Luzifer is a German heavyweight robot which applied for Series 8 and Series 10 of Robot Wars, but ultimately was not selected to take part in either series.
Luzifer can be seen as the spiritual successor to the incumbent German Robot Wars champion, Black Hole. After Robot Wars began its 12-year hiatus, the original team built Black Hole 2 with a much higher emphasis on pushing power, and later sold this to The Devil Crew, who rebuilt the robot as Luzifer in 2003. The 2016 build of Luzifer bears very little relation to the original Black Hole 2.
Design[]
Luzifer at the time of applications for Series 8
At the time of its Series 8 application, Luzifer was a four-wheel driven, box-shaped robot, though for Robot Wars the team redesigned their machine to use a two-wheel drive setup which entered the early build progress upon announcement of the series. All versions of Luzifer were armed with an unusual pair of rear- and front-hinged lifters based on those used by American competitor Sewer Snake, and comprise a front three-pronged lifter designed to get underneath, lift and force other robots onto the robot's top, and a top-mounted lifting bar which is used to throw opponents over. The latter also doubles as a self-righting mechanism, despite Luzifer being invertible. Although this weapons system was made famous by Sewer Snake and its ABC BattleBots incarnation, Stinger: The Killer Bee, Luzifer would have been the first Robot Wars competitor to use such a weapon mechanism had it been selected to compete in Series 8. For its 2016 entry, Luzifer used a combination of LEM and AmpFlow F30-150 motors.
The updated Luzifer in 2018
Side view of the updated Luzifer
Ahead of its intended entry into Series 10, the team progressed further into their full rebuild of Luzifer, with the new two-wheel driven setup now starting to take shape alongside a full chassis, driven by Lynch electric motors. This gave the machine a more compact design. However, after not being selected to take part in the series, the new version of Luzifer was not finished until a later date, and made its live events debut in 2018.
Etymology[]
The name Luzifer is presumably based on the German interpretation of Lucifer, the name of the devil in Christian tradition.
Qualification[]
Team Devil Crew applied for Series 8 via online applications using this video as part of its application, chronicling the history of the machine under their ownership. Luzifer was nevertheless not accepted into Series 8, while its status towards Series 9 is unknown. Another application attempt was made for Series 10 with the build progress of the redesigned robot advanced, but Luzifer still was not accepted to compete.
Outside Robot Wars[]
Luzifer made a number of appearances at live events throughout its long career, fighting in Germany, the United Kingdom, and even the United States of America during its travel to RoboGames in 2012, although Luzifer withdrew from the bracket upon arrival. The new two-wheel driven version of Luzifer was first showcased at Mad Metal Machines 21 in Germany, where it was put on display and test-driven in the arena.
Aside from Luzifer, The Devil Crew have had an extensive career in lower weight classes, building a number of raptor-weight and featherweight machines. Among these are:
- Anubis, a curve-shaped featherweight armed with tri-blade horizontal spinner, bought from Team RCC as Calliope and updated. It competed in the 2016 UK Featherweight Championship, and earned third place at Mad Metal Machines in 2018.
- Blackheart, a raptorweight armed with a wedge.
- Sokar, a featherweight armed with an undercutting bar spinner.
- Punisher, a raptorweight armed with a drum spinner originally sourced from White Dwarf.
Luzifer was bought in July 2023 by combat robot collector Lars Bakker.
Robot Wars Live Events[]
Luzifer in 2013
Luzifer made its live events debut at the 2013 Robot Wars Championship in Portsmouth, where it lost in the heats to Beast on a judges' decision. It also represented Germany in a separate "European Challenge" against Gravity from the Netherlands and fellow German robot Tsunami, who Team Kaputo beat with Black Hole in the final of German Robot Wars. However, it lost this battle, allowing Tsunami to gain vengeance on its German compatriot.
Luzifer in 2013, from a different angle.
Luzifer also competed in the 2015 Robot Wars World Championship at Colchester, representing Germany. It fought Dystopia, Gabriel and Toon Raider in its first round battle, but lost on a judges' decision despite surviving to the end of the fight. Luzifer would later represent Germany again in a six-way melee against Behemoth, Weird mAlice, Meggamouse, Ripper and AAK. Again, it lasted to the end of the battle, but lost the judges' decision to Ripper. Luzifer also participated in the Annihilator at the same event, alongside Beast 2, Brutus, Ka-Pow!, Ripper, Tomahawk and Toon Raider. However, it competed without its lifters, and was eliminated in the first round after getting flipped into the pit by Ripper. Luzifer otherwise appears quite irregularly at UK live events, as Team Kaputo still live in Germany.
In 2016, Luzifer made an appearance at the second Robot Wars Live Event at Portsmouth. It first fought in a three-way melee with Bullfrog and Gabriel, where Gabriel was flipped out of the arena and Luzifer became immobilised on its lifter after its wheels were lifted off the ground, before being pitted by Bullfrog. With its lifter damaged, Luzifer fought the rest of the event without it, its next battle being a four-way melee against Bullfrog, Cherub and Thorak. It performed better in this battle, surviving towards the end and nearly pitting Bullfrog. Luzifer then fought another three-way battle against Bullfrog and Gabriel, where despite regularly getting itself stuck on the arena walls, it lasted for the full duration of the battle.
Series Record[]
Rear view of Luzifer in 2018
| Series | Luzifer Series Record |
|---|---|
| Series 1-7 | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Not selected |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Not selected |