- "This evil witch has a wicked twitch, from a lethal spike at the end of a long alloy arm. Two American pump motors provide the power, and you have to take your hat off to the designers - its made of fibreglass and plastic."
- — Jonathan Pearce introduces The Witch
The Witch (also referred to simply as Witch) was Team Wizard's entry for Series 3 of Robot Wars. It lost in the first round in its only appearance after breaking down against Invertabrat. The robot was the successor to Team Witch's Series 2 entry, Wizard.
For Series 4, The Witch was improved and renamed The Blair Witch 2000, but failed to qualify for currently unknown reasons[1].
Design[]
Early Witch design
The Witch was a silver and black robot similar in design to Wizard, featuring a circular fibreglass and plastic body with a tall alloy cone themed around a witch's 'hat' mounted on top. Its weapons were a set of steel spikes along its rim and a pneumatic axe modeled on a witch's broom, while the robot exhibited a high top speed as a result of its 12V American pump motors. Even so, The Witch's weapons proved ineffective and its killswitch lay exposed on its top armour, leaving it vulnerable to being easily switched off as proven during its only battle.
Robot History[]
Series 3[]
The Witch fought in Heat I of the Third Wars, and faced newcomer Invertabrat in its first round battle.
The Witch lies immobile as Invertabrat rams it
Both robots charged straight into each other in the opening seconds, with The Witch bumping into Invertabrat a few more times before nearly driving into Sergeant Bash's CPZ. The Witch escaped, but was lifted by Invertabrat before both robots continued spinning and bumping into each other. Invertabrat charged into The Witch as it drove into Sergeant Bash again, before The Witch suddenly stopped moving after a nudge from the House Robot. This allowed Invertabrat to come in and lift The Witch a few more times, dislodging its 'hat' in the process, before Dead Metal sliced through its body, sparks flying as The Witch billowed smoke. Sir Killalot came in to try and spear through The Witch's 'hat' with his lance, before Dead Metal backed away and allowed Sir Killalot and Matilda to attack it just as 'cease' was called.
Dead Metal cuts into The Witch
- "Oh, witchy-poo, you're on the way out. Look at the damage now from Dead Metal. Hocus-pocus, get in focus! Come up with some spells now, otherwise this could spell the end of your hopes."
- — Jonathan Pearce as the House Robots attack The Witch
Following this, The Witch was eliminated from the Third Wars, with Team Wizard later discovering that its 'hat' had flicked the robot's killswitch off after it started to come loose. Despite this early loss, The Witch was nominated for the Most Original Entry award at the end of the series, but lost out to Hypno-Disc.
Results[]
| THE WITCH - RESULTS | ||
| Series 3 | ||
| The Third Wars - UK Championship Heats, Round 1 | ||
| Heat I, Round 1 | vs. Invertabrat | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
| Series | The Witch Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Entered with Wizard |
| The Third Wars | Heat, Round 1 |
| The Fourth Wars | Failed to qualify as The Blair Witch 2000 |
| The Fifth Wars | Failed to qualify with Shadow |
| The Sixth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Seventh Wars | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
The interview in Robot Wars Magazine
- Team Wizard gave an interview in issue 4 of the original Robot Wars Magazine, in which they jokingly claimed that The Witch's axe was powered by "mystical forces".
Honours[]
Nominations
- Most Original Entry - Robot Wars: The Third Wars