Robot Wars (TV series)/Epic Fail

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Across 10 series, 2 Extremes, and international versions of the show, Robot Wars has naturally had its fair share of fail-tastic moments. Here are some of the most notable of such moments:

General

  • The biggest fails often come from teams who accidentally drive their machine into the pit when they are under no pressure whatsoever.
  • Any time a robot gets KO'ed by either one strike from the opponent, or by slamming itself into the side walls, often dislodging the robot's safety link.
  • Robots that die the second they enter the arena also count, usually due to a seemingly innocuous engineering mishaps in the pits, though said mishaps can have dire repercussions.
  • Even the House Robots are not safe from humiliation, whether they drive into the open pit, drive into arena hazards, or lose a piece of their bodywork.
  • For a specific robot, Terror Turtle currently ranks as the worst performing robot in the show's history with a record 7 losses and no wins. Even Sump Thing has a legitimate win to its name!

The First Wars

  • Shunt often had a really bad habit of driving off the sumo ring in the Trials leg of the heats; if that didn't happen, then he would've been pushed off instead. This seems to carry over into the Second Wars as well.
  • In Heat C, Cruella tried to line up another charge at Robot the Bruce, but ran off and got stuck on the grille at the edge of the arena, taking itself out as a result.
  • A more humorous example, but in Heat D, which featured nothing but tiny little featherweights (weighing 15kg or less), one such robot, Demolisher, a fast, nippy little machine weighing the equivalent of 2 large bags of sugar, drove right off the side of the arena... as it was being introduced by Johnathan Pearce!
  • T.R.A.C.I.E was immobilised by the lightweight Cunning Plan in the first ever Robot Wars Grand Final... by beaching itself on top of the latter, taking them both out in the process.

The Second Wars

  • In Heat A, Caliban's attempt at the gauntlet definitely counts; as it tried to take on the Sentinel, it was ambushed by Sir Killalot who proceeded to pick it up and shove it back to the start of the course. Caliban's final result was a pitiful 0.2m, the worst run ever recorded in the gauntlet on the show.
  • Also from Heat A, Pierce de Resistance is a box shaped robot that has a small flipping shovel at the front, but it was lightweight at less than 60kg, and was very slow at 5mph. It was such an under-powered robot that it didn't even have the power to knock over the bricks at the start of its gauntlet run. It only survived when Killalot intervened and carried the Yorkshire based machine over the wall it couldn't even knock over itself. In the Trial (in its heat the Trial was Skittles), Pierce de Resistance proved to be just as useless, as it failed to even knock over one barrel, leaving it scoring 0 points. To make things worse, it only needed to beat 4 points to go through to the Arena battles, and it couldn't even beat that!
  • In Heat D, First Wars runner-up Bodyhammer became the first and to this day, highest seed (3rd) to be eliminated in the first round in any domestic UK championship. In spite of having practically no ground clearance, the team took the right hand path (as the viewers see it), which has the ram-rig. Bodyhammer ended up beached on the saw trap only 3 meters into the run, eliminating it in last place.
  • Neither Onslaught nor Dreadnaught moved from their starting positions in the Head-to-Head rounds; the former broke down for unknown reasons, the latter when the team accidentally knocked the robot's safety link out as they set the robot down.
  • Prometheus had a terrible run in the Jousting Trial in Heat I, as it posted a miserable score of -2.10 metres after it couldn't even get up the ramp due to being so underpowered!
    • Rottweiler had to do very little to survive here, as it only had to try and maintain its starting position... and it got pushed backwards to -2.80 metres! This allowed Prometheus to scrape through to the Arena Battles with a negative score!

The Third Wars

  • The first battle of the Third Wars had the ever popular Stinger make its way into the pit only 50 seconds into the fight against Mace II, thanks to its haphazard driving!
  • A dinosaur shaped robot called Max Damage, which appeared in Heat C (also Razer's heat), failed to move from its starting position simply because the team forgot to switch it on before heading to the control pod.
  • John Reid showing poor driving in Heat N, when his machine Killerhurtz got some good axe blows in on Cerberus (even puncturing one of its batteries), only to veer away, no pressure whatsoever, and dive straight into the pit. [According to Reid himself, he forgot the pit was even there, since he was so used to the Battlebots arena in America, which didn't feature a pit].

The Fourth Wars

  • In Heat A, Medusa 2000 showed poor control when it backed straight into Sgt. Bash's pincer, and crushed its back wheel. It was already on the back foot as it was being tossed around the arena by the reigning champs, Chaos 2, but this driving error sealed its defeat.
  • Disc-O-Inferno's first ever fight in Heat E saw it immobilise itself when it bumped into its opponents, which caused a wire to move slightly and switch the robot off mid-fight.
  • The most infamous fail of the Fourth Wars probably has be Evil Weevil's untimely demise in Heat K/Round 1; the 12th seed only last a few seconds before it ground to a halt... all because the team unknowingly used the one set of batteries that weren't fully charged.
  • Díotíor's Sumo Basho run in Heat B only lasted 3.95 seconds, the worst run in the competition. In fact, Díotíor's Fourth Wars campaign in general was miserable. Not only did the team have remove the top armour because it was overweight, but the flipper broke as well. These factors resulted in Díotíor being flipped over by Ming II immediately in Heat C, scoring the Irish bot its only Round 1 defeat. If it's any consolation however, they did finish joint 6th in the Pinball Warrior tournament.
  • After Bigger Brother was declared immobile in Heat J, Sgt. Bash and Sir Killalot both seemed to struggle to get the beaten machine into the pit; Bash had Bigger Brother stuck in his claw (he was also stuck over the edge of the pit), forcing Killalot to separate them. Even then, Killalot dropped Bigger Brother off to the side of the pit, dragging the bout out even more. Shunt finally finished them off, as to say: "Fine, I'll do it myself!"
  • In Heat O, Team Trinity's Oblivion II was immobilised right from the start when Saw Point drove over the top of it, and bent the chassis. Yes, you read that right: it was immobilised by an opponent simply driving over it!
  • In a meta sense, X-Terminator 2's "axe" was absolutely rubbish; a piece of shrapnel on a flimsy piece of wire. It was so useless, even the team captain, Marlon Pritchard refuses to talk about it.

The Fifth Wars

  • In another instance of a self pitting, in Heat C, Shredder slammed into the back of 20th seed Mousetrap and into the pit release tyre. Then as the camera pulls back for angle for a wider shot, Shredder suddenly reversed straight into the pit!
    • Also from Heat C, Stinger, the 5th seed, struggled against Hippobottomus, an ineffective robot with a saw mounted on an axe of sorts, and was armoured with a plastic children's sand pit! Stinger narrowly won the fight on a judges' decision, but this should have been a foregone conclusion for such an aggressive machine that pushed Chaos 2 very hard in the Grand Final the previous year.
  • X-Terminator suffered its worst domestic championship result in Heat F; up against newcomers Corkscrew, it started well by puncturing the "handle" on top of the Scottish bot, but halfway through the fight, X-Terminator's batteries started to pack in, leaving the axe extended, its right hand drive dead, and was axed by Shunt, while Corkscrew kept up its aggression, giving them the judges' nod. Keep in mind also that Corkscrew's clutch broke before the fight, leaving it weaponless, and it beat a former Semi Finalist by just ramming it hard!
  • Major Tom's defeat against Kat 3 in Heat J takes the cake; it drove Kat 3 onto the pit release tyre, only to then reverse straight into the pit as it was descending. Both teams were laughing uncontrollably afterwards.
  • In Heat K, Axe-C-Dent lost to the joke competitor Destruct-A-Bubble. You know, the giant spherical robot with a 360 degree axe, a derpy face, and a high centre of gravity? Yeah, that robot!
  • Twister became the first UK robot to lose to a walkerbot in Heat L. For context, Twister had a flipper, a small drill...thing, and a bludgeoning weapon, and was up against Clawed Hopper, a 200kg walker that could only hit 2mph top speeds. A light nudge from Clawed was all it took to immobilise Twister!
  • The first clash between Hypnodisc and Firestorm III was the embodiment of an anti-climax due to the latter being immobilised with the first attack.

Extreme Series 1

  • In one of the Wild Card Warrior battles, The Executioner put up a poor showing against Dominator II by trying and failing 3 times (!) to release the pit, only to then drive straight into the pit itself!
  • Hypnodisc suffered its most embarrassing defeat against a wooden robot: the German entry, Nasty Warrior. What should've been complete fodder for Hypnodisc ended up jamming its internals with the splinters it tore from its opponent.
    • Also, in an unaired Wild Card Warrior battle, Hypnodisc broke down only 20 seconds into its fight with TX-108, despite a strong start. The fight was so anti-climatic that the producers did not air the fight.
  • Of all robots, Chaos 2 had its own Epic Fail moment in The Second World Championship: as it was tossing the Italian robot, Mastiff, around the arena, Chaos 2 went for the fancy "flip the opponent into the pit" manoeuvre, only to flip Mastiff away form the pit, and then drive in itself. Double fail considering George Francis is known as one of the best drivers in the competition, so a blunder like that was a shock.
  • X-Terminator's atrocious performance against Panic Attack in one of the many Vengeance Battles that took place across Extreme definitely counts. They were turned over very quickly by the former champions, and couldn't self right (the team foolishly added a spike on the front of the robot) and was eventually pitted. The team called it the worst fight they had ever had.

The Sixth Wars

  • Like Shredder above, Crushtacean in Heat C reversed straight into the pit after a tight tussle with former champions Chaos 2. Even more damning is that Crushtacean was actually ahead on points until that moment, and likely would've pulled off another surprise victory over a veteran machine.
  • In Heat H, Spam was dominating its second round bout with the 10th seed, Spawn Again. The latter clearly was not functioning properly, and seemed set to go out, until Spam suddenly ran straight into the pit for no reason whatsoever, and while under no pressure at all.

Extreme Series 2

  • In Heat B/Round 2 of the All Stars Tournament, 13 Black was cornered by Matilda, allowing Dominator 2 to follow up with a strong charge, only to miss and get buffeted by the House Robot itself; this bad piece of driving ruptured Dominator 2's gas valve, and damaged its drive on one side, limiting its immobility. After a minute and a half of the two robots dancing around the pit, Dominator 2 lost the resulting judges' decision thanks to the damage it took, all thanks to one mistimed charge.
  • Chopper's driving in Heat C of the New Blood Championship deserves a mention here; it did nothing but slam into arena walls, get pummeled by Matilda, drive over the flame pit, everything you can think of! The only reason it even survived that bout is because Mad Dog broke down earlier in the fight.
    • All of things, the Drop Zone scored a fail of its own by dropping an assortment of balls onto the beaten Mad Dog, only to completely miss its target! Remember, Mad Dog was immobilised and unable to move!

The Seventh Wars

  • In Heat E, Thunderpants didn't even make it into the arena, so the fight started with them immobilised at the entry gate. The reason this happened is because its drive belts took damage in the qualifiers, and the team had no time to repair them.
  • In the Heat F final, Tsunami had the seeded X-Terminator on the ropes, propped against the fence and unable to right itself. Instead of leaving it for Refbot to count it out, Tsunami instead tried to toss it out of the arena; this tactic backfired horribly as X-Terminator not only stayed in the ring, but also landed right way up, allowing it to continue fighting and then proceeding to punish Tsunami for their botched finishing move by tearing it to pieces!
  • In Heat O, Disconstructor out of nowhere drove into the descending pit having opened it itself.

Series 8 (2016)

  • During Dantomkia's final Round Robin battle with Big Nipper in Heat C, Sir Killalot managed to get himself impaled on the arena side wall, spearing his lance in the gap between the steel and perspex panels. He remained impaled there for the rest of the fight.
  • Kan-Opener once again continues its pattern of being totally win-less in the domestic championships, falling in Heat D/Round 1 when a strong flip from Apollo knocked its removable link out.
  • Or Te, the successor to the highly successful Bigger Brother, was KO'ed in five seconds in Heat C by Supernova.

Series 9 (2017)

  • In the final Round Robin match of Heat A, Sabre Tooth managed to lose to the highly ineffective Jellyfish on a judges' decision! Why? Well, in the team's haste to get Sabre Tooth up and running again, they managed to wire the drum backwards, causing said weapon to kick the robot upwards when it made contact with the opposition.
  • In Heat B, Behemoth's final opponent in the Round Robin stage was Cherub. The team had a sure victory on their hands, but the team opted to use some untested Gripping Claws instead of the scoop (much to Ant Pritchard's dismay). The result is the claws ended up being hideously ineffective, and it ultimately cost Behemoth a place in the Heat Final thanks to a judges' decision against them.
    • In the Heat Final, Cherub was ejected from the arena by Eruption in just 6.5 seconds.
    • Before that, though Cherub was barely functioning in its round robin battle with Eruption, yet it lasted longer in that fight than it did the second time the two robot met.
  • In Heat D, the second group battle was a massive fail for newcomers Apex, and veterans Crushtacean; both robots were knocked out in one hit, the former by Pulsar, the latter by Ironside 3.
    • In the same heat, Wyrm managed to top its predecessor, Overdozer, by knocking itself out in just 13 seconds by bumping into the wall! For context, its predecessor was made of wood and had a petrol engine onboard, yet it outlasted its heavily upgraded follow-up (23 seconds)!

Series 10 (2017)

  • In Heat C, Apex lost in spectacular fashion against a weaponless Trak-tion; Apex's giant bar spinner hit Traktion's wedge twice (borrowed from Vulture) and then tore itself apart. It was quite the sight to behold mind you, but it is still rather pitiful that a highly advanced machine like Apex was defeated by a team of teenagers' school project.
    • Before that though, it only took one strong charge from Terrorhurtz to immobilise Apex's weapon almost immediately.
  • Iron Awe 6 returned with a lot of fanfare considering its success on the live circuit after Robot Wars initially ended in 2004, and was considered the pioneer of the "modern day flipper" as we know it today. When it fought in Heat D however, the flipper never even worked once, meaning it had to resort to use its wedge and pushing power to survive its battles to go through to the 10 Robot Rumble, where the flipper still didn't work.
  • Shunt managed to break his own axe not once, but twice in Series 10:
    • The first time this happened was in Heat E, in the redemption battle between Hobgoblin and Coyote; Hobgoblin is left immobile in Shunt's CPZ, but its unique "eggbeater" is still running. Shunt brings his axe down, only for the titanium tip for sheer off completely.
    • The second occurrence was in the second episode of the World Series; the final fight between Eruption (UK) and Cathadh (USA), Eruption strayed too close to Shunt, but the UK robot's armour is so strong that Shunt's axe literally broke in two.
  • Expulsion was a gift that kept on giving in Heat E; it got flipped over in every battle it had in the heat, yet still survived long enough to make the 10 Robot Rumble, where it quickly found its way into the pit only seconds after it was opened.
  • In Episode 1 of World Series, Team UK defeated both members of Team Rest of the World in a single hit; Terrrorhurtz knocked out Díotíor's safety link almost immediately, and Sabretooth did the same to Rabid M8 shortly after.
  • Episode 2 saw Terror Turtle immobilised by Concussion in just 2 seconds! This is now the fastest immobilisation of a robot in the show's history.

International Versions

  • In Heat D of Dutch Series 2, Cyclone had an easy win against Amok. Not because it was the dominant robot, but because Amok was disabled by the floor spinner of all things. Granted, it isn't clear why the spinner was active at the start of the fight, but the fact that the centrifugal force was enough to dislodge the removable link in the first place is especially poor. So in essence, Amok is the only robot in Robot Wars history to be immobilised by the floor spinner!
  • When Spawn Again fought in the US version's War of Independence, it was KO'ed after the first hit from its opponent, Joker. Sure, it was unfair that Joker spun its weapon up before activate was called, but that is still a poor display for Spawn Again to fall that quickly, even taking its status as The Alleged Car into account.
  • In the German version's 5th place melee, Mr. Psycho picked up a defeated Junkyard Queen and paraded it around the arena; however, he raised his claw with his prey still in his clutches, and spun around so fast that he toppled over like a drunken idiot! It was admittedly quite funny to watch, though.


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