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"A scary, nightmarish looking robot. Any bots brave enough to attack Banshee are surprised by its ability to revolve!"
— The Robot Wars File on Banshee[1]

Banshee (sometimes known as Banshee Bandit) was a heavyweight robot that competed in Robot Wars: The Fourth Wars. It lost in the first round after being flipped over by Spawn of Scutter, and finished equal twelfth in the Pinball Warrior Tournament with a score of 75 points.

Team Banshee (as the 39th Huddersfield Scouts) also competed in Series 3 with Shark Attack, which was updated in five weeks to create Banshee.

Design[]

"It revolves, took 5 weeks to update from Shark Attack in the last series. The weaponry comes from lathe tools."
Jonathan Pearce on Banshee's updates and weapon
Banshee mag

Front view of Banshee

Banshee was a full-body spinning robot, with fairly low rotating speeds of 200rpm, giving it 360 degrees of defence. It had the novelty head of a large banshee, a female Irish spirit wailing "warnings of impending death and doom" according to the team, complete with hypnotic flashing eyes. It has been jokingly stated that the robot was modelled on team captain Graham Walker's wife. The robot's body proved especially fragile, with its head being decapitated by Shunt's axe following its Series 4 defeat. Additionally, Banshee had no self-righting mechanism, and a top speed of only 5mph which adversely affected its performances in both the main series and the Pinball Warrior Tournament.

Qualification[]

At the Series 4 qualifiers, Banshee fought Sumpthing. In the battle, Banshee's head was repeatedly punctured by Sumpthing's axe and it would eventually lose. Despite this, Banshee was still awarded a discretionary place in The Fourth Wars.[2]

"[The axe] was exactly the right height for his head! We were just like spearing it in the head relentlessly in the qualifiers! ... Quite macabre actually!"
— Mr Dig, interviewed in 2022

Robot History[]

Series 4[]

"We're going to thrash Shunt with this, definitely!"
— Graham Warner's ironic prediction of the upcoming battle
Spawn of Scutter Banshee

Banshee is thrust over by Spawn of Scutter's spike

Banshee head axed

Shunt axes through Banshee's head

Banshee was drawn against 10th seed Spawn of Scutter, successor of Scutter's Revenge, and newcomer Knightmare. It got up to speed quickly, deflecting off Spawn of Scutter. Using its slight wedge, Spawn of Scutter got beneath Banshee and flung it across the arena using its spike, tipping Banshee over. Shunt axed through Banshee's head, before severing the head from the rest of the robot's body and thrusting it onto the Flame Pit, where it was left to burn.

"Headache? I don't think any pills are gonna...make that one feel better!"
Jonathan Pearce bursts into laughter as Shunt decapitates Banshee
BansheeHeadOverFlamePit

Banshee's decapitated head over the flames...

Banshee roasted head

...and the charred remains

With its head charred by the Flame Pit, the House Robots proceeded to cause damage to the main body before placing it on the Floor Flipper. After being thrown across the arena, Banshee was eliminated from the Fourth Wars.

"In your own time, boys!"
— Jonathan Pearce, amid fits of laughter, upon realising Banshee's sluggish speed in the Pinball Warrior Tournament
BansheePinball

Banshee nudges the 50-point target

In addition to the main series, Banshee also competed in the Pinball Warrior Tournament, shown in Heat K, which was before its actual heat it appeared in. Its exceptionally slow speed prevented it from making substantial progress, with Banshee taking seven seconds just to turn around and knock the first set of barrels over. Even so, Banshee persisted, and eventually turned to hit Sergeant Bash's 50-point target. It then hit the Multi-Ball release, and finished the run by running into Sir Killalot. Time ran out, and Banshee scored 75 points during its run, putting it equal twelfth with Stinger.

"Steady progress....the word 'steady' being emphasised here."
— Jonathan Pearce

Results[]

BANSHEE - RESULTS
Series 4
The Fourth Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 1
Heat L, Eliminator vs. Knightmare, Spawn of Scutter (10) Eliminated
Pinball Warrior Tournament
Equal 12th (with Stinger)
Pinball 75 pts 12th

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 0
  • Losses: 1

Series Record[]

Series Banshee Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Entered with Shark Attack
The Fourth Wars Heat, Round 1
The Fifth Wars Did not enter
The Sixth Wars Did not enter
The Seventh Wars Did not enter
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter

Gallery[]

References[]

Navigation[]

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