- "Rip, son of Ripper."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Rip was a featherweight robot that competed in the Featherweight Championship of Series 7 of Robot Wars. It was essentially a miniature version of Team Roaming Robots' heavyweight competitor Ripper, which also fought in the main heavyweight championship in Series 7. Rip was actually the team's second featherweight, as they had previously competed in the Extreme 2 Featherweight Championship with the walkerbot Neoteric. Rip was much more successful, reaching the final of the Series 7 Featherweight Championship.
Design[]
Rip (left) with Ripper in the pits
Like its larger counterpart, Rip was a green and yellow wedge-shaped robot armed with a pneumatic flipper that the team claimed could lift 100kg, although powered by a single ram instead of Ripper's twin rams. The flipper was capable of firing quickly and wide enough to flip multiple robots over at once, while the robot also featured clear armour panels on its wedge showing its internals.
Robot History[]
Series 7[]
Rip's first round battle was against Alpha, Cygnus X3 (successor of AM CVn), Mini-Maul, Prince of Awe, and previous featherweight competitors Kitty and G2.
Rip instantly knocks out Mini-Maul
Rip launches Prince of Awe over
Rip began aggressively, flipping over Mini-Maul immediately, which seemed to instantly immobilise the invertible machine. After flipping both G2 and Mini-Maul again with one flip, Rip flung Prince of Awe over, and then missed a flip on G2. It missed another flip as Alpha charged past it whilst pushing the beaten Mini-Maul. Rip then tossed Prince of Awe over again, and then threw G2 over as well. As G2 attempted to self-right it landed back on Rip's flipper, and Rip flung it through the air again.
- "It's Rip, with the green and yellow, showing up early on."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Rip throws G2 through the air
Mr. Psycho crumples Rip with his claw
After lifting Cygnus X3 over, Rip was flipped over by Prince of Awe, but it righted itself immediately and slammed into a side-stranded Cygnus X3, pushing it back over onto its wheels in the process. Rip then got caught near the arena wall by Mr. Psycho, and after being lifted slightly by G2, it attempted to dart round the massive House Robot. However, Mr. Psycho picked it up, damaging part of its flipper, before dropping it.
- "Look at the size comparison! Ooh dear! Poor Rip! Urgh! It's like just crumpling up a sweet packet!"
- — Jonathan Pearce as Mr. Psycho attacks Rip
Rip topples Cygnus X3
Rip then attempted to shove Prince of Awe around from behind, but its opponent held well, pushing back and bending Rip's flipper plate upwards slightly. By this point, Rip's flipper was no longer working, and it was largely inactive for the rest of the fight, absorbing a slam from Alpha before being pushed into the CPZ by it. By the time cease was called, only Rip, Alpha, Kitty and Prince of Awe remained, and Rip was put through to the final along with Prince of Awe by the judges.
- Craig Charles: "You're surprised?"
- John Findlay: "Yes, cos we lost our flipper halfway through; the gas bottle froze up."
- — Post-battle interview
In the final, Rip faced Prince of Awe, previous finalist Bernard, DTK, Rampage 2 and Whipper.
Rip is lifted by Whipper
Rip began by missing a flip on Rampage 2, although its follow-up attack was more successful. It was then attacked by Whipper, and despite attempting to flip Whipper, Rip itself was lifted, but landed back on its wheels.
Rip is flipped over by Prince of Awe
- "Rip just self-righting and then twisting and turning..."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Next, Prince of Awe flipped Rip, but it righted itself, before flipping Bernard and Whipper at the same time. Rip then flipped Bernard onto the arena side wall, but then threw it back onto its wheels after an attempt to flip it out of the arena. Bernard then drove up Rip's flipper, and Rip proceeded to push it towards the pit. However, Rip couldn't quite turn Bernard in, and it flipped the invertible machine over, and into the CPZ.
Rip flips Whipper and Bernard simultaneously
- "There will be no way back from there for Bernard unless it is given a helping hand, and it was by Rip! Why?! Rip pushes Bernard towards the pit, but gets dangerously close..."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Rip throws Bernard back off the arena wall
After Rip missed a flip on Bernard, Rip moved back towards the centre of the arena and attacked Prince of Awe, who flicked it up with its own weapon in reply. Rip then drove into Refbot, and at this point it began to lose power to the left side. Team Roaming Robots were told by the producers that, given the opportunity, the House Robots would seek vengeance on an immobile Rip, following Ripper's attack on Shunt and Refbot in the heavyweight competition. As Rip was becoming immobile, Team Roaming Robots saved Rip from attacks by the House Robots by driving the robot directly into the pit, thus eliminating Rip from the final.
Rip in the Pit, of its own accord
- "Oh, what's gone down? I think Rip has gone! Rip drove itself into the pit, Rampage 2 is moving on one wheel only, so suddenly, they start to falter and drop..."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Bernard and Prince of Awe later joined Rip in the pit while Rampage 2 was flung out of the arena by the Floor Flipper. DTK went on to win the battle over Whipper via Judges' decision.
Results[]
| RIP - RESULTS | ||
| Series 7 | ||
| Featherweight Championship Final | ||
| Round 1 | vs. Alpha, Cygnus X3, G2, Kitty, Mini-Maul, Prince of Awe | Qualified |
| Final | vs. Bernard, DTK, Prince of Awe, Rampage 2, Whipper | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
The underbelly of Rip sometime before Series 7
- Wins: 1
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
| Main Series | Rip Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Did not enter |
| The Third Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fourth Wars | Failed to qualify with Banana-R Armour |
| The Fifth Wars | Entered with T-Bone Failed to qualify with R.I.P.P.E.R. |
| The Sixth Wars | Failed to qualify with Ripper 2 |
| The Seventh Wars | Featherweight Championship Final Entered with Ripper |
| Series 8 | Ineligible with Ripper |
| Series 9 | Ineligible with Ripper |
| Series 10 | Not selected with Cyclone |
| Robot Wars Extreme | Appearances |
| Series 1 | Did not enter |
| Series 2 | Entered with Neoteric |
Outside Robot Wars[]
Like Ripper, Rip was rebuilt after Robot Wars, renamed Rip Evo, and still competes in the featherweight circuit today. Like Rip, Rip Evo was built to resemble a miniature version of the team's main heavyweight (Ripper Evo), but Rip Evo was repainted silver and was renamed Shockwave 2 in 2012. Shockwave 2 has since been sold to the Team Scar (the team that owns Scar, Eric and Chimera) and renamed Eric Jr. 2. It has since been passed hands Gareth Anstee, the person who owns Dystopia (Ripper) and has been renamed Utopia. This has since been extensively rebuilt so it is now a strong resemblance to Dystopia (itself an updated version of Ripper Evo, which Rip Evo originally resembled)
The team also fought with a new Rip, a rebuilt version of Beauty 3, until it was given to another team, with new internals, where it now fights as Busted.
The original Rip itself came out of retirement and was sold to Team Toon, who renamed Rip to Rip-Off. However, Rip-Off saw little action, and was returned to John Findlay, reverting to the Rip name in the process.
Robot Wars Live Events[]
A much updated Rip competed in the first live event of the new Robot Wars at Portsmouth in March 2013. Rip has made regular appearances at each show. The original Rip that competed in Series 7 is still active as well, and both robots are brought to Robot Wars birthday parties and educational courses, where the new Rip is used as a house robot against builders' super-antweight robots.
Trivia[]
- Like the heavyweight Ripper, Jayne Middlemiss called it Rip the Flip.
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