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For the Series 6 robot of a similar name, see Tridentate.

"Axe no questions. Tell no lies. At twenty miles an hour this robot flies! Deadly too! The shell's too shiny to be true! Tri-denting it Matilda!"
— Jonathan Pearce

Trident was a robot that competed exclusively in Series 3 of Robot Wars. It reached the Semi-Finals in its first and only series, losing to eventual champion Chaos 2.

Like fellow Series 3 Semi-Finalists Pitbull and Blade, Trident did not return outside of its debut series. Trident was originally seeded for Series 4, but was forced to withdraw from the competition, as did Blade.

Design[]

"Two drive motors with another for the weapon make this tri-drive Trident with an axe, bodyshell of stainless steel. The chassis' the modified stair climber. At twenty miles an hour, its the fastest in the heat."
— Jonathan Pearce introducing Trident in its heat
Trident

Trident in the arena

Trident

Trident side shot in the arena

Trident

A damaged Trident returns to the arena in the Semi-Finals

Trident was an unusually-designed robot, with a chassis made out of a modified stair climber and a stainless steel bodyshell resembling a postbox. Its weapon was an electric-powered axe that was capable of inflicting considerable damage to other robots, while its six front wheels were arranged in a pair of triangular-shaped mountings, similar to Series 2 competitor Tantrum. Trident also had a top speed of twenty miles an hour, and took three hundred and fifty hours to build.

According to the team, they considered the axe and wheels end of the robot to be the robot's rear, despite that end facing the opponent at the beginning of each fight.

"Everybody makes that mistake, that's why they always attack us from the back!"
— Peter Benn to Craig Charles, after the fight with Victor 2

Robot History[]

Series 3[]

"Hi my name's Stephen. And this is Neil and Peter. He's the captain of the team. And this is Trident, our robot. It's got these stair climbing wheels, and an axe weapon, powered by an electric motor."
— Stephen Benn in the team's introduction

Trident made its Robot Wars debut in Heat P of the Third Wars, fighting newcomer Twn Trwn in the first round.

Trident axes Twn Trwn

The kill shot on Twn Trwn

Twn Trwn was at an instant disadvantage after its battering ram was removed to keep the robot within the weight limit, and Trident instantly immobilised it with an axe blow that also damaged its fibreglass shell. Trident rammed Twn Trwn a few more times, before allowing the House Robots to attack it.

In Round 2, Trident was drawn against veteran Victor 2. Their axe had broken against Twn Trwn and required maintenance to repair.

"Well we're a bit worried about damaging their lovely, shiny bodywork, and we did say we'd put feather dusters on the ends, but we decided against it."
— Confidence from Victor 2
Trident vs victor

Trident axes Victor's flail

Trident victor

Trident pits Victor 2

Trident started as the more potent machine, striking Victor 2's top several times with its axe, as its opponent failed to get its spinning flail into effect. A front-on shove stopped Victor 2's flail, before Trident axed its top panel two more times and Victor 2 drove into Sgt. Bash's CPZ. Victor 2 escaped, only for Trident to strike its flail and cause it to momentarily stop working. Trident closed in as Victor 2 spun, and after a few moments where it pushed and axed it, Victor 2 spun near the edge of the pit, eventually dropping one of its wheels over the edge. Trident seized its opportunity, and pushed Victor 2 into the pit.

"Well, Trident went into the final full of "Dread", but "nought" came of its opponent, then though, fun for us; you're all shiny, we want to see our faces in it..."
— Jonathan Pearce on Trident's win over Dreadnaut

Through to the Heat Final, Trident faced another veteran, this time former Series 1-2 competitor Dreadnaut.

Dreadnaut trident

Trident axes Dreadnaut

DreadnaughtAndTridentBothImmobile

Trident and Dreadnaut immobile near the arena wall

Trident attacked

Trident takes damage from Shunt and Dead Metal

Trident again axed Dreadnaut's shell several times with the axe, although not causing any damage to begin with. The two robots came together again, where it became apparent that Dreadnaut was suffering from control problems as Trident's axe finally began piercing through its armour. Trident pushed Dreadnaut, who rolled towards the arena wall and appeared to be immobilised. Dead Metal nudged Dreadnaut away, before he and Shunt began attacking Trident, causing severe damage to its stainless steel body. Matilda and Sir Killalot soon joined in, but Trident still emerged victorious regardless.

"This is a party for us you see on Robot Wars. Trident the winners. We don't care. Take some of that. Poor old Dreadnaut long, long, long ago dead."
— Jonathan Pearce

In the Semi-Finals, Trident was drawn up against the eventual champion Chaos 2.

"This would be a mighty upset if Trident could beat Chaos 2 here."
— Jonathan Pearce when the battle starts
Trident vs Chaos 2

Chaos 2 flips Trident

Chaos 2 vs trident

Chaos 2 flips Trident onto the flame pit

Chaos 2 got behind Trident and nearly overturned it, but only managed to spin it around. However, Chaos 2's second flip tossed Trident over and onto the Flame Pit, leaving it unable to self-right as Trident fired its axe just before being flipped, which did not have enough power to retract and re-right it. Trident was then attacked by the House Robots again, taking major damage from Dead Metal and Shunt in the process, and was eliminated.

"Well Trident tried and tested and unfortunately, he failed."
— Craig Charles

Results[]

TRIDENT - RESULTS
Series 3
The Third Wars - UK Championship
Semi-Finals, Round 1
Heat P, Round 1 vs. Twn Trwn Won
Heat P, Round 2 vs. Victor 2 Won
Heat P, Final vs. Dreadnaut Won
Semi-Final 1, Round 1 vs. Chaos 2 Lost

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 3
  • Losses: 1

Series Record[]

TridentTeam

Trident and its team

Series Trident Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Semi-Finals, Round 1
The Fourth Wars Withdrew
The Fifth Wars Did not enter
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

Trivia[]

Trident stats

Trident's statistics board

  • Tridentate, the Series 6 entrant of a similar name, attempted to qualify for Series 5 under the name Trident, unrelated to this robot.
    • Coincidentally, Tridentate was from the same county, West Yorkshire.
  • On Trident's statistics board, Neil Ward was referred to as "Peter Ward".
  • Trident's statistics board stated it took two hundred and fifty hours to build when it actually took three hundred and fifty hours to build, which Jonathan Pearce mentioned in Semi-Final 1 of Series 3.
  • Trident was the only winner of the final heat of a series to appear in the first semi-final.
"And of course, if they can get things straight, robot number eight, today's winner Trident, through to the first semi-final!"
— Jonathan Pearce at the end of his review of the robots competing in Semi-Final 1 of Series 3

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