Thor

For the American robot, see Thor's Hammer.

"How would I best describe Thor? Relentless, savage, and powerful."

- Jason Marston

Thor was a robot which competed in Series 6-10 of Robot Wars, as well as the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. In its first iterations, it wielded a powerful hammer (as a nod to the weapon of the Norse god from which it took its name), though this was exchanged for a pneumatic axe in Series 8-10. Jason Marston and Lee Cornish dressed in Viking costumes during Series 6 and Extreme 2. Lee Cornish did not return after the end of Series 7.

Thor reached the second round in Series 6 and 7, and finished third in the Extreme 2 New Blood Championship. It had a substantially better performance in Series 8, receiving a wildcard into the Grand Final despite losing its qualifying episode to Shockwave, and ultimately finishing fourth overall. In Series 9, it reached the Heat Final and was defeated by Concussion.

Jason Marston appeared as a mentor in Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars, competing alongside football pundit Robbie Savage with their robot, Robo Savage. Together, they managed to finish as runners-up in Episode 2.

Thor (Series 6 and Extreme 2)
The original Thor was an flat triangle robot with two pincers at the base. The hammer rested on a line from the base of the triangle to the apex, so that it would strike an opponent directly between the pincers. The hammer was capable of self-righting and could puncture 15mm polycarbonate. It had a top strike speed of 70mph.

In Extreme 2, the robot was a similar shape, but the claws were removed, and the front was now wedge-shaped.

Thor (Series 7)
The robot was upgraded for Series 7 through over 300 hours of work, with a new thinner wedge-shaped design, a shorter and more powerful hammer, and a higher top speed of 20mph. However, the armour was also thinner overall. Whilst the hammer was very powerful, the robot also proved a little unreliable.

Thor (Series 8)
The Series 8 version of the Thor used a high-speed bladed axe, in place of the traditional hammer used by the previous versions of Thor. The robot was armoured in approximately 80% aluminium and 20% HARDOX, and could fire its weapon more times per match than previously. At 30mph, Thor was the fastest robot in the series, and its drive motor is four times more powerful than it was in Series 7. This version achieved far more success than its predecessors, mainly due to its incredible speed and much more potent weaponry.

Thor used interchangeable axe heads and wedges, dependant on its opponent. Thor can use floor-hugging wedges to get underneath opponents and negate wedges and scoops, or a wide plate to protect it from spinning discs. Thor's axe heads vary from its signature head based upon Mjölnir to a spiked head. These adjustments cause Thor's weight to vary between 105kg and 108kg.

Thor (Series 9-10)
Following on from Thor's destructive loss at the hands of Carbide, Jason Marston designed a new version of Thor, which was much more resilient to spinning weapons, as it was guarded by a low wedge at the front, creating a much lower profile in general. The Series 9 version was also 20% smaller than its predecessor, allowing it to have more emphasis on; approximately 90% of the robot was armoured in HARDOX, and 10% in aluminium. Its wheels were moved more towards the back of the machine, and were coupled to a set of Magmotors which gave Thor a power output of 32hp. This version of Thor had a high ground clearance surrounding most of its sides. Series 9's Thor had two interchangeable wedges, including a steep wedge, and a flatter toothed design. Series 10's Thor abandoned this interchangeable approach to weld a toothed, low-laying scoop onto the robot for extra durability. Five interchangeable axes were brought for Thor in Series 10, and its firing speed was doubled, according to the Robot Wars website.

Series 6
"A mighty hammer-axe, of course - but wait until you see the team!"

- Jonathan Pearce on Thor

Thor participated in Heat G of the Sixth Wars, for its debut Robot Wars appearance. In the first round of the heat, Thor was drawn up against the experienced Judge Shred 2 ½, Team 101's walkerbot Anarchy, and newcomers Revolution 2. In the battle, Thor and Anarchy almost immediately swapped axe blows, but it soon became evident that they and Revolution 2 were targeting Judge Shred 2 ½. Judge Shred 2½ had to fend off assaults from the axes of Thor and Anarchy, and the spinning blades of Revolution 2, denting Judge Shred 2½'s armour in several places. In the midst of all the attacks, Thor's front pincers were both bent, but it carried on. Revolution 2 rammed Judge Shred 2½ into the arena side wall and in turn was attacked by Dead Metal. Anarchy flipped over Revolution 2, where the supposedly invertible machine got stuck. With three robots remaining, Thor hammered Judge Shred 2½ yet again before doing the same to Anarchy. Judge Shred 2½ almost turned over Thor right at the end, but Judge Shred 2½ was eliminated due to all the damage it took, putting Anarchy and Thor through to the next round of the Heat.

In the second round, Thor was placed up against the number 12 seeds and eventual champions Tornado. "Bring it on, bring it on! We'll give it out best shot, or several in fact!"

- Pre-battle confidence from Jason Marston

In this battle, Thor's weak pincers were bent straight away, but Thor got a couple of hammer blows on Tornado early on. Tornado slammed Thor into the pit release button, breaking off part of Thor's side panel. Tornado however, was rammed by the stormy pace of Growler. For a little while, Thor tried to hold onto Tornado between its hammer and its body, but after Tornado got free, Thor very nearly reversed into the pit but drove away. A shove by Tornado had Thor trapped in the CPZ by Sergeant Bash and Growler, and both Thor and Sergeant Bash almost drove down the pit of oblivion. "A team of Formula 1 and Liverpool football fans - well, their road to Wembley, as it were, is about to end here! Last on the grid!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Thor is attacked by the House Robots and Tornado

Thor just survived for another judges' decision, but the decision went in favour of the seeded Tornado, eliminating Thor from the competition.

Extreme 2
"From the halls of the Vikings, comes the hammer of the Gods"

- Jonathan Pearce in Extreme 2

Thor participated in the New Blood Championships as a completely rebuilt robot, with no claws this time. It didn't start Round 1 against Night Raider and Hell's Teeth very well, as it tried to hit Night Raider and missed more times than it hit. Fortunately for Thor, Team Blades' robot broke down and was demolished by the House Robots, allowing Thor to go through.

In Round 2, Thor faced Chip and one hammer blow on the Welsh machine was enough to immobilise it. Thor, having beaten Chip, turned its attention to Growler, landing a hammer blow on the dog of war. Growler retaliated, using its massive power to slam Thor against the arena wall, but in doing so beached itself on the arena wall. Meanwhile, Mr. Psycho hammered Chip, before knocking it into Growler, helping to free its stricken pet. "What damage has been sustained by Thor having rather rashly taken on Growler in a one-on-one?"

- Jonathan Pearce

Thor, also freed, hit the pit release button, and Mr. Psycho nearly reversed into the pit, whilst Chip was counted out by the Refbot. "Thor is very impressive, there's a very big hammer there. I would say possibly they could slightly hone their driving skils, as a lot of their hammer blows hit the floor and not the opponent, but when they do hit the opponent, it certainly shakes!"

- Mat Irvine before the Heat Final

In the Heat Final Thor faced Edge Hog. Both robots used their weapons on each other but missed more times than hitting each other. Thor then pushed Edge Hog into Sir Killalot who picked it up, spun it around and let go of it. Edge Hog broke down after self-righting. "Could hammer a final nail in any coffin!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Thor enters the arena for the Grand Final

Thor was in the Grand-Final and up against Storm 2 for a place in the final battle.

Thor kept trying to land its hammer on Storm 2, but Storm 2 was too fast. Thor was then hammered by Mr. Psycho but got away. Thor was whacked into the pit-release tyre by Storm 2, then after one fire from Thor's hammer, it stayed in the fired position and Storm 2 continued to push a defenceless Thor around the arena. Thor was then nearly pushed into the pit by Storm 2, but it got away. After a few failed attempts from Storm 2 to pit Thor, the fight went to the judges to decide. The judges rules that Storm 2 had won and Thor was eliminated.

Thor then took part in the 3rd-place Play-Off against Cedric Slammer. Both robots attacked each other straight away, but did little damage. After two misfires from its hammer, Thor finally managed to hit Cedric Slammer, slowing it down. Cedric Slammer then rolled into the CPZ where it was slammed into by Growler and broke down, meaning Thor took 3rd place in the New Blood Tournament.

Series 7
"Our main aim is to get seeded this year, and anything above that would be a bonus."

- Jason Marston

At the start of Thor's second main series appearance was a melee against Dutch entrants Gravity, newcomers Hodaf The Bad, and previous Heat Finalist Hydra. Thor struck Hodaf The Bad several times, although this did not cause the newcomers much distress. Thor jumped in the air with the power of its hammer trying to hit Gravity and Hydra. Gravity mightily threw Hydra into the air again, and flipped it twice more, getting it out of the arena (and damaging the arena wall in the process), so 'cease' was called early because of the safety violation. Despite this, Gravity launched Thor over Refbot in an attack edited out of the televised broadcast until 'cease' was called again. The Judges ruled in favour of Gravity and Thor in the battle up to the original 'cease'. "We had a battery go down inside, so we basically just jammed our way through! We lost drive, but we caught a robot with the hammer, caused damage so we got through luckily."

- Lee Cornish before Round 2

Thor then faced off with Lightning. The majority of Thor's axe blows missed, while Lightning wasn't able get its sideways flipper into action. Both narrowly dodged Shunt, but it was appearing that Lightning was the better controlled, pushing Thor into another CPZ. Lightning hit the pit release tyre and drove straight on top of Thor, which all of a sudden had a very slowly swinging hammer, but was denting its foe's armour. Both remained right next to the open pit until Refbot separated the pair. Lightning got away quickly while Thor didn't, so Lightning got underneath Thor and used its flipper to dump Thor straight into the pit. "I think we had a gas leak, I think we've had a battery go down as well. It's a new machine and unfortunately it's not quite reliable enough yet to keep winning fights."

- Lee Cornish after the fight

Series 8
Thor was the first robot to be revealed as a competitor in Series 8 in a trailer where builder Jason Marston admires his robot to the tune of Grover Washington Jr's "Just the Two of Us", before cutting to clips of Thor engaging in battle with Shunt in the arena. In its first battle of the competition, Thor fought DisConstructor, Shockwave and Tough as Nails in the first round. Thor's entrance into the arena showed the first example of Jason Marston "doing the Thor", a hammering hand gesture. Thor entered the battle with its anti-spinner plate on the front, as a measure of defending itself against DisConstructor. Thor's first target in the battle was Tough as Nails, but it missed spectacularly, and flipped itself over. Thor continued to focus on Tough as Nails, but its axe was too short to reach the lengthy machine, which grabbed the top section of Thor and pushed it back. Although Shockwave rammed into the back of Thor after it had pitted DisConstructor, Thor continued its private battle with Tough as Nails, barely missing an axe attack from Shunt. Thor gained assistance from live circuit friends Team Shock, which helped Thor push Tough as Nails, driving it right up the arena wall, where the axe could finally gain a purchase. When Shockwave wedged underneath Tough as Nails, Thor repeatedly axed the Dutch machine until its removable link had fallen out, and pushed the immobile machine onto the lip of the pit. Thor nudged Tough as Nails in, and qualified for the next round with Shockwave.

"If we're judging on aggression alone, there was no shortage of it!"

- Angela Scanlon

In the head-to-head rounds, Thor's first opponent was full-body spinner M.R. Speed Squared, so Thor kept its anti-spinner plate on the front. Knowing that the full-body spinner needed to have its momentum halted, Thor charged in at full speed, but missed, and needed to perform a U-turn to catch up, the deflection knocking M.R. Speed Squared into the pit release button. Thor gave its opponent no chance to start spinning, and bullied it into the clutches of Dead Metal, over the flame pit, where a strong blow dented the aluminium armour. Two strong slams into the arena walls sent M.R. Speed Squared ricocheting, before returning to Dead Metal where Thor punched a huge gash into its foe. After M.R. Speed Squared escape, Thor sustained a blow from the spinner, and then drove over the floor flipper where both robots were tossed, after which Thor needed to self-right. This flip had overturned M.R. Speed Squared, exposing its internals, as their bottom armour was missing. Although Thor was axed by Shunt, it axed the rim and chassis of M.R. Speed Squared, which drove into the pit straight afterwards, awarding Thor the win by KO. Thor then faced the robot that assisted it in the first round, Shockwave, which had applied a bucket scoop specifically to deflect Thor's axe. This decision proved to be unwise, as Thor elected not to use their axe in the opening moments, pushing Shockwave into Dead Metal where it found an opportunity to damage the bucket. Thor's next attack took a complete third of the scoop away, continuing to push and attack Shockwave afterwards, nearing the house robots, and driving Shockwave across the arena, raining down several axe blows, eventually removing another piece of its scoop. Thor's next blow nearly struck Shockwave's wheels, although Thor was pushed into an empty CPZ in retaliation. Central blows to Shockwave damaged the top, and bent its lifting mechanism, and Thor buried its axe inside a wheel reservation of Shockwave. Simply ramming into Shockwave was enough to knock off the remainder of its scoop, but Shockwave pushed Thor into Matilda's flywheel, which ripped away one of Thor's wheel guards. Cease was called, and Thor was given the victory via unanimous Judges' decision, giving Thor a total of five points in the group stage. "Thor's hammer coming down, hammering it all the time, the aggression, using those criteria, we said Thor would win"

- Dr Lucy Rogers

Thor's final opponent in the round was Foxic, which had already been eliminated from the competition, but was very willing to fight Thor, intending to continue the team's record of defeating axes, hoping to chop Thor's axe off completely. "Well he hasn't won anything since he's been here yet, so I don't think he's gonna start now!"

- Jason Marston, about Craig Danby

The battle opened similarly to Thor's last, with Foxic raising its weapon to defend itself from the axe, but Thor offered no axe blows to begin with, being pushed into the pit release button by Foxic. After this, Thor could easily expose Foxic's front ground clearance, and push it around the arena, nearing the pit. Eventually, Thor crept around the side of Foxic, landed an axe blow directly on top, leaving Foxic essentially immobilised, as it was pushed onto the flame pit, where Dead Metal attacked. After another blow, Thor kept its distance, having done enough to go undefeated in the head-to-head round, as Matilda flipped the immobile Foxic into the pit. "Craig was giving it large, trash talking, trying to psyche me out, saying he's gonna chop the axe off - hasn't got the ability to chop the axe off, I'm the only one with the ability to chop the axe off! So yeah, meant nothing, straight over my head!"

- Jason Marston

Thor went into the Heat Final as the favourite to win, meeting Shockwave for the third time. Thor collided with Shockwave, which had switched back to its metal scoop, and was knocked away in recoil. Thor was pushed into the arena wall and lifted by Shockwave, which surprisingly was enough to immobilise Thor. After being pushed into the wall a second time, Thor could only fire its axe as defence, while Shockwave pressed the pit release button, and put Thor on the edge of the pit. Thor rocked about, firing its weapon, and was pushed in. "That's humiliating for a god of your stature to be dumped into a pit by that!"

- Dara Ó Briain

Although Thor had lost to Shockwave, it entered contention for a wildcard position in the Grand Final along with Behemoth, Dantomkia, Storm 2 and Gabriel. The Judges decided that Thor was the most worthy of the wildcard, and Jason Marston progressed to the Grand Final. In the Grand Final, Thor faced TR2 and Pulsar, where both teams expressed fear of Thor. "They are in trouble, I'm gonna beat seven bells out of everything that gets in the way!"

- Jason Marston

Thor sustained early damage from its chosen target Pulsar, which ripped the top of a wheelguard from Thor, and bent its front wedges backwards. However, Thor left Pulsar alone once it lost full mobility, and pushed TR2. A combination attack from TR2 and Shunt saw Thor overturned twice, and took damage from the House Robot's axe. Thor landed a blow of its own on TR2 before returning to the fairly lifeless Pulsar to axe it, also being flipped by TR2 in the process. Thor and Shunt landed axe blows on one another. Ignoring Pulsar, Thor and TR2 battled again, trading blows, ending with Thor being stranded on its side and thrown towards the trench wall. Pulsar was finally counted out, putting Thor into the next round, despite it being flipped again by TR2. In the head-to-head stage of the Grand Final, Thor first fought bar spinner Carbide. It went into the battle sporting a 10mm HARDOX "anti-Carbide" plate on the front, and a spiked axe head, to punch through Carbide's plastic top plate. The anti-Carbide plate offered good protection at first, minimising the damage from a blow which threw Thor onto the floor flipper, which turned it over. However, Thor received much more damage when Carbide attacked its wheelguards, tearing into them and exposing Thor's wheels. A big blow from Carbide ripped away Thor's HARDOX plate, and threw it out of the arena. Two more blows threw Thor away, and over. When Thor self-righted, Carbide landed its knockout blow, and landed some final blows on Thor before it was counted out. "It seems to be in pretty bad shape, it'll be interesting to see if it'll be battle-worthy the next one!"

- Professor Sethu Vijayakumar on Thor

Thor had suffered immense damage, but was repaired in time for a head-to-head battle with TR2, where it returned to its signature bladed axe. However, Thor was thrown over immediately, and resorted to fleeing. Thor was thrown over four times in succession, and then flipped onto the top of Dead Metal by TR2, where it burned on top of the flame pit. A glancing blow from Thor's hammer struck TR2, but Thor was flipped over again. An attack from the flywheel and tusks of Matilda removed part of Thor's wheelguard once again, and overturned it. Thor could easily self-right from TR2's flip, but it was clearly losing the battle, as it was flipped twice more, and struck by Matilda. Thor could hardly move after this attack, but managed to turn in a circle after firing its axe. This meant that TR2 and Matilda needed to cause more damage, and Thor was left inverted, venting gas. It eventually self-righted, but was flipped into the CPZ, where Matilda threw Thor out of the arena. "We spent a lot of time upside-down, which the pneumatic system doesn't like. When it's upside-down a lot, it starts to freeze up, the valve stops working and then you can see the gas being vented out."

- Jason Marston

Thor was eliminated from the competition at this stage, but would still earn third place if it could defeat Apollo. It entered the match as a shadow of its former self, repaired all over again after another destructive loss. "Thor died many fights ago, this is now zombie Thor!"

- Dara Ó Briain

Thor fled from Apollo, but drove over the floor flipper, and was left inverted once again, then was launched by Apollo. Armour fell off the back of Thor when it was thrown again, including vital components, leaving Thor immobile and unable to self-right. Thor was counted out, and lost its final battle of the series, but this still meant that Thor had finished fourth place overall in the series. "To come fourth in the competition of Robot Wars? Spot on!"

- Jason Marston

Series 9
Thor competed in Heat 3. In its Group Battle, it faced the returning Chimera2 as well as newcomers Concussion and Tauron. It used its new single-headed axe blade, and the steeper of its two wedges.

Immediately, Thor charged towards Tauron, chasing it through a CPZ before attempting to push it round from the side. Tauron’s spinning bar hit Thor's side, sending sparks flying, before Thor spun round and was briefly immobilised after getting squeezed between the wall and Tauron by a slam from Concussion. Thor fired its axe several times as Shunt approached, before suddenly kicking back into life and pushing the immobile Tauron aside. It proceeded to attack Chimera2, axing it a few times while pushing it into an empty CPZ, before briefly bumping into Concussion as the latter attacked Chimera2. After some time staying out of the action, Thor pushed both robots around inside the CPZ before forcefully separating them, with Chimera2 being left immobilised as a result. Thor slammed into Concussion, sustaining two hits from the latter's drum, but seemingly taking out half of Concussion's drive. Thor nudged Tauron again and hit the lip of the pit just as 'cease' was called. Both Thor and Concussion progressed to the Head-to-Head stage regardless.

Jason Marston explained afterwards that Thor's brief immobilisation was caused by cold temperatures affecting its batteries, and a loosened wire which was replaced in the pits. He also discovered that the force of Thor's axe was causing it to bend upon contact with the rear bump stop, leading to concerns about the axe sustaining fatigue and potentially breaking off. In the Head-to-Heads, Thor first faced Concussion. Both robots slammed into each other in the opening seconds, with Thor pressing the Arena Tyre and allowing Dead Metal to leave his CPZ as 'Rogue House Robot' mode was triggered. Thor was pushed into another CPZ by Concussion, which was promptly caught by Dead Metal, allowing Thor to escape. It hesitated to attack any further until Concussion left the CPZ, with both robots bumping and driving around each other a few times. CO2 vented from Thor as Concussion hit its side twice in rapid succession, before Thor drove away and launched Concussion over its front wedge as the two robots met again. "Oh, that's not smoke, that is CO2 venting!"

- Jonathan Pearce spots Thor’s gas leak after mistaking it for smoke

Thor drove into Concussion's drum several more times, and was buffeted away as Concussion was left unable to drive off the slightly lowered pit panel. Both robots became stuck on the pit as Thor charged in again, with Concussion briefly lifting Thor off the panel with its drum and shearing a small belt from underneath it. Eventually, Thor reversed away after firing its axe a few times, leaving Concussion stranded on the panel as it tried to activate the pit. However, Rogue House Robot was triggered again, with Thor axing Matilda as she rammed into – and got herself pinned on top of – Concussion. As it did so, Dead Metal came in to free Thor, allowing it to circle around the pit and back up for another charge on Concussion. As it drove towards Concussion, Thor was flipped over as Concussion's drum hit its left-hand wheelguard. With its axe out of CO2 and leaving Thor unable to self-right, it lost the battle to Concussion and scored no points for this knock-out loss. "Stupid Jay."

- Jason Marston rues his driving error in the Head-to-Head against Concussion

Afterwards, Jason Marston expressed his frustration at having misjudged Thor's final charge, and later discovered that one of its wheels had also seized up. This required more repairs prior to its next battle against M.R. Speed Squared, a rematch of their Head-to-Head from Series 8. In the battle, Thor started by driving around, axing and pushing M.R. Speed Squared into the wall, the latter unable to get its spinning weapon up to speed due to damage sustained in previous battles. It dragged M.R. Speed Squared back as the latter got stranded on its wedge, before axing it again, freeing both robots and leaving M.R. Speed Squared immobile near the arena spikes. Thor hit M.R. Speed Squared a few more times before pushing it into Sir Killalot, and drove away before 'cease' was called. Thor scored its first three points through this knock-out victory, putting it joint-second on the leaderboard along with its next – and last – opponent, Heavy Metal. For this battle, Thor equipped its double-headed axe and flatter front wedge, and started by charging into Heavy Metal head-on, almost flipping it over. It pushed and axed Heavy Metal into and around a CPZ, the rubber treads for Heavy Metal's wheels coming off and scattering all over the arena floor as it did so. Thor skirted past the Flame Pit as it made another run at Heavy Metal, eventually slamming into it again. It was briefly pushed sideways by Heavy Metal, before driving away and nudging Heavy Metal as the latter lost traction and drive to one side. Thor capitalised on this by axing and pushing Heavy Metal into the wall, before catching the pit panel as it attempted to shove it across the arena. It recovered to push Heavy Metal over the arena spikes, where Heavy Metal was flipped over and was immobilised by contact with Matilda's flywheel. As Heavy Metal sat immobile, Thor pushed it into Matilda, before knocking its right-hand wheel off and pushing it into the arena tyre. Dead Metal came out to attack Thor, but Thor escaped to spin in victory as 'cease' was called, with Matilda later sending Heavy Metal's wheel flying across the arena with her flywheel. With three more points scored as a result, Thor finished the Head-to-Head round with six points, putting it second on the leaderboard along with Concussion. "Concussion's a drum spinner, and with the front end that I've got, I think I can go straight underneath it, and then it's just a case of bludgeoning him to death."

- Jason Marston

As the two highest-scoring robots in the Head-to-Head stage, Thor and Concussion faced each other for a third time in the Heat Final, with Thor reverting to the larger axe head and wedge used for their previous encounter. Thor began by slamming into Concussion, before driving away and being lifted up by Concussion's drum as the two robots clashed again. It struggled to get underneath Concussion as the two robots drove around and hit each other a few more times, before almost being flung onto its back after another blow from Concussion. Thor continued driving away from Concussion before slamming head-on into it again, before eventually withstanding a few more blows and dodging Concussion in an attempt to lure it into Dead Metal. As before, CO2 vented copiously from Thor's axe mechanism as it deflected more blows from Concussion and steered it into the Arena Tyre. This activated the pit, with Thor sustaining damage a few seconds later as Concussion hit its side. After spending more time dodging and deflecting Concussion, Thor was flipped over by Concussion, but self-righted immediately in spite of its gas leak. "...and he did have enough power to self-right! He was holding it back! Brilliant stuff from Jason!"

- Jonathan Pearce after Thor re-rights itself

Thor slammed into Concussion a few more times, the repeated attacks buckling its front wedge as it made contact with Concussion's drum. The two robots attempted to push each other along the floor, with Thor missing an axe blow on Concussion's tyres as they spun round together and separated. Thor's axe got stuck in the half-way position in the process, and Thor itself momentarily stopped moving as Concussion attempted to nudge it. However, Thor regained mobility seconds later, and survived to a Judges' decision as it pushed Concussion over the Flame Pit. "Good machine, very, very good machine. I was trying to get hold – it was like getting hold of a bar of soap, it was. I was trying to push them towards the House Robots or in the pit and I just couldn't do it."

- Jason Marston praises Concussion and explains Thor's difficulty in attacking it during the Heat Final

While the battle was closely-fought, Thor ultimately lost the decision - and the Heat Final - to Concussion. Its status as a Heat Finalist meant that it remained in contention for a wildcard place in the Grand Final, but this was ultimately awarded to the reigning champion Apollo, fully eliminating Thor.

Series 10
Thor returned in Heat 5 of Series 10, now sporting a revised front wedge. In its Group Battle, it fought Series 9 returnees Expulsion and Coyote, and immediately pursued Coyote as the latter pushed and knocked Expulsion off-balance. It dodged Dead Metal in the process, before chasing Coyote and almost getting stuck on the pit. Thor reversed, turned round and pressed the Arena Tyre, triggering ‘Rogue House Robot’ and continuing its pursuit at Coyote while being attacked by Dead Metal. This resulted in Thor momentarily driving itself up the wall, but it quickly escaped, eventually driving head-on into Coyote and striking the latter’s jaw with its axe. Again, Thor rammed Coyote, eventually chasing and pushing it onto the Flame Pit, where Expulsion and its minibot Detention sat immobile. It axed Coyote twice more, before chasing and pushing it across the arena again.

Thor landed one more axe blow, but was momentarily pinned against the wall and dragged around by Coyote. It used its axe to shake itself free, before driving through an empty CPZ and continuing to ram, chase and axe Coyote. Thor lured a speeding Coyote across the arena, the two robots slamming head-on into each other once again. Again, Thor scooped Coyote up and pushed it onto the Flame Pit, knocking Expulsion onto its side and getting pushed into the Arena Tyre by Coyote in return. Again, ‘Rogue House Robot’ was enabled, with both competitors dodging Dead Metal before attacking the House Robot together. Again, they slammed into each other, the impact breaking Coyote’s jaw and allowing Thor to again push it towards the Flame Pit. Thor clipped the Floor Flipper as it threw Coyote off-balance, but continued ramming and axing Coyote, hitting the latter’s now-disabled jaw and tearing off some of its pipework. "Oh, right in the neck!"

- Angela Scanlon as Thor axes Coyote’s clamping jaw

It slammed Coyote into the wall and over the arena spikes in the closing seconds, with the battle going to a Judges’ decision. The decision went unanimously in Thor’s favour. "…we had seen you kind of sit on your laurels a little bit last series, but the aggression that we recognised in [Series 8] was back with a vengeance!"

- Angela Scanlon discusses Thor’s Group Battle performance with Jason Marston

The Heat Semi-Finals saw Thor and Coyote fight each other for the second time, with Jason Marston confident about his chances of repeating its Group Battle performance. "So, er, yeah, Coyote next, and they’re feverishly working away, repairing damage, still, from the first fight, I think, that they took from Thor. So, I’m just going to make Coyote ugly."

- Jason Marston

In the opening moments, the two competitors drove towards and dodged each other numerous times, before Thor slammed into Coyote, axed its scoop and pushed it over the spark jets and pit. Thor axed Coyote’s top panel as it manoeuvred the latter away from Matilda, before pursuing, axing and pushing Coyote against the wall. After momentarily driving up the wall itself, Thor retreated to the centre of the arena, only to slam into Coyote again and inflict several more axe blows on its opponent. In doing so, it manoeuvred Coyote towards Dead Metal, only to get caught in her pincers and allow Coyote to press the Arena Tyre. ‘Rogue House Robot’ was enabled again; Thor quickly reversed away from Dead Metal, only to get thrown by the Floor Flipper as it spun round. After self-righting, it drove at high speed across the arena just as Matilda reversed towards and clipped its side with her flywheel; the impact ruptured Thor’s pneumatics system and sent it skidding into an entry gate. "Thor, a little bit of naivety onto the flipper! Matilda is closing in, as well – watch out, Thor! OH, THOR! His weapon taken out by Matilda!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Matilda ruptures Thor’s pneumatics system

With CO2 leaking and its axe disabled, Thor drove into Coyote a few more times, manoeuvring it into the CPZs and knocking parts of its pipework off. It momentarily pushed Coyote into Matilda’s tusks, then near the Floor Flipper, with neither competitor getting a purchase on each other until Thor pushed and pinned Coyote against an entry gate. Thor once again pushed Coyote towards the arena spikes, then towards Dead Metal’s CPZ, and continued to push and bump its opponent around until ‘cease’ was called. As before, the battle went to a Judges’ decision, which unanimously went in Thor’s favour; Sethu Vijayakumar particularly noted Thor’s earlier usage of its axe as a factor in his verdict.

In the Heat Final, Thor faced Magnetar, the successor to Series 8 Grand Finalist Pulsar. For this battle, Jason Marston added several steel ropes to the front of the robot, with the intention of snagging Magnetar’s drum and snapping the latter’s weapon belt.

At the start, Thor drove towards and pursued Magnetar, but hesitated as the latter drove through an empty CPZ. It was soon thrown over by a powerful charge from Magnetar, but self-righted quickly, only for Magnetar to slip underneath, launch Thor into the air again and carry it forwards. Thor slipped off Magnetar’s top, before repeatedly axing the Team Ranglebots machine while pushing it into an entry gate. Magnetar pushed Thor away in response; seconds later, Thor drove itself over the Floor Flipper, which threw it over close to the Flame Pit. It self-righted once again, but had one of its roped partially torn off by Magnetar’s drum, and sustained damage to its left wheel pod by a rear-on slam from Magnetar. Thor drove away, but was thrown into a somersault as Magnetar clipped its front wedge. It sustained another hit to its wedge, and was thrown by the Floor Flipper again – this time landing on Magnetar’s drum. The impact sent Thor rolling onto its back and ruptured its pneumatics system, the robot engulfed in leaking CO2 and left unable to self-right. "No... man! Oh that was... dammit!"

- Jason Marston as Thor is knocked out by Magnetar

‘Cease’ was called, with Jason Marston congratulating the Ware family on their victory. Thor had lost the Heat Final, although its defeat resulted in it later qualifying for the 10 Robot Rumble, for a chance to be reinstated as the sixth Grand Finalist. There, it faced the flippers Apollo, Eruption and Iron-Awe 6, fellow axe Terrorhurtz, drum spinners Sabretooth and Concussion, newcomer Track-tion, and veteran Big Nipper, also fighting Expulsion for the second time in the series.

Results

 * }

Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 16
 * Losses: 10

Outside Robot Wars
Following the end of Robot Wars, the Thor captain Jason Marston teamed up with Shane Swan from Team S.Tek to form Team Bud, which competed in various robot combat events across the country, both with an extensively modified Thor and with Shane Swan's newest machine called Envy, which largely resembles Firestorm. Thor made its debut after Robot Wars at the 2004 Winter Tour in its Series 7 guise where it lost its only fight to Dantomkia. Thor then reappeared with a brand new design but still painted red in 2007 UK Championships but lost both of its fights to Kan-Opener and Das Gepäck by being pitted. However, it did finish second in the Annihilator.

It returned in the UK championship of 2008 with a new black colour scheme but lost to Dantomkia and then Terrorhurtz in the Winter Tour. In 2009's year long UK championship, it reached the finals at Wigan causing serious damage to such robots like Dantomkia on the way and when it fought And His Army and Terrorhurtz, with which it had a smashing contest with it lost due to losing drive in one side. In 2010, it fought Merlin but lost due to it damaging its own weapon following a rebuild and being unable to self right after Merlin flung Thor over. It then fought weaponless against Tiberius 4 and Cabrakan in a white board but was pierced by Tiberius 4 multiple times and pitted by Cabrakan 2. Thor did very well in the 2011 UK Championships which were held at the O2 Arena where it achieved fourth place. It won the 12PM Portsmouth Roaming Robots event 2011, in a final against Toon Raider and Cherub.

In September 2011, Thor appeared alongside Ripper in the BBC One game show Epic Win, which challenged them to break two of four items in a caravan and then break out of it. The two robots started well, destroyed all four items, but after Thor got its axe stuck in the cupboard, the team were forced to give up.

Thor remains a consistently recurring robot on the live circuit, and has done in the entire time Robot Wars was off-air and beyond, competing at Robots Live!, Roaming Robots and Extreme Robots. At the first Extreme Robots event in Manchester, Thor had an opportunity to repeatedly batter the immobile Donald Thump with its axe, but was later defeated by Eruption, and had to leave the event early due to damage sustained.

In September 2017 at Extreme Robots in Colchester, Thor sported a new body-shape, but had an unsuccessful event, losing various battles to Eruption, also losing to TR3, Cyclone, and a tag team match to ThunderChild and Weird mAlice while partnered with Behemoth. During one of the former battles with Eruption, Thor's axe experienced the metal fatigue that Jason Marston alluded towards in Series 9, and snapped in half during battle. In Gloucester, it immobilised TR3 to win a battle which also contained Beast.

In October 2017, Thor made its most recent appearance at the Robots Live! event in Stevenage, where it fought numerous whiteboard battles and competed in the Tag Team competition. Partnered with Gabriel in the latter, it immobilised Iron-Awe 6 with its axe to win a split judges' decision and progress to the final, despite getting thrown out of the arena by Iron-Awe 7.

Robot Wars Live Events
Thor has been one of the regular contestant robots to participate in the Robot Wars Live Events. It has fought in both friendly and competitive fights, with a good amount of success. It took part in its first event in Barnsley in February 2013, where it got through to the final of the competition, losing to Maelstrom due to it getting its hammer stuck in the arena wall. Thor was also the winner of the Robot Wars Live Show in Guildford in June 2013.

Thor found great success at the Robot Wars World Championship in 2015. Thor qualified through Round 1 alongside Tiberius, after Tanto was thrown out of the arena by Iron-Awe 5, before Iron-Awe was eliminated on a Judges' decision due to damage sustained from Thor and Tiberius. Thor then won its second-round qualifier when TR2 could not self-right from a flip, while Thor won its second Judges' decision by hammering Eruption. In the quarter-finals, Thor met Nuts, and immobilised it with repeated blows, before pitting it. Thor won its semi-final through a third Judges' decision, after a close fight with Gabriel. Thor eventually finished second, after it was thrown out of the arena by Toxic 2 in the Grand Final.

Following the damage that Carbide caused to Thor in Series 8, it was scrapped and a new Thor was built. It made its Live Event debut at Colchester 2016. However, it was still suffering from being untested at its first event, but these problems were fixed in time for a very successful event at Maidstone 2016.

Trivia

 * When Robot Wars returned in 2016, Thor was the first competitor to be officially revealed.
 * Thor was the fastest robot in Series 8, at 30mph.
 * Thor's recent success has inspired many more hammer-wielding robots to be built, such as Asgard, a featherweight which greatly resembles Thor, built by Team Asgard.
 * Thor was the first robot to have gone undefeated in the Head to Head league table.
 * Subsequently though, Thor became the first, and so far only, robot to win the Head-to-Heads outright but fail to win the Heat Final.
 * However, Thor also owns the dubious honour of losing the most fights in Series 8, with four.
 * Thor is also the first Grand Finalist to have reached the UK Grand Final despite having lost its heat, having been awarded the Series 8 wildcard.
 * Jason Marston was also the only one-man team in Series 8.
 * Both times Thor reached a podium position in Robot Wars, it featured in Heat B (New Blood Championship and Series 8)
 * Doing so in both Series 8 and 9, Thor is the only robot so far to have been nominated for a wildcard twice.
 * Thor was one of eight competitors from The Sixth Wars to enter the New Blood Championship, alongside Doctor Fist, Mr Nasty, Revolution 2, Cedric Slammer, ICU, Edge Hog and Roobarb.