Prince of Darkness

"Looks like one of those go-karts you make when you were about seven."

- Jonathan Pearce

Prince of Darkness was a box-wedge shaped robot that competed in Series 1 of Robot Wars. It was built in under 5 hours and was armoured in wood. However, it performed well in the Gauntlet and Trials to reach the Arena stage of its only appearance, losing to the eventual heat winner, T.R.A.C.I.E.. Whilst not aesthetically pleasing, it was very powerful - according to the team, it could pull a car.

However, Jeremy Clarkson seemed to have a real distaste for the robot, calling it the "worst robot he'd ever seen", and thanking T.R.A.C.I.E. after its defeat in the Arena Semi-Final. "The Prince of Darkness team were unlucky as they originally planned a featherweight but their speed controller broke the night before so they cannibalised an old wheelchair, turning it in the red Prince of Darkness."

- Oliver Steeples

Series 1
Prince of Darkness was the last robot to traverse the Gauntlet stage in its heat. It started by picking the middle route and easily crossing the see-saw and then crossing the ramp, but then just before it crossed the line, Matilda came in and pushed Prince of Darkness away into a tank trap. "The Prince of Darkness is going all the way! Look at that! Oh, until Matilda came across, but did they cross the line? They think so - but the judges say no, they have to do it all again!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Matilda herself got stuck, allowing Prince of Darkness to get away and cross the line, through to the Trial. Next came a game of robot Snooker. Prince of Darkness shone, quickly returning 3 balls to its own "pocket" - the team had added a bucket to the front of the robot to help guide the balls. With Skarab unable to follow up its first score, and the other three robots The Mouse, T.R.A.C.I.E. and The Blob seemingly immobile, Prince of Darkness scored another 3 times and came first by a long way as it qualified for the next round.

Because of its success in the Gauntlet and Trial, Prince of Darkness was the favourite going up against T.R.A.C.I.E. in the Heat Semi Final. The battle started slowly with the two robots bashing into each other, but then T.R.A.C.I.E managed to puncture one of Prince of Darkness' tyres. T.R.A.C.I.E. then rammed the other side, puncturing the body shell, and tipping Prince of Darkness slightly. Unable to move, Prince of Darkness was eliminated and T.R.A.C.I.E. was declared the winner.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 0
 * Losses: 1

Series Record

 * Series 1: Heat, Arena Semi-Final
 * Series 2-7: Did not enter