"Robot Wars isn't of course all about mashing, mayhem and meritorious victory. Months of industry, craft, creativity go in to construct these innovative machines. In battle, style, technique and sportsmanship have also reached new heights. And in recognition of this, we have our special merit Robot Wars trophies..."
The Robot Wars Awards were a number of special trophies awarded at the end of the first six UK series of Robot Wars, all recognising achievements beyond victories in main or side competitions. Four awards were originally given throughout each series, honouring hard work, creativity and camaraderie among competing roboteers: 'Best Engineered Robot', the 'Sportsmanship Award', 'Best Design' and 'Most Original Entry'. These were joined from The Fourth Wars onwards by a fifth award given out to the best newcomer of that series.
Also titled Best Designed Robot, this award was given out to the robot which was judged to have had the best design. Great emphasis was placed on weaponry, visual appeal, creativity and effectiveness in combat, as well as improvements on any previous incarnations.
The award was given out in each of the first six UK Series; from Series 2 to Series 5, the winning robot was chosen from a list of nominations. In the list below, the winner of the award for each series is shown in gold, followed by the other nominees in alphabetical order.
Fully titled Best Engineered Robot in earlier series, this was given out to robots which showcased exceptional engineering quality as well as complex, reliable and powerful designs.
The award was given out in each of the first six UK Series; from Series 2 to Series 5, the winning robot was chosen from a list of nominations. In the list below, the winner of the award for each series is shown in gold, followed by the other nominees.
This award (also known as Best Original Entry in Series 5) was given out to the robot considered to have the most 'unique, fun and destructive' design, in some cases highlighting examples of innovative weaponry, designs or technologies for the series.
The award was given out in each of the first six UK Series; from Series 2 to Series 5, the winning robot was chosen from a list of nominations. In the list below, the winner of the award for each series is shown in gold, followed by the other nominees.
Given out to the team who was considered to have provided the most entertainment or support to fellow competitors in The Pits. Acts of sportsmanship during competitions - such as voluntarily forfeiting a place in the main UK Championship - were also acknowledged.
The award was given out in each of the first six UK Series; from Series 2 to Series 5, the winning robot was chosen from a list of nominations. In the list below, the winner of the award for each series is shown in gold, followed by the other nominees.
Titled Best Newcomer in Series 4, the fifth and final award was given to debuting teams and/or robots deemed to have made the biggest impression in their respective first series. Factors such as competition performance and entertaining, effective or original designs were often considered in deciding the winning robot. The award was given out from Series 4 to Series 6; in Series 4-5, the winning robot was chosen from a list of nominations.
On two occasions, a team who had fought before in a previous series was nominated for the award; this occurred in Series 4 with MouseTrap (TeamMouseTrap having competed in Series 3 with Triterobot) and in Series 5 with S3 (1 Law Associates having competed in Series 2 and 3 with Sting). However, the robots themselves were considered newcomers in both cases.
In the list below, the winner of the award for each series is shown in gold, followed by the other nominees where applicable.
Prior to the start of the televised show, a number of Awards were also given out to teams participating in the original 1994-1997 US Robot Wars competitions. The three categories included Best Design, Best Engineering and Strangest (also titled Best Art-Directed Robot in American Robot Wars 1996); the latter was given to competitors considered to have the most unusual or unique designs.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
In each year, a single robot would usually be nominated for each award. The 1995 competition saw an instance where two robots - Blendo and Thor - jointly won the 'Best Engineering' award, the only time this would occur in any Robot Wars event or series.[3]
The Steel Avenger team with the Best Costume award in Extreme 1
In Series 1, footage was shown of the team captains receiving the awards from the Judges.
Although not shown on television, a series of awards was also presented in the first series of Robot Wars Extreme. The Steel Avenger team won the 'Best Costume' award, and the Sir Chromalot team won the 'Best Entertainers' award.
The Series 4 Awards, shown in the Grand Final of that series, were omitted from the aforementioned episode's broadcast as part of the North American Robot Wars: Grand Champions dub.
