Behemoth

"Behemoth: It's big, it's bad, it's back!"

- Anthony 'Ant' Pritchard

Behemoth is one of the longest-running competitors to have ever appeared in Robot Wars. It competed in every UK series starting with The Second Wars, including both series of Robot Wars Extreme.

As the longest-active veteran of Robot Wars, Behemoth has enjoyed reasonable success. With twenty-five combat victories to its name, it is one of the most successful robot's in the show, notably reaching the semi-finals of Series 2, the Heat Finals of Series 3, 4 and 8, and coming in second in The First World Championship. However, alongside its successes it also had a remarkable string of poor performances. Beginning in Extreme 1, Behemoth lost in the first or second round of nearly every tournament it fought in, due to a combination of tough draws, poor luck, unreliability and tactical errors. It was considered by Craig Charles to be the unluckiest robot to ever compete in the original show's run, and became infamous for having participated in the most competitions and losing the most battles in the show's history.

Behemoth was created by brothers Anthony and Michael Pritchard and their father Edward. The brothers competed alongside their friend, Kane Aston, for most of the robot's competitive history. Behemoth's trademark feature was a yellow and black coloured lifting scoop - the first of its kind in Robot Wars, used to great effect and even able to hoist robots out of the arena.

Versions of Behemoth
"Unlike many other robots, Behemoth uses very little welding, instead relying on bolts to hold much of the robot together. This gives a great advantage with repairs as seldom does a part need to be cut out."

- Behemoth team website

All versions of Behemoth shared roughly the same design idea, being based around a bulldozer with yellow and black hazard stripes, good pushing power and armed with a large pneumatic bucket scoop at the front. The scoop was designed to lift, flip and shove other robots, and in later series acted as the robot's shield against spinner-wielding robots such as Hypno-Disc and Carbide. The robot's "evolution" number was usually imprinted on the robot in Roman Numerals.

Behemoth (Series 2)
The scoop of Series 2's Behemoth was powered by CO2 from a sodastream bottle, and could hoist 1000 kg, with its armour being made from dexion from office shelving and four-wheel driven. It took around 4 months to build. Behemoth only featured paint on its scoop, which was changed in later updates.

Behemoth Evo II (Series 3)
The second Behemoth for Series 3 took about 7 months through re-design, re-construction and testing. The size of the scoop and lifting height was greatly increased for Series 3. The robot could pull 1.5 tonnes, and twin rear axes were added for extra weaponry. However the scoop could now lift 300 kg (a reduced capability from the previous version), the underside was flammable and the motors were vulnerable to damage.

Behemoth Evo III (Series 4)
In Series 4, the team added spring-loaded self-righting arms that would fire when the scoop was raised and team member Michael Pritchard's skateboard wheels were lifted below the scoop to stop the robot leaning forwards. The shell and bucket were both upgraded to 7mm titanium and driven by an electric wheelchair gearbox but was slow at 6 mph and top heavy. The team also called this £2,500 version of Behemoth "Evo 3".

Behemoth Evo IV (Series 5, Extreme 1)
After Series 4, the ineffective rear axes were abandoned, and in Series 5, a larger single axe was added to the scoop as dual weaponry. The robot was now slightly quicker at 7 mph and made more durable, and weighed an extra 20kg, including upgraded armour. The overhead axe proved capable, as it allowed Behemoth to hold its opponents in place as it demonstrated against Stinger.

Behemoth Evo V (Series 6-7, Extreme 2)
In Series 6, the robot was updated to feature six-wheel drive, driven by 5HP motors and with an increased top speed of 12 mph. The Series 7 version was the same as before, but the team joked that it was "equipped with a pit-homing device" as a result of it being pitted frequently in the previous two series. In Series 6, the robot entered the arena with unpainted wheel guards, which were painted before its Round 2 battle with Bigger Brother.

Behemoth Evo VIII (Series 8-9)
In Series 9, Behemoth's scoop was modified to have a bladed lower lip. Additionally, Behemoth's on-board camera was put to use on television for the first time, having been present since Series 8. Behemoth's on-board footage was used in Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars when it fought TR2. Its lifting power was upgraded, and Behemoth now has a choice of three different scoops to use interchangeably, including a plough with angles, designed to deflect attacks from spinners, as well as a pair of grabbing arms, to clamp down onto other robots and control fights. Both of these weapons were created in response to Behemoth's Series 8 opponents - the angled plough to resist damage from spinners like Carbide, the gripping weapon to attack hard to manage opponents like Nuts.

Series 2
"The tiger-striped pneumatic scoop gives Behemoth its distinctive look"

- Jonathan Pearce

Behemoth competed in Heat D of the Second Wars, showing itself to be a fairly consistent competitor throughout the heat. It traversed the middle route in the Gauntlet and was able to make it to the end zone without too many troubles, using its scoop and pushing power to get past both the breeze blocks and Sergeant Bash, this easily put Behemoth through to the Trial stage of the Heat, which for this Heat was Football. Behemoth's lifting scoop also helped it out here, it was unable to reach Razer to grab the ball away from them at first. This meant that Razer scored the first goal, but Behemoth then had little competition left to properly challenge it, so Behemoth scored the second goal of the match, putting it through to the arena stage of the heat. In the Heat Semi-Final, Behemoth was put up against Robot Wars veterans Elvis. Behemoth didn't have to do a great deal to defeat its opponent in this battle; after immediately using its lifting scoop to scoop Elvis into the PPZ, the cone-shaped broke down completely. Elvis was soon declared immobilised and attacked further by the house robots, before cease was called.

This lead to a battle against a Inquisitor in the Heat Final. Inquisitor had defeated Heat favourites Razer in the previous round, but was badly damaged, and had to remove its chainsaw. This battle had a similar outcome to the previous battle for Behemoth; once again, Behemoth used its lifting scoop to lift and then push its opponent into the PPZ with ease, before they were attacked by the House Robots. Inquisitor couldn't escape from the PPZ and was immobilised by the damage caused to it by the House Robots. Cease was later called and Behemoth was put through to the Series Semi-Finals. "Slow and steady progress in the heats surprised us all!"

- Jonathan Pearce in the Semi-Finals

In the series Semi-finals, Behemoth shot over the ramp down the middle route in the gauntlet, but was pushed and then flipped by Shunt. However, it had progressed 7.5 metres, which was enough to surpass Mace and future champions Panic Attack; this allowed Behemoth to progress on to the Pinball stage. Here, Behemoth knocked down many barrels and bricks in the pinball, scoring a total of 95 points, before being taken into the pit by house robot Sir Killalot, despite this, Behemoth had still done enough to progress to the arena stage. In the final round of the Semi-Final, Behemoth was then put up against the number 4 seeds Killertron. In the battle, both robots ponderously approached towards each other to begin with. Killertron's axe smashed through part of Behemoth's shell, digging inside and getting a grip. Killertron managed to pull Behemoth over, eliminating the Pritchard family from the competition.

Series 3
"This year, we've upgraded it- we can pull one-and-a-half tons with it now, so we've increased the strength. Beforehand, we couldn't lift very high at all, and we've now increased the height of lifting- which allows us to roll over other robots and actually have an edge!"

- Anthony and Michael Pritchard

Behemoth was larger with a sturdier design in this war, but the robot was no quicker than it was in the last series. Behemoth participated in the second Heat of the series, and due to what it accomplished in the previous wars, it was considered by many as the Heat favourites. In the first round of the heat, Behemoth was placed up against newcomers Shark Attack. In the battle, Shark Attack proved to be incredibly sluggish, even in comparison to Behemoth, this gave Behemoth the perfect opportunity to catch Shark Attack side-on, and flip the newcomer onto its side. Due to it not having a srimech, Shark Attack was deemed immobilised. The House Robots then attacked Shark Attack further, before cease was eventually called. This put Behemoth through to the next round of the Heat with ease. In the second round, Behemoth was placed up against a returning team in General Carnage. In this battle, Behemoth once again quickly disposed of its opponent with one fairly swift flip of the lifting shovel. Once again, its opponent couldn't self-right, and was therefore immobilised. This gave Behemoth the perfect opportunity to use its new rear axes on the defeated General Carnage machine, before the House Robots came in to do their own damage to General Carnage. A run-in with Dead Metal saw Behemoth take some damage, but the result still stood as Behemoth was still put through to the Heat Final.

In the Heat Final, Behemoth was placed up against surprise newcomers Pitbull.

This battle was in Behemoth's favour for a while to begin with, with Behemoth flipping Pitbull over. However, Pitbull finally gripped onto Behemoth side-on and slammed the previous Semi-Finalists into the arena side wall, before the critical event of the battle occurred. Unbeknownst to the Behemoth boys, one of the new features of the arena in this series was the hardened arena floor spikes, one of which shot up and tipped Behemoth onto its side, Behemoth was unable to self-right, and was deemed immobilised, to shock of many. After the House Robots attacked, Behemoth was placed onto the arena floor flipper, another new feature of the arena, where it was then turned over onto its back, landing on Dead Metal. Behemoth was soon flipped back onto its wheels where it continued to move, but the cease call had been given and Behemoth had lost, eliminating it from the competition. Events such as this lead to the arena floor spikes being removed for the next series. Behemoth was also the runner-up of the First World Championship, and it had a fairly easy run to the Final. In its first round battle, Behemoth was placed up against the Dutch representative Techno-Lease. The two competitors slowly approached each other, but just one flip from the Behemoth scoop resulted in Techno-Lease being flipped right onto its back. Techno-Lease had no means of self-righting, and was deemed immobilised. Cease was immediately called after the flip, and Behemoth progressed through to the Quarter Finals, where it was placed up against Mortis, in an all English affair. In this battle, Mortis struck Behemoth's front with its axe weapon, but it did very minor damage. This frontal attack from Mortis meant that Behemoth was able to flip Mortis over with its scoop, push it over to the pit of oblivion, and drop it in, making it a surprise victory for Behemoth, putting it through to the next round.

In the Semi-Final, Behemoth was seen as the favourites as it was placed up against the Irish representatives Diotoir. Once again, Behemoth quickly flipped over its opponent onto its back, and Diotoir couldn't self-right, so Behemoth then flipped Diotoir back on to its wheels to let it continue fighting. However, Behemoth was constantly able to flip Diotoir over onto its back, with little in the way of retaliation from the Irish machine, so Behemoth continued to flip Diotoir over and over again, before putting it back onto its wheels again. This was until the battle went to a judges' decision, where the decision unanimously went in favour of Behemoth, putting it through to the final round.

In the Final, Behemoth was placed up against another English machine in International League Champions and Pinball Champions Razer. In this battle, Behemoth managed to flip Razer onto its side and push it on to the flame pit, where the gaps in the grill made it much harder for Razer to self-right. Dead Metal then pushed Razer back onto its wheels and Razer pierced several holes in the side of Behemoth's armour before cease was called for the battle to go to a judges' decision. This was a split decision but it went in favour of Razer, and Behemoth lost due to the damaged sustained in the final moments by Razer.

At the end of the Third Wars, Behemoth was nominated for the Best Engineered Robot Award, but lost out to Chaos 2.

Series 4
"Wired Up and Fired Up!"

- Julia Reed

Behemoth returned as the 6th seed for The Fourth Wars, mainly due to finsishing as runners-up in the First World Championship, as well as their success in previous wars. Behemoth was placed against Arnold, Arnold Terminegger, the new machine from the experienced Team EyeEye, and newcomers Rambot in the first round. Behemoth started slowly by trying to flip Rambot but eventually managed to flip Arnold Arnold Terminegger who was righted. Eventually, the judges had to make a decision and ruled that Rambot had been the less aggressive and less controlled, putting Behemoth and Arnold A. Terminegger through to the second round.

Behemoth then met Judge Shred 2 in the second round. After Judge Shred 2 tried unsuccessfully to use its lifting arms to turn Behemoth over, Behemoth seized the opportunity and managed to roll Judge Shred 2 over and out of the competition. Behemoth met 22nd seed X-Terminator 2 in the Heat Final.

Behemoth flipped X-Terminator 2 immediately in the battle, which self-righted but seemed to stop. The same thing happened twice again. The robots rammed each other, with X-Terminator lifting, but not flipping Behemoth. Behemoth was moving very sluggishly towards the end of the battle. Once again, the judges decided the outcome as the battle ended in a judges' decision, the decision put X-Terminator 2 through to the Semi-Finals, eliminating Behemoth from the competition.

Behemoth also participated in the Sumo competition. It charged right into Shunt and got wedged underneath it. Neither robot could gain purchase on the other, so they remained in a deadlock until cease was called. Behemoth's performance earned it a joint second place with X-Terminator 2.

"Basically, we're gonna flip 'em, and kick 'em"

- Michael Pritchard at the start of the Annihilator

Behemoth finally competed in the Southern Annihilator, going up against Spawn of Scutter, Onslaught, Razer, Vercingetorix and Attila the Drum. Although it played a minor role in the first round, it showed its strength by attacking and lifting up Razer, Spawn of Scutter and Vercingetorix, the latter of whom was eventually immobilized.

In the second round, it overturned Razer and tried to prevent it from righting by pushing it onto the flame pit, in a similar tactic used in the World Championships. Eventually, Razer escaped and, once again, crushed effortlessly through the side panels of Behemoth, leaving it virtually immobile. Luckily for Behemoth, it was still just about able to move, and was saved from elimination after Spawn of Scutter lost power from its receiver and broke down. However, it turned out that the gearbox had been damaged, and as the spare would take too long to put in, the team withdrew from the competition, leaving Behemoth to finish fourth in the Southern Annihilator.

Extreme 1
Behemoth participated in several Extreme 1 events with a varying amount of success. For reaching the final of the First World Championship, in addition to being a veteran and former Semi-finalist, Behemoth was entered into the All-Stars competition. In the first round, Behemoth had an unfortunate draw as it was placed up against Hypno-Disc. It hit its opponent's disc head-on and sparks flew, but Behemoth appeared to be unharmed. Behemoth pushed Hypno-Disc into the walls several times before pushing it onto the flame grille, where Hypno-Disc stopped moving, the Refbot then came in to count out Hypno-Disc, giving Behemoth the win. This was an unanticipated victory, which led the team to believe they were "invincible", it also put Behemoth through to the next round.

In the Quarter Final round, Behemoth's fight was seen as a grudge match, as it was placed up against Razer yet again. Razer immediately got underneath Behemoth and crumpled its scoop. Behemoth escaped, and flipped Razer over, pushing it over to the arena side wall, where it pinned Razer to prevent it from self-righting. Despite its best efforts, Razer did manage to self right and escape. Razer's claw crumpled into Behemoth's side and held it until just seconds to go. As Razer let go, Behemoth flipped it over just one more time, before cease was called for the battle to go to a judges' decision. Unfortunately, Behemoth would not be getting revenge for the First World Championship, as the judges ruled in favour of Razer, eliminating Behemoth from the All-Stars competition.



Behemoth was the initial holder of the Challenge Belt, and would be allowed to keep it if it could best three robots who threw down the gauntlet. Its first challenger was recent Heat Finalist The Steel Avenger.

The Steel Avenger lined up its axe on the side of Behemoth, and began hammering away at its top. Behemoth eventually got into position to flip The Steel Avenger, and did so several times, with The Steel Avenger successfully self-righting in response. Behemoth then lifted The Steel Avenger onto the arena side wall, and just barely failed to get it out of the arena. Behemoth flipped The Steel Avenger again, and Steel Avenger's srimech had stopped working, so it was counted out.

Behemoth's second challenge was from previous Grand Finalist Stinger. Behemoth had trouble getting its weapons to work on Stinger, but it eventually managed to get Stinger up against a wall. It clamped down on Stinger with its axe and raised its scoop, raising Stinger off the ground and pinning its centre axle with the axe, the perfect position to hold Stinger off the ground and carry it to the pit. Behemoth now only needed to win one more battle to take home the Belt. In the third challenge against Tornado, Behemoth couldn't keep up with Tornado's speed, and was repeatedly rammed against the arena side wall, before being tipped onto its side. Refbot righted it, and it came on the attack on Tornado, flipping it several times. It pushed Tornado up against a wall, but couldn't get it to balance on its back. Tornado fell down onto its wheels and began grinding Behemoth's scoop with its disc. The match ended with the two robots in a deadlock, so the judges had to make the call, and the ruled that Tornado had won, costing Behemoth its chance to take home the Challenge Belt.

Behemoth also appeared in a Wild Card Warriors battle, where it went up against The Spider, which was actually from the Robocow team. This was one of Behemoth's easier victories. As the two robots approached each other, Behemoth simply used the bucket scoop to flip The Spider over, and onto the angle grinder, with The Spider's weaponry making it charge upwards, to prop it against the arena side wall. With one more flip from the scoop, Behemoth simply lifted The Spider over the arena barrier and out of the arena, making it the winner of the battle. "We fancy a bit of boiled lobster, and we're going to take the sting out of their tail"

- Kane Aston

Behemoth also fought in a Mayhem qualifier battle in the first series of Extreme, for the right to fight in the first Annihilator of the series. Behemoth was placed up against Stinger and Thermidor 2, two other very highly rated machines, despite this, Behemoth was still considered by many to be the favourite to win. In the battle, Thermidor 2 caught Behemoth side on and flipped it right over. However, Behemoth recovered, and retreated into the distance. Suddenly, the far quicker Thermidor 2 machine then snuck up behind Behemoth and flipped it again, sending the Series 2 Semi-Finalists head over heels and out of the arena, eliminating it from the competition. Behemoth was later followed by Stinger, declaring Thermidor 2 the winner of the Mayhem, putting it through to the Annihilator.

Series 5
"Well, we've got the axe now, so now we can get damage points."

- Anthony Pritchard

Behemoth was given the number 15 seed placing for this series, making it the second highest seed for the series that didn't reach the Semi-Finals of the previous series. Its first round battle in the Fifth Wars saw it go up against Supernova. Supernova started the battle strongly, hitting Behemoth's scoop with its disc and causing sparks to fly, but wasn't causing any damage and it kept ricocheting off. However, Behemoth then fought back from then on, hammering down with the axe and lifting over Supernova a few times. Behemoth took control of the battle after Supernova accidentally drove into Matilda's CPZ, damaging its top armour panel and one of its wheel guards, this jammed the wheel, almost completely immobilising Team Supernova's new machine. Behemoth was able to use its axe to damage the exposed innards of Supernova, leaving Supernova completely immobilised. Behemoth then activated the pit release button. Using its axe weapon, combined with the lifting shovel, Behemoth was able to push the defeated Supernova into the pit, putting it through to the next round of the heat. In the second round of the Heat, Behemoth was placed up against newcomers Crushtacean. The crab bot pulled off a surprise victory in this battle, when it got underneath Behemoth's scoop, after a failed lift from the seeded machine, Crushtacean pushed the former Semi-finalists into the angle grinder, turning Behemoth almost right over. Crushtacean then used its pincers to steer and push Behemoth down into the Pit of Oblivion, that Crushtacean had opened earlier on in the battle, subsequently eliminating Behemoth from the competition, this being the first time that Behemoth had failed to reach the Heat Final of the main competition. "What a famous victory this is for Crushtacean!"

- Jonathan Pearce, as Behemoth goes down the pit

Series 6
"It's now 6 wheel drive, 12 mile an hour, larger rams so much more power in 'em...much faster...brand new bucket as well."

- Anthony Pritchard in pre-first round interview, describing Behemoth's upgrades.

Behemoth participated in the final Heat of the Sixth Wars, this time unseeded. In the first round of the Heat, Behemoth was placed up against former Annihilator winners Disc-O-Inferno, Best Engineered winners from the previous year Derek 2 and newcomers Tridentate in its first round melee. In the battle, Behemoth immediately flipped over Derek 2, before it self-righted with help from Disc-O-Inferno. Derek pushed Behemoth across the arena before Disc-O-Inferno attacked Behemoth's side, causing it to only be able to spin around in circles over the flame pit. Soon afterwards, Disc-O-Inferno knocked out both Derek 2 and Tridentate, who were counted out. Behemoth had barely qualified for Round 2, and its scoop had been buckled by the onslaught of Disc-O-Inferno. Just as Refbot started counting out Tridentate, Disc-O-Inferno then slammed Behemoth completely into submission. Tridentate and Derek 2 were hurled by the floor flipper together, with Tridentate was tossed a second time, straight into Shunt. Apart from Disc-O-Inferno, all of the competing machines were pitted.

Behemoth appeared to be much stronger in the second round against 2nd seeds Bigger Brother. It started impressively, flipping Bigger Brother into Shunt's CPZ. After Bigger Brother recovered, Behemoth flipped it again. Soon after, Bigger Brother came back into the fight, flipping Behemoth and pushing it into the pit release button. Bigger Brother then trapped Behemoth underneath its flipper and pushed it straight into the pit, eliminating Behemoth from the competition.

Extreme 2
Claire Gray took to the helm of Behemoth for the Iron Maidens competition in the second series of Extreme, while Liz Pritchard controlled the axe. Behemoth's eliminator battle in the tournament saw it placed up against Kat 3 and Riptilion. In the battle, Behemoth immediately flipped Kat 3 over, and tried to pin it down so that it would be counted out. However, Kat 3 was eventually able to self-right after a lot of effort. Behemoth rammed the arena wall several times in an attempt to ram the other competitors, but soon afterwards Behemoth lifted up Riptilion, and Riptilion had stopped moving, with its spinning blade slowly running down to a stop. Behemoth then mistakenly drove into the CPZ and Shunt pinned it into place, but it still survived as Riptilion was counted out by Refbot and pitted by Mr. Psycho. Behemoth proceeded to the second round where it was placed up against Chompalot. In this battle, Behemoth almost immediately flipped Chompalot onto its side, but Shunt then came out of its corner and controversially righted it. Behemoth then drove into a CPZ, where Shunt closed in again and hacked away at it with its axe, piercing straight through its top armour. One blow in just the right place dislodged Behemoth's safety link, immobilising it. Behemoth was then pitted by Chompalot, taking it out of the Iron Maidens competition. Liz Pritchard would later express her dismay at the involvement of Shunt in this loss.

Behemoth represented the University of Hertfordshire in the University Challenge, and went in as the favourites for the title, with confidence from its team. In its first battle, Behemoth was up against relative newcomers C.V. and Infernal Contraption. Behemoth pushed Infernal Contraption around a little bit before flipping C.V. over. It didn't appear as if C.V. could self-right, and it probably would have been counted out - had Behemoth not re-righted it. This proved to be a fatal mistake for Behemoth; as after it charged C.V. into a CPZ, Behemoth itself broke down as it scurried out, while it was under no pressure at all. This resulted in Behemoth being counted out by the Refbot, much to the frustration of the team. This eliminated Behemoth from the competition, surprisingly early on. It was later revealed backstage that this defeat was caused by a faulty wire in Behemoth's safety link.

Series 7
"Well since the last wars we've completely stripped the robot down, rebuilt everything and fixed any minor faults we had, so we've replaced the link, we've upgraded all of the fittings in there, stuff's not held in with gaffa tape anymore so hopefully they won't fall out."

- Kane Aston describing Behemoth's upgrades.

Behemoth was seeded once again for the series, this time seeded 10th, and started Series 7 as promising as ever. It participated in Heat L of the main competition, and was placed up against the Dutch entrant Tartarus, previous first round drop-outs UFO and the South African representative Crushtacean in the first round battle. In this battle, Behemoth flipped Tartarus onto its back in the first few seconds, and into Shunt's CPZ. As Tartarus didn't have a srimech, this was as far as the machine could fight, so Behemoth went off to fight the other competitors. After shoving around UFO and Crushtacean, Behemoth lifted over Crushtacean several times, with Crushtacean then only working on the defensive. Behemoth continued to join UFO in attacking Crushtacean, instead of taking the opportunity of flipping UFO while its flipper wasn't working. Eventually, Tartarus was counted out by the Refbot. Soon afterwards, Crushtacean was propped on the arena side wall after a drive from UFO, meaning that it couldn't move. Behemoth took this opportunity to close in on the former, and Behemoth threw Crushtacean out of the arena, as an act of revenge for the Fifth Wars. Behemoth finished the battle by eventually flipping the slippery UFO machine over, but the latter had already qualified for the next round of the heat, along with Behemoth. In the Heat's second round, Behemoth was drawn up against the New Blood Championship runners-up Mute. In this battle, Behemoth started off well by overturning Mute, who managed to recover by self-righting over the top of Behemoth. However, Mute seemed to clip the seeded machine's aerial, causing a technical fault and resulting in the Behemoth machine being stuck in forward gear at high speed. Behemoth ran straight into the arena side wall, into the CPZ and was stuck there. Behemoth also took some fierce hammer blows from Mr. Psycho in the process, but was then freed, only for Behemoth to charge into the opposite end of the arena, and then back into the original spot again. Matilda then propped Behemoth up on the arena side wall, where it couldn't move. Refbot then took this opportunity to count out Behemoth, eliminating it from the competition. Once again, Behemoth's series run had ended very disappointingly after early promise. "The flip over us touched the aerial and caused the receiver to crash... It was left locked in full forward."

- Kane Aston on the FRA Forum

Having fought in 6 series of Robot Wars, Behemoth also entered in the All-Stars Tournament that took place at the end of the Seventh Wars. Behemoth was drawn up against Pussycat, King B Powerworks and Dantomkia in the first round of the competition. Behemoth did not last long in this battle, as it was immediately targeted by Dantomkia. The two dodged around each other for a brief while, before Dantomkia managed to steer Behemoth into an unoccupied CPZ. Dantomkia then steered Behemoth in such a way that it could swiftly flip Behemoth out of the arena, and it did so, eliminating Behemoth from the All-Stars competition. Behemoth was soon followed by King B Powerworks, as the latter suffered exactly the same fate slightly later on in the battle.

Behemoth returned and finally showed some power in the House Robot Rebellion at the end of the Seventh Wars, the last fight filmed in the Robot Wars Arena due to the producers not wanting the House Robots to sustain too much damage ahead of other events. Behemoth was originally intended to fight alongside Bigger Brother, but the Watts family's machine was denied entry into the battle after attacking the House Robots in the All-Stars tournament, having been involved with the House Robots once too often in the eyes of the producers. Gravity was entered in Bigger Brother's place, and it was the Dutch machine that starred in the opening moments of the battle, immobilising Growler and Cassius Chrome, before being soundly defeated by Mr. Psycho. Behemoth meanwhile engaged Cassius Chrome (who had been righted), who spun dangerously and smashed Behemoth's scoop. Behemoth attempted to avenge its companion, axing Mr. Psycho and attempting in vain to lift it, but effectively failing as its axe snapped off. As it attempted to escape the Floor Flipper activated and Behemoth was sent flying, but managed to self-right under pressure from Mr Psycho. It then attempted to drag the lifeless form of Gravity to shield itself from Mr. Psycho, but Cassius Chrome re-entered the battle and shoved it away. Mr. Psycho suddenly broke down, leaving Cassius Chrome alive along with Behemoth. The audience voted in favour of Gravity and Behemoth as the winners. "I consider you to be the unluckiest robot, in the history of Robot Wars, something always goes wrong with the robot, in opportune moment, but out there, you proved, that you can do it!"

- Craig Charles to Anthony Pritchard, after the battle

Series 8
In the first round, a brand-new Behemoth was drawn against bar spinner Carbide, Third Wars footballers The General, and Bonk, allowing Behemoth to rematch Team Mute, the team that knocked Make Robotics out of the Seventh Wars. Behemoth first targeted The General, sustaining damage from their circular saws, but retaliated with a huge flip that sent The General tumbling. On a second attempt, Behemoth missed and flipped itself over, but self-righted and pressed the pit release. After Carbide removed The General's tyre and immobilised Bonk, Behemoth pushed The General and then flipped Bonk over, which could not self-right, allowing Behemoth to avenge its loss at the hands of Mute, and qualify alongside Carbide. At the start of the head-to-head rounds, Behemoth faced newcomer Nuts. Behemoth didn't allow Nuts to spin on the spot, and charged straight into it, flipping Nuts onto the flame pit. Nuts had started spinning madly, but Behemoth was unfazed, and charged into it, flipping it onto the arena spikes. Behemoth then pushed Nuts into an empty CPZ, and flipped it into the pit release. While Nuts was using its sit-and-spin tactic, Behemoth targeted a minibot and launched it into the air, higher than the arena walls. However, Behemoth strayed too close to Matilda, and was knocked onto its side by her flywheel. After self-righting, Behemoth flipped another minibot towards Matilda, and then continued to push and flip Nuts, with Behemoth sustaining some damage on the side. One flip left Nuts stranded on its side, and after more attacks on Nuts, another flip nearly managed to flip a minibot out of the arena. Behemoth bullied Nuts with more flips and pushes until cease was called, where a unanimous Judges' decision was awarded in favour of Behemoth, giving it two points. Against former Grand Finalist Terrorhurtz, Behemoth started off the weaker, missing with its initial flip, as Terrorhurtz pushed it into the arena wall. Missing its second flip, Behemoth was then pushed towards Dead Metal, which was unable to catch Behemoth despite Terrorhurtz holding it in place. After one more failed flip, Behemoth wedged under the front of Terrorhurtz, and turned it over, pushing it across the arena. Terrorhurtz's axe was broken, and so, it could not self-right. Behemoth span on the spot while Dead Metal cut into the losing robot, giving Behemoth a further three points. "I got a bit trigger-happy firing the bucket a few times, but I settled down a bit and realised that they weren't firing their axe. I took my time a bit more, and I was able to roll them over"

- Anthony Pritchard

Behemoth's final match of the second round was a rematch with Carbide. Make Robotics' team plan was to stop Carbide's bar from spinning, so they bravely charged towards Carbide in the opening seconds, but were sent spinning aside. Behemoth continued its offence, and by driving into Carbide, sent the spinner flying through the air in recoil. Behemoth activated the pit release, but received attacks from Carbide's spinning bar. Behemoth then made a critical mistake, raising its scoop without a target in front, which Carbide capitalised on by knocking Behemoth's bucket completely out of alignment, and then knocked it over. With Behemoth's srimechs already opened, it could not self-right before Carbide reversed it into the open pit, where Behemoth drove around, but had failed to win the match. Although Behemoth and Terrorhurtz had both finished the second round with five points, Behemoth was put through to the heat final on the basis of its victory over Terrorhurtz earlier on. This meant that Behemoth would face Carbide for the third time. Behemoth missed Carbide on its opening charge, and was struck by the spinning bar. Behemoth's mobility was immediately impaired by this, and further blows brought Behemoth to a standstill. Behemoth twitched forwards, but only into its opponent's weapon. Behemoth laid dormant as Carbide pressed the pit release. Behemoth managed to lift Carbide when it drew near, but Carbide backed away. Carbide only drew near after this, before Behemoth reversed into the pit, eliminating itself from the episode.

Although Behemoth was defeated at this stage, it remained in contention for a wildcard, alongside Thor, Dantomkia, Storm 2 and Gabriel. However, Thor was chosen, and Behemoth was fully eliminated from the competition. Aside from the main competition, Behemoth fought an untelevised whiteboard match against Gabriel. Behemoth managed to launch Gabriel a large distance, causing Gabriel to lose mobility on one side, but when a victor had to be decided by the crowd, they decided that Gabriel had won the match. A clip of the battle was used in some opening sequences of the show.

Behemoth also fought against Eruption in a second whiteboard match. Behemoth had the inferior ground clearance, and was thrown around whenever it was exposed by Eruption, but Behemoth retaliated with flips of its own. The robots fought close to the flame pit, trying to avoid damage before an upcoming live event, and so Behemoth was flipped into the corner of the arena. Its side srimech had broken, so Behemoth could not self-right from this attack. Although this could have resulted in Eruption's victory, the teams wanted to continue to entertain the crowd, with nothing on the line, so Behemoth was righted by Eruption. The battle lasted the full three minutes, and both robots spun in the centre of the arena as cease was called. No winner was declared for the match.

Series 9
"Robot Wars veterans return with their mini bulldozer. Behemoth has the ability to pull 1½ tons, and a speed of 15 mph. Carbide knocked them out last series; with their upgraded buckets, will they have a shot at the championship this time?"

- Jonathan Pearce introduces Behemoth

Behemoth competed in Episode 2, where it faced Eruption in the Robot Wars Arena for the second consecutive match, while also meeting the Belgian entry Cobra and the 'egg beater' spinner Hobgoblin. Behemoth's first move was to drive past the Pit of Oblivion, which the bottom of the scoop crashed into. Behemoth fired its scoop to try to allow it move to free from the inactive arena hazard, although the use of its weapon allowed Cobra to come in with an aggressive drive which slammed Behemoth into the arena wall. Behemoth and Cobra then clashed head-on, before Behemoth threw Eruption over from behind. "Behemoth: you can see the power, there, of the scoop - lifting Eruption up, into the air."

- Jonathan Pearce

Cobra then forced Behemoth against the raised Arena Spikes before Behemoth responded by throwing over the same machine with a flip. Behemoth and Eruption then tussled with each other, but Behemoth could only flick the front of Eruption up before it followed through onto the floor flipper, which chucked Behemoth onto its side. After falling back onto its wheels, Behemoth caught Cobra with a glancing flip which inverted the Belgian machine, although it was at this stage that one of Behemoth's drive chains had come loose.

"Behemoth, mighty. Huge, in the middle."

- Jonathan Pearce

After staying out of the action for a short spell, Behemoth attempted to attack, but failed to overturn both Eruption and Cobra with uses of its scoop. After a ram into Cobra, Behemoth descended the Pit for the second time in the fight, before Cobra overturned itself as it rode up the front of Behemoth. With time running down, Behemoth managed one more successful flip on Eruption. Cease was called with Behemoth on its side after a final mistimed flip, and the judges were called upon to separate the three remaining machines. Behemoth was deemed to have played a significant enough role to progress to the second round, with Eruption also moving through to the Head-to-Head stage.

In its first Head-to-Head battle, Behemoth fought Group Battle foe, Eruption. Both machines jostled for position in the opening moments, before Behemoth threw Eruption backwards, onto the Flame Pit. Behemoth continued to be aggressive, and shunted Eruption over once more as a result of a strong drive. The battle then drifted over towards one of the unoccupied CPZs, and after an erroneous flip which threw Behemoth on its side, the team struggled to spot their robot, which resulted in Kane Aston positioning himself on the slanted screen of the team's booth to try to see properly.

"Ha-ha-ha! They're going blind at the moment - they can't see in there, and they're in real trouble as a result!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Team Make Robotics attempt to spot their machine

Eruption chucked Behemoth upwards with a flip, before Behemoth moved away into the centre of the arena. Suddenly, Behemoth missed with an attempted flip, which allowed Eruption to position itself underneath Behemoth as its scoop retracted. In trouble next to one of the arena entry gates, Behemoth flipped again in an attempt to get out of trouble. This only succeeded in Behemoth turning itself over again though, and Eruption took full advantage by flipping the rear of Behemoth up into the air, with its eventual landing taking place out of the arena. This flip saw Behemoth lose its first Head-to-Head fight, with Eruption taking 3 points for a knockout victory. "We both had a good tussle there. I was on top to start with, but, yeah, just the luck of the draw at that one point - that's all it takes."

- Anthony Pritchard rues Behemoth's key mistake

Behemoth's next battle was against PP3D, with the team deciding to use their front plough in an attempt to weather PP3D's attacks. "The idea is, it will ride up this, kind of deflecting the angle of their spinner. It's more something to take away the momentum of their disc."

- Anthony Pritchard explains the design of Behemoth's plough

Behemoth charged at PP3D straight away, but swerved off centre with the drive and suffered a hit to the side. Another blow from PP3D sent both machines backwards, before Behemoth nudged PP3D back towards the arena gate. Behemoth then drove at PP3D, with the impact sending Behemoth spiralling off to the side, while PP3D found itself in Shunt's CPZ. After some pressure from Shunt, PP3D started to spark, which triggered Behemoth into retreating to activate the Arena Tyre.

The dial landed on Rogue House Robot mode, which allowed Shunt to continue to axe PP3D while driving it across the arena floor. After Shunt retreated back to his CPZ and more sparks poured out of PP3D, the Scottish machine was counted as immobile, and Behemoth had attained its first 3 points, which it celebrated with a victory flip. "I can tell you, Ant and Kane dance like that in the discos - but they're winners!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Behemoth celebrates its first Head-to-Head win

Behemoth's final battle was also the last battle in the entire Head-to-Head stage, and with its opponent, Cherub, only 1 point behind Behemoth, the battle between the two would decide which machine was to face Eruption in the Heat Final. For the fight, Behemoth was equipped with its other modular weapon - its clamping arms.

Both machines clashed into each other after activate was called, before both machines took turns at pushing each other backwards. Behemoth then attacked Cherub side on and brought its grabbing arms down, but with Behemoth failing to get underneath Cherub, the arms were unable to clutch onto Cherub. Behemoth was then forced into Dead Metal after Cherub slipped underneath the front of it, where the House Robot created minor sparks with his circular saw. Behemoth moved away from the House Robot and then responded by driving Cherub over the Flame Pit. Suddenly, another side-on drive by Behemoth forced Cherub towards the Floor Flipper, but the arena hazard activated early, and Behemoth's continuation of its drive saw Cherub wedged between the Floor Flipper panel and the empty space below it. With Cherub unable to move away, cease was called to resolve the incident. It was decided that the fight was to be continued from the robots' original starting positions due to the immobilisation occurring because of "equipment failure" of the Floor Flipper, as apposed to being a legal knockout. "There are supposed to be sides to the flipper but it broke. Cherub caught in flipper was an equipment failure and judges were instructed not to count it."

- Noel Sharkey explains why Cherub was not considered immobile

The fight resumed with 2 minutes remaining on the clock when activate was called for a second time. Behemoth immediately drove Cherub back into the Arena Tyre, which activated Rogue House Robot mode. Behemoth was initially chased by Dead Metal, but managed to get itself far enough away from the House Robot for Cherub to be the one on the end of the attack. Behemoth then found itself temporarily tangled up with Dead Metal as the House Robot retreated, before Cherub came in with a ram. A period of minimal assertion from both machines followed, although Behemoth was forced into quick reverses on three occasions after it drove up the front of Cherub. After the final one of these incidents occurred, Cherub found itself too close to the CPZ, with Behemoth taking the chance to ram Cherub deeper into trouble. In doing so, though, Behemoth got itself in trouble, and both machines were damaged by the House Robot's circular saw during the remaining seconds. With both machines still mobile, the judges were called upon to decide the winner of the battle, and subsequently, which machine would progress to the Heat Final.

In the booth where the Judges' decision was to be announced, Anthony Pritchard expressed his disappointment in how the grabbing weapon had little effect, and that it was not his personal choice of weapon for the fight.

Unfortunately for Team Make Robotics, Behemoth's actions were deemed as not being enough to give them the victory, with a unanimous decision going in favour of Cherub. With Behemoth's defeat confirmed, Anthony Pritchard walked out from the booth, before later making his way back to the pits. "Putting a grabber of that type onto the robot for a critical match was a very poor decision there. Main reason I walked out there was because I was so annoyed with the rest of the team for making that decision not to go with a guaranteed win with using the scoop - it's proven, and sometimes innovation dosen't pay out. Sometimes it's best to use what you know works."

- Anthony Pritchard explains why he left the control booth

After the episode aired, the incident attracted widespread coverage from numerous media and news outlets. Pritchard later released a statement regarding the matter when several outlets erroneously claimed that he walked away in response to Cherub winning the Judges' decision: "I am incredibly passionate about Robot Wars and it is something I take very seriously. I want to clarify that in Sunday's episode I didn't walk off because I was beaten by children, I walked off because I was very frustrated by the decision we made for Behemoth's weapon for the battle. I respect Cherub as competitors and age is not something I took into account - as such, I would have acted the same way with any other competitor. I apologised to the Cherub team and Angela after the cameras stopped rolling for that moment."

- Anthony Pritchard's statement to the Press Association

As a result of the Judges' decision, Behemoth had failed to score enough points for a place in the Heat Final, finishing the Head-to-Head round in third place with 3 points.

Behemoth also fought in an exhibition match against TR2, which was aired during Episode 1 of Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars. In the match, Behemoth was driven by series presenter Angela Scanlon, in a battle against Dara Ó Briain. Behemoth's on-board camera was referred to as "Angela Cam" on-screen. Behemoth started the battle driving around in no particular direction, firing its bucket at thin air, and was thrown towards the pit release by TR2. Angela Scanlon attempted to open the pit, but instead rammed Behemoth straight into the arena wall, activating the pit on her second try. Behemoth was thrown onto the arena wall by TR2, where it struggled to self-right, allowing Dara Ó Briain to perform a premature victory dance. Behemoth eventually self-righted, but continued to miss with its flips, turning Behemoth over, where it was tipped sideways by TR2. The next attack from TR2 drove it completely under Behemoth, and out the other side. Another missed flip from Behemoth caused it to balance on its back panels, giving Dara another chance to flip it. "Oh Dara, I thought we were friends!"

- Angela Scanlon

Eventually, Dara Ó Briain gave Scanlon the opportunity to launch an attack, so she flipped TR2 over from behind. Time elapsed, and cease was called, with no official winner being declared. Despite this, the battle continued for another minute off-screen, where Angela Scanlon eventually drove Behemoth into the pit, though this did not affect the result.

"Behemoth let me down, Dara Ó Briain was merciless!"

- Angela Scanlon

Results

 * }

Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 25
 * Losses: 18

NOTE: ''Behemoth's successful Gauntlet and Trial runs, Whiteboard matches, and exhibition match with TR2 are not included. Behemoth's withdrawal from the Southern Annihilator is considered a loss.''

Robot Wars Live Events
Behemoth has competed in various events organised by the Robot Wars Live Show which started in 2013. It made its debut at the second live event of the new Robot Wars at Portsmouth in March 2013, reaching the final battle of the competition and finishing third and also reached the final of the competition at Colchester 2013 against Maelstrom. It also placed second in the Robot Wars Championships 2013 at Newport, having a very good run beating Cherub and Ripper on the way before losing to Eruption in the final. Behemoth was also seeded 4th for the Robot Wars Winter Tour 2013, it did well in the primary heats where it survived until the end but was thrown out the arena by Maelstrom in its secondary heat and didn't gain enough points to qualify.

In 2015, Behemoth participated at the Robot Wars World Championships in Colchester, where it fought TMHWK, Eruption and Cherub. Tomahawk quickly lost mobility on one side, although Behemoth was thrown out of the arena by Eruption, eliminating it in the first round.

Behemoth continued to participate at events throughout 2014-2015, and made its 2016 debut at Manchester, flipping Gabriel out of the arena before being stranded against the wall by Eruption. Next it fought at Portsmouth where it got to the semi-finals of the main competition before losing to eventual winner Weird mAlice. However Team Make Robotics featherweight Minimoth managed to win the featherweight competition at the same event.

Outside Robot Wars
Behemoth also competed on Techno Games, stripped of its weapons under the name Technomoth in 2002. The following year, it returned, this time clad in fur and working with another weaponless version of Behemoth called Tigermoth under the team name MAKE Robotics in the football event, defeating the Skeleton Crew (Hellbent and Constrictor) 2-0 in the quarterfinal. Technomoth was also used in the Assault Course event where it came fourth overall in 2002, it returned the following year but lost to Rash in round 1. Behemoth's team also won the relay race two years running (2001 and 2002) as Team KAM.

Behemoth became far more successful after Robot Wars went off television in 2004. The Series 5 model and the Series 6-7 model (now known as Behemoth Evo 4 and Behemoth Evo 5) have both competed in live events. Behemoth Evo 5 has won the 2006 Roaming Robots Winter Tour Championship, and finished third in the 2005 UK Championships. At the 2006 UK Championships, Behemoth flipped Alien Destructor and Killer Carrot 2 out of the arena, but was defeated by Ripper.

Behemoth Evo 5 has since been rebuilt and upgraded several times, notably the scoop being replaced several times and the axe weapon being removed. The robot is now in its eighth incarnation - Behemoth Evo 8 - and still competes on the live circuit today with varying degrees of success, its most recent appearance being at the Robots Live! Stevenage event in October 2016.

Alongside Behemoth, Team Make Robotics also compete on the live event circuit with a featherweight called Minimoth, which is built as a featherweight version of Behemoth.

Appearances in Merchandise

 * Behemoth/Robot Wars: Metal Mayhem
 * Behemoth/Robot Wars: Arenas of Destruction
 * Behemoth/Robot Wars: Advanced Destruction
 * Behemoth/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (PC/Xbox)

Trivia

 * Behemoth is one of eight robots to win more than twenty battles in UK Robot Wars. The others to achieve this feat are Razer, Firestorm, Tornado, Pussycat, Panic Attack, Chaos 2 and Hypno-Disc.
 * Behemoth has entered the most competitions out of any robot.
 * With 18 losses across eight series and two Extremes, Behemoth holds the dubious honour of having the most losses of any robot.
 * Behemoth was the first non-flipper robot to throw another robot out of the arena, lifting The Spider out and over.
 * However, Behemoth is the only robot to be thrown out of the arena three times.
 * Team Make Robotics is one of only three teams to have competed in eight main series, alongside Team Hurtz and the Cold Fusion Team.
 * With the introduction of Series 9 of Robot Wars, Behemoth is the only robot to have fought in eight wars under the same name. The closest contenders are Razer and King Buxton, which competed in six wars.
 * Behemoth can drive into water without its internals becoming waterlogged. This is because Behemoth was waterproof in the first place as the wheels were guarded and the axles are thick enough so water can't get in.
 * It is worth mentioning that both Team Make Robotics and Robot Wars presenters often mispronounced the name of the robot (BAY-e-moth). The correct pronunciation is BEE-e-moth (British English) or Be-HEE-moth (American English).
 * Jonathan Pearce claimed in Series 3 that the name actually translates as "strong willed water-ox", however it actually merely translates as "any creature of monstrous size or power".
 * The message "Eat me, I'm done" was written on and under the scoop of Behemoth in Series 2, which is a quote from the Sitcom Friends.
 * Behemoth was profiled in Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide.
 * Behemoth is one of 23 robots to have completed The Gauntlet.
 * Behemoth is both the first and last robot to have been flipped by the Arena Flipper in the original run of the show, having been thrown by it in Heat B of Series 3, and the House Robot Rebellion of Series 7.
 * In the Iron Maidens championship in Extreme 2, Behemoth's weakness was classed as 'inexperience'. This is mainly because Liz Pritchard and Claire Gray were at the controls.
 * Behemoth was the only robot to be seeded 10th to fail to reach the first round of the Semi-Finals in its respective war.
 * Behemoth was the only robot to appear in two of the three special episodes at the end of the Seventh Wars.
 * When it reverses, Behemoth makes beeping noises like a truck.
 * Along with Krab-Bot, Tornado, 101, Storm 2, Razer, and Manta, Behemoth is one of only seven robots to finish in the top four of a World Championship and the top eight of a domestic championship.

Honours
Nominations
 * Best Engineered Award - Robot Wars: The Third Wars