Razer (Robot)
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Razer is a contestant on the TV show Robot Wars. Despite suffering chronic mechanical problems in its first three years, it was the champion of the fifth UK series of Robot Wars and won the first two Robot Wars World Championships. They also got their own personalized Pullback, Minibot and DVD.
Razer is not to be confused with Raizer Blade, another robot that appeared in Series 3 and Series 4.
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[edit] The Robot
Razer was a roughly wedge-shaped robot with a powerful mechanical claw weapon, looking somewhat similar to a scorpion's tail. This weapon, described as "half bird, half reptile" by commentator Jonathan Pearce was one of the most powerful weapons in Robot Wars history, being able to penetrate deep into robots and damage their inner mechanics. In Series 3, two "wings" were added to the side of the crushing arm to serve as a srimech (self-righting mechanism), should Razer ever be flipped over (as well as making it able to give its infamous "salute"). The weapon was filled with holes drilled to keep Razer within the allowed weight boundaries.
Razer was well known before Series 5 for being unreliable, breaking down in Series 2, 3 and 4.
Razer was created by Simon Scott (the team captain), Ian Lewis and Vincent Blood, from Bournemouth.
[edit] Series 2
The robot was hard to control in the gauntlet, but bashed its way past the ram rig and pushed Shunt into the safe zone. It scored the first goal in the football trial. In its semi-final, Razer trapped Inquisitor before crushing its flail support. But Inquisitor was still mobile and escaped, while Razer was suddenly unable to move, the first example of its infamous early unreliability.
Razer won the Best Design Award for Series 2.
[edit] Series 3
[edit] Round 1 vs. Backstabber
Razer was unable to get a grip on Backstabber, so the team had to settle for pitting it instead.
[edit] Round 2 vs. Aggrobot
Despite causing damage to Aggrobot, Razer lost due to a mechanical failure: when the claw was raised to full height, it became stuck, and the rear end lifted Razer's wheels off the ground, so it couldn't move.
However, Razer would go on to win the Pinball Warrior Tournament of Series 3, and again won the Best Design Award. They also won the direct-to-video feature-length First World Championship tournament: representing England, they beat All Torque (representing Scotland), Chaos 2, 101 and Behemoth (the latter three also represented England).
[edit] Series 4
[edit] Round 1 vs. Robochicken vs. Velocirippa
Razer caused damage to both opponents - Velocirippa became immobilised, so Robochicken qualified with Razer.
[edit] Round 2 vs. Milly Ann Bug
Razer drove in immediately and crushed Milly Ann Bug's rear section, then crumpled the front, tried to break the two domes apart, then methodically chopped off all of the opponent's wheels.
[edit] Round 3 vs. Pussycat
In the first few seconds of the fight, Razer ran into the arena side wall, malfunctioned and got stuck in forward drive, meaning that it couldn't manouver away. Pussycat took advantage of this by completely decimating the back and side of its adversary with destructive four toothed sawblade. This continued until Dead Metal pitted the half destroyed razer.
Although Simon Scott and Vincent Blood were gracious in defeat, team captain and main designer/creator Ian Lewis, who had left the controller's box whilst his machine was destroyed, accused the Pussycat team of breaking a 'Gentlemens Agreement' in which he claimed that both teams agreed not to seriously damage the others machines. However, Lewis's accusations were dissmissed by Robot Wars producer Derek Hobbes, who stated that such an agreement between two such destructive machines would have been virtually impossible to carry out.
Razer also took part in the Pinball and Sumo Basho tournaments of Series 4: it did not perform particularly well in either, scoring 95 points in the Pinball (abandoning the run to attack Sir Killalot) and being knocked off the Sumo podium by Shunt in less than 5 seconds. However, it did win the "Southern Annihilator" special, a six robot battle with Atilla The Drum, Behemoth, Onslaught, Spawn Of Scutter and Vercingetorix. After Onslaught was flipped on its side and immobilised in the final round, Razer celebrated its victory by attacking house robot Matilda and causing major damage.
[edit] Robot Wars Extreme
Razer took part in the All-Stars tournament of Robot Wars Extreme, and won, beating Gemini, Behemoth, Firestorm III and Tornado. Its only other battle in Extreme was a grudge match with Pussycat for the loss in Series 4 - Pussycat won again, immobilising Razer itself with its spinning blade.
The Second World Championship was also filmed as part of Robot Wars Extreme. Representing England again, Razer began its title defence in a melee with Diotoir (Ireland), Flenzburgerpower (Germany) and The Revolutionist (USA) - it qualified when it immobilised The Revolutionist and Flenzburgerpower broke down. Razer then beat Tornado again in the next round, and beat DrillZilla (USA) in the final on a judges decision, retaining its title as World Champion.
The team also competed in an antweight melee with "Razzler", a modified Razer toy - Razzler was pitted during the melee.
[edit] Series 5
[edit] Round 1 vs. Big Nipper
Razer won, despite losing one of its srimech "wings" early on.
[edit] Round 2 vs. Widow's Revenge
Widow's Revenge was built by the Razer team's wives/girlfriends. The "Widow's" team had forgotten to fit a wire guard - when Razer attacked, the wire touched the shell and shorted out the robot's electronics. Widow's Revenge ended up getting mashed by Razer and smashed by Matilda. However, Widow's Revenge was too big to go in the pit, so Razer fell in underneath! The result, however, remained unchanged and Razer progressed.
[edit] Round 3 vs. Rick
Razer successfully immobilised Rick with the claw. After Rick was counted out by Refbot, Razer attempted to attack Sir Killalot, with Razer ending up in the pit. This victory allowed Razer to reach the Semi-Finals for the first time.
[edit] Round 4 vs. Spawn Again
Razer damaged and then pitted Spawn Again.
[edit] Round 5 vs. S3
Razer sliced into S3's weapon controls, stopping its spinning disc. This allowed Razer to dominate the fight, which went to the judges, and sent Razer through to the finals.
[edit] Round 6 vs. Firestorm 3
Razer quickly got Firestorm in its grip, and bent the pneumatic rams of Firestorm's flipper. Firestorm's only option was to shove, but it did so effectively, almost pitting Razer twice. The fight ended in a very close judges' decision, in Razer's favour.
[edit] Final vs. Bigger Brother
Bigger Brother was heavily damaged by Hypno-Disc in the previous round, but thanks to the efforts of other builders, it was fixed in time for the final. Razer got it in an early grip, and Bigger Brother took damage from which it never recovered. The final say went to the judges, whose decision went in favour of Razer, making them the Series 5 Champions.
On top of their unprecedented success, Razer also took home the Best Design award for the third time.
[edit] Series 6
[edit] Round 1 vs. Brutus Maximus vs. Raging Reality vs. WASP
Razer damaged all three of its opponents - WASP became immobile and Raging Reality flipped Brutus Maximus out of the arena.
[edit] Round 2 vs. Cyrax
Razer dominated the fight, clawing Cyrax and shoving it into the House Robots. Cyrax, however, became the first robot to flip Razer in the main RW competition. Razer won the judges' decision.
[edit] Round 3 vs. Raging Reality
With the aid of Matilda and her new flywheel, Razer damaged and then pitted Raging Reality.
[edit] Round 4 vs. Wild Thing 2
Razer damaged and pitted Wild Thing.
[edit] Round 5 vs. Dantomkia
Razer clawed Dantomkia and pushed it around, and won the judges' decision.
[edit] Round 6 vs. Terrorhurtz
Razer quickly pitted Terrorhurtz
[edit] Final vs. Tornado
After losing to Razer in Extreme, Tornado had been preparing for the day they should meet Razer again. Before the fight, they unveiled a massive frame equipped with a lawnmower blade. The size of this frame was designed to keep away Razer's claw so it could not reach the inner parts of Tornado like it did in Extreme.
Razer's attempts to grapple Tornado were in vain. Tornado just kept slamming the robot into the arena wall and into the House Robots. However, near the end of the fight, Tornado began to lose power, and Razer made a final bid for victory, pushing them towards the pit. However, the massive frame kept Tornado from fitting into the pit, and the clock simply ran out.
After a 45 minute wait, the judges finally ruled in favor of Tornado, who subsequently became the new UK Champions.
[edit] Robot Wars Extreme II, Final Battle with Tornado
Razer made its final appearances in Robot Wars Extreme II. Razer had the honour of being one of the few robots, along with 13 Black, to defeat the legendary Chaos 2,as well as winning the All-Stars tournament again, beating Spawn Again, 13 Black and Firestorm IV along the way. However, they faced the daunting prospect of another battle with Tornado, and its anti-Razer frame, in the European Championship tournament. The team had adapted a special hook weapon to be attached to the claw should this fight ever come about. The weapon had been designed to allow them to lift up Tornado by their frame in much the same manner they could lift robots impaled on their claw weapon.
When the fight came, Razer used this new weapon well, dragging Tornado over to the pit. Unfortunately, Razer's motors then burnt out. A judges' decision awarded the fight to Razer for being in control of the match, but the Razer team were unhappy and promptly gave the match to Tornado.
Razer was subsequently retired and did not take part in Series 7.
[edit] Links
Raging Reality vs. Razer vs. W.A.S.P vs. Brutus Maximus[1]
Razer vs. Bigger Brother[2]
Onslaught vs. Razer[3]
Razer vs. Gemini[4]
Pussycat vs. Razer (Vengeance)[5]
Razer vs. FireStorm 4[6]
XIII Black vs. Razer[7]
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UK Robot Wars Champion (Series 5) |
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UK Robot Wars World Champion (First, Second World Championship) |
Succeeded by: |
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Preceded by: |
UK Robot Wars Pinball Champion (Series 3) |
Succeeded by: |
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Preceded by: |
UK Robot Wars Best Design Award (Series 2, 3) |
Succeeded by: |
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Preceded by: |
UK Robot Wars Best Design Award (Series 5) |
Succeeded by: |
