Robot Wars (TV series)/Awesome

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Cassius in the semi-finals of Robot Wars season 2 where its self-righting mechanism was demonstrated for the first time receiving a loud cheer from the audience and several replays. Watch it here.
    • Made all the more awesome by its sheer unexpectedness - hard as it may be to imagine with so many subsequent robots using a self-righting mechanism, at the time nobody except the designers knew that the flipper could or would be used in that way. The designers claimed that they hadn't actually intended the flipper to be used that way and improvised when Cassius found itself immobilised, but only they know how true this is.
      • Especially since the flipper was not particularly effective as an offensive weapon.
      • And the fact that, up to that point, Sir Killalot's ability to turn its victims over had been the reason it was the most dangerous house robot.
  • Cassius's predecessor Recyclopse's crowning moment of awesome occurred when if flipped over Matilda, the first 'House Robot Kill' of the series (also consider that Reclyclopse was unable to move at the time). Cassius would later repeat this.
  • The first Crowning Moment for Chaos 2 (it had quite a few) was in season 3 when it became the first robot to launch another out of the ring.
    • In the sixth wars newcomer Dantomkia received a Crowning Moment of Awesome by flipping Chaos 2 out of the arena!
      • ...and in the seventh wars, Gravity flipped Dantomkia out.
      • This one requires elaboration, as that alone won't do it justice. Gravity flipped Dantomkia out in roughly SIX SECONDS, setting the record for the shortest battle ever. And the kicker? The previous holder of the Quickest Battle record was also Dantomkia, who took out IG-88 in 8 seconds. Glorious.
    • And of course, when Chaos 2 won the 4th Wars, becoming the ONLY robot ever to maintain the championship (or even win it more than once).
      • And let's not forget X-Terminator and the American Cyclone Raptor, whose flywheels were so powerful that they could spin opponents right out of the arena. Both managed to do so twice.
  • Hypno-Disc became officially awesome after it ripped its opponent into teeny tiny pieces. Ironically enough, the opposing robot was named Splinter.
  • While it may not be as universally liked, the fight between Bigger Brother and Hypno-Disc shows the former getting ripped apart and still managing to pull out a win. Even Johnathan Pearce was going through its death speech before they managed to pull off the shock victory. This fight is a testament to Bigger Brother's reliability, sheer resilience, to refusal to die even in the face of defeat!
  • The Main Event of Extreme I/Episode 2: a Mayhem battle that put Hypnodisc in against Wheely Big Cheese and Ming III. Hypnodisc dominated the fight by pinging off both of Ming III's wheels, and almost ripping one of Wheely Big's wheels in two! Neither of its opponents even managed to land a single attack against the Rose team; that's how dominant they were! This is especially awesome considering Hypnodisc normally struggles against multiple opponents.
  • Wheely Big Cheese's fight against Axe Awe, probably setting a record for biggest flip ever, "flipped right out of the Robot Wars galaxy" as Jonathon Pearce put it!
  • Razer whenever he is attacking the house robots, which is nearly every fight as seen here
    • Every one of Razer's appearances in season 5. In each of the preceding three seasons, debilitating mechanical faults meant Razer was knocked out by the third round, and everyone, even its fans, were expecting a repeat. Cue unmitigated destruction of every single one of its opponents, culminating in a dominating fight against Bigger Brother in the finale and Razer being awarded the well-deserved title of the winner of Robot Wars.
      • Well it was one of the first to KO one of the house bots- watch this
  • Behemoth's brilliant fight against Hypnodisc in the first All Stars Championship deserves a mention here; the former simply shrugged off everything Hypno threw at it and pushed it all around arena like it was nothing. Even with Dead Metal constantly trying to hound them, Behemoth's sheer persistence and tenacity eventually ground Hypnodisc to a halt over the flame pit, causing the first of many upset victories in Extreme.
  • Any instance of the competitors abandoning the battle to go after the House Robots will often make for a CMOA; probably the best example would be the first melee of the Seventh Wars All-Stars Tournament, where Kat III, Panic Attack, Bigger Brother and Firestorm all made a pre-match pact to go after the house robots - Shunt, the Refbot and Cassius Chrome - instead of each other. It's hilarious to watch, especially as the arena tries to fight back and fails, setting off the floor flipper and drop zone in a desperate attempt to catch out the competitors as they give the House Robots a thorough pasting.
  • In the Series 6 semi-final, Terrorhurtz was able to immobilise Bigger Brother by pummelling it to death. Bear in mind that both Hypno-Disc and Razer struggled to immobilise it, and Bigger Brother had never lost through excess damage up until this fight.
    • Terrorhurtz in general; after a disappointing début in Series 5, it came back in Series 6 with a point to prove. That being that it was a fearsome competitor that wasn't to be trifled with, and boy did it prove it! Terrorhurtz proceeded to batter everything in sight, including the Series 2 champion Panic Attack in the Heat Final. Though it only came in 4th place, Terrorhurtz proved to be far more competitive than its predecessor Killerhurtz ever was.
  • Panic Attack received several during its season 2 (its first appearance).
    • During its gauntlet run it was going over the see-saw ramp, but Dead Metal was underneath it and Sir Killalot was coming up from behind, both preventing the ramp from going down. What does PA do? Tries to jump off the ramp and over Dead Metal (it didn't work, but still...)
    • Knocking Shunt of the sumo-ring in the trials.
    • Knocking out Sgt Bash's saw while fighting Whirling Dervish.
    • Defeating Mortis during the series semi-finals by pushing it into the pit.
    • Defeating series favourite Cassius in the grand final by pushing in into the pit as well (and earlier in the fight driving right over the top of Cassius) and becoming the grand champion of the second wars.
  • The Plunderbird team during season 2, when playing their theme song!
  • Roadblock managed to notch up 355 points in its Pinball run during the Series 2 Semi Finals; the highest score ever achieved for that event.
  • Firestorm, in the Commonwealth carnage, somehow managed to flip Mr. Psycho! Keep in mind that Firestorm weighs 99kg, while Psycho weighs 750kg.
  • Chaos became to only robot to pull the House Robot into the pit in the Tug-O-War trial. Others survived the full 30 seconds, but Chaos was the only to be victorious.
  • From a robot This Troper cannot recall the name of: since the last season, it had received an "upgrade" which seemed to consist entirely of a more ornate casing. Before entering an Endurance Tug-o-War against the house robot Matilda which seemed to be a Curb Stomp Battle, the team makes oblique references to a "secret weapon". As expected, Matilda quickly overpowers them, but as she pulls on the rope the robot leans forward, causing its ornamental spikes to embed themselves in the ground, slowing it long enough for it to exceed the previous record.
    • I believe you're thinking of GBH. Really good flipper, that one.
      • Actually, you're probably thinking of Killdozer. GBH did use that strategy to good effect, but Killdozer were the only ones that outlasted the house bot. See it here
  • Warhog's design attempted to one-up Hypno-Disc - its entire body was a kinetic energy weapon, covered in blades and spinning at high speed. Theoretically, such a design should provide amazing attack and defence. Unfortunately, they neglected to reinforce it - each time it rammed an enemy it was sent flying into the air while its opponent took minimal damage. After a few rams it had ceased functioning in a most awesome fashion.
    • The Typhoon series of robots later did this to greater success, holding several victories in the middleweight division and Typhoon 2 winning the grand final of the seventh wars (via one of the most controversial judge's decisions in the series. Literally no one was happy with it, including the judges themselves)
  • Wild Thing's heroic performance against the horrific destructive power of Hypno-Disc in the 4th wars semi-final, not only being the first robot to actually survive a battle against Hypno-Disc in that series without being totally dismembered, but nearly winning the judge's decision through the courage and tenacity of their fightback.
  • Another CMOA relating to knocking a robot out of the arena, Storm 2 did this to the Steel Avenger. Only Storm 2 didn't do it with a flipper; it did it by pushing Steel Avenger into a wall at high speed, where it just bounced over the fence. Now that was cool.
  • Chaos 2 vs Wild Thing. One of the finest battles in Robot Wars history.
  • From Robot Wars Extreme Warriors (the US version), we've got Tricerabot the House Robot killer. It flipped a flywheel-bearing Matilda, and shoved Sir Killalot into the pit (which wasn't shown on TV). Keep in mind, this was the season BEFORE it even had a flipper.
    • From Series 3 Grand Final we have (again!) Chaos 2. After defeating Hypno-Disc it tried to keep the House Robots away from his defeated opponent, and when Matilda and Shunt ganged up against it they got flipped over with ease. And probably Chaos 2 would have got more if cease wasn't called. That little black flipper was mean.
  • Diotoir, the robot that Jonathan Pearce et al were always keen to deride as a joke entry (even inaccurately - he once stated, "they've never done well in the Wars", patently untrue when you consider their track record) knocking out Tornado in the Fifth Wars. How did they do it, you ask? By out-shoving Tornado for the majority of the fight, lasting long enough to wear Tornado down, and summon the strength to pit the Series 4 semi-finalist!
  • This fight between S.M.I.D.S.Y., Warhog, Comengetorix and St. Agro in Series 6. Between Warhog demolishing the arena wall and piggybacking on S.M.I.D.S.Y. twice, and Comengetorix impaling itself on the arena wall by its axe then almost driving down the pit... fantastic.
  • We also have the mechanical marvel that is Team 101's new robot, Anarchy. It's a walkerbot, but unlike every other walker before it, Anarchy's legs were well protected, it moved at a brisk pace (yeah, it's only 5mph, but that's fast for a walker), and above all else, it actually had some good weapons on it. It is the only walker in the history of Robot Wars to have ever made the heat final, only falling to Tornado on a judge's decision.
  • 13 Black may not have lived up to its full potential, but it had a great run in Extreme 2 when it competed in the All-Stars Tournament. First, it caused major damage to Razer by tearing one of its wings off, and played the biggest part in tearing Chaos 2 to pieces. It performed well against Dominator 2 in the second round and pushed Razer quite hard in the Heat Final's opening seconds, until some haphazard driving opened them up for defeat.
  • Gravity's assault on the House Robots in its heat final. After dispatching Lightning, Gravity sent Shunt barrelling over in spectacular fashion (even knocking his camera off) and followed up by becoming the first robot ever to successfully flip Dead Metal over! (The reason Dead Metal was so hard to flip over was because of his 112kg weight combined with a large wheelbase). Gravity did it again in the last fight ever battle filmed in the old arena when they flipped over both Growler and Cassius Chrome!
  • X-Terminator took several leaps in badass between the 6th and 7th wars. The team's decision to get rid of the ineffectual axe and replace it with a 15kg flywheel was a smart move as it proved to be far more potent and destructive than it had ever looked previously, flinging two machines over the fence in its heat.
  • The new House Robots: instead bringing them out of retirement for the reborn series, four of them were rebuilt from scratch, and not only do they look awesome still, but the improvements make them more terrifying than ever.
  • An overlooked example early on in Series 8, but Terrorhurtz was the first robot to defeat Carbide, and is still the only one to do so via knockout. John Reid's driving skill is to be commended here for maintaining complete control over Carbide through the entire bout, in spite of not having a functioning weapon.
  • TR2's performance in Series 8 deserves mention as well; 15-year-old Alex Brown's driving was remarkable, controlling his robot's fights, even without a functioning weapon in its first fight, and even defeating Carbide in the Grand Final. Not even Dantomkia, a two-time semi-finalist, was any match for his skill. TR2 only accrued a single loss throughout that series, even fewer than eventual champions, Apollo.
  • Apollo left a great impression on the wars early on by assaulting 3 of the 4 House Robots (it flipped Dead Metal with ease, turned Matilda over shortly afterwards, and took Shunt out from the side). To give you an idea of how strong Apollo was, all of the House Robots that it flipped were 3 times heavier than the competitors!
    • Apollo also pulled off a Darkhorse Victory in the heat final by tossing Storm II into the trenches and becoming the only robot to defeat it by clean knockout.
  • Carbide's entire road to victory in Series 9; in every single fight it had that series, it smashed everything in its path, including defending champion Apollo, twice! Every single fight ended swiftly, barring the Title Bout against the stout-hearted Eruption. Not only did Carbide win the title of Robot Wars champion with ease, but it also became the first robot since Chaos 2 to win the title without needing a judges' decision.
  • Series 10 as a whole could count, but here are some of the more memorable moments.
    • The Heat A Final between former champion Apollo, and long-standing veteran Behemoth. The fight was a minute and a half of strong flips from both robots, and a right royal back and forth affair until Behemoth caught Apollo from behind, kicked it up, and send it down the open pit, securing the former their first heat victory since Series 2... all the way back in 1998!
    • Heat B's opening bout between Gabriel 2, Big Nipper, and reigning champion Carbide. Gabriel 2 not only took out Big Nipper in the opening seconds, but it gave the champions their first real challenge since the Series 8 Grand Final. The thwackbot simply shrugged off many of Carbide's attacks, even managing to slice one of its tyres in two, giving it control problems. Though the resulting judge's decision ruled in Carbide's favour, Gabriel 2 received a standing ovation for their brave performance.
      • Aftershock gets one for actually immobilising Gabriel, by having a vertical disc that could make contact with Gabriel's body, and by shrugging off the entanglement cables it was garbed in. Unfortunately, Aftershock didn't last much longer in the competition after this fight.
      • Big Nipper got its moment of awesome by hitting Smash so hard that it flew out of the ring in spectacular fashion, even hitting the lighting rig above the arena on its way out. Though the disc on Big Nipper is small, this fight showed that it has tremendous power behind it!
    • Terrorhurtz's opening bout in Heat C was easily one of its best since the original series. First, it took out Apex's weapon on the initial charge (the same thing it did to Carbide two wars back) and proceeded to beat the ever-living daylight out of Vulture. The repeated blows eventually immobilised both Vulture and Apex, securing Terrorhurtz a very convincing victory not seen since its Extreme II appearance.
      • Watching Apex tear itself apart against Trak-tion was a sight to behold; Apex landed two blows on the wedge of Trak-tion, the first did little damage, the second caused Apex to destabilise and then the bar spinner to violently break loose and smash through bulletproof screen surrounding the arena!
      • The real star of the heat, however, was Rapid. After an underwhelming departure last series, Rapid was back with a vengeance, tossing Trak-tion out of the arena twice (the second time broke the record for fastest Ring-Out in Robot Wars history at 5.6 seconds), followed by a tense final with Terrorhurtz. Rapid made excellent use of the arena hazards and House Robots to gain the upper hand, using its flipper more strategically compared to other flippers, with Terrorhurtz landing some good axe blows itself, until it was eventually tossed into the trench.
    • In Heat D, being filled with the likes of last series' Grand Finalist Concussion, the promising Tauron, and the return of Team Iron Awe, the eventually winner was none other than joke entry, Nuts 2! With its electronics greatly improved, and its Melty-Brain technology fully working, Nuts 2 dominated its heat, using its high rotation speed and massive reach to target its opponents' weak spots (Concussion's exposed wheels, and Androne 4000's hydraulic valves), and easily earning their place in the Grand Final with very little damage, proving that a joke entry can still be lethal with the right technology and other resources.
    • Heat E saw the return of Team Ranglebots with their new robot, Magnetar. Think Pulsar with a copper paint job, and with all the mechanic faults ironed out. Magnetar showed its full potential by wrecking Push to Exit in the melee, then punting Expulsion 6 feet into the air, and finally rupturing Thor's CO2 supply in the heat final, leaving it stranded upside down. Unlike its predecessor, Magnetar never broke down once, thus demonstrating what Pulsar could've been in retrospect.
      • A minor moment of awesome, but Hobgoblin deserves a mention for showing how effective its unique "eggbeater" weapon can be if given the chance by snapping Shunt's titanium axe tip off.
    • The Grand Final was described by Johnathan Pearce himself as one of the best episodes of Robot Wars ever for several reasons:
      • The episode opened with the Ten Robot Rumble, which was a brawl of mammoth proportions: utterly chaotic, action everywhere, robots dropping like flies, and with no rules, and no time limit. The result was a smoke-filled arena with only Eruption still standing, and 8 other robots clogging the pit up, after around 6-8 minutes of non-stop fighting.
      • Nuts 2 was drawn against two robots that had beaten it previously: Behemoth, and Carbide. Why is this awesome? Because Nuts 2 dominated the fight, first by using one of its minibots to drop the pit as Behemoth crossed over it, then the main unit snapped the drive chain for Carbide's weapon off, leaving the champions with no means of attack for another 2 minutes. The minibots proceeded to hound Carbide to the point of almost immobilising it (only one second remained before Carbide took off again). Carbide spent the majority of the fight fleeing from a robot that was essentially one tenth its own size. Unsurprisingly, the judges ruled unanimously in Nuts 2's favour.
      • The rematch between Behemoth and Eruption was easily the best flipper vs flipper battle ever in Robot Wars. Though Behemoth started off strongly by turning Eruption over, the latter came back into the fight by tossing the veteran into CPZ's, against the barriers, into the House Robots, and several failed attempts to get it out of the arena. The battle was awesome not just for Eruption on the basis of Michael Oates' superb driving skill, focus, and sheer determination, but also for Behemoth on accounts for its survival, bravery, and endurance; years ago, Behemoth likely would've broken down after just a few flips, so to see how much more durable it has become is astonishing.
      • The Title Bout could not go unmentioned here; the rematch from Series 9 between Carbide and Eruption. This was a tense back and forth between two very strong competitors, trading blows with each other throughout the fight. Unlike previous encounters between these two, Eruption was able to weather the blows dealt against it, and eventually cause internal damage to Carbide, forcing the champion to stop using its weapon on occasion. Eruption managed to get some good flips in (much to Angela's excitement), often forcing Carbide to run away from it when the blade worked intermittently, costing the latter points for aggression. Ultimately, the judges ruled in Eruption's favour, toppling the mighty Carbide, and fulfilling Michael Oates' dream of winning the Robot Wars title.
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