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"Aha! We set the traps, this is the mouse!"
Jonathan Pearce

Mighty Mouse was a competitor robot in Series 6 and 7 of Robot Wars, also competing in the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. A very fast and slippery robot, Mighty Mouse was known to be quite difficult to fight in battle. It was defeated in the second round of Series 6 and made the Heat Final of Series 7.

Mighty Mouse was the successor to Velocirippa, and was constructed from the remnants of the version of the robot destroyed in Extreme 1. The two robots fought together in the Extreme 2 Tag Team Terror. Following the end of Robot Wars' initial run, Mighty Mouse was succeeded by Meggamouse, which was entered into Series 9.

Design[]

Mighty Mouse

Mighty Mouse in Series 6

"In RW Extreme the machine [Velocirippa] was trashed. The lid was ripped off so I kept the running chassis to experiment on different configurations of steering and speed control, before transferring to the new machine I was planning to build. By coincidence Mentorn were looking for robots to appear in Technogames, series 3. A lid was hurriedly built and Mighty Mouse was born. It has since appeared on RW series 6 and won a medal at Technogames series 4"
— The Mighty Mouse website on the creation of Mighty Mouse[1]

Mighty Mouse was created from the rolling chassis of the original Velocirippa after the filming of Series 5 and Extreme Series 1, where it was severely damaged by Disc-O-Inferno. (A new Velocirippa was created for Series 6, and the two robots were partners in the Tag Team Terror competition in Extreme Series 2).

Mighty Mouse EX2

Mighty Mouse in Extreme 2

Mighty Mouse was created with speed and armour in mind, and thus was significantly smaller (and somewhat lighter) than many of the other robots seen in the two series that it competed in. It had a U-shaped metal bar on top that rolled the robot back onto its wheels whenever it was flipped over, making it virtually impossible for Mighty Mouse to be immobilised that way. Its primary weapon was a set of very tough ramming spikes at the front. In Series 6, its rear end featured a steering damper, a metal weight on a spring. Resembling a tail, it could double as a thwacking weapon. This ball and chain was originally intended for use on Velocirippa in Series 5/Extreme 1, but was not used on screen by Velocirippa.

"The ball and chain was used to stabilise the drive as it was very twitchy - told the crew it was a weapon. ... Might {sic} mouse used the ball and chain on series 6 as I needed a weapon"
— Trevor Wright on the ball and chain[2]

This steering damper was not present in Extreme 2, and or Series 7, a pair of spinning discs replaced it, as a result of the rule that every robot must have a moving weapon, which also affected robots like Storm 2. One of its distinctive features was its speed- it could reach top speeds of 30mph, although for Series 7 this was geared down to 23mph, possibly to make the robot easier to control without the steering damper.

Mighty Mouse S6

Rear view of Mighty Mouse in Series 6, with thwacking tail

Mighty Mouse rear

Rear view of Mighty Mouse in Series 7, with two discs

The front ramming blades of Mighty Mouse were made from HARDOX, and had been carried over from Velocirippa, making both robots pioneers of HARDOX in robotic combat, although Trevor Wright later admitted that he did not realise he was using HARDOX steel until a later time.

"It's four years old and I've never bent it! I don't know what the metal is, but I'd like to find some more of it."
— Trevor Wright on the spike bumper before the battle with Dantomkia in Series 6

Qualification[]

Team Mouse attended the Series 6 and 7 qualifiers with Mighty Mouse and Velocirippa. At the Series 6 qualifiers, both Mighty Mouse and Velocirippa won their battles to qualify for the series, but Velocirippa was withdrawn as Team Mouse was originally only allowed to enter with one robot, and Velocirippa's gearbox had been damaged in the battle[3].

"I took the new velocirippa to the qualifiers but entered mighty mouse to give it a run out... Both machines qualified but had to choose only 1, chose the mouse because the gearbox on velocirippa had destroyed itself and there was no time to fix it"
— Trevor Wright on the Series 6 auditions[4]
Qualifier s7 german robot

Mighty Mouse after its Series 7 qualifier

Mighty Mouse fought 8645T 2 and TX-108 at the Series 7 qualifiers, with 8645T 2 winning the battle.[5] Mighty Mouse was originally a reserve for Series 7, as Team Mouse was originally only allowed to enter with one robot, and had already qualified with Velocirippa. However, Mighty Mouse was eventually brought into the line-up as team captain Trevor Wright was able to travel to the studio for filming at short notice.

"For s7 the same rule for qualifying applied and both machines won. Chose velocirippa this time and mighty mouse was placed as 1st reserve. I was due to film on the Thursday but got a call on Tuesday to see if I could get the mouse to the studios within the hour....I was at work so said no. Decided to book time off work to improve the mouse and got a call on Wednesday to bring both machines on Thursday. Velocirippa went out first round and the mouse made it to the heat final..."
— Trevor Wright on qualifying for Series 7[6]

Robot History[]

Series 6[]

In Heat C of the Sixth Wars, Mighty Mouse made its televised Robot Wars debut. In its first-round melee, it fought the fifth seed, and former two time champion Chaos 2, alongside the experienced Iron-Awe 2 and newcomer Destructosaur.

Chaos 2 vs Mighty Mouse vs Iron-Awe 2 vs Destructosaur

Mighty Mouse involved in its first round melee

Chaos 2 vs Mighty Mouse

Mighty Mouse is challenged by Chaos 2 in victory

Chaos 2 Mighty Mouse

Mighty Mouse on top of Chaos 2's now-inactive flipper

Against all odds, it survived its first round after doing very little whilst Chaos 2 flipped Destructosaur over onto its back immediately and then flipped Iron-Awe 2 out of the arena soon afterwards. Mighty Mouse rammed the overturned Destructosaur once, but then it spent the remainder of the fight running away from Chaos 2, waiting for Destructosaur to be counted out. Mighty Mouse still drove straight onto the flipper, but Chaos 2's flipper had broken after Iron-Awe 2 went out, which allowed Mighty Mouse to go through with Chaos 2 into the next round, as Destructosaur was eventually counted out by Refbot, and flipped by the arena floor flipper.

"Boo Chaos 2, boo! Don't attack our little mouse!"
— Jonathan Pearce during the opening melee

In the second round of the heat, Mighty Mouse was up against Dantomkia, another newcomer to the main competition.

"Mighty Mouse flipping was the best one. It was a very funny fight. So hard to catch because it was well driven. But when I did catch it I found that its point of gravity was not where I expected it to be hence it took quite a few shots to get it over the side."
— Mike Lambert on Mighty Mouse vs Dantomkia
Dantomkia Mighty Mouse 2

Mighty Mouse is thrown against the wall by Dantomkia

Dantomkia Mighty Mouse 3

Mighty Mouse, up against the Disc of Doom release bumper

Mighty Mouse OotA

Dantomkia flips Mighty Mouse out of the arena

Mighty Mouse ran away from Dantomkia, just like it did against Chaos 2, until it got itself wedged on the arena side wall. Refbot pulled it free and it was then flipped onto its side by Dantomkia. After this, it ran over to the arena side wall, which was a mistake, as it lost part of its tail and was then flipped out of the arena by Dantomkia, eliminating it from the competition.

Craig Charles: "The word in the pits is, this Dantomkia is a mighty-fine robot"
Trevor Wright: "It's an extremely fine robot."
Craig Charles: "He's making waves, isn't he?"
Trevor Wright: "He is making waves - I expect him to go a long way"
— The defeated Trevor Wright, full of praise for Dantomkia

Extreme 2[]

Mighty Mouse was singularly entered into the Tag Team Terror competition for the second series of Extreme It was partnered with Team Mouse's other machine Velocirippa, and faced Barbaric Response and Hydra in its first round battle.

Barbaric response mighty mouse matilda

Mighty Mouse is shoved into Matilda's flywheel by Barbaric Response

Hydra mighty mouse

Hydra pits Mighty Mouse

After Velocirippa broke down rather quickly in battle with Hydra, Mighty Mouse rushed out to tag, also trying to get it off the flame pit. However, it was targeted by Barbaric Response, who flipped it away from Velocirippa and flipped it around the arena. Hydra then slammed Mighty Mouse into the side wall. Mighty Mouse tried to escape the two opponents, but failed as Barbaric Response then pushed Mighty Mouse into Matilda's CPZ, into the path of her spinning flywheel weapon.

"Where can Mighty Mouse run...the arena is full of mousetraps!"
— Jonathan Pearce

Hydra then slammed into the pit release button, before shunting the helpless Mighty Mouse down the pit for the win, eliminating Team Mouse from the Tag Team Terror competition. In stark contrast to its team-mate, this was the only time Mighty Mouse lost in the first round of a competition.

Series 7[]

"Here they come to save the day."
— Jayne Middlemiss in Mighty Mouse's interview before the first round of the heat

Competing in Heat J of the Seventh Wars, Mighty Mouse was drawn against 8645T 2, newcomer Mobot and the fourteenth seed Thermidor 2 in the first round.

Mighty Mouse Mobot

Mighty Mouse drives at Mobot

8645T pit

Mighty Mouse survives as 8645T 2 ends up in the pit

Mighty Mouse made little impact as it stayed out of the way of the main action, mostly. After Thermidor 2 flipped over 8645T 2 and flipped Mobot out of the arena, Mighty Mouse was scooped up and flipped over by Thermidor 2, almost out of the arena. It was upside down and its rollbar failed to work because Mighty Mouse was propped up against the arena side wall, inside the CPZ. Despite this, 8645T 2 was then counted out, but was then righted by Thermidor 2 and tried to attack house robots. Mighty Mouse, after they'd been accidentally self-righted by Dead Metal, started to move slowly into the centre of the arena, completely breaking down here. 8645T 2 then tried to pit Mighty Mouse after being flipped by the arena floor flipper, but they drove into the pit and secured its defeat. Mighty Mouse was then pitted by Thermidor 2 anyway, but both robots still went through to the second round.

Mighty Mouse was then drawn against yet another flipper in Kronic the Wedgehog in Round 2 of the heat.

Kronic Mighty Mouse 1

Mighty Mouse is hurled into the arena wall by Kronic the Wedgehog

Mighty mouse vs kronic

Mighty Mouse pulls off a surprise victory against Kronic the Wedgehog

Mighty Mouse again took evasive action as it tried to dodge Kronic the Wedgehog's flipper. Kronic the Wedgehog however got a few good flips in, one sending Mighty Mouse hurtling into the arena side wall, across the flame pit. Mighty Mouse then showed aggression by ramming Kronic the Wedgehog from behind and shunting it into a CPZ, where Kronic the Wedgehog was unable to get away. House robot Mr. Psycho closed in on Kronic the Wedgehog, the 800 kg machine hit Kronic the Wedgehog repeatedly with his hammer until Kronic the Wedgehog was immobilised completely. Refbot counted out Kronic the Wedgehog, causing a major upset as Mighty Mouse was sent through to the heat final.

"Kronic the Wedgehog is being counted out! They've gone! And Mighty Mouse, a plucky little winner, through to the heat final!"
— Jonathan Pearce

Mighty Mouse once again faced Thermidor 2 in the Heat Final.

"If this goes to the judges, can you imagine the marks on aggression for Mighty Mouse? Can we do minuses? I'm not too sure!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Thermidor Mighty Mouse 1

Mighty Mouse runs away from Thermidor 2

Thermidor 2 vs mighty mouse

Thermidor 2 catches Mighty Mouse and flicks it into the air

In the battle, Thermidor 2 was able to flip Mighty Mouse high into the air, whenever it got the opportunity, with Mighty Mouse running all over the arena, making no actual attempt to attack Thermidor 2. As the fight wore on, Mighty Mouse's manoeuvrability was depleting, and turning became very slow. Mighty Mouse drove into Sir Killalot's CPZ, but was eventually able to get away before it could sustain further damage, however it was only to suffer further flips from Thermidor 2.

Sir Killalot Mighty Mouse

Mighty Mouse runs into trouble

Thermidor Mighty Mouse 3

Mighty Mouse narrowly avoids the pit of oblivion as time ticks down

Eventually, Mighty Mouse's drive motors were so severely damaged that the robot could only move forwards and backwards, at which point, it drove again into Sir Killalot's CPZ, who in turn picked up Mighty Mouse and held it over the flame pit, causing its ears to fall off. Mighty Mouse then got away, and collided again with Thermidor 2 after the latter had pressed the pit release button. Mighty Mouse was nearly pushed down the pit in the closing seconds of the battle, but just survived to a judges' decision. However, the decision was obvious, going in favour of Thermidor 2, and Mighty Mouse was eliminated from the competition.

"A million marks for effort."
— Jonathan Pearce

Results[]

MIGHTY MOUSE - RESULTS
Series 6
The Sixth Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 2
Heat C, Round 1 vs. Chaos 2 (5), Destructosaur, Iron-Awe 2 Qualified
Heat C, Round 2 vs. Dantomkia Lost
Extreme Series 2
Tag Team Terror
Competing with Velocirippa, Round 1
Round 1 vs. Barbaric Response & Hydra Lost
Series 7
The Seventh Wars - UK Championship
Heat Final
Heat J, Round 1 vs. 8645T 2, Mobot, Thermidor 2 (14) Qualified
Heat J, Round 2 vs. Kronic the Wedgehog Won
Heat J, Final vs. Thermidor 2 (14) Lost

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 3
  • Losses: 3

Series Record[]

MightyMousePits

Mighty Mouse in the Pits in Series 7

Main Series Mighty Mouse Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Robotic Soccer with Velocirippa
The Fourth Wars Entered with Velocirippa
The Fifth Wars Entered with Velocirippa
The Sixth Wars Heat, Round 2
Withdrew with Velocirippa
The Seventh Wars Heat Final
Entered with Velocirippa
Series 8 Entered with Ironside3
Series 9 Entered with Ironside3
Series 10 Not selected with unspecified robot
Robot Wars Extreme Appearances
Series 1 Entered with Velocirippa
Series 2 Entered
Entered with Velocirippa

NOTE: Trevor Wright's machine and the successor to Mighty Mouse, Meggamouse, was also entered into Series 9 by Team Tilly.

Outside Robot Wars[]

Mighty Mouse (Techno Games)

Mighty Mouse at Techno Games 2002

Mighty Mouse made its first appearance in Techno Games 20002. The front spikes were removed and replaced with two shorter spikes, and it brandished slightly different paintwork. It first appeared in the Sumo event, but was pushed off after 17 seconds by Chip, and performed no better in the Assault Course, being beaten by Transpower. In the Tug of War, it was pulled into the pit by Big Bro in just 2.22. It also partnered with Wolf for the Football tournament, but they lost in the first round of the Football to Team Snow Cat in the same year, enduring a heavy 7-1 defeat.

Mighty Mouse returned for Techno Games 2003, where it entered the Football tournament again, this time teamed with Bugs Buggy. The team also entered Velocirippa in the same event, which entered alongside Sugar Plum Fairy. Together, the two were 'The Mousekerteers', but they lost to Team Flash in Round 1. Mighty Mouse managed to earn some success in the Assault Course, where it earned a silver medal. In Round 1, it set a new world record when it defeated Mousecatcher in just 10.66 seconds. It then defeated 51 and Big Bro to reach the final, where it was against Typhoon Rover. Typhoon Rover finished the course in just 10.65 seconds, beating Mighty Mouse's world record by 0.01 of a second.

Mighty Mouse fought in many live events between 2002 and 2008, but its results were very poor, with victories being few and far between. At the Roaming Robots War in the Worlds event in November 2002, Mighty Mouse managed to beat Tornado] and Thor in a battle, then lost another melee against Mute, Bulldog Breed and Tornado.

In 2003, Mighty Mouse attended three different Roaming Robots events and Robot Crusade, but failed to win any battles. It lost all three of its battles at the Nottingham Red Nose Day event, also withdrawing from a battle with M2 and Corkscrew. It lost in Round 1 of Enginuity Robot Crusade 2003 to Ripper and Corkscrew, then lost in the losers' melee. It lost all four of its battle at the Malvern Roaming Robots event, then all 6 of its battles at the Steel City Showdown.

2004 was just as unsuccessful for Mighty Mouse. After a single battle at the Roaming Robots Northampton show, where it lost to Dominator 3 and Splinter, Mighty Mouse was entered into the Roaming Robots Winter Tour, but failed to win a single battle, despite appearing in four different shows. It first appeared in the Newport show, where it lost both of its battles, then lost all five of its battles at the Edinburgh event. It returned for the Worcester and Kings Lynn events, losing both its battles at both shows, then made a single appearance in the Finals in Doncaster, losing in a melee to 8645T, Bigfish, Hellbent and Spearhead.

Mighty Mouse also entered the 2005 Roaming Robots Winter Tour, but once again failed to win a battle despite fighting in multiple battles across different legs of the tour. It only fought in whiteboard matches across its two events, losing both battles at Merthyr Tydfil, then both battles at Macclesfield.

Mighty Mouse finally managed to earn some victories at the 2006 Fighting Robots UK Championship. In the group stage, it lost to Tanto, but after its next opponent CTRip withrdew, Mighty Mouse manged to defeat Tilly 101, then won the Heat Final against Tanto and Tilly 101 to go through to the Finals, where it lost to Beast. It also entered the 2006 Winter Tour, but lost in its qualifier battle at Doncaster, being flipped out of the arena by reigning UK champions Turbulence.

2007 was another poor year for Mighty Mouse, where it lost all its battles across the Roaming Robots Winter Tour. At the Doncaster event, it lost in its qualifier to Tiberius 4 and Tilly 101. It then lost to Envy at Portsmouth, and Dantomkia at Nottingham. It also competed in the Annihilator at the Fighting Robots UK Championships, where it managed to get past Round 1, but then had to withdraw.

Mighty Mouse had its last competitive event in 2008, in the UK Championships at RAF Fairford. It was drawn against number 2 seeds Terrorhurtz, which brutally axed it, immobilising, then pushed it into the pit. As a result of this heavy loss, Mighty Mouse was retired, after which it was reduced to its status as a display unit, while its successor Meggamouse went on to replace it on in heavyweight battles.

Mini Mighty Mouse

Mini Mighty Mouse

The team also built a featherweight inspired by Mighty Mouse, named Mini Mighty Mouse, using a flipper weapon like that of Meggamouse. It was more successful than Mighty Mouse itself, winning the 2007 UK Featherweight Championships.

Robot Wars Live Events[]

DSC00400

Mighty Mouse at a Robot Wars live event in November 2015

While Team Mouse regularly participated at Robot Wars live events with the heavyweight successor to Mighty Mouse, Meggamouse, and the featherweight Mini Mighty Mouse, Mighty Mouse itself had already retired, and instead appeared at events as a static display, showing its age in rust and scars.

Trivia[]

Mighty Mouse S7

Official Series 7 photo

  • Like Ripper, another Heat Finalist from Series 7, as well as Tornado, Mighty Mouse was retired during the Robot Wars 12-year hiatus due to damage inflicted by Terrorhurtz in live event battles.
  • Mighty Mouse was very well known for being very light but also very fast. However, it was never the absolute in the series for either of these statistics. In Series 6, Sabretooth was reportedly quicker by 40mph, and Granny's Revenge 2 was lighter by 16kg.
  • All of Mighty Mouse's battles featured at least one robot with a flipper.
  • Both of Mighty Mouse's first round melees in the UK Championship saw it face a seeded robot that threw an opponent out of the Arena for the last time in its career, another veteran and one robot that never appeared in any other episode. In addition, those melees were the first battle of the corresponding heats it featured in.
  • Both of the seeds that Mighty Mouse fought in the main competition met each other in the Flipper Frenzy in Extreme Series 1.
  • Mighty Mouse's Series 6 appearance featured a smiley mouth on it but its other two appearances did not have it. Additionally, the Series 7 version did not feature the whiskers.
  • Mighty Mouse was the only machine defeated by Thermidor 2 who held on to a judges' decision.

References[]

  1. [1]
  2. Private correspondence with Wiki user User:Drop Zone mk2 in 2021
  3. Private correspondence between Trevor Wright and Wiki user User:Drop Zone mk2 in 2021
  4. Private correspondence with Wiki user User:Drop Zone mk2 in 2021
  5. https://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/content/337-tx-108
  6. Private correspondence with Wiki user User:Drop Zone mk2 in 2021

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