User:Ben.calandruccio

I first remember watching Robot Wars since I was 7 years old, and my almost immediate favourites were Razer, Hypno-Disc, crowd favourites Panic Attack and Diotoir, and who else, but two-time Champions Chaos 2. I loved the show so much, my dad tried to build a robot and an arena to accompany the toybots at the time. It also took me some time for me to decide that I should sign up on this wiki, even though I've been a long-time follower.

Favourite Robots
Chaos 2 – The staple favourite, George Francis proved that third time was the charm in Series 3, where it dominated the tournament and even done what was unheard of at the time: Flip a robot out of the arena. Even when the years would start to take its toll starting Series 5, it still proved to be a force to be reckoned with, and even flip a robot out in its last series appearance. While the robot met its untimely end in its final appearance, the legend will never die.

Panic Attack – What seemed like a simple box-on-wheels at first was literally on a mission from god; every time it advanced in its first series, money would be donated to the charity of its choosing. Who would’ve thought that this robot would be the champion, something that not even the likes of Firestorm and Hypno-Disc would do? And best of all, it managed to get better the series after that, where it became more sloped, had a srimech, and its trademark side-skirts that would stop robots to try and flip the former champion. Even when the robot would perform worse as it progressed on it at least proved to be a crowd favourite to many, especially when Kim Davies is at the helm of said robot.

Hypno-Disc – “Destructive” should sum this robot up. It took down many with its devastating weapon, stripping much armour, ripping many wheels and mangulating every weapon, all for the sake of entertainment. If there was a trophy called “Best Robot that Never Won the Championship”, I would award it to Hypno-Disc, hands down. Cassius – The unfortunate runner-up, Cassius (under Rex Garrod) managed to excite many people by taking on the house robots and its well-known somersault as well as show sportsmanship to other competitors by not attacking again if the robot was tumbled over. In Series 3, it gained some key improvements, such as height-adjustment, and a pneumatic spike that was designed to get said robot out of the pit (though it would not work given the angle the robot was in the pit). If it was not driven carefully though, Cassius would end up costing the fight at the most crucial stages (like Mortis and Pussycat). This robot managed to bring us Firestorm (which would never miss a semi-final) and several other Cassius imitators. Razer – Why Razer is not a very popular robot, I’ll never know, so let’s move on. Known for its weapon hype (“The Nine Tonnes of Squeezability”), Razer certainly doesn’t disappoint on its good days, winning the championship tournament in Series 5, the First and Second World Championship, The International League Championship, The Pinball Warrior Tournament, and so on. While it is not the most exciting robot in history, nor is it the most reliable, it at least proves to be a menacing and respected robot as well. It also holds the sole honour of destroying Matilda, a feat that has never been repeated. Diotoir – Fire-prone though more reliable than several other semi-finalists, Diotoir managed to prove that success doesn’t always come in the UK, as it would reach the heat finals twice, finish as runner-up in the International League Championship and the Celebrity Special, was in the top four of the First World Championship, and would finally taste silverware in the Tag Team Terror. Its weapon was also the most unique thing about this robot; unlike pneumatic weapons which were the range for most robots, Diotoir stuck with a hydraulic lifting arm/shovel that would at least give said robot as many flips as possible, granted if the chain didn’t break. Best of all, they were a crowd favourite when it was set on fire, especially when it would not win its match. And they always take it in good stride, no matter how bad the situation seems to be. It also took out Tornado, something that Firestorm couldn’t even do.

Bigger Brother – Designed after a Lamborghini, this sibling would go on to reach the Grand Final (only to be stopped by Razer) in Series 5, and miss out on just one match prior to the Grand Final heat in Series 6. Even though it was unlucky at the times when Philippa Forester wasn’t serving as the pit reporter, it at least made its name with its wonderful design, its unique self-righting technique (only a flick was required to self-right the machine, instead of all of the weapon), the boastful and funny little captain, and the fact that it likes to take on the house robots, namely Shunt.

Storm II – The robot that warmed up to the fans, Storm II was known to be a younger, faster and better Tornado, with a flipper (although it likes to rely on sheer force); in fact, its sheer force managed to throw a robot out of the arena, and it even defeated more popular robots like Firestorm and Tornado. The fact that Storm II was robbed of the Seventh Series Tournament via the producers, is about as big of an outcry as an Oscar snub on a famous actor/actress that had performed well. It would at least win the Third World Championship, against the producers’ odds.

Dantomkia – This robot is clearly known for beating Chaos 2 at its own game, and would subsequently go on to take the title for most robots flipped out of the arena, and was the brief holder of the shortest match in Robot Wars history (only to beaten, ironically at its own game, by Gravity). Its shape was also what mystified the robot. While it would have a ground clearance problem either way it adjusted, its design was rather clever, even though it copied three robots, one of which was its original design: a weaponless box. That said, if we hadn’t had Bigger Brother and (much to my chagrin) Firestorm, Dantomkia wouldn’t have looked the same for worse.

Mortis – One of the few robots that grew on me as I learned that its controversy was caused by the producers, and not the team itself. While it was known to show off its expensiveness to the whole world of Robot Wars with its elaborate control-holder and the fact it had costed 40,000 pounds in one series, it would, at least, perform well on its good days, missing out on the grand final in one match in Series 1 (through an arguably controversial decision) and in Series 2, and even beating the likes of Panic Attack and FrenZy in the War of Independence. It was also one of the pioneers of the axe/lifter combination that some have followed, like The Steel Avenger, Hydra and Iron Awe 2.

Pussycat – Another robot that grew on me. A robot that “always lands on its feet”, it managed to stun many by defeating the likes of Cassius, Razer, Thermidor 2, Panic Attack, Dantomkia, and even Hypno-Disc, and would go on to claim several honours, including one of the final trophies in the form of the Seventh-Wars All Stars. It’s also rare for a robot like Pussycat to team up a robot it had defeated in the past to win together (the partner in the form of Diotoir), something that was done earlier by King B and 101.

Thermidor 2 – I consider this, the “guilty-pleasure” of all the favourites on this list of mine; this lobster managed to humiliate its predecessor by going further and even flip out the likes of veterans Behemoth and grand-finalists Stinger. Unfortunately, the robot was known to break down and (in two consecutive seasons) go out the first round, especially when it was on its back against Prizephita Mk2, and when it was taken out with one hit by Champions Typhoon 2. Even with that said, Thermidor managed to fix those problems by finishing as the runner-up in the Extreme 2 Annihilator, and reaching the semi-final (again) in Series 7. It even beat Chaos 2 and Bigger Brother in a Flipper Frenzy!

Anarchy – Arguably Team 101’s finest work ever; a mechanical walker that used its weight and weaponry to its advantage (you could consider this machine as a heavier, walker version of Shunt); in fact, this robot is the most successful walker in the history of Robot Wars, bar none. Sadly, it would not reach a semi-final, much unlike its predecessor, though it was up against Tornado.

Gravity – Forget Wheely Big Cheese, this is the true robot that can flip robots out of the arena, and even flip Cassius Chrome, Growler and Dead Metal over (a feat that Firestorm couldn’t do, although the latter did, in turn, flip Mr. Psycho over, something that Gravity wouldn’t be able to do). While it did sacrifice the choice of tough armour, it was worth it, given that it would be a force to be reckoned with, missing out on one match to the Grand Final, and win the House Robot Rebellion (with Behemoth).

Least Favourite Robots
Firestorm – While it has been one of the most successful robots in history by reaching three grand finals, and is a popular robot among fans, I feel disappointed with this robot for a variety of reasons: 1) It’s a carbon copy of Cassius, therefore making it nowhere near as innovative. Series 3 had a slower flipping arm, and Series 4 onwards resorted to a wider and faster flipper. 2) In five series (especially when it was in the grand final), it never won the championship. In fact, it didn’t win a single trophy until Extreme 2. 3) Despite having the upper hand in the rivalry between Panic Attack, in their first grand finals, the latter won the championship, while Firestorm would be the first flipped out of the arena. You’d think Firestorm would’ve beaten Panic Attack and become a champion, though this is not the case, here. 4) Firestorm’s weaponry broke in the easiest of matches it had in Series 5, and it also crashed out in its final match, which was the Series 7 All-Star Tournament. Even when it’s known to be the only robot to tip over Mr. Psycho, the bad outweighs the good by a lot. And given the fact that it would not beat Hypno-Disc with the flipper attached, I honestly could not believe that Firestorm could resort to a Tornado victory. For shame.

Behemoth – Missing out on one match prior to the Grand Final of Series 2, Behemoth would go on to do worse, by either misfortune (the infamous spike in Series 3, the judges’ decision in Series 4 (both were in the heat final), Bigger Brother pitting it in Series 6) or malfunction (pitted in the literal hands of Crushtacean after turned over in Series 5, Mute effecting Behemoth’s movement in Series 7), despite getting better and better season after season, which doesn’t make sense. While I do acknowledge it would go on to better things following Robot Wars, including being champion, Behemoth (like Firestorm) never won something until near the end of Robot Wars.

Tornado – The most unworthy Series champions given that they resorted to using the infamous Anti-Pit-Device, Tornado would become the supposed pariah following Series 6 for some time. Even with its credentials, the most annoying thing I find with Tornado is that 90% of the time, it resorts to pushing robots to either immobilise or pit to secure victory, sometimes when Refbot is still counting out a different and more unworthy robot that looks like it won’t go any further. What made matters worse was that I believed that Tornado would be a memorable robot following its Best Newcomer trophy in Series 4, until they pulled their supposed trump card at their grand final. They could beat Razer using a barrier to protect their Tornado, but it could never beat an Irish robot through fair play.

Wheely Big Cheese – Arguably the most overrated robot with a flipper. Even when Roger Plant was behind this creation and the fact that this robot was known to flip more than its weight and send two robots out of the arena, it was unreliable most of the time and it had not once flipped a house robot despite its claim to have lift a “Mini”.

Nasty Warrior – What’s “Nasty” about it? It has no true weaponry, got beaten by another German robot (Ansgar) in a bid to qualify for a spot in the Second World Championship, and its notorious claim to fame was when it forced Hypno-Disc to stop in its tracks, after being on the receiving end 99% of the time of that match. Only five robots managed to do the job well (Chaos 2, Pussycat, Bigger Brother, Tornado and even Behemoth), and it’s certainly not Nasty Warrior.