Mantis

Mantis was a competitor robot in Series 7 of Robot Wars. The robot itself was quite quick and had three long lifters, with a massive lift capability, and a hydraulic crushing beak, meaning it could lift and crush simultaneously in a similar fashion to Tetanus. The main tactics were to grab hold of opponents and then drop them in the pit, out of the arena or give them to the house robots but never succeeded in either. Also the exoskeleton could be easily hooked and the wheels were unprotected which cost it against Kat 3. Mantis reached the second round of the main competition in Series 7 and also won the Crusher Crunch Up special event.

Series 7
Mantis started the battle near the pit and banged into the Refbot. It then drove towards the rest of the competitors, deciding on which to attack. It chose to go for newcomers Jabber, piercing it and hoisting it into the air. Mantis then pushed Jabber above an angle grinder and almost out the arena. Mantis, failing to do so, carried Jabber around the arena and slamming into Bulldog Breed. Mantis, still holding Jabber attempts to take on Bulldog Breed with Jabber already on its beak and Bulldog Breed drove away. Mantis then drove away near the bottom right CO2 Geyser. Bulldog Breed attacked them and tried to flip Jabber off Mantis's beak. Infernal Contraption also bashed into Mantis. Mantis then carried Jabber over to Sergeant Bash's CPZ and Jabber finally got out of Mantis's grip. "What is Mantis going to do eventually with Jabber? Drop it is the answer."

- Jonathan Pearce questioning the tactics of Mantis

Because of this attack, Jabber had lost drive in one side so Mantis attempted to attack the other 2 robots. Infernal Contraption separated from the group and Mantis tried to grab the nimble Bulldog Breed. Bulldog Breed then pushed Mantis into the pit release button. At that moment, mesh came out of Bulldog Breed and trailed across the arena floor. Mantis tried to harrass Infernal Contraption but they got away. In the dying seconds, Mantis got a last, superb attack on Bulldog Breed, lifting it clean off the ground with it's huge beak and lifter. Bulldog Breed flipped themselves free but then the battle ended. Mantis went through because of style, damage and aggresion but Bulldog Breed were given a yellow card because of the mesh that came out of it. Mantis went on to face Kat 3. This battle was very close, with Kat 3 hitting Mantis' exposed innards several times, and Mantis flipping Kat 3 over in return on more than one occasion. Mantis appeared to be unharmed from Kat 3's axe blows, but they still counted against it and Mantis lost the judges decision from lack of return damage.

Mantis had featured earlier in the series, in the Crusher Crunch-Up alonside Pinser and R.O.C.S.. It shoved R.O.C.S. into the side wall where it was attacked by Mr Psycho. Mantis was then attacked by the other two, but its wide frame gave Pinser nothing to damage. Pinser roasted Mantis over the flames, but Mantis survived whilst the other two attacked each other, nearly going down the pit at one point. As Pinser immobilised R.O.C.S. with its crusher, Mantis shoved Pinser over the flames, where something exploded in flame and immobilised it, but as it attacked R.O.C.S.' immobile form, it got stuck itself. "Who's alive out there? Mantis....yes, there's movement in Mantis!"

- Jonathan Pearce looking for survivors

As the three sat immobile, Mantis came back to life, and was named the winner as the sole surviving robot.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 2
 * Losses: 1

Series Record

 * Series 1-6: Did not enter
 * Series 7: Heat, Round 2

Outside Robot Wars
Since Robot Wars, Mantis has been sold to Team RCC, a Dutch/Belgian team who competed in Dutch Robot Wars with RCC and Blackdevil Warzone, and have also owned Hannibal, Splinter and Obsidian at various points in time. Mantis has since been heavily revised in terms of armour and weaponry, still keeping the same design.

Mantis last fought in the 2011 UK Championships, where it fell in the heats. Team RCC still owns Mantis, however it would require several modifications before it would be fight-worthy again.