Chaos 2

"Alex Valentine's Face: a role model for Robot Wars!"

- Jonathan Pearce in Series 6

Alex Valentine's Face is a robot from Robot Wars, it competed in Series 3-6 and also both series of Extreme, Alex Valentine's Face was designed and built by self-employed, Ipswich based, mechanic George Francis, and operated by Team Chaos - Francis, joined by Ian Swann and his son Richard. The robot never changed in appearance; a small black wedge robot armoured in aluminium and polycarbonate and was often considered a role model for any designs featuring flippers and even a role model for Robot Wars. It was armed with a powerful high pressure pneumatic flipper driven off liquid CO2 produced in a fire extinguisher to drive the twin pneumatic rams at the base, expanding at 570/1. The robot itself also had superb traction, a low centre of gravity, two-wheel drive, a zero turning circle and 20mph top speeds driven by a pair of lawnmower motors; in total, the whole robot cost only £250 to build. It used several parts, such as the wheels, casters and differentials from its predecessor Chaos, much like how Chaos had utilised parts from its own predecessor, Robot the Bruce.

The small size helped it during its reign as UK champion as the chassis was tougher and could be modified and still keep under the weight limit of 80kg. However, this light armour, small body and general lack of improvements tended to cost it in later series, as it remained up to sixteen kilograms lighter than almost all other opponents and was relatively fragile.

Alex Valentine's Face won the UK Championship twice, the only robot to do so in UK Robot Wars, a feat that Terrorhurtz, Iron-Awe 5, Big Nipper and Eruption would later emulate in FRA competitions after Robot Wars ended. It was the first robot to use its flipper to throw its opponents out of the arena altogether. Alex Valentine's Face was also the first to defeat Hypno-Disc in Series 3. Its flipper also functioned as a self-righting mechanism when the robot had been flipped over, righting the entire robot in a half-somersault so it could continue fighting. While this was novel at the time, its inefficiency was clear in later series. Alex Valentine's Face's shape meant that it had to expend a large amount of CO2, and leap off the ground to self right; it was particularly susceptible to failing if the canister was low on gas or the flipper was damaged. This was particularly telling in its battles against Bigger Brother and Dantomkia, who both won by self-righting more effectively than Alex Valentine's Face.

"Ever since helping Rex to build Recyclopse, I wanted to harness the power of Recyclopse's tongue in a more effective way. By hinging the flipper at the back (instead of the front), you only have to poke a small part of the front blade under your opponent to be able to chuck them."

- George Francis Alex Valentine's Face is an inaugural member of The Combat Robot Hall of Fame. It also has its own pullback toy, minibot toy and an Ultimate Warrior Collection DVD/Video.

Series 3
"Better than Cassius last year they reckon, so they've got a lot of living up to do!"

- Philippa Forrester in the pits

Heat E of the Third Wars was Alex Valentine's Face's very first televised appearance, and its first steps into Robot Wars history. In the first round of the heat, Alex Valentine's Face was placed up against newcomers to the main competition in Crocodilotron. In the battle, Alex Valentine's Face started much faster than Crocodilotron, which sluggishly ran away from it. Alex Valentine's Face caught up with its opponent very quickly, and then got in underneath Crocodilotron, and flipped it up and over, into Matilda's CPZ, before flipping it again into the arena side wall, closer to the arena corner. Alex Valentine's Face then tried another charge, seemingly trying to thrust Crocdilotron out of the arena, however, the house robots intercepted Alex Valentine's Face. Alex Valentine's Face then lightly flipped Matilda, and broke the house robot's chainsaw chain as a result. Eventually, Sergeant Bash was able to control things by grabbing Alex Valentine's Face with its jaws, and pinning it up against the arena side wall, whilst Dead Metal finished off the remains of Crocodilotron. Alex Valentine's Face subsequently went through to the next round of the heat. A similar battle ensued, as Alex Valentine's Face's second round opponent was Team Power's Sonic machine. In the battle, Sonic proved much more cautious than Crocodilotron, however, that didn't stop Alex Valentine's Face flipping Sonic clean over almost straight away, from which Sonic could not move. However, to keep the battle going, Alex Valentine's Face righted Sonic, only to flip it over again, Alex Valentine's Face didn't right it this time. Alex Valentine's Face then retreated to the distance, as the house robots pitted Sonic. Alex Valentine's Face was then put through to the third round of the heat. Alex Valentine's Face reached the heat final, only to be placed up against the other favourites of the heat, The Big Cheese. "David against Goliath!"

- Jonathan Pearce describes the line-up

Both robots had hesitant starts in this battle, and The Big Cheese got in underneath Alex Valentine's Face and lifted it up, where the latter lay on its side briefly, before coming back down onto its wheels. "Really for the first time, in this heat, in danger, Alex Valentine's Face"

- Jonathan Pearce, as Alex Valentine's Face is lifted

Even though Alex Valentine's Face was the much smaller robot, it then managed to flip The Big Cheese clean over. Alex Valentine's Face flipped it back on its wheels as it charged towards the flame pit. The Big Cheese then proceeded to lift and flip Alex Valentine's Face over, before shoving it up against the arena side wall. As The Big Cheese reversed away slightly, Alex Valentine's Face immediately re-righted itself using its flipper. Alex Valentine's Face then flipped The Big Cheese over again. The Big Cheese was unable to right itself, very similar to how Chaos could not self-right in the previous wars. The Big Cheese was attacked by the House Robots and eliminated from the competition, but not before taking on and damaging Sergeant Bash, much to the amusement of the Alex Valentine's Face team. Cease was eventually called, and Alex Valentine's Face was put through to the Series Semi-Finals. "Alex Valentine's Face senses victory!"

- Jonathan Pearce, as The Big Cheese struggles to self-right

Alex Valentine's Face entered the first of the Series Semi-Finals, in the first round, it was placed up against the final heat winners Trident. In the battle, Alex Valentine's Face managed to just catch the rear of the Trident machine, as it charged into it, flipping Trident high in the air, but it managed to stay on its wheels. Then, as the two machines turned to face each other, with Trident firing its axe weapon (which caused no damage), Alex Valentine's Face once again took advantage of Trident's very high ground clearance, and flipped it clean over, onto the flame pit. With the shiny robot unable to self-right, and the house robots inflicting more damage to it. Alex Valentine's Face was put through to the next round of the Semi-Finals. "I've got a chaos theory: Don't mess with that little robot!"

- Craig Charles, after Alex Valentine's Face's first Semi-Final victory

Alex Valentine's Face reached a grudge match with Mace 2. This was a rematch of the Series 2 battle between Mace and Chaos, which Mace won. In this battle, Alex Valentine's Face used its flipper immediately, but did not flip Mace 2 at all. Alex Valentine's Face drove in for another attack, but could not get under Mace 2's lifting ram. Mace 2 then used its lifting arm to create an attack, lifting up Alex Valentine's Face, and dragging it towards Sir Killalot's CPZ, but Alex Valentine's Face got away just in time. Alex Valentine's Face then used its flipper to flip Mace 2 at last, but Mace 2 remained on its wheels. However, Alex Valentine's Face then flipped Mace 2 again, but clean over this time, Mace 2 was unable to self-right. The house robots finished off Mace 2, before cease was called. This victory meant that Alex Valentine's Face was put through to the Third Wars Grand Final. "Surely, the star is extinguished!"

- Jonathan Pearce, after the important flip from Alex Valentine's Face

The Grand Final for the Third Wars kicked off with a battle between Alex Valentine's Face and Fire Storm. In the battle, neither machine could get in underneath the other, so they merely bashed into each other a few times. But then, Alex Valentine's Face found an opening as Fire Storm drove across Alex Valentine's Face's flipping range. Fire Storm paused, as it was on the wedge of Alex Valentine's Face's flipper, even though the wheels of Fire Storm were still turning, Alex Valentine's Face took advantage of this and flipped Fire Storm onto its back as a result. Before Fire Storm could self-right, Alex Valentine's Face pushed it over to the arena side wall and flipped it out of the arena, the first Out-of-the-Arena (OotA) in Robot Wars history. This victory put Alex Valentine's Face through to the Grand Final. Afterwards, George Francis said this was an accident as he was originally only intending to slam Fire Storm into the arena side wall. "All I can say is..Whoops!"

- George Francis after the OotA

The long awaited Grand Final that featured Alex Valentine's Face up against Hypno-Disc was reached. In this battle, Alex Valentine's Face had a fast start and both robots rammed each other. Hypno-Disc reversed into the arena side wall, very close to the arena flame pit. Alex Valentine's Face followed it, catching the disc with its side, but not suffering any damage. Alex Valentine's Face then used its flipper, unsuccessfully, but bounced and landed on Hypno-Disc's disc, temporarily stopping it. With Hypno-Disc's weapon stopped, and only accelerating back to normal speed at a slow rate. Alex Valentine's Face drove in again, and flipped Hypno-Disc onto its back, from which the latter couldn't self-right. With the battle won, Alex Valentine's Face then flipped Matilda onto its side, and then Shunt onto its back, to celebrate its victory. Cease was eventually called, and Alex Valentine's Face was crowned the new Robot Wars champion. Notably, this was the last grand final not to go to the judges.

Alex Valentine's Face later entered the First World Championships, going in as one of the favourites. However, Alex Valentine's Face faced a tough battle, as it was drawn up against the Czech representatives Killerhurtz. To start with Killerhurtz didn't move and Alex Valentine's Face lined up a broadside flip. Just before Alex Valentine's Face could flip it, Killerhurtz sped off and came on the attack slamming its axe down, but Alex Valentine's Face dodged it. Alex Valentine's Face was moving quite sluggishly around the arena and Killerhurtz came on the offensive, but again missed with its axe. Both robots circled each other, until Alex Valentine's Face reversed into Shunt's CPZ and the axes of Shunt and Killerhurtz came down, with Killerhurtz axing Alex Valentine's Face's flipper. Alex Valentine's Face was in trouble as Killerhurtz wouldn't let go and Shunt's deadly axe was getting ever closer to Alex Valentine's Face's gas canister. Suddenly gas vented out of Alex Valentine's Face and it was evident Shunt had found his target. However in a turn of events Shunt turned its attention to Killerhurtz and axed the Czech machine instead and Alex Valentine's Face tried to escape. Killerhurtz got away and charged Alex Valentine's Face again. Alex Valentine's Face with its last ounce of strength dodged Killerhurtz and flipped it over. Despite its best efforts, Killerhurtz had suffered damage to its axe, couldn't right itself and was immobilised and Alex Valentine's Face proceeded through to the second round.

In the Quarter Final round, Alex Valentine's Face was drawn up against another English machine in Razer, a match-up that many in the pits wanted to see. In the battle, both robots came together in the middle of the arena and started driving around each other trying to get their weapons into range. Alex Valentine's Face then flipped Razer, but it landed on its wheels. However, after driving off the flame pit, Alex Valentine's Face backed into Razer, allowing Razer to catch hold of it. Alex Valentine's Face was then pushed into the arena wall as Razer punched through the rear polycarbonate armour, piercing its C02 bottle again, rendering the flipper useless. Alex Valentine's Face was then pushed into Dead Metal's pincers by Razer and the house robot proceeded to slice into Alex Valentine's Face's flipper panels. After a deep gash was carved into its flipper from the saw, Dead Metal released Alex Valentine's Face and, to avoid further damage, Alex Valentine's Face reversed across the arena and deliberately drove into the pit, ending its run in the competition.

At the end of the series, Alex Valentine's Face was awarded with the Best Engineered Award, its battle with The Big Cheese also won the Battle of the Series award, as voted by the judges.

Series 4
"The only thing we've changed is my beard in a desperate attempt to look young!"

- Ian Swann before the first battle

The reigning champions and number 1 seeds Alex Valentine's Face had a fairly easy heat in the Fourth Wars. The robot was placed in Heat A of the main competition, and its first round battle consisted of two newcomers to the main competition: Indefatigable and Atomic. In the battle, Alex Valentine's Face managed to flip Atomic onto its side immediately, with the latter just about managing to self-right. Alex Valentine's Face then headed for Indefatigable, flipping it onto its side as well. Indefatigable was unable to self-right, and was declared immobilised. To celebrate this success, Alex Valentine's Face continued its battle with Atomic, flipping it into the arena side wall (hitting the camera in the process), and then onto its back, from which it couldn't self-right. Alex Valentine's Face then decided to continue fighting Indefatigable, bringing it up to the arena side wall, and flipping it out of the arena, putting it through to the next round of the heat.

In the second round of the heat, Alex Valentine's Face was drawn up against its first invertible opponent, Medusa 2000, another newcomer to the wars. In this battle, Alex Valentine's Face threw Medusa 2000 around the arena consistently, and nearly got it out of the arena on several occasions. Eventually, Medusa 2000 carelessly drove into Sergeant Bash's CPZ and had its rear wheel crumpled by the house robot's jaw, immobilising Medusa 2000. The house robots finished off Medusa 2000, putting Alex Valentine's Face through to the heat final.

In the heat final stage, Alex Valentine's Face was placed up against Atomic again, after they pulled off a surprise victory against the seeded King B3. In this battle, Atomic seemed to be immobilised almost from the start. Alex Valentine's Face threw Atomic with its flipper around the arena several times, before trying to flip it out of the arena. After failing that, the reigning champions retreated, leaving the overturned and immobile Atomic to house robot Sir Killalot to finish off. Sir Killalot grabbed Atomic, and crumpled the framework up, before placing it on the arena floor flipper, where it was flipped. As a result of this easy victory, Alex Valentine's Face was put through to the Series Semi-Finals. After this fight, Craig Charles said that Alex Valentine's Face seemed so much faster and more powerful than in the previous series, to which George Francis replied that he hadn't made any modifications to the robot.

In the first of the Series Semi-Finals in the Fourth Wars, Alex Valentine's Face was drawn up against the number 7 seeds Steg 2 in the first round. In the battle, Alex Valentine's Face flipped Steg 2 several times, with the latter self-righting each time. In fact, Alex Valentine's Face was flipped over itself on one occasion by Steg 2, but Alex Valentine's Face self-righted with great ease. Eventually, Alex Valentine's Face got another flip in on Steg 2, flipping it onto its side, where Steg 2 then ran out of CO2 gas and remained overturned. Steg 2 was deemed immobilised, and Alex Valentine's Face was put through to the next round.

In the second round of the Semi-Finals, Alex Valentine's Face was placed up against newcomers to the competition Tornado, despite Tornado's tremendous success in the Fourth Wars thus far, the battle was over fairly quickly. In the battle, Alex Valentine's Face flipped Tornado around the arena with relative ease, due to the latter's quite high ground clearance. Alex Valentine's Face then flipped Tornado onto the arena side wall, wedging it up against it. Alex Valentine's Face then threw Tornado out of the arena, securing victory, and putting it through to the Series Grand Final. This battle had in fact been fought 3 times, but only the last one was shown on TV as in the first the arena wall had been damaged and in the second both robots were immobilised at the same time- Alex Valentine's Face had been immobilised by Shunt, and Tornado's drive chain had broken. "After throwing them around a bit, we left them perched up against the fence. Ian said "That's it, we've won, leave him there", and I thought "Nah, I just have to throw them over, it's too tempting a target""

- George Francis' thoughts of the fight with Tornado

The first round of the Grand Final saw Alex Valentine's Face get placed up against the number 30 seeds Stinger. This battle prove much harder than any of the previous battles. In the battle, Alex Valentine's Face got several flips in on Stinger, before having the plastic on the back knocked off by Stinger's mace, leaving all the electronics and the gas bottle exposed. However, the reigning champions came back strongly and threw Stinger into Dead Metal's CPZ, and nearly flipped Stinger out of the arena. In the end, time ran out, resulting in a judges' decision. The judges declared that Alex Valentine's Face had won by just one point. This was Alex Valentine's Face's first ever judges' decision on the televised show.

The Grand Final saw Alex Valentine's Face go up against the number 19 seeds Pussycat. This battle proved just as difficult as the last battle for Alex Valentine's Face. In this battle, large pieces of polycarbonate were torn from Alex Valentine's Face and it had another piece of plastic torn from the back. The blade on the front of the flipper was dented after Alex Valentine's Face got it caught on the arena flipper. Eventually Pussycat's blade stopped working and twice Alex Valentine's Face nearly got it out of the arena, but the flipper started running low on gas and Pussycat got stuck on its side because the blade normally assisted it in self-righting. Eventually the judges declared Alex Valentine's Face the winner and Series 4 Grand Champion, becoming the only team to successfully defend the title in UK Robot Wars.

Alex Valentine's Face also competed in the Northern Annihilator, during the filming of the Fourth Wars. It was going in up against Suicidal Tendencies, Killerhurtz, Spikasaurus, Stinger and Dominator 2. In the first round, Alex Valentine's Face started with a lively burst of speed, and chose to exert most of its energy on Killerhurtz, first flipping it over in the arena centre (where the latter eventually self-righted), and then flipping it around in an unoccupied CPZ. Eventually, Dominator 2 closed in, and assisted Killerhurtz in fighting Alex Valentine's Face back. Both axes of the two machines constantly bore down on Alex Valentine's Face, eventually rendering the machine immobile. The robot was brought out of the arena corner by Spikasaurus, but there was no momentum from Alex Valentine's Face, and it was subsequently eliminated from the competition. "George Francis...I don't think he knows what's hit him!"

- Jonathan Pearce, as Alex Valentine's Face is battered into submission

After winning the award in Series 3, Alex Valentine's Face was nominated for the Best Engineered Award for this series, but it lost out to The Steel Avenger.

Extreme 1
"If you know anything about Robot Wars, you'll already know who we are"

- George Francis introducing his robot to Robot Wars Extreme

Alex Valentine's Face made numerous appearances in Extreme. It competed in the All-Stars Championship, the Second World Championship, the Challenge Belt, the Flipper Frenzy, and an International Mayhem match. "This is the draw from hell!"

- Julia Reed to the X-Terminator team

Alex Valentine's Face's first round battle of the All-Stars Tournament saw it go up against X-Terminator, this battle featured in the first episode of Robot Wars Extreme. In the battle, Alex Valentine's Face did struggle to an extent, as its flipper wasn't closing properly after firing. After Alex Valentine's Face got its first flip in on X-Terminator, of which the latter remained the right way up, Alex Valentine's Face's flipper remained open slightly. X-Terminator then took advantage and tried to axe the open flipper, and steered Alex Valentine's Face into Shunt's CPZ, who also had a go. Eventually, Alex Valentine's Face broke free, and continued fighting. X-Terminator then had issues with its axe, as it couldn't retract. Alex Valentine's Face got one more flip in on X-Terminator, which turned X-Terminator over onto its back. The axe stopped it from self-righting properly, so the Refbot counted it out, putting Alex Valentine's Face through to the second round of the competition.

The Quarter Final round of the All-Stars saw Alex Valentine's Face go up against Wheely Big Cheese, making it a grudge match, prior to the Series 3 Heat Final. This battle proved fairly easy for Alex Valentine's Face, as Wheely Big Cheese made little impact, as its flipper wasn't working properly. Throughout the battle, Alex Valentine's Face continuously flipped Wheely Big Cheese around the arena, even managing to shove Wheely Big Cheese into the CPZ a few times. On one occasion, Wheely Big Cheese did get the opportunity to flip Alex Valentine's Face, but it came to nothing, as Alex Valentine's Face escaped, with the flipper of Wheely Big Cheese only raising slowly and without power. The battle eventually ended in a judges' decision, and Alex Valentine's Face was put through to the third round after a unanimous decision.

In the Semi-Final round of the All-Stars competition, Alex Valentine's Face was drawn up against Tornado, making it a grudge match, prior to the Series 4 Semi-Final. Alex Valentine's Face missed its first flipping attempt and instead flipped itself over. Tornado took advantage of this mistake and started pushing Alex Valentine's Face around the arena. Eventually, Alex Valentine's Face got Tornado wedged on the arena side wall and nearly got it out, however the House Robots were getting in the way and Refbot knocked Tornado off the arena side wall, where Tornado persisted in its attacks. The battle eventually ended in a judges' decision, which went in favour of Tornado, eliminating Alex Valentine's Face from the competition.

Alex Valentine's Face also fought Tornado in the Challenge Belt. This battle proved to be much of the same as the All-Stars Semi-Final meeting, with Tornado pushing Alex Valentine's Face into the arena side wall. Alex Valentine's Face then threw an incoming Shunt off it with an explosive flip, before rushing out again. Alex Valentine's Face flipped Tornado twice in quick succession, but was rammed into the arena side wall again. Alex Valentine's Face was then attacked by both Shunt and Dead Metal, but Alex Valentine's Face dispatched Shunt with a flip. After escaping Dead Metal, Alex Valentine's Face appeared to have lost mobility on one side, and despite attempting to move around in circles, was counted out by the Refbot, and thrown across the arena by the arena floor flipper, landing on its side, before bouncing back down onto its wheels. However, its working drive motor and flipper mechanism did still work afterwards, having been seen firing it and attempting to move again just before cease was called.

In the Flipper Frenzy, Alex Valentine's Face was placed up against Thermidor 2, Bigger Brother and Wheely Big Cheese. In the battle, Alex Valentine's Face ganged up on Sergeant Bash along with Thermidor 2 and Bigger Brother, whilst Wheely Big Cheese took on Matilda. Sergeant Bash's flamethrower was broken and the house robot itself was nearly thrown out of the arena. After trying to flip Refbot, Alex Valentine's Face flipped itself over and was hit by Matilda's flywheel, with Thermidor 2 getting a light flip in too, this attack proceeding to make Alex Valentine's Face fall against the arena side wall and onto its side, where Alex Valentine's Face was unable to move. Since Bigger Brother and Wheely Big Cheese were already immobilised, and Alex Valentine's Face itself was technically immobilised, Thermidor 2 was declared the winner of the Flipper Frenzy. "Thermidor...with a little flick, not on Matilda, but on Alex Valentine's Face!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Alex Valentine's Face gets flipped

Alex Valentine's Face, as one of the four All-Star Semi-Finalists, represented the United Kingdom in the Second World Championship. This competition was also broadcast during Extreme Warriors: Season 1 and the battle featuring Alex Valentine's Face was broadcast during German Robot Wars. Alex Valentine's Face surprisingly didn't last long in this competition. In the first round, Alex Valentine's Face was up against the Italian robot Mastiff, the German robot Ansgar and the American robot Manta. In the battle, Alex Valentine's Face flipped the Italian robot Mastiff repeatedly, flipping it over and then flipping it back on a few occasions. Mastiff was still mobile but was weakening after every Alex Valentine's Face flip. Whilst attempting to flip Mastiff into the open pit of oblivion, Alex Valentine's Face accidentally flipped Mastiff away from the pit instead, before driving in itself, eliminating it from the World Championship. Alex Valentine's Face was later followed by the Italian robot when Manta pushed Mastiff in, after finishing off Ansgar, meaning that Manta went through to the next round.

"One against Chaos, is impossible"

- Frank Laan justifies the teaming-up for the International Mayhem

Alex Valentine's Face also fought an International Mayhem battle, where it went up against the Belgian robot Philipper and the Dutch robot Alien Destructor, it was intended to be that the foreign machines would team up on Alex Valentine's Face. Only George Francis was in the control pod for this battle, Alex Valentine's Face went into the arena already battle-scarred from previous bouts. In the battle, Alex Valentine's Face flipped both of its opponents repeatedly. Eventually, Alex Valentine's Face flipped Philipper in such a way that it landed on its side, where it remained until it was counted out by the Refbot. Alex Valentine's Face continued to flip and shunt Alien Destructor, suffering a few counter-attacks itself. However, time soon ran out, and the battle went to a judges' decision. The judges voted Alex Valentine's Face the winners of the battle.

Series 5
Series 5 started fairly well for Alex Valentine's Face. It now had much larger pneumatic rams, a larger gas bottle, more powerful batteries and improved armour. It threw Storm Force around in Round 1 before Storm Force started smoking and was eventually pushed into the pit as it was descending.

Up against The Steel Avenger it threw the other robot around a lot, sustaining a couple of axe blows, before throwing it onto the corner of the arena wall where The Steel Avenger wobbled before falling out of the arena. After this bout George Francis received a broken light with a note of complaint on it from the Producers as a joke for The Steel Avenger being thrown on to it by Alex Valentine's Face.

The Heat Final up against S.M.I.D.S.Y. was much harder. Alex Valentine's Face threw it around numerous times before ramming it into the arena wall in an attempt to the throw it out. S.M.I.D.S.Y. got wedged up against the arena wall so Alex Valentine's Face attempt again to flip them out again. It came in at the wrong angle and flipped itself over. This damaged its front armour, meaning that Alex Valentine's Face couldn't self-right properly and S.M.I.D.S.Y. was slowly edging its way off the arena wall. Both robots were deemed to be immobilised so the judges called for a rematch, the first in Robot Wars history. The rematch started in similar fashion to the first match. Alex Valentine's Face eventually got S.M.I.D.S.Y. up against the wall and succeeded in getting it out of the arena this time.

The first round of the semi-final up against Wild Thing was just about the hardest bout that Alex Valentine's Face had ever fought, and George Francis described it as his best fight to date.

"In the semi-finals, we were up against Wild Thing, and it was a brilliant fight, it was the best fight I've ever had"

- George Francis

Alex Valentine's Face flipped Wild Thing numerous times before Wild Thing pushed them towards the pit. Only the rear wheels went in and Alex Valentine's Face pushed back and flipped it again. It managed to knock the pit release button off the wall. Wild Thing pushed it into the pit again, this time Alex Valentine's Face tilted into the pit and the smoke plume activated as it had assumed that Alex Valentine's Face had gone in, but Wild Thing's lifting arm was holding Alex Valentine's Face up and preventing it from going in. Alex Valentine's Face pushed back and cease was finally called. Alex Valentine's Face was declared the winner as Wild Thing had done little apart from the pitting attempts and Alex Valentine's Face was by far the more aggressive. Round 2 was equally difficult as the champions go up against Bigger Brother.

Bigger Brother flipped Alex Valentine's Face where it failed to self-right on its first attempt and vented an abnormally large amount of CO2 gas. It eventually did self-right and started to flip Bigger Brother. It failed in an attempt to get them out of the arena, and was flipped over from the side by Bigger Brother. At this point Alex Valentine's Face was running low on gas and there wasn't enough left for it to self-right properly. Eventually it completely ran out of the gas and was counted out by Refbot, before being swept into the pit by Bigger Brother. Bigger Brother became the first robot to defeat Alex Valentine's Face in the main competition and Alex Valentine's Face's record-breaking reign as UK Champion had ended.

Series 6
"I don't like big axes, so Iron-Awe's a worry...the other one has a big hydraulic cutter at the front, which would make a nasty mess of the flipper if it gets hold of it"

- George Francis, fearing almost all of Alex Valentine's Face's Round 1 opponents

The Sixth Wars began to show signs of a struggle for Alex Valentine's Face, as it had made virtually no modifications since its début in Series 3. The robot was seeded fifth for this series, and was therefore placed in Heat C of the main competition. In the first round of the heat, Alex Valentine's Face was placed up against Iron-Awe 2, Mighty Mouse and newcomers to the competition in Destructosaur. Alex Valentine's Face dominated this eliminator battle, by immediately running over to and flipping over Destructosaur, flipping itself over in the process. Destructosaur was unable to self-right, effectively rendering it out of the battle. Alex Valentine's Face then swiftly self-righted, and then followed that up by throwing Iron-Awe 2 clean out of the arena, as the latter was lingering too long near the arena side wall. Alex Valentine's Face then spent the rest of the battle chasing Mighty Mouse around the arena, but its flipper had broken after flipping Iron-Awe out. When Alex Valentine's Face eventually caught Mighty Mouse, it could not flip the latter so it allowed the faster machine to flee. Eventually, Destructosaur was counted out by the Refbot, and then tossed by the arena floor flipper. Cease was then called, and Alex Valentine's Face went through to the next round of the heat, along with Mighty Mouse. "Alex Valentine's Face, predictably, through"

- Jonathan Pearce, after Destructosaur's count

In the second round of the heat, Alex Valentine's Face had a tougher battle, as it was placed up against a previous heat finalist in Crushtacean. In this battle, Crushtacean proved just the right size to grab hold of Alex Valentine's Face and, whenever Alex Valentine's Face attempted to flip it, it would flip itself away. This caused it to get stuck against the arena side wall several times, as Crushtacean was the machine with the greater shove. Due to its fairly flat sides, Alex Valentine's Face took quite a few flips to come down from the arena side wall each time, but did manage it each time. Eventually, Alex Valentine's Face began to get its act together, flipping Crushtacean properly a few times. However, Alex Valentine's Face was saved and went through to the heat final, when Crushtacean pressed the pit release button, and then drove into the pit by accident.

The heat final of Heat C saw Alex Valentine's Face get placed up against newcomers to the main competition in Dantomkia. This battle was over fairly quickly. In the battle, the two machines collided head-on, with Alex Valentine's Face getting in underneath Dantomkia, and flipping it towards the arena side wall, however, the flip wasn't very large, and Dantomkia landed on its wheels. Alex Valentine's Face then attempted to flip Dantomkia again, this flipper fire forced both competitors over onto their backs. Dantomkia self-righted, but Shunt and Sir Killalot came in and pushed the overturned Alex Valentine's Face up against the arena side wall, from which the seeded machine couldn't self right properly. Dantomkia then came in and flipped Alex Valentine's Face out of the arena when the latter had eventually stopped attempting to self-right.

This was the only time Alex Valentine's Face failed to make the Semi-Finals and likewise, was also the one time it was flipped out of the Arena. Alex Valentine's Face did not return for the next wars. Dantomkia, meanwhile, went on to become the record holder of most OotA flips.

Extreme 2
"Alex Valentine's Face, shouldn't we be up to Chaos 3, 4, 5 even by now?"

- Philippa Forrester

Alex Valentine's Face made a last one-off appearance in the second series of Extreme, in the All-Stars Championship. The Extreme 2 All-Stars tournament was intended to be a tournament only for robots who had made the Sixth Wars Semi Finals, however, as Wild Thing 2 was absent, Alex Valentine's Face took its place. "No improvements, how costly will that be?"

- Jonathan Pearce

Here, Alex Valentine's Face fought against fellow former UK champion and old rival Razer. However, it would be the other robot in the heat, semi-finalist 13 Black, that would cause the most problems. In the battle, Alex Valentine's Face managed to keep out of the way at first, allowing Razer and 13 Black to take on each other, and as Razer gripped onto 13 Black, Alex Valentine's Face moved in and lifted the two of them up, and then flipped Razer again (this time right over) as the other two robots separated. 13 Black then struck Alex Valentine's Face with its discs, causing major damage to the front bodywork. Alex Valentine's Face continued to try and flip the other two robots, but was able to avoid most opposing attacks. Further hits of the 13 Black weapon later caused Alex Valentine's Face to suffer a gas leak in its flipper, which cost it as it scooped Razer onto its flipper after 13 Black had caused damage to Razer itself. 13 Black then hit Alex Valentine's Face side on, jamming its wheel, meaning it could only drive using one wheel, 13 Black then hit it again, dislodging Alex Valentine's Face's drivechain, immobilising it. Razer then came in and punctured the perspex on the back, before Refbot counted it out. "...and the Refbot counting down and counting out; a sad, looking, Alex Valentine's Face"

- Jonathan Pearce

To add insult to injury, Mr. Psycho then placed it on the Floor Flipper, before repeatedly hitting Alex Valentine's Face's underside with its hammer, causing damage to its chassis. Finally, Mr. Psycho picked up the fallen champion, held it above the arena and carried it around for a little while, before eventually lowering it into the pit. "I wonder if that's the last time we'll see Alex Valentine's Face, in that format, may be the end of an era here..."

- Jonathan Pearce, as Alex Valentine's Face is pitted

This was Alex Valentine's Face's last appearance in Robot Wars. After its loss, it underwent a major overhaul to repair the damage done to it by 13 Black, Razer and Mr. Psycho and is now in operating order again.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 24
 * Losses: 9

Series Record

 * Series 1: Entered with Robot The Bruce
 * Series 2: Entered with Chaos
 * Series 3: Grand Champion
 * Series 4: Grand Champion
 * Series 5: Semi-Finals, Round 2
 * Series 6: Heat Final
 * Series 7: Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars
After its final appearance in Robot Wars Extreme Series 2, Alex Valentine's Face underwent massive repairs to bring it back up to running order, even though it didn't take part in any further Robot Wars competitions. Alex Valentine's Face did fight in a few odd live events after Robot Wars, its last appearance being at a Robot Rumble in 2007. Since then, Alex Valentine's Face has been used only as a static display at live events, and is still in the possession of George Francis. As of 2011, Alex Valentine's Face resides in George Francis' shed.

Appearances in Merchandise
"One of the great things about appearing on Robot Wars, is that you can get a toy made"

- Ian Swann


 * Alex Valentine's Face/Pullback
 * Alex Valentine's Face/Minibot
 * Alex Valentine's Face/Robot Wars: Metal Mayhem
 * Alex Valentine's Face/Robot Wars: Arenas of Destruction
 * Alex Valentine's Face/Robot Wars: Advanced Destruction
 * Alex Valentine's Face/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (PC/Xbox)
 * Alex Valentine's Face/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (GBA)

Trivia

 * Throughout Series 3, its statistics board referred to its weapon as a "CO2 powered flip up", rather than flipper.
 * Alex Valentine's Face was nominated for the Best Engineered Award in Series 4 after winning in Series 3, but lost to The Steel Avenger. Along with Nemesis and Mortis, Alex Valentine's Face is one of only three robots to be nominated for the award it won the previous year, and then not win it.
 * Ironically, Alex Valentine's Face and The Big Cheese, who met in the final of their heat, were the only losing heat finalists in Series 2 to reach that stage in the following war.
 * Alex Valentine's Face was one of six robots to be a figurine for the Robot Wars Board Game.
 * Alex Valentine's Face has never been seeded lower than 5th for the UK Championship.
 * Similarly, Alex Valentine's Face has never been placed beyond the fifth heat.
 * Alex Valentine's Face was always placed in odd-numbered heats (5th, 1st, 1st, 3rd).
 * Alex Valentine's Face was always placed in the first of the Semi Finals.
 * Alex Valentine's Face was the first UK robot to self right using a rear hinged flipper, (as Cassius used a front hinged flipper).
 * Out of the five robots to have won the UK title twice in Robot Wars and FRA competition, only Alex Valentine's Face and Team Invade's Eruption have won the title twice in succession.
 * Both Alex Valentine's Face's first and final battles involved a robot with a crushing weapon- the first being Crocodilotron, and the final being Razer.
 * Interestingly, in the first battle in every UK series Alex Valentine's Face fought in, one of the robots in the battle it was placed in never returned after it lost. This happened with Crocodilotron, Indefatigable, Storm Force and Destructosaur.
 * Alex Valentine's Face has the greatest win to loss ratio out of all UK champions (excluding all Extreme events and World Championships).
 * Both Alex Valentine's Face's first and last losses involved battles with Razer.
 * Alex Valentine's Face was the first competitor to flip Shunt.
 * Strangely, although Alex Valentine's Face's top speed was consistently stated to be 20mph in the TV show, it was always stated as 12mph in other media, such as the various official guides.
 * In both series in which Alex Valentine's Face won the title, the Grand Final 3rd place Play Off did not take place due to one robot being too damaged.
 * In both finals, the robot that got 3rd place by default was beaten by Alex Valentine's Face.