- "We looked at a lot of other machines both from the UK and America and like Hypno-Disc, Nightmare, Mauler to name but a few. These machines had a wonderful weapon that could smash the hell out of most other machines but they all had various weaknesses and obviously there was no point in copying one of those directly. So we decided to use a spinning weapon since these were the most dramatic and had the most potential for total carnage."
- — The team on Frightmare's design
Frightmare was a competitor robot, built by a family team, which attempted to qualify for Series 5 and 6 of Robot Wars. It failed to qualify for either series despite winning its qualifier battle for Series 5.
Versions of Frightmare[]
Frightmare Mk 1[]
The original version of Frightmare, Frightmare Mk 1 (spelt as Frightmare MK I on the team's website), was intended to compete in Series 5. According to the team's website, the robot was an axlebot featuring large domed wheels and equipped with a vertical flywheel mounted on an arm.
Frightmare Mk 2[]
Immediately following the Series 5 qualifiers, the Frightmare team began building Frightmare Mk 2 (spelt as Frightmare MK II on the team's website), which was to feature an articulated design similar to that of Milly-Ann Bug. Details on this version are limited, with the team's description of it as 'two small Frightmares joined together' possibly suggesting it having two smaller discs rather than the single flywheel of Frightmare Mk 1.Citation?
Qualification[]
In the Series 5 qualifiers, Frightmare Mk 1 fought Armadrillo, and despite its weapon failing to work, won its qualifier after Armadrillo broke down during the fight. Two days later, the team were told that they had failed to qualify, despite their victory.
- "Oh dear, got the dreaded call today. We have not been chosen for the show. We are OUT. I have to say that judging a robot by one 4 minute bout is not going to show best performance I think it much fairer to have a knockout qualifying tournament but that's life I suppose"
- — Frightmare team upon failing qualification
Two days after receiving the call, the team began working on Frightmare Mk 2. While in the process of adding finishing touches to the latter, they decided to use scrap parts from Frightmare Mk 1 to build a second robot called Blade, which was armed with a 15kg flywheel and is not to be confused with the Series 3 Semi-Finalist of the same name. However, neither Frightmare Mk 2 or Blade qualified for Series 6, for currently unknown reasons.
Series Record[]
| Series | Frightmare 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 | Failed to qualify |
| The Sixth Wars | Failed to qualify Failed to qualify with Blade |
| The Seventh Wars | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |