Fur

Fur
Diotoir, covered in its signature red and black fur
Example Materials	Faux Fur fabric, decorative hair, loft insulation
Robots
Pioneer	Nemesis
Notable Robots	Diotoir, Lizzard

Fur was a decorative addition applied to multiple robots throughout all versions of Robot Wars. The term mainly applies to artificial fur fabrics with a soft, fluffy texture and an often brightly-coloured appearance. These materials are most commonly attached to the robot's standard armour and chassis for aesthetics or as a sacrificial entertainment device.

In the latter capacity, fur was often deliberately flammable, making robots adorning this especially susceptible to fire-based hazards including the Flame Pit and the turret-mounted flamethrower of Sgt. Bash. During the Classic Series, it was not uncommon for Sgt. Bash to appear as a House Robot in battles involving a furred competitor robot.

Fur was first used by a competitor in the opening Heat of Series 1, in the form of Irish robot Nemesis. Nemesis would indeed lose an Arena battle after its fur caught fire; this, along with the fur's red and black polka dot design, became a hallmark of its team and their machines in successive appearances, including Nemesis' successor Diotoir. Though multiple teams and robots successfully donned fur coverings throughout Robot Wars, none were as iconic as the Team Nemesis design, which also appeared on other competing machines on various occasions.

Other notable robots to don fur include Bee-Capitator, which had orange and black fur like a bumblebee; Dutch Grand Finalist Lizzard, which had a "tail" covered in fur; and Ruf Ruf Dougal, which was covered in a layer of loft insulation.

Definition

Fur is the term used to describe synthetic fabrics with long threads aiming to resemble animal fur. This "faux fur" was always referred to as just "Fur" on Robot Wars, but no real animal fur is documented to have ever been used on robots.

Hair describes longer threads of fabric placed in a clump - usually above a face or head design on the robot - aiming to replicate a head of hair. It can also be used for other string-like decorations, such as the cobwebs on Black Widow.

For any other decoration to be classified as "fur", it must be a decorative addition to the robot which can be described as having a soft, "fluffy" texture. This includes designs like the loft insulation on Ruf Ruf Dougal, but excludes additions like the cardboard on top of Tricerabot, or clothing, such as the kilt on Corkscrew.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

Diotoir's fur tears off and gets jammed in Tornado's drum spinner

Thor axes Tough as Nails in the World Series, attempting to cause fire damage with its fur-decorated axe

• Brightly-coloured fur is a visually-pleasing aesthetic that enables the robot to stand out and increase its appeal among fans. As such, furred robots such as the Team Nemesis machines were often considered to be fan favourites, influencing their popularity across both of the show's runs.
• Fur and hair are thin, detachable and flexible. As such, if either of those are removed from the robot in battle, it can act as an effective entanglement device to stop rotating weapons. Diotoir's fur demonstrated this property against the spinners of Pussycat and Tornado on occasions throughout the Classic run.
• As catching fire is a known and deliberate risk, roboteers may exploit the flammability of fur to add to an entertaining performance, or inflict potential fire damage to an opponent. During their respective appearances in the World Series, Diotoir and Thor immediately drove over the Flame Pit against Apollo and Tough as Nails respectively, intentionally setting their fur alight for these purposes.
• As they are in most cases a decorative item, any damage or removal of the fur itself has minimal effect on the tougher armour or chassis beneath. Hence, Ruf Ruf Dougal was able to remain mobile for the entirety of its Series 6 melee, as the fire spreading over its loft insulation was shielded away internally by a fire blanket and aluminium foil.

Disadvantages

Ruf Ruf Dougal on fire

• Fur is usually flammable, meaning it can catch fire and burn. This can have several consequences for the wielding robot, including damage points being scored against it in Judges' decisions, or putting its internal workings at risk of heat or fire-based damage. During early series, fire damage to the fur itself was often enough to stop events and, in some cases, eliminate the affected machine regardless of its actual mechanical condition.
• Fur offers no protection against more powerful weapons (especially spinning types), and as such cannot be used as the robot's main armour.
• Additionally, the entangling properties of fur mean that it can also unintentionally get snagged in a robot's own weapon or drive system.
• Hair can entangle a robot's own weapon if it is moved in a fight.

List of robots with Fur

Robots are listed alphabetically.

DESKTOP MODE ONLY: Robots from the 1996 US competition are listed with a purple background.

Robot	Series Appearances with Fur	Details	Image
6 Million Dollar Mouse	US Season 1	Covered on the top half of the robot with grey fur.
Attila the Drum	Series 4	Black fur was wrapped around the weaponry as well as fur on the wheels alongside golden tassels.
Bee-Capitator	Series 5	Covered in orange and black striped fur with fabric wings.
Black Widow	Series 5	Covered in black fur, with a yellow striped fur pattern on rear. Completed with "cobweb" style hair around the legs. The only walker to use fur.
Bunny Attack	US Season 2, Nickelodeon	Covered in white fur across the front, top and back.
Diotoir	Series 3-5, 10, Extreme 1-2	Red and black polka dot fur, continuing the signature style established by its predecessor Nemesis.
Donald Thump	Series 10	Straw hair, removed before battles out of fear of it entangling the robot's own bar spinner.
Granny's Revenge	Series 5-6	A flammable dummy dressed up and decorated to appear as a "Granny", complete with clothing.
The Green Mouse	US Season 1	Stock robot with bright green fur, would later be converted into Squirmin Vermin.
Impact	Dutch Series 2	Fur tail, made from a Bedspread.
Killerkat	Series 7	Covered in a leopard-pattern fur.
The Lethal Swan	Dutch Series 1-2	Covered in a light white cloth.
Lizzard	Dutch Series 2	Fur-covered tail.
Lorena	1996 US Championship	Used a dummy with clothing as well as a wig.
Milly-Ann Bug	Series 2, 4	Kevlar hair.
Nemesis	Series 1-2	Red and black polka dot fur. Took part in the Inferno Insurrection and sometimes donated fur to other teams to wear or decorate their robots with.
Purple Predator	Series 3	Covered in purple fur and was the only robot covered in fur to never catch fire.
Ramrombit	Series 2	Sacrificial robot purposefully covered in fur and other flammable material for the Inferno Insurrection.
Ruf Ruf Dougal	Series 5-6	Loft insulation used as fur. Appeared grey in Series 5 and pink in Series 6.
Squirmin Vermin	Nickelodeon	Previous identity was The Green Mouse, covered in a bright yellow fur.
Tiger Cat	US Season 1	Covered in a tiger pattern fur.
Thorgrim	German Series	Covered in orange fur. The only German robot covered in fur.
Zanzara	Nickelodeon	Loanerbot, whose previous identity was Silver Box, covered in purple fur.

List of robots which temporarily bore Team Nemesis' fur

A tradition across both of the show's runs was for teams to add small samples of Team Nemesis' polka dot fur to their machines. These were most commonly applied to the affected machine for a specific battle or event, which would appear with the fur onscreen as a result. The tradition was also briefly upheld by House Roboteers in The Third Wars, with some House Robots being similarly decorated for various battle and Trial events. Below is a list of robots to sport Team Nemesis' fur, along with episodes and battles where this occurred.

DESKTOP MODE ONLY: House Robots are listed with a gold background.

Robot	Appearance with Team Nemesis fur	Notes	Image
Apollo	Series 10, World Series, Episode 1	A patch of fur was attached to the back of Apollo.
Behemoth	Series 3	During The First World Championship, Behemoth had fur wrapped around the scoop mechanism.
Big Nipper	Series 10, World Series, Episode 2	A small patch of fur was attached to the back.
Bodyhammer	Series 1	A tuft of fur was taped to the top of Bodyhammer during the Grand Final.
Bolt from the Blue	Series 4	A tuft of fur was attached to the top of the lifter.
Cathadh	Series 10, World Series, Episode 2	Fur was added to the back panel and a tuft on the bar spinner.
Chaos 2	Series 3	Tufts of fur were attached to the side panels.
Cobra	Series 10, World Series, Episode 1	Cobra has a patch of fur on its back.
Concussion	Series 10, World Series, Episode 2	A small tuft of fur was located on top of Concussion.
Dead Metal	Series 3	House Robot. On some occasions, fur was attached to the spikes.
Dominator	Series 3	A strand of fur was attached to the bottom of the robot.
Eruption	Series 10, World Series, Episode 2	Fur was attached to the decorative spikes.
Firestorm	Series 3, Extreme 1, All-Stars vs Wild Thing	Covered each side with fur to celebrate a recent defeat of Diotoir in the Vengeance event.
Gabriel 2	Series 10, World Series, Episode 1	Fur wrapped around the axlebot's interchangeable sword.
Gemini	Series 4	During the clusterbot's Pinball Warrior run, both twins sported fur on both their aerials.
Inquisitor MK2	Series 3	Fur was attached to the sides and the end of the lifter.
Mega Morg	Extreme 1	A patch of fur was attached on top of the robot.
Panic Attack	Series 3-4, Extreme 1	In all cases, the fur was placed on the self righting mechanism. For Series 3, it was only attached during The First World Championship.	Series 4 Extreme 1
Rabid M8	Series 10, World Series, Episode 1	Wrapped around the weapon.
Razer	Series 3	Fur was wrapped between the holes around the back of the claw.
Recyclopse	Series 1	A tuft of fur was attached to the top of Recyclopse, in the Grand Final only.
Roadblock	Series 1	A patch of fur was added on the top of Roadblock for the Heat Final and Grand Final.
Sabretooth	Series 10, World Series, Episode 1	Fur was wrapped around the rear exhaust.
Scorpion	Series 4	Sumo Basho only; wrapped around the back end beneath the tail.
Shear Khan	Extreme 1	A tuft of fur was attached to the aerial as well as fur attached to the side of the rear drum.
Sir Killalot	Series 3	Small sample applied to the House Robot's head in a "mohawk" style.
Sonic	Series 3	Sonic appeared with fur on its back end as well as furry eyebrows during round 2.
Spawn Again	Series 5	In the Heat Final, Spawn Again had fur on the flipper plate.
Steg 2	Series 4	Small piece attached to the aerial for its Heat Final.
Techno-Lease	Series 3	Fur attached to the aerial.
Terror Australis	Series 3	Fur was attached to the back end of Terror Australis.
Terrorhurtz	Series 10, World Series, Episode 1	Fur wrapped around the axe.
Terror Turtle	Series 10, World Series, Episode 2	A patch of fur is attached to the back.
TMHWK	Series 10, World Series, Episode 1	Wrapped around the axe and tufts of fur acting as eyebrows to googly eyes on the wedges.
THE BASH	Series 10, World Series, Episode 2	Fur was attached to the flamethrower prop.
Thor	Series 10, World Series, Episode 2	Wrapped around the axe head, it was then ceremoniously torched during its Head-to-Head against Tough as Nails.
Weber	Series 10, World Series, Episode 2	Fur completely covered the front lip of the flipper.
Wheely Big Cheese	Extreme 1, Series 5	Fur strands attached across the back panel.

Trivia

A Nuts minibot covered in green fur

• Both Rattus Rattus and Nuts were meant to have been covered in fur before it was removed over safety concerns.
  • Rattus Rattus was initially covered in brown fur, but the fur was removed after failing safety checks during the auditions.
  • Nuts' minibots were initially covered in green fur, briefly appearing in this state during the team's VT segment in Series 8.