Weapon immobilisation

A weapon immobilisation is inflicted where another robot inflicts terminal damage upon the other. These are often called Knock Outs (or KOs), more so than the other type of knockout to legally fit that definition, hazard immobilisations. The distinction is that a robot has used their own weapon and driving ability to do most, if not all of the work, rather than relying on the side bars (Bodyhammer v Torque of the Devil), arena spikes (Tornado v Gemini) or Pit of Oblivion (Bigger Brother v Hypno-Disc)

In the showmanship format of Robot Wars, it is entirely possible for a robot that has suffered a weapon immobilisation to then be pitted, roasted on the flames or thrown out of the arena. Similarly but more rarely, it is possible for a battle that has been decided by judges or hazards to also end with a weapon immobilisation (such as Raging Reality throwing Brutus Maximus out of the arena).

'''Weapon immobilisations can vary depending on the weapon, and it can often be unclear whether a robot has been immobilised by hazards, malfunctions or an opponent’s weapon. As such, this is a non-exhaustive list.'''

Overturning
Before invertible robots and elf-righting mechanisms became a major factor, a standard KO victory could be achieved by simply turning an opponent onto its back or side. Notable achievers of this feat were Roadblock, Cunning Plan and Thing 2, managing to defeat Robot the Bruce, Demolisher and Cerberus this way. Team Cassius were particularly formidable with wedge/flipper KO. Recyclopse was the first to inflict a flipper KO on a House Robot (Matilda) and also a competitor robot (Scrapper). Cassius and Cassius 2 later replicated these victories against both Loco and its successor Dundee, whilst Firestorm (inspired by Cassius) would inflict swift defeats on Crasha Gnasha and Sir Chromalot via this method. The lifter was later introduced in Series 2 with robots such as Panic Attack, Mace and G.B.H. all inflicting knockouts by overturning opponents such as Whirling Dervish, Chaos and Ivanhoe with controlled movements. Save for Behemoth and Panic Attack, who were able to score KOs via the pit and pushing opponents out of the arena, lifters became less capable of scoring KOs in their own right as the war progressed.

The rear-hinged flipper was introduced properly in Series 3 and became a quick way of defeating opponents as only a small piece of flipper needed to be under a robot. Chaos 2 was able to deal out quick defeats to non-invertible, srimechless robots in Crocodilatron, Sonic, Trident and Mace 2, whilst Facet similarly defeated Terminal Ferocity in the same way. As of Series 9 it is still possible to defeat an opponent by merely overturning them, as demonstrated by Eruption’s defeats of Sabretooth and Hobgoblin, but the most common victory to involve overturning an opponent is when a high powered flipper runs out of CO2. See TR2’s defeat of Dantomkia and subsequent loss to Apollo.

Pinning
As robots became capable of righting from an overturned position, their vulnerable sides became a far more exposed way of achieving victory. Firestorm’s Graham Bone was one of the most notable exploiters of this method of victory, defeating Panic Attack, 13 Black, Crushtacean and Ripper by pinning them against the arena wall.

This became far more difficult in the Series 8-9 arena, where the walls are noticeably smoother. However, it is still possible, as demonstrated by Dantomkia’s defeat of King B Remix and Interstellar: MML’s defeat of The Cat.

Gravity-induced concussion
As invertible robots and srimechs became more prevalent but rear-hinged flippers became more powerful, a viable method of victory became the gravity-induced KO. This is only possible with powerful rear-hinged flippers, who throw their opponents into the air and cause them to land hard enough to knock out their removable link. Apollo defeated Kan-Opener and PP3D in this way during its Series 8 championship run.

Out of the arena
Starting with Chaos 2, robots began to use flipping (and occasionally lifting or rotating) weapons to throw opponents over the arena wall for an instant knockout victory.

Penetration - spiked axes
A spiked axe is a difficult weapon with which to knock out an opponent. The main requirement is to hit something vital within the robot. Famous examples include Dominator 2’s instantaneous KO of Henry 2 and Trident’s victory over Twn Trwn.

The most viable method of attacking with a spiked axe is the opponent’s wheels; Killerhurtz was able to knock out one of Stinger’s wheels in the Northern Annihilator, and Dominator 2 flattened S.M.I.D.S.Y.’s tire (though the battle ultimately went to the judges).

A very rare early method of victory was penetrating and pulling – Killertron achieved victory over Behemoth by using its spike axe for leverage and reversing.

Concussive blows – bladed axes, hammers
Bladed axes and hammers required less accuracy to score a knock out victory, but a lot more power. Only Terrorhurtz and Thor ever achieved victory this way, against robots such as S.M.I.D.S.Y., Dantomkia and Tough As Nails. These blows could knock loose internal links in the same way that heavy contact on the arena floor.

Cutting, slashing and carving
Lighter rotating weapons were capable of immobilising opponents by targeting key areas in the same way as a spiked axe. Pussycat was a famously capable “slashing” robot, able to score knockouts on Razer (the only robot to do so) and Hypno-Disc by crippling the robot’s vulnerable rears, Reptirron by severing its fuel line, and Dantomkia by striking a highly vulnerable area. Carving at key areas was a viable method of victory for flywheels, but it was considerably rarer than the “outright destruction” method they typically favoured. Hypno-Disc carefully carved out the removable link from Bulldog Breed 3 in the Series 5 Heat Final, causing an instant immobilisation. It also smashed the wheels clean from Ming 3’s body. "Don't bring wheels into the Robot Wars arena!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Cutting and slashing has become nearly impossible method of victory since the reboot area, with HARDOX armour becoming a commonly used method of armour and robots wheels and aerials better protected. Only highly vulnerable wheels are likely to suffer damage from them, with some examples including The General, Chimera and the Battle of the Stars competitors. Powerful robots such as Carbide can still immobilise opponents’ vulnerable spots (such as Shockwave), but few are strong enough and rely on concussive victories.

Concussive blows
"As it went over the arena wall its disk (sic) hit the tip of Dantomkias flipper and sent a surge through the radio interface electronics and fried a load of relays and their driver ccts. This plagued us for the rest of that RobotWars series. The weapon often wouldnt work, relays would jam or refuse to operate and even the Radio Control deadband would drift. Unfortunately I didnt have a spare set of electronics with me so I had to use what I had."

- Mike Lambert on IG-88's weapon

Rotating weapons are capable of causing internal damage to robots even where the robot’s exterior remains unharmed. They can cause electrical surges, knock links loose or jam wheels internal functions. It was not uncommon to hear Jonathan Pearce say that a blow had “knocked something loose” inside a robot. Examples include Little Fly’s defeat of Weld-Dor 2, The Alien’s knockout blow on Velocirippa, and IG-88’s defeats of Tomohawk and King B Powerworks in Series 7. This remains a viable method of victory in the reboot. Supernova immobilised Or Te in this way during Series 8, and Carbide did the same in its first one-on-one encounter with Apollo.

Outright destruction
Outright destruction is a common method of victory for flywheels, as it is sometimes impossible to locate the reason for victory amidst the destruction. Hypno-Disc was by far the most famous architect of outright destruction victories, annihilating Robogeddon, Stealth, V-Max, Splinter and Atomic 2. Supernova and Disc-O-Inferno later followed in Hypno-Disc’s footsteps with outright destruction dealt against opponents such as Mechaniac, Spartacus, Velocirippa and Comengetorix.

In the modern era, outright destruction is rarer, particularly in the head-to-heads where the Gentleman's Agreement is enforced because robots have to be repaired in order to fight again just two hours later. The best example of outright destruction is Carbide’s obliteration of Nuts in Series 8.

Overturning
Vertical spinners are able to immobilise an opponent by overturning them in the same was as a flipping or lifting weapon. Pullveriser’s defeat of Scraptosaur and the middleweight 259’s defeat of Mammoth are some examples.

In the reboot area, powerful spinning drums have taken over from vertical flywheels as the spinning overturning weapon of choice, as seen by Pulsar’s overturning Ironside3 (though this later went to the judges, it was deemed a knockout). However, Aftershock showed that it remains a viable option for vertical flywheels.

It remains possible to throw an opponent out of the arena with flywheel, but this has yet to be done in the reboot era.

Crushing and Gripping Weapons
Much more so than other weapons, crushing and gripping weapons very rarely win by KO in their own right. Famous wielders like Razer, Chompalot, Crushtacean and Pitbull often relied on hazards (Razer, Chompalot and Crushtacean were very inclined towards pitting opponents, whilst Pitbull used the flames), or even judges. Many of Razer’s most famous victories were actually judges decisions with damage so heavily inflicted and control so unanimously in favour of Razer that the decisions became technicalities. That being said, it is still possible for a crushing or gripping weapon to KO an opponent.

Crushers have become far rarer than other weapons in the reboot, with Kan-Opener, Tough As Nails and Razer all losing in Round 1 and Soldier Ant scoring only a single judges' decision.

Piercing vulnerable areas
Razer was most capable of piercing vulnerable areas such as motors, batteries and wheels. Its victories over Milly-Ann Bug and the first battle with Tornado all saw its opponents immobilised when the powerful beak pierced wheels and motors.

Internal damage
Somewhat rarer, crushers were capable of causing internal damage to a robot. Razer caused All Torque and Techno-Lease to break down from repeat attacks, whilst Kan-Opener immobilised Ripper with its crushing weapon.

Other weapons
Outside the main groups, it is possible for other weapons to cause KOs.

Spikes and Spears – impaling
Spears are capable (albeit rarely) of defeating an opponent by KO. The best way to do so is to pierce the wheels of an opponent. T.R.A.C.I.E. did this against Prince of Darkness in Series 1, whilst King B Powerworks showed that stabbing an opponent could cause terminal breakdown as it immobilised Tornado in this way during Extreme 1.

Uniquely, Spawn of Scutter used its retracting spike to flip Banshee for a KO.

Spikes and spears are not used as weapons in the reboot and cannot be used to score KOs, as they are not active weapons.

Thwackbots – concussive blows
Thwackbots are difficult to cause immobilisations and typically win fights on aggression through judges decisions. However, Stinger was capable of causing internal damage with its heavy weapon, scoring victories over Bulldog Breed 2, General Carnage 2 and Fluffy by continually pounding at them.

Thwackbots have been mostly banned since the reboot of Robot Wars, with some rare exceptions in Chimera and Dee. However, these robots have not had the heavy weapons required to score concussive KO victories.

General pressure
It should be noted that sometimes robots cause KOs with their weapon that simply come from pushing an opponent around. Roadblock's pressure on Recyclopse led to its immobilisation, despite not overturning it with its wedge. This sort of pressure is less common, but worth noting as not all weapon KO's can be categorised neatly.