Kronic the Wedgehog

"It's not Sonic, but Kronic is not moronic, so beware!"

- Jonathan Pearce in Series 4

Kronic the Wedgehog (often nicknamed Kronic) was a series of robots that competed in Series 4-7 of Robot Wars. The original version reached the Heat Final in its debut appearance in Series 4 after helping to knock out the seeded Gravedigger, but its successors lost in the first round in Series 5 and the second in Series 6 and 7. However, Kronic 2 was notable for flipping former series champion Panic Attack over in its first round battle during Series 6 to be the last robot standing.

The robot's name was a pun on the popular Sonic the Hedgehog video game series.

Series 8 champion Apollo is modelled upon the most recent version of Kronic the Wedgehog, and was built by Kronic's most recent owners, Team MAD.

Versions of Kronic the Wedgehog
All versions of Kronic the Wedgehog shared the same colour scheme of blue, red and yellow, with yellow top-mounted spikes and an angry face printed on the front lifter/flipper, known as the 'Kronic face'.

Kronic the Wedgehog (Series 4)
The original version of Kronic the Wedgehog was built in a greenhouse, a fact reflected in the team covering the top spikes with flowerpots. It was a tall box-wedge shaped robot powered by two Sinclair C5 motors giving it a top speed of 10 mph, and armoured in polycarbonate. "We're a bit worried about the polycarbonate casing because it's flexible and should be easily pierced."

- Julia Reed's concern

Kronic the Wedgehog's weapons were a front lifter and a rear-mounted spike. The metal part sticking out of Kronic's face was the ram pivot. Strangely, bubble wrap was used in the body.

Kronic 2 (Series 5)
For Series 5, a new model of Kronic the Wedgehog was built, known as Kronic 2. This version was much larger and heavier than the original, with a low angled wedge-shaped chassis, and two flippers; a front flipper similar to that of Prizephita Mach 2 and the top-mounted one being a side flipper similar to the weapon of Lightning. The side flipper was slightly faster and more powerful than the front one, and was designed to act as the robot's srimech. Kronic 2 was the first to feature a set of flammable foam spikes on top of the wedge, which had red tips to give the appearance of being bloodstained. There were two static spikes on the back. The robot was armoured in aluminium and steel, with the team using aluminium from a chocolate bar wrapper to protect Kronic 2's receiver. The robot had go-kart wheels, provided by their sponsors Tabor Motors, a gyroscope purchased from PipingHot Networks, and was built using machinery at Ceramtec UK and Axe Vale Engineering.

Kronic 2 (Series 6)
Kronic 2 was rebuilt, but it was mostly the same design in Series 6 as it had been in Series 5. It had a stronger shell, but had no base panel, as the team removed it during the qualifiers due to the robot being overweight.

Kronic the Wedgehog (Series 7)
For Series 7, the team reverted back to the original name for a revised version of Kronic 2. This version of Kronic the Wedgehog retained the two flippers used by Kronic 2, which were upgraded to be faster and more powerful, as well as the foam spikes. While largely similar in design to Kronic 2, the Series 7 version had no wheel guards, although it was now fitted with a mesh bottom to protect the internals from underneath.

Qualification
Despite Kronic first appearing in Series 4, the original version of the robot (simply named Kronic) was built for Series 3, a barrel shaped robot armed with a retracting spear. However, it wasn't very well built and failed to qualify.

In its Series 4 qualifier, Kronic the Wedgehog fought S.M.I.D.S.Y., and won. S.M.I.D.S.Y. still qualified anyway. "This is another slugging match. Wedgehog has the same turn of speed as us, we chase them around the ring trying to get spikes or jaws to bear. They are too tight to the ground for us to get under and eventually while we're pushing them from the front they activate the flipper. We are held vertical on their front armour, they flip again, a third time and we're over. Robin hits the arena floor full forward throttle selected and SMIDSY charges straight back in to the fray. We bash and push for a while and then are flipped back the right way up, once more we land and hit out unscathed. This happens a couple more times, we have had some good hits on Wedgehog, they have almost carried us out of the arena. They can't pin us, we can't do serious damage to them. Finally after five minutes of stand up battle cease is called. The crowd are consulted and Wedgehog gets a better response. Sure enough the judges follow suit and the vote goes against us."

- The S.M.I.D.S.Y. website on the qualifier

To qualify for Series 5, Kronic 2 fought yet another Heat Finalist from the Fourth Wars, Mini Morg. Kronic 2 won the battle and qualified for the series, yet curiously, Mini Morg was awarded the nineteenth seed. Kronic qualified for Series 6 and 7, though how it qualified each time is unknown.

Series 4
Newcomers Kronic the Wedgehog met two veterans in the first round of the Fourth Wars; Thermidor 2 and the number 13 seeds Gravedigger. Before the fight, the Gravedigger team conceded that their flipper wasn't working. Thermidor 2 and Kronic the Wedgehog met in the centre of the arena and both fired their flippers simultaneously, with Kronic the Wedgehog gaining enough purchase to lift Thermidor 2 up by one of its claws. "And at the moment, the Wedgehog on the attack on the lobster."

- Jonathan Pearce

Gravedigger ran its wedge underneath Kronic the Wedgehog, but only managed to push it a little before reversing away. Kronic the Wedgehog was then able to shove Thermidor 2 towards the arena wall near Shunt's CPZ, helped by Gravedigger ramming it from behind. Thermidor 2 spun away and tried to flip Kronic the Wedgehog again, but its large claws got in the way. After a little bit of avoiding each other, Kronic the Wedgehog stopped on top of the pit of oblivion, which had dropped slightly. "There's the descending pit - you don't want to stay there too long, Kronic."

- Jonathan Pearce

A combined attack from Thermidor 2 and Gravedigger moved Kronic the Wedgehog off the pit which hadn't descended any further. The robots met in the centre of the arena again and Kronic the Wedghog was almost flipped onto its side by Thermidor 2 but survived. Kronic the Wedgehog then shoved Thermidor 2 into the arena wall again and buckled the right claw. "Oh, one of the claws has gone!"

- Jonathan Pearce after Kronic's attack

Following this, Kronic the Wedgehog lifted the front of Gravedigger onto the arena side wall before it was flipped over by Thermidor 2. "And Gravedigger's on its side! Gravedigger, the seeded robot, in major, major trouble here!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Sir Killalot moved in and picked Gravedigger up, spinning it around and throwing it across the arena, where it landed on its wheels. Gravedigger then proceeded to race towards Thermidor 2 and Kronic the Wedgehog who were still battling next to Matilda. Cease was called and the seeded Gravedigger was eliminated.

In the second round, Kronic the Wedgehog fought Darke Destroyer 2, a Heat Finalist in the last war. "This should be some battle!"

- Jonathan Pearce before the battle

The two robots began the battle circling each other, with Darke Destroyer 2 barging into Kronic the Wedgehog head on. Kronic the Wedgehog responded by lifting Darke Destroyer 2 up, but not over. Darke Destroyer 2 then shoved Kronic the Wedgehog across the arena floor and began to use its 'waggling blades', but they were no use. Kronic the Wedgehog eventually spun away from Darke Destroyer 2 and was able to immediately place its flipper underneath Darke Destroyer 2, toppling it over. "And there goes the flipping arm of Kronic the Wedgehog, and Darke Destroyer 2 is over, and possibly out!"

- Jonathan Pearce

It was unable to self-right, so the House Robots closed in for the kill, putting it on the flipper, then pitting it. "Well, Kronic the Wedgehog makes it across the road without being squashed! You took no damage, you wouldn't even have to charge your batteries after that, you just flipped them over and retired, let the House Robots do the rest!"

- Craig Charles to the Kronic team

Kronic the Wedgehog was through to the Heat Final, where it fought Thermidor 2 again. "...Kronic the Wedgehog, the surprise so far, really!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Before the fight, the Thermidor 2 team were concerned that its flipper wouldn't work. Its claws had also broken, and it was being put back together just beforehand. "Is Kronic the Wedgehog the better prepared of the two Heat Finalists?"

- Jonathan Pearce just before the battle starts

Both robots started cautiously, ambling around each other, before Kronic the Wedgehog tried an attack with its flipper but missed. Kronic the Wedgehog fired its flipper again, with Thermidor 2 showing that their flipper was working as well by flicking Kronic the Wedgehog up. Kronic the Wedgehog then lifted Thermidor 2 up by one of its claws, before Thermidor 2 fired its weapon, which penetrated Kronic the Wedgehog's flipper, causing both robots to be momentarily locked together. Kronic lifted Thermidor up by one of its claws, but only pushed it a little before it dropped off. "and certainly the more aggresive here, I think, the Wedgehog."

- Jonathan Pearce Kronic the Wedgehog lifted Thermidor 2 again and pushed it into Shunt's CPZ. Thermidor 2 escaped and responded by charging at Kronic the Wedgehog, which caused its flipper to come off, which meant that Kronic the Wedgehog was now weaponless and exposed. "So all they can do now, I think, is buffet the Thermidor towards a pit, towards an arena spike, towards one of the House Robots."

- Jonathan Pearce

Kronic the Wedgehog managed to force Thermidor 2 around the arena for a short period, before Thermidor 2 came back onto the attack and flipped it up, but not over. Kronic the Wedgehog then seemed to lose power on one side. "The Wedgehog was spinning but not moving, and I think they were immobilised, I think they lost control, they did, in come the House Robots!"

- Jonathan Pearce

The House Robots closed in, with Dead Metal slicing into its side and Shunt axing down. Dead Metal then left Kronic the Wedgehog precariously balanced over the pit, before Sir Killalot nudged the beaten robot down. "And we need now a spiky performance by the Wedgehog, and I don't think we're going to get it, I think the Wedgehog is headed for hibernation in the pit of the Robot Wars arena floor"

- Jonathan Pearce as Kronic the Wedgehog is attacked by the House Robots

Series 5
"Kronic 2, was a rookie last year but managed to reach its Heat Final. Back with an improved design, could this be the one to watch?"

- Phillipa Forrester at the start of the Heat

Returning unseeded, Kronic 2 went up against the greatly experienced King B Powerworks in its first round eliminator battle. Kronic started well, getting under and flicking King B Powerworks into the air. King B recovered from the attack and drove up the side of Kronic, sitting there until Kronic fired its flipper, upon which King B drove off. King B attempted a charge, disc first, at Kronic, but the flipper negated the attack and tossed King B off to Kronic's right. The second charge was much more successful, as it struck Kronic's rear and allowed King B to slam it into the side wall at a tremendous speed. Kronic successfully retreated across the flames, but slowed down significantly, and King B rammed it into Sergeant Bash's CPZ. King B's spikes had pierced the side armour of Kronic by now, and, after Kronic trundled slowly out of Bash's reach, King B used the spikes to pierce and lift Kronic slightly, driving it back into Bash's CPZ. Shunt intercepted and separated the pair with its axe, but King B nudged Kronic back onto the flames. Kronic's spikes caught on fire, and, despite King B losing control points for driving into an angle grinder at the end, it lost the judges' decision.

Series 6
Kronic 2 was placed up against the redesigned R.O.C.S., the 8th seeds Panic Attack and recent heat-finalist Corkscrew in its first round battle of the Heat. In this battle, Kronic 2 was immediately targeted by R.O.C.S., which pierced into its flipper, in combination with a lift from Panic Attack. However, a glancing blow from Corkscrew separated the pair, also ripping up a wheel guard of Kronic 2 and also making its srimech break. However, this did leave Kronic 2 free to activate the pit release button, which ultimately caused the demise of Corkscrew. After this, Kronic 2 sustained more damage from R.O.C.S.' claw, but then flipped R.O.C.S. onto its back, rendering it immobilised as it was leaking hydraulic fluid. Victorious, Kronic 2 then flipped Panic Attack, which no longer had a srimech, and was immobilised. However both of them moved through as R.O.C.S. was soon counted out by Refbot, and Kronic 2 assisted Sir Killalot with pitting R.O.C.S.

In the second round, Kronic 2 went up against the much more experienced Terrorhurtz machine. Kronic started the fight aggressively, charging at Terrorhurtz, but its flipper could not breach the ground clearance of Terrorhurtz. Kronic 2 was axed by the future grand finalist repeatedly. Terrorhurtz, having now lost power to its axe, pushed the more sluggish Kronic 2 machine to Sergeant Bash's CPZ, however it managed to escape before it took any major damage from the house robot. "It's a splendid looking machine, great fun, but it's met its match here in Terrorhurtz!"

- Jonathan Pearce on Kronic 2

As Kronic 2 began to get away, Terrorhurtz then pushed Kronic 2 around to the side of the arena, into an angle grinder, and onto the flame pit. Growler then closed in as Kronic 2 was merely limping, but Kronic 2 attacked the house robots, using its top flipper to lift up Growler, before it stopped moving completely and was counted out by Refbot. It was then attacked by Growler before cease was called.

Series 7
Kronic the Wedgehog was placed up against Team Victor's The Kraken, and two newcomers: Pinser and Cobra, in the first round melee. Cobra posed no challenge as it barely moved, Kronic the Wedgehog flipped it right over in the opening moments, before flipping it back the right way up. However, Pinser then leaped onto the attack, piercing through Kronic the Wedgehog's flipper. Fortunately for Kronic though, Pinser then attacked the limping Cobra machine, but burnt out as it went over a flame jet, effectively immobilising both robots as Cobra was still caught in Pinser's grip. Both robots were counted out by Refbot, and Kronic the Wedgehog went through to the next round with The Kraken. Kronic the Wedgehog then faced a seemingly easy battle in Robot Wars veterans Mighty Mouse, in the second round. Kronic the Wedgehog indeed began strongly, hurling Mighty Mouse across the arena with the flipper effortlessly, almost flipping Mighty Mouse out of the arena on one occasion. However, Kronic the Wedgehog suddenly seized up just outside house robot Growler's CPZ and Mighty Mouse then took the opportunity to ram it fully into the CPZ, where Kronic the Wedgehog's flipper crumpled against the arena side wall by Growler. Mighty Mouse continued to ram Kronic the Wedgehog, ramming it into submission, rendering them completely immobilised, leaving it to be counted out by the Refbot, therefore leaving Mighty Mouse as the unlikely victors, and eliminating Kronic the Wedgehog from the competition. "After the fight we found out that it was a seized motor which caused our downfall, not a broken speed controller as I originally suspected. The motor burned out because the driver and driven sprockets became misaligned, causing a lot of tension on the motor."

- David Lang

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 4
 * Losses: 4

Outside Robot Wars
Kronic has become far more successful in recent years. Competing in the live circuits, and being renamed Kronic 3, its flipper was modified to be the length of the entire front wedge, and is now capable of throwing robots from the arena at height, doing so to other famous competitors such as Behemoth, Big Nipper and Iron-Awe. It won the Roaming Robots Winter Tour of 2005. In May 2010, the robot was sold to Team MAD as Team Kronic retired from building and operating heavyweight robots. Under their new team, Kronic became the 2010 and 2011 Annihilator Champion, which enabled it to become the second machine in history to reclaim the UK Annihilator title after Kan-Opener. Kronic's final appearance was at the 2014 FRA UK Championships, where it reached the quarter-finals; after this, it was retired from robot combat, and succeeded by Apollo in future Robots Live! events. Following its retirement, Kronic was rebuilt by Team Mad as Chronic for ABC's BattleBots reboot. Changes from the original robot included a 'launcher' that was powered by nitrogen instead of CO2 in accordance with the new rules, as well as more armour. Chronic was selected as a reserve, but was not needed to replace any competitors. As a test for the production crew, Chronic fought and lost to fellow reserve robot Swamp Thing in the very first fight in the new BattleBox. Although it started off well, getting some good flips in and breaking off Swamp Thing's thwacking tail, Chronic's drive failed towards the end and it was counted out. Chronic was also due to compete in a nine-robot rumble at the end of the series, but due to time restraints in filming, it never took place.

Robot Wars Live Events
The latest version of Kronic 3 made two appearances at the Robot Wars live events. Its first appearance was at Barnsley in February 2013 where it reached the final of the main competition losing to Maelstrom when it was immobilised unable to self-right in the last 10 seconds of the fight. Its second Robot Wars live event was at Widnes 2013 where it got to the semi-final of the competition and was beaten by Maelstrom again.

Trivia

 * Like Wedgehog, Kronic the Wedgehog's name was based on Hedgehog (although Kronic's name was based on the Sonic the Hedgehog games). Coincidentally, both the former and the latter are currently owned by Team MAD.
 * Although the two robots were originally from separate teams, they are mistakenly credited as being from the same team in Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide.
 * Kronic would not be the last robot to derive its name from Sonic the Hedgehog, as 2016 competitor Foxic would also base its name on the series.
 * Throughout its appearances, a banner saying "I [Heart] Beer" was on the back of Kronic, this being a pun on the team's home village and the alcoholic beverage.
 * In March 2012, Kronic broke Gravity's Robot Wars record for the quickest battle in all FRA competitions by throwing Iron-Awe 6 out of the arena in 4 seconds.
 * In 2011, Kronic received an Honorable Mention in The Combat Robot Hall of Fame, as a result of its successes in live events held during Robot Wars '  hiatus.