- "A new, vivid, tigerish, killing machine."
- — Jonathan Pearce introduces Hodaf The Bad
Hodaf The Bad was a competitor robot which fought exclusively in Series 7 of Robot Wars. The first of Team Crazy 88's robots to successfully qualify for the televised series, it lost its first-round battle on a Judges' decision, after the melee was stopped early due to the arena getting damaged by Gravity and Hydra.
Design[]
Side view of Hodaf The Bad, with the flipper on the left hand side and the flywheel on the right
Hodaf The Bad was a two-wheeled robot with a bi-wedged chassis, 750W electric drive motors and an orange and black colour scheme resembling that of a tiger. Its weapons included a rear-hinged flipper at the front and a horizontal spinning disc at the back – the latter mounted underneath the rear part of the robot's chassis. In addition to its armament, Hodaf The Bad featured three bars – one on top (described as a 'tail', with a figurine of Yoda from Star Wars on the top), two on either side – which enabled the robot to self-right when thrown upside-down. These were covered in artificial fur which the team planned to set fire to during battles.
- "Tiger, tiger, burning bright - it will!"
- — Jonathan Pearce whilst reading Hodaf The Bad's statistics, referencing the William Blake poem The Tyger
However, although Hodaf The Bad proved durable, its ground clearance was easily exploitable by opponents armed with flipping weapons. There was also a Yoda figure on top to reference Star Wars.
The Team[]
Hodaf the Bad was built primarily by Barnsley-based roboteer John Nicholson, who was accompanied by John Dixon and Tyrone Ellis. The robot was built as participation between Barnsley College and IS Maintenance. Former Series 5 competitor with Bee-Capitator, John Nicholson, was team captain - although Tyrone Ellis still conducted the team's only interview in Series 7. Tyrone Ellis had previously attempted to enter Series 4 through 6 with ISM, X box and Bigfish respectively.
Part of the team would later become known as Team Crazy 88 under Tyrone Ellis' captaincy, competing in Series 8 with Crazy Coupe 88 and also attempting to enter Series 9 with Iron Heart 88.
Robot History[]
Series 7[]
- Jayne Middlemiss: "You nervous? How’s your nerves?"
- Tyrone Ellis: "Terrible, absolutely."
- Jayne Middlemiss: "Really?"
- Tyrone Ellis: "Yeah, yeah."
- Jayne Middlemiss: "Good luck"
- Tyrone Ellis: "Yeah, thanks a lot."
- Jayne Middlemiss: "Keep the nerves at [bay] – lots of deep breathing."
- Tyrone Ellis: "I've been trying, but I’ve been fainting quite a lot, so..."
- — Tyrone Ellis informs Jayne Middlemiss of his nerves ahead of Hodaf The Bad's melee
As a newcomer, Hodaf The Bad competed in Heat D of The Seventh Wars, where it faced New Blood Championship finalist Thor, Extreme 2 Tag Team Terror co-runner up Hydra and Dutch Series 2 Heat Finalist Gravity in its first-round battle. As the two teams shared a control booth, the teams behind Hodaf the Bad and Gravity agreed to conspire against Hydra and Thor, making Thor the sole target of Hodaf the Bad[1].
Hodaf The Bad is struck by Thor
Hodaf the Bad is turned over by Hydra
In the opening seconds, Hodaf the Bad ambled across the arena to meet Thor and unsuccessfully attempted to flip the latter; Thor hammered the space underneath Hodaf The Bad's flipper in response. Hodaf The Bad reversed sluggishly away, and struggled to get either of its weapons lined up for an attack on Thor before all four robots briefly converged in the centre of the arena. It backed towards Hydra, but turned before its disc could hit Hydra's left side; a brief hesitation allowed Hydra to throw Hodaf The Bad over against an angle grinder with its own flipping arm. Hodaf The Bad quickly self-righted and tried to flip Thor once more, but again without success and while sustaining another hammer blow - seconds later, it reversed and momentarily stood still over the flame jet.
Very little was seen of Hodaf The Bad from this point onwards, as the televised footage focused on Gravity throwing Hydra onto the wall and out of the arena. Gravity's attacks resulted in the wall and one of the cameras getting damaged; the battle was stopped for safety reasons while a Judges’ decision was made. The Judges, evaluating the battle up to the moment when Hydra got thrown out, ruled that Hodaf The Bad would be eliminated along with the former, its Seventh Wars run coming to a premature end.
Results[]
| HODAF THE BAD - RESULTS | ||
| Series 7 | ||
| The Seventh Wars - UK Championship Heat, Round 1 | ||
| Heat D, Round 1 | vs. Gravity, Hydra, Thor | Eliminated |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
Hodaf the Bad at the qualifiers, unpainted
| Series | Hodaf The Bad 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 with ISM (Tyrone Ellis) |
| The Fifth Wars | Entered with Bee-Capitator (John Nicholson) Failed to qualify with X box (Tyrone Ellis) |
| The Sixth Wars | Failed to qualify with Bigfish (Tyrone Ellis) |
| The Seventh Wars | Heat, Round 1 |
| Series 8 | Entered with Crazy Coupe 88 (Tyrone Ellis) |
| Series 9 | Not selected with Iron Heart 88 (Tyrone Ellis) |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
Outside Robot Wars[]
For more information on Tyrone Ellis' excursions outside of Robot Wars, see Crazy Coupe 88 and Iron Heart 88.
Trivia[]
Official Series 7 photo
- Hodaf the Bad is the only robot to lose a battle via Judges' decision after the battle was stopped prematurely for safety reasons, and not restarted.
- Hodaf the Bad is one of two robots that used a figure of Yoda from Star Wars as a decoration, the other being Purple Predator.