- "It suffered from its own plague"
- — The Rattus Rattus team blame the bubonic plague for their robot's demise
Rattus Rattus was a rat-like robot that exclusively competed in Series 3 of Robot Wars. The team jokingly claimed that it was from the fourteenth century, and had been responsible for the spread of the bubonic plague. Rattus Rattus was shaped like a rodent, with a pointed-wedge front and chassis from an old desk. Its armament included two spikes at the front, and a flail at the rear. It was originally going to be over 2.5 metres long, but the team was forced to cut it in half upon discovering that a robot of such size would not fit in their car. Despite this, it was still the longest in its heat. Rattus Rattus won its first battle against S.M.I.D.S.Y. but lost to the experienced Dreadnaut in Round 2.
Rattus Rattus was said to have got its name from the latin name of the Common Rat (or Brown Rat). In actual fact, Rattus rattus is the Latin name of the closely related House Rat (or Black Rat), with the Common Rat's actual Latin name being Rattus norvegicus.
According to the Team's website, Rattus Rattus was to be upgraded and entered in Series 4. However it is unknown whether the team did attempt to enter Series 4 or not.
Robot History
Series 3
- "The longest in the heat, even if it has been chopped down"
- — Jonathan Pearce
Rattus Rattus, with its shell dislodged, on the flame pit
Rattus Rattus took part in the final heat of the Third Wars. In the first round of the heat, Rattus Rattus was placed up against fellow newcomers S.M.I.D.S.Y.. After a cautious start to the battle, Rattus Rattus managed to get in underneath its opponent. Rattus Rattus was then bounced by the arena floor spike a few times before driving up and over S.M.I.D.S.Y.'s top. Rattus Rattus then pushed S.M.I.D.S.Y. onto the arena spike, and then into Dead Metal's CPZ, before colliding with Dead Metal itself, dislodging its own body shell upon impact. Rattus Rattus then carelessly drove over the flame pit and began smoking, but S.M.I.D.S.Y. meanwhile was limping itself, and was eventually pushed into the pit of oblivion by Dead Metal, therefore putting Rattus Rattus through to the next round of the heat. After the fight, the team revealed that they had fitted a block of wood at the tip of the wedge, with the vain hope that it would keep the shell in place. In the second round, Rattus Rattus was placed up against Robot Wars veterans in Dreadnaut. In this battle, Rattus Rattus was eagerly moving backwards and forwards before 'activate' was called, but when 'activate' was called, Rattus Rattus did not even move. After Dreadnaut bumped into it a few times, before the house robots moved in and began attacking Rattus Rattus, Dead Metal in particular caused major damage to the outer shell. Cease was eventually called and Rattus Rattus was eliminated from the competition.
- "They say it came from the fourteenth century, well the engines have probably ground to a halt long since then"
- — Jonathan Pearce, as Dreadnaut toys with the corpse of Rattus Rattus
Results
| RATTUS RATTUS - RESULTS | ||
| Series 3 | ||
| The Third Wars - UK Championship Heat, Round 2 | ||
| Heat P, Round 1 | vs. S.M.I.D.S.Y. | Won |
| Heat P, Round 2 | vs. Dreadnaut | Lost |
Rattus Rattus, Series 4 concept art
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 1
- Losses: 1
Series Record
- Series 1-2: Did not enter
- Series 3: Heat, Round 2
- Series 4-7: Did not enter
Trivia
- Rattus Rattus was the only ever robot to come from the Channel Islands.
- Rattus Rattus is the name of an anthromomorphic rat that features on the television show Horrible Histories.
- It is believed that Rattus Rattus took part in a six-way qualifier battle for Series 5, which also included the likes of Razer and Shunt.
- Had it not been cut in half, it would have been the second longest robot to enter Robot Wars.