Dead Metal

Dead Metal (also known as Death Metal in Dutch Robot Wars) was one of the four original House Robots alongside Matilda, Sergeant Bash and Shunt. Designed to resemble a mechanical scorpion that had "reanimated from a junkyard", he fought by grabbing hold of contestant robots with his front-mounted claws and cutting into them with the circular saw on his "head". He was driven by a battery powered engine, and moved at a speed of 5.4 metres per second (12 mph). Dead Metal was protected by a steel exoskeleton consisting of jagged armour plates and spiked struts as wheel guards. Dead Metal was originally going to be painted pink to match its lobster-like appearance, but was left grey to give it a more 'menacing' look. Despite appearing in all seven wars, Dead Metal was virtually unchanged from series three onwards, except for recieving new pneumatic rams in his pincers for series four.

Appearances in Merchandise

 * Dead Metal/Pullback
 * Dead Metal/Minibot
 * Dead Metal/Robot Wars: Metal Mayhem
 * Dead Metal/Robot Wars: Arenas of Destruction
 * Dead Metal/Robot Wars: Advanced Destruction
 * Dead Metal/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (GBA)
 * Dead Metal/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (PC/Xbox)

Appearance and Armament
In Series 1 and 2, Dead Metal had a more scorpion-like appearance. His circular saw was attached to a tail-like arm that would move forward from the robot's back. The steel exoskeleton was also much simpler in design and as a result a lot of the internal workings were visible. The saw blade was powered by a petrol motor which was found to be very unreliable and caused little damage when in contact with other robots. The arm which the saw blade was on rotated at its pivot 180 degrees.

For Series 2 the petrol motor was replaced by an electric motor and the saw was changed from a grinding blade to a diamond edged metal blade. The steel exoskeleton was also changed to accommodate the new saw and as a result gave Dead Metal a much more complicated look. The new saw created sparks whenever Dead Metal attempted to saw through other robots, but didn't give the production team the destructive power they wanted. The arm which the blade was on had also been modified so it only rotated 80 degrees on the pivot.

In Series 3, the electric motor was replaced with a modifed Stihl saw mounted at the front, which could move forward to attack. The saw had to be moved forward very slowly, otherwise the mechanism would jam. Part of the rear armour plating was also mounted to the saw. This would along with the saw move forward, giving the viewer the impression of a head. Other than this change, the armour and exoskeleton would remain the same throughout the rest of Robot Wars, with only few minor modifications to improve protection.

Dead Metal was one of the fastest House Robots, and his metre-wide body made him very difficult to flip over. Only Gravity ever acheived this; Cassius came close in the Series 2 final but did not succeed.

Dead Metal was also able to lift the front of his body up. This was generally seen when he was introduced before a battle. The idea of this was that it would allow the pincers to grab robots of different heights.

Notable appearances

 * The circular saw produced huge amounts of sparks when cutting into titanium. Examples of this included a battle between Hypno-Disc, Ming 3 and Wheely Big Cheese in Robot Wars Extreme, when it sliced into Wheely Big Cheese's wheels. When Gravedigger faced Darke Destroyer in Series 3 the saw produced great sparks again after Darke Destroyer was immobilised. Dead Metal also produced destructive sparks on the likes of Overkill, Thing 2, Rippa Raptor, G-Force and Techno Trousers.


 * In a battle between Bumblebot and Ultor in Series 3, Dead Metal's saw cut right through Bumblebot's axe leaving it without a head.


 * During the battle in the First World Championship between Chaos 2 and Razer, Dead Metal was able to catch Chaos 2 from the front end after being pushed into the CPZ by Razer, allowing Dead Metal an opportunity to slice a huge gash into Chaos 2's flipper. This, along with earlier damage inflicted by Razer, prompted Chaos 2 to reverse straight into the pit to avoid further damage after it had escaped.


 * Due to its speed, pushing power and ability to trap opponents, Dead Metal proved to be a major challenge to get past in the Gauntlet, single-handedly stopping opponents like Sting, Onslaught, Killerhurtz, Wizard and Loco from finishing through cunning use of its pushing power, blocking the routes, and the pits.


 * One of its most well-known methods of ending Gauntlet runs was catching the gauntlet-runner in its pincers and pushing them towards the pit, whilst simultaneously cutting into them with its saw. It would continue this until the opponent was hanging over the pit, by which point it would then release its pincers to drop them in.


 * In Wizard's gauntlet run in Series 2, it prompted booing from the audience by continuing to attack Wizard after it had been pitted, cutting up the top of its protruding hat with its saw.


 * In the Heat Semi-final battle between Onslaught and Beast of Bodmin in Series 3, it almost cut the immobilised Onslaught's chassis in half with its saw.


 * In Heat 5 of Series 3, during the Round 1 battle between Sonic and Hammertron, Dead Metal single-handedly dispatched the immobilised Hammertron, effortlessly cutting its tank treads to pieces with its saw, following up by immediately dragging it into the pit.


 * In Battle 4 of The Minor Meltdown between Bigger Brother and Rick, Dead Metal's saw came loose, fell off of its mount, and then proceeded to roll across the arena, passing in between a gap in the wall and falling out of the arena.


 * In Nickelodeon Robot Wars, it, along with Shunt and Sir Killalot, was able to dispatch Squirmin Vermin and Humdrum to win the House Robot Rebellion. Dead Metal was able to cause huge damage to both robots with its weaponry, slicing right into Humdrum's chassis at least twice.


 * During its run on Mega Hurts' King of the Castle Trial in Series 2, it managed to catch Mega Hurts from the front end with its pincers, and forced it over the edge backwards- as this happened, Mega Hurts flipped over backwards as it landed, causing Dead Metal to overshoot and fall on top of it, crushing Mega-Hurts' computer monitor under its weight.


 * It proved to be very successful in the Sumo Trial of Series 2, when it temporarily replaced Shunt in the last heat. Here, it managed to defeat four of its five opponents, only failing against Vercingetorix by running out of time. Even still, it only fell off the ring once after knocking out Haardvark.

Worst Moments

 * Being outmatched in a Tug of War with Chaos in Series 2, ultimately ending up being dragged backwards into the pit.


 * During Talos' gauntlet run in Series 2, it was pushed backwards into the pit.


 * Getting pushed off the platform with Sergeant Bash by Plunderbird 2 in its King of the Castle Trial run.


 * In a battle between Terrorpin and Invertabrat Dead Metal reversed straight into the pit.


 * In the Northern Annihilator, Dead Metal drove into the arena wall and broke one of its pincers.


 * After Dantomkia had won its semi final in the All-Stars, it took on Dead Metal and Growler, who both broke down.


 * During a battle with Lightning in Series 7, Gravity flipped Shunt and Dead Metal for fun, resulting in a red card from Refbot. This was, as a result, the only time Dead Metal has ever been flipped.


 * In Heat D of Series 5, whilst pitting one of the Gemini twins, he fell down as well.