Splinter

Splinter was a robot from Norwich, built by Team Ivanhoe. It featured a shield-like scoop and side-mounted axes for grasping opponents. It entered in Series 4, defeating Killerhurtz to reach the semi-finals, where it was torn to pieces by Hypno-Disc. Splinter was rebuilt and entered Extreme 1 and Series 5, where the team reshaped the scoop into more of a shovel, and installing a uni-directional axe. It helped defeat Hypno-Disc in the annihilator, where it placed third, before fighting in Series 5 and being flipped out of the arena by Bigger Brother - the first seed to fall to the flipper of Joe Watts. In Series 2, the team competed with Ivanhoe. Splinter was originally going to be entered in Series 3, but failed to qualify as it was over the weight limit.

After Series 5, Splinter was sold to the Dutch/Belgian Team RCC, who entered it for Series 7, but it failed to qualify.

Series 4
Splinter's first battle was a melee against Small Torque and the seeded Centurion. Centurion was first to attack, lifting up Splinter, but not enough to tip it over. Small Torque then got underneath Splinter, but could not flip it either. Without warning, Centurion stopped moving. Splinter and Small Torque continued to grapple, but it was unnecessary, as they were both through to the next round. In the heat semifinial, Splinter met Killerhurtz, the other seeded robot. Killerhurtz was very fast, but had no response when Splinter got around to its side, and trapped it in its claws. Killerhurtz eventually broke free, but couldn't get into position to to use its axe on Splinter. Splinter grabbed Killerhurtz again and shoved it around a bit more, and when Killerhurtz broke free, it mistakenly drove into Shunt's CPZ. Shunt axed it and lifted it with its scoop, and when it let go, the 16th seed became stuck in forward gear. It drove straight into the arena wall, where it was deemed immobile. In the heat final, Splinter was up against Eric. Eric came in on the attack, but could not get underneath Splinter and flip it over. Splinter eventually grabbed Eric, and pushed in into the CPZ, where Shunt axed and lifted Eric. Splinter pushed Eric around some more, and then had a momentary scare when its claw got stuck in a hole in the wall, but it managed to free itself. Eric then flipped Splinter onto its side, but Splinter used one of its arms to self-right. For the remainder of the match, Splinter grabbed Eric in its claws, and pushed it around the arena. The judges had to decide the heat winner, and they ruled in favour of Splinter. "...and then it all went wrong in the Semis."

- Robot Wars Extreme - The Official Guide pretty much sums it up.

Splinter received a death sentence in the Semifinals when it was paired with Hypno-Disc in its first match. Indeed, Hypno-Disc had no trouble putting gashes in Splinter's scoop, before tearing it clean off. Splinter's innards were hanging out, but Hypno-Disc wasn't finished. It continued attacking, ripping away Splinter's shell, and then dislodging most of Splinter's internals. Splinter was immobile, so the house robots took over, doing very little damage compared to what Hypno-Disc's disc had already done. For the piece de resistance, Sir Killalot picked up the carcass of Splinter, spun it in circles, and then let it fly. Splinter landed upside down in pieces. This was arguably the bloodiest match ever in Robot Wars.

"...A very close fight, we're going to have to go to the judges on that one.....only joking!"

- Craig Charles after Splinter's nightmare of a fight against Hypno-Disc

Extreme 1
Splinter was completely rebuilt after its run-in with Hypno-Disc, but its only appearance in Extreme was in the first Annihilator. It was seemingly immobilised from the beginning of its Mayhem after Aggrobot flipped it, but after Aggrobot broke down, it controversially won after Killertron was dumped in the pit by Sir Killalot despite being still mobile and nowhere near a CPZ.

In the first round of the Annihilator, it slammed Thermidor into a CPZ, and the impact immobilized the latter. In the second round, it grabbed Pussycat and pushed it around, while the other two axe-wielding robots took on Hypno-Disc. All five met in the centre of the arena, and Splinter and X-Terminator axed Hypno-Disc some more. Splinter once again grabbed and shoved Pussycat, and then used its arms and axe on Hypno-Disc. X-Terminator then stopped moving, and was counted out. In the third round, Hypno-Disc had technical difficulties, and never achieved mobility, so Splinter, with some help from Pussycat, pitted the robot who had torn it apart in Series 4. In the fourth round, Splinter employed its usual tactic of grabbing Pussycat, but Pussycat was able to push back. The robots danced around each other, with Splinter managing to land its axe on Pussycat a couple times. However, Pussycat managed to hit Splinter's rear with its blade and immobilise it.

Series 5
Splinter returned to the wars seeded 17th. In its first battle against V.I.P.E.R. 01, it grabbed V.I.P.E.R. by the side, allowing it to inflict damage with the axe while avoiding V.I.P.E.R.'s blade. It came down to a judges' decision, which was was predictably in Splinter's favour. Splinter's second match was against Bigger Brother. Splinter was flipped onto its side, but successfully used its arms to self-right. However, Bigger Brother then flipped it onto its back and stuck it against the wall. It followed up this attack by flipping Splinter out of the arena.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 8
 * Losses: 3

Series Record

 * Series 1: Did not enter
 * Series 2: Entered with Ivanhoe
 * Series 3: Failed to qualify
 * Series 4: Semi-Finals, Round 1
 * Series 5: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 6: Did not enter
 * Series 7: Failed to qualify as a member of Team RCC