Panzer Mk

Panzer Mk was the name given to a series of robots that competed in both seasons of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. Panzer Mk 2 (also spelled Panzer MK2) was the team's entry for the first season, and was closely based on the Panzer, a German tank used in World War II. It was a six-wheel drive box-shaped robot in camouflage colours with a large lifting scoop on the front which could hoist 300lbs and a turret mounted on the back, but also had bolt-on weapons including a spinning disc. Panzer Mk 4 (also spelled Panzer MK4) was the team's entry for the second season, and was very similar in design to its predecessor, but was coloured blue and black and did not feature the turret. The team won the US Championship in both seasons of Extreme Warriors, and also represented the USA in The Second World Championship.

Todd Mendenhall brought his partner's robot Mjollnir to the MTV Pilot, but it was not chosen to compete.

Team Juggerbot
Panzer developed a rivalry with Team Juggerbot, fighting their machines on three occasions. The first battle occurred in Season 3 of Robotica where Panzer Mk 3 fought Juggerbot 3.0 in the final, ending with Panzer throwing Juggerbot over the wall to claim the title. The next encounter happened in the Grand Final of Season 2 of Extreme Warriors, with Panzer Mk 4 facing Rosie The Riveter 2 in the eliminator. The fight started evenly with both robots taking turns pushing each other, until Panzer gained the upper hand and pushed Rosie into Dead Metal's CPZ and then into the Pit. Panzer then defeated Destructive Criticism in Round 2 and advanced to meet Tricerabot 3.0 in the Grand Final, which was set to be a true grudge match as both machines were only slightly modified from Robotica. The two robots launched thunderous ramming attacks on each other throughout the battle, and Panzer appeared to have the advantage due to it's low front scoop. Although Tricerabot put up a much better fight than it did in Robotica and almost flipped Panzer over at one point, the judges declared Panzer Mk 4 the winner of the battle and Champion of Extreme Warriors, leaving the rivalry at 3-0.

Season 1
Panzer Mk2 took part in the US Championships of Season 1 in the US Robot Wars. In Round 1, it got into a tussle with Cylone and ran around most of the time keeping out of harms reach. It flung Spartacus into the arena wall where it managed to recover, at the end it still managed to keep going on strong meaning the judges had gone for it. Panzer Mk2 in the Semi-Finals got bashed and rammed by Manta in the beginning and somewhat couldn't get its flipper underneath it. Near the end of the fight, Manta started slowing down and this time Panzer Mk 2 rammed and bashed at it. The fight went to the judges again and awarded the win to Panzer Mk 2 leaving the Manta team feeling devastated about the result. In the final, Panzer Mk 2 fought The Revolutionist. Panzer Mk 2 chased The Revolutionist as it got its disc up to speed and then shoved it into the CPZ with Sir Killalot but it managed to get away. Panzer Mk 2 pursued The Revolutionist into the other CPZ where it was grabbed and sliced by Dead Metal. Panzer Mk 2 then chased The Revolutionist around trying in attempts to flip it but couldn't get its flipper into definitive contact with it. Panzer Mk 2 eventually did get under The Revoultionist and flipped it over against the arena wall where it got immobilised for more than 10 seconds before being pitted meaning Panzer Mk 2 had won the US Championships.

Panzer Mk 2 also came back for the World Championships representing the USA along with Manta, Drillzilla and The Revolutionist. This competition was also broadcast during Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1. In the first round, it teamed up with Belgian robot Philliper against UK robot Tornado, flipping it over repeatedly. However, Philliper flipped Panzer Mk 2 over into a position where it was unable to self-right and was it eliminated.

Season 2
Panzer faced Joker and Snake Bite in the first fight of its defence and immediately pushed Joker. Snake Bite stayed away before trying to ram Panzer. Panzer pushed Joker into the wall, on the flames, and then into the disc button. Panzer and Snake Bite pushed the Joker on the flames before pushing Snake Bite. Panzer pushed Joker into Dead Metal, who attacked it, before doing the same to Snake Bite. The judges eliminated the Joker, and Panzer faced The Revolutionist's teammate Spin Doctor, chasing it around the arena, before flipping it repeatedly, and then disabling its disc. Spin Doctor drove into the pit. In the heat final against Probophobia, Panzer drove over Probophobia's wedge and was almost sent flying out of the arena, but still managed to push its adversary into both house robots, around the arena, and eventually into the pit.

In the final, Panzer was up against Rosie The Riveter, and pushed it into the angle grinders and then into Dead Metal. Then Panzer drove brilliantly to lure Rosie into the pit. In the next round, against Destructive Criticism, Panzer pushed its opponent, before flipping it. Destructive Criticism was invertible, but stopped moving and Panzer was in the final again. This match was against Tricerabot, a robot that it had beaten at the same stage at Robotica season 3 (in fact, both robots was simply renamed and repainted for Extreme Warriors Season 2). Panzer had a few scares, being nearly flipped, but managed to flip Tricerabot repeatedly, and win on a judges decision. Panzer Mk 4 successfully defended the Robot wars Extreme Warriors championship.

Results

 * }


 * }

Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 9
 * Losses: 1

Series Record

 * Season 1: Grand Champion
 * Season 2: Grand Champion

Outside Robot Wars
The team also entered the first season of the US robot combat series Robotica with their original design Panzer Mk 1 where it lost to Viper. They returned for the third season with Panzer Mk 3 and won the competition, defeating Juggerbot in the final. By definition, this makes Panzer the only robot to have won two separate televised robot combat series. It also competed in BattleBots as Wrath, with a 75% win record. Todd also built and entered lightweight Pestilence for Season 1.0 (Pestilence entered the 1999 Long Beach event as part of middleweight clusterbot SlapPest), super heavyweight Doom of Babylon for Season 2.0, lightweight Harmageddon Too for Season 2.0 (however Harmageddon Too didn't compete), middleweight Garm for Season 3.0 and middleweight Wrath Jr. for Season 5.0.

Appearances in Merchandise

 * Panzer Mk/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (PC/Xbox)
 * Panzer Mk/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (GBA)

Trivia

 * Alongside Chaos 2, Panzer Mk was one of only two teams to win and successfully defend their title in their respective main competitions.
 * Panzer Mk was the only one of the four semi-finalists from the first US Championship to reach the Grand Final of the second. The other three semi-finalists all returned for Season 2, but lost in the heats.