Bigger Brother

"Power is nothing without control."

- Ian Watts' mantra

Bigger Brother was a wedge shaped robot originally built from bulletproof mild steel with a zero ground clearance, 12 mph top speeds and a powerful flipper on the front that came from an industrial digger with a lifting capacity of half a ton. It entered Series 4 through to 7, as well as both Extreme Series. The design was largely inspired by Chaos 2, with dependability as priority one. The body was a conventional wedge shape with extra wheel protection and little unnecessary empty space, the small surface area of each flat side made it resistant to damage. The flipper was designed to right Bigger Brother with but a gentle flick, minimizing the CO2 gas expenditure.

Bigger Brother's greatest success was in Series 5. The flipper was much more powerful than the prior year and was capable of throwing its opponents out of the arena. It beat three of the previous year's semi-finalists, including the reigning champion Chaos 2. In the Grand Final, it came up against crowd favourite Hypno-Disc. Despite being completely trashed by its opponent's destructive weapon, Bigger Brother surprised everyone in an amazing comeback by pushing Hypno-Disc into the pit. With all the teams pitching in to help it was ready to battle Razer but lost the battle on a judges' decision.

Bigger Brother came back in Series 6 boasting the strength "indestructible". This claim was supported by the fact that its rear armour (made from cobalt titanium) had been doubled in thickness after the fight with Hypno-Disc. Having reached the semi-finals, it was hacked into submission by Terrorhurtz - the only time that Bigger Brother has broken down from damage. It won the Minor Meltdown in Extreme Series 2, but was flipped out of the arena by Iron-Awe 2.1 during Series 7, becoming the highest ever seed to be flipped out of the arena.

Bigger Brother was represented by Joe and Ellie Watts, alongside their father Ian. Joe and Ellie were well loved by the roboteering community, particularly Julia Reed and Craig Charles. "Little Joe" was famous for being one of the greatest roboteers of his young age, managing to flip three robots out of the arena and also drove his robot (Ellie taking over his role as weapons control) to a decisive victory in the Minor Meltdown. Two of Bigger Brother's three Out of the Arena flips, as well as the Minor Meltdown final against Lambsy and the semi-finals bout in Series 5 against S3, have gone down in the top 30 quickest battles of UK Robot Wars, with the battle against Splinter only just missing out. However, Joe and Ellie had less success in Nickelodeon Robot Wars, placing third after it lost to Ming 3 and Rick in the Tag Team Terror.

Bigger Brother is notably the most successful robot to have never won a judges' decision in UK Robot Wars. The only time the machine was ever awarded victory in a match that went to the judges was the play-off for the Tag Team Terror in Nickelodeon Robot Wars.

Bigger Brother's design was inspired by one of Watts' projects, a replica of a Lamborghini Countach.

Series 4
"And, and, also, the weapon, has been tested by little Joe's thumb. So, it must be alright then."

- Jonathan Pearce

Having reached the semi-finals the previous year with Big Brother, Bigger Brother was granted the 14th seed for Series 4. It cleared its first round melee fairly successfully, flipping over the 130+ kg Clawed Hopper and also pushing Hammer & Tong around the arena. This put it through to meet up with Bulldog Breed 2. However, its first attempted flip missed and caused a gas leak, leaving the machine weaponless. Bulldog Breed quickly took advantage of this and flipped it over. Unable to activate the flipper, and thus unable to self-right, Bigger Brother was eliminated. Bigger Brother later competed in the Tag Team Terror, paired up with Plunderbird 4. It showed early aggression in its first round against Firestorm 2 and Scorpion, but was ultimately let down after Plunderbird had a malfunction and was left immobile. Losing the judges decision, and with the Plunderbird team unable to get their robot going again, Bigger Brother had to fight the play-off between X-Terminator 2 and Inverterbrat alone, but managed to hold off both machines and had victory secured after X-Terminator drove down the pit by mistake and the latter breaking down earlier in the fight.

Bigger Brother also competed in the Pinball and Sumo special events, placing equal 5th in Pinball with a score of 180 despite missing the 75 point target that would have put it overall joint top with Gemini, but was knocked off the sumo after 6.43 seconds.

Extreme 1
Bigger Brother participated in three battles in different competitions in Extreme 1.

It was involved in the Tag Team alongside Plunderbird 5, but Plunderbird broke down before the battle, and Major Tom was brought in as a replacement. The two machines faced Spawn Again and Comengetorix. Bigger Brother started the match against Comengetorix. It lifted its opponent, but was hoisted in the air by its opponent. Major Tom was tagged and flipped, but Bigger Brother self-righted its partner. Major Tom then stopped moving. Bigger Brother tried attacking its opponents, but Major Tom's immobilisation cost Bigger Brother the chance to progress to the second round of the tag team.

Bigger Brother met Comengetorix in a vengeance match following these events, in a staged argument about flying the Union Jack, but was in reality a ploy to attack Sir Killalot. Bigger Brother flipped its foe over, but it self righted under pressure from Sergeant Bash. Bigger Brother flipped the house robot over, before attacking Sir Killalot. Bigger Brother then pitted its opponent, before being pitted by Sir Killalot.

Bigger Brother also participated in the Flipper Frenzy. It teamed up with Thermidor 2 and Chaos 2 on Sergeant Bash, and flipped the house robot. They couldn't flip him out of the arena, despite several attempts. During one of these attempts, however, Bigger Brother suddenly broke down, eliminating it from the battle.

"This is terrible teamwork against our boys"

- Jonathan Pearce on the attacks on the house robots

Bigger Brother was also due to compete in the Mayhem competition, to qualify for one of the two annihilators, but it withdrew at the last moment. The reasons behind this are unknown.

Series 5
Bigger Brother had an explosive start to series 5, flipping Tip-Top and Splinter out of the arena fairly swiftly in the first two rounds. After nearly getting 3 Stegs to Heaven out in the Heat Final, Bigger Brother flipped Shunt over and left the immobilised 3 Stegs to Heaven to be dealt with by Sir Killalot.

In the first round of the Semi-Finals Bigger Brother attempted to get the unusually-shaped S3 out of the arena, but pushed it down the pit instead. In the second round Bigger Brother was drawn up against reigning champions Chaos 2. Bigger Brother flipped Chaos 2 once, who then flipped Bigger Brother a few times. Bigger Brother flipped Chaos 2 again who ran out of CO2 gas whilst attempting to self-right, sending Bigger Brother through the Grand Final and making it the first robot to defeat Chaos 2 in the main competition. "Sensational! Bigger Brother, once a series semi-finalist. Outclassed surely in this series of Robot Wars? No! They are about to make the Grand Final!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Bigger Brother defeats Chaos 2 In the Grand Final Bigger Brother put a hopeless defence against Hypno-Disc, who ripped armour off Bigger Brother and destroyed the flipper. It repeatedly reversed into Hypno-Disc's deadly weapon, relying on the extremely tough titanium plating on the back to withstand the blows. Despite the extreme damage to the bodywork, eventually rendering the flipper bent and unusable, Bigger Brother continued to function while Hypno-Disc began to lose power. Bigger Brother was later able to push Hypno-Disc around, eventually forcing it into the pit release and down the pit, completing one the greatest comebacks in Robot Wars history. After this fight every team except for Bigger Brother's next opponent Razer and including those of Hypno-Disc and Chaos 2, helped to fix it for the Grand Final. "Are you ready for the fight of the century? Because, the mangled piece of metal on the arena floor that was Bigger Brother has now been rebuilt and is a robot looking ready to fight."

- Philippa Forrester

In the final, Razer pierced several holes in Bigger Brother who put up very little defence and lost on a unanimous judges' decision, finishing runner-up for Series 5.

At the end of the series, Bigger Brother was nominated for the Best Design Award, but lost out to previous two time winner Razer

Series 6
After being beaten in the Grand Final of the last wars, Bigger Brother was seeded 2nd for Series 6, this time with much stronger armour. It went through its first round against Killer Carrot 2, Major Tom and Riptilion after the latter two broke down. It met Behemoth in round 2. Team Make Robotics' robot managed to overturn Bigger Brother and take it to the CPZ where Shunt axed it but it escaped. Bigger Brother then flipped Behemoth over, but it self-righted and pressed the pit release button. After Behemoth was positioned between Bigger Brother and the pit, Bigger Brother flipped the robot from Hemel Hempstead in the air, clamped its flipper down on top of Behemoth and dumped it down. Bigger Brother met Disc-O-Inferno in its heat final. The second seeds nearly flipped its invertible opponent out the arena a few times. It was able to throw Disc-O-Inferno around the arena, eventually the spinner robot's disc stopped spinning and it then drove straight into the open pit allowing Bigger Brother to go through to the Semi-Finals of the Sixth Wars. Round 1 of the Semi-Final saw Bigger Brother fighting the 6th seeds Dominator 2. Bigger Brother started the fight off well overturning Dominator 2 twice, but each time it managed to self-right. Then after Dominator 2 landed a few axe-blows on Bigger Brother, the second seed was then pushed into Sir Killalot's CPZ. The house robot picked up Bigger Brother but it managed to escape but then showed signs of impaired movement and got attacked once more by Sir Killalot in the last 10 seconds. The fight went to a judges' decision and Dominator 2 was put through. Bigger Brother wasn't out though, as it was eligible to compete in the loser's melee along with 4th seeds and previous Series 5 opponents Hypno-Disc and 10th seeds Spawn Again. In the melee, Hypno-Disc broke down and Spawn Again nearly got Bigger Brother out the arena but fortunately for the Watts family, Spawn Again's flipper jammed open and Bigger Brother were able to push it down the pit. Its fight for a place in the Grand Final was against the unseeded Terrorhurtz who had already taken out seeds such as Panic Attack and Spawn Again. Terrorhurtz hammered away on Bigger Brother's bodywork and Bigger Brother couldn't get under Terrorhurtz's skirts. After many more axe-blows from Terrorhurtz, Bigger Brother was in the CPZ, counted out by Refbot and then Sergeant Bash and Shunt dealt with Bigger Brother by putting it on the arena flipper and dumping it down the pit. This was the only time in Robot Wars history that Bigger Brother was KO'd by damage.

Extreme 2
After reaching the Semi-Finals of the Sixth Wars, Bigger Brother returned for the All-Stars tournament. It started Round 1 off very well, turning S3 onto its side before pushing it towards the arena wall at full throttle and then flipping it over the fence. Round 2 saw it facing the Sixth Wars champion Tornado. Tornado pushed Bigger Brother towards Sir Killalot, before the flipper robot managed to overturn Tornado so it had its scoop the wrong way up. Bigger Brother then gained advantage over Tornado and pushed it down the pit. Bigger Brother then faced Firestorm 4 in the Heat Final. Bigger Brother was overturned at the start but recovered, and it tried to flip Firestorm 4 but it didn't go over. Firestorm 4 then tried 3 times to get Bigger Brother out of the arena but failed every time. After both robots were attacked by the house robots, Firestorm 4 flipped Bigger Brother over and it had apparently ran out of gas so couldn't self-right. Firestorm 4 was then able to put Bigger Brother down the pit.

The Watts family returned for the Minor Meltdown competition where Joe & Ellie drove the machine. Bigger Brother qualified the first round after flipping Saw Point who was attacked by Growler and couldn't self-right which resulted in it getting counted out. Bigger Brother then met Rick in the Semi-Final. Rick lured Bigger Brother into the CPZ but it quickly escaped. Bigger Brother then flipped Rick as Dead Metal's blade rolled across the arena floor, but Rick was unharmed. Rick was then in the grasp of a bladeless Dead Metal and then broke down allowing Bigger Brother to go through to the final. The Watts family in the Minor Meltdown final flipped Lambsy on its side where it couldn't self-right before pushing it down the pit claiming a victory and becoming the Minor Meltdown Champion.

Series 7
In the first round, fourth seeds Bigger Brother came up against U.R.O., Typhoon 2 and Colossus. Typhoon 2 failed to get spinning, however Bigger Brother repeatedly flipped the invertible U.R.O., causing it enough damage to become immobilised. Colossus had already been flipped, leaving Typhoon 2 and Bigger Brother. Bigger Brother flipped over Typhoon, immobilising it and attempted to re-right Colossus. However, Refbot counted out Colossus moments before Colossus landed on its wheels and started moving again, before driving into the pit. In the second round, Bigger Brother, who had flipped three robots out of the arena faced Iron-Awe 2.1. With Bigger Brother having a reputation for flipping robots out of the arena, and Iron-Awe being a team with machines that had been flipped out of the arena three times before, everyone believed Bigger Brother had the win in the bag. The battle started as predicted - Bigger Brother started quickly, flipping Iron-Awe 2.1 into Refbot, before the competitor self-righted. The heat favourites darted around Ref but drove straight onto Iron-Awe 2.1's flipper and was tossed on top of and over the wall - and out of the competition, one of the biggest shocks in Robot Wars history.

Bigger Brother initiated a coup against the House Robots in the first round the All-Stars along with Firestorm 5, Kat 3 and Panic Attack and all four robots toppled Shunt and caused Cassius Chrome to break down. However, Bigger Brother, along with Firestorm 5, drove itself into the pit by mistake.

Bigger Brother was originally scheduled to fight in the House Robot Rebellion alongside Behemoth, but it was replaced with Gravity after Bigger Brother aided in the assault on the House Robots in the All-Stars, as the producers felt that it had attacked the House Robots too often.

Nickelodeon
Bigger Brother teamed up with Kat 3 in the International Tag Team Terror Competition. Things did not start well as Kat 3 was immediately flipped over by Rick and Bigger Brother had to come in and right it. All four competitors were soon in the middle of the arena and Bigger Brother was then accidentally struck by Kat 3's axe. Bigger Brother then pushed Ming 3 against the arena side wall and flipped it over, but Ming 3 managed to self-right. The fight went to the judges and in a close decision, Bigger Brother and Kat 3 were eliminated.

In the Playoff, both Run Away and Kat 3 were unable to compete due to electrical problems so Bigger Brother had to fight Zanzara alone. It spent virtually the entire match on the offensive, flipping Zanzara several times through the air and into the House Robots. Bigger Brother would eventually win the fight on a judges' decision and took third place with Kat 3.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * UK Wins: 20
 * UK Losses: 11
 * US Wins: 1
 * US Losses: 1

Series Record

 * Series 1-2: Did not enter
 * Series 3: Entered with Big Brother
 * Series 4: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 5: Runner-up
 * Series 6: Semi-Finals, Round 2
 * Series 7: Heat, Round 2

Outside Robot Wars
Bigger Brother entered Season 2.0 of BattleBots with little success, defeating only Mauler 51-50 when it self-destructed and then losing to Voltronic. It reappeared in later seasons under the name Little Sister. This robot had a bright yellow shell and no wheel guards, but extra armour on the flipping arm. It reached the top 32 in both Season 3.0 and 4.0. In Season 3.0, it beat Botknocker-19 and Gammatron before losing to BioHazard but won one of the consolation rumbles. In Season 4.0, it notably lost to Killerhurtz in the only battle in which two British robots fought each other on Battlebots, having previously beaten Bender. However it lost its only battle of Season 5.0 to Greenspan.

In the 2010 series of reality TV show Big Brother, Bigger Brother appeared as the "ultimate opponent" for the house-mates during their robot task. All qualifying house-mates had decorated RC Cars, which fought Bigger Brother in a specially built arena. However, most cars were flipped, pitted or in the case of one car, thrown out of the arena completely. The house-mates therefore failed their task and Bigger Brother was victorious.

Bigger Brother has competed in many events after Robot Wars ended. Most recently, it fought at a Robots Live in 2014.

Appearances in Merchandise

 * Bigger Brother/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (GBA)

Trivia

 * Bigger Brother entered more competitions including Robot Wars (Robot Wars, Techno Games and BattleBots) than any other British robot.
 * Bigger Brother was the highest seed (number 14) to lose its seeding the following series, but then gain it back again the series after that.
 * Bigger Brother has had more Tag Team Terror team-mates than any other robot.
 * Despite fighting in three Tag Team Terror competitions, Bigger Brother lost in the first round of all three of them, and only won Tag Team battles when it was effectively fighting alone due to its partner breaking down. (In the third place playoff in the Series 4 tournament, when Plunderbird failed to move at the start of the battle, and the third place playoff in the Nickelodeon tournament, where Kat 3 had to withdraw before the battle.)
 * In the list of all robots that competed in Series 4 that was shown at the beginning of the Grand Final episode, Bigger Brother was mistakenly listed as Big Brother II.
 * Bigger Brother has faced 5 of the 6 UK Grand Champions, more than any other robot.
 * Bigger Brother is the highest seed (number 4) to be flipped out the arena.
 * Bigger Brother failed to reach the Semi-Finals in both series that Phillipa Forrester wasn't pit reporter.