- "Horrible, gruesome, nasty ... not the machine!"
- — Jonathan Pearce references the Tridentate team's unusual costumes during its introduction
Tridentate was a competitor robot that fought exclusively in Series 6 of Robot Wars. It was eliminated in the first round in its only appearance after sustaining damage from Disc-O-Inferno, which the team expressed concerns about prior to the battle.
Design[]
Tridentate was a low, red and grey tracked robot armed with three lifting spikes – two at the front, one at the rear. The front spikes were mounted either side of the robot’s front axle, and capable of rotating a full 360 degrees as well as lifting itself over. Tridentate showed good speed and aggression during its only battle, but was considerably smaller than all of its other opponents, and Jonathan Pearce cited that its aerial could be easily lost while summarising its statistics. Its side panels and tracks were easily susceptible to damage as well, which directly resulted in Tridentate's early elimination from Series 6.
The Team[]
Tridentate was built by the Bradford-based Robert McDougall and Steve Mitchell. Throughout their appearance on Robot Wars, the team wore white lab coats, with Steve Mitchell also wearing a white and black face mask. Their sinister appearance attracted particularly humorous responses from Philippa Forrester and Jonathan Pearce.
- "Now I know, first glance, you're thinking "Oh they're really scary, they've got horrible masks on and white coats, they're really intimidating!", but it's their first time here, so we've got to be nice to them!"
- — Philippa Forrester introduces the Tridentate team
Qualification[]
Tridentate had previously failed to qualify for Series 5 under the name Trident (not to be confused with the Series 3 Semi-Finalist of the same name), losing its qualifier battle to Viking (which also failed to qualify), Immortalis and S.M.I.D.S.Y.. The circumstances of its successful qualification for the Sixth Wars remain unknown.
Robot History[]
Series 6[]
Tridentate competed in Heat L of the Sixth Wars, and faced a daunting line-up against the very experienced Behemoth, the award-winning Derek 2 and Annihilator champion Disc-O-Inferno in its first round battle.
Despite its small size, it started aggressively, charging into the side of Behemoth as the latter threw Derek 2 onto its back, but was hit from the side by Disc-O-Inferno’s disc, causing damage to one of its tracks. Tridentate spun around and lifted itself with its spikes, before ramming Derek 2 and dodging Disc-O-Inferno. It then charged at Disc-O-Inferno as the latter immobilised Behemoth on one side, only to be hit by Disc-O-Inferno a second time, which bent one of its side panels into a sprocket, causing its right-hand track to lock up. Another hit immobilised Tridentate completely, and Tridentate began smoking after Disc-O-Inferno hit it again. Despite Behemoth appearing to have become immobilised earlier on, Tridentate was counted out by Refbot, repeatedly lifting and lowering its spikes in an attempt to signal mobility, but to no avail.
- "Sprightly early on, no wag in that doggy tail!"
- — Jonathan Pearce as Tridentate is counted out
Shunt and Sir Killalot proceeded to push Tridentate and the also-eliminated Derek 2 onto the Floor Flipper, with Tridentate being launched vertically and landing on the flipper. It was thrown again – this time being thrust into Shunt’s scoop – before being pushed towards the pit by Shunt and using its spikes to slip into it behind Behemoth, which had also been pitted beforehand. This eliminated Tridentate from the Sixth Wars.
- "Oh. Don't make such a fuss, Tridentate. Go on. Get.. Get down! Down that pit!"
- — Jonathan Pearce
Results[]
TRIDENTATE - RESULTS | ||
Series 6 | ||
The Sixth Wars - UK Championship Heat, Round 1 | ||
Heat L, Round 1 | vs. Behemoth, Disc-O-Inferno, Derek 2 | Eliminated |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
Series | Tridentate Series Record |
---|---|
The First Wars | Did not enter |
The Second Wars | Did not enter |
The Third Wars | Did not enter |
The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
The Fifth Wars | Failed to qualify |
The Sixth Wars | Heat, Round 1 |
The Seventh Wars | Did not enter |
Series 8 | Did not enter |
Series 9 | Did not enter |
Series 10 | Did not enter |
Trivia[]
- Tridentate was the only competitor robot in Series 6 to run on tracks.
- Tridentate's loss has been seen as quite controversial, as Behemoth had lost mobility on one side for at least thirty seconds before Tridentate was fully immobilised and counted out. This is especially controversial given how The Hassocks Hog was eliminated earlier on in Series 6 due to it losing drive to one side.
- Tridentate was the only robot in Heat L of Series 6 not to appear in any other episodes.
- Of the six robots that only appeared in Series 6, Tridentate was the only one not to fight a seeded robot in its first round melee.
- However, Tridentate was also one of only two of those six to fight an unseeded robot, the other being Inshredable who fought Anarchy in its Round 2 battle.