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"No weaknesses at all!"
— The Devastator team on their machine

Devastator was a competitor robot that exclusively fought in the seventh series of Robot Wars. The team boasted that Devastator had no weaknesses and even the statboard listed their weaknesses as "classified". Despite these remarks, Devastator lost its only battle after being pursued by the reigning champion Tornado throughout the battle.

Design[]

Devastator S7

Rear view of Devastator

Devastator was an invertible two-wheeled box shaped robot with a rounded back, most likely to avoid being stranded there, narrowing down to a point at the front. It was here that its weapon, a horizontal spinning disc, was located. It had a yellow and red striped top, and red sides. Though not revealed on the show, Devastator cost £250 to build.[1]

"No weaknesses? Right: The tyres are exposed, the gaping mouth can be easily hooked...err....the weapon IS powerful, slight wedge shape, runs both ways up at 16 watts, not bad."
Jonathan Pearce, not taking the team's claim of 'no weaknesses' seriously

The Team[]

DevestatorTeam

The Devastator team

Devastator was entered into Robot Wars by a West Yorkshire-based team, consisting of Stuart Bunting, Bill Hoare and Stuart Hoare. The team were very confident in their machine, believing it to have no weaknesses. Despite this, Devastator did in fact have a weakness in that its disc was slow to spin up and the team claimed it to have no weaknesses in order to build up hype.[2]

"It was all hype, we knew it could take a lot of punishment without breaking but its weakness was the time the weapon took to spin up"
— Stuart Bunting reveals Devastator's true weakness

Stuart Bunting and Bill Hoare were originally joined by a different team member, Andy Mann, in the Robot Mayhem qualifiers.[3]

Qualification[]

Devastator was known to have made a qualification attempt for Series 4 at the Robot Mayhem live event, though who it fought that year and if it won or lost its battles is unknown.[4] It originally entered under the name The Executioner, but the team was forced to change it due to another robot sharing the same name.[5]

Devastator then attempted to enter Series 6. According to Stuart Bunting, they did not take part in a qualifier battle, but instead an audition and the producers didn't choose them to appear on the show.[6] Devastator then successfully qualified for Series 7 after winning its qualifier battle against three unknown robots, of which it was the only robot still mobile at the end of the bout.[7]

Robot History[]

Series 7[]

Devastator made its bow in Heat E of the Seventh Wars, where it was drawn up against reigning champion Tornado, along with Team Coyote's new robot Ewe 2 and Team A-Kill's Sawpoint 2.

"This is a robot without weaknesses. I think we've found a champion. We can stop the whole show everybody! ... Not really, you still gotta go in there. You STILL gotta go in there!"
Jayne Middlemiss, also not taking the team's claim seriously
Tornado Devastator 2

Devastator is pushed into a CPZ by Tornado

Devastator CPZ

Devastator finds itself trapped in the CPZ

Devastator came under immediate pressure from Tornado, which drove towards it before pushing it side-on across the arena floor and into the side wall. Devastator failed to move away, which allowed Mr. Psycho to apply pressure in the CPZ that Devastator occupied. The House Robot squeezed Devastator up against the arena wall, before it managed to escape, where Tornado focused on it once more. Tornado came in with an attack with its spinning drum, which sent Devastator's front upwards. Tornado then caught Devastator side-on once more, this time ramming it into Matilda. Devastator managed to edge away from the House Robot's pink flywheel and then exchanged blows with Tornado. Tornado continued to push Devastator around, with Devastator's weapon now not moving. Devastator tried to get involved with Sawpoint 2 and Ewe 2, and attacked Sawpoint 2 with its disc which was now starting to crank up again, but it only managed to deflect itself aside, causing minimal damage to Sawpoint 2's wheel. Tornado then forced both Sawpoint 2 and Devastator into the CPZ as Ewe 2 activated the pit release button, before Mr. Psycho charged across the arena and trapped Devastator in the CPZ.

"Devastator in trouble as Mr. Psycho comes in again - get away! Caught between the two House Robots. Lack of experience in there, I think from Devastator - first time in the Robot Wars."
— Jonathan Pearce
Tornado, Ewe 2, Devastator

Devastator is pushed towards the pit

Mr. Psycho attempted to grab Devastator with his claw, but couldn't and after some more jostling, Devastator moved away from trouble. Devastator was then consistently forced back against the arena wall by Tornado as Sawpoint 2 was pitted by Ewe 2, before Ewe 2 decided to help out Tornado, with the two robots double-teaming to push Devastator towards the pit before leaving it on top of the already pitted Sawpoint 2. With Devastator unable to gain traction to move away from its suspended position, it was counted as immobile, and cease was called, with Devastator crashing out of the competition.

Results[]

DEVASTATOR - RESULTS
Series 7
The Seventh Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 1
Heat E, Round 1 vs. Ewe 2, Sawpoint 2, Tornado (1) Eliminated

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 0
  • Losses: 1

Series Record[]

Series Devastator Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Did not enter
The Fourth Wars Failed to qualify
The Fifth Wars Did not enter
The Sixth Wars Failed to qualify
The Seventh Wars Heat, Round 1
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter

Gallery[]

Outside Robot Wars[]

The team were planning to enter a supposed eighth series of Robot Wars, upgrading Devastator to have a stronger motor powering the weapon.[8] However, this did not happen and Robot Wars instead entered its twelve-year hiatus.

Devastator was scrapped a few years after the original run of Robot Wars ended as Stuart Bunting believed that the show would never happen again.[9]

Trivia[]

  • By filming order, Devastator and Sawpoint 2 were the first robots to be eliminated from the Seventh Wars, with Heat E being the first to be filmed and later swapped in the broadcast order with Heat A.[10]

References[]

  1. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Stuart Bunting, 2020
  2. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Stuart Bunting, 2020
  3. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Stuart Bunting, 28 March 2023
  4. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Stuart Bunting, 2020
  5. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Stuart Bunting, 2020
  6. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Stuart Bunting, 2020
  7. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Stuart Bunting, 2020
  8. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Stuart Bunting, 2020
  9. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Stuart Bunting, 2020
  10. http://www.teamtornado.co.uk/rwd18.htm

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