Robot Wars (TV series)/Characters

Sir Killalot

 * The Big Bad: Until Mr. Psycho's arrival.
 * Blood Knight: Take a look at him, he's like some cybernetically revived evil knight.
 * Crush! Kill! Destroy!: Ironic, considering his claw was fashioned from the "Jaws of Life", used to cut people free from wreckages.
 * Humiliation Conga: Both the giver and taker of this trope, shared with the other House Robots.
 * Jousting Lance: Used to pick up robots and drop them in the Pit.
 * The Juggernaut
 * Knight in Shining Armour: With glowing red eyes and a crushing claw.
 * Mighty Glacier: Was until The Sixth Wars the heaviest House Robot, clocking in at 520 Kilos. He was also very slow too, at just 5mph.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast
 * Red Baron: The Undisputed Titan of Mechanizaed Warfare.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning
 * Shout-Out: To Sir Lancelot of the King Arthur legends.
 * Tin Tyrant
 * Took a Level in Badass: When Sir Killalot was brought back in 2016 for the reboot, he was more heavily armoured, weighed 230kg more than he did a decade ago, and his top speed was doubled. He has the weight of Mr. Psycho, with the speed of Tornado.

Dead Metal

 * Awesome but Impractical: The saw was originally on a ferocious-looking swinging arm, but didn't actually work. In series 3 it was revamped so it did work, and the saw mechanism was now far more compact.
 * Frankenstein's Monster: Chris Reynolds, who built the original House Robots, suggested Dead Metal was created when a bunch of junk parts came to life and fused together.
 * Sword Sparks: Saw sparks, more accurately
 * Scary Scorpions
 * Took a Level in Badass: Dead Metal is now 3 times heavier than in the original series (112kg to 343kg), slightly faster (12mph to 13 mph), and has both a bigger reach (1.4 meter wide claws) and a nastier sting (3,000rpm saw to a 4,000rpm magnesium tipped saw).

Shunt

 * An Axe to Grind
 * The Brute
 * Construction Is Awesome: he is based on a bulldozer, after all.
 * Lightning Bruiser: At first. When the weight limit was increased to 100kg, Shunt lost a lot of his pushing power. They fixed this by amping the power of his axe Up to Eleven. He still had a great deal of power for his size, despite being the smallest house robot. Even after he was rebuild for the revival in 2016, he remained the lightest of the House Robots weighing in at a still burly 327kg. He also reaches speeds of 11mph, which is roughly the same top speed as Terrorhurtz.
 * Ramming Always Works
 * Ship Tease: Jonathan Pearce implied that Shunt and Matilda might of been intimate.

Matilda

 * Chainsaw Good: In the first 2 wars, that is. Afterwards, with more robots gaining thicker armour, Matilda's chainsaw became useless. It was replaced in series 5 with a 27kg Flywheel. It was much more destructive.
 * The Chew Toy: Matilda was the first house robot to be flipped (by Recyclops in Series 1), may have been flipped or otherwise attacked by competitors more than any other house robot, and on one spectacular occasion, literally ended up as a chew toy for Razer.
 * The Dark Chick
 * Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: Matilda seems to be a cross between a triceratops and a hippo or rhino.
 * Lightning Bruiser: As of 2016, she weighs a hefty 350kg and can hit 14mph top speed, making her the fastest House Robot still in service.
 * Red Baron: The Matriarch of Mayhem.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: Her LED eyes now have a sinister red glow to them.
 * Took a Level in Badass / Everything's Better with Spinning: The aforementioned flywheel.
 * Even more so in 2016, Matilda can now reach 14mph top speeds, is 3 times heavier at 350kg, while her flywheel bottom weighs 35kg and is made from HARDOX, and her tusks (now the whole head) operate with 800psi of lift.

Sgt. Bash

 * Drill Sergeant Nasty
 * Kill It with Fire
 * Military Mashup Machine

Mr. Psycho

 * Drop the Hammer: Had possibly the biggest one in robot combat.
 * Expy: Meant to be an Expy of Bill Sykes from Oliver Twist.
 * Mighty Glacier: Was more than 200 Kilograms heavier than Killalot. Peculiarly, Psycho was actually faster, but not by much at just 7mph.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: with a name like this, what more do you expect?
 * Off with His Head: In one series 7 battle, Psycho goes into combat with his fibreglass head obviously not attached properly (it is visibly wobbling). Eventually it falls off, and Hilarity Ensues.

Growler

 * Angry Guard Dog
 * Canine Companion: To Mr. Psycho
 * Expy: Of Bill Sykes' dog Bullseye.
 * Lightning Bruiser: one of the heaviest and fastest house robots.

Cassius Chrome

 * Drunken Boxing: His movements and rapid punches make it look like he is trying out this trope.
 * Good Old Fisticuffs

Refbot

 * Combat Referee
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin

Roadblock (Entered with Beast of Bodmin in Series 3)
(Series 1 Champion, Series 2 3rd Place; Series 3 Semi-Finalist with Beast of Bodmin)

Win Record: 7 victories (plus 4 w/ Beast of Bodmin), 1 defeat (plus 1, also w/ Beast of Bodmin)


 * Determinator: Effortlessly cleared the gauntlet, defeated a house robot (albeit in a suicide attempt), and easily won both it's battles to reach the grand final. Upon getting there, it purged the arena, defeating all but 2 of the 5 opponents (who immobilised each other). All this while being a simple wedge with a top speed of 5 miles per hour.
 * Mighty Glacier: A simple but effective design, had the ability to turn opponents over, very slow though at 5mph though.
 * Ramming Always Works: Won it's battles through pushing power and tipping over others with it's wedge, and was still a force to be reckoned with in the Third Wars, where it reached the second round of the semi finals (round 5 out of 7).
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The team actually entered series 3 with "The Beast of Bodmin", which was identical except for the paintjob, moving eyes and the addition of a flipping tusk.
 * Weak but Skilled: Not exactly weak, per se, but had inferior weaponry to a lot of other robots in series 3 (as Beast Of Bodmin) and still mopped the floor with them.

Panic Attack
(Series 2 Champion, Series 3, 4, 5 Semi-Finalist)

Win Record: 29 victories, 12 defeats


 * Ace Pilot: Kim Davies was widely renowned for his careful and precise driving skill. His robot was never the strongest, but his driving ability more than made up for it.
 * Animal Motif: Spiders. The motif was inspired by a Year 7 student who named one thing they were afraid of, and thus the name and motif stuck.
 * Badass Decay: Panic Attack suffered diminished returns with every war it entered. It never made another Grand Final after it won the title, and failed to make the semis by Series 6. By the time it entered its last war, it went out to Dutch entrant Tough As Nails in Round 2 of its heat.
 * Boring but Practical: In series 2, it was a box with ineffective lifting forks. It curbstomped most of it's foes through pushing power and Kim Davies's driving skill.
 * Dark Horse Victory: In series 2, it was expected for Cassius to fight Mortis in the grand final in a rematch from series 1 (which Recyclopse, Cassius's predecessor had won). Panic Attack beat both of them (Mortis in the semis's, Cassius in the grand final).
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Series 7, the team took the self-righting mechanism off and replaced it with an axe resistant panel. Ironically, Panic Attack managed to beat the one axe wielding robot it faced (Edge Hog), and was flipped over in its final televised battle.
 * The Rival: To Shunt. The two would butt heads frequently, starting in Series 2 when Shunt put some nasty looking holes in Panic Attack's top armour. The team held a grudge against House Robot since then...
 * Also, to Firestorm. Dating back to the Series 3 Semifinal, where Panic Attack lost their crown to Firestorm just before the Grand Final. Since then, the two teams fought each other 4 more times, with Firestorm winning 3, and Panic Attack progressing beyond their final encounter without them, leaving the final standing at 4-1 in Firestorm's favour.
 * Weak but Skilled: See Boring But Practical.

Chaos 2 (Previously entered Robot the Bruce in Series 1, and Chaos in Series 2)
(Grand Finalist in Series 1 with Robot the Bruce, Series 3/4 Champion & Series 5 Semi-Finalist with Chaos 2)

Win Record: 24 victories (plus 2 w/ Robot the Bruce, and 1 w/ Chaos), 9 defeats (plus 1 each w/ both Robot the Bruce and Chaos)


 * The Ace: Defeated nearly every opponent it faced in series 3 and 4 almost effortlessly, and again for much of Series 5, before falling to Bigger Brother.
 * Awesome but Practical: Could throw 250 kilos with it's flipper, was the only robot in the shows run to retain the title, and innovated the "Out Of The Arena" flip.
 * Badass Decay: Because the robot remained the same throughout the year, Chaos 2 became obsolete by the time Extreme II rolled around, as robots became more and more durable. By Series 6, Chaos 2 was only able to dispatch the easiest of opponents. Its design was no longer effective defensively, and was easily beaten by flippers who conserved their energy better.
 * Book Ends: Chaos 2's first and last appearances on Robot Wars were against a robot with a crushing weapon. Incidentally, this applies to its first and final defeats, both of which involved Razer.
 * Can't Catch Up: Because George Francis was self-employed at the time, he didn't have the time or money to make the necessary upgrades to Chaos 2; as a result, the robot started to become obsolete, and had a much more difficult time dealing with lesser opposition, while everyone else was taking advantage of the new technology and rule changes.
 * Epic Fail: That one time when Chaos 2 dived into the pit while trying to pit the Italian bot, Mastiff.
 * Humble Hero: George Francis never overestimated his chances of winning, and never brags about the power of his robots. If there's ever a robot he's afraid of, he'll come right out and say it (especially if the robot has an axe).
 * Incendiary Exponent: Not Robot the Bruce or the Chaos machines, but rather the sacrificial Ramrombit that George Francis entered into the one-off battle with Sgt. Bash and the similarly flammable Nemesis.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: Chaos 2's last appearance in the main competition saw it fall victim to its own party trick, as it was ejected from the arena by newcomer Dantomkia.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Zipped around at 20mph and threw robots straight over the wall.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Do we really need to say anything more?
 * Shout Out: The team's first machine was a clear nod to Robert the Bruce.

Razer
(Series 5 Champion, Series 6 Runner-Up, 2 time World Champion, 2 time All Star Champion, Pinball Warrior Champion, Annihilator Champion, International League Champion, 2 time Best Design Winner)

Win Record: 40 victories, 6 defeats


 * Awesome but Practical: Razer was incredibly easy on the eyes, and crushed a lot of it's foes with 9 tonnes of crushing power, winning pretty much every title it was eligible for.
 * Crack Defeat: Has lost a fair few battles to far weaker robots, usually a result of a mechanical malfunction of some kind. Notable examples being Inquisitor in series 2, and, perhaps more infamously, Aggrobot in Series 3.
 * Dark Horse Victory: Sort of. In Series 2 through 4, it was a popular competitor and had won many side competitions, but was prey to mechanical issues and had never got beyond the heat final. It was expected to repeat this pattern in Series 5, but it went on to destroy all foes easily and become the champion.
 * Every Year They Fizzle Out: Highly fancied, and expected to do well, only to be plagued by mechanical faults that snuff their chances in the early stages of the competition. Finally averted starting with Series 5 were the reliability issues were resolved.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: Lost in Series 3 to the laughable Aggrobot, as its self-righting mechanism accidentally activated whilst it was on its wheels and got jammed, leaving all four wheels off the arena floor.
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Meaningful Name: Jonathan Pearce thought Razer was named after then West Ham footballer Neil "Razor" Ruddock. The spelling should've tipped him off that this was not the case. Razer's name is simply an extension of the word Raze.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: And Raze it did.
 * The Rival: To Pussycat; aka, the one robot that Razer has ever faced that beat it by straight knock out, doing so twice.
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Ian Lewis infamously abandoned the post match interview after the team's brutal thrashing at the hands of Pussycat, and proceeded to go on a massive rant post credits, attacking the Pussycat team for breaking a "Gentleman's Agreement" and continuing to cause damage after Razer was out of control. Granted, it was a little unfair to continue attacking a rogue robot, but in Pussycat's defense, Razer was technically still mobile and they didn't want to take any chances. This scathing rant against Pussycat and its team was widely criticised by fans of the show and fellow roboteers alike, with some calling it the biggest acts for poor sportsmanship in the show's history.
 * Shocking Elimination: When it came back for the 2016 revival, its legacy was not lost on anyone, and smart money was on them to do well. Razer fell in the first round of the competition when it was pulled into the pit by, who else, Team Cold Fusion's newest machine, Kill-E-Crank-E.

Tornado
(Series 4 Semi-Finalist, Series 6 Champion, Series 7 Third Place, 2 time Challenge Belt Champion, European Champion)

Win Record: 32 victories, 9 defeats


 * Boring but Practical: YMMV, but many people feel this way, as it generally won by ramming others into submission.
 * Crack Defeat: Was greatly outshoved by resident Joke Character, Díotíor in Round 2 of Series 5, eventually pushed into the pit, and knocked out of the competition early on.
 * Dark Horse Victory: In Series 6. To much controversy.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Played with; aside from its pushing power, Tornado also has a small 15kg drum it can use. It also had a vertical bar spinner fashioned from the one used in the Series 6 Grand Final and European Championship it could use in Series 7, but wasn't used as the team felt to was too risky (most of Tornado's opponents in Series 7 had some capacity to flip it over; attaching the vertical bar spinner would've rendered Tornado inoperable upside down.
 * Jack of All Stats (Not Lightning Bruiser. At 10 MPH its speed is around average, but it is notable for having interchangable weapons.)
 * Ramming Always Works: Although many people consider Tornado boring for this reason, it was an undeniably effective attack strategy. It took Chaos 2 to stop Tornado in Series 4 (although Tornado would later defeat Chaos 2 twice), and Razer in the 2nd World Championship. It lost out in Series 7 to a superior rammer, Storm 2.

Typhoon 2
(Series 7 Champion)

Win Record: 7 victories, 1 defeat (plus 1 withdrawal)


 * Everything's Better with Spinning: A very destructive full body spinner.
 * Executive Meddling: How it won the title, as the executives hated runner up Storm 2 (A hard hitting, high impact rambot). Why? They thought Storm 2 was boring. Nearly everyone except the Typhoon team themselves (and the rest of their Air Cadets detachment) consider Storm 2 to be the true champion of series 7, and the crowd (except the Air Cadets) was so unhappy that Storm 2 lost that they unanimously booed the house down, causing the executives to edit in cheers.

Apollo
(Series 8 champion, Wildcard Recipient in Series 9, 2nd in Series 10's 10 Robot Rumble)

Win Record: 13 victories, 7 defeats


 * Determinator: The second time it faced Carbide in Series 8, Apollo dug in deep to withstand everything Carbide threw at it, with the bar spinner eventually grinding to a halt. Even after its own weapon was damaged, Apollo kept flipping and pushing Carbide around the arena and into House Robots until the time elapsed. The aggression and control were more than enough to crown Apollo the first Robot Wars champions since 2004.
 * Defeating the Undefeatable: Managed to defeat previous runner-up Storm II, doing so twice, and the only robot to straight up knock it out.
 * It also took on 3 of the 4 House Robots, and beat them all! Apollo also came very close to tipping Sir Killalot over.
 * Large Ham: Dave Young, the captain and driver of Apollo, is always full of energy whenever he enters the arena. Toned down a little in Series 10 when his brother Alan joined him.
 * Meaningful Name: Named after the space shuttle of the same name, and the team refer to the flipper as a "launcher" to tie in the theme of the famous space shuttle.
 * Older Than You Think: Apollo's origins can be traced backed another robot, Kronic the Wedgehog. After Robot Wars went off the air, Kronic was sold off to Team MAD, and optimised into a large wedge with flipper running the full length of the robot. The paint scheme was changed to white with black markings, giving us what we see today.
 * One-Hit Wonder: Series 8 was Apollo's only impressive performance, after which it could not replicate the success. It is the only former champion to not win a heat final after winning the title.
 * Ring Out: Delivered one of these to a handful of opponents, namely Storm II, Coyote, Sabre Tooth, and one quarter of The Swarm. In regards to that last one, Apollo managed to toss it clean over the perspex screens.
 * The Rival: To Carbide. They've fought each other 4 times, with Carbide leading 3-1.
 * Too Fast to Stop: After a right old back and forth with veterans Behemoth in the series 10 Heat A Final, Apollo attempted to run up for another attack, only for the latter to kick its rear end up, and with very little traction, scuttled into the open pit.

Carbide
(Series 9 Champion, Runner-Up in Series 8 & 10)

Win Record: 22 victories, 5 defeats


 * The Ace: The only robot after Hypno-Disc to reach three consecutive grand finals, and it finished as at least runner-up in all of them (and became the champion in Series 9).
 * Achille's Heel: Carbide's biggest flaw is reliability; if its opponent can weather the blows this robot delivers, Carbide will either break down, or lose its weapon. This contributed to its 3 losses in Series 8; against Terrorhurtz, Carbide lost drive, and against TR2 and Apollo, both shrugged off hits until the blade stopped working. In Series 9, these issues were ironed out, allowing it to smash everything in its path, and claim the title.
 * In Series 10 however, not only did the reliability issues creep back in, but another weakness emerged: the drive chain powering Carbide's weapon is vulnerable to precise attacks from long reaching weapons. As Nuts 2 demonstrated, striking the drive chain will disable Carbide's one method of attacking.
 * And Now for Something Completely Different: Sam Smith is no stranger to Robot Wars; he previously entered the original series with the Tiberius series of robots, which bare no resemblance to Carbide whatsoever.
 * Crippling Overspecialization: Carbide's main source of damage and attack power is in the 2,500rpm bar spinner at the front. If that gets disabled for whatever reason, then Carbide will have no other means of doing serious damage, and it doesn't exactly have great pushing power, so that won't work either. 3 of its 5 losses are a result of its weapon being disabled.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Dealt one these to almost every single opponent it faced; it was actually on the receiving end of one in its second battle, where Terrorhurtz manhandled it like it was nobody's business. It was Carbide's only defeat by knockout.
 * The Dreaded: Almost everyone is afraid to face this beast of a machine, especially after its flawless climb on the top in Series 9.
 * Flawless Victory: Carbide won every single fight it entered in Series 9 by straight-up knockout. It became the first robot since Chaos 2 way back in the 3rd Wars to win the championship without requiring a judges' decision, and the third overall to do so, after Panic Attack and Chaos 2. Carbide also carries the unbeatable record of 10 victories in a single championship.
 * Four is Death: Managed to cleanly defeat Eruption on three consecutive attempts; Carbide couldn't beat them a fourth time though.
 * The Hell is that Noise?: The infamous "Death Hum" of the 2,500rpm bar spinner. When you heard that sound, prepare for a world of hurt!
 * Punched Across the Room: Dealt a massive one to half of Crackers 'N' Smash, when Carbide hit it hard enough to smash a panel off the wall on the opposite side of the arena!

Firestorm (Entered Groundhog in Series 2)
(Grand Finalist Series 3, 5 and 6, Semi-Finalist Series 4 and 7; Seeded 5th in Series 4, 7th Series 5, 3rd in Series 6, 2nd in Series 7)

Win Record: 34 victories, 11 defeats (plus 1 defeat as Groundhog)


 * Ace Pilot: The robot's driver, Graham Bone was a superb driver, and just like Panic Attack, what Firestorm lacked in destructive weaponry, it made up for with excellent driving and control...most of the time, anyway.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Dished them out on several occasions, but wasn't immune to them either. Was greatly outclassed by Chaos 2 in series 3, resulting in the first "Out Of The Arena" flip. Was also beaten with ease by Razer on 2 occasions, though it took it to a real nail biter in their final fight.
 * Determinator: Despite having its weapon disabled by Razer in the Series 5 Grand Final, Firestorm fought back by driving it across the arena into hazards, the House Robots, and nearly into the pit (twice!). Though it still lost that fight, it came down to an extremely close judge's decision.
 * Epic Fail: Firestorm's dismal run in the Sumo Basho event in Series 4 definitely qualifies. Shoved off the platform almost immediately by Shunt, it posted the second worst time of the 16 competitors, at 4.21 seconds (only a quarter of a second longer than Díotíor's 3.95 seconds).
 * Irony: It was the first ever victim of the "Ring Out" technique, that Chaos 2 started, yet it later broke Chaos 2's record for most Ring Out kills.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Incredibly fast, but was able to survive being perforated by Razer and defeated Hypno-Disc while its flipper wasn't working.
 * Numbered Sequels: From Firestorm all the way up to Firestorm V.
 * One-Hit Kill: Dished out one, but wasn't immune to it; the first time it fought Hypno-Disc, it was killed by the first hit, and did the same thing itself to Crasher Gnasher in its very first battle.
 * Ring Out: The first victim of this, but has dished out several of its own. It remains the only robot armed with a front-hinged flipper to achieve one of these, let alone seven.

Storm 2
(Runner Up Series 7, 3rd World Champion, New Blood Champion, Heat Finalist in 2016; Seeded 16th in Series 7)

Win Record: 17 victories/ 3 defeats


 * Crowning Moment of Awesome: In the Series 7 Heat Final, Storm II managed to launch Steel Avenger out of the arena by brute force alone without even firing its weapon!
 * Executive Meddling: Why it didn't win the title. See the Storm 2/Controversy article to see why. The higher ups hated Storm 2.
 * Lightning Bruiser: As mentioned, threw Steel Avenger out of the arena without using its weapon, curbstomped the previous champion, and fought Typhoon 2 (which had demolished most of its previous opponents) while taking only superficial damage.
 * Nice Guys/Gal: The team were actually really good sports, and took their defeat to Apollo in the heat final of Series 8 with grace. More notably, the team have no resentment towards Gary Cairns, the former captain of Typhoon 2, even being among the first to contribute to his crowdfunding project to upgrade PP3D.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Storm II measured less than 1 metre on all dimensions, but it was unbelievably powerful with its ramming power.
 * Ring Out: Won its Heat Final in Series 7 by hammering Steel Avenger over the barrier with sheer force alone!
 * Nerf: Storm II was unfortunately not the powerhouse it once was when the series was revived in 2016. Because it had to run with less powerful motors to reduce the risk of overheating, the robot's top speed was lowered from a blazing 23mph, to a more glacial 12mph. This meant it couldn't build the same wall slamming impacts it was known for. To put things into perspective, when it fought again in Series 8, it was slower than Behemoth (a former Mighty Glacier who could now hit 14mph top speeds).

Hypno-Disc
(Grand Finalist Series 3-5, Semi-Finalist Series 6; Seeded 2nd in Series 4, 3rd in Series 5, 4th in Series 6)

Win Record: 22 victories, 10 defeats (not counting withdrawals and unaired battles)


 * Curb Stomp Battle: Its battle against Splinter in the Fourth Wars semi final. This legendary fight has gone down as quite possibly the most brutal battle in Robot Wars history.
 * Took it a step further in its Extreme Mayhem battle with Ming 3 and Wheely Big Cheese. Hypno-Disc, who usually struggled with more than one opponent, absolutely dominated the fight by knocking both wheels off of Ming 3, and broke the welding on one of Wheely Big Cheese's axles.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: The forerunner of the horizontal spinning disc.
 * Real Life Writes the Plot: The main reason Hypno-Disc wasn't entered into Series 7. The Rose family had work commitments they couldn't avoid, while Derek became a father, which understandably ate up even more of his time.
 * The Worf Effect: An example of being Over-Worfed. Everyone said they were terrified to go up against Hypno-Disc, but in a 3-or-more-way melee, it was very easy to beat Hypno-Disc by ganging up on it. Hypno-Disc's final three battles were all melees (all of which it lost), and the other robots barely touched each other until Hypno-Disc had been taken care of.
 * What Could Have Been: Fans voted to see Hypno-Disc fight Razer in Robot Wars Extreme, but the battle never took place, as both teams felt it would be too damaging to each others machines.
 * According to Robot Wars magazine, Hypno-Disc apparently would have been seeded 9th had it entered the Seventh Wars.

Bigger Brother (entered with Big Brother in Series 3, Or Te in Series 8, and The Swarm in Series 10)
(Series 5 Runner-Up, Series 6 Semi-Finalist; Seeded 14th in Series 4, 2nd in Series, 4th in Series 7)

Win Record: 20 victories (plus 2 w/ Big Brother, 1 w/ The Swarm), 11 defeats (plus 2 w/Big Brother, 1 w/ Or Te, and 3 w/ The Swarm)


 * Always Someone Better: In a strange variation of this trope, Bigger Brother has never actually won a fight in the UK on a judge's decision. The only time it won a judge's decision was in the US during the Nickelodeon tag team special.
 * Cheerful Child: Two of them in fact: brother and sister, Joe and Ellie Watts. Their dad, Ian Watts, later returned for Series 8 and 10 with another child, Sam Watts.
 * Determinator: Part of the reason it was able to overcome Hypno-Disc in the Series 5 grand final; it took severe damage, but mechanically, it kept motoring away long enough to pit Hypno-Disc.
 * Made of Iron: Best demonstrated by its battle with Hypno-Disc. Hypno-Disc ripped off its flipper and destroyed its armour, and Bigger Brother still beat it. The only time it ever lost a fight through damage was in the Sixth Wars semifinal when Terrorhurtz pummelled it into oblivion.
 * Averted though with its successor, Or Te, who was KO'ed by Supernova in five seconds when its safety link was dislodged.
 * Shocking Elimination: Was thrown out of the arena in Round 2 of the 7th Wars by Iron Awe 2.1, becoming the highest seeded robot to be defeated in this manner.

Team Cold Fusion/Team Kat (Bodyhammer in Series 1+2, Pussycat in Series 3, 4, 5, and 7, Kill-E-Crank-E in Series 8, Crank-E in Series 9)
(Series 3 Heat Finalist, Series 4 Runner Up, Series 5 Semi-Finalist, All Stars Champion)


 * Actor Existence Failure: At some point during the filming of Extreme I and Series 5, Pussycat's driver, David Gribble tragically died in a motorcycle accident in 2001. This is the reason why Pussycat did not enter Series 6, and later under a new team in Extreme II and Series 7.
 * In 2013, David's father, Alan Gribble passed away after a long battle with cancer.
 * Always Someone Better: The only team to attain a runner-up position with two different robots, with Bodyhammer and Pussycat. They lost to Roadblock and Chaos 2, respectively.
 * The Character Died with Him: Downplayed; after the death of David Gribble, Pussycat did compete again on Robot Wars under a new team, but sadly was not able to deliver a repeat performance from previous wars, as it recorded its worst domestic championship performance ever, falling in Round 2 in Series 7 to newcomer, M2.
 * Defeating the Undefeatable: Tore Razer apart on two separate occasions. One of, if not the only robot to defeat it cleanly. Kill-E-Crank-E managed to take out Razer in 2016, albeit via a "mutual death pact" as Robin Herrick put it.
 * Made of Iron: Pussycat was not only a very tough robot, but it was also very reliable; out of its 8 losses, Pussycat never lost due to mechanical breakdown, and only ever lost one fight through excess damage (specifically, a dislodged tyre that jammed its wheel tight).
 * Meaningful Name: Always lands on its feet.
 * Non-Gameplay Elimination: Pussycat was eliminated from the 3rd Wars after the team had used a Hardened Steel Blade that shattered during its Heat Final match with Scutter's Revenge. (For the uninformed, hardened blades that were likely to shatter were prohibited, as the shards could very easily have caused injuries).
 * Ring Out: Pussycat was on the receiving end of this in the Extreme II Tag Team Terror competition, by Bulldog Breed of all robots. Not even Chaos 2 was able to pull this off.
 * Taking You With Me: As mentioned above, Kill-E-Crank-E managed to take out Razer by spinning its wheel and dragging the former World Champions into the pit with them.

Team Hurtz (Entered Killerhurtz in Series 2-4, and Terrorhurtz in Series 5-10)
(Annihilator 3rd Place as Killerhurtz, 6th wars Grand Finalist and 3rd Place in 10 Robot Rumble in Series 10 as Terrorhurtz; Seeded 16th as Killerhurtz in Series 4)

Win Record: 22 victories (4 as Killerhurtz, 18 as Terrorhurtz), 16 defeats (6 as Killerhurtz, 10 as Terrorhurtz)


 * An Axe to Grind: Quite possibly the most ferocious you'd find today.
 * Ax Crazy: Terrorhurtz had a tendency to go bonkers when it started flailing its axe wildly; in later wars though, it was better optimised to allow for more precise and better controlled blows.
 * Born Unlucky: In 2016, Terrorhurtz was unlucky enough to be flipped over by Behemoth when its axe wasn't working, losing that fight. Then in the final round robin match against Nuts, the latter's chain flail broke off and got caught in Terrorhurtz's wheel well, hindering its control and cost it a place in the heat final due to only scoring 2 points thanks to a judge's decision.
 * Defeating the Undefeatable: Terrorhurtz remains to this day the only robot to defeat Carbide by knock out, and it did so without a functioning weapon.
 * Epic Fail: John Reid's disastrous driving in Series 3 when he drove Killerhurtz straight into the pit without any kind of provocation!
 * History Repeats: Terrorhurtz went out in the Head-to-Head round in both Series 8 and 9 having lost a tiebreaker, the only robot to do so. On both occasions, the robot it lost to went on to lose the Heat Final.
 * Loophole Abuse: A mild example: Killerhurtz was made by a clearly English roboteer (John Reid); however, because his teammate at the time, Dominic Parkinson, was part Czech, the team was allowed to represent the Czech Republic in the First World Championship.
 * Memetic Mutation: John Reid's order for Nick Lynch (his teammate) to "Wait for a good hit!" has become one of these, to where two compilation videos of Terrorhurtz's Series 9 and 10 battles include a variation of this quote in the title. And we are still waiting for a good hit!
 * Non-Gameplay Elimination: In Series 7, Terrorhurtz was actually disqualified from the competition due to an unwritten clause that mandated all robots were fully completed and ready to fight upon arriving at the studio.
 * Oh Crap: This was pretty much John's reaction when Sabre Tooth tore Terrorhurtz's tail off and smashed it open in Series 9.
 * Took a Level in Badass: the upgrade from Killerhurtz to Terrorhurtz. Although saying that, Terrorhurtz only made it to Round 2 in its debut, but the following year, we finally got to see what John Reid's machine could do, as it cleaved though everything in its path including former champions Panic Attack, and last year's runner-up Bigger Brother to reach the Grand Final. Downplayed in the modern era since it only made one heat final, but it still performed far better than Killerhurtz ever did.
 * What Could Have Been: Had Terrorhurtz been ready to go in Series 7, many believed that it would have been a fierce contender, maybe even had a chance to win its heat.

X-Terminator
(Semi Finalist in Series 4, 4th Place in Series 7; seeded 22nd in Series 4, 14th in Series 5, and 11th in Series 7)

Win Record: 16 victories/12 defeats


 * An Axe to Grind: Had a rather heavy spiked axe in Series 5 that weighed 37kg. The axe was its primary weapon from Series 3 up to Extreme II, but its effectiveness varied.
 * Born Lucky: Almost lost its Heat Final battle in Series 7 to German entrant, Tsunami. If it hadn't taken the gamble to throw X-Terminator over the barrier, the latter would've been immobilised.
 * Crack Defeat: Suffered an early defeat in Series 5 at the hands of Corkscrew when its right hand drives just gave up and limited its mobility.
 * Crippling Overspecialization: As previously mentioned, the axe it had in Series 5/Extreme I weighed 37kg, which accounted for more than 1/3 of the robot's total weight. This meant that the batteries were compromised, and proved to be the root cause of X-Terminator's terrible Series 5 campaign.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Boy, was it heck! The Series 7 model ditched the axe in favour of a small, but powerful 1,500rpm vertical flywheel, and it proved to be far more potent than any of the previous iterations of X-Terminator ever were.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Earlier incarnations of the robot zipped around the arena at speeds of 20-25mph. Later versions were slower, but still fairly quick at 18mph.
 * Mighty Glacier: Averted with the Series 7 iteration though, as it was much stronger, but much slower too, at only 9mph.
 * Joke Item: The rather spindly axe X-Terminator 2 had in Series 4; it was such a joke in fact, that not even the team want to discuss it!
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: There's another robot called ICU, which bears a strong resemblance to an earlier incarnation of X-Terminator; axe, complete with self righting arms, spiked axe, and general boxy chassis. At first glance, it seems like a cheap knock-off...until you learn that the robot is a refurbished version of the original X-Terminator model, and the team itself is comprised of members of Marlon Pritchard's family.

Team Mouse (Entered Velocirippa in Series 4,5, & 7, Mighty Mouse in Series 6+7, and Ironside 3 in Series 8+9)
(Robotic Soccer Finalist with Velocirippa, Series 7 Heat Finalist with Mighty Mouse, 3rd Place with Ironside 3 in Series 9)

Win Record: 12 victories (1 with Velocirippa, 3 with Mighty Mouse, 8 with Ironside 3)/12 defeats (6 with Velocirippa, 3 with Mighty Mouse, 3 with Ironside 3) + 1 draw with Ironside 3.

The Team

 * Animal Motif: The team's first two machines were animal based; Velocirippa was a cross between a warthog and a dinosaur, and Mighty Mouse was...uh, a catfish? Averted completely with Ironside 3 though.
 * The Constant: The team has changed throughout the years, but the captain, Trevor Wright, has always been there.
 * Dude, Where's My Respect?: Were not selected to compete in Series 10, despite Ironside 3's strong performance the previous series.
 * Loophole Abuse: The team itself couldn't enter Meggamouse in Series 9, since they had already qualified with Ironside 3, and the rules prevented teams from entering 2 separate robots. However, nothing stopped them from loaning the former to a different team and entering it that way.

Velocirippa

 * Butt Monkey: For years, it had the worst combat record of any robot (not counting its Robotic Soccer qualifier win, it lost all 6 battles it entered), until 2018, when Terror Turtle took that crown.
 * Fragile Speedster: It was a pretty fast machine, but it was also very weak and prone to breaking down a lot.
 * Gutted Like a Fish: It was ripped open by Disc-O-Inferno in its Mayhem battle in Extreme I, leaving its internals exposed.
 * One-Hit Wonder: Its only strong showing was in the Robotic Soccer competition in Series 3. Other than that, it never won a battle.

Ironside 3

 * Diabolus Ex Machina: In its Grand Final match with Concussion and Carbide, it assisted in taking out the former, but the latter came in caused severe damage to its self righting mechanism. The team had to take it off in their first head-to-head against, of all robots, Eruption. This damage ultimately cost the team their chance of winning the title.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Has a huge spinning bar mounted on top, and it was quite deadly when it got stuck in.
 * The Rival: To Team Ranglebots; they first met in Round 1 of Series 8, fought again in the head-to-heads (after Pulsar was reinstated), then fought each other 3 times in Series 9. The result is 1 for Pulsar, 2 for Ironside 3, a joint win, and a draw.
 * Something Completely Different: Ironside 3 bares no resemblance to any of the team's other robots.
 * Took a Level in Badass: More so Ironside 3 compared to Mighty Mouse; it was tougher, more reliable, heavier, and leaps and bounds far deadlier than Mighty Mouse and Velocirippa could ever dream of being.

Dominator II (Entered Dominator in Series 3, Pinball Warrior Tournament only)
(Pinball Warrior Runner-up in Series 3, Semifinalist in Series 4-6; Seeded 11th in Series 5, 6th in Series 6)

Win Record: 18 victories, 6 defeats


 * An Axe to Grind: Has a nasty looking spiked axe, and was one of the deadliest at the time, too.
 * Attack Its Weak Point: In Series 4 and the first half of Extreme, its wheels were exposed, and were a delicious target for rotating weapons like Pussycat's saw blade, or Wild Thing's newly added spinning disc.
 * Born Unlucky: Dominator II nearly went all the way in the Northern annihilator in Series 4, and was   dominating its opponent, Spikasaurus. That is, until its batteries finally packed in and cost it the competition.
 * Dude, Where's My Respect?: Despite having a consistent track record, reaching the Top 8 in every series it fought in, Dominator II has never actually won a single trophy; it is the most successful competitor to never win either an award, or a side competition. Also seeded 11th in Series 5, which is quite a low rank for a robot that finished top 8 the previous year.
 * Establishing Character Moment: Dominator II's first strike immobilised Henry II in 3 seconds. That should tell you right off the bat that this is a robot to be feared!
 * Lightning Bruiser: It was very tough to break, had a powerful weapon, and it was very quick at 20mph.
 * Made of Iron: Its titanium shell was insanely strong, withstanding almost everything its opponents threw at it; only Hypno-Disc was able to put some nice gashes in the wheel guards, and before that, Pussycat almost lifted the shell clean off. The robot was also very reliable, only once losing when its batteries gave out.
 * Mid-Season Upgrade: Around halfway through Extreme, Dominator II entered the arena for a Wild Card battle with some spiffy new wheel guards, patching out its old weakness. Most likely added in response its previous battle with Wild Thing, who shredded its tyres quite nicely.
 * Nice Guys: While confident in their robot's ability to win, the team themselves were always down to earth and took their losses with grace. They have never over-estimated their chances, and will compliment tough opponents, even if they do pull through.
 * What Could Have Been: Dominator II ended up withdrawing from Series 7 at the last minute due to unknown circumstances. Had it competed, it most likely would've made the semifinals again. According to Robot Wars Magazine, Dominator II was to be seeded 5th for the competition (4th when it was confirmed that Razer wouldn't be returning).
 * Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing: Its Wild Card Warrior battle against The Executioner; all it did was nudge the newcomer slightly, who then proceeded to drive straight into the pit after 18 seconds (and 3 attempts to open the pit)!
 * You Don't Look Like You: At first glance, you wouldn't think that the robot that appeared in the Series 3 Pinball Warrior Tournament had any relation to the bi-wedge shaped robot with a grand looking axe that made 3 semifinals, would you?

Team Scutterbots (Scutter's Revenge in Series 3, Spawn of Scutter in Series 4, Spawn Again in Series 5-7)
(Semi-Finalist Series 3-6, Heat Finalist Series 7; Seeded 10th in Series 4/6, 13th in Series 5, 6th in Series 7)

Win Record: 17 victories, 10 defeats


 * Actor Allusion: The teams first robot, Scutter's Revenge, was named after the robots from Red Dwarf, in which the show's host Craig Charles had starred.
 * The Alleged Car: Especially Spawn Again; it was fast and powerful when it worked, but it was horrifically unreliable.
 * Born Lucky: Let's face it, the team has had their fair share of good luck on their side throughout the years. Such examples include:
 * Scutter's Revenge made the semifinals in Series 3 after Pussycat was disqualified for a severe rule violation.
 * In Series 5, Spawn Again broke down in its heat final match against Díotíor, but lucky, the latter was already counted out.
 * In Series 6, it barely worked and was set to fall in the heats, until the team just got it working lot enough to beat Supernova in the final.
 * Critical Failure: Failed to reach its series 7 semi-final because the ram operating its flipper exploded when the end-cap blew off.
 * Epic Fail: In the US version of the show's War of Independence special, it was immobilised within seconds by Joker; sure it was unfair that Joker spinning before activate was called, but to be KO'ed that quickly is still a poor display by Spawn Again.
 * Every Year They Fizzle Out: With the exception of Series 7, the team never went any further than the semifinal's first round.
 * Explosive Instrumentation: In its Series 7 Heat Final against Raging Knightmare, the pneumatic piston that powered the flipper exploded in spectacular fashion, but it left the ram hanging out the front of the robot. The reason this happened is because the team used a ram that was years old, and the pressure from the CO2 simply blew the end-cap off.
 * Irony: The one time in which Spawn Again was fully functional with no traces of reliability issue, it lost its heat because of the above incident.
 * That said, despite having a reputation for its "questionable" reliability, Spawn Again has a perfect KO ratio; defeating 10 opponents by KO, and the only one with at least 10 combat wins to its name.
 * Mighty Glacier: Scutter's Revenge had no real weaponry, nor was it very fast, but it did have a lot of pushing power.
 * Real Life Writes the Plot: Team captain Darren Hayden-Ball revealed in 2020 that he was offered to compete in the reboot series with Spawn Again, but was unable to accept the offer due to a conflicting work schedule, and the filming location in Glasgow, Scotland was too far away from his hometown in Essex.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Spawn Again was due to compete in the All Stars championship at the end of Series 7, but didn't enter for unknown reasons.
 * It was initially believed that the damage it took it the Heat Final forced it to retire, but the team later revealed that the pneumatic ram was the only damage the robot took, and they had some spare rams on hand, so they would've had the robot back up and running in minutes.

Diotoir (Entered with Nemesis in Series 1+2)
(Heat Finalist Series 3/5, Tag Team Terror Champion w/ Pussycat; Seeded 21st in Series 4)

Win Record: 13 victories, 13 defeats


 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: An obvious joke entry, covered in highly flammable fur with a rather ineffective weapon. But its predecessor Nemesis (which had an even less effective weapon, defeated a house robot and went toe to toe with a future champion, Diotoir itself reached 2 heat finals, reached the semis of the First World Championship, made the final of the International championship, the finals of the Celebrity Special, won the Tag Team Terror and defeated the mighty Tornado in Series 5 (Team Tornado called it the most powerful 2WD pusher they'd ever seen.)
 * Incendiary Exponent: Diotoir caught fire in every single fight it had. And it was glorious.
 * Intentionally taken to its extreme in one of the exhibition matches at the end of series 2. The lineup was Sgt. Bash, Nemesis and a similarly flammable sacrifical robot built for the occasion. The latter two were sprayed with paraffin before the fight. At the beginning, Bash fired the flamethrower once. Hilarity Ensued.
 * Joke Item: The iconic red and black polka dot fur that coats the robot. Often seen on other robots as well. One has to wonder: where do the Irish boys get this stuff from?
 * Legacy Character: Its full name in its first appearance was Díotoír, Son of Nemesis.
 * Lethal Joke Character: Díotíor was never the most menacing robot in the show's history, but it definitely has the capacity to win a few fights, and even demonstrated incredible resilience against Tornado.
 * Man on Fire: Well, it was designed to look like a face that is on fire.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Doubles up as Meaningful Name. It may not sound threatening at first, but check what it means in Gaelic. Díotoír translates to "Annihilator".

Kan-Opener
(2 time Annihilator Champion)

Win Record: 9 victories, 4 defeats


 * Animal Motif: Appears to be loosely based off a crab, often described as such.
 * Dark Horse Victory: The only robot in history to ever win 2 separate Annihilators, and beat highly fancied opponents in the finals like Thermidor II and Ripper to do so. Funnily enough, Kan-Opener never won a battle outside of these competitions.
 * Fatal Flaw: Getting its claws stuck inside another robot was a major one for Kan-Opener; in Series 6, not only did it get stuck in with Demolition Man, but it left itself vulnerable to a brutal assault from Fluffy, who ripped it open and immobilised it.
 * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Unlike other robots that had multiple iterations, Kan-Opener differentiates itself with letters instead of numbers. The latest version we saw on TV in 2016 in the J-Spec version, while the one that won the Annihilator in 2004 was the H-Spec version.
 * Left Stuck After Attack: Kan-Opener's biggest flaw; getting stuck in with the claws wasn't an issue... getting them out again on the other hand, was. This cost it dearly in Series 7, when it spent the entire battle with one of its claws embedded in one of its opponents.
 * Running Gag: Kan-Opener never made it past Round 1 in any domestic championship it entered, and only ever won a battle in an Annihilator.
 * Victory by Endurance: How the team/robot managed to win the Annihilators, by mostly staying out of harm's way and getting involved when necessary. The team stated that in this type of competition, surviving is what really counts, as opposed to the main event in which they only get one shot.

Jeremy Clarkson (Series 1 Presenter)

 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Jerkass: "How long did that take to build? I reckon it took 2 months to go 2 yards." And his infamous: "That is the worst robot I've ever seen in my life. And it crossed the finish line twice."
 * Unperson: He isn't mentioned in any tie-in media, and all footage of him was removed from "The First Great War", a VHS release of highlights from the first series. Just as well, really. He didn't exactly hold the show in high regard.

Craig Charles (Presenter from Series 2-7)
"Craig: So, why did you call your robot Inquisitor? Inquisitor team: Red Dwarf. Craig: Never heard of it!"
 * Actor Allusion: The robot Scutter's Revenge was a reference to his role on Red Dwarf. Also, this:


 * Catch Phrase: "LET THE WARS BEGIN!"
 * Ending every episode with a four-line poem ending in "on Robot Wars".
 * "[Robot] GOES MARCHING ON!"
 * Large Ham

Jonathan Pearce (Commentator)

 * Did Not Do the Research: Sometimes, he would get facts about competitors and their history wrong (for example, referring to Terror-Bull as newcomers during Series 6 when they had fought in Series 4). Also, he referred to Killertron as a former Grand Finalist when it arrived in series 2, when it previously reached the heat final. He didn't correct this mistake as far as three years later, where he referred to it as a two time Grand Finalist in its final fight. Also called Tornado's 'Anti-Crusher Web' an 'Anti-Pit Device', making Tornado's Series 6 championship win a lot more controversial.
 * The Hyena: He was well-known for his occasional laughing fits during matches. Especially obvious when Diotoir caught fire or when Firestorm became the first robot thrown out of the arena.
 * Large Ham: Oh, yeah. Becomes a real case of Large Ham & Cheese if Wheely Big Cheese happens to be in the arena.
 * Long Runner: Like Professor Noel Sharkey, Jonathan Pearce has been a part of the show since the very beginning.
 * Motor Mouth: Sometimes, especially his commentary here.
 * The Voice: For the longest time, all we knew about JP is his voice, as he never made an on-screen appearance. Finally averted as of Series 6, were we see the man in the flesh in his commentary box.

Professor Noel Sharkey (Head Judge)

 * Long Runner: He has been part of the show's judging panel ever since the very beginning over 20 years ago.
 * Suddenly Voiced: It wasn't until the 6th Wars that we finally got to hear him speak, which was anytime he spoke to Jonathan Pearce before a heat final.