Matilda

Matilda was one of the original four House Robots. Based on a mutant alien triceratops, she was equipped with pneumatic flipping tusks and interchangeable chainsaw or flywheel weapons at the rear. Matilda was fashioned from fiberglass matting. She was driven by a 12-volt motor and her tusks were operated by a powerful pneumatic carbon dioxide system. In the earlier days, Matilda was the House Robot most picked on by the contestants, and was often flipped or attacked by robots for fun. After the flywheel was added, she became one of the most dangerous of the House Robots, her flywheel having the capability of throwing a contestant robot clear out of the arena. Jonathan Pearce often called Matilda the 'Matriarch of Mayhem', for example in the University Challenge tournament in Extreme 2, when she figured in the second round match between Tiberius and C.V..

Appearances in Merchandise

 * Matilda/Pullback
 * Matilda/Pitstop
 * Matilda/Minibot
 * Matilda/RC

Armament
Matilda's weaponry consisted of pneumatic lifting tusks and an interchangeable rear-mounted weapons bay that could accomodate either a chainsaw running at over 3000rpm or a 27kg (60lb) vertical spinning disc.

During the first series of Robot Wars, Matilda’s lifting tusks ran on a relatively simple pneumatic system. For series two minor changes were made to the pneumatics, allowing the tusks to lift faster. This system would remain unchanged for series three along with the majority of the robot. It was however during series three that Matilda used metal horns instead of the rubber ones. These tended to break off easily and were removed once again in favour for the rubber ones.

For series four the tusk mountings were changed. Originally the tusks had been mounted close to the chassis. This was changed for a higher mounting, giving the tusks a higher area of lift. The change resulted in a much stronger and more reliable system. Improvements to the safety catches of Matilda’s armour were also added. Before these improvements were made the rear section of the shell would often fall off when she was flipped.

For series five the pneumatic system and tusks were completely changed. The original tusks were scrapped in favour of larger, newly designed tusks. The pneumatic system was also changed to a much more complicated system using a mixture of air rams and dump tanks. Instead of the tusks being pulled back by the rams, they were now pushed upward and could lift much heavier weights. It was also during this time that her chainsaw, which had been almost completely destroyed by Razer, was scrapped in favour of a vertical spinning disc. Due to the discs power and weight, the mounting is made from thick solid steel, which itself weighs a considerable amount. The disc was later painted pink for series six.

Trivia

 * Matilda's fiberglass 'head' was fashioned by James Davis, who was in charge of looking after the machine. His original thumb prints were what fashioned the grooves that framed the head piece.
 * Early footage of Matilda being tested would suggest that she was originally intended to be painted black, before later being changed to purple.
 * Matilda was fitted with spark projectiles on her tusks for some of the events in Series 2. They were removed just before Series 3 started.
 * Matilda's small facial spikes were not metal, but hard rubber; the metal versions tended to shatter too easily.
 * Matilda was the oldest house robot.

Noticeable Appearances

 * Single handedly immobilising Wheely Big Cheese, Bigger Brother and Chaos 2 in the Flipper Frenzy in Extreme 1 with her flywheel.
 * Matilda's flywheel made her extremely deadly. In Series 6, during Terrorhurtz's battle against Panic Attack, the flywheel completely tore off the top shell of Panic Attack, sending it flying out of the arena and into the camera.
 * Whilst defending the 75 point target from Six Pac, Matilda flipped the tyre out of the arena with her tusks.
 * Flipping Sir Chromalot, Vader, Ceros, Medusa Oblongata and S.O.Xbot of V3 out of the arena with her flywheel.
 * Damaging Firestorm's flipping blade whilst it flipped over Bee-Capitator in the Fifth Wars, the flip decided the round.

Worst Moments

 * Reversing into the pit during Roadblock's pinball run in the semi finals of the Second Wars.
 * Losing her shell on numerous occasions to such robots as Chaos 2, Aggrobot, Invertabrat, Gravedigger and Corkscrew.
 * Being flipped on numerous occasions to such robots as Chaos 2, Cassius, Tricerabot, Steg 2, Inquisitor, Recyclopse, Panic Attack and Gemini.
 * Matilda was Chaos 2's first target on its celebration of winning the Third Wars. After flipping Hypno-Disc, Chaos 2 flipped Matilda while Sir Killalot and Sgt. Bash dealt with the helpless Hypno-Disc. Matilda's shell came off as she flailed around.
 * At the end of the Southern Annihilator, Razer attacked and nearly destroyed Matilda, setting her on fire, as well as destroying her old chainsaw and causing horrific damage to her rear panels. Afterwards, Matilda was seen driving into the arena heavily bandaged.
 * In Series 2, during a 'King of the Castle' Trial against Spin Doctor, one of her tusks broke off whilst she attempted to ram Spin Doctor as it was spinning rapidly.
 * Receiving red cards on two occasions, in a Mayhem match in Robot Wars Extreme between The Steel Avenger, Tornado and King B Powerworks, and in Heat L of Series 5 between Ming 3 and Terrorhurtz.
 * Matilda's tank exploded in the Gauntlet run of Krayzee Tokyo, billowing purple smoke.
 * During the melee between Aggrobot, Saw Point (Series 4) and Oblivion in Series 4, Matilda's tyre was accidently ripped off by fellow house robot Sir Killalot, leaving her only able to drive around in circles.