- "A scuttling spider with 16 legs, spikes and an axe. The team says it walks fast, but webber or not it will walk fast enough is a different matter."
- — Robot Wars Magazine on Black Widow
Black Widow was a walkerbot that competed in Series 5 of Robot Wars. In its only appearance, it was defeated by Hypno-Disc.
Design[]
- "Two front ramming spikes, the parts are from a scrapyard... oh, and flower pot stands from petrol stations!"
- — Jonathan Pearce on Black Widow's weapons and armor
Official image of Black Widow
Black Widow was a large box shaped walkerbot design to look like a Black Widow spider, hence the name. Its primary weapons were two front spikes and a large overhead axe, swinging through 180 degrees. It featured light-up eyes, flammable fur, and a "web" made out of cotton wool intended to get tangled in spinners to stop them working (though this had little effect against Hypno-Disc).
The Team[]
The Black Widow team
Black Widow was built by a team from Bampton in Oxfordshire, captained by Christopher Arnell who was joined by Dale and Linda Underwood. The team would later return for Series 7 with a new robot, Killerkat.
Robot History[]
Series 5[]
In Black Widow's single appearance, it competed in Heat B, and it faced a tough round one draw, as it had to face number 3 seed Hypno-Disc.
- "What an unlucky draw for the Black Widow team, the Rose boys very experienced, Hypno-Disc is gruesomely destructive!"
- — Jonathan Pearce at start of the battle
Black Widow struggling to deal with the disc of Hypno-Disc.
Black Widow is counted out after having a leg removed
Black Widow trundled towards the centre of the arena as Hypno-Disc held back and got its flywheel up to speed. Eventually, Hypno-Disc began to move towards Black Widow, which missed with a swing of its axe.
- "Come into my parlour... err, said Hypno-Disc to the spider?! Worked that way, did it?"
- — Jonathan Pearce
After manoeuvring into position, Hypno-Disc struck the side of Black Widow twice, and Black Widow was left unable to walk on one side. While it swung its axe continuously, Hypno-Disc carried out further attacks on Black Widow's left-hand side, tearing away part of its decorative web in the process. The next Hypno-Disc slash proved to be a decisive one, as it ripped off one of Black Widow's legs and left the machine completely immobile. Refbot came across the count Black Widow out, and although it desperately fired its axe back and forth, it was unable to prevent its own elimination.
- "And incy, wincy spidey will be climbing no more."
- — Jonathan Pearce as Black Widow is counted out
Black Widow on fire
Black Widow balances on the Flipper
Hypno-Disc then came in for one last attack, before Sir Killalot set Black Widow alight on the flame jet and placed it onto the Floor Flipper. Initially, the positioning of Black Widow combined with its weight, meant that Black Widow was only pushed upwards and balanced on top of the Floor Flipper before coming back down. Repositioning of Black Widow from Shunt saw it flipped at the second time of asking though, and 'cease' was called with Black Widow belly-up.
- "I think that's the first time our Floor Flipper has failed to hoist a robot at its first attempt...balanced precariously, on a web of its own making perhaps."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Results[]
| BLACK WIDOW - RESULTS | ||
| Series 5 | ||
| The Fifth Wars UK Championship Heats, Round 1 | ||
| Heat B, Round 1 | vs. Hypno-Disc (3) | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
Black Widow in the arena
| Series | Black Widow Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Did not enter |
| The Third Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fifth Wars | Heat, Round 1 |
| The Sixth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Seventh Wars | Entered with Killerkat |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
Outside Robot Wars[]
Techno Games[]
Black Widow at Techno Games 2002
Incy Wincy
A weaponless Black Widow also competed in the Heavyweight Sprint discipline at Techno Games 2002. Despite losing its first race to Ulysses, it managed to set a time fast enough to qualify for the Semi-Finals. A second successive loss to eventual champion Scuttle B Squared consigned Black Widow to the third-place playoff, where it lost out on bronze medal honours after suffering mobility issues against Clod Hopper.
The team returned the following year with Incy Wincy, a entrant in the Assault Course with a similar theme and decorated design to Black Widow. Here, it defeated Pink Pants in the first round, but did not set a time fast enough to qualify for the top 8.
Trivia[]
- Black Widow is the first robot not to be tossed by the floor flipper on the first attempt, as it balanced on the top of the flipper and was only successfully tossed through the air on the second attempt.
Similarities with Killerkat[]
Bizarrely, Black Widow's performance was almost identical to the team's other entry, Killerkat.
- Both fought in Heat B of their respective wars.
- Both were drawn against the #3 seed (although Terrorhurtz did not fight in the Series 7 battle).
- On both occasions the #3 seed was also from Oxfordshire.
- Both lost their fight after being immobilised by a robot with a spinning weapon.
- The fur on the machine was set alight each time and the robot was thrown by the floor flipper.
- Both of their appearances were in the same heat as Kan-Opener, who also went out in the first round on both occasions.