent back to the Red Zone by Refbot. Plunderbird backed away from Scorpion, as Firestorm rammed into it again. Firestorm got around to the side Plunderbird 4, pushing it all the way into the Red Zone and slamming it into the side wall. Plunderbird was freed after Matilda lifted Firestorm away from it. Plunderbird pinned Firestorm against the side wall, giving Bigger Brother a chance to flip it, but it didn't get it over. Matilda also lifted up Firestorm a little, before it jetted away. Plunderbird and Scorpion came to blows, but Plunderbird seemed immobilized after that attack. Firestorm almost flipped it over, flipping it onto its claw, before driving right under it, and being pinned momentarily. Plunderbird, still static, was gripped by Sgt Bash and forced into the side wall. Bigger Brother and Plunderbird were eliminated by a Judges' decision.

In the Playoff, Plunderbird had problem internally, therefore played a small part in the upcoming battle. Predictably, Bigger Brother went first against X-Terminator. Plunderbird watched on as X-Terminator flipped Bigger Brother, who self-righted. Bigger Brother came back and lifted up X-Terminator and slammed it into Plunderbird 4. Refbot bumped the lifeless Plunderbird 4, then left it touching the side wall. After a long time of battling on Bigger Brother and X-Termintor's part, X-terminator bumped the corpse of Plunderbird, but then in a piece of poor driving, went straight into the pit. Despite doing little in the entire battle, Plunderbird and Bigger Brother grabbed third place.

Extreme 1
"A New robot for a new fight, but it's got the same attitude"

- The Plunderbird team

Plunderbird 5 made a variety of appearances in Extreme Series 1. It fought in two vengeance battles: The first was against Sir Chromalot, who they called 'a bunch of girlies' to spark a vengeance. in the proper battle, Plunderbird and Chromalot did a lot of pushing and shoving around the arena, until Plunderbird tried to grab Chromalot, but was lifted. It did manage to grab on to its opponent, and started pushing it towards the pit, but some good driving skill from Sir Chromalot meant plunderbird was forced onto the edge of the pit, where it was pitted by Sgt Bash. Plunderbird still wanted an rematch afterwards, though. At the end of the battle, Plunderbird sang their new theme tune, which was planned for when they won, but was used nonetheless. "This was a vengeance battle to show who were the biggest showmen in Robot Wars - Plunderbird committed suicide"

- Craig Charles

Plunderbird fought Mega Morg in another Vengeance, this time relating to who sang better. Again this battle was mostly pushing each other around the arena, with the two robots dodging each other at the start of the battle and attempted to attack, before Plunderbird was lifted by Mega Morg's improved lifter. It then tried to grab hold of its opponent, and eventually did so. It forced Mega Morg's lifter to jam open, tried to prise open its front armour, and won on points.

"That was just pushing and shoving and calling names. I would show you some highlights...but there weren't any."

- Craig Charles

Alongside Stinger and Scorpion, Plunderbird 5 fought Shunt and Dead Metal in the first House Robot Rebellion. It rammed Dead Metal, but was caught by the House Robot and sliced in punishment. As Plunderbird escaped, the floor flipper activated, sending Plunderbird flying up into the air and landing on top of Stinger. It was then seized by Shunt and pitted. Plunderbird 5 was also due to compete in the Tag Team Terror alongside Bigger Brother, but was forced to withdraw after it charged down the entry gate, damaging it in the process. It was replaced, quite hastily, by Major Tom.

Series 5
For the third time in five wars, Plunderbird was defeated in Round 1. Plunderbird 5 was drawn against new machine S3, where the vertical spinning disc disabled the claw weapon before S3 gradually ripped through Plunderbird's armour exposing its wheels and other innards. Plunderbird ended up with what the Ultimate Guide describes to be 'a clusterbot'. This was Plunderbird's worst moment. Sir Killalot placed the defeated machine to the arena floor flipper but not before 2 wheels had fallen out of the machine. It was tossed before S3 attacked it one final time. This was its last appearance.

US Series
Plunderbird 5 briefly competed in the first series of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors, in the War of Independence special. In its first round clash, it was easily able to push back Rosie the Riveter, knocking off several of its ornaments. Rosie the Riveter retaliated by slamming it into the arena wall and side grinders. Both robots ended up severely limping by the end of the battle, with Rosie only being able to drive forwards and reverse, and Plunderbird losing its left hand drive. The judges were called upon and a close judge's decision put the American team through.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * UK Wins: 5
 * UK Losses: 8
 * US Wins: 0
 * US Losses: 1

Series Record

 * Series 1: Heat, Gauntlet
 * Series 2: Semi-Finals, Gauntlet
 * Series 3: Heat, Round 1
 * Series 4: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 5: Heat, Round 1
 * Series 6-7: Did not enter