James R | On 24, Jul 2016

Robot Wars returns to UK TV screens tonight, 18 years after the show first began. Hosted by Jeremy Clarkson and Philippa Forrester, and later Craig Charles, the show pitted mechanical monsters against each other in the arena to see which would come out on top.

From axes and saws to flippers and self-righting mechanisms to get toppled robots back on their feet, the result was carnage – the kind of carnage that inspired kids to learn about engineering and also let everyone admire flames, sparks and crushing metal in close-up detail.

Now, the new Robot Wars returns at 8pm on BBC Two, with new hosts Dara O’Briain and Angela Scanlon and a wave of new contenders – and commentator Jonathan Pearce – hoping to be victorious in a purpose-built fighting arena in Glasgow. Among the 40 new teams, there are 14 returning old favourites, not to mention the souped-up, redesigned House Robots.

“The House Robots grip harder than they used to, they smash further, they move quicker, they are terrifyingly bigger and heavier than the first time round,” comments Dara. “But then, aren’t we all?”

Dr Lucy Rogers, Professor Noel Sharkey and Professor Sethu Vijayakumar will be judging each robot throughout the competition using three criteria: aggression, damage and control (“style”, also a factor in the original series, has since been cast aside). So, using the new categories, and a whole bucketload of nostalgia, we warm up our engines for the new Robot Wars with a look back over the previous seasons to rank the greatest, deadliest and most memorable robots in Robot Wars history.

(For fans of Matilda (or “Tilly”, as Angela calls her), Shunt, Dead Metal and Sir Killalot, we’ve also included the House Robots and their new vital statistics. If any of the new contestants can impress us over the coming weeks, we may well add them to the list too.)

These are the top 25 Robot Wars robots of all time.

1. Razer (Returning for 2016)

Featured in: Seasons 2 to 6
Weight: 109kg
Speed: 12mph

Weapons
– Hydraulic piercer with 3 tonnes of pressure
– Lifter
– Self-Righting Mechanism (SRM)

Claim to fame
Has the most wins of any robot to compete on the show.

Score

2. Sir Killalot (House Robot)

Featured in: Seasons 2 to 7
Weight: 741kg (used to be 520kg)
Speed: 10mph (used to be 5mph)

Weapons
– A rotating drill lance and jaws that open to 700mm
– Each arm can lift 300kg (almost three average robots)
– Hydraulic claws with 2.5 tonnes of crush force
– Super strong Armox armour

Claim to fame
Can chop a robot in half. Ask King B Remix.

Score

3. Chaos 2

Featured in: Seasons 3 to 6
Weight: 84kg
Speed: 20mph

Weapons
– CO2 pneumatic flipper

Claim to fame
The only robot to defend its championship title. Not bad for something that only cost £250 to make.

Score

4. Roadblock

Featured in: Seasons 1 to 2
Weight: 80kg
Speed: 5mph

Weapons
– Wedge-shaped design
– Petrol-powered rear circular saw

Claim to fame
The very first winner of Robot Wars, it proved that simple design could trump even the biggest of weapons.

Score

5. Hypno-Disc

Featured in: Seasons 3 to 6
Weight: 100kg
Speed: 10mph

Weapons
– Rapidly-spinning flywheel disc that rips armour off other robots
– Side-mounted SRM

Claim to fame
It never won a season, despite reaching the Grand Final three times.

Score

6. Panic Attack

Featured in: Seasons 2 to 7
Weight: 99kg
Speed: 8mph

Weapons
– 12″ lifting spikes capable of overturning a robot
– Zero turning circle

Claim to fame
Winner of Season 2. Plus it had a natty spider logo.

Score

7. Firestorm

Featured in: Seasons 3 to 7
Weight: 94kg
Speed: 12mph

Weapons
– Pneumatic front flipper
– SRM

Claim to fame
Reached five semi-finals, thanks to its above-average quality of driving and tactic of flipping other robots against the arena walls.

Score

8. Cassius

Featured in: Seasons 2 to 3
Weight: 81kg
Speed: 25mph

Weapons
– Front-hinged flipper
– Pneumatic spike

Claim to fame
The first robot to defeat Roadblock – and one of the few to kill itself by reversing accidentally in the pit.

Score

9. Behemoth (Returning for 2016)

Featured in: Seasons 2 to 7
Weight: 108.5kg
Speed: 14mph

Weapons
– Pneumatic lifting scoop that can lift a Peugeot 205

Claim to fame
One of the oldest Robot Wars veterans, despite poor performances and bad luck in semi-finals. Its thin side armour was the main weakness, but that gave its iconic bulldozer-style front weapon more power.

Score

10. Mortis

Featured in: Seasons 1 to 4
Weight: 108.5kg
Speed: 14mph

Weapons
– Diamond-edged edged axe, capable of hitting up to three times a second with the force of a .38 Magnum

Claim to fame
Always highly-seeded, Mortis’ fearsome reputation stemmed from its expensive, technologically advanced design.

Score

11. Bigger Brother

Featured in: Seasons 4 to 7
Weight: 98kg
Speed: 12mph

Weapons
– Wedge-shaped design
– Front flipper

Claim to fame
Defeated both Chaos 2 and Hypno-Disc.

Score

12. Terrorhurtz (Returning for 2016)

Featured in: Seasons 5 to 7
Weight: 107kg
Speed: 11mph

Weapons
– Double-ended titanium axe with 1 tonne of force
– Bullet-proof polycarbonate armour

Claim to fame
At a whopping 90cm, Terrorhurtz boasts the biggest and most powerful axe in the competition, with an intentionally blunt edge to ensure maximum damage to rival robots’ internal workings.

Score

13. Dantomkia (Returning for 2016)

Featured in: Seasons 6 to 7
Weight: 108kg
Speed: 20mph

Weapons
– Front flipping arm
– Spinning movement to hit opponents with spike wedges

Claim to fame
Ignore the terrible name: Dantomkia defeated Chaos 2 and broke the record for the most out-of-arena flips.

Score

14. King B Remix, aka. King Buxton (Returning for 2016)

Featured in: Seasons 2 to 5, 7
Weight: 100kg
Speed: 15mph

Weapons
– Front steel spikes
– Flipper

Claim to fame
Almost being chopped in half by Sir Killalot in Season 5.

Score

15. Killertron

Featured in: Seasons 1 to 2, 4
Weight: 97kg
Speed: 15mph

Weapons
– Double-headed pickaxe
– Bucket scoop

Claim to fame
Lost to Roadblock in Season 2 and Season 1’s Grand Final.

Score

16. Matilda (House Robot)

Featured in: Seasons 1 to 7
Weight: 350kg (used to be 116kg)
Speed: 14mph (used to be 8mph)

Weapons
– Pneumatic flipping tusks (can lift 1.5 tonnes)
– Vertical flywheel (1500rpm)

Score

17. Shunt (House Robot)

Featured in: Seasons 1 to 7
Weight: 327kg (used to be 105kg)
Speed: 11mph (used to be 10mph)

Weapons
– Front ramming plough
– Rear bucket scoop
– CO2-powered Titanium axe
– High-torque drive with enough power to tow a van

Score

18. Dead Metal (House Robot)

Featured in: Seasons 1 to 7
Weight: 343kg (used to be 112kg)
Speed: 13mph (used to be 12mph)

Weapons
– CO2 pincers, 1.4m wide, 300kg grip
– Circular saw, 4000rpm, 450mm wide

Score

19. Tough as Nails (Returning for 2016)

Featured in: Season 7
Weight: 107kg
Speed: 10mph

Weapons
– Horizontal clamping arms

Claim to fame
The robot’s weirdly unique shape helped it to defeat Panic Attack through the simple use of its clamps.

Score

20. Storm 2 (Returning for 2016)

Featured in: Season 7
Weight: 107kg
Speed: 18mph

Weapons
– Four-bar lifting arm
– Spinning disc

Claim to fame
Built with one aim in mind: to win. This single-minded beast had to add a weapon to be eligible to take part, but was so fast and powerful that it already had a huge advantage.

Score

21. Recyclops

Featured in: Season 1
Weight: 79.5kg
Speed: 4mph

Weapons
– Pneumatic tongue flipper

Claim to fame
From the makers of Cassius, Recylopse is the first robot to use a moving weapon to flip an opponent, it beat Mortis in Season 1.

Score

22. Robot the Bruce

Featured in: Season 1
Weight: 84.6kg
Speed: 4mph

Weapons
– Armoured casing

Claim to fame
Sheer power and force made Robot the Bruce live up to its name – it was a near indestructible box. That’s it. (Later reincarnated as Chaos 2.)

Score

23. Pussycat

Featured in: Season 3 to 5, 7
Weight: 100kg
Speed: 14mph

Weapons
– Four-toothed spinning 3500RPM blade

Claim to fame
The only robot to disarm Razer.

Score

24. Wheely Big Cheese

Featured in: Seasons 4 to 5
Weight: 99kg
Speed: 12mph

Weapons
– Powerful titanium flipper

Claim to fame
Its powerful flipper threw robots up to 10 feet in the air. Plus it had a brilliant name.

Score

25. Nemesis / Diotoir

Featured in: Seasons 1 to 2 / 3 to 5
Weight: 74.5kg / 90kg
Speed: 6mph / 6mph

Weapons
– Front pneumatic spike
– Cutting blades
– Flammable fur
– Hydraulic lifting arm (Diotoir)

Claim to fame
Succeeded by Diotoir, Nemesis won fans with its striking red and black polka dot fur, which caught on fire in all of its incarnations.

Score

 

Which Robot Wars contenders were your favourites? Did we miss any off the list? Let us know below.

 

Full list of returning robots for the new series:

Behemoth
Razer
Thermidor 2
Big Nipper
Sabretooth
Supernova
Terrorhurtz
Chompalot
Dantomkia
Thor
Terror Turtle
DisConstructor
Tough as Nails
Storm 2

 
Photos: BBC / Robot Wars / RobotWars.Wikia.com
 

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