Substitute Robots

Substitute Robots
Steg-O-Saw-Us, the most successful reserve robot in the original series of Robot Wars

Substitute Robots (also known as Reserve Robots) were competitor robots in Robot Wars which were not originally selected to compete in televised competitions, but later entered as 'reserves' to replace any fellow competitors which pulled out. There were several substitute robots which were used over the course of the show's history, although there were more which did not get to be used. The circumstances behind these robots appearing on the televised show vary.

Although many substitute robots were used over the series, they were rarely acknowledged as such on the show itself. Only six robots - Binky, V-Max, Major Tom, Pussycat, Coffin-Bot and Tiger Cat - were actually addressed as replacements for competitors which were previously intended to compete, or, in Mega Morg's case, were forced to drop out at some stage during a tournament.

NOTE: Substitute Robots should not be confused with Reinstated Robots. Substitute Robots are robots which were not originally intended to compete in a tournament, and were only brought in when a competitor in that event had to pull out. Reinstated Robots were already selected to compete in a given tournament, fought at least one battle before being knocked out, and were given at least a second chance to continue in the tournament through various means.

List of Substitute Robots

Name of substitute	Robot it replaced	Notes
Lateral Thought, Forklift, Jim Struts, Bumblebot, Malice	Unused Reserves	All of these were unused reserves for Series 2, but fought each other in the Reserve Rumble at the end of the series.
Griffon	Reckless Endangerment	Reckless Endangerment was unable to compete, but later took part in the Super Heavyweight Competition.
Panda Monium	Cassius	Cassius dropped out due to technical problems at the Gauntlet stage, so Panda Monium was instated in its original place just before the main UK Championship was due to begin. Cassius was later successfully repaired and entered into a later heat.
Wheelosaurus	Minotaur	Minotaur was scheduled to enter the main competition, but withdrew very late on, and Wheelosaurus was instated instead. Minotaur later competed in the Super Heavyweight Competition.
Steg-O-Saw-Us	T-Wrecks	T-Wrecks was due to fight in the main competition of Series 3, but surrendered its place after an unknown arena accident. The team later competed in Series 7 with a different version of T-Wrecks.
Flipper	The Parthian Shot	The circumstances of The Parthian Shot's withdrawal are unknown, but it and its team were seen in The Pits during the heat introduction instead of Flipper, and labelled in post-production as the replacement robot.
Binky	Daisy	Daisy suffered technical difficulties in The Pits, so it pulled out. Daisy still received a televised mention, however.
Triterobot	Unknown	Triterobot replaced an unidentified robot in Series 3. However, it is known that The Jailer dropped out of the competition hours before filming.
A-Kill (Middleweight)	Hard Cheese	Hard Cheese was due to compete in the War of Independence, which was aired as part of the International League Championship, where it would have fought Tentoumushi. However, it was replaced with A-Kill due to the producers wanting to give the lightweight American a fairer fight.
Wolverine	Unused Reserve	Wolverine was an unused reserve for Series 3, and was forced to withdraw from the qualifiers in Series 4; however, it successfully qualified for Series 5.
V-Max	Onslaught	Onslaught terminally broke down before its first-round eliminator in Series 4, Heat P, resulting in V-Max being brought to compete in its place. Onslaught was repaired and competed in the Southern Annihilator, which was filmed after the Grand Final, but shown before Heat P.
Charybdis	Unused Reserve	Charybdis was an unused reserve for Series 4, but the team successfully qualified for the next series with Fluffy.
Coffin-Bot	Skullmania	Coffin-Bot was brought into the Extreme Warriors Season 1 US Championship, after Skullmania could not compete.
Tiger Cat	Conquering Clown	As with Coffin-Bot, Tiger Cat replaced Conquering Clown in the Extreme Warriors Season 1 US Championship after the latter could not compete, despite loanerbots being generally disallowed from competing in the US Championship.
Major Tom, Pussycat	Plunderbird 5, Mega Morg	In the Extreme 1 Tag Team Terror, Plunderbird 5 got stuck in forward drive while being prepared for its first battle, damaging itself and an arena entry door in the process. With Plunderbird 5 unable to take part, Major Tom was brought in as a substitute partner for Bigger Brother. Later on in the same competition, Mega Morg withdrew before its second round battle after blowing its speed controllers and running out of spares; as a result, Pussycat was brought in mid-competition as a substitute partner for Diotoir.
Drillzilla	The Brute	As one of the four Semi-Finalists in the Extreme Warriors Season 1 US Championship, The Brute was originally intended to represent the USA in The Second World Championship. However, due to damage sustained in its US Championship battle with fellow US representative The Revolutionist, it was forced to withdraw, and Drillzilla was brought in to replace it.
Oblark	Mousetrap	In the Extreme 1 Forces Special, Mousetrap was due to represent the Fire Service, but was unable to as it had sustained severe damage prior to filming, which was caused in its Series 5 Heat by S3. As a result, Stan Launchbury of the Mousetrap team and Rob Heasman of Team Jurassic Park team entered Oblark.
Hoot	Reflex	Hoot was driven by the Beaverbot team to replace Reflex, which withdrew for unknown reasons.
Chaos 2	Wild Thing	The Extreme 2 All-Stars was intended for the twelve Series 6 Semi-Finalists, but for unknown reasons, Wild Thing did not participate in the tournament. Despite not reaching the Semi-Finals in Series 6, Chaos 2 took Wild Thing's place.
Firestorm 4	Razer	The winner of the Extreme 2 All-Stars was intended to automatically qualify for the Commonwealth Carnage representing England. However, All-Stars runner-up Firestorm 4 took the place of winners Razer, presumably because the latter had already qualified for the European Championship.
Gravity	Bigger Brother	The Series 7 House Robot Rebellion. Bigger Brother was originally due to take part in the battle, but was replaced with Gravity after helping other competitors to immobilise Shunt and Cassius Chrome in the All-Stars tournament.
DisConstructor	Overdozer	Heat 2 of Series 8. Although it is unknown whether DisConstructor was intended to fight in a later heat, it was brought in to replace Overdozer, which was nonoperational at the time.
Overdozer	Armakillo	Heat 3 of Series 8. After Overdozer withdrew from the previous heat, it joined the reserve list, and replaced Armakillo to fight Dantomkia, King B Remix and Glitterbomb.
TR2	Doomba / Crackers 'n' Smash	Doomba withdrew after experiencing faults with its motor controllers, so TR2 competed in Heat 3 of Series 8, having not been selected for the initial line-up. Crackers 'n' Smash is another withdrawal from Series 8 which has been quoted by its team as being replaced by TR2.
Pulsar	Pod	Heat 5 of Series 8. Pulsar was intended to compete in Heat 2, but withdrew due to technical difficulties and joined the reserve list, where it was chosen to replace the overweight Pod.
Rusty	Point Blank	Heat 5 of Series 9. Rusty did not originally apply for the series, but after Tony Smith was contacted by the producers requesting that he bring another reserve, Rusty arrived at the studio, and replaced Crackers 'n' Smash in the first battle of the series, while Crackers 'n' Smash filled the space of Point Blank.
Trolley Rage	Crank-E	Heat 5 of Series 9. Both of these robots qualified for the series, but were originally in each other's first round melee. As Crank-E's original battle line-up in Heat 5 was recorded before its televised melee in Heat 1, and it was not yet ready to compete, Crank-E and Trolley Rage switched positions, to the dismay of Trolley Rage's team.
Apex	PacifieR	Heat 4 of Series 9. PacifieR was drawn into Heat 4, but after a minor problem with its circuitry, it had to withdraw from the battle, where it was replaced by Apex. PacifieR then joined the reserve list, but never competed.
Glitterbomb	Unused	Glitterbomb arrived at Series 9 unfinished and overweight, so it was moved onto the reserve list, and never entered the arena.
TR2	Unused	Despite finishing third in Series 8, TR2 was only selected to be a reserve in Series 9, and was not chosen to fight in the main series. However, it fought in two whiteboard battles against Behemoth, one of which was broadcast as part of Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars, and made a cameo appearance in the Series 9 Grand Final.
Clyde Built	Unused	Originally only selected as a reserve, Clyde Built was given the chance to replace another robot in an early heat of Series 9. However, it suffered fuse problems which forced it to withdraw and be placed back on the reserve list, ultimately never competing.
Gabriel	Unused	A Heat Finalist in Series 8, Gabriel was selected as a reserve in Series 9, but was ultimately not required to compete. However, it fought in an untelevised whiteboard battle against Behemoth, while members of Team Saint still competed in Series 9 with Cherub.
Big Nipper	Unused	While it had previously competed in Series 5, 7 and 8, Big Nipper was initially not selected for Series 9, but eventually became an unused reserve. It could still be seen in the background during one episode of Series 9, and Team Titanium assisted Team Conker with repairing Crackers 'n' Smash in Heat 5.
Coyote	Deadlock	Deadlock arrived at the studio unfinished for Series 10, and was eventually replaced by Coyote.
Hobgoblin	Point Blank	Point Blank was due to compete in Heat 5 of Series 10, but failed its tech check for the second series in a row, leading it to be replaced by Hobgoblin.
Tauron	Triforce	Triforce was due to compete in Heat 4 of Series 10, but was found to lack controlled movement in the arena and was replaced by Tauron.
Infernal Contraption	Unused	Infernal Contraption was selected as a reserve robot for Series 10, but was not required to compete.
Harpy	Unused	Harpy was selected as a reserve robot for Series 10, but was not required to compete.
Eruption	Carbide	Team Carbide were invited to captain the UK team during Episode 2 of the World Series, but voluntarily gave their position to Eruption after the Series 10 champion was decided.
Unknown member of Team UK	Nuts 2	Nuts 2 was intended to appear in Episode 2 of the World Series, but was unable to do so, due to damage inflicted in an earlier battle by Carbide, which also withdrew from the same episode.
Tough as Nails	THE BASH	THE BASH suffered terminal damage in its Tag Team battle in Episode 2 of the World Series, and thus was replaced by the team's other machine, Tough as Nails.

Replacing Several Robots

Name of substitute	Robots it replaced	Notes
Arnold A. Terminegger, Cataclysmic Variabot, Disc-O-Inferno, Fluffy, Panzer Wraith, Shear Khan, The Spider, Velocirippa	101, 3 Stegs 2 Heaven, Bigger Brother, Firestorm 3, Mega Morg, Plunderbird 5, Spawn Again, Suicidal Tendencies	These robots competed in the Mayhem qualifiers in Extreme Series 1 after several of the original competitors were forced to withdraw.
Dantomkia	Unspecified	The Series 7 All-Stars was intended for robots from teams who had fought in five or more series. However, several teams who had enough experience were unable to compete for various reasons or otherwise unapproached, leaving only seven eligible robots available to participate in the tournament. As a result, Dantomkia was included to make up the numbers due to its status as a two-time Semi-Finalist, despite having competed in only two series at the time.