The Revolutionist

"The whole thing spins around with the tooth blade around the edge"

- Stefan Frank on The Revolutionist in Nickelodeon

The Revolutionist was a competitor from the first and second seasons of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. It was the runner-up of the first season of Extreme Warriors, but lost in its Heat Final in the second season. It also represented the United States of America in The Second World Championship, but lost to reigning World Champion and eventual winner Razer in the first round.

The team also entered Spin Doctor in Season 2 and Nickelodeon (where it joined The Revolutionist in a Tag Team).

Design
The Revolutionist was a four-wheel drive, low cylindrical shaped robot which used its body as a full-body spinner. The body was lined with a set of steel cutting teeth around the outside, allowing it to cause significant damage to other competitors. In testing, The Revolutionist ran at full speed into concrete without sustaining any damage. It originally span at 1200rpm in Season 1, but this was upgraded to a top speed of 1500rpm in Season 2. The Revolutionist was painted to resemble the United States flag, with the team wearing matching costumes during its appearances on the show.

In the Pits, The Revolutionist also sported a set of decorative United States flags along its top panel. For the Ultimate Mayhem in Nickelodeon Robot Wars, The Revolutionist also had its top panel decorated with ropes in an attempt to snag Propeller-Head's blade.

Season 1
In The US Championship, The Revolutionist faced Coffin-Bot, Bot-Ugly, Tricerabot, Unibite and Sobek in Heat Two. The Revolutionist started by reversing away from the other competitors, and started getting its spinner up to speed by an empty CPZ. However, Tricerabot left Bot-Ugly and rammed The Revolutionist into Refbot before its spinner was at full speed. The Revolutionist drove down the arena, being chased over the flame pit by Coffin-Bot. It drove around its opponents, then hit the front of Bot-Ugly, but the spinner was not at enough speed to do any damage, and it bounced into Unibite. "The Revolutionist was boasting about its 180 mile-an-hour revolutions, but I haven't seen it spin once in this heat!"

- Stefan Frank

The Revolutionist reversed, and Tricerabot managed to drive on top of Sobek, causing one of its tyres to fall off. As Sobek drove away from Tricerabot, The Revolutionist rammed into its back and pushed it towards the flame pit. After staying out of the action for a little time, The Revolutionist drove into Unibite, but its spinner was still not spinning. Unibite reversed and Tricerabot started pushing The Revolutionist, which escaped up the arena. The Revolutionist kept away from the others, before ramming into Unibite, which had broken down, but then The Revolutionist drove back down the arena. "The Revolutionist dosen't seem to be spinning any bit at all!"

- Stefan Frank

The Revolutionist then rammed Coffin-Bot into a CPZ, and after driving up the arena, charged into the front of Tricerabot, pushing it back. However, Tricerabot was able to push back, and The Revolutionist drove away. Whilst Sergeant Bash was attacking the immobile Unibite, The Revolutionist started ramming into the side of the House Robot. However, Tricerabot then drove at it, driving on top of it and pushing it towards Matilda. The Revolutionist got away, then drove at the front of Tricerabot, trying unsucessfully to push it. Tricerabot started to push back, so The Revolutionist reversed, then rammed against the side. "The Revolutionist seems to have gone through this whole thing unscathed."

- Stefan Frank at the end of the battle.

The Revolutionist drove down the arena, followed by Tricerabot, and The Revolutionist rammed into Tricerabot one more time before time ran out. The judges' were left to choose between the remaining robots, and they chose to put The Revolutionist through to the Semi-Finals. "All I can is, there's a revolution in the robot world!"

- Michael Nave after the battle

The Revolutionist, who faced The Brute in Round 2. "I cut a little more clearance, when I built this thing, I didn't really put enough clearance between the body and this [the shell], and I knew it at the time, but I was too lazy to do anything about it, and I really thought this metal was a lot harder than it was, but it got a couple of dings in it, and it got stuck up on the body, but it spins up again, so we should be okay."

- Brian Nave describes the repairs to The Revolutionist

The Revolutionist started by staying still to get its spinner up to speed. The Brute charged at it, but The Revolutionist dodged. "This should be a real beauty here, both of 'em really good, but for totally different reasons."

- Stefan Frank

As The Brute turned around on the spot, The Revolutionist held back, then hit the front of The Brute twice in quick succession, and after the second blow, The Brute retreated into a CPZ. "Well there's that spin that we were always hearing about! The Revolutionist, you can't get near him at that speed - 180 miles-an-hour!"

- Stefan Frank

The Brute turned around and cautiously approached The Revolutionist, but did not attack as its opponent was spinning too fast to approach. The Revolutionist hit the front again, hitting one of the wheels, then hitting one of the back wheels as The Brute tried turning away. The Brute then stopped moving, and The Revolutionist held back to get the spinner up to full speed. The Revolutionist then hit the front of The Brute again, loosening one of the front wheels and ripping off parts of the tyre. "Oh, The Revolutionist was saving the best for last!"

- Stefan Frank comments on The Revolutionist's spinner, after it failed to work in Round 1

Refbot counted The Brute out, and the House Robots attacked. Matilda pitted it, and The Revolutionist was through to the Final. "Let me tell you brother, that if you think that opponent got shredded, you just wait until the next one, the shredding is just getting started."

- Brian Nave after the battle

In the Final, The Revolutionist met Panzer Mk 2. For this battle, The Revolutionist had improved teeth. "We thought we'd with this special steel that we've got now. It's A2, it's tool steel, it's much harder, and it should make a nice shredding out of the sides of his robot."

- Brian Nave prior to the final.

Panzer Mk 2 charged at The Revolutionist, but The Revolutionist drove down the arena before its opponent could reach it. It began getting its spinner up to speed, and when Panzer Mk 2 drove at it, it was hit by a glancing blow from the spinner. Panzer Mk 2 drove past The Revolutionist and turned to line up another attack, but when it charged at The Revolutionist, it merely bounced of the spinner. Panzer Mk 2 turned around, and pushed The Revolutionist into Sir Killalot. However, before Sir Killalot could grab The Revolutionist, The Revolutionist pushed past Panzer Mk 2 and darted away from the CPZ. It drove by a CPZ at the top of the arena, and began spinning up, but Panzer Mk 2 charged at it before it could get up to speed, managing to stop the spinner. Panzer Mk 2 tried to flip The Revolutionist, but only lifted it up a little as the lifter was not under The Revolutionist properly. Panzer Mk 2 pushed The Revolutionist into the CPZ, and Dead Metal caught it. However, Dead Metal reversed and allowed The Revolutionist to escape. However, Panzer Mk 2 blocked its escape and The Revolutionist drove into the wall whilst trying to escape. Panzer Mk 2 then rammed The Revolutionist into another CPZ, and Dead Metal trapped it against the wall and began slicing into The Revolutionist. Dead Metal turned to allow The Revolutionist to escape again, but Panzer Mk 2 rammed it against the top arena wall. The Revolutionist drove down the arena, but Panzer Mk 2 was in close pursuit, eventually catching up with it and ramming it against the bottom arena wall. Panzer Mk 2 had the lifter under The Revolutionist, but turned at the wrong moment, causing it to miss its flip. The Revolutionist tried to dodge Panzer Mk 2, but Panzer Mk 2 got under it again and pushed it into a CPZ, flipping it against the wall. "The Revolution boys know, the end could be near here..."

- Stefan Frank

Refbot and Sir Killalot came into the CPZ, and though Sir Killalot knocked it back onto its wheels with his lance, it had been immobile for too long. Dead Metal came in and grabbed it, and pushed it into the pit. "Oh well, at least they've got a good sense of humour, you'd have to in those suits!"

- Stefan Frank notices The Revolutionist team laughing as their robot is pitted

The Revolutionist represented the Confederacy in the USA Civil War, and faced Sobek, representing the Union. "We're taking over the US again. It's a whole new revolution. ... The revolution plans to shred those nice, tasty rubber tires."

- Brain Nave

The Revolutionist started by darting down the arena to get away from Sobek, giving it time to get its spinner up to speed. As The Revolutionist began spinning, Sobek charged at it, but was knocked aside on impact, the sacrificial tire that the team had put on the jaw falling off. The Revolutionist stopped spinning, then rammed into Sobek, pushing it back, until Sobek turned and The Revolutionist drove past. Sobek turned and opened its jaw, but The Revolutionist slammed into the front then drove past, with Sobek not getting a chance to use its jaw. The Revolutionist hit Sobek's side, and Sobek was knocked back. Sobek drove at The Revolutionist with its jaw closed, and The Revolutionist bounced off the jaw. "It looks like those jaws aren't going do any good, that Revolutionist is going too fast"

- Stefan Frank

Sobek chased after The Revolutionist as it reversed up the arena, and after hitting the jaw of Sobek, The Revolutionist stopped spinning. This allowed Sobek to grab The Revolutionist by one of the teeth on the spinner. Sobek let go, and The Revolutionist tried to get away, and after being blocked by Sobek, The Revolutionist drove into the arena center. The Revolutionist tried to get its spinner up to speed, but the spinner failed to spin up, so as Sobek came in, The Revolutionist rammed into it then drove up the arena. Sobek drove onto its sacrificial tire, and as it struggled to get off, The Revolutionist pushed it towards the wall. Sergeant Bash came out of its CPZ, pinning Sobek against the wall. Refbot intervened, forcing Sergeant Bash back to its CPZ. Sobek used its side bars to get off the tire, and The Revolutionist drove at it, but the spinner still could not spin, so The Revolutionist drove down the arena. Sergeant Bash came out of the CPZ again, chasing after Sobek, grabbing it with the front claw until Refbot intervened again, giving him a yellow card. Time ran out, and the battle went to the judges. "The Revolutionist had a great design there, pretty much impenetrable, and Sergeant Bash gave him probably more assistance than he needed."

- Stefan Frank reviewing the highlights

The judges decided to give Sobek the win after a close battle, and The Revolutionist was eliminated in the first round of the Civil War. Nevertheless, the Confederacy still won the tournament after Manta won the episode. "The spinning weapon did some damage right off the bat, but once it was nullified, it basically looked like a big ... birthday cake out there!"

- Mick Foley to the Sobek team after the battle

The Revolutionist also represented the US in the Second World Championship. This competition was also broadcast in the UK as part of the first series of Robot Wars Extreme. In the first round, it faced the reigning World Champion and UK representative Razer, World Championship semi-finalist and Irish representative Diotoir, and Flensburger Power from Germany. "We're going to smash them all, but right now I'm trying to decide, which would look better in the pit? Should I toss in Razer first or Diotoir? I just can't decide which would look better on camera"

- Pre-battle confidence from Brian Nave (in the UK broadcast)

Razer started by driving towards The Revolutionist, so The Revolutionist dodged it by driving down the arena. Razer followed it, but despite catching up, The Revolutionist got away again before it could be grabbed. However, as Razer chased it, The Revolutionist could not get its spinner up to speed. The Revolutionist drove up Razer's wedge, but Razer struggled to pierce the top, and The Revolutionist was able to turn off the wedge. "...but already, the stateside hopes begin to crumble, because Razer's beak and crumpling jaw, claw, call it what you might, is after the stars and stripes!"

- Jonathan Pearce

The Revolutionist drove up the arena, with Razer close behind, but The Revolutionist drove into Refbot. Razer caught up, but The Revolutionist drove down the arena to escape. It began to get the spinner working, but when it hit the side of Razer, it failed to do any damage. Razer managed to get under The Revolutionist and crush through the top armour, lift its opponent, and carry it into Matilda's CPZ. "The Revolutonist {sic} was still going so we attacked it when it was spinning at top speed. It was quite spectacular to see the arm of Razer close down and stop them but it did twist the arm to one side. However, we had stopped their ability to spin"

- The Razer website The Revolutionist was flicked off the crusher of Razer by Matilda's tusks, and it managed to drive off Razer's wedge, but drove straight into Matilda, who hit it with her flywheel. Razer had The Revolutionist cornered, but then Diotoir, which had been pushing Flensburger Power until it broke down, came in and pushed the back of Razer. Razer turned its attentions to Diotior, and The Revolutionist escaped the CPZ. Whilst Razer attacked Diotoir, The Revolutionist stayed away from its opponents, and stopped on top of the closed pit in the last few seconds. "Who goes through? Will it be the States hope, The Revolutionist? I doubt it"

- Jonathan Pearce as the battle ends

The Revolutionist was immobile, but it was not counted out, and survived until the Judges' decision. However, this was awarded to the clearly dominant Razer, and The Revolutionist was eliminated.

Season 2
In Round 1, The Revolutionist was drawn against Trackzilla and The Gap. The Revolutionist started by driving away from the its opponents as it go the disc up to speed. The Gap got under Trackzilla and flipped it over. The Revolutionist closed in as The Gap pushed Trackzilla as it struggled to right itself, then hit the rear of The Gap. This did some superficial damage, and also caused The Gap to stop moving. "The Revolutionist comes in for a quick little tap ... look at the sparks come up! Boy, when The Revolutionist gets up to speed, there's no telling what'll happen!"

- Stefan Frank

The Revolutionist quickly moved away, but drove into a CPZ. Sir Killalot closed in and blocked The Revolutionist as it tried to escape. After pushing The Revolutionist up the arena, Sir Killalot let it go, but The Revolutionist stopped moving briefly. It quickly regained mobility, and Trackzilla was counted out, having stopped moving first. The Revolutionist was the only mobile machine, and safely qualified alongside The Gap.

In Round Two, The Revolutionist was drawn against Psycho Chicken. "I don't really know what the Psycho Chicken team really think they're doing, I mean they've just gotta be psycho if they think they can take on the strong, American steel. Of course, they do have that secret weapon, that I'm a little concerned about, but we're gonna see what's inside that egg in the arena!"

- Brian Nave before the battle

The Revolutionist waited on the spot spinning up, as Psycho Chicken turned away and released its egg. The Revolutionist drove past the egg, then charged at it, knocking it aside. It then hit Psycho Chicken, sending it spinning. Psycho Chicken drove up the the top arena wall, then reversed into The Revolutionist, which hit the side, ripping one of the wheels clean off. As Psycho Chicken span on the spot, The Revolutionist hit the other wheel, ripping that one off as well, then hit Pyscho Chicken, sending it crashing into the bottom arena wall. With no wheels, Psycho Chicken was immobile, and The Revolutionist knocked it into the pit release button, then hit the bottom as well, breaking it and leaving it leaning. The Revolutionist span into Psycho Chicken again, knocking it into Shunt, which axed it. The Revolutionist held back, then hit the rear of Psycho Chicken, sending it spinning, and The Revolutionist bounced into the pit release button, almost ripping it from the wall. Shunt pushed Psycho Chicken towards the Drop Zone, and The Revolutionist span into the rear of Psycho Chicken. This sent Pycho Chicken spinning down the arena, and The Revolutionist hit Shunt, managing to knock the House Robot back. Psycho Chicken was dragged onto the flame pit, then thrown by the floor flipper, and The Revolutionist had won.

The Revolutionist was through to face Propeller-Head in the Heat Final. "I think it's a sad, sad world that pits brother spinner against brother spinner, but the world is not fair, and so may the best man win!"

- Team LOGICOM on their Heat Final draw

The Revolutionist initially dodged Propeller-Head as it chased after it. The Revolutionist then got close to Propeller-Head and hit the spinner, stopping it, before driving up the arena. Propeller-Head got its blade up to speed, and charged at The Revolutionist. However, this did not stop The Revolutionist's weapon, and The Revolutionist sent Propeller-Head spinning back. Propeller-Head tried to flee, but The Revolutionist was close behind it and hit it again. Propeller-Head drove over a CO2 vent and past the pit, and The Revolutionist drove into it again, giving it a glancing blow. Another hit stopped Propeller-Head's blade, and when The Revolutionist drove into the front and span against it, The Revolutionist then tore off Propeller-Head's spinner. "Look at that! Pulled the whole thing out, shafts and all!"

- Stefan Frank as The Revolutionist tears off Propeller-Head's overhead blade

The Revolutionist hit the pit release button, but this caused it to stop spinning. Propeller-Head was on the pit as it descended, but drove away in time. The Revolutionist was getting its spinner up to speed in an empty CPZ and Propeller-Head closed in, but Dead Metal and Sir Killalot both came in as well, forcing both competitors to escape quickly. As they did, Propeller-Head pushed The Revolutionist into the pit, eliminating the favourite.

Nickelodeon
The Revolutionist fought alongside Spin Doctor in the International Tag Team Terror competition. In its first round battle against Zanzara and Run Away, it stayed out of the action at first, but eventually immobilised both robots when tagged by Spin Doctor. This put the team through to the final against UK team Ming 3 and Rick. When it was finally tagged in, it started strongly, deflecting Rick away, but then hit Ming 3 at an awkward angle, which made it "jump" into the air. This slowed its spinning body enough for Rick to safely get underneath and flip it over, putting it out of the fight. Revolutionist and Spin Doctor lost the resulting judges' decision.

The Revolutionist also fought in the Mayhem competition. In the first round, it fought Rigby and Diskotek. Diskotek was immobilized after hitting The Revolutionist but came back to life after it was flipped by the floor flipper. The Revolutionist hit Rigby several times with its spinning body, ripping up its armour. It then hit Diskotek, breaking its wheel guard. Rigby and Diskotek were then put on the Drop Zone where they had tennis balls, golf balls and bowling balls dropped on them.

The Revolutionist went through to the Ultimate Mayhem Final against Propeller-Head and Vert-I-Go. The team had put ropes on the top of the robot to entangle Propeller-Head's blade. However, only a few seconds into the fight, The Revolutionist spun up and then crashed into Refbot, knocking out its power link and leaving it immobile. It was turned over, and thrown by the floor flipper, before being pushed into the pit by Sgt. Bash with Vert-I-Go, leaving Propeller-Head as the winner.

Results

 * }

Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 6
 * Losses: 6

Outside Robot Wars
The Revolutionist was entered into Seasons 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 of BattleBots under the name Phrizbee. It lost to KillerB in its first appearance, but won five battles over the course of the following two seasons. Its peak performance was in Season 4.0, reaching the Round of 32 to battle HexaDecimator, where Phrizbee took a large lead before being flipped over two thirds into the match. Phrizbee was later entered into the Robot Fighting League under the name Shrederator. Shrederator was renamed to Shiva by a different team, who competed on the live circuit with it.

The team entered a super-heavyweight version of Phrizbee into BattleBots called Phrizbee-Ultimate, which earned four straight wins against G.O.R.T., Hog Wild, Super Nova and Toro before finally losing to IceBerg in the Round of 16. Phrizbee-Ultimate was renamed Shrederator Supreme after BattleBots went on hiatus.

The team also competed in Robotica with a creation called Mechacidal Maniac, a robot using eight motors to move in any direction. It beat Shannonagains by 5 points in the Preliminary Stages but then lost to future Finalist Ill-Tempered Mutt in the Fight to the Finish.

In 2015, Team LOGICOM returned to the rebooted BattleBots with a heavyweight, under the name Captain Shrederator. It sported a paintjob very similar to The Revolutionist's. In the competition, it lost its first round fight against Stinger: The Killer Bee, which was able to deflect Captain Shrederator multiple times with its wedge before overturning it. Captain Shrederator was not chosen to be a wildcard.

In the 2016 series of BattleBots, Captain Shrederator returned, initially as a reserve, but competed after another robot withdrew, facing Death Roll in the first round. Captain Shrederator won the battle via KO, but was awarded a surprisingly low seeding (No. 20) in the bracket, putting it against Chomp. Team captain Brian Nave showed a grudge match-style desire to win the match on television, but was immobilised by an axe attack through Shrederator's spinning body.

Captain Shrederator was again rebuilt for the 2018 series of BattleBots, aired on the Science Channel and Discovery Channel. As Brian Nave was competing in China, the robot was controlled by son Nicholas Nave, and the robot used more rounded sides and heavier block teeth in its default shell, which was interchangeable with its traditional shell equipped with a high number of teeth. In its first battle of the season, it fought New Zealand representative End Game using its new shell, but was shepherded into the corner and immobilised, after End Game's vertical spinner flipped Captain Shrederator over. After extensive repairs and a switch to its classic shell, Captain Shrederator took an early lead over SubZero, ripping away its back panel and causing major damage, before suddenly losing mobility near the arena wall. Captain Shrederator ultimately lost the battle by knockout.

Team LOGICOM had previously entered the Chinese show This is Fighting Robots, follow-up to King of Bots, using the name Shrederator Tiger Claw. This version is identical to the Captain Shrederator seen in the 2018 season of BattleBots, but is painted black, like the previous versions of Shrederator. It competed in the first rumble of the main competition, and defeated Hunting Wind, Eater and Fango to win the battle. In its next head-to-head battle, Shrederator Tiger Claw caused significant damage to Stealth, immobilising it for the victory. Shrederator Tiger Claw then represented its team in a three-way rumble, under the controls of its celebrity captain Sa Beining. However, the celebrity driver displayed little control over Shrederator Tiger Claw, and drove it into the walls of the arena, while also sustaining attacks from Xiake and Greedy Snake, ultimately losing the battle to Greedy Snake on a Judges' decision. Shrederator Tiger Claw also lost its next battle after being flipped over by Tánshè, but advanced to the Top 8 of the competition regardless.

Appearances in Merchandise

 * The Revolutionist/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (PC/Xbox)

Trivia

 * Team LOGICOM are the only Grand Finalists in Extreme Warriors to reach the finals less than 50% of the time, and the only runners-up in all series of Robot Wars to bear this statistic.
 * The Revolutionist is one of the two returning semi-finalists from Extreme Warriors to make the Heat Final, the only other being Panzer Mk 4.