Just recently it was announced that the BBC are bringing Robot Wars back to the TV for the first time in over a decade!!! Growing up, I absolutely loved this show right up until it’s cancellation. Now, the actual competition of Robot Wars continued on, and is still going now, just not on TV, and unfortunately I’ve never been able to see it. With it’s return to TV though, I started thinking about all the classic robots from back in the day, and what battles we never actually got to see. Some of these might very well have happened in the 10+ years the show has been off the air, but I’m only interested in what we didn’t get to see on TV. So these are some of my personal Robot Wars Dream Matches!!!
Panic Attack Vs Razer
I’ll get started with a pretty big match up between two former UK champions of Robot Wars! Panic Attack won series 2, while it would take Razer until series 5 to finally win the big one despite being around since season 2 and winning multiple World championships. Panic Attack is rather simple in its design; lifting forks at the front to raise up opponents and move them around, and a self righting mechanism on top so it can return to its wheels if flipped over. Meanwhile Razer is built around one of the most destructive weapons in the history of Robot Wars; a 9 ton crushing arm that can pierce through any opponent that might be unlucky enough to get caught, as well as it’s own unique form of a self righting mechanism that looks spectacular in motion. Kim Davis, the owner and driver of Panic Attack is wildly regarded as one of the best drivers in Robot Wars history, making good use of those lifting forks to get underneath opponents and drive them around either into the pit or right into the dreaded hands (or weapons as it were) of the House Robots. Razer on the other hand is all about destruction. Its a very fast robot, and that speed typically allows them to immediately grab hold of their opponent with the crushing arm, and from there Razer would often control the rest of the match until it won. So for me, what’s most interesting about this match up is how Razer would do against the superior driving and handling abilities behind Panic Attack. If Razer grabs hold of Panic Attack, it could all be over, but its a question of whether or not Razer COULD get hold of Panic Attack. My money would have to go simply on who gets to their opponent first with their weapon; Razor grabbing hold with the crushing arm, or Panic Attack getting in underneath with the lifting forks.
Hypno-Disc Vs 13 Black
Battle of the spinners! Hypno-Disc burst onto the scene in series 3, and like Razer, is known for being one of the most destructive robots ever. The massive fly wheel on the front of the robot spins around very, very fast (speeds have varied over time due to upgrades etc) and has bits of metal sticking out on the sides to slice and rip into other robots. And boy did it ever. Almost every robot that came up against Hypno-Disc in series 3 had to collect what was left of their robot with a dustpan and brush. It made its way to the final, losing out to Chaos 2 at the time, but it has remained a fan favourite over time due to its destructive nature. 13 Black on the other hand came into the show much later, around the 2 last year or so if I remember correctly. While having TWO massive fly wheels spinning around causing essentially double the damage Hypno-Disc had done in the past, but this time such destruction was almost expected by the robots, and thus it isn’t as well know for it as Hypno-Disc. What makes it stand out to me above so many other robots, and what makes me want to see it face off against Hypno-Disc, is the fact that it RETIRED CHAOS 2. Quick Robot Wars history lesson! Chaos 2 was the evolution of a robot going back to the first series. Robot the Bruce was a rectangle robot with no weapons, but had plenty of pushing power which was mostly all you needed back then. It made it to the final, but lost out to Roadblock at the time when it was flipped over after driving up the wedge body of Roadblock. Come series 2, and Chaos is born from Robot the Bruce. This time it had a small lifting arm, similar to the lifting forks of Panic Attack, only not quite as effective. It was also one of the original self righting mechanisms, but failed when George Francis, the creator, forgot to attach a small piece of plastic to the back of the robot to allow it to flip over properly. Series 3 comes around and this time Chaos 2 has a new body and a long flipper rather than just a flipping arm. Powered by CO2, this flipper could quite easily over turn any opponent, and in one of the best moments in robot wars history, even out of the arena!!! With the great pushing power inherited from Robot the Bruce, speed and great driving from George (perhaps only second to Kim Davis), and now a weapon capable of turning over any robot it so desires, Chaos 2 made it to the finals and defeated Hypno-Disc even after taking a couple of head on attacks from the fly wheel! A year later, and once again Chaos 2 wins the entire competition, becoming the first and only robot to win more than once! Since series 4, Chaos 2 remained mostly the same, and as such fell behind a little due to the newer and more improved robots coming along. Still, Chaos 2 was always a force in the robot world and rarely lost. And that brings us to 13 Black. During an All-Stars tournament qualifier, it was pitted in one hell of a match against Razer and Chaos 2, with the two winners going into the next round. Razer and Chaos 2 were the favourites. That is, until 13 Black utterly DESTROYED Chaos 2, smashing the all time great to pieces and officially retiring the once great champion. So, with Hypno-Disc going one on one against Chaos 2 and barely making a dent before being flipped over, and then 13 Black coming in and shredding apart the former champion, I would LOVE to see what would happen with these two robots going head to head. Hypno-Disc obviously made improvements since the Chaos 2 battle, but would the two discs of 13 Black factor in here? Having a disc on each end of the robot means that Hypno-Disc would only be able to attack from the side, giving 13 Black a clear advantage imo.
Chaos 2 Vs Cassius
And finally we have my absolute biggest Robot Wars Dream Match ever!!! Chaos 2, the two time champion and perhaps greatest, along with Cassius, perhaps the most influential robot in Robot Wars history. Cassius was the first to really use the self righting mechanism, and did so in spectacular fashion during series 2. And from this, George Francis wanted to make better use of the incredible power of a CO2 flipping arm by hinging it the other way and increasing the surface area from a small arm to a wide scoop. While Cassius 2 also had the larger area for the flipper in series 3, it was still hinged the other way, plus was unable to win the heat, and as such we never really got to see what that machine would do. Cassius 1 on the other hand made it to the final and was only defeated by Panic Attack, mainly due to superior driving skills. So, Chaos 2 has imo the superior flipper and definite the superior driving skills, while Cassius was the inspiration for that very machine and what made it so successful in Robot Wars. A true battle of the flippers, and a battle of 2 of the biggest fan favourites in the history of the show!!!
I’m going to leave it there, as honestly I was having a hard time coming up with any other dream matches that hadn’t already taken place. With a new series coming this year, I hope we get a good mix of new robots and old robots upgraded, and maybe from these I’ll be able to create some new dream matches!