Robochicken

"I'm not sure if you've heard, in the news in the last few months about factory chickens, not having to have such small cages...Well this is what happens!"

- Philippa Forrester in Series 6

Robochicken was a series of basic wedge-shaped robots resembling a chicken which entered Series 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Robot Wars, also entering in the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. It had an axe that looked like a chicken's beak and a flipper that resembled a tail feather. The axe was decorated with eyes made from ballcocks and a crest made from a red rubber glove. The shell and chassis were both sprung steel.

Robochicken fought The Necromancer in the Series 4 qualifiers. The Necromancer's lifter had broken before the qualifier, so it could only push Robochicken around the areana, before The Necromancer suffered radio control issues and drove into the arena barriers, bending the front of the machine. The match was given to the audience vote, and the audience voted for Robochicken, but the Judges declared the match a draw. Ultimately, Robochicken qualified, but The Necromancer didn't.

In Series 5, the team entered a slightly different design in a robot called Robochicken-Evo, which was barrel-shaped rather than wedge-shaped and had a narrower flipper arm capable of lifting 100 kg with ease, before reverting to a design more similar to the original for Series 6. From the Sixth Wars onwards, the robot's name was reverted to Robochicken.

In Series 7, the team removed the axe mechanism, fixing the chicken head and neck on the hinge of the flipper so that the head went down when the flipper was fired, similar to 8645T. However, this still prevented the robot from self-righting, which had been a problem in the past, and the robot was fairly slow at 8 mph. The chicken head and neck could be removed from the flipper to allow the robot to self-right. Also in Series 7, Robochicken had an added vertical spinning disc under the axe head, named as the Rooster Rotavator. "Good engineering, good weaponry, good fun."

- Jonathan Pearce summarises the Series 7 version of Robochicken

Robochicken never made it past the Heat Final of the main competition, but it did win the Extreme Series 2 Tag Team Terror competition alongside Bulldog Breed, though it was its partner that dominated the competition.

Series 4
"Don't count your chickens before they're...um...shredded"

- Jonathan Pearce as Razer seizes Robochicken

In the eliminator round of Heat B of the Fourth Wars, newcomers Robochicken had an unlucky draw against the number 3 seeds and current World Champions Razer, and previous Robotic Soccer finalists Velocirippa. In the battle, Robochicken sustained major damage from Razer, being punctured in both sides and down the front, also being hoisted into the air by the claw of the seeded machine, but despite this, Robochicken showed no signs of running down on power or breaking down. Suddenly, Razer turned its attention to the so far uneventful Velocirippa, Razer put one small hole in Velocirippa's shell, and carried it onto a flame jet. This was enough for Velocirippa to become completely immobilised, allowing the house robots to close in and pit the dinosaur-like machine. This also allowed Robochicken to survive the battle to go through to the next round of the Heat, along with the seeded Razer. "We survived Razer, we'll survive a lesser mortal."

- The team's confidence

In the second round, Robochicken faced another unfortunate draw as it was drawn up against the number 19 seeds and future Grand Finalists Pussycat. In this battle, Robochicken was slowly torn to shreds by Pussycat's powerful blade weapon. Robochicken did little in the way of retalliation, and firing its axe head weapon was merely hitting at thin air, and only allowed Pussycat to rip up the head completely as well. Robochicken was still moving to a degree at the end of the fight, but only on one side. It was plucked up by the head by House Robot Sir Killalot, and placed near the arena floor flipper. Robochicken was then flipped right over by flipper, as it sluggishly steered over it. Robochicken luckily landed on its wheels again, but was attacked Shunt and Pussycat before Cease was called and was eliminated.

At the end of the Series, Robochicken was nominated for the Most Promising Newcomer award and the Most Original Entry Award, but lost out to Tornado and Gemini respectively.

Series 5
"We've got the poultry powered pecker...and the fowl flipping device"

- Alec Dick on Robochicken-Evo

In Heat H of the Fifth Wars, a new and improved Robochicken-Evo machine was placed up against newcomers Crushtacean, in the first round. In the battle, Robochicken-Evo got the first attack on Crushtacean, but the attempts to flip it again failed to succeed. Crushtacean shoved Robochicken-Evo into the CPZ, with Killalot slicing between the eyeballs of Robochicken-Evo. Robochicken-Evo flipped Crushtacean over, but the crab robot clamped onto the flipper and shoved Robochicken into the CPZ of Sergeant Bash. The two pulled away and continued to push and shove, but Crushtacean was then caught, plucked up and spun around by Sir Killalot. Only when time ran out did Sir Killalot let Crushtacean down, the run-out of time resulted in the battle going to a judges' decision. The battle had been mostly a stalemate, but the judges finally made a split decision, 2-1, that went in favour of Crushtacean, eliminating Robochicken-Evo from the competition.

Series 6
"This is top of the food chain from now on!"

- Alec Dick in the pre-first round interview

In its first round melee in Heat B, Robochicken was drawn up against former Tag Team Terror runners-up in Spirit of Scorpion, former Series Semi-Finalists X-Terminator and newcomers Barbaric Response. In the battle, Robochicken started quite well by lifting Spirit of Scorpion up with its flipper several times, whilst also axing off all attacks from X-Terminator. Unfortunately, its aggression was all for nothing, as X-Terminator flipped Robochicken over with its axe, into the clutches of Dead Metal. The flipper of Robochicken was not powerful enough to allow it to self-right. Robochicken was left alone for a while, until Sir Killalot plucked Robochicken by the head and put it down into the pit of oblivion, along with an already pitted Barbaric Response. But Sir Killalot then decided to take it out and put it on the Drop Zone, where a washing machine fell on it. Robochicken survived that, as it was back onto its wheels, and as its motors were still working, the machine started spinning around on the spot after "Cease" had been called. The judges ruled that Spirit of Scorpion and Robochicken had been immobilised for too long, before Barbaric Response was pitted by X-Terminator. This meant that X-Terminator and Barbaric Response were put through to the second round, eliminating Robochicken from the competition.

Extreme 2
Robochicken partnered up with Bulldog Breed in the Tag Team Terror tournament in the second series of Extreme. The team were unfortunate to find that they would be fighting the reigning Tag Team Terror champions, Pussycat and Diotoir, in the first round. Robochicken did not have to do anything in this match; Bulldog Breed flipped Pussycat out of the arena almost straight away after flipping it around a few times, before flipping Diotoir over onto its back up against the arena side wall, before flipping Diotoir onto the flame pit. Bulldog Breed then finally decided to tag Robochicken, allowing them to then come out of the corner. Robochicken did nothing more than lifting and axing Diotoir on and off the flame pit, allowing Diotoir to catch fire for one last time. The Refbot then came in and counted out Diotoir, putting Robochicken and Bulldog Breed through to the Semi-Final round.

At this stage of the competition, the chicken and the bulldog met previous Tag Team Terror finalists The Steel Avenger with their new partners Lightning. Once again, Robochicken stayed out of the action all together for most of this battle as well, only joining in when its partner Bulldog Breed had already finished off Lightning by flipping it over and pushed The Steel Avenger into the CPZ where it was lying in wait. Robochicken and Bulldog Breed both started flipping The Steel Avenger together, with Robochicken eventually getting the crucial flip in to get it to balance on its back so that it couldn't self-right, this rendered The Steel Avenger immobile, putting Bulldog Breed and Robochicken through to the next round. "They have a teammate, Bulldog Breed, called Robochicken. You wouldn't believe it, would you? We haven't seen much of that."

- Jonathan Pearce

In the Tag-Team Terror final, the duo went up against Hydra and Barbaric Response, Robochicken once again stayed in the corner while Bulldog Breed did the lion's share of the fighting. Hydra was flipped over, and unable to self-right straight away, and Barbaric Response was soon immobilised as well, so Robochicken pecked Barbaric Response's carcass a little, after Mr. Psycho had battered it for a while. In spite of its minimal contribution to the entire tournament, Robochicken had become one half of the new Tag Team Terror champions. Bulldog Breed celebrated overall victory by flipping the chicken robot over before cease was called. "What, have Tony and Robert Somerfield done with their teammate Robochicken?"

- Jonathan Pearce points out the overturned Robochicken

Series 7
Robochicken returned for the Seventh Wars with an improved flipper and a vertical spinning disc, the new head was mounted on the hinge for the flipper to act as an axe, so the robot was still unable to self-right. In its first round melee, Robochicken was drawn up against New Blood Competitors B.O.D., Dutch representatives Tough As Nails and former Annihilator champions Disc-O-Inferno. In this battle, Robochicken effortlessly withstood the blade of B.O.D. as the two competitors immediately collided, but Robochicken then scuttled away into the distance, as Tough As Nails activated the pit release button, and pitted Disc-O-Inferno. Robochicken suddenly demonstrated its power by effortlessly flipping B.O.D. clean over, in a desperate attempt to survive the melee, before Tough as Nails could pit them. After bravely using the flipper to fight off Tough As Nails, Robochicken was eventually grabbed by the Dutch machine. "Now Tough As Nails has Robochicken! Can they push and drive Robochicken?!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Robochicken is grappled by Tough As Nails

Robochicken dug into the arena floor much better than Disc-O-Inferno did, and managed to keep away from the pit long enough to surpass B.O.D.'s countdown to elimination. "...still Robochicken digs in...just survives...but will make the second round of this heat..."

- Jonathan Pearce, as Robochicken is pitted

20 seconds after B.O.D. was counted out, Tough As Nails finally managed to pit Robochicken, but Robochicken had survived to go through to the next round of the heat along with the impressive Dutch entrant.

The second round battle for Robochicken saw it go up against Mega Morg, the Welsh robot from a team with a similar amount of experience and success in the main competition as Robochicken. In this battle, Mega Morg's shape made it very difficult for Robochicken to flip, Mega Morg was also agile enough to escape any incoming Robochicken attack, however they themselves could not use the flipper to any use whatsoever. Eventually though, Robochicken scored an impressive knockout by catching Mega Morg from the front, and flipping it, causing it to land flat on its back, rather than flipping from the side, where it could roll back onto its wheels. Mega Morg could not self right, and was then counted out by the Refbot, before suffering a blow from the arena dropzone. "I think Robochicken has won it here!"

- Jonathan Pearce, as Mega Morg goes over

This convincing victory put Robochicken through to its heat final, where it was unfortunate enough to be drawn up against Tough As Nails again. Robochicken had an explosive start to this battle, flipping Tough As Nails through the air several times. However, its efforts had little effect on the match, it couldn't flip Tough As Nails out of the arena, nor immobilise it, since the Dutch machine was invertible. Later on in the fight, Robochicken lined Tough As Nails up against the arena side wall in a perfect position to flip it out, but had run too low on CO2 gas and was unable to do more than lift it. Soon after, Robochicken was grabbed by Tough As Nails, and was pushed around the arena for most of the remainder of the match. Tough As Nails was able to haul Robochicken into Shunt's CPZ, where the chicken suffered an axe blow from the house robot, before being towed away by Tough As Nails. It later looked like Tough As Nails would pit Robochicken, as both were very close to the pit, very near to the end of the battle. But Robochicken held on, and the battle went to a judges' decision. The decision went in favour of Tough As Nails, eliminating Robochicken from the competition, after such a promising run. "We've got a cunning plan, we're going to remove the head from the chicken, and go in there, and nobody will recognise us!"

- Alec Dick before the Annihilator

Robochicken also took part in the Annihilator at the end of the series, where it was put up against recent Semi-Finalists Raging Knightmare, American representatives Flippa, Team Roaming Robots' Ripper, Ewe 2 and the reigning Annihilator champions Kan-Opener. Robochicken went in as one of the favourites, due to its experience, and what it achieved in the corresponding main competition. The team removed the head in hopes that Robochicken would be able to self-right without it. However, they never got a chance to test it, as in the first round, the robot broke down almost immediately. Ripper quickly flipped Robochicken over onto its back, and with no power, Robochicken was immobilised. Ewe 2 was almost flipped out of the arena by Ripper, and was propped on the arena wall, on top of a similarly immobilised Flippa. However, eventually, Robochicken was brought over to the arena side wall, still upside down, and was counted out by the Refbot. Cease was called after the count was complete, and Robochicken was eliminated from the annihilator, despite Kan-Opener then bringing Ewe 2 off the arena wall and pitting it. "Well, we had this cunning plan that if we took our head off...it would self-right, lovely, but it didn't, didn't even work"

- Alec Dick explains their plans more seriously, post-battle

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 6
 * Losses: 5

Series Record

 * Series 1-3: Did not enter
 * Series 4: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 5: Heat, Round 1
 * Series 6: Heat, Round 1
 * Series 7: Heat Final
 * 2016 Series: Did not enter

Trivia

 * In the even numbered series that it took part in (Series 4 and 6), Robochicken fought in Heat B of the main competition.
 * In the odd numbered series that it took part in (Series 5 and 7), Robochicken was eliminated via a judges' decision.
 * Robochicken fought a seeded machine in both of its battles in Series 4, but never afterwards, not even in Extreme did it fight a robot that was seeded in the corresponding Series 6.
 * Robochicken was the first robot to be hit with an item from the Drop Zone in the UK series.

Similarities with Iron-Awe
Several connections have been made between Robochicken and Iron-Awe. Aside from the similar colour and the fact that both have wielded rear-hinged flipper and a spiked axe at some point in their existence, similarities have been drawn in their combat record across four wars.
 * Both Iron-Awe and Robochicken debuted in The Fourth Wars, where they reached the second round, after playing very little role in the first round. They would lose to a seeded machine, which would then go on to win the Heat and later lose to Chaos 2 (Pussycat (19) and Steg 2 (7)).
 * Both teams entered The Fifth Wars with a non-sequentially named robot (Robochicken-Evo and Axe-Awe), with both of them competing in Heat H.
 * Both reverted to the original name in The Sixth Wars, before being defeated in Round 1 after being flipped (although Iron-Awe went Out of the Arena, and Robochicken did not).
 * Both entered The Seventh Wars with their machines, and reached the Heat Final (this being the furthest that it had ever reached in the main competition) before being defeated by a non-English robot (Tough As Nails of The Netherlands, and Typhoon 2 of Scotland).
 * Also in the Seventh Wars, both fought in one side event, only fighting in one battle.