Dantomkia

"The oil of opponents bubbles with fear, when they face the wrath of Dantomkia! Named after Mike's children (Dan, Tom and Kia), this is a fast, agile and aggressive robot with a superb high-pressured flipper. A definite contender, this is one of the toughest 'bots on the block."

- From an article on the seeds in the Series 7 Programme

Dantomkia was a competitor robot from Surrey that fought in Series 6-8 of Robot Wars, and the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. Originally built and entered by Michael Lambert of Team Dantomkia, it was subsequently bought by Lincolnshire-based Team S.Tek for its entry into Series 8.

Dantomkia enjoyed a considerable amount of success, and is considered one of the few "All-Star" robots to debut after the Fourth Wars. It reached the Semi-Finals in its inaugural campaign, defeating the seeded Chaos 2 in the heat final, but going on to lose to S3 and ultimately Razer after it won the Losers' Melee. It also reached the semi-finals of Series 7, defeating IG-88 in a manner of seconds, before being dispatched by Dutch competitor Gravity with similar speed in the semi-finals. Dantomkia also achieved reasonable success in side competitions, such as the Extreme 2 Challenge Belt and the Series 7 All-Stars. Under new management, Dantomkia entered Series 8 and reached the Heat Final with wins over Big Nipper and King B Remix, but was defeated by TR2.

Dantomkia is the current record holder for the most robots flipped out of the arena (nine, plus one untelevised), a trend it began in its second ever battle with Mighty Mouse and extended all the way to its penultimate battle of the original show with Panic Attack. One of these robots was the original performer of the feat and then-record holder, Chaos 2. Dantomkia also broke Cerberus's long standing shortest battle record in the fight with IG-88, but this record was broken quickly in its own fight with Gravity, where it was defeated in six seconds; a record that stood for 14 years before Rapid defeated Track-tion in 5.6 seconds in Series 10.

Dantomkia's name was derived from Lambert's three children: Daniel, Thomas and Kiara. The name was kept even after the robot was sold to new owners.

Design
"Fast, agile - with a full pressure flipper and full-body spinner capability - it's aggressive, it has a proven track record for its design and contruction. Good, interesting robot, this."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia is a tall, boxy bi-wedge shaped robot painted yellow and black and armed with a narrow pneumatic flipper, and took three weeks to build for its Series 6 guise. The flipper could fire with two tonnes of pressure and in less than one twenty-fifth of a second, and was capable of between 35 and 40 flips at a time. The weaponry was inspired by the weapons system of Bigger Brother (see Qualification) and helped to inspire the pneumatics system for the Series 7 version of Gravity.

Dantomkia's shape and weight distribution meant that it was rear-heavy. To overcome this, a pneumatic ram was linked to a rear castor, pushing the front of Dantomkia down. The front wedges were chisel-shaped so that when Dantomkia reared back on its retractable rear castor - intended to keep the robot's ground clearance low to the floor - they could cause gashes in other opponents when Dantomkia spun on the spot at 450rpm in Series 6-7. Dantomkia immediately proved fast, agile, reliable and hard-hitting in its first series appearances ("a proven track record for its design and construction" as Jonathan Pearce summarised), helped by its top speed of 20mph and a flipper that was reliable and capable of flipping other opponents out with ease. However, Michael Lambert was known to suffer from nerves from time to time and was fearful of spinners hence the re-armoured front in Series 7. Additionally, Dantomkia's wedges were prone to getting wedged underneath angle grinders and the Disc of Doom, and its aerial was susceptible to being dislodged, which contributed to many of its defeats. The Dantomkia from Series 6 was known as Dantomkia Mk 3, and Dantomkia from Series 7 was referred to as Dantomkia Mk 4, as it featured a new HARDOX chassis.

Dantomkia Mk5 was built in 2013, but sold to Team S.Tek in 2015, who upgraded the machine further when the new series was announced. Its armour now consisted of tank-grade steel, its weight was increased from 96kg to 108kg, and the robot could now spin at up to 500RPM on the spot. Team S.Tek's logo replaces the classic bulldog design on the robot, and the robot's name was removed from the paint-job.

Qualification
The original Dantomkia (known in modern day as Dantomkia 1.0) was little more than a body with the two cutting wedges attached, and with 8-12mm polycarbonate armour. It attempted to qualify for Series 4 and faced off in two battles against Anorakaphobia and Last Rights. "...it was so boring I nearly went to sleep"

- Michael Lambert on Dantomkia 1.0's fight with Anorakaphobia

Although Dantomkia beat both of its opponents, it ultimately failed to qualify, which Mike Lambert believed was due to the battles being seen as "boring". Because of this, Mike Lambert endeavoured to create a new version of Dantomkia that was more powerful, faster and more effective. "Basically I took 3 of the best robot designs ( weapons : Bigger Brother, shape : Firestorm and build strength : Dantomkia ) and combined them all into one new robot."

- Mike Lambert

During a relaxing session in the pub with Ian Watts from Bigger Brother and Sam Smith from Tiberius, Ian Watts explained to Mike Lambert the working of Bigger Brother's flipper, so Mike Lambert decided to use a flipper.

Dantomkia had managed to stand Iron-Awe 2.0 onto its rear in its Series 6 qualifier, overturning Maximus and beating Destruct-A-Bubble after flipping it around until cease was called. Dantomkia won the battle and qualified for Series 6.

Dantomkia automatically qualified for Series 7 as a seeded machine, and was picked for Series 8 based on its pedigree.

Before Series 9 was filmed, Dantomkia changed hands to Team Slam, who applied to enter the series with a largely unchanged version of the robot, but they were not chosen to compete.

Series 6
"If you were to ask me for a favourite for this four way melee, this would be the one."

- Jonathan Pearce, referring to Dantomkia before the melee

Dantomkia’s first battle in Robot Wars was against Doctor Fist, Mr Nasty, and Crushtacean. Dantomkia went after Mr Nasty first, bumping into the invertible machine before twisting round and slamming Doctor Fist into an angle grinder. Dantomkia rammed into the already immobile Doctor Fist once more, before going after Crushtacean, sliding underneath its side and flipping it up against the arena wall. Mr Nasty was then also flipped up against the arena wall by Dantomkia, but Dantomkia failed to get it out of the arena, missing its next flip before righting Mr Nasty with its second flip, although Mr Nasty had already been immobilised after Crushtacean had removed its aerial earlier on. "Dantomkia is certainly the most effective, dominant, agile, destructive machine in this particular four-way melee."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia flipped over Crushtacean, who was having trouble with mobility, allowing Dantomkia to get in behind it and shove it towards a CPZ. Soon after Doctor Fist was counted out, Dantomkia threw Crushtacean against the pit release button, before turning away to attack the beaten Doctor Fist while Mr Nasty was counted out. Dantomkia therefore qualified alongside an immobile Crushtacean. Dantomkia's next fight was against Mighty Mouse. Dantomkia chased Mighty Mouse around the arena in the early stages, but after a few seconds, Dantomkia caught it from the side, driving towards a CPZ, but missing the flip as Mighty Mouse slid off at the last moment. "Dantomkia, I think looking to get a hold of Mighty Mouse, but Mighty Mouse is too quick across the arena floor. Now here's the trouble, Dantomkia straight in underneath Mighty Mouse..."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia's next assault was more successful, as it drove into Mighty Mouse's side again and flipped it on top of the arena wall, but its opponent bounced back down. It then shoved Mighty Mouse into Sir Killalot before it threw Mighty Mouse onto the disc button, leaving it stranded on its side, but Refbot freed it. Dantomkia charged in again, knocking Mighty Mouse onto its side, but it was thrown away by the Disc of Doom before it could launch another attack. After righting Mighty Mouse and missing a flip, Dantomkia shoved Mighty Mouse over to the arena wall, where Mighty Mouse became the first of many robots that Dantomkia would flip out of the arena, with Dantomkia spinning around in celebration as cease was called. "Are you a mouse, or a metal mayhem mashing machine? Dantomkia is just that."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia faced an intimidating Heat Final, against two-time champion Chaos 2. "I'm going to go with the new kids on the block, Dantomkia."

- Craig Charles backs Dantomkia in the Heat Final

Dantomkia attempted to get round the side of Chaos 2 to start with, but then drove onto Chaos 2's flipper, allowing the fifth seed to flip Dantomkia high into the air, but Dantomkia landed right side up. "Naïve and inexperienced driving there I thought from Dantomkia. They exposed themselves for Chaos 2."

- Jonathan Pearce

It then pushed Chaos 2 into the CPZ, where Chaos 2 flipped it over again. The force of the flip was so great that both robots ended up on their backs. Dantomkia failed to right itself first time, and then propped itself up against the arena wall with its second attempt, as Sir Killalot came in to the CPZ. While Chaos 2 was attacked by Shunt, Dantomkia took three more flips to flick itself off of the arena wall, but Chaos 2 was having difficulty getting back onto its wheels and was also appearing to have some problems with its CO2 system in this state. "Dantomkia, they're ok! They're first up and away, and they'll come in now with a full-frontal slam on Chaos 2."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia charged into Chaos 2, lifting it up slightly with the flipper before backing away and receiving a light push from Shunt. By this point, Chaos 2 was in real danger and Dantomkia confirmed this by charging at it again and flipping it out of the arena, ending the hopes of the previous champions in a major upset, and Dantomkia spun round in delight once again as cease was called.

In the Series Semi-Finals, Dantomkia’s first battle saw it go up against the number 7 seeds S3. Dantomkia got off the line faster, driving straight at S3 and pushing it slightly towards the arena wall, but S3 slid off before Dantomkia could activate its flipper. Dantomkia and S3 both tried to weave round each other, but neither robot could expose an opening. "Dantomkia has the full bottle pressure flipper to get in underneath S3's 3 cm ground clearance... didn't flip, why?"

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia attempted to slide underneath one of S3's wheels, but was unable to do so, and received a hit to its side from the flywheel. Dantomkia then pushed S3 from the side and got underneath the flywheel, but S3 slipped off again. Dantomkia then tried to charge S3, but missed and drove itself under an angle grinder and couldn’t free itself. "They could have wedged themselves in underneath. What do you think? I think they're wedged there... so S3 can come in and slice!"

- Jonathan Pearce

S3 capitalised on this opportunity and struck Dantomkia’s rear with its flywheel. Refbot freed Dantomkia from the wall, but S3’s attack had immobilised Dantomkia by knocking out the safety link, and it was subsequently counted out. Sir Killalot came in and attacked Dantomkia, while Sergeant Bash activated the pit release. Dantomkia was lifted up into the air by Sir Killalot and paraded around the arena in the House Robot's grip before being subsequently pitted. "This is a surprise for me, and a disappointment as well because Dantomkia were hugely impressive in the heats, but in the Semi-Finals, they go into the Losers' Melee. Stunned. Both teams to be honest. So am I."

- Jonathan Pearce

In the Losers’ melee, Dantomkia faced 13 Black and the 9th seeds Wild Thing 2. The Dantomkia team was one of several which helped mend Wild Thing 2 for this battle beforehand. On activate, Dantomkia immediately targeted Wild Thing 2, slamming into them head-on before it flipped Wild Thing 2 into a CPZ. Dantomkia then a glancing blow from 13 Black before turning to face Wild Thing once more. It then turned back round and took another hit from 13 Black, but Dantomkia pushed on, chasing after 13 Black near to Sir Kilallot's CPZ. "Dantomkia very much on the prowl, smashing onto 13 Black, looking to come again."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia bashed into the Refbot before finally driving in underneath 13 Black's sides and flipping it onto its back. Wild Thing 2 rammed past Dantomkia into the CPZ, so Dantomkia then flipped it against the arena wall before Dead Metal came in and attacked the trio. Dantomkia escaped and left 13 Black to Dead Metal and Wild Thing 2 to Sir Killalot before it activated the pit release. At this exact moment, Wild Thing 2 drove over the pit. Wild Thing 2 couldn’t get away from the descending pit in time, so it went out. 13 Black meanwhile, was still on its back but managed to achieve mobility by shuffling around with its discs, as Dantomkia looked on. The two robots then began spinning round and round in a bizarre sort of dance, before Dantomkia tried to flip 13 Black up onto the arena wall. It failed on its first two attempts before nudging 13 Black over to the pit release button. "Dantomkia looks much stronger now, don't you agree?"

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia flipped 13 Black onto the button and it then landed back onto its wheels. This allowed 13 Black to flee, and Dantomkia gave chase before managing to drive under same angle grinder for the second battle in a row. Just like in its match against S3, Dantomkia was stuck, so the house robots freed it, just as 13 Black slammed into Dantomkia' connecting with both discs and leaving one of Dantomkia's outer panels hanging off. Dantomkia flipped 13 Black over once more and then pushed it towards the arena wall, flicking the spinner up one last time just before time ran out. Since 13 Black and Dantomkia were both mobile, the judges were called upon to make a decision, and they ruled that Dantomkia would move on to the next round. "Dantomkia, one or two shoves more. It's gonna go to the Judges this; I don't think they'll have too much work to do to decide the winner."

- Jonathan Pearce

It then fought Razer, the defending champion, for a place in the Grand Final. Razer moved in quickly and grabbed hold of Dantomkia, and Dantomkia flicked the flipper in an attempt to free itself to no avail. Dantomkia was helpless as it was dragged for several seconds from the side, but Razer then let go of it. "Can the unseeded underdogs create one of the greatest surprises in Robot Wars history? Or will Dantomkia's impressive run end right here and now? They try a flick, but Razer's already got them gripped."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia twisted away, before turning head-on into Razer, pushing the reigning champion across the length of the arena and into the arena wall. Razer grabbed Dantomkia again but was unable to cause any major damage to the outer shell. Once more, Dantomkia attempted to flip itself free, but Razer's grip was too strong. Dantomkia tried to reverse and circle away from Razer's wedge, and eventually did so. Dantomkia charged at Razer and ended up on the wedge again, but slipped off to the side before Razer could lower its beak in time. Razer then attacked the front of Dantomkia and finally pierced through the armour; Dantomkia was pushed back towards the Flame Pit all the while. "Look at that, just crumpling down and preventing the Dantomkia flipper working because of its awesome power, Razer. They simply can't get the weaponry working, Dantomkia."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia used its flipper to try and lift Razer's beak up, but the crushing force was too powerful and the flipper was pushed back down again. Dantomkia was then pushed towards Mr Psycho's CPZ and absorbed a hit from the House Robot's hammer. Dantomkia broke free from Razer's grip and pushed Razer into Sir Kilallot's CPZ. Dantomkia then held off for the last few seconds, driving up Razer's wedge again for a split second, but both robots were mobile at the end of the battle. Unsurprisingly, the judges went for Razer, putting an end to Dantomkia's run. "This is your first foray in Robot Wars and you got so far!"

- Craig Charles after the Judges' decision

Dantomkia still completely outshone all other newcomers, and this was shown in its winning of the Most Promising Newcomer award. "Well any machine that can toss Chaos 2 out of the arena deserves something... the most promising newcomer - Dantomkia!"

- Jonathan Pearce announces the winner of the Best Newcomer award

Extreme 2
Dantomkia competed in the All-Stars tournament in Extreme 2. In its first match, it was against Tornado and Terrorhurtz. It began by driving underneath Terrorhurtz's front while Tornado whipped past, but Terrorhurtz slid off Dantomkia's flipper before it activated it. While Tornado slammed Terrorhurtz into the Floor Spinner's release button, Dantomkia flicked it up slightly from the front, but failed to lift Terrorhurtz over. Dantomkia then drove underneath Terrorhurtz's side and pushed it across the arena and into the opposite wall. "Dantomkia too strong to be thrown away by the centrifugal force, and now pinning Terrorhurtz against the arena side wall! If they can get their flipper to work - and they can! - they can leave Terrorhurtz teetering on the brink of oblivion!"

- Jonathan Pearce

It then flipped Terrorhurtz onto its side, but Terrorhurtz righted, landing back on Dantomkia's flipper. Dantomkia's next flip almost sent Terrorhurtz out of the arena, but Terrorhurtz's fell back against Dantomkia's open flipper instead. Dantomkia backed away, allowing Terrorhurtz back onto its wheels. Both Tornado and Dantomkia pinned Terrorhurtz once more, seemingly not focusing on each other at all. Dantomkia breached Terrorhurtz's ground clearance once more, but didn't activate the flipper, and Shunt came out of its CPZ to axe Dantomkia's top. While Tornado and Terrorhurtz continued to tangle, Dantomkia activated the pit release, before attacking Terrorhurtz again, lifting it up slightly off the floor. While Terrorhurtz was pressured by the House Robots, Dantomkia and Tornado held back next to each other. As Terrorhurtz escaped, Dantomkia nudged it into the side wall again, before pushing it towards Shunt's CPZ. "Dantomkia and Tornado have ganged up, it seems, on John Reid's machine!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Eventually, Terrorhurtz was flipped over by Shunt and didn’t have the power left to self-right, so Dantomkia pushed it into the pit, then turned to attack Sergeant Bash briefly - who was busy attacking Tornado - before cease was called.

In the second round, Dantomkia faced Firestorm 4. Dantomkia's ground clearance was inferior, and was immediately flicked to the side by Firestorm 4 on their first charge, Firestorm then pushed it into a CPZ straight away, nudging into Sergeant Bash. Dantomkia tried to flip itself off of Firestorm 4's wedge to no avail, and it was overturned against the wall. Dantomkia quickly self-righted, but landed on top of Firestorm 4 again, and it was flipped onto its side, but quickly righted itself a second time. "They're over, they're up, they're over, they're on their side! Well, look at this, this is brilliant stuff! They're like a little frog hopping about out there, Dantomkia! A little frog, in a big arena pond..."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia was flipped over for a third time in the CPZ, and took two attempts to right itself this time, as Sergeant Bash closed in on it. Dantomkia reversed into Sergeant Bash as it tried to escape, and finally did so when Firestorm 4 drove underneath the House Robot. Dantomkia was then lifted over again, self-righting once more and then managing to flip Firestorm over in the centre of the arena. However this proved to be Dantomkia's only attack, as Firestorm regained the lead, throwing Dantomkia into another CPZ, where it self-righted. "In underneath Firestorm now. Ok boys we've had the dancing, we've had the prancing, now let's get that metal munching mayhem together!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Firestorm 4 continued to attack Dantomkia relentlessly, lifting it up onto its side where it a glancing blow from Shunt. While being pinned in the corner by Firestorm 4, Dantomkia took a more direct hit from Shunt's axe. Firestorm 4 backed out of the CPZ while Dantomkia took another hit from Shunt. When Firestorm threw Dantomkia onto the arena wall, it self-righted and became completely immobile, having lost power to its batteries, and its flipper was also stuck open. "The trouble is they weren't using their flipper as offensively as the Firestorm machine. Defensively, they were working hard, but it was energy sapping."

- Jonathan Pearce

Firestorm 4 attacked the beaten Dantomkia again, pushing it into the arena wall and flicking it up. It suffered more damage from Shunt's axe, who punctured Dantomkia's side, before being pushed towards the centre of the arena by the House Robot. Dantomkia was counted out by Refbot, and subsequently pitted, eliminating it from the All-Stars. "You're not the new kid on the block anymore, people are preparing for you!"

- Craig Charles

Dantomkia also entered the Challenge Belt competition, where it fought Hypno-Disc, S.M.I.D.S.Y. and Sir Chromalot. It began by charging at S.M.I.D.S.Y., who in turn pushed Dantomkia from the side. Dantomkia took a glancing hit from Hypno-Disc, but then turned to face it, pushing Hypno-Disc into the CPZ and flipping it onto its back, propped up on the arena wall. Dantomkia missed its econd flip, but then threw Hypno-Disc out of the arena with its next attack. "In the CPZ, under pressure from Dantomkia, Mr Psycho came in, had a look; Dantomkia flew in for a second attack and out they went! Out of the arena!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Hypno-Disc are eliminated by Dantomkia

Mr. Psycho pinned it up against the arena wall, then reversed away. Dantomkia tried to dodge past Mr Psycho but the House Robot blocked its escape from the CPZ, before Dantomkia was pinned again. Dantomkia then freed itself from the CPZ, but Mr Psycho still chased Dantomkia over the Flame Pit, but eventually let it get back into the fight. "Dantomkia's having all the trouble from Mr Psycho. Get out of there! Don't try and take on Mr Pyscho! He has a long reach, and an even longer memory."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia targeted Sir Chromalot, but missed its flip. It then attacked S.M.I.D.S.Y., flipping it over the Flame Pit. It flipped S.M.I.D.S.Y over again, before flipping Sir Chromalot over S.M.I.D.S.Y.. Dantomkia appeared to get stuck briefly next to the Flame Pit, and flicked its flipper to free itself. Dantomkia flipped S.M.I.D.S.Y. over once more, then started to push Sir Chromalot across the arena floor. While Dantomkia flipped S.M.I.D.S.Y. over again, Mr Psycho pushed into both machines, causing S.M.I.D.S.Y. to become propped up on the arena wall in a similar fashion to Hypno-Disc earlier in the fight. Dantomkia then pushed Sir Chromalot into a CPZ, and flipped it over, where it seemingly could not self-right. While Matilda finished Sir Chroamlot off by flinging it out of the arena with her flywheel, Dantomkia continued to attack S.M.I.D.S.Y., lifting its opponent up before cease was called. Dantomkia then managed to flip S.M.I.D.S.Y. out of the arena, although this was not shown on the televised version. "Dantomkia on awesome form!"

- Craig Charles

Dantomkia next fought a robot with a similar colour scheme, Iron-Awe 2. Team Iron-Awe specifically lowered their ground clearance to combat Dantomkia, but this led to it becoming stuck under the Disc of Doom as both machines edge towards each other. Dantomkia tried to get underneath from the side, but failed to breach Iron-Awe 2's ground clearance. Dantomkia pursued it for a short while, dodging two axe blows during the chase. When Dantomkia slipped fully underneath from behind, it drove Iron-Awe towards the arena entry gates, and threw it over the wall. "Out of the arena! Got themselves in trouble, and Dantomkia always likely to push, shove, hoist and KO from that position. It was grim for the family from Somerset, and Dantomkia romped it really."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia celebrated by spinning on the spot, firing its flipper as it did so.

In the battle for the right to fight Tornado, Dantomkia faced Terrorhurtz. Dantomkia began by taking two successive hits from Terrorhurtz's axe, as it kept rearing up onto Terrorhurtz's front when attempting to breach its ground clearance. It reversed and charged at Terrorhurtz again, but failed to get underneath once again, and was hit twice more. Dantomkia sustained another glacing hit from Terrorhurtz before it finally drove under the front, but it missed its flip and Terrorhurtz reversed away. "Down comes the axe of Terrorhurtz once again, onto the top of Dantomkia, whose main hope here will be to lift Terrorhurtz and try and flip it, try and get it to the arena side wall and flip it out; it's gonna be a hard, hard job."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia came at it again, and this time flipped Terrorhurtz over towards Shunt's CPZ. Dantomkia flipped Terrorhurtz further into the CPZ, but Shunt obstructed Dantomkia in its attempts to follow up, and Terrorhurtz quickly self-righted while Dantomkia was attacked by Sergeant Bash. Terrorhurtz came back on the attack, and smashed Dantomkia’s top 4 times in quick succession. Dantomkia continued to try and get under Terrorhurtz's front to no avail, and received more relentless blows from Terrorhurtz's axe until it stopped moving. "Have they been immobilised? Is there any movement left in Dantomkia? I don't think so... Persistent pressure from the axe of Terrorhurtz did it for them. Dantomkia have come a long, long way, but no further will they travel."

- Jonathan Pearce

As Terrorhurtz pushed it across the arena, more hits reigned down on the beaten Dantomkia. Refbot closed in to officially count Dantomkia out, but Terrorhurtz simply pushed Dantomkia into the pit, eliminating it. "The house bots got in the way!"

- Mike Lambert

Series 7
Dantomkia was seeded fifth in Series 7. In its first match, it fought Hassocks Hog 2, King B Powerworks and Rick. Dantomkia began by slipping past Rick and immediately flipping Hassocks Hog 2 over and onto the Flame Pit. "Dantomkia, I think, is the most impressive we've had so far in this series, and Hassocks Hog 2 obviously agrees, because that was a mighty shove from Dantomkia, in underneath at speed."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia turned away and flipped Rick over before rammed from the side by King B Powerworks. After flicking Rick up slightly, Dantomkia drove it across the arena floor and almost flipped Rick out of the arena. Rick landed back on Dantomkia, who flipped it up onto its side. It sustained another slam from King B Powerworks, so Dantomkia turned its attention towards the former semi-finalist, flipping it up onto an angle grinder momentarily. As King B Powerworks slid back down and Hassocks Hog 2 was counted out, Dantomkia pushed and flipped King B Powerworks into Mr Psycho's CPZ. However, it was Dantomkia who took a hit from the House Robot's hammer, bending the top of the flipper inwards. Dantomkia chased King B Powerworks into another CPZ, flipping it over before flipping Rick against the arena wall again. "Dantomkia is roughing them all up; this is a very, very good overall display from the seeded robot. Plenty of power, and thrust, control, good weaponry..."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia pushed Rick into the beaten Hassocks Hog 2, but it was forced away from its assault when King B Powerworks slammed it into the arena wall with a reverse push, but Dantomkia responded with another flip. Dantomkia momentarily carried King B Powerworks on its top, mistiming a flip, before flipping the immobile Hassocks Hog 2 away from the Drop Zone, where it had been placed by Mr Psycho. Rick then flipped Dantomkia over, but it self righted immediately. "Dantomkia got overturned, but look how swiftly it self righted! But they switched off there momentarily."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia attempted to flip Rick out of the arena again, but was unsuccessful, then flipped Rick one last time before cease was called. All the robots except Hassocks Hog 2 were still mobile, so the judges had to make the decision, and they ruled that Dantomkia had qualified unanimously - King B Powerworks only qualified through a split decision.

Dantomkia’s next match was against Scorpion. Dantomkia was the first to take damage, with Scorpion's blade carving out a large gash in Dantomkia's side. As it tried to turn towards Scorpion, Dantomkia took another hit from the spinner. Undeterred, Dantomkia got underneath Scorpion and flipped it onto the arena wall.

"Straight onto the side of Dantomkia. Very strong armament though, Dantomkia has, and good pace, and good power, and Scorpion upended."

- Jonathan Pearce

It then almost flipped Scorpion out of the arena, but the arena lighting was in the way, and blocked Scorpion from exiting the arena. Dantomkia flipped Scorpion against the arena wall again before backing away. Shunt pushed Scorpion off the arena wall, and Dantomkia came in for another attack, but took a glacing hit from Scorpion, who was spinning on the spot to defend itself. "Dantomkia now a little bit more cagey, a bit conservative in the approach. Good driving by Michael Lambert there, shoving Scorpion again."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia then slammed Scorpion into an angle grinder before flipping it over, propping it up onto the arena wall once more. Once again, the House Robots freed Scorpion, so Dantomkia flipped Scorpion from the side, before being pushed briefly by the invertible machine. Scorpion then backed into Shunt, who attacked it with its axe, and Dantomkia capitalised with two quick flips, the first crashing Scorpion into Shunt, the second propping it up onto the arena wall in the CPZ. From this position, Dantomkia was able to lift Scorpion out of the arena at last. "Very steady work from Dantomkia ended with that. But it all built up to the moment with steady, steady progress."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia was through to the Heat Final, where it met IG-88. IG-88 charged at Dantomkia, but Dantomkia twisted left and right to avoid the spinner, then drove under the front of IG-88 with its spikes, pushed it over to the wall, and flicked it out straight away, with IG-88's blade catching the tip of Dantomkia's flipper on the way out of the arena. "Dantomkia trying to dodge that flailing axe of IG-88 - OH it's all over! They dodged it, they thrust it, they squeezed it, they flipped it. They've won it! Dantomkia, heat winners, number 5 seeds, I'll tell you something, they could go all the way. That was the most impressive thing we've seen so far in this series."

- Jonathan Pearce

This match lasted only eight seconds, the fastest battle ever at the time, but surprisingly, it was not Dantomkia’s shortest battle in Robot Wars. "I nearly passed out after our fight. I was worried so much that I had more than my normal high adrenaline level and after the fight it all let go. Luckily I didn't puke..."

- Mike Lambert in a comment to Paul Rose, captain of IG-88

In the first round of the Semi-Final, Dantomkia fought Gravity. Dantomkia tried to get round the back of Gravity, but Gravity turned very quickly and slid under Dantomkia's front. Dantomkia tried to flip itself off Gravity, but it was swiftly eliminated when Gravity flipped it out of the arena just 5.8 seconds. This set the record as the shortest battle ever in Robot Wars, which stood until Series 10."On cue, the second battle in this, the first semi-finals. Dantomkia! Ha ha ha! Over and out! Simple as that! How quick was that done?"

- Jonathan Pearce's entire commentary during the match.

Dantomkia returned as a late addition to the All-Stars, filling in as many of the robots that fit the All-Stars criteria (fighting in five wars or more) were unavailable. In the first round, Dantomkia fought Behemoth, King B Powerworks and Pussycat.

Dantomkia began by trying to circle round Refbot and Behemoth while Pussycat disabled King B Powerworks' drive. Behemoth and Dantomkia twisted past each other's attacks, and Dantomkia briefly wedged underneath Behemoth's front, but couldn't release a flip in time. After being lifted up slightly by Behemoth, Dantomkia pressured Behemoth into the CPZ, before driving in underneath Behemoth's rear. Dantomkia proceeded to ram Behemoth into the arena wall and threw the experienced machine out of the arena. "Dantomkia trying to prize under the side, you see there, and lift Behemoth's 100 kilos out - and that's exactly what they do!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Moving on, Dantomkia found a new target in King B Powerworks, whom it separated from Pussycat, pushing it all over the arena floor while Pussycat was on its side. Dantomkia sustained a small hit to its side from Pussycat's blade, but Dantomkia then charged towards the opposite wall from where the motionless Behemoth lay, and flipped King B Powerworks out of the arena. "Now they try a carbon copy on King B - hahaha! And out they go! Dantomkia and Pussycat through."

- Jonathan Pearce

This put Dantomkia through to fight Panic Attack in the second round. Here, Dantomkia charged head-on into Panic Attack, but Panic Attack managed to hold it off with the forks. Dantomkia reversed off the forks and tried to circle behind Panic Attack, but failed to get an opening. Dantomkia charged at Panic Attack again, but bounced up onto the forks once more. Dantomkia slid off to the side, and with its next attack, it finally breached Panic Attack's side skirts and flipped it over. "It's tactical and tense in this first semi-final of the All-Stars Championship, but Dantomkia getting in underneath there, and flipping Panic Attack!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia patiently waited for some signs of self-righting, but when none came, Dantomkia slid under Panic Attack's overturned forks, pushed it into the CPZ and then threw the former champions out of the arena. Dantomkia spun around in celebration while activating its flipper. "No, you don't really wanna do that, unless you're gonna toss them out, and that's what happened! I thought for a minute there Dantomkia were gonna help Panic Attack to self-right, but they knew exactly what they were gonna be doing."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia then turned its attention towards the House Robots, first ramming into Dead Metal and getting under its side, lifting it up slightly as it did so. It avoided the pincers and saw of Dead Metal by reversing away, as Growler lingered in the background. Dantomkia pushed Dead Metal to the side wall and lifted it again. Growler bashed into Dantomkia as it lifted Dead Metal up for a third time, before being sandwiched briefly between both House Robots as Growler pushed into it. "Now... you've won, you're through to the All-Stars final. Is this necessary? Is it wise?"

- Jonathan Pearce on Dantomkia's attack on the House Robots

Evading another charge from Growler, Dantomkia continued to focus on Dead Metal, flicking it up once more, while pushing it around in a circle with its flipper clamped down. Its next attack effectively pinned both House Robots down, and Dantomkia was issued a yellow card by Refbot. Ignoring this, Dantomkia activated the pit release and started to move towards Growler and Dead Metal, but cease was called before further action.

Dantomkia's win put it through to fight Pussycat in the All-Stars Final. It began by charging at Pussycat, but Pussycat bounced off one of its prongs and away from Dantomkia's flipper. Dantomkia pushed Pussycat from behind briefly, but its opponent was quick to get away again. Dantomkia pressured Pussycat towards the arena wall, before flicking it up on all four wheels. After chasing Pussycat some more, Dantomkia got behind it and flipped it into Mr Psycho's CPZ. Pussycat landed back on Dantomkia's flipper, who almost threw it out of the arena with its follow-up attack. "Dantomkia doing exactly what we thought he would do here. Can they get them over and out of the arena side wall? No, and Pussycat is away."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia missed its next flip, and Pussycat was able to escape. Once more, Dantomkia gave chase, but Pussycat then turned and landed a deadly blow on Dantomkia's aerial, immobilising it. Pussycat continued to attack it, but Dantomkia was only able to flip once on the spot in reply. Pussycat hooked its blade into the back of Dantomkia and started pushing it across the arena. Pussycat then activated the pit release and nudged Dantomkia slowly towards the pit. "This whole All-Stars final has turned! They were on top, they were pressurising Pussycat, and to use a very high-tech term, they conked out. And Pussycat has Dantomkia not on the ropes, but on the very side of the pit of doom and gloom!"

- Jonathan Pearce Pussycat then pushed Dantomkia again, but it rolled past the pit. Pussycat then turned its attention towards Cassius Chrome and Mr Psycho, leaving Dantomkia to be counted out by Refbot. Pussycat eventually went back and tried to reverse Dantomkia into the pit, but Mr Psycho pushed Pussycat out of the way and pitted Dantomkia itself, with Pussycat falling in soon afterwards. As a result, Pussycat was named as All-Stars Champion, and Dantomkia placed second.

Series 8
Dantomkia competed in Heat 3, where it was once again placed in a first-round melee with King B Remix, as well as newcomers Glitterbomb and Overdozer. It was entered by Team S.Tek, who decorated their bench in the pits with various graphics, Dantomkia pullbacks, and Dantomkia emitted smoke as special effects.

Dantomkia started tentatively, sustaining an axe blow from Glitterbomb, and engaged in a brief shoving contest with it while Bing B Remix immobilised Overdozer. The three mobile machines charged at each other, with Dantomkia ramming into Glitterbomb's front, but failing to breach its ground clearance. Dantomkia then overturned Glitterbomb - while it was distracted by King B Remix - in a CPZ. Leaving it with King B Remix, Dantomkia attacked the already defeated Overdozer, tossing it into the air, removing wood from the robot. "Look at the flipping power out there in the arena! Sensational. Dantomkia in underneath Overdozer and lifting 86 kilos as if it were a leaf."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia returned to Glitterbomb and flipped it again, this time immobilising the pink robot, whose axe was no longer working from its first hit on Dantomkia. The victorious Dantomkia flipped Overdozer again, then tossed its MDF high off the ground with a second flip, and qualified alongside King B Remix. It was later revealed that Overdozer's spike had pierced Dantomkia's steel armour by landing on it after a flip.

In its first head-to-head, Dantomkia fought a King Buxton machine for the fourth time in Robot Wars history. The King Buxton team had signed a panel of Dantomkia's armour before the battle bagan, which Dara Ó Briain used to create a grudge scenario. "They creeped in to sign it, and they're going out of the arena for it now!"

- Stuart Barnwell

Dantomkia began by missing a charge at King B Remix, who replied with a ram into Dantomkia's side. It briefly got underneath King B Remix with one of its front spikes, but wasn't able to take advantage. Another ram from King B Remix bent Dantomkia's flipper inwards slightly. Dantomkia twisted away, but was caught on a raised arena spike. "Dantomkia forgot about the Floor Spikes. Now he loves to watch the others lose, says Shane Swan, the captain, the driver. Will his team be the winning team?"

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia finally got underneath King B Remix near the Flame Pit, but wasn't able to get the flipper into a good position. As King B Remix reversed onto its flipper, Dantomkia pushed it across the arena floor and threw it into the pit release wall. Narrowly failing to throw another robot out of the arena, King B Remix remained stuck, and Dantomkia kept its distance, spinning and flipping on the spot in celebration, satisfied with its victory despite the earlier claim that King B Remix would be thrown into the trench. Matilda instead did the honours, while Dantomkia lifted Dead Metal. "Great performance by Dantomkia, showed perfect control, precision, great aggression, and the way they it flipped it in behind the tyre, they couldn't have done better!"

- Professor Noel Sharkey

Dantomkia next fought fellow flipper, TR2. TR2 was off the line faster, but Dantomkia dodged its attack and twisted round. As they came together, TR2 proved to be lower, pushing Dantomkia over the pit, before sliding under Dantomkia's side again. Dantomkia reversed away, but was chased by TR2 and flipped from behind near the arena wall. Self-righting high into the air, Dantomkia appeared to bend its flipper again slightly, and it backed away from TR2 towards the Flame Pit. Dantomkia was thrown once more, this time against the lower part of the arena side wall, but it self-righted very quickly again. "Slammed onto the arena wall, but bounce up they come again like Tigger."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia slipped under TR2's side and landed a flip of its own, but it was unable to throw TR2 over. When Dantomkia was flipped again, its flipper became stuck open when self-righting, causing a gas leak when it was pushed across the arena and thrown over for the last time by TR2. "And now they come in for the kill, TR2, and I wonder what's happened there to Dantomkia. That final flip, I think, immobilised them. They cannot move, it seems to me."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia was rendered immobile, and sustained a glancing blow from TR2's axe. Unable to find the source of the error, Shane Swan hit his robot with a hammer in anger. On a total of three points, Dantomkia needed to defeat Big Nipper in order to qualify for the Heat Final. Team S.Tek's strategy was to make full use of the House Robots. "We're gonna go for it, hell for leather. It's full on from now on."

- Shane Swan before the fight Dantomkia slid past Big Nipper during its initial charge and managed to get underneath the corner of Big Nipper, flicking it up slightly with the flipper as it did so. It then shoved Big Nipper into Sir Killalot's CPZ before flipping Big Nipper against the arena wall once the invertible machine escaped. Dantomkia chased Big Nipper over the Flame Pit, pressuring it back towards Sir Killalot. The House Robot caught Big Nipper, lifting it up and holding it over the flame pit. Big Nipper escaped and tried to get round the back of Dantomkia, but Dantomkia was too quick, and it twisted round and shoved Big Nipper into Sir Killalot once again. Initially, Dantomkia drove at Sir Killalot over the Flame Pit, but backed away once it dropped Big Nipper. Dantomkia then sustained a big hit from the spinner which removed the end of its flipper, but it was unperturbed, slamming Big Nipper back into the CPZ. Big Nipper escaped once Sir Killalot pinned itself to the arena wall, and Dantomkia replied by pushing Big Nipper over the Flame Pit and launching it high into the air. "Dantomkia well on top, getting underneath to flip again. Look at the sheer power of that flipper robot out there."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia then pushed Nipper across the length of the arena and towards Dead Metal, but Big Nipper slipped out of the House Robot's grasp and caused more damage to Dantomkia's front with the spinner when Dantomkia charged at it head-on. As the seconds ticked down, Dantomkia was almost caught by Dead Metal in the CPZ, before getting a final push on Big Nipper - missing with the flipper as it did so - and cease was called. "The aggression, I think, was dominated by Dantomkia."

- Jonathan Pearce gives his thoughts after the fight

The Judges decided the outcome, which was a unanimous vote in favour of Dantomkia. In the Heat Final, Dantomkia had a rematch with TR2 for a place in the Grand Final. Dantomkia held back, allowing TR2 to make the first attack, pushing it towards an empty CPZ. It was then flipped into the pit release by TR2, activating the pit in the process, before being pushed from behind by TR2. Dantomkia slipped away to the side, causing TR2 to drive over the Floor Flipper, which threw TR2 over Dantomkia. Dantomkia managed to get a flip in from the side of TR2, but the attack didn't turn it over, instead pushing it towards Matilda and the Floor Spikes. Dantomkia strayed too near Matilda as it tried to get round the back of TR2, and the House Robot buffeted the side of Dantomkia with the vertical flywheel. Dantomkia took another hit from Matilda, this time at the rear, before being flicked up by TR2. TR2 breached Dantomkia's side again before flipping it into Matilda's CPZ. "It's TR2 on the offensive, again getting in underneath Dantomkia, and every lift, every shove surely is causing damage."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia tried to self-right, but was unable to do so with the arena wall in the way, and Matilda came in and slammed into Dantomkia. After eventually righting itself, it was immediately flipped over again by TR2 again, and Dantomkia reversed into the CPZ to escape the onslaught. However, this put it in the path of Matilda again, which landed another heavy blow. This dislodged Dantomkia's flipper, affecting its self-righting, while gas leaked again. Dantomkia employed a sit-and-spin tactic, but when pushed onto the floor flipper, Dantomkia was thrown over, with a little help from a TR2 flip, and could not self-right. "Can we see gas being vented from Dantomkia, I wonder? Spinning wildly to get away from TR2... TR2 might have got a bash from the Floor Flipper, but I'll tell you what, Dantomkia certainly did. And now I don't think there's enough power in Dantomkia to self-right."

- Jonathan Pearce

It was then thrown into the arena wall one last time before cease was called.

After the battle, Shane Swan gave Team Toon the thumbs down, and insulted their robot, but still performed the team's signature pose at Dara Ó Briain's request. "It's a boring doorstop, look at it, how did that win?"

- Shane Swan on TR2

Although Dantomkia was defeated at this stage, it remained in contention for a wildcard, alongside Behemoth, Thor, Storm 2 and Gabriel. However, Thor was chosen, and Dantomkia was fully eliminated from the competition.

Results

 * }

Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 15
 * Losses: 8

Series Record
Bolded and italicised entries refer to Dantomkia. NOTE: Shane Swan also competed in Battle of the Stars as the mentor of Interstellar: MML.

Outside Robot Wars
Prior to its appearance on Robot Wars, Dantomkia 1.0 fought in numerous head-to-heads and melees, battling robots such as Tornado, Bigger Brother, M2, Tiberius and Edge Hog several times. Dantomkia 1.0 also won a rumble containing M2, Shear Khan, Overkill, Bigger Brother and Tornado before being retired.

Dantomkia Mk2 was built at the original 80kg weight limit to compete on the live event circuit. The team joined forces with The Lancaster Bombers who built Wolverine and rebuilt this incarnation into Spitfire for Season 5.0 of BattleBots. Spitfire was nearly identical in design to Dantomkia Mk3, but with a narrower rear end and a decreased CO2 supply, as out-of-the-arena flips were not possible in the original series of BattleBots. However, the robot was more heavily-armoured, and could spin on the spot at 600rpm, faster than its successor. In Season 5.0, Spitfire beat four opponents, including Vlad the Impaler 2, to reach the round of 32, before losing to Surgeon General there after being severely damaged by the latter's disc. Contractual obligations from the BattleBots producers forced a new incarnation to be built for Robot Wars.

In 2013, Spitfire, still in the hands of Gareth Dean from Team Lancaster Bombers, made its UK debut at Robot Wars Guildford 2013.

In 2006, Mike Lambert sold Dantomkia Mk 4 to Team Batter. Under their wing, this Dantomkia won the Annihilator at the 2006 UK Championships despite losing their Heat Final to Ripper in the main competition after being thrown out of the arena. Dantomkia finished fourth at the UK Championships in 2007, losing to Terrorhurtz in the Semi-Final before losing to Iron-Awe 5 in the 3rd Place Play-Off. Dantomkia was also the runner-up at the 2008 UK Championships, having beaten the likes of Thor, Beast and Ripper Evo along the way, before again losing to Iron-Awe 5, this time after its safety link fell out and it was flipped out of the arena. In December 2009, Dantomkia was sold to Team Cylon, who fought with it in the 2010 UK Championships. However, it was found to be overweight, and thus the gas to the flipper was sacrificed to reduce the weight, leaving it weaponless against Iron-Awe 5 in round one, who beat it in one flip. Team Hydra sold it back to John Bell, who then renamed it in order to avoid confusion with Mike Lambert's new Mk 5 model. Dantomkia Mk 4 was renamed DTK, the same as the team's once successful featherweight. John Bell retired from roboteering entirely in late 2014 and donated DTK to John Findlay. Mike Lambert & Karoline Denisha of Team Torque built a stronger and more powerful Mk5 in late 2012, with the intention of entering the then-new Robot Wars live events. The machine was finished and painted in September 2013, and competed for the first time in the 2013 European Championships, losing in its heat to Terrorhurtz. In November 2015, this version of Dantomkia was acquired by Shane Swan, and it is this version which competed during Series 8.

Dantomkia Mk 3, now an empty chassis, was used for static display and publicity purposes. The entire chassis, complete with flipping arm and armour, was later auctioned as one of the items for Alex Brown's 2017 charity auction, to its new owner Sarah Bird.

After Series 8, in October 2016, Team S-Tek made a Facebook post revealing that Dantomkia has been sold on once again, this time to Matthew Pearman of Team Slam. Under their ownership, the robot received numerous modifications including revised armour and a larger flipper plate, and returned to live events in 2017, competing at the Robots Live! event in Stevenage that October. In a battle with Saint and Ka-Pow!, Dantomkia's pneumatic system mounts broke, and the robot eventually became stuck against the arena wall, and was pitted by Ka-Pow!

In August 2018, Team Slam entered a horizontal featherweight spinner, Tempest, into the inaugural King of Bots UK International Championship, held at Insomnia 63, Birmingham. Designed by Andy Russell and Adam Hamilton, Tempest initially lost its first qualifier battle to Calabash Bros, before winning its second against Telekinesis and Beauty 2. Tempest subsequently lost its third and final qualifier to Straddle2, which saw Straddle2 splitting its chassis open and both competitors becoming immobilised following their initial collision. The Judges' decision ruled against Tempest; although it still scored enough points to secure a place in the knockout round, it was forced to withdraw from its battle against Barghest due to the damage inflicted by Straddle2, and was replaced by Calabash Bros.

Robot Wars Live Events
Dantomkia made its first appearance at the new Robot Wars live events in Colchester in April 2013 under the ownership of Team Batter. It took part in the events competition where it faced Iron-Awe 5 and Eruption in the heats, but it didn't make much of an impact on the other two robots and fell at this stage. It also took part at Guildford 2013 where it fought in the competition and faced The Steel Avenger, Manta and St Hammer. Here it did slightly better until it got immobilised in the last seconds of the fight and lost a body panel. In the Robot Wars UK Championships at Newport 2013, it did well in the heats finishing second in its fight against Iron-Awe 5, Titan & Noisy Cricket, but lost again. It did better in the Robot Wars Winter Tour 2013 under the name of DTK, not to be confused with the featherweight of the same name. It fell in the Primary heats against Eruption and St Hammer, but won its Secondary heat against Dystopia and Tanto. This gave DTK enough points to qualify for the finals at Gloucester but it made little impact in the quarter-finals and lost against St Hammer. Spitfire made its UK début at the Robot Wars live event in Guildford in June 2013, where it faced Dantomkia amongst other robots. In the main competition, it faced Toon Raider and Titan, but it fell at this stage when it was flipped over and couldn't right itself.

DTK is now owned by John Findlay. DTK participated in the Robot Wars World Championship, held at Colchester in 2015. DTK fought Apex, Titan and Manta, but was thrown out of the arena by Manta within the opening stages.

In 2016, DTK attended every live tour of the year as an extra feature for VIP ticket holders, who were allowed to drive DTK after the show had concluded.

Appearances in Merchandise

 * Dantomkia/Pullback

Trivia
"Scorpions disk is very powerful. It's based on a cars flywheel and stores massive amounts of energy. Its not to be taken lightly. Also, Scorpion was well built and well driven by a team who know how to deliver their killer blow. If memory serves me I put them out at the same place that I put Chaos II. As much as I like S.M.I.D.S.Y I didnt rate the disk as any possibility of damage. It's far too small to be able to get a decent bite. Other than that their machine was first rate. The best that it could do was cosmetic damage. Hypno Disk on the other hand had a weapon that can not only hurt but do some serious damage. It was never going to get through to the inner workings of Dantomkia but its damage potential was real and I treated it with great respect. IG-88, well that was a new robot for me. I had seen its disk in an earlier fight but I knew that if I took it head on then it had no chance to damage Dantomkia but if I got it wrong then it was good night from us. Mind you, out of all the spinners that I have fought (inc battlebots) IG-88 is the one that caused the worst damage. As it went over the arena wall its disk hit the tip of Dantomkias flipper and sent a surge through the radio interface electronics and fried a load of relays and their driver ccts. This plagued us for the rest of that RobotWars series. The weapon often wouldnt work, relays would jam or refuse to operate and even the Radio Control deadband would drift. Unfortunately I didnt have a spare set of electronics with me so I had to use what I had. I feel guilt at having put Behemoth out of the arena. That was under instruction from Mentorn and I think it was unfair to ask me to do that to them. I even put them out where Mentorn asked me to hence the cameras were already setup for the shot. Mighty Mouse flipping was the best one. It was a very funny fight. So hard to catch because it was well driven. But when I did catch it I found that its point of gravity was not where I expected it to be hence it took quite a few shots to get it over the side. I hated putting Panic Attack out. It is from a time of RobotWars history and deserved better than I gave it. The same goes for King B. Iron Awe, now thats a fight where I admired the team more than their robot. This is because some time after that was filmed we all met at a live event some place. Iron Awe team drove Dantomkia and I drove Iron Awe. I was unable to get Iron Awe to do anything that I wanted it to do but they were able to make it dance to music! I have so much respect for Gilbert and Robert. Mind you, after they drove Dantomkia they decided to bite the bullet and get decent drive electronics. So maybe I did have a positive impact upon them. So, there you have it."
 * Team Dantomkia was one of ten Robot Wars teams to compete in BattleBots.
 * It competed in the third heat of all 3 of its main series appearances and won the first two after flipping both its Heat semi-final and Heat Final opponents out of the arena.
 * Interestingly, it also lost the first round of the semi finals both times, the only difference being Series 6 had a loser's melee and Series 7 did not.
 * Dantomkia competed in the third episode of all three series it fought in.
 * Dantomkia was the fifth robot to flip two robots out of the Arena in one battle.
 * If the unaired flip out of the arena on S.M.I.D.S.Y. were to count, then Dantomkia is the only robot to flip multiple robots out of the arena in more than one fight.
 * Dantomkia was the last robot to flip a competitor out of the arena during the classic era of Robot Wars, when it threw out former champions Panic Attack in the second round of the Series 7 All-Stars event.
 * For some reason, the Robot Wars announcer, Stuart McDonald, had trouble pronouncing Dantomkia's name correctly (DAN-tom-kee-a) during its appearances in the original series. He instead pronounced it in a variety of incorrect ways (such as Dan-TOMA-ky-a and Dan-TOM-kee-a).
 * This was also evident in Series 8, when the arena announcer pronounced Dantomkia's name as Dan-TOM-kee-a during its introduction in Heat 3. Dara Ó Briain also pronounced it this way throughout the episode.
 * Within two series of Robot Wars, Dantomkia fought King Buxton in three different first-round melees.
 * Dantomkia has qualified from more melees than any other robot without losing a melee itself, having fought in 7 melees without being eliminated.
 * According to Mike Lambert, Dantomkia is female.
 * In 2015, Mike Lambert provided information and his opinion on Dantomkia's opponents that were flipped out of the arena:

- Mike Lambert on the Official Robot Wars Facebook Group