- "Watch out, there's a Humphrey about!"
- — The motto of Humphrey
Humphrey was a competitor robot that fought in Series 4 of Robot Wars. It was defeated in the first round by The Steel Avenger and Wild Thing. A successor, Nasty Humphrey, competed in the Tag Team Terror event in the second series of Robot Wars Extreme, again losing in the first round along with its partner Stinger.
Versions of Humphrey[]
Humphrey[]
- "You'd better watch out, Humphrey's about, with its lifting arm made from a car jack, spikes, gearbox sprockets from a lawnmower - oh, and there's an old table leg in there somewhere, too!"
- — Jonathan Pearce introduces Humphrey in Series 4
Humphrey's lifter raised
Humphrey in the arena
Humphrey was a low invertible two-wheeled robot with a front wedge, ramming spikes and a lifting arm as its main weapons. The lifting arm was made out of a car jack and capable of lifting a car, while the robot featured several recycled parts including wheelbarrow wheels, two gearboxes from a lawnmower and even an old table leg. Humphrey was painted black, yellow and red with yellow and black hazard stripes, along with a white baseplate decorated with several warning signs, while its two 24V motors gave it a top speed of 6mph. On the front wedge, a green mascot resembling Sonic the Hedgehog was depicted 'driving' Humphrey from inside.
Nasty Humphrey[]
Nasty Humphrey in the arena
After Humphrey's defeat in Series 4, the team subsequently built Nasty Humphrey, a boxier robot armed with a plough-shaped front wedge and a pneumatic axe which acted as its self-righting mechanism. It had a top speed of 18 mph and was powered by 2 X 24v Bosch motors. The robot was constructed from 6mm Aluminium plate and 10mm polypropylene, had hinged skirts bolted on the rear of the robot and cost £923 to build. The robot was also finished dark grey and silver with yellow and black hazard stripes, with the message 'NOT THE PIT!' written on its baseplate.
Qualification[]
Humphrey successfully qualified for the Fourth Wars, but Nasty Humphrey was less successful. It fought St. Agro in its Sixth Wars qualifier, but its battery lead disconnected during the battle, and thus Nasty Humphrey was defeated. It did not receive a place in the series as a result, and appeared on TV through its partnership with Stinger in Extreme 2.
Robot History[]
Series 4[]
Humphrey fought in Heat M of the Fourth Wars, facing eleventh seed Wild Thing and Series 3 competitor The Steel Avenger in the first round.
Humphrey is attacked by Dead Metal and Sgt. Bash
Humphrey stayed out of most of the action to begin with. It got an early bash on The Steel Avenger who drove swiftly pass the front of Humphrey before it could use its lifter, while Wild Thing tried to get under Humphrey, before Wild Thing proceeded to attack The Steel Avenger. Humphrey was then pushed again by Wild Thing, and appeared to be losing mobility as Wild Thing pushed it aside and rammed The Steel Avenger into a CPZ, where Matilda flipped it against the wall with her tusks before flipping its feather duster out of the arena. Both Wild Thing and The Steel Avenger escaped as Humphrey's mobility decreased further, with the robot having lost drive to one side, and sustained an axe blow from The Steel Avenger (not seen on TV). Then Wild Thing and The Steel Avenger engaged in a private tussle, ignoring Humphrey as it tried raising its lifter, then suddenly appeared to get going again briefly, but got caught by Dead Metal's pincers and lost both drive chains completely. As Wild Thing and The Steel Avenger continued fighting each other, Dead Metal sliced through Humphrey's front wedge and side. The Steel Avenger rammed Dead Metal in a belated attempt to free Humphrey, but its immobilisation was confirmed. Sgt. Bash also proceeded to crush through Humphrey's wedge and then drag it onto the Floor Flipper.
- "Away they go, crashing down, there's all the warning signs underneath! And the warning we will flash to Humphrey next time around... bring a better robot!"
- — Jonathan Pearce as Humphrey is sent flying by the Floor Flipper
Sir Killalot watches as Humphrey is thrown by the Floor Flipper
Humphrey's received a joint thrust from Wild Thing pushing The Steel Avenger, just before it got thrown by the Floor Flipper, landing on its back and in front of an approaching Sir Killalot. Then, Matilda thrust it into Sir Killalot and Dead Metal again, with the former picking Humphrey up and parading it around the arena until 'cease' was called. As a result, Humphrey was eliminated from the Fourth Wars.
- "Humphrey gets the hump, and goes out of the competition!"
- — Craig Charles at the end of the battle
Extreme 2[]
After failing to qualify for Series 6, Nasty Humphrey was featured in the Extreme 2 Tag Team Terror competition, where it was paired with former Grand Finalist Stinger. Their first round battle saw both robots fighting against newcomer Lightning and The Steel Avenger.
- "Because what I haven't got, they've got, and what they haven't got, I've got"
- — Mick Kerfoot explaining why Nasty Humphrey and Stinger were a good pair
Lightning and Nasty Humphrey spin on the Disc of Doom
Lightning pushes Humphrey into Mr. Psycho
Nasty Humphrey began by charging at Lightning, and fired its axe as Lightning pushed it around and into Mr. Psycho's CPZ. Mr. Psycho bashed Nasty Humphrey with his hammer before both robots separated and escaped, with Nasty Humphrey slamming into the pit and Floor Spinner buttons. Lightning got under Nasty Humphrey a few more times, spinning along the Floor Spinner in the process, with both robots pushing and dodging each other before tagging their partners. Neither The Steel Avenger or Stinger could hit each other with their axe and mace weapons, and eventually fell into the pit together, forcing Lightning and Nasty Humphrey to carry on fighting each other.
Nasty Humphrey lays on its side as time runs out
Nasty Humphrey again failed to hit Lightning with its axe, which seemed to break and was unable to retract, while Mr. Psycho again attacked Lightning before Lightning pushed Nasty Humphrey over the Flame Pit. Lightning got underneath Nasty Humphrey once again and pushed it across the arena and into Mr. Psycho again, flipping it against the wall in the closing seconds after the House Robot hammered Nasty Humphrey again. 'Cease' was called, and the battle went to a judges' decision, which ruled in favour of Lightning and The Steel Avenger.
Results[]
| HUMPHREY - RESULTS | ||
| Series 4 | ||
| The Fourth Wars - UK Championship Round 1 | ||
| Heat M, Eliminator | vs. The Steel Avenger, Wild Thing (11) | Eliminated |
| NASTY HUMPHREY - RESULTS | ||
| Extreme 2 | ||
| Tag Team Terror with Stinger, Round 1 | ||
| Round 1 | vs. Lightning & The Steel Avenger | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 2
Series Record[]
| Main Series | Humphrey Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Did not enter |
| The Third Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fourth Wars | Heat, Round 1 as Humphrey |
| The Fifth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Sixth Wars | Failed to qualify as Nasty Humphrey |
| The Seventh Wars | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
| Robot Wars Extreme | Appearances |
| Series 1 | Did not enter |
| Series 2 | Entered as Nasty Humphrey |
Gallery[]
Outside Robot Wars[]
Don't Walk On The Grass, the Humphrey team's entry in Techno Games
The team also entered Techno Games, like many others in the UK Series, with a walking robot named Don't Walk On The Grass which lost to Tecumseh in the Internal Combustion Sprint event in 2001.
Humphrey gets flipped by Chaos 2 at the 2000 Debenham Robot Rumble
Tornado pushes Humphrey at the 2001 Debenham Robot Rumble
Despite its brief appearances on Robot Wars, Humphrey attended many events on the live circuit. The original Humphrey fought at the Debenham Robot Rumble 2000 event, where it was beaten by Chaos 2 in the morning session, but was able to defeat Rambot in the afternoon session. It returned for the 2001 Debenham Robot Rumble the next year, although its only known battles were losses to Tornado.
'Humphrey 3' at Alstom 2001, as named by Team Tornado
Nasty Humphrey, going by the names King Humphrey and Humphrey 3, fought at Alstom in 2001 in the team's hometown of Lincoln, battling the likes of T-Bone, 8645T and their future tag team partners Stinger. It also fought on the Roaming Robots circuit at events such as War In The Wolds 2002, fighting foes such as Dantomkia, M2 and Storm 2, though it was only able to win one battle out of the seven that it fought in against Lazerus and TX-108. It also fought one battle at the Red Nose Day 2003 event, which was a loss to Cruncher in a battle also including Big Nipper.
Trivia[]
- Both of Humphrey's battles were round one defeats that involved losses to The Steel Avenger.
- A clip of Humphrey being tossed by the Floor Flipper was later used in the show's opening.
- Dead Metal appeared in both of Humphrey's battles.
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