- "How crazy are you, if you fight with an F-16’s flywheel powered by a chainsaw motor?!"
- — Eric Corton (translated from Dutch; 'crazy' is pronounced similarly to 'Meshuggah' in Dutch)
Meshuggah was a competitor robot that fought in both series of Dutch Robot Wars. It lost in the Heats in both of its appearances, but received a wildcard into the Series 2 Grand Final, where it was defeated by Scrap-2-Saur despite causing severe damage to it.
The team were good friends with the Twisted Metal team. Two of Twisted Metal's team members humorously acted as Meshuggah's "bodyguards" in the Grand Final, and blocked the camera in the control booth after Meshuggah's final loss.
Design[]
- "Our beast has a weapon of a titanium disk from an F16 powered by a two horsepower chain saw engine. Rotating at about 2000 RPM, it's going to do a lot of damage."
- — Job van de Kieft describes Meshuggah's weaponry in Dutch Series 1 (Mech+ subtitles)
Official image of Meshuggah in the first Dutch series
Meshuggah was a large, invertible robot with two-wheel drive and a black and silver paint scheme. Its main weapon was a titanium vertical spinning disc with multiple teeth, itself sourced from an F-16 fighter jet. A 2hp chainsaw engine was used to power the disc, enabling it to reach a quoted rotational speed of 2,000rpm. A novelty feature was the inclusion of a 'bottle opener' directly above the disc, which Job van de Kieft jokingly claimed would allow the team to take 'a beer' while Meshuggah was kept in The Pits.
Though capable of causing major damage and flipping opponents over, Meshuggah's disc was often unreliable and prone to failure. The latter was especially apparent during the robot's debut, in which the weapon was unable to function at all and was locked in place before its Round 1 battle.
In Dutch Series 2, Meshuggah featured a pair of wheelguards on either side of its chassis, in order to protect the wheels from being damaged. Its top armour also received a new design, sporting a larger skull in place of the robot's name.
Etymology[]
- "What a lovely name, Meshuggah."
- — Rob Kamphues praises Meshuggah's name in Heat C of Dutch Series 1
Meshuggah was likely named after the popular Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah. Said name is originally derived from a word from the Yiddish language that roughly translates to "crazy" or "ridiculous" - in fact, 'mesjogge' remains the Dutch word for 'crazy', with much the same pronunciation, which led the presenters to make repeated jokes about the 'crazy' nature of Meshuggah during fights.
- "Okay, it’s called Meshuggah, but it seems to me that it’s completely 'mesjogge' (crazy)."
- — Bridget Maasland (translated from Dutch)
Robot History[]
Series 1[]
- Job van de Kieft: "Today is our first time steering it. We haven't been able to test it yet."
- Bridget Maasland: "That could spell disaster."
- Job van de Kieft: "If we drive into the pits, it's over. No doubt about that."
- — Job van de Kieft notes the Meshuggah team's lack of driving practice before Round 1 (Mech+ subtitles)
In its first round battle, Meshuggah faced X-Bot. Its disc was not working prior to the fight, so the team kept its locking pin in place to prevent it from being damaged.
- "Well, fighting with a robot you haven’t steered before-- that means you really are 'Meshuggah'!"
- — Eric Corton, joking about the similarities between the name Meshuggah and the word 'mesjogge' (crazy)
Meshuggah pushes X-Bot sideways
Meshuggah is cut into by Dead Metal
Both robots got off to a slow start. Weaponless, Meshuggah was briefly wedged under by X-Bot, but it managed to reverse away, unharmed. It tried to push X-Bot side-on, and edged it towards the closed Pit, but broke down in the process and was counted out by Refbot. Meshuggah was placed on the Floor Flipper and thrown, before Dead Metal grabbed it and pushed it into the Pit, driving in himself.
- "3...2...1...Flyyyyy like an eagle! Yeehaw!"
- — Eric Corton, as Meshuggah flies on the floor flipper
After the battle, Meshuggah had technical problems, and was forced to withdraw from the Losers' Melee, leaving Maximum Torque and Pika 2 to fight alone. As a result, Meshuggah exited the competition after only one battle. Having now withdrawn, one of Meshuggah's wheels was lent to Pika 2 for the remainder of the competition.
- "Meshuggah isn’t joining, and it seems you guys don’t mind that one bit, because it was a very strong one!"
- — Bridget Maasland to the remaining competitors in the losers' melee (translated from Dutch)
Series 2[]
Meshuggah rips away The Lethal Swan's tail
Meshuggah throws The Lethal Swan over
Meshuggah returned for Series 2 and faced The Lethal Swan in its first round battle. It started more impressively here, using its flywheel to tear into The Lethal Swan's front armour and rip its tail off. Another couple of hits resulted in Meshuggah flipping The Lethal Swan over, before tearing off one of its self-righting wings in the process. The Lethal Swan could not self-right using its axe, so Meshuggah advanced to the second round.
Meshuggah and Lizzard in a battle of strength
Lizzard pushes Meshuggah towards the CPZ
There, it met Lizzard, the unofficial first seed. Meshuggah came in with its flywheel spinning and managed to tear Lizzard's tail off. However, the impact caused its flywheel to stop spinning, leaving it defenseless. Meshuggah spent the rest of the match being pushed around by Lizzard and whacked by its tail, until the battle ended and went to a Judge's decision. The judges ruled that Lizzard won, with Meshuggah temporarily eliminated.
Meshuggah is attacked by Scrap-2-Saur
The Pit descends below Meshuggah
Despite this defeat, Meshuggah was reinstated in the Grand Final after being given a wildcard. In its first Grand Final battle against Scrap-2-Saur, Meshuggah used its flywheel to shred away at Scrap-2-Saur while flipping it over. Scrap-2-Saur self-righted, and managed to flip Meshuggah, but Meshuggah was not affected and continued tearing away at Scrap-2-Saur, catching it each time Scrap-2-Saur tried to flip it. Successive attacks forced Scrap-2-Saur's polycarbonate panels loose, before Scrap-2-Saur pressed the Pit release button just as Meshuggah drove over the Pit square. The Pit descended, and Meshuggah descended with it, eliminating it from the championship once again.
- "We are back from England. Meshuggah worked beyond our expectations and it was a great week. We can't tell about the outcome of the competition but the fights were absolutely spectacular."
- — Team Meshuggah website (edited)[1]
Results[]
| MESHUGGAH - RESULTS | ||
| Series 1 | ||
| Dutch Championship Heats, Round 1 | ||
| Heat C, Round 1 | vs. X-Bot | Lost |
| Heat C, Losers Melee | vs. Maximum Torque, Pika 2 | Withdrew |
| NOTE: Before the battle had started, technical problems forced Meshuggah out of the competition, leaving Maximum Torque and Pika 2 to fight alone. | ||
| Series 2 | ||
| Dutch Championship Grand Final, Round 1 | ||
| Heat A, Round 1 | vs. The Lethal Swan | Won |
| Heat A, Semi-Final | vs. Lizzard | Lost |
| NOTE: Meshuggah received one of three wildcards into the Grand Final | ||
| Grand Final, Round 1 | vs. Scrap-2-Saur | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 1
- Losses: 3
Series Record[]
| Dutch Series | Meshuggah Series Record |
|---|---|
| Series 1 | Heat, Round 1 |
| Series 2 | Grand Final, Round 1 |
Trivia[]
- "Well, here next to us our opponent is located, so we had a bit of a look, and we think we’ll be alright if we take it from behind."
- — Team Meshuggah make an innuendo in Dutch Series 1 (translated from Dutch)
Meshuggah in a weapons test
- Team Meshuggah made an innuendo before their battle with X-Bot, stating that they would 'van achter pakken' (take it from behind). Eric Corton would later state before Meshuggah's debut fight: "Meshuggah wants to take X-Bot from behind, hmm?".
- After Meshuggah withdrew from its Series 1 campaign, Pika 2 used one of its wheels for the rest of the competition.
- Like Rammstein, Meshuggah shares its name with a metal band.
- This makes Meshuggah one of three robots to be named after a hardcore band, the third being Suicidal Tendencies.
- Meshuggah's vertical disc weapon was made of titanium, and originated from an F-16 fighter jet.
References[]
External Links[]
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