Manta

"Manta's about 200 pounds of pure evil fish... its got very sharp teeth."

- Jeff Cesnik

Manta was a competitor robot on both seasons of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. It was a low rounded six-wheeled box-shaped robot with a carbide ramming point at the back and vertical spinning Kees hardened steel disc on the front and the robot could achieve speeds of 20mph. It was described by Jonathan Pearce as "stealthy-looking". In the first season, Manta reached the semi-finals of both the US Championship and The Second World Championship. It also won the American Civil War Championship earlier in the season. Manta returned to compete in the second season, but was eliminated in the second round of its heat. Manta also competed in the International Inferno during Extreme Series 1, losing the battle to Panic Attack.

US Season 1
Manta's first involvement in Season 1 was in the American Civil War competition, representing the Confederacy. In the first round against Tiger Cat, Manta immediately attacked its opponent, ripping off some of its fur and causing the front panel to fly off the New York machine. Tiger Cat reversed onto a flame jet and was set on fire, and Manta continued to attack it with its spinning blade. Tiger Cat was eventually counted out and pitted, so Manta went through to the second round to face Spike. In this battle Manta slammed into Spike numerous times, and then pushed it across the arena and into the side wall. At this point Spike appeared to lose mobility and, after a few more slams, Manta left it to the house robots. Eventually Manta pitted Spike and reached the final, in which it would face $6 Million Mouse. In the final Manta slammed into the back of $6 Million Mouse and turned it over onto its side, unable to self-right. Manta pushed $6 Million Mouse into the CPZ and it was picked up and paraded around by Sir Killalot before being thrown by the arena flipper. This righted $6 Million Mouse and Manta continued to attack it, eventually pushing it into the pit to claim the American Civil War trophy.

Manta's next competition was the US Championship. In the first round Manta slammed Rippa Raptor into Dead Metal's CPZ before getting underneath Mad Cow, puncturing one of its tyres. Manta then went back to attacking Rippa Raptor, which had become immobilised. Not much more was seen of Manta until cease was called and judges gave it the win, much to the surprise of the audience, the team and Mick Foley. In the semi-final against Panzer Mk 2, both robots went on the attack with Manta getting the upper hand early on, getting underneath its opponent on numerous occasions. However Panzer Mk 2 came back strongly and slammed Manta into the arena wall, causing Manta lose mobility. Panzer Mk 2 continued to slam Manta but many of these attacks resulted in it driving up the side of its opponent. Cease was called and the judges went for Panzer Mk 2, which sent Manta out of the competition.

Manta also competed in The Second World Championship, representing the United States. This competition was also broadcast during Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1 and Manta's opening battle was broadcast during German Robot Wars. In the first round Manta attacked Ansgar, getting underneath it and pushing it into the CPZ. Meanwhile Chaos 2 had pitted itself while trying to pit Mastiff and Manta finished the job by pushing the Italian machine into the pit of oblivion. Manta spent the rest of the battle pushing Ansgar around the arena until the German robot became immobilised and was counted out, leaving Manta to go through to the semi-final against Drillzilla. In this battle Drillzilla attacked the back of Manta, but was pushed backwards by Manta into the arena wall. The two American robots continued to push each other around the arena, activating the pit release button in the process. Manta then drove perilously close to the pit and was pushed in by Drillzilla, eliminating Manta from the competition.

US Season 2
Manta fought in Round 1 against Mad Cow Bot and Trilobyte. It immediately rammed into the larger Trilobyte and started shoving it around the arena. Eventually, Trilobyte was immobilized. After Trilobyte's entanglement cloth was ripped off by Mad Cow Bot, Manta used its new spinning blade to attack Trilobyte's rear wedge. Manta went through along with Mad Cow Bot.

In Round 2, it faced Rocky-Bot-Boa. The fight seemed evenly matched despite Manta's new spinning blade not working. However, as the fight went on, both bots were slowly running out of battery power. Manta lost on a judges decision because it showed more signs of immobilization.

Manta also competed in the International Championship, where it first faced Joker, which Manta beat, but it fell in the next round to General Chompsalot.

Extreme Series 1
In addition to the UK broadcast of the Second World Championship (which is covered in the US Season 1 section), Manta took part in the International Inferno against Panic Attack, Maximill and Flensburger Power. It started by attacking Maximill, twice sending it into the air on impact and then pushing it into the flame pit. Manta briefly attacked Flensburger Power before ramming Maximill into the CPZ, where the Dutch machine was attacked by Matilda and Shunt. Manta was then lifted into the air by Panic Attack and pushed around the arena as Flensburger Power was counted out. Manta was eventually freed and rammed Panic Attack numerous times as Maximill was also counted out. Panic Attack lifted Manta up again and held it over the pit, which was opened at that point by Matilda. This allowed Panic Attack to nudge Manta into the pit and win the International Inferno.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * UK Wins: 0
 * UK Losses: 1
 * US Wins: 7
 * US Losses: 4

Series Record

 * Season 1: Semi-Finals
 * Season 2: Heat, Round 2

Outside Robot Wars
Manta was designed by Team Kritical Mass after the first series of Robotica, in which they lost due to a mistake in the robot's shape. The robot was designed to use a spinning disc, instead of the spinning blade used by Kritical Mass. Kritical Mass 1 had exposed wheels. They then returned to the third series under the name of Ultra Violence with a more deadly blade, but lost to Juggerbot 3.0 (Tricerabot). To test their robot before the World Championship, the team entered it into BattleBots under the name Kritical Mass 2. It did well, reaching the fourth round.