Supernova

"Supernova, a potential star"

- Jonathan Pearce

Supernova was a competitor robot from Series 5 to 7 of Robot Wars. It was a low, invertible slight wedge-shaped robot which was pale yellow in colour, later to repainted in a blue and red colour scheme. This newer colour scheme featured the Superman symbol, directly over the word Nova. Its main weapon was a half metre, 2000RPM horizontal spinning disc, capable of ripping robots to pieces, but mostly specialised in knocking loose components inside and causing the robot to break down. Supernova's disc was almost a quarter of the robot's weight.

Supernova's best performance in the UK series was in The Sixth Wars, when it reached the heat final before losing to Spawn Again. The robot lost in the first round in its other two appearances, to seeded machines. Supernova also represented Sri Lanka in the The Third World Championship, reaching the final before losing to Storm 2.

Series 5
Supernova had a disappointing run in its debut series. Against the seeded Behemoth, its disc could not do any damage, and it was rendered immobile after Matilda tore off its top panel with her flywheel. Behemoth pushed Supernova forward and flipped it head-first into the pit. "Behemoth put the lights out on the Supernova, sending it into a black hole"

- Jonathan Pearce sums up Supernova's run

Series 6
Supernova's first match was against Short Circuit, Spawn Again, and Tiberius 3. It used its flywheel to great effect on Short Circuit, who began to fall apart, and was soon immobile. Spawn Again then flipped over Tiberius 3, allowing it and Supernova to go onto the next round. Supernova then easily defeated Ming 3 by hitting Ming 3's exposed wheels with its disc until they could no longer turn. In the heat final, Supernova was up against Spawn Again, and was seen as a good chance of defeating the seeded machine. However, Spawn Again quickly gained the upper hand by flipping Supernova onto an angle grinder. Refbot freed it, but only one of its wheels was working, so it was counted out and eliminated.

Series 7
Supernova had a promising start in Series 7; in the first round it ripped off both of Mayhem's tyres to immobilize it. Storn 2 then pushed Supernova into Sir Killalot, and Supernova's disc shredded one of Killalot's treads. However, after Storm 2 slammed Supernova again, it stopped moving, and was counted out.

Supernova also appeared in the Third World Championship representing Sri Lanka. Supernova won the qualifier battle easily; its disc tore through Mechaniac's shell, and the Austrian robot was soon immobile. In the first round of the world championship, it met Hard from Belgium, and Spartacus from the USA. It used its disc to rip apart Spartacus's front, evetually succeeding in buckling one of Spartacus's wheels. Hard had mysteriously stopoped moving, so it was counted out. Supernova and Spartacus were both having mobility problems; Spartacus could only move in circle due to its buckled wheel, and Supernova was only displaying short bursts of movement. In the end, it was Spartacus who was deemed immobile, and Supernova who moved on to the next round. In Round 2, Supernova dominated the fight against Crushtacean, battering the South African robot with its disc. After a few hits, one of Crushtacean's claws came loose, and it stopped moving. Crushtacean was thrown by the floor flipper, and skittered all the way across the arena. In the final, Supernova met Storm 2 again. Storm 2 charged in, while Supernova tried to use its disc, but couldn't impede Storm 2 at all. The two robots slammed into each other a few times, and one of their collisions caused Supernova to turn sideways and get stuck on the arena wall. Refbot came over and tried to free it, while Storm 2 got itself beached on an angle grinder. Supernova finally managed to get back on its wheels, so it attacked the vulnerable Storm 2, freeing it from the angle grinder in the process. The robots continued slamming each other until the clock ran out. It went to the judges, who decided that the Third World Champion was Storm 2.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 5
 * Losses: 4

Series Record

 * Series 1: Did not enter
 * Series 2: Entered with Oblivion
 * Series 3-4: Entered with Oblivion 2
 * Series 5: Heats, Round 1
 * Series 6: Heat Final
 * Series 7: Heats, Round 1