Lifters are a common and wide-raging type of lifting weapon found in Robot Wars. The first robot to be equipped with such a weapon was Shogun in Series 1, with the most notable lifter-wielding robots including Series 2 champion Panic Attack, most recent World Champion Storm 2 and US Season 1 champion Panzer Mk 2.
Definition
- A lifter is not restricted to one specific shape or size, most commonly existing in the form of in the form of arms, forks, spikes or even large plates resembling those of front- or rear-hinged flippers. Lifters are designed primarily to lift opponents partially or completely off the ground, before turning them over or suspending them while the robot carries them around the arena. The main distinction between lifters and flippers is that during the attack, robots remain on the lifter until it is released, falls off or is successfully rolled onto its side or back. This contrasts greatly with flippers, which aim to launch other robots into the air and allow gravity and torque to flip the robot over or out of the arena.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
Panic Attack topples Whirling Dervish onto its back in Series 2
King B Powerworks stabs Tornado with its forks during its Extreme 1 Mayhem battle
The Big Cheese hoists Shrapnel over the pit
Mortis demonstrates its self-righting arm
- Lifters were especially effective weapons in early series, being able to overturn robots and immobilise them instantly before the invention of the srimech. Panic Attack's runs in Series 2-4 are perhaps the best examples of this.
- Lifting weapons usually had sharp ends, allowing them to double as ramming spears, spikes or blades. King Buxton was consistently able to use its forks to jab and pierce through its opponents in its appearances, as did Dreadnaut during its Series 3 victory over Psychokiller.
- Lifters could easily be incorporated into invertible robots. Suicidal Tendencies, Storm 2, Big Nipper and S.M.I.D.S.Y. are among the most notable examples.
- They could act as effective pitting weapons, with robots such as Panic Attack, The Big Cheese and S.M.I.D.S.Y. all using their lifters to carry and lower their opponents into the pit with considerable success.
- Lifters could offer a useful weapons synergy when combined with another weapon type, especially axes. It was not uncommon for lifting arms to be placed side-by-side with axes or hammers, with Mortis, Vercingetorix and Comengetorix all featuring this synergy. Big Nipper was also notable for combining its lifter with a set of crushing claws.
- Some lifters were capable of doubling as clamps, such as the lifting arms of The Big Cheese, Foxic, and the Series 4 version of Wild Thing.
- From Series 3 onwards, they could be designed in such a way as to act as the robot's self-righting mechanism, reducing the need for a separate mechanism to be added. Mortis's arm was capable of righting itself whenever it was flipped, while other lifting weapons such as Probophobia's forks were capable of rotating a full 360-degrees.
Disadvantages
After losing power during its Heat Final against Chaos 2, The Big Cheese's lifter was unable to act as a srimech
Panic Attack's lifting forks are buckled by Tough as Nails
- With the above exceptions, most lifters were not usually large or powerful enough to self-right. The Big Cheese's defeat to Chaos 2 in Series 3 was attributed to its lifting arm losing half of its power during their Heat Final, which prevented it from being able to lift itself back onto its wheels. Meanwhile, other robots such as Panic Attack required separate self-righting mechanisms which cost them in weight and/or weapon power. As shown by Panic Attack's various losses to Firestorm however, those srimechs were not always effective or reliable either.
- Lifters were often slower than flipping weapons, which meant that they were not able to be used effectively if opponents moved quickly enough. This setback was especially crucial in the decline of Panic Attack in later series, who, whilst able to eliminate Edge Hog and Spin Doctor, was overpowered by Kronic 2, Terrorhurtz, Tough As Nails and Dantomkia in Series 6-7.
- Often the weapons or their mechanics could be vulnerable to damage, perhaps more so than flippers. For example, Panic Attack's forks were easily susceptible to damage, as its encounters with The Steel Avenger, Barber-Ous and Tough as Nails demonstrated.
List of Robots with Lifters
Aggrobot from Extreme 1
Arnold A. Terminegger
Beast of Bodmin displaying its lifter
Berserk 2 in the arena
Big Nipper in Series 7
Cherub
Crusader 2
Derek! won the Best Engineered Award in Series 5
Dreadnaut XP-1
The Series 4 version of Evil Weevil
Falcon Mark 2
Foxic in Series 9
Griffon
HIGH-5
Inverterbrat
Kick Robut, the only Superheavyweight champion
King B Remix
Mortis, the first robot to employ an axe/lifter combination
Panic Attack, Series 2 champion
Panzer Mk 2, US Season 1 champion
Probophobia
S.M.I.D.S.Y. in Series 6
Steg-O-Saw-Us
Storm 2 as it appeared in Series 8
The design of Tridentate allowed its lifting spikes to work regardless of which way the robot was up
The Series 4 version of Vercingetorix
Wild Thing as it appeared in Series 4
Robots are listed alphabetically. Robots which are not heavyweight entries are listed with a green background.
| Robot | Series Appearances with Lifters | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A-Kill | Series 6 | Lifter was "powerful enough to lift the skin off a rice pudding", according to the team. |
| Armadillo | Series 2 | |
| Aggrobot | Series 6-7, Extreme 1 | A small bar at the bottom of Aggrobot's wedge would push down on the ground, lifting the wedge. |
| Ansgar's Revenge | Series 6, German Series | |
| Arena Killer/Absolut Krankhaft | Dutch Series 1, German Series | |
| Arnold A. Terminegger | Series 4, Extreme 1 | Was combined with an overhead axe weapon, with a scissor-like motion. |
| Beast of Bodmin | Series 3 | Small front 'flipping ram' mounted at the tip of its wedge. |
| Berserk 2 | Series 3-4 | A set of rear forks mounted on a larger arm. Series 3 Heat-Finalist. |
| The Big Cheese | Series 3 | A large red lifting arm powered by a linear actuator. Capable of leaving other robots dangling in the air - even Sergeant Bash - and acting as a clamp. |
| Big Nipper | Series 5, 7-8 | Combined with a set of crushing claws. Interchangeable with a vertical flywheel in Series 8. |
| Centurion | Series 3 | Replaced with a flipper in Series 4. |
| Cherub | Series 9 | Cherub's two lifting forks turn 360 degrees, and can allow Cherub to handstand, and lift other robots. |
| Comengetorix | Series 6, Extreme 1 | Paired with a pneumatic axe. |
| Coyote | Series 9 | Featured two lifters which worked in conjunction with a vertical clamp to grip and lift. |
| Crackers 'N' Smash | Series 9 | Crackers features a front-hinged lifting arm. |
| The Creature | Series 4 | Lifting tusks highly resembled Matilda's. |
| Cygnus | Series 7 | |
| Crusader | Series 3-4 | |
| Cygnus X-1 | Series 7 | |
| Cyrax | Series 6 | |
| Depoppesaurus Rex | Series 3 | |
| Derek | Series 5 | Added apparatus to help the lifter be used as a srimech. |
| Diotoir | Series 3-4, Extreme 2 | Equipped with a spring-loaded lifting arm in Series 3-4, replaced with a lifting scoop for Series 5/Extreme 1. In Diotoir's Extreme 2 appearance, the weapon was in the form of a small lifting plate. Series 3 Heat Finalist with this weapon. |
| Dragon | Extreme 2 | |
| Dreadnaut | Series 1-4 | Small lifting prongs replaced with hardened steel forks from Series 2 onwards. |
| Dynamite | Series 6 | Loanerbot, representing Germany in the UK vs Germany Special. |
| Elvis | Series 2 | |
| Enzyme | Series 2 | |
| Evil Weevil | Series 3-4 | Series 3 Semi-Finalist. A set of three lifting forks, later two in Series 4. Combined with a pneumatic hammer in Series 4. |
| Falcon | US Season 1-2 | US Grand Finalist |
| Flybot | Extreme 2 | Lifter was powerful enough to tip itself over and make it fall into the pit. |
| Forklift | Series 2 | First 'forklift' style lifter robot. |
| Foxic | Series 8-9 | Doubles as a guillotine clamp. Featured interchangeable lifting arm and plate in Series 8. Series 9 version featured a lifting arm with interchangeable wedges and hooks, including an anti-spinner wedge. |
| G.B.H. 2 | Series 6 | Only the rear of the two lifting weapons was a lifter. |
| General Carnage | Series 3 | Featured a claw on the end |
| Gladiator | Series 7, Extreme 2 | |
| Griffon | Series 2-3 | The first robot to flip Sergeant Bash. A four-bar lifter. Series 2 Internet Insurrection champion. |
| Guzunderbot | Series 5 | |
| Haardvark | Series 2-3 | Series 2 Semi-Finalist. Set of forks. |
| Havoc | Series 2 | Interchangeable with a mace and a battering ram. |
| Hellbent | Series 7 | |
| HIGH-5 | Series 9 | Shaped like a hand, can clamp as well as lift |
| Immortalis | Series 5 | |
| Indefatigable | Series 4 | Designed to act as a forklift. |
| Invertabrat | Series 3-4 | |
| Judge Shred | Series 3 | Lifting arms featured pincers on the end. |
| Kick Robut | Series 2 | Most powerful lifter. Pair of rotating lifting spikes mounted either side of the robot's chassis. |
| King Buxton | Series 2-5, 7-8, Extreme 1 | Pair of electrically-operated lifting forks. Series 2 Semi-Finalist and Series 4 Tag Team Terror champion alongside 101. Relied more on its pushing power than the forks. |
| Kater Killer | Series 4 | |
| Mace | Series 2 | Electric lifting arm. Was converted to a pneumatic arm for its return in Series 3. |
| Major Tom | Series 4 | Featured a lifting plate, replaced by a flywheel weapon in later series. |
| Manic Mutant | Series 3 | |
| Mantis | Series 7 | Lifter acted as clamp for crushing claw. |
| Maximus | Extreme 2 | Front-hinged lifter described as a 'flipper'. Featured a circular saw protruding through the lifter plate. |
| Medusa 2000 | Series 4 | The lifting plate was mounted on the bottom part of the wedge, raising the front of the robot off the ground when opened. |
| Metalis | Series 7 | Base was spread around the perimeter of the machine, excluding the rear. |
| Millennium Bug | Series 4 | A walkerbot. |
| Mortis | Series 3-4 | First competitor robot to combine an axe with a lifting arm, used in tandem with its famous Tanto blade. Arm could act as a srimech. Series 4 War of Independence champion. |
| The Morgue | Series 4 | Replaced with a proper flipper afterwards. |
| The Mule | Series 2 | Won award for Best Engineering. |
| Mute | Series 7, Extreme 2 | Only the rear of the two lifting weapons was a lifter. |
| NEATer Machine | Series 7, Dutch Series 2 | |
| Overkill GTI | Series 4 | Two lifters on the front wedge. |
| Panic Attack | Series 2-7, Extreme 1-2 | Pair of lifting forks operated by linear actuators. Series 2 Grand Champion and multiple Semi-Finalist in subsequent series. Came closest to lifting an opponent out of the arena. |
| Panzer Mk 2 | US Season 1 | US Season 1 Champion. |
| Phoenix | Series 7 | |
| Pika | Dutch Series 2 | |
| The Predator | Series 4 | |
| Probophobia | US Season 2 | Pair of lifting prongs which could rotate 360-degrees and act as a srimech. |
| Rampage 2 | Series 7 | |
| Reaper NP2 | The Third World Championship | |
| Red Dragon | Series 3 | |
| Robo Doc | Series 2 | |
| Robopig | Series 3 | Used mostly for whacking, rather than lifting. |
| Rohog | Series 5 | |
| Schumey Too | Series 3 | |
| Shadow of Napalm | Series 4 | |
| Shogun | Series 1 | First robot with a lifter. |
| S.M.I.D.S.Y. | Series 3-7, Extreme 1-2 | Doubled as jaws in first three appearances . |
| The Steel Avenger | Series 5, 7, Extreme 1-2 | |
| Steg-O-Saw-Us | Series 3 | Series 3 Grand Finalist, but the lifting tail was almost never used. |
| Storm 2 | Series 7-8 | Added a four-bar lifter for Series 7 in order to comply with the active weapons rule. Series 7 runner-up and Third World Champion, though relied on its speed and pushing power as its primary weapon. Made interchangeable with a front-hinged flipping arm and a vertical flywheel for Series 8. |
| Suicidal Tendencies 2 | Series 4 | |
| Sumpthing | Series 4, 6, Extreme 2 | |
| T2 | Series 3 | |
| Tetanus | Series 5-6, Extreme 2 | |
| Texas Tornado | US Season 2 | |
| Tornado | Series 7 | Part of its interchangeable weapons system. Used in one fight only, during its Heat Final against Tetanus Booster. |
| Tridentate | Series 6 | Set of three small rotating spikes, two of them of which are able to rotate a full 360 degrees. |
| UFO | Series 6 | |
| √3 | Dutch Series 2 | Only one third, ODT-0.33 was not equipped with a lifter or a flipper. |
| Vector | Series 3 | Said to double as piercing arm and srimech. |
| Velocirippa | Series 7 | Replacing the ineffective spikes from previous appearance. |
| Vercingetorix | Series 4 | Paired with a spiked axe, in a similar configuration to Mortis. |
| Weld-Dor | Series 3 | |
| Wild Thing | Series 4-5, Extreme 1 | A lifting lance capable of acting as a clamp and a self-righting mechanism. Combined with a horizontal spinning disc in Series 5/Extreme 1. |
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