During Robot Wars: The Second Wars, one unidentified lightweight robot competed in the Lightweight Championship, aired as part of The Grudge Matches. Unlike its five opponents, this robot did not feature in the televised edit of the battle, which had been edited down to only a few seconds of airtime. Of the seven competitors, it is the only one not referenced in the written account of the Lightweight champion Slippery Strana, but the unidentified machine was confirmed to exist via official merchandise, where the Robot Wars Technical Manual contains an image of it in the arena with five of the other six competitors.
It has been speculated that the competitor's name may have been THUMP. For more information, see the Identity section.
Design[]
The robot's design was a long, hazard-striped wedge which, as a lightweight competitor, must have weighed between 12kg and 23kg. The robot's chassis was constructed largely from wood and was driven by two wheels at the far back of the machine, exposed on either side. Designed for pushing, the wedge was low-profile in nature and long enough to comfortably house another entire lightweight on top of it, although the design still did not appear to be invertible. The centre of the machine was decorated with a large red 'T', likely the first letter of its name - for more information on this, see Identity.
Identity[]
Of the competitors in the Lightweight Championship of Series 2, only one was directly named by the show, that being the champion Slippery Strana. Another five lightweight robots were seen in the televised clips of the fight, four of which have been identified as Damacles, Rosebud, Shadow Fiend, and Spartacus by the Slippery Strana website[1], which also detailed the team's recollection of the fight with details of the four named opponents (including their team members), also claiming at the end of their summary that all 'five' robots survived to the Judges' decision. The website of fellow competitor Spartacus also names the same five competitors[2]. Armageddon are also known to have competed in the battle, having been visible for a split second in the televised clips. However, an official photo printed in the Robot Wars Technical Manual reveals a seventh, unidentified competitor not mentioned by the TV show or the websites of the competing teams. The circumstances of this seventh machine being unmentioned by its opponents remain unknown - none of the known websites reference the possibility of the fight being recorded more than once, nor was any competitor described as a clusterbot, creating a discrepancy between the photograph and the competitors' accounts. As such, any details about the machine and its role in the battle currently remain unknown.

The robot's logo, with its presumed name somewhat visible

A colour enhanced version of the image, potentially revealing the word "THUMP"
Although the robot's name is unknown, the large 'T' on the surface of the robot may have been the first letter of its name. Furthermore, an additional four letters are written in block capitals on the surface of the T logo, suggesting that the name was likely to have been a five-letter word beginning with T. The letters atop the robot cannot be accurately identified due to the low resolution of the image and added lighting glare, but the shape of certain letters in the logo (such as the wide square-shaped fourth letter that may be an 'M', or the fifth letter which seems to closely resemble a 'P') could appear to spell the word THUMP. However, this remains speculative and cannot be confirmed, nor is the word on the wedge necessarily the robot's full name.
Robot History[]
Series 2[]
This robot was one of six competitors in the Lightweight Championship of Series 2, where it fought in the arena against opponents Damacles, Rosebud, Shadow Fiend, Slippery Strana, Armageddon and Spartacus - alongside a fairly intrusive collection of House Robots, Shunt, Matilda and Dead Metal.

The unidentified machine in the centre of the action
Despite there being photographic evidence of the unidentified robot competing in the arena alongside the other lightweight competitors, it was not visible in any of the televised shots aired during The Grudge Matches, with the episode dedicating only a few seconds to the fight. As such, with the competitors' websites also making no mention of the machine, the only known detail of the unidentified machine's role in the fight is that Damacles wedged under it at one stage of the battle, trapping it between Shadow Fiend and Spartacus while six of the robots were grouped together in the centre of the arena.
Ultimately, the battle was decided by a Judges' decision. According to the Slippery Strana team, all 'five' machines were believed to be mobile at the end of the fight, requiring the Judges to ask all competing teams to display their mobility after 'cease' had been called. It is unclear whether the unidentified machine was still active at this stage, or if only the five machines identified by Slippery Strana were mobile at the time. Nevertheless, the Judges awarded the victory to Slippery Strana after it displayed the most visible movement after the battle, resulting in a loss for the unidentified machine and the other lightweight competitors.
Results[]
UNIDENTIFIED LIGHTWEIGHT - RESULTS | ||
Series 2 | ||
Other Weight Classes Lightweight Championship | ||
Lightweight Championship | vs. Damacles, Rosebud, Shadow Fiend, Slippery Strana, Spartacus, Armageddon | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
Series | Series Record |
---|---|
The First Wars | Did not enter |
The Second Wars | Lightweight Championship |
The Third Wars | Did not enter |
The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
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[]
- This is one of four known competitors to take part in a televised battle without being included in the broadcasted edit, alongside the featherweights Anarchy and Deadline, and the middleweight Scorpion.
- As a result, this may be the only unidentified competitor in any official battle addressed in the Robot Wars canon. Team Danby have suggested that there may have been a sixth featherweight in the Series 2 battle whilst they were competing with Deadline[3], although this cannot be confirmed.
References[]
- ↑ Slippery Strana website
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20021013115135/http://www.jth100.freeserve.co.uk/spartacus.html
- ↑ Public message from Craig Danby on the Out of the Arena Discord server
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