Suicidal Tendencies

Suicidal Tendencies was a tracked robot (often called a pioneer of tracks), that entered in Series 3, 4 and 5. Whilst its appearances varied a lot each time, they all utilised the same basic design- a low, tracked robot capable of running inverted. Suicidal Tendencies' name proved appropriate; it tended to be somewhat unreliable, and lost matches by breaking down on more than one occasion.

In Series 3, the robot was constructed over 8 weeks with a spring steel top and using model train motors. Its weapon was a milling cutter revolving at 1500RPM and the 120 individually-made links that make up the treads alone took three and a half weeks to build. It was also highly appropriate that the robot had tank tracks as designer Andrew Jeffrey used to collect tanks and other such armoured vehicles in his garden. It was able to reach the heat final, ultimately losing on a Judges' Decision to Mace 2.

In Series 4, it was known as Suicidal Tendencies 2 (though this name was not used very much) and it featured polycarbonate armour, a steam engine whistle that sounded when attacking (Very much like Roadblock's two-tone police siren in Series 2), and new weaponry in the form of a rapid-fire pickaxe and a pair of lifting spikes. This incarnation of the robot did well, making the heat final, coming fourth in the Northern Annihilator, and participating in two series of Battlebots, where it won the Best Newcomer Award.

In Extreme 1 and Series 5, it returned with a powerful crushing arm and front scoop. Described as "Sturdy, punishing and menacing" by Jonathan Pearce, it was armoured in titanium, could reach speeds of up to 10 mph, and according to the team, the claw could exert 26 tonnes of pressure. Despite having to retire due to mechanical problems after defeating Rick in Round 1, it was able to participate in the Extreme 1 Tag Team Terror, where it did well, coming in second overall with The Steel Avenger.

For Series 6, a new version of Suicidal Tendencies was built which had a new crusher. However, this version was not completed, because the team ultimately lost interest. Suicidal Tendencies was retired afterwards.

Series 3
Suicidal Tendencies' first battle was quite a boring one, as neither robots' weapon had any effect - the robots just drove around at each other. Suicidal Tendencies pushed Forklift's Revenge onto the flame pit, and then into Sir Killalot's CPZ. Killalot pitted Forklift's Revenge and put Suicidal Tendencies through. Raizer Blade tried to flip Suicidal Tendencies in the second round, who then tried to attack the side motor panels of Raizer Blade, who could not get the chainsaw to hit anything. When attacking, Suicidal Tendencies' right track stopped working. Raizer Blade pushed it onto the edge of the pit, but drove in itself instead of pushing the other robot in. Sir Killalot came along and helped Raizer Blade out, who then went back to attacking Suicidal Tendencies. The match ended in a judges' decision, and Suicidal Tendencies progressed into the final. Suicidal Tendencies' invertible design meant that Mace 2's flipper had no effect. Mace 2 pushed Suicidal Tendencies into Sergeant Bash, Shunt, Sir Killalot and Matilda, but each time it escaped, sustaining damage from Shunt though. The judges decided the winner again, eliminating Suicidal Tendencies.

Series 4
Suicidal Tendencies 2 was given the last minute seeding after Blade's Big Bruva dropped out. In its first round melee, it faced Series 2 grand finallist Killertron and new robot Maverick. Maverick drove straight into Killertron, while Suicidal Tendencies 2 pushed Killertron, which had trouble aiming its axe correctly. Suicidal Tendencies 2 then got under Killertron and used its flexible axe, before attacking Maverick. Killertron used its axe on both robots, before it was lifted by Suicidal Tendencies 2's forks. The Refbot then broke up the deadlock. Suicidal Tendencies 2 then got under Maverick and flipped it, eliminating the green robot. After incinerating Wheelosaurus on the flame pit in Round 2, Suicidal Tendencies 2 was put through to face Wheely Big Cheese in the Heat Final. Before this fight, Wheely Big Cheese had suffered gearbox problems. Suicidal Tendencies 2 went on the attack immediately, using its axe and lifting Wheely Big Cheese, before pushing it into Dead Metal. Wheely Big Cheese escaped but could not get underneath Suicidal Tendencies 2. Wheely Big Cheese then drove halfway over the open pit, but managed to escape twice. Meanwhile, Suicidal Tendencies 2's left track was immobilised, and it was left stuck next to the pit. Wheely Big Cheese took a run at the machine, missed, and drove into the pit itself. The Suicidal Tendencies team thought they had won, but the judges took the controversial view that Suicidal Tendencies 2 had been immobilised and Wheely Big Cheese went through instead. Andrew Marchant of Tornado was one of many who disagreed with the decision.

Suicidal Tendencies 2 also competed in the Northern Annihilator. It grappled with Spikasaurus for most of the first round, breaking down in the process, but Dominator 2 and Killerhurtz had already ganged up on and eliminated Chaos 2. A breakdown from Stinger got it through the next round as well. However, one of its infamous breakdowns cost it its place in the third round and it was eliminated.

Extreme 1
Suicidal Tendencies fought exclusively in the Tag Team Terror competition. Its partner was The Steel Avenger, who Team Thermonuclear Warfare had fought previously at an event in Debenham. Their first round battle was against Napalm and Sir Chromalot. Suicidal Tendencies sat out the opening stages of the battle, as The Steel Avenger hacked into Napalm's frail bodywork with its axe. Napalm was heavily damaged by these attacks and was pushed towards Suicidal Tendencies, who drove out and gripped and buckled both sides of the front of Napalm severely. "They look sturdy, punishing and menacing"

- Jonathan Pearce's opinion of the third iteration of Suicidal Tendencies

Shunt came in and axed Napalm while Suicidal Tendencies pulled back, ripping Napalm's side armour off. Napalm was dropped out of the arena by Sir Killalot. Suicidal Tendencies and The Steel Avenger then teamed up with the house robots to attack and pit Sir Chromalot, though Suicidal Tendencies got underneath The Steel Avenger with its front scoop at the end of the battle. Nevertheless, they had qualified. In the second round against Thermidor 2 and Cerberus, Suicidal Tendencies and Cerberus started the battle carefully, with neither having any damaging use of their gripping weapons. Thermidor 2 drove out but was pushed back into a corner by Suicidal Tendencies. The Steel Avenger had managed to immobilize Thermidor 2 by pushing it over the flame pit. Suicidal Tendencies gripped Cerberus and shoved it around the war zone into a wall, where Steel Avenger and Cerberus engaged in combat near the pit, which had just been opened. The fight went to the judges since Cerberus was still mobile, but the decision went in favour of Suicidal Tendencies and Steel Avenger. The opponents standing between this pairing and the Tag Team Terror competition were Pussycat and Diotoir. Suicidal Tendencies started the final by pushing Pussycat on its side and gripping it with its crushing beak, but not causing much damage. After Pussycat escaped for the first time, the two bumped into each other, putting Pussycat onto its side again before righting itself over the flame pit. Suicidal Tendencies grappled with the base panel of Pussycat, however Steel Avenger was toppled by Diotoir, who blocked it from self-righting for a while. Steel Avenger did recover eventually to assist Suicidal Tendencies, but Pussycat escaped the grip of Suicidal Tendencies' crusher once more. Suicidal Tendencies pushed its teammate back onto its wheels after Diotoir had lifted over Steel Avenger for the second time. Suicidal Tendencies spent yet more time fruitlessly holding onto Pussycat. The time expired and the judges had to decide the victors. Suicidal Tendencies and The Steel Avenger lost the decision, and the Tag Team Terror title.

Suicidal Tendencies was also due to compete in one of the Mayhem qualifiers for one of the two Annihilators in the series, but it withdrew for unknown reasons.

Series 5
Suicidal Tendencies after two heat finals in the past was seeded 21st. In a grudge match from Series 4, it came up against Rick, although both machines were significantly different to their Series 4 incarnations. The clawed machine achieved an easy victory once again, causing plenty of damage with the crushing beak. Suicidal Tendencies was fancied to face Razer in the heat final with its similar weaponry, but broke down before the Round Two match with Destruct-A-Bubble and could not be fixed, meaning that Rick was reinstated and was the one that ultimately reached the heat final.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 9
 * Losses: 4

Series Record

 * Series 1-2: Did not enter
 * Series 3: Heat Final
 * Series 4: Heat Final
 * Series 5: Heat, Round 1 (Withdrew before Round 2)
 * Series 6-7: Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars
A modified version of Suicidal Tendencies 2 was entered in BattleBots Season 2.0, beating Blunt Force Trauma then losing to the eventual champion BioHazard on a Judges' Decision after being flipped and shunted around, before having its tracks cut apart by the arena "Killsaws". However, the original Suicidal Tendencies 2 did win the Best Newcomer Award for BattleBots 1.0, having lost its first battle to Gammatron. The scoop it used at BattleBots was a single faced design, whereas the one that was used in Robot Wars had a three faces design.

Appearances in Merchandise

 * Suicidal Tendencies/Minibot
 * Suicidal Tendencies/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (PC/Xbox)

Trivia

 * Suicidal Tendencies is one of nine UK Series Competitors to appear in BattleBots, and one of the few with any success.
 * After Team Thermonuclear Warfare disbanded, Ed Hoppitt moved on to create his own robot, the very successful Storm 2.
 * With the only exception being a forfeited position, Suicidal Tendencies always lost in the third round of anything it competed in.
 * Suicidal Tendencies was profiled in Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide.
 * Suicidal Tendencies 2 was one of six robots to be a figurine for the Robot Wars Board Game, albeit with its BattleBots wedge.
 * Team member Charles Binns briefly joined Ivar Bundulis as Pitbull fought in the Semi-Finals of the Third Wars, due to Phil Botting being absent for filming.
 * Julia Reed frequently referred to Suicidal Tendencies as the "best tracked robot in Robot Wars", despite 101, Mortis and Plunderbird having greater success with this locomotion.