I'm keenly aware I'm a serial blog non-finisher at the moment, so I've picked a small, doable blog to pump out between other things.
Combining a faultless originality with some genuinely great combat longevity, Thermidor 2 sinks fairly low in people's list of All-Stars
In the last few months of creating articles for lists of robots by achievement, I've been constantly struck by the presence of Thermidor 2, not only on the list, but almost exclusively in the top tier. Third longest appearing in the show (Series 3-8, and both Extremes, matching Panic Attack and exceeding individual icons Chaos 2, Firestorm, Stinger and Pussycat), 15 combat victories (exceeding Wild Thing and Stinger) and coming in joint third for KO potential with a staggering 93% knockout record in battles it won (only beaten by Spawn Again, Bigger Brother and Carbide).
Thermidor 2 is an interesting little machine that never seems to get a whole lot of love. Much like The Steel Avenger has boosted in my eyes after realising that it was the longest veteran and most successful non-heat winner of all time (alongside Diotoir), I feel like Thermidor 2 needs a little bit of attention. I think the reason Thermidor doesn't get the passion of Chaos 2, Bigger Brother or even Atomic is obviously coming down to its fights; 7J is a joke to most Robot Wars fans, and Thermidor's performances in Series 6, 8 and the Extreme 1 Annihilator pretty much speak for themselves.
Thermidor's career is particularly odd because of the narrative it writes. A non-event in Series 3 led to a heat win in Series 4, and then immediately fell to the bottom of the barrel in Series 5. That's not unfamiliar; it's the narrative of Mortis, Killertron, Gravedigger, Team Joint Effort, Dartford Girls Grammar, Team Mousetrap, Team Splinter and even a big chunk of heat finalists like Onslaught and Aggrobot. The Extreme 2 Annihilator and Series 7 heat win then break the mould on that, and Thermidor then becomes very much like X-Terminator and Behemoth. Then it returns in Series 8, making it one of the "seeds" of the series. In that time, it notched 4 OOTAs, a 93% KO ratio against 15 wins and a few award nominations. There's really nothing like it.
Anyway, the above is a long way of saying that I rewatched every Thermidor 2 fight and would like to now write about all of them in some summation. This blog ranks the fights based heavily on Thermidor 2's performance, but come the end I might rank them based on my overall preference. Toon Ganondorf (t c)
24. Thermidor vs Hypno-Disc, Pussycat, X-Terminator, Arnold A. Terminegger and Splinter (Extreme 1, Annihilator A, Round 1)[]
Thermidor 2 flicks Hypno-Disc up, before tossing it out of the arena
This one is atrocious, and comes down to a barely visible breakdown from Thermidor 2. That's bad enough, but Thermidor 2 unfortunately has more than one OHKO, and even more than one barely on screen OHKO. What makes this the truly worst fight on the list is the potential. Thermidor 2 and Hypno-Disc went into this from the strongest mayhems and all eyes were on Thermidor 2 to repeat its sweep of top-tier all-stars. After all, its more pubescent form had already given Pussycat its closest fight of Series 4, and it was up against Splinter (barely deserving of a place), X-Terminator (who had won a very weak Mayhem) and Arnold A. Terminegger (barely on the radar). Instead, we got a single flip on Hypno-Disc for the article, and then that was it. Hypno-Disc itself also starts to show a pretty atrocious run, which holds the fight back even further.
23. Thermidor 2 vs Typhoon 2 (Series 7 Semi-Final B, Round 1)[]
It is wild that Kronic the Wedgehog was set up to be Thermidor 2's rival, but it ended up with 1-1 records against Typhoon 2 and Trevor Wright instead.
A world where Thermidor 2 and Bigger Brother also have 1-1 win/loss
There's no mincing words on this one; this is by far the worst semi-final bash of Series 7. Thermidor 2 has never been much of a ground clearance breacher, and that's the only tactic you have against Typhoon 2. David and Ian do their best to close the distance, but Typhoon 2 is never in danger and a single hit knocks Thermidor 2 straight out. It does a nice spin, but the hit is not even that aesthetic, nor is the damage visible. At least when Concussion did it to Terror Turtle there was a nice overturn and a noticeable bite, or when Kadeena Machina hit Dee, the whole wheel came off. Thermidor 2 has worse knockouts to come, but at such a high end in the tournament, this carries weight.
Thermidor 2 came out of the weakest heat in 7J by chasing around a mouse, while Typhoon 2 had come out of the 4th seed's heat with a fairly dominant win. It's hard to imagine Thermidor 2 beating anyone else in 7SF2; M2 was more resilient, Atomic was more powerful, Mute had low ground clearance, and The Grim Reaper took Storm 2 to the judges, where Thermidor 2 rarely did well. It's also hard to imagine that Thermidor was much more that cannon fodder for the planned Bigger Brother semi-final battle (which would have been a very enjoyable fight if you ask me), but it is still a shame to see them go out with such a whimper. The only good thing that can be said about it is that at least it didn't immobilise itself like Atomic would do in the next fight.
22. Thermidor 2 vs Chompalot, 13 Black and Stinger (Series 6, Heat F, Round 1)[]
A far less photogenic immobilisation than their last clash
I think its the fact Thermidor 2 has eyes, this picture makes me laugh seeing it peek up from the pit floor
This fight had the potential to be one of the great Series 6 melees. The Alien and SMIDSY melees showed how good a fight can be when all the robots are of similar levels of quality. Even ICU and Comengetorix, the least exciting and least impressive machines in their respective melees, got to have a bit of fun. Chompalot is the outlier here, and manages to flub by not removing the blunter from its beak, and yet still somehow puts on an enjoyable performance that set it up for popularity in Extreme 2 and Series 8. 13 Black is a gorgeous looking round 1 dropout and is coming off a debatable judges decision, so it has potential, and Stinger and Thermidor 2, disappointing Series 5 performances aside, are both still very strong machines but neither seems able to stomp the competition like Chaos 2, Razer and Hypno-Disc do in their Series 6 melees.
Sadly for Thermidor 2, this is probably its worst immobilisation. Stinger, who it not only defeated but dominated in Extreme 1 (only a year ago), runs over it and locks it up within seconds of the battle starting. It exceeds the Typhoon 2 immobilisation because of its attempt to ward of Dead Metal and its admittedly very funny self-pitting to get away from the damage.
21. Thermidor 2 vs Pulsar vs Ironside 3 vs Chompalot (Series 8, Heat E, Round 1)[]
Seeing such classic era roboteers 16 years older never ceases to boggle my brain
In a head-to-head, this fight may have been enjoyable
This fight is actually a guilty pleasure of mine. First of all, the sheer pleasure of learning that both Thermidor 2 and Chompalot still existed in 2016 cannot be expressed in words. Secondly, the outcome of Ironside (featuring Velocirippa's Trevor Wright, no less) stomping on everyone else so thoroughly was very satisfying and for a brief moment captured by passion for Ironside as a machine.
It is solely Thermidor 2's continued existence that pushes this above the Series 6 melee, for it is almost the same performance. For a while, Thermidor 2 and Chompalot wrangle together in a CPZ and I was absolutely all for it; it doesn't take a genius to see they've got no hope in hell against Pulsar or Ironside, so their best bet is to fight each other. Thermidor doesn't succumb to a single hit like in Series 6, nor does it successfully land a flip, but at least it fires its flipper (unlike TR2, amirite?) before Ironside comes in to whack them both. Insert wrong answer in game show sound effect. A strange cut sees Thermidor suddenly on the other side of the arena and essentially immobile. A sad end to a beloved robot is even further strung out with the judges slandering it (not unfairly) as having done nothing when choosing to reinstate Pulsar.
That being said, Pulsar does absolutely nothing in round 1, its mobility being the only reason I can see for it being put through over Thermidor 2, who does at least fires its flipper on Chompalot a few times. That's a discussion for another day, but imagine Beast and Thermidor 2 clashing in round 2, meaning that 3/5 of Thermidor 2's Series 7 opponents get a 1-1 combat record, or Thermidor 2 wins to give it points in a head to head stage in Series 8.
20. Thermidor 2 vs. Kronic the Wedgehog (Series 4, Heat G, Heat Final)[]
I remember this being replayed as the highlight reel, but never questioned why it was this and not a flip
It is hard to remember what my opinion was on this fight, since it was one of the heats I revisited a dozen times. Both were unseeded heat finalists, both had "one flip of doom"-ed their opponents in round 2, and both had dominated Gravedigger in Round 1. I always thought of myself as more of a Kronic supporter (being a defender of its role in round 1) but on a rewatch, I find myself more frustrated than I remember being at any Series 4 heat final.
Thermidor 2's flipper is so obviously superior to Kronic's that it pokes a hole in it so large that it almost ruins its ability to operate. Kronic is more aggressive, but its flipper is so pitiful that it breaks into pieces from the repeated exertions, and never even comes close to being able to lever Thermidor 2. In Kronic's defence, Thermidor's design (which should work very well against Kronic) never gets close to chucking it more than 20 centimetres off the ground, and we know that Thermidor can hurl Dreadnaut and Pussycat decent heights. Add the House Robots mauling the still mobile Kronic in an attempt to make the fight interesting and it makes for a fairly blah final.
19. Thermidor 2 & Cerberus vs Suicidal Tendencies & The Steel Avenger (Extreme 1, Tag Team Terror, Round 2)[]
Steel Avenger's self-pitting in a Tag Team Terror against a lower half Series 4 seed almost happened one Extreme early.
Urgh, Thermidor 2's in this?
The ill-advised Tag Team Terror of Extreme 1 is full of dreadful fights and subpar performances from well known robots like Pussycat, Bigger Brother and 101, and Thermidor 2 is no different. Showing dreadful control, Thermidor 2 keeps butting heads with its own teammate Cerberus, and only gets one good flip on Suicidal Tendencies before a very unimpressive but increasingly characteristic breakdown.
To reach for some positives, this fight edges above its Thermidor 2 performance in quality because of the surrounding factors. I really enjoy seeing Cerberus, Steel Avenger and Suicidal Tendencies all make the best of the fight, with Cerberus and The Steel Avenger having a heart-stopping moment by the pit, Cerberus doing its best to make up for its broken teammate, Suicidal Tendencies getting good claw action on Thermidor even if it couldn't on Cerberus, and Steel Avenger regularly using its rear lifter. It's a fight that would even be good if another robot was Cerberus' partner, but sadly, it was not to be.
18. Thermador v Plunderstorm (Series 3, Heat M, Round 1)[]
Move over Tough As Nails, this horizontal crusher is going to dispose of a reigning semi-finalist, not just a former one
I debated including Thermador's fights, but rewatched them for a bit of a laugh. I'm glad I did. This fight is barely an event, with Plunderstorm breaking down after two-thirds of a U-turn. I get a fair bit of satisfaction from seeing Thermador's claws actually wrap around something, and the subsequent Plunderstorm hustle in the pits makes this fight an enjoyable little blip out of Series 3.
17. Thermidor 2 & Cerberus v S.M.I.D.S.Y. & Sumpthing (Extreme 1, Tag Team Terror, Round 1)[]
Insert thrinder joke
This one is a fairly bad battle. Thermidor 2 gets two neat flips (boosting it above the below ones which feature one or less successful flips), including a great KO on Sumpthing (one of my favourites). However, it seems wasted on a robot as non-competitive as Sumpthing, who isn't exactly hard to defeat. SMIDSY's poor reliability holds it back in what should have been a good C-tier clash between Cerberus and SMIDSY.
16. Thermidor 2 vs Major Tom, Kan-Opener and ROTAS (Extreme 2, Annihilator, Round 3)[]
In my quest for images from this annihilator for this blog, this fight deserves few others
In my shortlist, I had this in the top 10. Then I rewatched it and realised that Thermidor 2's neat flips and tidy arrangement on ROTAS is completely undermined by the fact that ROTAS is barely working. Its flipper and ring spinner (which were enough to hoist Dead Metal and sprinkle bits of Major Tom on the floor) are both DOA and it only takes a few flips to remove a promising contender for the top 2.
15. Thermidor 2 vs Mighty Mouse (Series 7, Heat J, Final)[]
These are actually two different photos
This is a hard fight to rate, because it depends if you find it incredibly frustrating or incredibly funny.
For the longest time, I called this a frustrating fight unworthy of Series 7 or Thermidor 2. Mighty Mouse just runs away the entire fight and the "million marks for effort" comment from JP struck me as disrespectful of all the heat finalists who actually fought and lost judges decisions instead of running away. Thermidor 2 did actually KO Mighty Mouse in round 1, resulting in another Typhoon/Colossus moment where we could've ended up with a very different tournament based on KO order. Mobot certainly loses to Kronic, who I do think beats Thermidor on rewatch, giving us a Kronic semi-finalist.
However, the rewatch on this fight is a lot funnier than I remember, and Thermidor 2 gets a lot of good flips which Mighty Mouse (to its credit) does recover from. This rescues it from the bottom of the list where I originally had it. I had this a few spots higher until I realised that this fight ruins Thermidor 2's 100% KO ratio (and in its last ever victory too). That threw extra points in the frustration camp and demoted it into 15th place.
14. Thermidor 2 vs Kan-Opener vs. Major Tom (Extreme 2 Annihilator, Round 4)[]
This is the only photo from this fight
We're getting into good fights now, and the second of five fights to appear from the Extreme 2 Annihilator that was one of the highlights of Thermidor 2's career. The fourth round ranks the lowest for me, because it was a forgone conclusion that Major Tom (the punching bag for most of the tournament, a la Killerhurtz and Hypno-Disc from previous ones) was going out here. It was still full of holes from the last rounds and had the two strongest performers to contend with in the top two, unlike in other Annihilators where robots like Arnold, Spikasaurus and SoK had made the top two. Thermidor and Kan-Opener had such a blatant alliance against Major Tom which I give credit for the tournament in general (because it makes the final a fight between the good robots) but this fight therefore suffers as they barely touch each other. Somewhat of a shame is that they also barely tough Major Tom, with a single great flip from Thermidor and two grabs from Kan-Opener before the House Robots take over.
Don't get me wrong, it's still an entertaining fight, but it's held back by utter lack of suspense and the forgone conclusion of it all.
13. Thermidor 2 vs The Kraken (Series 7, Heat J, Round 2)[]
Three weeks later
This fight falls into the same category as Panic Attack Gold vs A-Kill. A fight that everyone seems to think is incredibly bad, but still ends in a KO that is not as memorable as the lack of finishing power prevalent through the whole fight. And that's a fair knock on it too, though Thermidor 2's inability to OOTA or Pit The Kraken has given me plenty more laughs than Panic Attack against A-Kill. Thermidor 2 is cleanly on top and executes many great attacks that would be terrific in isolation, but strung together into a chain of failed KOs (especially the pit rush where it flips it to safety instead of flipping it into the pit) make it a hilariously bad watch. But is it a bad fight? No, not really, just a little strung out.
12. Thermidor 2 vs Typhoon 2, Raging Reality, Major Tom, Kan-Opener and ROTAS (Extreme 2 Annihilator, Round 1)[]
Incredibly, this photo was not on the Wiki before today
A cracker of an opening round in the Extreme 2 goes in our "unlucky for some" slot. And unlucky it is for Typhoon 2, the future champion who have a well known snafu against a combination of Kan-Opener's claw and Raging Reality's flipper. Thermidor 2 has a great flipper clash against Raging Reality at the start, in a flashy flip and self-right that sets up expectations that these two flippers could contend for the trophy. Once Typhoon 2 is out, however, there's a sense of holding back for the rest of the competitors - ROTAS keeps out of the way, Major Tom skulks in the background and a few flips are made on the invertible Kan-Opener for a laugh, but everyone knows the outcome is set and waits for the next round. And so will I.
11. Thermidor 2 vs Dreadnaut XP-1 (Series 4, Heat G, Round 2)[]
You know that shot of Dreadnaut being flipped right up against the camera? I like that one
It's pretty funny to look back on this fight as a plucky up and comer vs an established veteran and "favourite". Dreadnaut is so inferior to Thermidor 2 in weapon, armour, even in wheels, which is apparent the second Thermidor 2 hurls Dreadnaut on its back.
Thermidor 2's flip on Dreadnaut XP-1 is likely the best we got from them in Series 4, and is darn nice to watch on replay. It's nice to imagine it could've sent Dreadnaut OOTA, but I doubt that was on the cards. A snappy KO to announce Thermidor 2 as the new heat favourite makes up for the very brief encounter.
10. Thermidor 2 vs Chaos 2, Bigger Brother, Wheely Big Cheese (Extreme 1, Flipper Frenzy)[]
Pictured: Thermidor 2 wins the Flipper Frenzy
Bares teeth with apprehension
Surprised to see this barely scrape the top 10, I'll bet. So am I.
Revisiting this battle was the one that I dreaded, for much like the Series 7 All-Stars melee, this fight is almost impossible to rate. Unlike true House Robot Rebellions, this one still has to have a winner, which ends up being Thermidor 2 by means of survival, and claims its biggest KO victories of its career. Shame its purely by accident.
The idea of George Francis, Ian Watts, Roger Plant and the Thermidor boys all converging on Bash and Matilda (two of the most vulnerable house robots) sounds like a hell of a lot of fun on paper.
Wheely Big Cheese's complete failure to even breach Matilda's ground clearance was the first sign that this battle was not going to be as fun as it first looked. Chaos 2 manages to shoulder the giant's burden and (along with Bigger Brother) launches some amazing flips on Sergeant Bash. The second sign was Bigger Brother's uncharacteristic breakdown.
The robot conspicuously absent from the shenanigans is Thermidor 2. The very design that makes it so fun also prevents it being as bold with the attacks on the House Robots. It is a performance more reminiscent of Stinger's winning the House Robot Rebellion, than Behemoth and Gravity winning their House Robot Rebellion. In Thermidor 2's most successful series, to see it win a battle by default like this really feels like a letdown, and there's a lot less House Robot attacks than I remembered.
9. Thermidor 2 vs ROTAS, Major Tom, Kan-Opener, Raging Reality (Extreme 2, Annihilator, Round 2)[]
Also not on the Wiki before today, the fairly clear evidence that Raging UNReality's problems started with this self-right
Also not evident
A much more decisive performance from Thermidor 2 here, flipping Major Tom, slipping out of Kan-Opener's jaws and even swiping a chunk out of Major Tom's bumper with a ram. ROTAS is looking at its most deadly in this fight, and gets a solid knock on Major Tom just as Thermidor 2 avenges its previous round's flip at the hands of Raging Reality.
Recovering from Thermidor 2's flip seems to take Raging Reality's weapon out of commission, and it eventually breaks down off screen. Raging Reality being less than impactful after getting the KO flip on Typhoon 2 the previous round really does hold this fight back, because Raging Reality is a real favourite of mine; and that's coming from someone who lists its immediate predecessor in his bottom 10 machines of all time. Imagine not living up to Spirit of Knightmare!
As a Thermidor 2 performance, it's pretty good. You have great attacks on Major Tom and Raging Reality, it tanks hits from ROTAS that pose a good threat to kill it (it did die against Stinger after all). ROTAS shines in its lift on Dead Metal, and Kan-Opener shines in a last second pitting on ROTAS that doesn't count (mercifully, for it would be a shame for this battle to go on ROTAS's record as a loss).
8. Thermador vs Scutter's Revenge (Series 3, Heat M, Round 2)[]
Insert Oluremi Idris fist pumping
This wouldn't be a TG blog without some love for Scutter's Revenge. Though I love the Zeus fight, this performance is probably the better one. I love watching Thermador's claws grapple for purchase on Scutter's Revenge's smooth bulk, and the way they dance around each other inexorably before Scutter's Revenge gets its inevitable pitting. A clean, lovely KO that is shot iconically, I love that one little image of Thermador sinking just a little bit below the pit surface after its already gone down. Lovely stuff.
7. Thermidor 2 vs Napalm (Extreme 1, Vengeance)[]
This fight is the Robot Wars version of Meet the Parents
Thermidor 2's OOTAs are always among my favourite OOTAs, and the other fights featuring OOTAs are yet to score, all but guaranteeing them a top 5 place. The Napalm fight, on the other hand, falls outside the top 5, and it is for reasons that have been debated at length on the Robot Wars History Podcast. Here's the short version.
Robot Wars reboot was very woke with the need for female engineers. There were some hilarious missteps, such as picking teams with token females whose nuts and bolts jobs involved "baking" or "moral support", but none so bad as the original faux paux in Extreme 1.
This isn't the first time Napalm has been subjected to a grossly demeaning moment by the show (see Rob Knight being forced on camera to "kiss and make up" with a sixteen year old girl in the Series 2 Grudge Match). This one isn't super demeaning and is rather hilarious because of the disparity between Napalm (defender of women) and Thermidor (the alleged sexist), and because by now, unlike Series 2, Napalm's team is in on almost all of the jokes.
Anyway, the gist of the fight is that the show needed another excuse for a vengeance battle to take place, and presumably because Mortis wasn't around any more, Thermidor 2 got the call up to make the fake sexist claim that would be the grounds for a challenge. Sounds fun, right? The most prominent female roboteering team standing up for women in robot combat? Unfortunately, the show displayed the same sort of judgement that brought us the Extreme Warriors War of Independence and World Series, Episode 2, and kinda of forgot that Napalm's only hope of winning battles this late in its career was for robots forgetting to be turned on, or literally immobilising themselves. Putting it against Thermidor 2, who is having an absolute barnstorm of an Extreme 1, is hilarious, and results in an enjoyable battle and beautiful OOTA. Shame it completely missed the point.
As a battle, this is a lot of fun, and if this had been in the second round of Series 5 (where Napalm lost to Wild Thing) it would certainly be top 5. However, you can't put a story on Robot Wars about women standing up for themselves only to have them completely humiliated in that battle. What's the moral there? Well, I guess Thermidor 2 was right, women don't belong in the robot wars arena...?
6. Thermidor 2 vs Kronic the Wedgehog vs Gravedigger (Series 4, Heat G, Round 1)[]
An absolutely underrated gem
Unlike the heat final, this fight has taken a real boosting in my rankings, and most of that goes down to Gravedigger. It's very easy to pass Gravedigger off as one of those Series 3 semi-finalists who couldn't cut the mustard in Series 4, like Evil Weevil or the half-dozen who failed to show up, but rewatching its performance here really shows that it was giving it its all, and its elimination is chalked up to a combination of bad luck and that broken weapon.
Compare this battle to TR2 and UFO's first round melees in Series 8 and 7 respectively. The only difference there is that the weaponless wedges actually progressed. Had Gravedigger gone on to win this and repair its arm in Round 2, I think we would think of it far more positively.
The fight itself is surprisingly delightful. Gravedigger has the strongest wedge but is hamstrung by the weapon, while Kronic and Thermidor are both more fragile but have weapons. None of them have knockout weapons, so its a very aggression based fight that sees most of the machines in danger at some point. There are multiple moments where Gravedigger's working weapon could have ended the fight, keeping the tension alive on first viewing and making you wonder what might have been on a second viewing.
The juiciest bit of the fight is when Kronic pushes Thermidor 2 into the wall and dislocates its claw (a visually appealing bit of damage in itself). Gravedigger comes in to really sink the boot in, but that's when Kronic strikes, lifting Gravedigger onto the arena wall in a really impressive bit of timing that wouldn't work with many other flippers. Thermidor (who by my eye is able to get closer to the arena wall by virtue of its own dislocated claw) then comes in and turns Gravedigger onto its side for a much more satisfying KO victory.
You have to give Gravedigger credit for the way they attempted to jump back into the fight as soon as the House Robots gave them a chance. That admiration, and the genuine closeness of the clash, is enough to propel this just outside the top 5.
5. Thermidor 2 vs. Mobot vs 8645T 2 vs. Mighty Mouse (Series 7, Heat J, Round 1)[]
There's just something so satisfying about watching the original 8645T machines get KO'd
Goodbye, you're not invited to Series 8, Heat E
Seriously, if told me to guess which melee from Series 7 had 3/4 teams appear in the same reboot episode, 7J's is not the one I'd guess
Heat J was a very ugly blight on Series 7. It featured almost no big names, several of the most infamous fights of the series (both heat semi-finals) and featured the likes of Cobra, Pinser, Mighty Mouse and The Kraken, all at their least competitive. The planned Kronic v Thermidor grudge match (which had the potential to be Raging Knightmare/Spawn Again levels of satisfying) completely fizzled, and the heat winner went on to be the least competitive in the semi-finals.
There are two glimmers of joy in this heat. The first is that Thermidor 2 actually went on to make a second semi-final appearance, putting it ahead of Mortis, 101, King Buxton, Bulldog Breed and 13 Black, and tied with S3, X-Terminator, Bigger Brother and Razer. This after two bomb performances in the main competition makes the campaign more enjoyable.
The second glimmer of joy is this melee. It'd be easy to chalk this up as "Thermidor 2 gets a neat OOTA", but there's a lot more to it than that. It completely dominates 8645T 2, with flips that seemed underpowered but are enough to take Beast (I can't keep writing 8645T) out of commission. Seeing Beast hurl around the arena with that ridiculously oversized axe/flipper, and then engulf in CO2 fumes as it tries to self-right is genuinely funny. The OOTA then strikes you completely unaware, the most random OOTA since General Carnage 2. Thermidor 2 hasn't achieved an OOTA since Extreme 1 (in fact, it's not even won a non-Annihilator battle since then), so to see Mobot tumble over the arena wall the same way that Behemoth did (and we all know that's one of the most aesthetic OOTAs) feels like a blast from the past in all the best ways. Thermidor 2 then completes the curb stomp by immobilising Mighty Mouse (which it failed to do later in the episode) by flipping the slippery machine against the arena wall to negate its rollover. Thermidor 2 becomes the most surprising "sweep the arena clean" robot since Kronic 2 in Series 6. Beast then recovers and is taken out of commission by the arena floor flipper. Lovely stuff.
4. Thermidor 2 vs Prizephita Mach 2 (Series 5, Heat E, Round 1)[]
I love it
I love it
I feel like Bash existed post Series 4 primarily to attack Thermidor 2
Not quite Thermidor 2's last loss to make the list, but certainly the one that, even in hindsight, you would call an upset. Thermidor 2 had to be the hot favourite for this fight, and I would even say that it had a chance of being the Stinger or X-Terminator 2 of the series (i.e. the lower seed who had a great chance of winning the heat). It was coming off an insanely strong performance in Extreme 1, where it had stomped Behemoth, Stinger, SMIDSY and (technically) Chaos 2, as well as a Series 4 heat win and a great performance in the semi-final. Prizephita meanwhile had achieved a grand total of zero wins, defeated under some controversy in Series 4 and outclassed in Series 3. Thermidor 2 has sloped its claws and Prizephita has upgraded its flipper, but its flipper was so puny in Series 4 that it couldn't possibly not upgrade it.
The battle starts with Thermidor 2 on the offensive. Prizephita shrugs off its attacks and comes back nicely, but nothing causes a heap of concern because Thermidor 2 self-rights fairly reliably. Then suddenly Prizephita is 2 flips to Thermidor's 1. Then suddenly Thermidor 2 is constantly failing to breach ground clearance. Then its 3 flips to 1. Then Thermidor 2 is unable to self-right.
The best underdog triumphs are the one where the favourite works right up until it doesn't. Bulldog Breed 2's defeat of Bigger Brother isn't nearly as satisfying because Bigger Brother just fails to self-right, and that's it. Thermidor 2 can't self-right, but its wheels are still on the ground, and so it accelerates into a flip to give it the momentum to get back over. It does this a few times and is hilarious to watch. Each time it gets back in, Prizephita puts it back out, and we get treated to more of the same. Even Thermidor 2's flagging power is enjoyable because you're just hoping that it has enough to get over one more time. Eventually, Thermidor does self-right, and kills itself in the process. Even the fact that it takes itself out is helped by the fact that the very visible wire waggles in the air.
3. Thermidor 2 vs Kan-Opener (Extreme 2, Annihilator, Final)[]
What you remember the fight for
What is more prevalent throughout
My girlfriend recently told me that she hated using the word "entered"
Part of me wants to say that Thermidor 2 and Kan-Opener was the first time the two favourites made the final, but that doesn't feel right (surely Kan-Opener wasn't the favourite, even if it was dominant). Perhaps its the first time that the two strongest machines were the two left standing? That doesn't feel right either. Whatever your take, Thermidor 2 and Kan-Opener both went into the Grand Final feeling strong. Neither had much main competition success, but both had done well.
This fight is famous for being the longest battle to end in a KO, with Kan-Opener pitting Thermidor 2 with seconds left on the clock. For a long time, I thought that made it a classic battle. Rewatching it for this list, I dropped it down to third place because it's not really a level performance. Thermidor 2 never gets a meaningful flip on Kan-Opener, and Kan-Opener's claws are so wide and so sharp that Thermidor 2 being punctured really feels inevitable.
That is just to drop it from a top 2 to top 3 - there's still plenty to enjoy, and I don't mean to sound negative! There's some absolutely lovely damage on Thermidor 2, puncturing the shell with Razer levels of beauty. There's enough tension to give you hope in a Thermidor 2 win, with Kan-Opener getting stuck under House Robots for a good portion of fight. And then there's the peeled flipper and the iconic pitting. But I find this battle very striking in that the JP commentary dictates our view. Do we think its close because it is close, or because JP is saying it is close? If JP had said that Kan-Opener seemed to be doing all the work, we'd probably accept that without question.
2. Thermidor 2 vs Pussycat (Series 4, Semi-Final 1, Round 1)[]
Staggeringly, the most threatened Pussycat was between Robochicken and Chaos 2
Visceral damage
For a long time, had you asked me about the main selling points of Series 4, Semi-Final A, I would have said the Chaos 2 OOTA on Tornado and the Pussycat disrobing of Dominator. I remembered Tornado/WBC and Pussycat/Thermidor being fairly one-sided and predictable fights. Then in the last 3 years or so, I really got to appreciate just how wonderful Series 4, SF1 really was. The fact that Dominator 2 v Pussycat is probably the biggest disparity in combat (even Steg 2 got a flip on Chaos 2) says volumes.
Thermidor 2 gives Pussycat an absolutely terrific fight, and I would go so far as to say it is the most danger Pussycat is in before the title fight - which says a lot when it beat Razer and Hypno-Disc! Despite having a big, eatable body full of places for David Gribble to sink his claws into, Thermidor 2 starts the fight on the offensive, chucking Pussycat around the arena and not even letting it get its opponent get an attack in. Thermidor 2 has always struggled to breach ground clearance, but Pussycat has tonnes of ground clearance, and the back and forth flip-and-recover is delightful. Thermidor 2 gets some great heights on Pussycat, and then the battle takes a turn. Pussycat sinks its blade in for some very visually appealing damage that doesn't take Thermidor 2 out of the running. Thermidor survives to the end (such an uncharacteristic trait for a robot who would go down to a Stinger bump). The only negative that can possibly be said for this fight is that its a definite first/second half, with Thermidor 2 not getting an attack in in the second half, but that's a small grip at that.
1. Thermidor 2 vs Behemoth vs Stinger (Extreme 1, Mayhem)[]
Classy, graceful, smooth
Sassy, bougie, ratchet
There's no pretending this was never going to be number one. Thermidor 2's OOTA on Behemoth might be the best one in the entire show, combining motion with unexpectedness. This is a robot that just went toe to toe with Razer, Tornado and Pussycat, and Thermidor 2 just makes it into its toy. Behemoth would undoubtedly beat Thermidor 2 in a clash, but it makes a mistake and Thermidor 2 punishes it for it in the best way possible.
The fight with Stinger does drag out a bit, but it is helped by two things. 1, had the fight ended straight away, this fight might be remembered along the lines of Dantomkia vs IG-88, a great moment but not a great fight. 2, the extra conflict sets up for a longer battle, which then subverts by Thermidor 2 scoring yet another OOTA.
OOTAs were so rare at this point, with only Chaos 2, Gemini and Behemoth having pulled it off, and Gemini would never do it again, so for Thermidor 2 to do 2 in a single battle was phenomenal. The quality of machines it beat too was amazing - only Chaos 2 and Dantomkia and Firestorm would be able to claim the level of quality opponent it chucked out of the arena before the classic series ended. It would take until Extreme 2 for another robot to OOTA two robots in a single fight, and it remains a very rare achievement that is without a doubt the finest moment in the career of this particular lobster.