Behemoth

"Eat me, I'm done"

- The message on and under the scoop of Behemoth in Series 2

Behemoth was one of the longest running competitors in Robot Wars. It was based around a bulldozer and had a large flipping scoop at the front. The size of the scoop was greatly increased for Series 3 and twin rear axes were added for extra weaponry. In Series 4, the team added spring-loaded self-righting arms that would fire when the scoop was raised. The team also called this version of Behemoth "Evo 3". For Series 5 onwards, the ineffective rear axes were abandoned in favour of a single axe that was added to the scoop as dual weaponry, and in Series 6, the robot was updated into 6-wheel drive. It reached the semi-finals in Series 2. Behemoth, despite being a powerful robot and a frequent heat favourite, failed to perform well past Series 4 (mainly because of bad luck and poor reliability), and is infamously known as having participated in the most competitions and losing the most battles in the show's history. "Unlike many other robots, Behemoth uses very little welding, instead relying on bolts to hold much of the robot together. This gives a great advantage with repairs as seldom does a part need to be cut out."

- Behemoth team website

Behemoth was capable of high power, managing to hoist two robots out of the arena, and managed to stalemate with Shunt in the Series 4 Sumo Basho. However, it had tendencies to break down in its later years, such as in the University Challenge Championship and The Seventh Wars.

Behemoth was created by brothers Anthony and Michael Pritchard and their father Edward. The brothers competed alongside their friend, Kane Aston, for most of the robot's competitive history. The team also entered a miniature version of Behemoth, Anty B, in the antweight battles of the two series of Robot Wars Extreme, winning the competition in Extreme 2.

Behemoth has become far more successful in recent years, winning the 2006 Roaming Robots Winter Tour Championship, and it still fights today, 11 years after its first appearance.

Interestingly, Behemoth can drive into water without its internals becoming waterlogged.

Also it is worth mentioning that both team Behemoth and Robot Wars presentors mispronounce the name of the robot. Proper pronounciation of the word "behemoth" can be found on Google Dictionary.

Series 2
Behemoth competed in Heat D of Series 2, showing itself to be a fairly consistent competitor throughout the heat. It traversed the middle route in the Gauntlet and was able to make it to the end zone without too many troubles, using its scoop and pushing power to get past the breezeblocks and Sgt Bash. The scoop also helped it out in the Soccer trial, scoring the second goal of the match. In the Heat-Semi, Behemoth didn't have to do a great deal to defeat Elvis; after pushing it into the PPZ, and Elvis broke down. This lead to a match against Inquisitor, which had a similar out-come; once again, Inquisitor was pushed into the PPZ and attacked by the house robots.

In the semis, Behemoth shot over the ramp in the gauntlet, but was pushed and flipped by Shunt. However, it had progressed 7.5 metres, which was enough to surpass Mace and progress on to the pinball. Behemoth knocked down many barrels and bricks in the pinball, scoring 95, before being taken into the pit by Sir Killalot. It met Killertron in the Arena, with both robots making slow progress towards each other. Killertron's axe smashed through part of Behemoth's shell, digging inside and getting a grip. Killertron managed to pull Behemoth over, eliminating the Pritchard family from the competition.

Series 3
Behemoth was larger with a sturdier design in this war. It lifted Shark Attack onto its side, cruising through that battle with relative ease. Against the hardier General Carnage, Behemoth quickly dispatched General Carnage with a flip, before attacking with its rear axes. A run-in with Dead Metal saw Behemoth take damage, but still manage to make the heat final. This was in Behemoth's favour for a while, with Behemoth flipping Pitbull over. However, unaware to the Behemoth boys, the new feature of the arena was the hard arena floor spikes, which shot up and tipped Behemoth onto its side, it was unable to self-right. After the house robots attacked, Behemoth was placed onto the arena flipper, where it was then turned over onto its back. But Behemoth was soon flipped back onto its wheels where it continued to move, but the cease call had been given and Behemoth had lost. The spikes were removed for the next series.

Behemoth was the runner-up of the First World Championship, and it had a fairly easy run to the Final. In its first round it flipped Techno-Lease over almost instantly, and progressed through to meet Mortis. It flipped Mortis once, who then self-righted. Mortis then got its axe stuck on the top of Behemoth's scoop, so Behemoth was able to hoist Mortis into the air and drop it into the pit. In the Semi-Final Behemoth flipped Diotoir once, then flipped it back on to its wheels, then back upside-down again to let the House Robots finish Diotoir off. After this bout the team reported that Behemoth's scoop could lift 300kg and that it could pull a Land Rover. In the Final Behemoth managed to flip Razer onto its side and push it on to the flame pit, where the gaps in the grill made it much harder for Razer to self-right. Dead Metal then pushed Razer back onto it's wheels and Razer pierced several holes in the side of Behemoth's armour before cease was called. Behemoth lost due to the damaged sustained in the final moments by Razer.

Series 4
Behemoth returning as the 6th seed for the fourth wars was mainly because of its 2nd placing to Razer in the First World Championship, as well as their success in previous wars; Behemoth was placed against veterans Arnold Arnold Terminegger and newcomers Rambot. Behemoth started slowly by trying to flip Rambot but eventually managed to flip Arnold Arnold Terminegger who was righted and eventually the judges had to make a decision and ruled that Rambot had been the less aggressive and less controlled and put Behemoth and Arnold Arnold Terminegger through to the second round. Behemoth then met Judge Shred 2 in the second round, after Judge Shred 2 tried unsuccessfully to use its lifting arms to turn Behemoth over but Behemoth seized the opportunity and managed to roll Judge Shred 2 over and out of the competition. Behemoth met X-Terminator 2 in the heat final. Behemoth flipped X-Terminator 2 in the heat final, which self-righted but seemed to stop. The same thing happened twice again. The robots rammed each other, with X-Terminator lifting, but not flipping Behemoth. Behemoth was moving very sluggishly towards the end. Once again, the judges decided the outcome, putting X-Terminator 2 through to the Semi-Finals.

Behemoth also participated in the Sumo competition. It charged right into Shunt and got wedged underneath it. Neither robot could gain purchase on the other, so they remained in a deadlock until cease was called. Behemoth's performance earned it a joint second place with X-Terminator.

Behemoth finally competed in the Southern Annihilator. Although it played a minor role in the first round, it showed its strength by attacking and lifting up Razer, Spawn of Scutter and Vercingetorix, the latter of whom was eventually immobilized. In the second round, it overturned Razer and tried to prevent it from righting by pushing it onto the flame pit, in a similar tactic used in the World Championships. Eventually, Razer escaped and, once again, crushed effortlessly through the side panels of Behemoth, leaving it virtually immobile. Luckily for Behemoth, it was still just about able to move, which eliminated Spawn of Scutter after Razer attacked it and immobilized it completely. However, it turned out that the gearbox had been damaged, and as the spare would take too long to put in, the team withdrew from the competition.

Extreme 1
Behemoth participated in several Extreme 1 events with a mediocre amount of success.

In the All-Stars competition, its first match was against Hypno-Disc. It hit its opponent's disc head-on and sparks flew, but Behemoth appeared to be unharmed. Behemoth pushed Hypno-Disc into the walls several times before pushing it onto the flame grille, where Hypno-Disc stopped moving. This was an unanticipated victory, which led the team to believe they were "invincible". Its next round fight was a grudge match against Razer. Razer immediately got underneath it and crumpled its scoop. Behemoth escaped, and flipped Razer over, pushing it to the wall, where it pinned Razer to prevent it from self-righting. Despite its best efforts, Razer did manage to self right and escape. It crumpled into Behemoth's side and held it until cease was called. Unfortunately, Behemoth would not be getting revenge for the First World Championship, as the judges ruled in favour of Razer.

Behemoth was the initial holder of the Challenge Belt, and would be allowed to keep it if it could best three robots who threw down the gauntlet. Its first challenger was The Steel Avenger. Steel Avenger lined up its axe on the side of Behemoth, and began hammering away at its top. Behemoth eventually got into position to flip Steel Avenger, and did so several times, with Steel Avenger successfully self-righting in response. Behemoth then lifted Steel Avenger onto the arena wall, and just barely failed to get it out of the arena. Behemoth flipped Steel Avenger again, and Steel Avenger's srimech had stopped working, so it was counted out. Behemoth's second challenge was from Stinger. Behemoth had trouble getting its weapons to work on Stinger, but it eventually managed to get Stinger up against a wall. It clamped down on Stinger with its axe and raised its scoop, raising Stinger off the ground and pinning its centre axle with the axe, the perfect position to hold Stinger off the ground and carry it to the pit. In the third challenge against Tornado, Behemoth couldn't keep up with Tornado's speed, and was repeatedly rammed against the wall, before being tipped onto its side. Refbot righted it, and it came on the attack on Tornado, flipping it several times. It pushed Tornado up against a wall, but couldn't get it to balance on its back. Tornado fell down onto its wheels and began grinding Behemoth's scoop with its disc. The match ended with the two robots in a deadlock, so the judges had to make the call, and the ruled that Tornado had won, costing Behemoth its chance to take home the challenge belt.

Behemoth also appeared in a Wild Card Warriors battle against The Spider. This was one of Behemoth's easier victories; it simply flipped The Spider and pushed it into the arena wall. With one more flip, it lifted The Spider over the barrier and out of the arena.

In its Mayhem battle, Behemoth didn't last very long. Thermidor 2 flipped it onto its side, and it self-righted, but another flip from Thermidor 2 sent it head over heels and out of the arena.

Series 5


"Well, we've got the axe now, so now we can get damage points"

- Anthony Pritchard

Behemoth's first round battle was against Supernova. Supernova started strongly, hitting Behemoth's scoop and causing sparks to fly, but wasn't causing any damage. However, Behemoth fought back, hammering down with the axe and lifting over Supernova a few times. Behemoth took control of the battle after Supernova drove into Matilda's CPZ, damaging its top armour panel. Behemoth was able to use its axe combined with the lifting shovel to push the defeated Supernova in the pit. In Round 2, Crushtacean pulled off a surprise victory when it got underneath Behemoth's scoop and pushed the seeded machine into the arena wall, turning Behemoth over. Crushtacean used its pincers to push Behemoth down the pit of oblivion.

Series 6
"It's now 6 wheel drive, 12mph, larger rams so much more power in 'em...much faster...brand new bucket as well."

- Anthony Pritchard in pre-first round interview, describing Behemoth's upgrades.

Behemoth immediately flipped over Derek 2, before it self-righted with help from Disc-O-Inferno. Derek pushed Behemoth across the arena floor before Disc-O-Inferno attacked Behemoth's side, causing it to only be able to spin around in circles over the flame pit. Meanwhile both Derek and Tridentate had become immobilised and were counted out. Behemoth had qualified, however its scoop had been buckled by the onslaught of Disc-O-Inferno. Tridentate and Derek were hurled by the floor flipper together, with Tridentate was tossed a second time, straight into Shunt. Apart from Disc-O-Inferno, all of the competing machines were pitted. Behemoth appeared to be much stronger in the second round against 2nd seeds Bigger Brother. It started impressively, flipping Bigger Brother into Shunt's CPZ. After Bigger Brother recovered, Behemoth flipped it again. Soon after, Bigger Brother came back into the fight, flipping Behemoth and pushing it into the pit release button. Bigger Brother then trapped Behemoth underneath its flipper and pushed it straight into the pit.

Extreme 2
Liz Pritchard took to the helm of Behemoth for the Iron Maidens competition. Behemoth's eliminator battle was against Kat 3 and Riptillion. Behemoth immediately flipped Kat 3, but it was able to self-right with a lot of effort. Behemoth rammed the arena wall several times in an attempt to ram the others, but eventually Behemoth lifted up Riptillion, and Riptillion had stopped moving, so it was counted out. Behemoth's next match was against Chompalot. Behemoth almost immediately flipped Chompalot onto its side, but Shunt came out of its corner and righted it. Behemoth drove into a CPZ, where Shunt hacked away at it with its axe. One blow in just the right place dislodged Behemoth's link, taking it out of the Iron Maidens competition.

Behemoth represented the University of Hertfordshire in the University Challenge as the supposed favorites. In its first battle, Behemoth pushed Infernal Contraption around before flipping C.V. over. It didn't appear as if C.V. could self-right, and it probably would have been counted out - had Behemoth not re-righted it. This proved to be a fatal mistake for Behemoth; it broke down just a few moments later, and was counted out instead of C.V.

Series 7
"Well since the last wars we've completely stripped the robot down, rebuilt everything and fixed any minor faults we had, so we've replaced the link, we've upgraded all of the fittings in there, stuffs not held in with gaffa tape anymore so hopefully they won't fall out."

- Kane Aston in pre-first round interview, decribing Behemoth's upgrades.

Behemoth was seeded once again, and started as promising as ever, flipping Tartarus onto its back in the first few seconds. After shoving around UFO and Crushtacean, Behemoth lifted over Crushtacean several times before throwing Crushtacean out of the arena as an act of recompense for Series 5. It finished the battle by flipping UFO over, but the latter had already qualified. In the second round, it started off well by overturning Mute, who managed to recover by self-righting over the top of Behemoth. However, Mute seemed to clip its aerial, causing a technical fault and resulting in the robot being stuck in forward gear at high speed. It was eventually counted out, as it ran into the side wall and was stuck there. As usual, Behemoth's run had ended disappointingly.

"The flip over us touched the aerial and caused the receiver to crash... It was left locked in full forward."

- Kane Aston on the FRA Forum

Behemoth returned and finally showed some power in the House Robot Rebellion, where it teamed up with Gravity. It was the Dutch machine that starred in the opening moments, immobilising Growler and Cassius Chrome, before being soundly defeated by Mr. Psycho. Behemoth meanwhile engaged Cassius Chrome, who spun dangerously and smashed Behemoth's scoop. Behemoth attempted to avenge its companion, axing Mr. Psycho and attempting in vain to lift it, but effectively failing as its axe snapped off. As it attempted to escape the floor flipper activated and Behemoth was sent flying, but managed to stay on its wheels. It then attempted to drag the lifeless form of Gravity to shield itself from Mr. Psycho, but Cassius Chrome re-entered the battle and shoved it away. Mr. Psycho suddenly broke down, leaving Cassius Chrome alive along with Behemoth. The audience voted in favour of Gravity and Behemoth as the winners.

It also returned for the All-Stars Tournament, it was up against Pussycat, King B Powerworks and Dantomkia. But Behemoth did not last long as it was targeted straight away by Dantomkia and swiftly flipped out of the arena inside the CPZ by Dantomkia, it was soon followed by King B Powerworks.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 20
 * Losses: 14

Series Record

 * Series 1: Did not enter
 * Series 2: Semi-Finals, Arena
 * Series 3: Heat Final
 * Series 4: Heat Final
 * Series 5: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 6: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 7: Heat, Round 2