- "Six robots enter the war zone, and the annihilation begins. Six... down to five. Five... down to four, and so on, until one is left battered, and bloodied, but with its head... held high!"
- — Craig Charles' introduction for Extreme 1, Annihilator 2
Annihilators were one of the most common side competitions in Robot Wars. Six events of this kind took place throughout the original UK Series; two in Series 4, two in Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1, one in Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2, and one in Series 7. Annihilators were also held in each season of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors, plus the one-off series Nickelodeon Robot Wars.
Format[]
The Annihilator was an elimination-style competition featuring a maximum of six robots. In the first round, all six would fight each other in the arena until one was eliminated. In the following rounds, the remaining robots would be given time for repairs and do battle again. The process continued until only two robots remained, with the subsequent winner becoming the Annihilator champion.
Occasionally, a robot would be too badly damaged to return to the arena and would be forced to withdraw. In these situations, the competition would automatically move on to the following round.
Variations[]
The two Annihilators held in The Fourth Wars were themed, with one for robots from the north of the United Kingdom and one for robots from the south.
Filming schedule for Series 5/Extreme 1; both Annihilators began filming at the same time as the Fifth Wars final
For the Annihilators held in Extreme 1, the competitors were chosen via Mayhem battles, a series of three-way melees from which only one robot would win. Twelve of the Mayhem fights aired would be used as Annihilator qualifiers, with six provisional places available per Annihilator. Due to Extreme 1 filming being split into two sessions, both Annihilators took place after the majority of the main Series 5 had concluded. Likely due to damage sustained in the main series, Mayhem winners Atomic 2 and Bulldog Breed 3 both forfeited their places, which were given to Fighting Torque and Spirit of Knightmare respectively.
Likely due to timing constraints - limiting the episode to four battles - the Nickelodeon Annihilator was unique in featuring only five competitors instead of the usual six.
UK Series[]
The Fourth Wars[]
- Main article: Robot Wars: The Fourth Wars/Northern Annihilator
- Main article: Robot Wars: The Fourth Wars/Southern Annihilator
Extreme Series 1[]
- Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Annihilator 1
- Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Annihilator 2
Extreme Series 2[]
- Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2/Annihilator
The Seventh Wars[]
- Main article: Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars/Annihilator
US Series[]
Season 1[]
- Main article: Extreme Warriors: Season 1/Annihilator
Season 2[]
- Main article: Extreme Warriors: Season 2/Annihilator
Nickelodeon[]
- Main article: Nickelodeon Robot Wars/Annihilator
Trivia[]
- All of the odd-numbered UK Annihilators (i.e. the first Annihilator, third Annihilator etc.) lasted for the full five rounds, but all the even-numbered Annihilators skipped rounds due to robots dropping out.
- The champions of the UK Annihilators would usually receive a trophy, whilst the champions of the US Annihilators would receive a wrestling-style championship belt.
- Out of the seven Annihilator champions that had also competed in domestic championships, four of them (Spikasaurus, Kan-Opener, Drillzilla and Cyclone) had lost in the first round, although Drillzilla had won multiple battles in side events. Kan-Opener in particular has never won a single battle in four years of competing in the main UK Championship, despite winning two Annihilators (Extreme 2 and Series 7) back-to-back.
- In the Italian dub of Extreme 1, the Annihilator events were referred to as L'Annientatore, directly translating to "The Annihilator".[1]
References[]
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