Donald Thump

Donald Thump
Participation Information
UK Series	10
Team Information
Team	Team Ballistix
Team Members	James Davies Allan Davies
From	Hereford, Herefordshire
Robot Statistics
Weight	110kg
Top Speed	15.8mph
Power	LiFePo 24V
Drive	2x AmpFlow E30-400 (2.1HP) motors
Weapons	Vertical spinning bar
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"We're gonna make Robot Wars great again!"

— James Davies

Donald Thump was a heavyweight robot built by Team Ballistix, which entered Series 10 of Robot Wars. Dubbed the first 'satirical robot' to appear on the show, it demonstrated early potential in its Group Battle by causing severe damage to Sabretooth's bodywork, which contributed to the Team Legion entry's downfall later in the same match. However, Donald Thump would ultimately lose both of its battles to Behemoth and The Swarm respectively, after suffering various technical issues of its own.

The robot's visual design and name are an obvious homage to 45th U.S. President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated between the filming of Series 9 and 10. The robot was previously built under the name Terror-Bull, which was not selected to compete in either series under this identity.

Design

"It’s gonna be tremendous!"

— James Davies

Donald Thump with its straw hair

Donald Thump with its team

Donald Thump sported a wide, plough-shaped design, with five flat sides, driven by two 200mm elastic rubber wheels. It featured a small front wedge, designed to lead robots into the 16kg vertical spinning bar, driven by a 1kg belt pulley and powered by a 44V lithium polymer battery, allowing the weapon to reach speeds of 145mph (5000rpm) courtesy of its LEM 200 motor. The weapon can reach its top speed within a very short period of 2 seconds. The robot was armed in comparatively thin 3mm HARDOX, weighing 110kg in total, although its self-righting had not been tested. Donald Thump boasted 4.2 horsepower on its two-wheel drive system.

The robot and its weapon were painted gold, in homage to the U.S. President, Donald Trump. It was decorated with Trump’s eyes, eyebrows, and a comedy mouth. Donald Thump could also be equipped with 'blonde hair' made from straw, seen in its official imagery, but this was not used on television as the team feared it would cause their own spinning bar to become entangled.

"It’s a solid gold bar. I use gold, because gold is the hardest metal in the world, guaranteed, okay, guaranteed! Some people think it’s small, but if they say the bar is small, then something else must be small, okay, I guarantee you folks, it’s not an issue!"

— James Davies, in character, on Donald Thump’s weapon

Official shot of Donald Thump

Donald Thump on the statistics board

Originally a purple minibot, known as Nigel Barrage, was planned to fight alongside it, but the weight of Donald Thump made this idea infeasible. The insides of Donald Thump were amusingly protected by denim jeans, and polystyrene that the team found in a skip.

"You've never seen a robot like this before, it's one of the greatest. It's so powerful. It's got wheels. It's got spinners. It's got... weapons, and metal... it's, it's got all of the bits, okay!"

— James Davies, in character

The Team

Allan Davies (left) and James Davies (right)

The Hereford-based Team Ballistix is captained by James Davies, who was aged 23 at the time of Series 10. James Davies applied for the series as a medical student, and advanced to become a junior doctor shortly prior to the filming of his televised debut. James Davies filled all of the robot's key roles - designer, builder, driver, and head of repairs - while receiving assistance from 59-year old father Allan Davies, an accountant.

James Davies would shift in and out of character at filming, often imitating the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump in his manner of speaking, and would wear a formal suit and 'Make Robot Wars Great Again' red cap to build this character, reinforcing the theme with Donald Trump-style hand gestures. Otherwise, he would speak from the more grounded perspective of his junior doctor self. Whilst James Davies filled the role of Donald Trump, Allan Davies dressed as a bodyguard, wearing sunglasses and a black suit with hat. Notably, the Robot Wars website even refers to Allan Davies' team role as 'body guard'.

Qualification

Donald Thump in its past form as Terror-Bull

James Davies and Donald Thump in their qualification video

Before it was rebranded as Donald Thump, the robot was originally known as Terror-Bull. Team Ballistix had applied for Series 8 using a rebranded version of Leveller 2 Mk 4.5 known as Terror-Bull, but their Series 9 entry was the bar spinner that would later become Donald Thump, instead using a brown bull-themed design featuring a nose ring. Regardless, Terror-Bull was not selected for Series 9.

Donald Thump initially applied for Series 10 using the same Terror-Bull design, fearing that political designs would not be accepted by the BBC, but Terror-Bull was still not selected to compete. Closer to filming, Team Ballistix revealed Donald Thump in a comedic video, where James Davies dressed up as Donald Trump, and utilised popular Trump tropes while introducing the robot. This would eventually lead to Donald Thump's inclusion in the series, hardly a week before filming began. An official trailer for Series 10 included a small clip of this video.

"We're gonna start winning, bigly!"

— James Davies in the Series 10 trailer

Robot History

Series 10

"[James Davies], recently qualified, is here with his bodyguard, a.k.a. accountant Dad, to bring some covfefe to proceedings!"

— Angela Scanlon

Donald Thump competed in Heat A of Series 10, where in the Group Battle stage, it would face two highly-experienced opponents - Behemoth and Sabretooth. The machine bore its straw hair in Team Ballistix's interview with Dara Ó Briain, where James Davies talked about his medical career, but this was removed shortly before the fight to avoid entangling the robot's weapon. Davies was standing on a 'Dara Step' to make him appear taller than Ó Briain, and also 'rubbed his bald head for good luck'.

Dara Ó Briain: "As a baby doctor, why aren't you studying and why are you instead building a robot?"

James Davies: "I've just finished, I've finally, after five years!"

Dara Ó Briain: "And you knocked up a robot in the couple of weeks?"

James Davies: "You've got to keep your mind off, you've got to do things to vary your palette, haven't you? So this is the thing I do to distract myself from the medicine, it's very different!"

— A rare interview with an out-of-character James Davies

Donald Thump punches a hole in the front of Sabretooth

Donald Thump's critical damage to Sabretooth

In the Group Battle itself, Donald Thump initially backed away to power up its spinning bar. After allowing the weapon to reach its full speed, it drove into Sabretooth's drum for a head-on collision, causing damage at the expense of one of Donald Thump's eyes. 'Blinded', Donald Thump drove straight into the arena wall, although it grazed Behemoth with its spinner while retreating. Sabretooth tried to attack Donald Thump, but Team Ballistix capitalised by striking the side of Sabretooth, ripping it up and out of place. However, Behemoth also responded by taking advantage of the time Donald Thump needed to use to spin up its weapon, and slammed it backwards. Donald Thump briefly slotted its body under a recoiling Behemoth, but was attacked by Sabretooth.

"Donald Thump, designed by Dr Doom, and as the fight went on, became less effective"

— Jonathan Pearce

Behemoth crashes into Donald Thump

Donald Thump loses mobility near the arena spikes

Moments later, Donald Thump lost mobility, and was the first to be immobilised in the Group Battle. Although Donald Thump had lost the battle, its earlier damage on Sabretooth proved to be crucial, as Sabretooth's wheels lacked sufficient purchase with arena floor when the robot was overturned, at the end of a battle that it otherwise would have won over Behemoth, which had been immobilised at the same time as Sabretooth.

Dara Ó Briain: "Why did you not put the hair on?"

James Davies: "I was a bit worried about it getting tangled, it was a last minute decision, but I was worried about getting tangled up in it. I didn't wanna lose to my own hair!"

Dara Ó Briain: "OK fine, that is a weird way to go..."

James Davies (in character): "Not a problem you'd have!"

Dara Ó Briain: "No, no not at all... Wow, that hurt..."

— A conversation followed by a Donald Trump-style hand gesture

As Donald Thump finished third in its Group Battle, it was drawn against the four-part clusterbot of Team Big Brother, The Swarm, runner-up of the second Group Battle in the heat. However, the battle took an extensive period of time to start, with both robots requiring maintenance, and during this time, it became clear that Donald Thump's weapon was only working intermittently. It was declared that Donald Thump needed to enter the battle with its weapon disabled, and fight what James Davies called a 'headbutting match'. Angela Scanlon advised that Donald Thump should open the pit.

"You win this, you're through to the next round, or you lose, you return to your daily life as a medical student and spend the next fourteen years studying to become a proper doctor!"

— Dara Ó Briain

Blenda lands a big hit on Donald Thump

The sheer weight of Donald Thump was able to send Skye recoiling on a drive, but it received two direct blows from Blenda's spinning bar, and a front panel of Donald Thump's face was ripped open from the body of the machine.

"Donald Thump's face is falling off!"

— Angela Scanlon

Donald Thump loses face

James Davies took Angela Scanlon's advice and pressed the Arena Tyre, but against the team's plan, this activated Rogue House Robot, and while Sir Killalot roamed the arena, Blenda completely removed the other half of Donald Thump's face. Donald Thump slammed into Skye and Duck, but was flicked up by the latter, and a huge hit from Blenda fully removed the remains of Donald Thump's face panels. Donald Thump was able to push Blenda into the CPZ where Dead Metal attacked it, and then Donald Thump slammed into Pinza, regaining points.

"Donald Thump, very loud, very proud, heading through?"

— Jonathan Pearce

Donald Thump is counted out and gripped by Pinza

This would prove to be Donald Thump's last attack, as one final blow from Blenda to the front of the machine caused Donald Thump to become immobile. It was gripped by the claws of Pinza, and bumped into repeatedly by Skye, as the countdown clock called an end to the presidential robot's campaign. Dara Ó Briain commended James Davies on 'serving the nation very well in his time as president'.

The battered Donald Thump after the fight

James Davies: "Those so-called "judges"..."

Dara Ó Briain: "So-called, yeah, so-called, my so-called eyes told me I'd lost, but no!"

— Controversy from the politician

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 2

Series Record

Series	Donald Thump Series Record
Series 1-7	Did not enter
Series 8	Not selected with Terror-Bull
Series 9	Not selected as Terror-Bull
Series 10	Heat, Round 1

Gallery

Donald Thump in the arena

A "Make Robot Wars Great Again" cap on Donald Thump's spinning bar

Outside Robot Wars

Donald Thump survives blows from Thor

Donald Thump made its combat debut at the Extreme Robots event in Manchester, in April 2017. The team intended to run their spinning bar at 125mph, but after the roof of the arena was deemed to be unsafe, the robot could only compete without the use of its weapon. In its first fight, electrical issues caused Donald Thump to fall to Iron-Awe 5 and the eventual winner of the battle Suspension. Donald Thump then lost its second fight to Big Nipper due to a faulty connector, before battling HIGH-5 and Thor in its final battle. After the same connector led to Donald Thump’s immobilisation, James Davies invited Jason Marston to land repeated axe blows onto his robot, which Donald Thump withstood reasonably well.

The new Donald Thump in Gloucester

At the Extreme Robots event in Gloucester in October 2017, a completely rebuilt Donald Thump appeared on the first day and replaced S.M.I.D.S.Y. whose battery had begun to smoke after entering the arena. It was permitted to use its spinner, but the robot had intermittent control in a battle with ACE and Rattler, and could not properly land a blow. It fought Gabriel in a head-to-head, but was quickly immobilised. The new version of Donald Thump featured a much larger front end and was now made to be invertible.

Donald Thump in April 2018

The invertible Donald Thump returned for the Extreme Robots Manchester event in April 2018, sporting its signature gold colours. There, it finished fourth overall, after defeating Frankenstein, Infernal Contraption and ThunderChild before being defeated by Beast in the semi-finals and TR3 in the playoff. At the Portsmouth event in May, Donald Thump caused significant damage to Harpy and Thor, but was knocked out of the tournament by Apex. Donald Thump also competed at Extreme Robots in Cheltenham, in November 2018. It defeated S.M.I.D.S.Y. on a Judges' decision, but lost its second-round fight to 2point0 on another Judges' decision.

Nigel Barrage (left)

James Davies' attire when competing with Nigel Barrage

Having originally planned to enter a minibot named Nigel Barrage alongside Donald Thump in Series 10, James Davies created a featherweight named Nigel Barrage in August 2018. Nigel Barrage entered the featherweight championship held by King of Bots at the Insomnia gaming festival. The robot was armed with a vertical spinning disc, and James Davies dressed as the British politician Nigel Farrage at the event, complete with impression during interviews. Nigel Barrage finished third in its opening melee against Little Devil and Telekinesis. It improved on this, after winning a melee where Elevate did not move, and despite losing a wheel entirely, Nigel Barrage backed The Mighty Unicorn into the pit. However, Nigel Barrage withdrew before its final battle, and was eliminated from the whole competition as a result. Nigel Barrage also competed in the UK Featherweight Championship 2019 under temporary captaincy of Gregory Atkin, but lost all of its fights.

In 2022, Donald Thump returned to the live events circuit at Extreme Robots Portsmouth, with James Davies notably challenging the recently-crowned heavyweight champion Ripper to its title belt. This was settled in a grudge match between the two robots at the following event in Guildford, though ultimately Donald Thump was unable to prevent Ripper from completing its first successful defence of the belt. Donald Thump also fought a redesigned Sabretooth at Colchester in September, benefiting from its opponent's teething issues to take a quick knockout victory.

Donald Thump continues to appear at Extreme Robots events as of November 2023, competing primarily in 'Spinner Battles'. Though losing its first fight of the year at Brentwood (27-28 May) to Galactus, it redeemed itself with three consecutive victories at Guildford (17-18 June); one against GBO Nemesis, and two in separate head-to-heads against Austrian drum spinner Scrapy 2.0. In each of these, Donald Thump damaged and immobilised its opponents within the first minute.

The subsequent Newcastle (22-23 July) and Colchester (16-17 September) legs brought about mixed fortunes for Donald Thump. While winning against Galactus a second time in the former, it would be defeated in melee battles by Zadkiel and Ember respectively. At Colchester, Donald Thump inherited a quick win over newcomer Virus during the first Saturday show, after the rival vertical spinner suffered teething issues and displayed very limited mobility. Both robots would then lose a melee later the same day to Zadkiel, despite Donald Thump wielding large tyre sections as added protection against the latter's undercutting bar.

Minus an operating spinner, Donald Thump competed at RoboRiots, Dublin, on the weekend of 7-8 October 2023. It is documented to have fought at least two battles against Coyote and Ripper VII respectively, surviving the full three minutes against the latter. Donald Thump also fought in this state at Robots Live! Stoke-on-Trent later the same month, but was eliminated from the main competition in the first round alongside Alpha and former Robot Wars opponent Behemoth.

Donald Thump finished its 2023 Extreme Robots run at Cheltenham on 11-12 November 2023, beginning with a three-way Saturday melee against Zadkiel and rival vertical spinner Mongrel. The fight saw it exchange multiple hits with the undercutting blade of Team Saint's machine, though it would end up becoming immobilised within the first minute. Donald Thump later redeemed itself in its second melee of the day against Ominous and Mongrel, flipping the Dutch BattleBots competitor out of the arena en route to a knockout win. An all-vert melee on the Sunday resulted in Donald Thump sustaining major damage and being thrown onto its front end by Monsoon, though it would still outlast Mongrel in a battle won by Tom Brewster's machine.

Theresa Mayhem with James Davies

Theresa Mayhem in July 2019

James Davies created a new politically-themed heavyweight robot in May 2019, basing his wedge-shaped Theresa Mayhem on the presiding prime minister of the United Kingdom at the time, Theresa May. Armed with a rear-hinged flipper, Theresa Mayhem made its combat debut at RoboRiots in Dublin later that month, followed by further appearances the same year at the Extreme Robots Bolton, Maidstone and Cheltenham events. It remains in active competition to this day, with documented appearances including Robots Live! Stoke-on-Trent in July 2022 and October 2023; and RoboRiots in October 2023.

While Series 10 was airing, the original version of Donald Thump starred in a mock Robot Wars episode created by James Davies, where the new version of the robot battled "Dara O'Breadbin" in a three-minute sketch intended to fill the week where Series 10 of Robot Wars was unaired due to clashes with tennis broadcasting.

CAD of Winston Churchkill

CAD of Slambulance

For the 2020 season of BattleBots, Team Ballistix advanced the design of Donald Thump to build a new heavyweight for the US competition known as Winston Churchkill, giving the robot a cigar-themed spinner while James Davies adopted the persona of Winston Churchill in his application video. Winston Churckill was accepted to compete in the 2020 season, and the build was largely completed, but the team were forced to withdraw due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the 2021 season, Winston Churchkill was rebranded as Slambulance in reference to the NHS, sporting an "MHS" logo on the back. However, this time Slambulance was not selected to compete in the new season.

Team Ballistix also sell 'Make your own' Donald Thump 3D paper models, alongside 'Make Robotwars Great Again' baseball caps on eBay.

Robot Wars Live Events

Schu-Bot

Team Ballistix competed at Robot Wars live events between 2013 and 2016 using Leveller 2 Mk 4.5. Aside from Leveller 2, Team Ballistix also competed with a brand-new flipper known as Schu-Bot, resembling Scraptosaur, which remains active today. Schu-Bot is named after Shubert’s Unfinished Symphony, due to the robot’s unfinished state. At the Colchester event in 2016, Schu-Bot fell to robots such as Eruption and TR2, but collected a victory over Iron Heart 88.

Trivia

• In his opening interview with Dara Ó Briain, James Davies stood on a 'Dara Step' to enhance his height next to the 197cm presenter.
• James Davies was fearful of getting his tie caught in rotating parts of robots in the pits, and so he added a clip to keep the tie in place.

External Links

• Donald Thump- Fighting Robot Facebook page
• Team Ballistix Facebook page
• Team Ballistix Twitter
• Team Ballistix YouTube channel
• Donald Thump on the Robot Wars website
• Local press interview with Team Ballistix