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"Those menacing teeth and eyes will surely strike fear into the heart of any roboteer"
Robot Wars: The Official Magazine on Aggrobot

Aggrobot was the name given to a series of four heavyweight robots which competed in Robot Wars. It fought in Series 3, 4, 6 and 7, also entering in the first series of Robot Wars Extreme, and always brandished the same blue colour scheme and angry face. Aggrobot was most famous for its upset victory against a malfunctioning Razer in Series 3, in which it also reached the Heat Final.

Versions of Aggrobot

"...basically every Aggrobot has been completely different"
— Bob Leach, in Series 7, on the Aggrobot series

Aggrobot (Series 3)

Aggrobot 3 arena

Aggrobot as it looked in Series 3

The original Aggrobot was very large and had a spring-powered rear thirty inch spike and a "tongue" at the front to act as a wedge, all of which was built over four weeks and costing £1,500. It was described by Australian journalist Nick Whigham as "a werewolf rat".[1]

The original Aggrobot made the heat final of Series 3, shocking many by defeating heat favourites Razer in the second round. However, it was eventually defeated by Blade in the Heat Final, where it found itself on the receiving end of Dead Metal's saw.

Aggrobot 2

"The product of nine months hard work since the last wars"
— Peter Leach describes Aggrobot 2
Aggrobot 2

Aggrobot 2

Aggrobot 2 entered Series 4, as the 20th seed. It was an invertible, four-wheel driven robot built over nine months, and made from steel and aluminium alloy from a skip. Its weapons were a lifting wedge on the front that could lift either way up and was painted with a face similar to that of the original Aggrobot, and a hydraulic spike at the rear that the team referred to as a zonker. It was based on the mechanics of a Crossbow, and it was shown to be capable of creating 20mm bullet holes in mild steel.

Aggrobot 3

Aggrobot

Aggrobot 3 in Series 6

Aggrobot 3 was a smaller pointed wedge ("stealth shaped, with lurid logos" as Jonathan Pearce put it) with a lifting mechanism that pried Aggrobot's wedge off the ground, in turn lifting its opponent. This technique was seen against Splinter in its Extreme 1 Mayhem, but was unreliable and caused the robot to be eliminated after it jammed open. It also featured a very powerful crushing mechanism similar to the "Jaws of Life" used by Sir Killalot, capable of cutting an aluminium signpost clean in half. The crusher was capable of changing from horizontal to vertical. It was very agile and clad in lightweight laminated armour that was resistant to even Shunt's axe, but was knocked out in the second round of Series 6 by a blow from Vader.

Aggrobot (Series 7)

"This one is just more powerful, we hope harder, and a lot more fierce."
— Bob Leach in the pre-first round interview
Aggrobot S7

Aggrobot in Series 7

The robot was simply renamed Aggrobot in Series 7; this new model was basically a tougher and more compact version of the previous Aggrobot 3 model. It was armed with a pincer that produced 17 tonnes of pressure. The pincer was, however, never seen in action, as it could not gain any purchase on its opponents in its only battle.

The Team

Team Aggrobot S6

Team Aggrobot in Series 6

Aggrobot was entered into all of its series by the Surrey-based team of brothers, Peter, Bob and Jon Leach. In later appearances, the team started to wear sleeveless shirts and bandannas to match the 'tough guy' image of their robot, also featuring the robot's eyes on their shirts.

Qualification

Aggrobot successfully entered Series 3 through attending the auditions, with Aggrobot 2 also automatically qualifying for Series 4 by virtue of its seeding.

Aggrobot 3 attended the qualifiers for Series 5, where it fought Barber-Ous in a one-on-one battle. However, after suffering serious damage inflicted by its opponent's full-body drum, Aggrobot 3 lost the battle and failed to qualify for the series as a result.

"The Qualifiers were a long time ago! There was a robot, I think called Agrobot? They had just fitted a new titanium shell and before the match were convinced it was indestructible - we tried to be gentle with it - but tore a big gash in the side! One of the chaps looked like he was going to burst in to tears! I spent the next year feeling guilty about it!"
— Simon Rafferty of Team Rotraktor

Aggrobot 3 would later attempt to qualify for Series 6 by fighting a four-way melee alongside Hydra, Mad Dog and an as-yet unknown competitor. Although the winner of the qualifier remains unknown, it is known that Aggrobot 3 went on to qualify for the series along with Hydra.

Aggrobot fought Ceros, Rhino and the Dutch entry Twister in its Series 7 qualifier battle. During the fight, Aggrobot was thrown into the air by Ceros, and upon its landing, Aggrobot was immobilised. Twister went on to win the battle, but despite this, all three of the other robots, including Aggrobot, were awarded discretionary places in the main competition of the Seventh Wars..

"We fought for around 2 minutes in which time Ceros managed to get flipped, self right perfectly and then go on to toss Aggrobot several feet in the air and on contact with terra firma again were dead to the world!"
— Ceros website describes their battle with Aggrobot (edited)[2]

Robot History

Series 3

"Ohh. Plenty of boot in the Aggro from a spring fired thirty inch spike. It cost fifteen hundred pounds to build, took four weeks, has twin motors, and a trio of brothers at the controls."
Jonathan Pearce introduces Aggrobot

Aggrobot was originally scheduled to fight fellow newcomers Daisy in the first round of its first Robot Wars appearance, but due to Daisy breaking down before the fight and pulling out of the competition, Aggrobot's first round battle now saw it go up against the substitute robot, another newcomer, Binky.

Aggrobot vs binky

Aggrobot spears Binky as Sgt. Bash looks on

BinkyAttacked

Aggrobot stays out of the way as Binky is attacked by the House Robots

Aggrobot Matilda shell

Aggrobot knocks Matilda's shell off

Aggrobot and Binky pushed each other around the arena for a short while, with neither robot really creating any damage to the other until Binky was drawn to the arena side wall by Aggrobot and broke down after being hit by an arena spike. Aggrobot then tore off house robot Matilda's shell as the other House Robots came out to finish off the immobilised Binky machine. Cease was eventually called and Aggrobot was put through to the next round of the Heat.

Aggrobot then went up against Heat favourites Razer in the heat semi-final, in what proved to be one of the biggest upsets in Robot Wars, despite them both being dubbed as the "crowd favourites" while Blade and Agent Orange were dubbed as "the underdogs".

Razer Aggrobot 1

The first contact between the pair

Razer Aggrobot 2

Razer continues to hunt down Aggrobot

The two robots drove towards the centre of the arena, and Razer drove at Aggrobot's side, getting under it and pushing it back. However, due to the tall, steep, sloping sides of Aggrobot, Razer could not get a grip on it. Aggrobot span away off of Razer's ramp, and reversed in with the spike cannon, but the spike cannon was at the wrong angle, and Razer pushed back at Aggrobot. It reversed away, Aggrobot turned to face Razer, but Razer drove behind Aggrobot and slammed it into an arena wall.

Razer Aggrobot 3

Aggrobot tries to bring its spike weapon into play

Aggrobot vs Razer

Aggrobot takes punishment from Razer

It tried to crush Aggrobot, this time finding a weak spot - the gap where the spike cannon was. Razer crushed this spot, causing a large hole to form at the back of Aggrobot. Razer let go and backed off, and Aggrobot escaped and turned to face Razer head on. The two robots kept trying to get into a good position to use their weapons, but each time Razer got close to getting a grip on Aggrobot, Aggrobot turned away, and each time Aggrobot got its spike cannon close enough to Razer to use it, Razer turned to avoid it. Razer eventually got Aggrobot by the side, and rammed it into the arena wall, but when Razer tried to pierce it, the crusher merely scratched the side. It turned to try and get into a better position, but this allowed Aggrobot to escape. After some more turning and trying to get into a good position to use their weapons, Razer got behind Aggrobot, pushed it into the arena wall by the spikes, and crushed into the back, again targeting the gap in the rear where the spike cannon was fitted. Razer ripped open an even larger hole on the rear of Aggrobot, but then backed off again, and Aggrobot reversed away from the wall, bumping into Razer. Razer got in on Aggrobot's side, trying to crush it, but could not pierce the armour due to the sloping sides, only scratching down the side.

Aggrobot Razer House Robots

Aggrobot is axed by Shunt while Razer also sustains damage

Razer tried to open the crusher more to get a grip, but the crusher malfunctioned, opening the whole way, and the rear spike lifted Razer's wheels off the ground. The team couldn't get the beak to lower, and Razer was therefore rendered immobile, leaving Aggrobot as an unlikely winner. Dead Metal came in, and cut into Razer's wings, whilst Sir Killalot rammed from behind. Meanwhile, Aggrobot had driven into the CPZ, and was axed by Shunt Immobilised, Razer was surprisingly eliminated, and Aggrobot was put through to the Heat Final.

Here, it went up against fellow newcomers Blade, and looked as dark horses to win after defeating Razer.

Aggrobot Blade Shunt axe

Blade withstands Shunt's axe blow

Blade vs aggrobot

Blade wipes the smile off Aggrobot's face

Aggrobot Dead Metal sparks

Dead Metal slices Aggrobot, causing sparks to fly

Aggrobot Blade flipper

The beaten Aggrobot is thrown by the Floor Flipper

The Blade team and the Aggrobot team got along well together, but neither relented in the ensuing battle, with Blade also fending off an axe blow by Shunt. Blade came out on top, after pushing Aggrobot around the arena for a short while, Blade rammed the Aggrobot machine into submission over the flame pit, and left it for it to burn and be attacked by the house robots. Dead Metal, the house robot in the nearby CPZ, cut into Aggrobot's nose, causing a shower of sparks while Sir Killalot held it aloft. This was before he carried and placed Aggrobot onto the arena floor flipper, where it flew. Cease was then called and Aggrobot was eliminated from the competition.

"And then Dead Metal took the opportunity to wipe the smile off Aggrobot's face."
— Jonathan Pearce in the Series 3 recap, shown in the Grand Final

Series 4

Aggrobot 2 was seeded number 20 for the Fourth Wars, in recognition of its heat final appearance and defeat of Razer. In the penultimate Heat of the series, Aggrobot 2 was drawn up against the experienced Oblivion 2 and newcomers Saw Point in the first round melee.

Saw point vs Oblivion

Aggrobot 2 about to charge in on Saw Point

Aggrobot vs saw point

Aggrobot 2 attempts to stab Saw Point

"What's this capable of in the last wars? Defeating highly fancied Razer in astonishing style. Razer thought they'd won, but they got stuck in the pirouette of delight."
— Jonathan Pearce
Saw point vs aggrobot

Saw Point rams Aggrobot 2 into the angle griner

Saw point vs aggrobot2

Saw Point pressures Aggrobot 2 as it flaps its "head"

After Saw Point ran over Oblivion 2's fired axe weapon, Aggrobot 2 got in underneath Saw Point, which then became stuck on one wheel for a while. The rest of the battle was largely uneventful, as Oblivion 2 had been immobilised by the initial impact with Saw Point, and Aggrobot 2 and Saw Point were unable to get any purchase on the other. Saw Point did then push Aggrobot 2 into an unoccupied CPZ, but Aggrobot 2 proceeded through to the next round along with Saw Point as Oblivion 2 was eliminated after being immobilised and brutally attacked by the House Robots.

Next, the seeded Aggrobot 2 machine went up against S.M.I.D.S.Y. in the second round of the Heat.

Aggrobot Mounts S.M.I.D.S

Aggrobot 2 mounts S.M.I.D.S.Y.

Aggrobot 2 is Burned

Aggrobot 2's wheels catch fire

In this battle, Aggrobot 2 was piggybacked and tackled by the smaller, yet similar robot's superior speed and power. Aggrobot 2 tried to steer S.M.I.D.S.Y. into the arena flame jets, but was consistently carried away by the Cyberspace machine. Aggrobot 2 was then slammed into the arena side wall by S.M.I.D.S.Y. soon afterwards, crippling Aggrobot 2 so much so that its minimal mobility couldn't get it away from danger; danger being the incoming house robots. Aggrobot 2 was set alight, and had its zonker cannon destroyed by Sir Killalot's claw. Cease was called and Aggrobot 2 was eliminated from the competition.

"Well, Aggrobot is an agro burger."
— Craig Charles

Extreme 1

In the first series of Extreme, Aggrobot 3 only fought in a Mayhem qualifier battle where it went up against Killertron and Splinter in a fight described as "three robots removed from their glory days". The winner would advance to the first Annihilator of the series.

"Plenty of Aggro!"
— Jonathan Pearce before the Mayhem
Aggrobot Splinter

Aggrobot 3 topples Splinter

Aggrobot 3 Refbot

Aggrobot 3 malfunctions and is counted out

In the battle, Aggrobot 3 grappled with Splinter, easily fending off blows from the axe, as well as Killertron. Sliding beneath Splinter, Aggrobot 3 levered Splinter off the ground. Reversing, it dodged the other two before being caught by Splinter and hammered to no effect. Aggrobot then levered Splinter over, pinning it on its back, taking weak blows from Killertron. However, due to the rules (a robot pinned down does not count as immobilised), Refbot pushed away the attacking Dead Metal and righted Splinter. Soon after, it became evident that Aggrobot was beached on its lever, so it was counted out, after being in command of the Mayhem. The robot was able to move again after being counted out but it was too late, and when it steered onto the arena flipper, the flipper activated and Aggrobot went flying. Sir Killalot then unfairly grabbed and pitted Killertron, leaving Splinter as the winner.

Series 6

"This was a thirty mile an hour sign, and this is what it [the weapon] does..."
— Peter Leach showing Philippa Forrester a mangled pole that Aggrobot 3 had damaged

In Heat E of the Sixth Wars, Aggrobot 3 was drawn up against Adam Clark's 259, and two newcomers: Infernal Contraption and Infinity, in the first round melee.

Aggrobot vs Infernal Contraption

Aggrobot 3 wedges under Infernal Contraption

259 vs Infernal Contraption vs Aggrobot 3

Aggrobot 3 avoids danger from Infernal Contraption and 259

In the battle, Aggrobot 3 merely shoved Infinity and Infernal Contraption a few feet in each of its attacks but largely managed to avoid the large vertical spinning disc of 259, unlike the other two competitors; Infernal Contraption was bearing the full brunt of 259's attacks. After having its claws mangled by 259, Infinity then drove into the pit of oblivion right after pressing the release button. After a lot more flywheel attacks from 259, Infernal Contraption was later counted out by Refbot when it was stuck on the pit mouth after hardly moving at all. With two of its opponents in pieces, and in the pit, Aggrobot 3 qualified to go through to the next round of the heat, along with the impressive 259.

Aggrobot 3 then had to face another spinning disc machine in the second round of the heat, in the form of newcomers Vader.

Vader vs Aggrobot

Vader hits Aggrobot 3

Aggrobot III Corpse

Aggrobot 3 just before being pitted

In this battle, after both machines started sluggishly, the very first hit from Vader's spinning disc weapon appeared to immobilise Aggrobot 3. The Refbot soon came in and counted out Aggrobot 3, eliminating it from the competition.

"Has that slam-bam, no thank you ma'am, hurt Aggrobot 3?"
— Jonathan Pearce after Vader's initial attack

Soon afterwards, house robot Dead Metal closed in and placed the immobilised Aggrobot 3 machine down into the pit of oblivion. This meant that Vader qualified for the heat final, while Aggrobot 3 was eliminated.

Series 7

"Fighting in a fourth wars, has never won a heat though."
— Jonathan Pearce

For its first round battle of the Seventh Wars, Aggrobot fought in the final first round melee of the series, where it was placed up against Team Ming's robot Zorro, Team Reptirron's robot Reptirron The Second and Team Roaming Robots' robot Ripper.

Ripper flips Aggrobot

Ripper flips Aggrobot

At the very beginning of the battle, Aggrobot took a hefty blow from Zorro, causing a decoration to fly off, and was then attacked by Reptirron The Second, who pushed it into Mr. Psycho's CPZ, by flipping Aggrobot onto its back.

Reptirron Aggrobot

Aggrobot is pressured by Reptirron The Second

Ripper Aggrobot Reptirron

Aggrobot gets underneath Reptirron The Second

However, Aggrobot quickly escaped the huge house robot without any damage received to it, and rushed back into the fray of the battle. Ripper then hurled Aggrobot over, but the invertible Aggrobot recovered from the attack without sweat. Another flip from Ripper caused Aggrobot to roll over twice, before being flipped head over heels again. Reptirron The Second flipped Aggrobot over again, just as Refbot finished counting out the overturned Zorro. Reptirron The Second landed on Aggrobot, pinning it to the ground. Breaking free, Reptirron The Second made one final flip on Aggrobot, and then Aggrobot wedged underneath Ripper and pushed it into an arena wall before the time ran out for the battle to go to a judges' decision between the remaining three competitors. Aggrobot was unsurprisingly eliminated from the competition as a result of the judges' decision, as the robot had dealt little to no damage or aggression at all during the battle.

Results

AGGROBOT - RESULTS
Series 3
The Third Wars - UK Championship
Heat Final
Heat C, Round 1 vs. Binky Won
Heat C, Round 2 vs. Razer Won
Heat C, Final vs. Blade Lost
AGGROBOT 2 - RESULTS
Series 4
The Fourth Wars - UK Championship
20th Seed, Heat, Round 2
Heat O, Eliminator vs. Oblivion 2, Saw Point Qualified
Heat O, Semi-Final vs. S.M.I.D.S.Y. Lost
AGGROBOT 3 - RESULTS
Extreme Series 1
Mayhem
Mayhem vs. Killertron, Splinter Lost
Series 6
The Sixth Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 2
Heat E, Round 1 vs. 259, Infernal Contraption, Infinity Qualified
Heat E, Round 2 vs. Vader Lost
AGGROBOT - RESULTS
Series 7
The Seventh Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 1
Heat P, Round 1 vs. Reptirron The Second, Ripper, Zorro Eliminated

Wins/Losses

  • Wins: 4
  • Losses: 5

Series Record

Aggrobot 2 S4

Aggrobot 2 in Robot Wars: The Official Sticker Collection

Main Series Aggrobot Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Heat Final as Aggrobot
The Fourth Wars Heat, Round 2 as Aggrobot 2
The Fifth Wars Failed to qualify as Aggrobot 3
The Sixth Wars Heat, Round 2 as Aggrobot 3
The Seventh Wars Heat, Round 1 as Aggrobot
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter
Robot Wars Extreme Appearances
Series 1 Entered with Aggrobot 3
Series 2 Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars

Aggrobot also competed in Techno Games, under the name A Bot. It entered the Football tournament, teamed up with V-Bot as "The AV Raiders", and lost in Round 1 to Team Make Robotics.

Trivia

Aggrobot S7

Official photo in Series 7

  • Despite fighting in four main competitions and being seeded itself, Aggrobot never fought another seeded machine. The closest it came was when it fought Splinter in its Extreme 1 Mayhem, who was seeded seventeenth in the concurrently filmed Fifth Wars. It did fight Spawn of Scutter, the tenth seed in the Fourth Wars in a Fantasy Fight in the original Robot Wars Magazine.
  • Four out of Aggrobot's five one-on-one battles were against a robot with five letters in its name: Binky, Razer, Blade and Vader. The only exception was the six-letter S.M.I.D.S.Y. in Series 4.
    • Aggrobot's intended first opponent in Series 3, Daisy, also had five letters in its name.
  • Aggrobot was profiled in Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide.
  • Both times Aggrobot was in the same episode as Razer, it was thrown by the floor flipper in its defeat.
  • All but one of Aggrobot's appearances were in episodes that contained a quick immobilisation, with one being inflicted on Aggrobot itself.
  • Despite having a similar name, this robot had no relation to St. Agro.
  • In 2016, Australian news outlet "news.com.au" (owned by NewsCorp Australia) profiled the return of Robot Wars. Along with several UK champions, Aggrobot (along with Max Damage and the Series 3 versions of Diotoir) was singled out as one of Robot Wars' memorable and colourful designs.[3]
  • Throughout the series that it appeared in, Aggrobot never shared the arena with Growler or Cassius Chrome.

References

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