Robot Wars (TV series)/Characters/Semi Finalists

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These robots have proven themselves worthy of joining the greats among Robot Wars fans, but never quite made it to legendary status. These typically never make the Grand Finals often to their engineering prowess only taking them so far for tougher battles, or they simply met incredibly stiff competition.

Note: Series 1, 8 and 9 all lacked Semi Finals as those wars progressed straight from the last heat to the Grand Final, but Series 10's massive 10 Robot Rumble will be included here, as it is the closest thing the rebooted era has to a semi final. Due to the nature of the sport, there will also be some overlap with champions and grand finalists appearing here.

For more on the Champions of Robot Wars, go here. For the Grand Finalists, go here.

The Second Wars

King Buxton

(Semi Finalist in Series 2, Heat Finalist in Series 3, Tag Team Terror Champions with 101 in Series 4)

Win Record: 11 victories, 12 defeats

One of the oldest robots in the show's history, King B has been around since the second series. Some see it as a precursor to Tornado, but its simplistic design, high speed and pushing power helped it power its way through to a semi final finish in its debut, only to be defeated by Roadblock. Despite seeing diminishing returns year after after, it never lost in the first round of any domestic championship.

• The Alleged Car: The main it never did as well outside of its debut is because it ran on the maximum voltage allowed in the rules. This had the side effect of burning the motors out mid-fight, hence reliability problems set in year later.
• Badass Decay: As more powerful weapons and newer electronics are becoming standard, King B's continued use of electrically power weapons saw it become less and less effective over the years. Best seen in 2016 when it still had electric forks, weighed 100kg (even after the weight limit increase), and used high density plastic and polycarbonate armour. It wouldn't be unfair to say that King b Remix fared dismally against its round robin opponents.
• The Constant: Simon Harrison has been a part of the team since their debut in Series 2, and the only original member still there.
• Cultural Blending: Simon Harrison is married to Natsuko Hori who is Japanese and acts as the robot's translator, as the team states (jokingly no doubt) that the robot is sentient. The robot even brandishes both the flags of Britain and Japan. Through good old fashioned loophole abuse, the robot could be considered the first Japanese robot to enter the wars.
• Friendly Rivalry: Despite how heated things got, their rivalry with 101 is still this.
• Lightning Bruiser: Can zip around the arena at 14mph and is tougher than it looks; most of its immobilisations were due to mechanical faults. That said, it stood up to Dominator II very well when they fought in Series 5.
• Meaningful Name: King B Powerworks' name is derived from the fact it runs on 36 volts, the highest voltage allowed in the rules.
• Oddly Named Sequel: King Buxton, King B3, King B Powerworks, and finally King B Remix.
• Ramming Always Works: Its primary method of attack, and to great effect against the likes of Wel-Dor, Attila the Drum, Kronic 2, and even Tornado at one point.
• The Rival: Infamously to 101. King B beat Robodoc (101's predecessor) in Series 2 to reach the semi final, met each other at the same stage the following year with the opposite result, teamed up for the tag team terror only to fight each other afterwards. They then lost their tag team terror crown, blamed each other, and fought one last time in Extreme I for a vengeance battle with 101 emerging victorious.

Dartford Girls Grammar (Napalm)

(Semi Finalist in Series 2, Heat Finalist in Series 3, seeded 25th in Series 4 with Shadow of Napalm)

Win Record: 8 victories, 8 defeats (that's 7 victories, 6 defeats with Napalm, 1 victory, 1 defeat with Shadow of Napalm, and 1 defeat with Detonator)

The Third Wars

Mace II

(Semi Finalist in Series 2/3 with Mace I/II, Heat Finalist in Series 4 as Gemini, Pinball Warrior Champion; seeded 8th in Series 4, 18th in Series 5, both as Gemini)

Win Record: 6 victories, 2 defeats with Mace I/II, 4 victories, 5 defeats as Gemini

Entered with Mace I/II in Series 2/3, and Gemini in Series 4/5.

One of the early notable semi finalists of the Second Wars, Mace enjoyed a good run in Robot Wars reaching the semis in both wars it entered. However, the team would bring innovation to the table in their third outing with Gemini, the first clusterbot to ever appear on the show. While the idea was novel, it didn't reach the success its predecessors achieved due to design flaws and general weaknesses associated with multi-part robots.

• Always Second Best: As Mace, the team was only ever beaten by the eventual champions in both of its appearances. Panic Attack in Series 2, Chaos 2 in Series 3.
• Awesome but Impractical: Gemini's concept of having multiple units drive and attack individually gives it a tactical advantage, but the design surrounding it is highly flawed.
  • For one, the combined weight of each unit still has to be within the 80/later 100kg limit, meaning each part is easier to shunt around the ring, easier to flip, and more susceptible to damage due to being less protected, the last of which Tornado took advantage of.
  • Another major factor is the rules of immobilisation for clusterbots: both units need to be active to stay in the game. If one half of Gemini is immobilised, the whole thing is out. Half of Gemini's K.O losses were due to half of the robot dying mid-fight.
  • Due to each unit being half of size of other robots, Gemini's weapons aren't as powerful as say, Chaos 2 for example. The flippers are powerful enough to lift an 80kg robot off the floor, but in its Round 2 match against The Creature in Series 4, both units needed to attack together in order to get that beast of a robot out of the arena. This is more evident in Series 5 against Ruf Ruf Dougal, whose large wheelbase prevented Gemini from flipping it over effectively.
• Dark Horse Victory: Beat Chaos in Series 2, the successor to Series 1 grand finalist, Robot the Bruce. This made Mace the first robot to defeat a seeded robot in battle.
• First of Its Kind: The first ever clusterbot on Robot Wars, and the only heavyweight robot of this type until Series 7.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How it was beaten by Tornado in Series 4: in one of the few instances where the fixed spikes on the arena walls did their job, Tornado rammed half of Gemini onto the spike, which pierced its back end and punctured its speed controller putting it out of the competition.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Series 5/Extreme I, the team added wheelie bars to the back of each Gemini unit to stop them from pulling wheelie when they took off. However, in both of their losses in these two series, said wheelie bars stopped Gemini from self righting properly, resulting in their elimination.
  • In the Celebrity Special, Gemini actually had Díotíor beat after flipping the Irish robot over, but for some reason, they flipped it back over only for one half of Gemini to break down shortly afterwards.
• Ramming Always Works: Mace was able to beat Chaos in Series 2 by ramming it into Matilda whom then flipped it over.
• The Rival: A brief one with Team Chaos. They met in the Heat Final of Series 2/Heat B in which Mace emerged victorious. Their successors would meet again the following year just before the Grand Final, with Chaos 2 getting revenge. The producers even swapped Gemini's heat with Wild Thing's in Series 4 just to continue the rivalry (ensuring Chaos 2 and Gemini would meet each other in Semi Final Round 2 again), but that fell through when Gemini lost its heat final to Tornado.
• Something Completely Different: Gemini is a completely different robot to Mace in pretty much every aspect.

101

(Semi Finalist in Series 3, Heat Finalist in Series 4 and 6 (with Anarchy), Tag Team Terror Champions with King B3, First World Championship Semi Finalist. seeded 9th in Series 4, 23rd in Series 5)

Win Record: 11 victories, 5 defeats (plus 1 victory, 1 defeat as Robodoc, 2 victories, 1 defeat as Anarchy)

Entered with Robodoc in Series 2, 101 in Series 3-5, and Anarchy in Series 6.

Even robots built on a tight budget can be successful in Robot Wars, and 101 is proof of that. With only £5 max spent on it with all other parts being donated, 101 proved to be reliable, sturdy, and hard to kill. With 11 wins to its name, it is one of the more successful competitors of the first three wars, but more advanced weaponry and stronger armour caused 101 to fall behind. The robot is probably best known for its long standing rivalry with King Buxton dating as far back as Series 2.

• An Axe to Grind: Anarchy was equipped with an axe that had the power of Chaos 2's flipper behind it, and it proved to be very damaging.
• Can't Catch Up: Mike Franklin noted in his Round 2 victory in Series 6 that 101 was most suitable for the early wars it built for, but the robot became outdated by Series 5, hence he brought Anarchy along that year.
• Creepy Child: Ahead of its First World Championship quarter final against Wel-Dor, Amy Franklin sadistically tapes her cherished cuddly rabbit, "Superbunny" to the top of 101. She was normally very shy and quiet when being interviewed, but the fact she acted so nonchalant over the prospect of her childhood toy of 9 years makes this act slightly worrying. Thankfully, she retrieved Superbunny just before 101 entered the arena.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Justified in the sense that 101 was an outdated by Series 5, but the robot was given the #23 seeding despite a Tag Team Terror title, previous semi final placement, and a First World Championship semi final finish.
• Enemy Mine: Despite a long standing rivalry with King Buxton, both teams fought alongside each other in Tag Team Terror competitions.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Mike Franklin. While Robodoc and 101 were built on tight budgets, Anarchy best exemplifies his skills as an engineer by building a walkerbot that was well armed, well protected, and solidly constructed, earning him the Best Engineered Robot award in Series 6.
• Jack of All Stats: Anarchy is a well engineered, well balanced machine for a walker. It isn't the heaviest of its kind, but it moves at a brisk pace, its well armoured and has two powerful weapons.
• Made of Iron: Took beatings from Hypno-Disc, Dominator II, Razer, and Fluffy, yet never immobilised by any of them. In fact, none of the team losses were the result of a knockout; all of their losses to down to judges' decisions.
• Meaningful Name: Contrary to popular belief, 101's name is derived from 2 sources:
  1. The robot's length of 1.01m (or 101cm).
  2. Amy Franklin's favourite film at the time, 101 Dalmatians.
• Something Completely Different: The team went from the tracked 101 to the walkerbot Anarchy.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Ahead of its first battle in Series 6, Anarchy's opponent Judge Shred 2^1/2 was concerned because it was heavier than the latter's maximum flip capacity of 130kg (Anarchy was 167kg).

Team Scutterbots

(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

Entered with Scutter's Revenge in Series 3, Spawn of Scutter in Series 4, Spawn Again in Series 5-7.

One of several teams to compete in wars 3-7, Team Scutterbots are long standing veterans of the wars, reaching 4 semi finals with three different robots. The robots differed drastically over their first years, with their third robot Spawn Again being the first robot the team entered into multiple wars. Despite their success, the team's robots were plagued with reliability problems; as a result, they never went any further than Round 1 of the semis.

• Actor Allusion: The team's 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 semi finals 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 luckily, 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 long enough to beat Supernova in the final.
• Born Unlucky: Almost managed to toss Bigger Brother out of the arena in its Series 6 loser's melee, but it lost forward drive after the initial flip and couldn't follow it up as a result. Talk about breaking down at the wrong moment!
• 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 semi final'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 endcap off.
• Informed Flaw: In Extreme I, Spawn Again is stated as having "No Self Righting Mechanism" as its weakness. However, this could be attributed to the lack of a roll bar on the back of the robot at the time.
• 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 ten opponents by KO, and the only one with at least ten 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 had been offered the opportunity to compete in the reboot series with Spawn Again (a new ariel was needed, but otherwise it would've been unchanged from Series 7) 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.
• Thirteen Is Unlucky: Averted as it made the semi final for the third consecutive year despite carrying the number 13 seeding over its head.
• 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. It was also revealed that Team Scutterbots wasn't even approached about doing the All-Stars, so they didn't compete.

The Fourth Wars

Dominator II

(Pinball Warrior Runner-up in Series 3, Semi Finalist in Series 4-6; Seeded 11th in Series 5, 6th in Series 6)

Win Record: 18 victories, 6 defeats

(Entered with Dominator in Series 3, Pinball Warrior Tournament only)

Dominator II has one of the most consistent track records of any robot in the classic era of Robot Wars with a win ratio of exactly 3:1. For a team that debuted in a side competition in the 3rd wars, Dominator II became one the most feared robots around with its spike tipped axe. In all of its UK championship appearances, it finished in the Top 8 each year, meeting stiff competition each time. Despite this though, Dominator II does not have a single trophy or award to its name.

• 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 <ahem> dominating its opponent, Spikasaurus. That is, until its batteries finally packed in and cost it the competition.
• Determinator: As a testament to Dominator II's resilience, it kept going and beat Wheely Big Cheese after the latter launched it 8 feet into the air and shrugging off the impact.
• 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 eleventh 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.
• Powerful, but Inaccurate: After its wheels were covered up, this became Dominator II's biggest weakness; as powerful as that axe is when it lands a hit, Jonathon Pearce has frequently commented on its poor hit/miss rate. This became a problem when Dominator II was drawn against faster opponents.
• Weak but Skilled: The original Dominator didn't have any real weapons, its armour was a bit fragile, but it showed good control in the Pinball Warrior tournament in which managed second place with 160 points, only beaten by Razer's impressive score of 210.
• 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 semi finals 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).
• 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 semi finals, would you?

Wild Thing

(Semi Finalist in Series 3-6; seeded 11th in Series 4, 9th in Series 5/6)

Win Record: 14 victories, 10 defeats

Wild Thing is a long running veteran of classic Robot Wars competing from the third wars up until the sixth. While it didn't have the most fearsome of weapons, it made up for it by being practically unkillable. Its endurance has seen it through to 4 semi finals, with some of its battles being amongst the most memorable in the show's history.

• Ace Pilot: The late Nick Adams was well known for his driving skill, up there with there with the likes of David Gribble, Kim Davis, Andrew Marchant, and George Francis amongst the best drivers ever in Robot Wars.
• Always Second Best: Out of its 4 UK championship losses, 3 of them were against the current champions.
• Born Unlucky: Its Series 3 campaign came to an abrupt end when an arena spike bounced it up onto the back of Panic Attack, who itself was bounced up by the same spike, causing Thing II to roll over in the process.
• Badass Decay: Wild Thing looked a lot less impressive in later wars when its lack of offensive power became more apparent. While it never failed to make the semis in its career, its needed the judges to progress in 5 out of 6 heat battles in its last two wars.
• Determinator: Wild Thing will fight on like nothing happened, no matter how much damage it takes.
• Every Year They Fizzle Out: Can never make it to the grand finals, with the 4th wars being the closest it came to pulling it off. Every other year it competed, it lost in the first round of the semis.
• Jack of All Stats: …but a master of none. Fairly average top speed of 12mph, decent armour and competent weaponry.
• Made of Iron: Wild Thing is renowned for its endurance. It has taken numerous beatings against Hypno-Disc, Tornado, S3, and 259 over the years, and none of them were able to put it down.
• No One Should Survive That: The battering it received from 259. Even Jonathon Pearce was questioning if Wild Thing could survive such a brutal assault like that. But it does and outlasted 259 long enough to win.
• Single-Stroke Battle: The initial shunt into Napalm 2 was all it needed to win its Round 2 battle in Series 5.
• Spanner in the Works: YMMV. Might have been one for Chaos 2. While it still lost the fight, Wild Thing's tenacity and endurance pushed Chaos 2 very hard, to the point where the robot was limping by the end. The defending champs clearly needed time to recharge everything, though whether the long fight played into its next battle with Bigger Brother is up in the air.
• Victory by Endurance: Best exemplified by its battles with Trouble 'n' Strife, Prizephita Mach 2, and 259; despite starting off on the backfoot, Wild Thing kept on motoring away while its opponents were either on their last legs, or immobilised by the end. Even Chaos 2 was worn out by the end of its fight with this Duracell Bunny of a robot.
• We Can Rebuild Him: After taking serious damage from Razer in the 6th wars semi final, roboteers from other teams banded together to help put Wild Thing back for the Loser's Melee, including spare batteries from Panic Attack, a spare wheel from Tornado, George Francis assisting with electronics, even members of Dantomkia (the robot Wild Thing would fight next) were over there lending a hand.
• What Could Have Been: According to Robot Wars Magazine, Wild Thing would've been seeded 10th had it returned for Series 7.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Two examples:
  • After the 5th wars, Jake Adams left the team for unknown reasons, leaving his dad Nick, and older sister Isabelle to fly the flag for the team.
  • The team suddenly retired from the competition altogether after the 6th wars ended, leaving Chaos 2 to fight in its place in the All-Stars tournament. It is unknown what happened, or why the team chose to retire so suddenly.

Splinter

(Semi Finalist in Series 4; seeded 17th in Series 5)

Win Record: 8 victories 3 defeats

Entered with Ivanhoe in Series 2, Splinter in Series 4/5.

A father and son team that debuted in Series 2 and then fought in the fourth and fifth wars. As Splinter, the team has seen a short but fruitful run in Robot Wars, notching up 8 wins in two years, making the series semi final in 2000 and taking third place in the Extreme I Annihilator. However, Splinter is most infamously known for the ruthless trashing it received from Hypno-Disc.

• An Axe to Grind: Splinter was rebuild for Series 5/Extreme I, now wielding an axe for extra damage potential.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Despite its semi finalist status and solid performance in the first Annihilator in Extreme I, Splinter was only given the number 17 seeding for Series 5, below two losing heat finalist from the previous year (Razer and Behemoth).
• Facial Horror: The polystyrene scoop on the front of Splinter was the first thing that Hypno-Disc tore off in their now infamous encounter.
• Flawless Victory: Managed to beat the 16th seed Killerhurtz without so much as even getting touched by the axe.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Let's not hide it; it received one of the worst beatings a robot could ever get on Robot Wars. Hypno-Disc showed it no mercy in ripping it asunder.
• Ring Out: It was tossed out of the ring by Bigger Brother in its final battle in the 5th wars.
• Something Completely Different: Colour scheme and logo aside, Splinter and Ivanhoe have few design elements in common with each other.
• Weak but Skilled: Splinter was not a very strong robot, offensively or defensively, but made up for it with pushing power and the driving skill of its driver, Craig Wakeman.

Thermidor II

(Semi Finalist in Series 4/7, Annihilator runner-up in Extreme II; seeded 16th in Series 5, 14th in Series 7)

Win Record: 15 victories, 9 defeats

What started as a fun comedic animal themed robot in Series 3, Thermidor II became one of the most feared flippers in Robot Wars. Armed with a powerful flipper, Thermidor II became the first robot to toss 2 robots out the arena in the same battle, with Behemoth and Stinger being its victims. Despite its power though, its performance record is mixed; it made the semi finals twice, but joins The International Wreck Crew for the most Round 1 losses of any semi finalist with 3.

• Animal Motif: Lobster, with the presenters frequently making references to lobsters being broiled when it get beaten.
• The Bus Came Back: It was one of several old-school robots to come back for the 2016 revival.
• Combat Breakdown: It came so close to winning the Extreme II Annihilator, but it simply couldn't last the full 5 minutes with Kan-Opener. It was so battered, beaten and weary by the end that Kan-Opener easily pitted it with only 4.16 seconds of the fight left and couldn't hold on any longer.
• Every Year They Fizzle Out: When expected to do well, it always underperforms in competition, crashing in Round 1 on three separate occasions.
  • Most infamously, it dominated its Mayhem battle in Extreme I only to disappointingly die in the first round of the Annihilator.
• Foregone Conclusion: Let's face it, it was never going to lose against Mighty Mouse in the Series 7 heat final; it was just a matter of how long the fight would last.
• Palette Swap: Subverted. Thermidor II was painted orange in its 2016 promotional photo, but it was closer to its original red colour in the arena.
• Ring Out: Scored 4 of these over the course of its run, the first to throw 2 robots out in one fight, and joint first with Chaos 2 to get 2 out consecutively (since Extreme I and Series 5 were filmed concurrently).
• Shocking Elimination: Thermidor II was labelled the favourite to win Heat E in the Fifth Wars, but it ended up losing in the first round to previous Round 1 dropout, Prizephita Mach 2.

The Fifth Wars

S3

(Semi Finalist in Series 5/6, seeded 7th in Series 6)

Win Record: 8 victories, 4 defeats (plus 1 defeat each with Sting 1 and 2)

(Entered with Sting in Series 2, Sting II in Series 3)

A robot that came along in the later years of the show's classic era, S3 enjoyed a short but successful tenure on Robot Wars, reaching two semi finals and placing top 8. Unknown to some, S3 is actually the third iteration of the Sting series of robots that date as far back as the Second Wars.

• Always Someone Better: The two robots that beat S3 in Series 5 both went on to become runner up and series champion, in that order. Series 6 takes the cake when S3 lost to Firestorm IV, the robot that would go on to take third place that year. In essence, S3 has only ever lost to Top 3 finishers in its career!
• And Now for Something Completely Different: S3 bares no resemblance to its predecessors, ditching the scorpion aesthetic in favour of something looking more like a hammerhead shark with a vertical flywheel.
• Curb Stomp Battle: Absolutely smashed Plunderbird 5 to bits in its first battle. Jonathon Pearce was so impressed with that performance that he pegged S3 as the favourite to win the heat almost immediately afterwards. Bare to mind, this heat has last year's grand finalist, Stinger in it.
• Dark Horse Victory: Every single opponent it faced in Series 5 was a semi finalist at some point, and with the exceptions of Bigger Brother and Razer, it managed to beat all of them. In fact, it is the only robot to face nothing but previous semi finalists in its heat, and beat all three of them.
  • It was also one of only two non-seeded robots in the Series 5 semi finals, and the only one in this section with no prior semi final placements.
• Everything's Better with Spinning: Trades the scorpion flail for a 1,000rpm vertical flywheel. Though not the first robot to use such a weapon (we first saw one used by Daisy Chopper in Heat N of Series 3), but it was the first robot to properly demonstrate the weapon's effectiveness.
• Let's Get Dangerous: The team got serious when they entered S3 into Series 5, after admitting that Sting I + II were entered to qualify rather than actually winning the competition.
• Nice Hat: One of the robot's team member wears a camouflaged trilby.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Extreme II, S3 entered the All-Stars Tournament with some anti-flipper plates above and beneath its flywheel. While they were supposed to stop flippers from getting under the disc directly, they had the unfortunate side effect of stopping S3 from righting itself properly when propped up on one wheel, costing it its only battle in that series.
• Strength Equals Worthiness: S3's first two battles have made Jonathon Pearce a fan because the raw power in that disc and the damage it can cause. Jonathon summed its potential with this sentence:

I don't think I've been this excited about the debut of a robot ever since I saw Chaos 2 for the first time. —Jonathon on S3's run-up to the heat C final

• Took a Level in Badass: The upgrade from Sting II to S3 is pretty clear in its design and track record. It went from a Trials exit, to a Round 1 exit, and finished with two Top 8 finishes. Plus it was far deadlier.
• War Is Hell: This is the mildest example you can find, but the stressful nature of the ever-evolving sport, and the necessity to modify and upgrade the robot for each new war is the reason S3 retired after the second series of Extreme.
• What Could Have Been: According to Robot Wars Magazine, S3 would've had the number 8 seeding had it entered Series 7. Whether it could've broken the infamous 8th Seed Curse will never be known, but given that it would've shared Heat M with Tough As Nails, the answer probably would've been no.

The Sixth Wars

Dantomkia

(Semi Finalist in Series 6/7, Heat Finalist in Series 8; 5th seed in Series 7, Most Promising Newcomer of Series 6)

Win Record: 15 victories, 8 defeats

A real breakout star in Series 6, Dantomkia quickly rose to stardom by reaching the top 8 on its first appearance, toppling former champions Chaos 2 in the heats along the way. Even to this day, Dantomkia remains the undisputed king of the Ring Out, scoring a kill of this type 9 times, more than any other robot in history. Its impressive run in Series 6 earned it the Most Promising Newcomer award for that series, mainly for beating Chaos 2 with its own party trick.

• The Alleged Car: Most of Dantomkia's losses were a result of mechanical malfunctions. Whether it's a dead battery, the link popping out, or the CO2 system freezing up, something often seemed to go wrong.
• Born Lucky: Despite a convincing route through the heats in Series 7, Dantomkia suffered quite a bit of damage in each bout.
  • In Round 1, Dantomkia got smacked on the top by Mr. Psycho's hammer with its flipper still extended, resulting in said flipper being bent.
  • In Round 2, Scorpion put a number of gashes in Dantomkia's armour, one such blow caused damage to its gas valve, and it was severe enough that the team had to rush to repair it.
  • Against IG-88, the 8 second bout had the former's spinning axe clip Dantomkia's flipper plate as it toppled over the barrier, and (according to Mike Lambert) sent an electrical surge throughout the robot, frying all of its electronics. Good thing the fight was over at that point!
• Breakout Character: Proved to be this in Series 6, with its famous toppling of Chaos 2 winning it the Most Promising Newcomer award that year.
• The Bus Came Back: Its was one of several classic era veterans to return for the show's revival in 2016, albeit under new ownership.
• Call Back: After losing to TR2 the first time, Shane Swan started beating the robot with a hammer in (fake) anger, which a line in "The Srimech Song" alluded to in the chorus.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: Won its heat in its first outing on Robot Wars by tossing the former two-time champion Chaos 2 out of the ring in spectacular fashion.
• Everything's Better with Spinning: Downplayed. Dantomkia can reportedly prop its front wedges up by retracting the kickdown pedal at the rear, and spin on the spot between 400 and 500rpm, though we've only seen it do so in victory dances, and never in an offensive manner.
• Game-Breaking Injury: Lost to TR2 in Series 8 twice when its flipper stopped working. First time, the low temperatures froze the gas system up entirely, the second time, its flipper was torn from its mounting by Matilda and was flipped over by the floor flipper.
• Heel: Shane Swan played this role in Series 8, though it sadly got misconstrued as bad sportsmanship due to Manipulative Editing.
• Irony: Its heat final battle in Series 7 with IG-88 became the shortest bout in the show's history, lasting only 8 seconds. Its next battle against Gravity only lasted 6 seconds as it was tossed out itself!
• Lightning Bruiser: It was agile, well armoured, powerful, and very fast at 20mph (22mph in 2016).
• Meaningful Name: Mike Lambert, the builder of the robot, named it after he three sons: Daniel, Thomas, and Kian Lambert.
• Older Than You Think: Shane Swan was no stranger to Robot Wars, even in Series 8; he had previously entered the show in Extreme 2 with Hell's Teeth in the New Blood Championship, and then with Trax in Series 7 (which lost to Storm 2 in Round 2).
  • The same thing applies to his teammate, Stuart Barnwell, who was previously part of the Pussycat team (Team Kat as they were known at the time).
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Despite being 1/8th the size of its big brother, DTK still proved a formidable force in the Featherweight Championship, in which it proved to be durable, nippy, and not to mention powerful in lifting the 24kg Mammoth.
• Put on a Bus: After Series 8, Dantomkia was retired, with the team's new robot Push to Exit competing in the next 2 series.
• Ring Out: Oh so many! It still has the most Ring Out's to its name to this day, scoring 9 KO's in this way. Its victims include long standing veterans like Behemoth, King B Powerworks, Chaos 2, and Hypno-Disc. Unfortunately, Dantomkia suffered one at the hands of Gravity.
• Running Gag: Every UK championship Dantomkia fought in, it was placed into the 3rd heat.
• The Rival: A low-key example, but they faced King B Powerworks 4 times, the result being 4-2 in Dantomkia's favour (2 straights and 2 joint wins, since both survived Round 1 on two occasions).
• Rule of Three: Handly won its heat on two occasions, but it couldn't pull it off a third time.
• Sore Loser: Shane Swan was none too happy about losing the heat final of Series 8 to TR2, which he called a boring door stop. Downplayed though since Swan was clearly playing up this role purely for entertainment.
• Theme Initials: Dantomkia has a featherweight version that is identical to it in every way expect weight and size named DTK. It has proven to be just as good as its counterpart in that weight division.

13 Black

(Semi Finalist in Series 6, seeded 7th in Series 7)

Win Record: 6 victories, 5 defeats (plus 0 victories, 1 defeat with Limpet, 2 victories, 2 defeats with Heavy Metal)

Entered with Limpet in Series 2, 13 Black in Series 5-7, Heavy Metal in Series 9.

When a robot tries to do one better than the pioneer of a certain weapon type by attaching 2 instead of 1, 13 Black is the result. Though not the first robot to try, it showed the most potential. To be fair, 13 Black wasn't a bad robot by any means, reaching the semi finals of Series 6, and giving Razer a hard time in the Extreme II All-Stars competition. Despite this, it didn't quite live up to expectations as it simply had too many weaknesses that can be exploited by stronger opposition.

• Achilles' Heel: Self righting has always been a problem for 13 Black. Before the team added one to the robot in Series 7, it can sort of run upside down, but it wasn't that mobile. Even after it was added, the self righting arm didn't work properly and even when it was working against Gravity, it wasn't strong enough to turn it back over.
• Everything's Better with Spinning: From the weaponless Limpet to two 850rpm spinners with 13 Black.
  • Extends to the robot itself, which can cause damage by firing both discs up and spinning on the spot at high speeds. While this tactic has proven effective, Craig Charles rightly calls it slightly chicken.
• Expy: An indirect one to Gemini. Both are new robots from Series 2 debutants, played Follow the Leader to successful Series 3 competitors, tried to do one better than the front runners of successful weapon types by having two instead of one (Chaos 2's rear hinged flipper for Gemini, Hypno-Disc's horizontal spinner for 13 Black), held a lot of potential, but both ultimately underachieved.
• Follow the Leader: 13 Black tries to one-up Hypno-Disc by having two spinning discs instead of one, but it wasn't as effective nor was it as successful.
• Ring Out: It was launched over the barrier by Gravity with a powerful flip (though it came down and bounced out of the ring instead).
• Shout-Out: Heavy Metal's pink and purple colour scheme is a reference to the first heavy metal album, that being Black Sabbath's Paranoid.
• Thirteen Is Unlucky: It is in the name, after all. It met Firestorm 4 in the Series 6 semi final, stuck itself in the barrier against Razer in Extreme II, and faced Gravity in Series 7. An unlucky string of strong opponents indeed!

The Seventh Wars

Gravity

(Heat Finalist in Dutch Series 2, Semi Finalist in Series 7)

Win Record: 7 victories, 3 defeats

Dutch entrant Gravity made a huge splash in Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars. Despite being entered into only one UK championship, Gravity proved to have one of the most powerful flippers in the wars, launching robots several feet into the air, sometimes out of the arena. Like other flippers before it, Gravity was never afraid to take on the House Robots when the chance arises. It famously held the record for fastest battle in Robot Wars history by tossing Dantomkia out of the ring in 6 seconds, a record that stood for 13 years.

• Achilles' Heel: The tyres are Gravity's biggest weak point, which Tornado managed to puncture, limiting its mobility allowing the reigning champs to finish the deed by pitting it.
• Bullying a Dragon: It is not above taking on the House Robots and kicking their metallic behinds
• Camera Abuse: Caused damage to one of the cameras by flinging Hydra directly into it.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: The only robot to flip Growler and Cassius Chrome over. Also the first robot to flip Dead Metal over, while being the only one to flip the original Dead Metal, who was historically difficult to flip over due to his low centre of gravity and large wheelbase.
• First of Its Kind: The first Dutch robot to make the semi final of the UK championships and one of only two to ever do so, the other being Tough As Nails.
• Fountain of Expies: First there's Chaos 2, who popularised rear-hinged flippers, then Spawn Again who debuted the full body length flipper, and now we have Gravity, who combined both aspects of flipper design and perfected it. A lot of live circuit robots use a similar flipper design for two decades with a single piston and bungie cord, based on Gravity's own flipper. Even future Robot Wars champions and grand finalists like Apollo, Eruption, and TR2 can trace their flipper designs back to what Gravity had.
• Lightning Bruiser: Tossing Dantomkia out in 6 seconds. A literal example is when it beat a robot called Lightning in the heat final.
• Put on a Bus: Didn't qualify for Series 8 and took Series 9 off to update Gravity for Series 10.
  • Bus Crash: The team ultimately didn't enter Series 10 and the series was canned afterwards.

• Trash the Set: Indirectly by using Hydra as an unguided missile of sorts, tossing it into the air and coming down on the arena entry gate, then launching Hydra into the camera forcing the match to be stopped.

Bulldog Breed

(Heat Finalist in Series 4/5, Semi Finalist in Series 7, Tag Team Terror Champion in Extreme II; seeded 12th in Series 7)

Win Record: 13 victories, 5 defeats

Having debuted in Series 3, it took Bulldog Breed several years before it finally got off the ground. While it made the heat finals in the fourth and fifth wars, it didn't make the semi finals until the seventh wars. The robot was a pretty strong mid-tier robot in series 5 and 6, but being drawn against strong opposition like Hypno-Disc kept it from getting past the heats, though it performed strongly in Extreme II by winning the Tag Team Terror competition along with similarly animal themed partner, Robochicken.

• Alliterative Name: Bulldog Breed.
• Animal Motif: The British bulldog, obviously.
• Art Evolution: The artwork on the front of Bulldog Breed became less and less cartoony as the years went by.
• Born Unlucky: Most people would consider it bad luck just to get drawn against Hypno-Disc once. Bulldog Breed goes one further having met them twice in two wars; it was beaten by the Rose family both times.
• The Chew Toy: Bulldog's last opponent in Series 5-7 was a spinner of some kind. We already know about its run-ins with Hypno-Disc, but in tis final appearance, it was matched against a massively improved X-Terminator who gave Bulldog Breed such a bashing that its previous beatings from Hypno-Disc look like a pillow fight.
• Dark Horse Victory: Though JP noted that it wasn't an impressive display, it did defeat the 14th seed, Bigger Brother, in the second round of Heat J in Series 4.
• Early Installment Weirdness: The original Bulldog Breed had a circular saw instead of a flipper.
• One-Man Army: It won all three of its Tag Team Terror battles in Extreme II pretty much single headedly, since its partner Robochicken was just as useless as ever.
• Ring Out: Its only one was against Pussycat, a feat that not even Chaos 2 could pull off.
• Running Gag: In every domestic UK championship it fought in, Bulldog Breed has faced at one other animal themed robot.
• Took a Level in Badass: Having lost to Hypno-Disc two years on the trot, it finally got a well earned place in the semi finals of Series 7, justifying its #12 seeding and falling just short of the grand final.

Series 10 (10 Robot Rumble)

Sabre Tooth

(Heat Finalist in Series 9, 6th in 10 Robot Rumble in Series 10)

Win Record: 5 victories, 10 defeats

From Team Legion, Sabre Tooth is a veteran of the wars, but stands out from the crowd by bringing whole new design concepts to the wars each year. The team went for 15 years without winning a televised battle, until Series 9 when it finally managed to win a fight for the first time. Team Captain Gabriel Stroud is the face of Sabre Tooth, admired for his passion and creativity giving the different builds of Sabre Tooth over the years.

• Best Served Cold: In Series 6, it was pummelled into submission by Terrorhurtz in their opening battle. Almost 15 years, Sabre Tooth returned a favour by smashing Terrorhurtz open in a ferocious battle, using the new drum spinner and the House Robots to great effect.
  • Series 10 also broke tradition for the team by entering a revised version of their Series 9 machine by being more compact, and quicker around the arena.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Gave Terrorhurtz a good thrashing, but it took damage to its weapon in the process, with some extensive repairs.
• Dance Battler: The now famous "Gyro-Dance". While not the first robot to use gyroscopic motions, it became synonymous with it in Series 10 as it would use this technique to try and right itself when inverted.
• Enemy Mine: Having fought each other twice, Sabre Tooth partnered up with Terrorhurtz in the Tag Team round of the World Series.
• Everything's Better with Spinning: Each iteration has had a spinning weapon of some kind.
• Name's the Same: A strange variant on this trope in that the team entered a new robot each year (until Series 10), but they were all called Sabre Tooth.
• One-Hit Kill: Bashed Rabid M8 and knocked its safety link out with the first hit.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Gabe's daughter, Esme, had to leave the program during Sabretooth's Series 9 campaign due as she had to take her exams at the time.
• Ramming Always Works: In its Redemption Battle with Apocalypse, its drum stopped working and had to resort to slamming it into the walls for damage, which eventually paid off.
• Something Completely Different: Each iteration of Sabre Tooth was non-identical to the previous one, with only a few parts being reused in the next. Series 10 Sabre Tooth finally averts this by being a refined version of the Series 9 version, now that Gabe Stroud found a design that works.

Expulsion

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