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"A powerful flipper robot, with a unique skeleton design built from steel – they are the only armour-less robot in the series. The team don’t think they need any armour to be successful and believe ‘other robots hide behind [HARDOX] boxes.’"
— Robot Wars website on Beast

Beast was the name given to a series of eponymous heavyweight robots from Team BEAST which entered three series of Robot Wars.

The original incarnation, 8645T, reached the second round on its debut appearance in Series 5, before being defeated by experienced competitor S.M.I.D.S.Y.. An upgraded Series 7 incarnation, 8645T 2, fared less well, being eliminated in the first round upon getting flipped onto its side by Thermidor 2.

Upon the commissioning and filming of Series 8 in 2016, a more modern incarnation, adopting the conventional "Beast" name, competed with years of experience and success at live events held during the show's hiatus.[1] Like 8645T, it progressed to the second round of its Heat, though it would not collect any points after losing all three of its Head-to-Head battles.

A rebuild of the Series 8 Beast, Harpy, was prepared for Series 10, which included interchangeable flipper and axe weapon configurations. Though invited to filming as a reserve, it would ultimately go unused throughout the series.

Versions of Beast[]

8645T[]

"Superb paint job, big front flipper, and a spike on the back. The name kind of spells out the word 'BEAST' - hmm, maybe more convincing if you read a car number plate."
Robot Wars Magazine on the original 8645T[2]
8645T mag

8645T

The original Series 5 incarnation of 8645T was an angular wedge-shaped robot with a narrow profile; a silver, red, orange and yellow paint scheme with flame patterns; and two exposed wheels at the rear with inflatable tyres. According to the archived Team BEAST website, it was armoured in 4mm aluminium by the time of its attempted entry into this series.[3]

As its main weapon, 8645T featured a unique variation of the popular rear-hinged flipper, powered by a CO2 system running off a 750psi pneumatic ram. This included a tall polearm integrated into the upper part of the flipper arm, itself fitted with a large spiked claw allowing the weapon to double as a rearward-facing axe. 8645T's flipper would fire upwards as normal, allowing the axe to swing down and pierce opponents from above in the same motion. The dual flipper/axe weapon contributed to 8645T being one of the tallest and longest competitors in the series, but came at the cost of impeding its self-righting capabilities.

8645T 2[]

8645T

8645T 2

Following its unsuccessful attempt to enter Series 6, a rebuilt 8645T, now named 8645T 2, appeared in Series 7 with significant chassis, weapon and internal improvements. This incarnation adopted a revised flame-inspired paint scheme and a wider wedge-shaped profile, along with design cues directly inspired by highly successful UK competitors including Chaos 2, Bigger Brother and Dominator 2. A more compact flipper influenced by the Brighton machine was implemented, complete with a higher reach, angled framework and a claw-like fixture for the pneumatic ram powering it. Dominator 2's influence came in the use of a lighter, but more solid axe shaft with holes drilled in to save weight, which could be removed to enable 8645T 2's weapon to function as a traditional flipper. The spike itself was of an older type inspired by the claw of later Plunderbird machines, the equivalent used in Series 5 having been auctioned off before the robot's reappearance.[4]

Other improvements were apparent in the chassis design – with the wheels in particular being enclosed - along with 8645T 2's internals, allowing for faster movements and increased weapon power. However, the design of 8645T 2's flipper/axe still prevented it from self-righting from most positions, and Team BEAST chose not to remove the axe component before its only televised battle of the series.

"That's a beast of a problem to have!"
— Jonathan Pearce on 8645T 2's inability to self-right

Beast[]

"We have a massive buffer tank, big weapon, and we've got to show it off by having no armour!"
— John Lear
Beast pits

Beast in The Pits for Series 8

Beast S8

Beast enters the arena in its Series 8 campaign

During Robot Wars' hiatus from television, Beast switched to a radically different design in order to allow for a more powerful flipper mechanism with a larger buffer tank. As such, it adopted a welded steel exoskeletal chassis with a plain grey finish and minimal protection to its exposed wheels and internals, inspired by Team BEAST's championship-winning featherweight Beauty.[1] It was in this form that Beast competed in Series 8, with the addition of LED lighting, along with a white panel bearing flame graphics and a variant of the original "8645T" logo used in the Classic Series.

"The robot has the ability to flip another (110kg maximum weight) competitor 10 feet in the air, which the team can do when they apply their advanced ‘buffer’ tank technology. This means they can efficiently use their CO2 supplies at a lower pressure and make it last longer. Beast can use its flipper to self-right and spin at 90° on the back wheels."
— The Robot Wars website on Beast

Beast abandoned the dual weapon system of 8645T, instead being equipped with the flipper only to allow for uninhibited self-righting capabilities. The weapon itself was reportedly capable of throwing heavyweight opponents at up to 10ft, with the pneumatics system also allowing it to switch between high and low pressures in a similar manner to those of Eruption and Apollo.

Harpy[]

Harpy

Harpy with its curved flipper

Harpy axe

Harpy with its axe

In anticipation of a potential Series 10 entry, another version of Beast was designed and built under the name Harpy. While maintaining the same shape and core exoskeletal design as the Series 8 incarnation, the robot's chassis, armour and flipper were all redesigned, with Harpy also sacrificing the extra top plating previously used to defend against axes and hammers.

The flipper itself adopted a longer panel with a prominent lower lip, and was made interchangeable with a second pneumatic weapon in the form of an overhead axe. Unlike the equivalent on 8645T, Harpy's scythe-like axe worked independently using its own rack-and-pinion style mechanism, allowing it to also self-right if the axe shaft was in the fired position. A glossier, reflective silver finish was applied to the entire machine.

Following the initial UK airings of Series 10, Harpy reverted to its original Beast name.

Etymology[]

The robot's original name "8645T" was an alternative, numerically-based way of spelling "Beast". Team captain John Lear explained that when written on a UK road vehicle number plate, this name would resemble the word "Beast" from a distance. Robot Wars personalities including Jonathan Pearce and Philippa Forrester often referred to the Series 5 incarnation as "Beast" regardless; Stuart McDonald also announced the Series 7 incarnation as "8645T Beast 2" upon its entry into the arena.

During its career on the live event circuit, the "Beast" name was fully adopted, an approach maintained upon the machine's return for Series 8. The stylised "8645T" logo remained in use on the latter incarnation’s flipper cover, as a likely nod to its Classic Series predecessors.

The Team[]

"John has 17 years fighting experience at amateur robot fighting events and appeared on Series Five and Series Seven with his robot Beast, but never made it past the early rounds."
— The Robot Wars website on Team BEAST in Series 8
8645Tteam

8645T in The Pits with its team in Series 5

Beast with team

Team BEAST in Series 8

Team BEAST were a Staffordshire-based team captained by John Lear, a mechanical craftsman aged 55 by the time of Series 8. Lear built all versions of the robot, also driving 8645T in Series 5 and 7. He was consistently joined by his son John Lear Jr who was a young child at the time of Series 5 and 7. By the time of Series 8, Lear Jr was aged 24 and became the robot's weapon operator. John Lear's nephew James Wood completed the line-up in Series 7, while in the Revival Series, 23-year old Alex Marler joined the team as Beast's driver. Marler had previously assisted the team on the live circuit during the show's hiatus, and also competes in his own right with self-built machines.

Qualification[]

Beast series 4

8645T at the Fourth Wars qualifiers

The first documented appearance of 8645T was in 2000, when an early incarnation attempted to enter Series 4 by attending the Robot Mayhem live event.[5] It is known that John Lear received assistance from George Francis in preparing the robot for battle,[6] and that 8645T itself won two qualifier matches.[7] However, this success was not enough for it to be selected to compete in the televised Fourth Wars.

On the 2001 Live Event tour - serving as the initial qualifiers for Series 5 - 8645T fought Kan-Opener at the Birmingham leg during the 2 August shows. Here, it took considerable damage to its aluminium armour from one of Kan-Opener's claws,[3] but won the battle on a Judges' decision despite getting pitted by its opponent.[8] Even with this predicament, both robots would be given places in the televised series.

Series6qualifiers

The version of 8645T that failed to qualify for Series 6

Prior to its appearance in Series 7, an earlier incarnation of 8645T 2 attempted to qualify for Series 6 as well. However, it encountered a major issue before having the chance to enter the arena. In Team BEAST's haste to prepare 8645T 2 for its match, it was suggested on their website that the weapon switch had accidentally been left on while the robot's transmitter had been switched off - a matter not noticed until the transmitter itself was activated.[4] Needless to say, 8645T 2 would not qualify for the Sixth Wars, with a first-hand account from John Lear suggesting that this issue was severe enough to disqualify it from the qualifiers altogether.[7] An alternative account suggests that 8645T was disqualified after its axe damaged the arena floor mid-battle.[9]

Beast2qualifi7

8645T 2 at the Series 7 qualifiers

At the Series 7 qualifiers, 8645T 2 fought Mighty Mouse - an opponent it would go on to fight in the main series - TX-108, and an unknown third opponent. 8645T 2 won the battle, thus guaranteeing its qualification for the televised Seventh Wars.[10]

Beast was chosen to compete in Series 8 through an open application process, but this method did not work twice, and Beast was not chosen to return when the team applied for Series 9.[11] Returning to Series 10 as Harpy, the Team BEAST machine was invited to attend as a reserve, but completed filming as one of only two to go unused, the other being Infernal Contraption.

Robot History[]

Series 5[]

8645T fought in Heat A of the Fifth Wars. 8645T's first-round battle saw it go up against the team's close friend John Findlay, and his team's machine T-Bone.

8645Tvs T-Bone

8645T lifts T-Bone up

8645T vs T-Bone

8645T axes T-Bone and drags it

8645T initially used its axe weapon unsuccessfully, and T-Bone charged into 8645T's side, but T-Bone broke its own cutting disc upon contact with 8645T's armour. 8645T flipped T-Bone up several times, before finally impaling T-Bone with its axe. The two robots dragged each other around until the end of the battle, a judges' decision declared that 8645T had won the battle.

8645T T-Bone 2

Cease is called with the Pit looming

"While the Judges were reaching their decision, Craig Charles asked the audience to choose a winner by cheering when he called the names of the robots. [The T-Bone team] were delighted when the audience cheered louder for T-Bone ... they thought it was in the bag ! However the judges said it was a very close contest, but they had chosen 8645T as the winner. The Team could only think that when they were pulling 8645T towards the pit, that it must have looked as though T-Bone was being pushed!"
— The Roaming Robots website on the Judges' decision (archived)

In the second round of the heat, 8645T fought S.M.I.D.S.Y., the twenty-fourth seed, which stood between 8645T and its dream adversary, reigning champion Chaos 2.

"We wanted to fight Chaos 2..."
— John Lear
SMIDSY Beast

8645T axes S.M.I.D.S.Y.

Smidsy shunt 8645T

S.M.I.D.S.Y. pushes 8645T into Shunt

8645tsmidsy

S.M.I.D.S.Y. tips over 8645T

8645T smidsy killalot

8645T escapes from the clutches of Sir Killalot

8645T pinned S.M.I.D.S.Y. with its axe, and S.M.I.D.S.Y., unable to escape, pushed 8645T into the sidewall where it was attacked by Shunt. Suddenly 8645T was on the defensive, taking damage from Shunt's axe and with S.M.I.D.S.Y. worming its way beneath it. S.M.I.D.S.Y. then used its jaws to tip 8645T onto its side in Shunt's CPZ. 8645T managed to escape, and charged S.M.I.D.S.Y. once more, with the Cyberspace machine mercilessly charging 8645T and tipping it onto its back once more. 8645T then was seized and taken to the floor flipper by Sir Killalot, but managed to flee as it was unintentionally dropped back onto its wheels. Cease was called, since 8645T had already been counted out.

"Oh, I wanted to see the beast fly!"
— Jonathan Pearce at the end of the fight

Series 7[]

"Fought in the Fifth Wars, knocked out in the second round."
— Jonathan Pearce

8645T 2 went up against newcomer Mobot, Mighty Mouse and the fourteenth seed and Annihilator runner-up Thermidor 2 in the first round of the Seventh Wars.

Thermidor 8645T

8645T 2 is thrown onto its side

Refbot counts out 8645T 2

8645T 2 is counted out

8645T 2 was immediately targeted by Thermidor 2, who flipped it onto its back straight away in an unoccupied CPZ. 8645T 2 swiftly self-righted, and got away from danger, then deciding to take on Mobot, trying to flip it but missing. But Thermidor 2 then came back with a run-up and threw 8645T 2 back onto its side. 8645T vented huge clouds of CO2 trying to self-right, but ultimately failed. After being counted out, 8645T 2 was righted by Thermidor 2 and assaulted by the House Robots. Pulling away, it charged across the arena, evading the House Robots. Suddenly, the arena floor flipper activated, throwing 8645T 2 through the air and causing it to land on the other side of the arena, breaking the top of its axe in the process.

"Oh. What's he [8645T 2] doing? Toying with the pit. And away through. Si-ay! Away free he went straight onto the floor flipper and we got you in the end! Clever bit of driving. Isn't he clever?"
— Jonathan Pearce's desire to see the Beast fly comes true
8645T 2 flipped

8645T 2 drives over the floor flipper

8645T pit

8645T 2 drives into the pit

8645T 2 made one final attempt to pit the now immobilised Mighty Mouse, but drove straight into the pit itself.

"Oh well, there's always next year, just have to lose the axe and just have a flipper, or do we make another robot, a spinning cooling tower which runs any way up called RPL perhaps?"
— The 8645T website on their plans after Series 7

Series 8[]

Beast competed in Heat E of Series 8 as a returning veteran. Its opening Group Battle saw the redesigned machine compete against Crazy Coupe 88, a robot Tyrone Ellis created after he competed in Series 7 with Hodaf The Bad, newcomer Gabriel and fellow Classic Series returnee Infernal Contraption.

Beast vs Crazy Coupe 88

Beast flips Crazy Coupe 88

Beast vs Infernal Contraption

Beast flicks Infernal Contraption back

Beast could not use its flipper effectively in the opening stages, failing to lift Infernal Contraption and Gabriel on separate attempts, but after stopping the spinning blades, Beast flipped Crazy Coupe 88 over, which eliminated itself by driving into Dead Metal afterwards. Although Beast pushed Gabriel, its efforts mostly turned towards Infernal Contraption, pushing it over the flame pit while missing with another flip. Beast turned Infernal Contraption around, which drove itself into the pit, allowing Beast to qualify alongside Gabriel.

"Flipper wasn't coming back down as fast as we wanted it to, so just need to find out the problem."
— John Lear Jr.

Beast was next drawn against Ironside3, a bar spinner entered by Trevor Wright, who Team BEAST had fought in the Seventh Wars.

Ironside 3 vs beast 2

Beast fails to get under its attacking foe

Ironside 3 vs beast

Beast loses its tyre

Beast needed to chase Ironside3 as quickly as it could in order to stop the spinning bar from gaining speed, but could not catch its equally fast opponent, and Ironside3 sent Beast spinning away with an attack. An attack to Beast's flipper seemed to hamper its mobility, and it failed to flip when Ironside3 drove over the top of it. At this stage, one of Beast's tyres had locked, and when Ironside3 tore into Beast's mobile tyre, it was rendered immobile after gas quickly escaped from it. Beast could only fire its flipper to feign mobility, but it was counted out, and lost the battle.

Beast then fought another spinning weapon, the newly reinstated Pulsar.

Beast vs pulsar 1

Beast misses with its flip

Beast vs pulsar 2

Beast is immobilised by Pulsar

It slowly approached its opponent, but once again could not get underneath. It suffered from drive problems almost immediately, and stood almost still when Pulsar attacked the side. Beast was flung up by the drum, and completely immobilised by the second hit of the drum when it landed. Beast's second loss meant that it could no longer reach the Heat Final.

Despite its elimination, Beast still fought Gabriel for one last match. However, Beast suffered even more problems before the battle began, as its flipper fired shortly before the battle, and it had to be forced back into a neutral position. Thus, Beast entered the arena without a weapon. Team Saint also noticed Beast's exposed tyres, and intended to aim for them with their robot's sword swings.

Angela Scanlon: "So you guys came up against Gabriel in the group battles, is there anything you learned from that, that you're going to bring to them?"
Alex Marler: "It's very difficult to fight, so we've really got to up our game."
— Team BEAST's hopes
Beast vs gabriel

Beast is immobilised by Gabriel

Beast vs gabriel 2

Team BEAST encourage Gabriel to damage their robot

Beast barely crept forward in the match before Gabriel rained down blows on it, immobilising one side of Beast from the very beginning. When Gabriel pressed the pit release button, its team noticed that Beast was effectively immobile, and after a few more tentative swings, held off. Beast simply drove in circles to show signs of life, but the team admitted that they had lost the battle, and encouraged Gabriel to land more attacks. It nudged Beast closer to the pit, but held off once again as Craig Colliass noticed that Beast was starting to overheat, and cease was eventually called. Dead Metal came in afterwards, and sliced through the top of Beast, to cause extra injury to the fallen robot. Although the match lasted the full three minutes, the Judges declared that Beast was immobilised early into the battle, and it lost via KO.

Beast Dead Metal

Beast is eliminated from Robot Wars with a scar from Dead Metal

"Although Beast was still mobile on one of the wheels, it basically was not going anywhere. That was loss of control, loss of mobility."
Professor Sethu Vijayakumar

It was later revealed that Beast's mobility was hampered in its final two battles because the magnets within one of its motors were broken, which the team did not realise until filming was complete.

Results[]

8645T - RESULTS
Series 5
The Fifth Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 2
Heat A, Eliminator vs. T-Bone Won
Heat A, Semi-Final vs. S.M.I.D.S.Y. (24) Lost
8645T 2 - RESULTS
Series 7
The Seventh Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 1
Heat J, Round 1 vs. Mighty Mouse, Mobot, Thermidor 2 (14) Eliminated
BEAST - RESULTS
Series 8
Series 8 - UK Championship
Round 2, Fourth Place
Heat E, Group Battle vs. Crazy Coupe 88, Gabriel, Infernal Contraption Qualified
Heat E, Head-to-Heads vs. Ironside3 Lost (0 points)
Heat E, Head-to-Heads vs. Pulsar Lost (0 points)
Heat E, Head-to-Heads vs. Gabriel Lost (0 points)

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 2
  • Losses: 5

Series Record[]

Series Beast Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Did not enter
The Fourth Wars Failed to qualify
The Fifth Wars Heat, Round 2
The Sixth Wars Failed to qualify
The Seventh Wars Heat, Round 1
Series 8 Heat Round 2, Fourth Place
Series 9 Not selected
Series 10 Unused reserve as Harpy

Gallery[]

Outside Robot Wars[]

8645T[]

Beast vs T -Bone rematch

8645T fights T-Bone a second time at the 2001 Alstom Firth Road open day

Beast vs N humphrey

8645T fights Humphrey 3 at Firth Road (2001)

In October 2001, the Series 5 8645T made its first known live event appearance at the Alstom Firth Road open day in Lincoln, organised by members of the Stinger team. Amongst the battles it took part in included a rematch against T-Bone - where 8645T flipped the Team Butcher machine multiple times - a further head-to-head against Humphrey 3, and a five-way melee also involving UK finalists Stinger and Tornado. 8645T lost a wheel in the latter, with Tornado emerging victorious.[12]

Beast RAW

8645T in battle with Wolverine

Other appearances included the 2001 Robots@War event, where it suffered aerial issues and lost to Wolverine, but was able to use its axe as well as self-right with the full weapon setup.[13] 8645T 2 is also known to have attended various Roaming Robots events; one photo, published in Robot Wars: The Official Magazine, pictured it in the arena alongside the Series 5 incarnation of Hydra and an as-yet unidentified opponent.[14]

Beast[]

The first version of Beast to not use the 8645T name, sporting a clear shell, fought in the 2006 Winter Tour, but this version was not used again.

In 2007, the 2005/2006 model was retired, and a new Beast with a steep wedge and flame paint job much like that of 8645T was built and competed in several robotic fighting events such as Roaming Robots until 2012. Later in 2012, the flame paint job Beast was retired and the first version of the current Beast made its debut.

In October 2014, Beast, along with Ripper, appeared on Pawn Stars UK, where John Findlay tried to sell the two robots to the TV buyers, but the robots were not sold, due to the offer being too low. Ripper flipped Beast over at the end of the programme.

Beast 2 later competed in the 2015 World Championships, while the original Beast competed at Bronebots 2016, ahead of its appearance on Robot Wars. In its "Harpy" design, Beast also competed at the 2017 Bronebots event in Russia.

Khaos

Khaos under Team Tilly

Under other owners, different versions of Beast have seen various re-brands. Team Tilly painted it gold and named it Khaos, taking the robot to various live events in 2016 and 2017.

Harpy first competed at Mechatrons Dublin 2017, while still being essentially the same robot as Beast, where it lost to King B Remix in the quarter-finals. In mid-2017, Harpy gained its reflective armour and axe. The updated version of Harpy debuted at the Extreme Robots event in Guildford. On a team with Big Bully, it fought Ripper and Saint, where its axe became bent, and Harpy was eventually pitted. In another battle, it fought Eruption, Behemoth and Suspension, but lost mobility.

Harpy and Beast

Harpy (left) and Beast (right) side-by-side at Mechatrons

At a live event in Dublin hosted by Mechatrons in 2018, Team BEAST brought two versions of Harpy to the venue separately, interchangeably using the Beast branding for the axe-wielding version of Harpy, while consistently using the Harpy name for their flipper. Harpy defeated ThunderChild on a Judges' decision, having flipping it over to briefly immobilise it. It also fought Iron-Awe 5, but lost due to a period of immobility. Harpy then defeated Rusty by knockout, after the latter could not self-right, despite Harpy breaking its flipper bungees at the end of the battle. The robots fought again in a whiteboard battle further into the competition, and despite being flipped, harpy won the Judges' decision after immobilising Rusty towards the end of the battle. Finally, it was eliminated by the brand-new King Buxton 20 on a Judges' decision, after being rammed around the arena despite an impressive start. The axe-wielding Beast fought Shillelagh, but lost its axe in battle, and eventually became immobile. However, it was able to defeat Dozer, flipping it over using only its wedge shape. It also defeated ThunderChild on a close Judges' decision.

Beast and Harpy continue to appear at Extreme Robots events with varying degrees of success; at the 2018 Manchester event, the former finished runner-up to Ripper.[15] Beast was also successful at the Extreme Robots event in Cheltenham, held in November 2018. There, it defeated Apex by overturning it, and reached the semi-finals after beating TR3. Beast would ultimately finish the event - and the 2018 Extreme Robots Championship - third overall, having lost its semi-final to Gabriel before winning its play-off fight against 2point0.[16]

Beast 2020

One version of Beast in January 2020

Beast made an impressive run at the Irish RoboRiots event in Dublin in January 2020. Both the original machine and the newer "Harpy" build entered the same bracket, but it was the original Beast which reached the final under the controls of John Findlay, including two victories over Iron-Awe 6. At the climax of the competition, Beast fought Immersion three times in total, winning one close bout, but ultimately lost the other two and earned second place. The featherweight Beauty X also won the featherweight competition at this event, having competed in India only one week prior.

As of 2023, Beast continues to appear at live events, with the "Harpy" build regularly competing on the Extreme Robots tour as part of the 'Team Inferno' line-up. Competing in Tag Team matches alongside Team Eruption machines, it picked up at least one victory on the Guildford leg with Ignition as its partner.[17][18][19][20][21] Beast's most recent Extreme Robots appearance occurred at Colchester on 16-17 September, where it won another team battle alongside Eruption, as well as a four-way melee also involving Poseidon plus the middleweights Audacious and Backflip. It would also challenge the incumbent Extreme Robots Heavyweight Champion Tectonic during the 17 September show, but was not able to take the belt from Team Shock's machine.[22][23][24]

Beast returned to RoboRiots on 7-8 October 2023, again represented by the "Harpy" build. It was documented to face Immersion once more in a head-to-head battle, but was defeated due to mobility issues on this occasion.[25] Later the same month, it mounted another unsuccessful Heavyweight Championship challenge against Tectonic at Extreme Robots Maidstone, in what would be its only fight of the weekend.[26] Beast also attended Extreme Robots Cheltenham on 11-12 November, but again only fought a single melee against Implosion, Two-Headed Death Flamingo and Leviathan.[27]

Other Robots[]

The team also have a featherweight called Beauty which has been mentioned in the Robot Combat Hall of Fame after it won competitions such as the UK Featherweight Championship twice in a row (as Beauty 2 in 2008 and Beauty 4 in 2009), the 2007 Roaming Robots Winter Tour and Featherweight Tag-Team Championships 2007. As of 2014, there have been 9 Beauty robots (including 2 versions of Beauty 3). Beauty 2 won the UK Featherweight championship for the third time in 2014, and won the 2007 Featherweight European Championship. At the FRA Featherweight World Championship 2017, Beauty 2 finished in eighth place. It was less successful in the 2018 championship hosted by King of Bots, taking severe damage from spinners in its first two fights before driving into the pit in its final fight.

Gaston Backflip Voodoo

John Lear and Gaston (centre) after winning Extreme Robots in Cheltenham

John Lear also completed a middleweight robot in late 2018, building Gaston, an invertible robot armed with a vertical disc. At the Cheltenham Extreme Robots Middleweight event in 2018, Gaston won the competition, defeating Voodoo and Backflip in the final.

Flame Tyrannosaurus

Flame Tyrannosaurus at Clash Bots

John Lear and Alex Marler competed in the Chinese TV show Clash Bots with a new heavyweight lifter, Flame Tyrannosaurus. Its steep lifting arm also doubles as a clamp, and the robot additionally wields a flamethrower. It was the first robot to appear in the series, using its flamethrower to scare the presenters. In its competition battle, it fought the vertical spinner Toxic Fangs. However, it sustained a direct blow to its exposed wheel, limiting its mobility. Flame Tyrannosaurus was able to knock Toxic Fangs' drone out of the air, but was flipped over by the vertical spinner, and was pinned against the arena wall, leading to its loss by knockout.

Alex Marler[]

Meanwhile, team member Alex Marler originally started off with his own team in 2006. He fought with three featherweights on the live event circuit, his first was Psycho Fling which started off as a Zeobot featherweight kit purchased from Technobots and was made of old arena polycarbonate (later stainless steel) before it was rebuilt as a two-wheel driven invertible design with a front lifter. He has also fought with Block of Wood so-called due to its choice of armour which managed to finish 4th in the 2007 Featherweight UK Championships. Since 2008, Marler has also fought with a 3rd featherweight called Crumple Zone armed with a vertical crushing jaw. Alex Marler also built Dozer, a heavyweight pushing robot with a lifting scoop, which fought at various Extreme Robots and Mechatrons events before being listed for sale in November 2018.

Alex Marler nowadays competes at Extreme Robots and Irish events with his new heavyweight Nibbler, a four-wheel driven robot armed with twin spinning driscs, which can be swapped for a large static plough when spinning weapons are prohibited at events. Nibbler regularly competes against other spinners, with a decent amount of success.

Robot Wars Live Events[]

Beast vs Saint

Beast tosses The Saint at a 2013-2016 Robot Wars Live Event

In February 2013, Beast competed in the Robot Wars Live Event at Barnsley - the first to be run by Roaming Robots - where it was thrown out of the arena by Ripper in the opening round. At the end of the same year, it would also participate in the Robot Wars Winter Tour, throwing Meggamouse out of the arena in its secondary Heat and winning overall at the Doncaster event. This enabled Beast to qualify for the finals at Gloucester, where it beat Titan on a Judges' decision, but lost to Manta in the semi-finals after getting stuck on top of the arena wall in comical fashion.

Beauty 2 2015

Beast 2, 2015 World Championship competitor

Alongside the version which would eventually compete in Series 8, a second build, simply named Beast 2, was created and used specifically for these Live Events. This differed primarily in featuring smaller wheels along with a predominantly red and black paint scheme.

Both incarnations were present for and competed separately in the 2015 Robot Wars World Championships in Colchester. Beast fought in the main competition, initially dominating its first-round battle against Brutus and Ka-Pow! to qualify on a Judges' decision. In the second round, it fought Dutch competitor Tough as Nails and future Revival Series opponent Gabriel. Beast started reasonably well, but was eventually grabbed and had one of its tyres damaged by the Series 7 Semi-Finalist. Tough as Nails would eliminate Beast from the World Championships by pitting it. Meanwhile, Beast 2 fought in the Annihilator side event, reaching the final and immobilising Ka-Pow! with a single flip along the way. It would subsequently lose a long match against Toon Raider, finishing the Annihilator as runner-up.

Beast 2 was later renamed Khaos by Team Tilly (not to be confused with former Robot Wars champion Chaos 2), competing under this guise at the 2016 Colchester event with moderate success.

Trivia[]

8645T 2 S7

Official Series 7 photo of 8645T 2

  • The Series 8 version of Beast was originally conceived shortly after Series 7, with the intention of entering a potential future series as early as 2005. However, it would not end up appearing on Robot Wars until the start of the Revival Series in 2016.
  • Team BEAST is one of very few teams with two members who share the same name. Others include the Leveller 2 team and Team 13.
  • A silhouette of Beast is used alongside Battle of the Stars competitors in Series 10 to explain the competition format to viewers.
  • Both of the seeded robots 8645T fought in the Classic Series initially fought each other in the Extreme 1 Tag Team Terror.
  • Out of all the robots and teams that beat Beast, only S.M.I.D.S.Y. did not appear in Heat E of Series 8.
  • The team's featherweight, Beauty 2, was recognised by The Combat Robot Hall of Fame in 2009, initially receiving an Honorable Mention for its success and dominant performances at UK live events. In 2022, it was fully inducted into the Hall of Fame after a balloting error was rectified, receiving sufficient votes in the 2009 ballots to be included.[28]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 https://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/content/110-beast
  2. 'Sir K's New Recruits!', Robot Wars Magazine, Issue 18, pp.8-13 (p.13)
  3. 3.0 3.1 http://web.archive.org/web/20021221212501fw_/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lichfielduk/damage.html
  4. 4.0 4.1 http://web.archive.org/web/20030423174805fw_/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lichfielduk/new8645t.html
  5. http://web.archive.org/web/20041215085507fw_/http://www.tectonic.force9.co.uk/S4NP.htm
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20011108232709/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lichfielduk/cost.html
  7. 7.0 7.1 Fighting Robots Association (FRA) forum post by Team BEAST, 5 March 2008
  8. Audience member account from User:Nononsensecapeesh.
  9. Private correspondence between John Lear and Diotoir the son of nemesis
  10. https://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/content/337-tx-108
  11. https://www.facebook.com/TeamBeastUK/posts/349802492032879
  12. http://www.teamtornado.co.uk/lincol21.htm
  13. http://web.archive.org/web/20020925225419/http://www.8645t.co.uk/
  14. 'Robots Abroad', Robot Wars: The Official Magazine, Issue 3, p.8
  15. https://www.facebook.com/extremerobotshow/photos/a.176800329179705.1073741838.122836437909428/782908805235518/?type=3&theater
  16. https://www.facebook.com/extremerobotshow/posts/914005535459177
  17. https://www.facebook.com/roamingrobots/posts/pfbid02vCtb69xtBLWCBUnutR37i3aYrUVxzzL97tkf4CGpZbYrPDDfTUpoNPFsLWvfa54Yl
  18. https://www.facebook.com/extremerobotshow/posts/pfbid0yedu9HuwSRo2S76fDovbqKeAaWEaNv2DmqABYCnQjzBtoaMdCzS5EvhmjhoSHhAbl
  19. https://www.facebook.com/extremerobotshow/posts/pfbid0XX2swRozEHNgW42u6qA8TBc8DfWN8i8vPX268CHoTvVGADRVRtEEr3t9A1gr88Mpl
  20. https://www.facebook.com/extremerobotshow/posts/pfbid0aDrkDDyFXkRVejmkk3ENWP1kkbbssydS1bjwy3y9sgs8y1oiu9sKBGyRiUVyf5MPl
  21. https://www.facebook.com/extremerobotshow/posts/pfbid05BWbDUhBHgE3KaBgSzBQG9E2gvS1pbenKrfejt2Y3iaYJk1XvmXipcFT89GbY9yzl
  22. 'Extreme Robots Colchester Show 1 LIVESTREAM', Extreme Robots (YouTube), streamed 16 September 2023
  23. 'Extreme Robots 2023 Colchester Show 2 LIVESTREAM', Extreme Robots (YouTube), streamed 16 September 2023
  24. 'Extreme Robots 2023 Colchester Show 3 LIVESTREAM', Extreme Robots (YouTube), streamed 17 September 2023
  25. Facebook video of Immersion vs Beast, RoboRiots 2023, Kinetic Energy Robotics
  26. 'Extreme Robots 2023 Maidstone Show 1 LIVESTREAM', Extreme Robots (YouTube), streamed 21 October 2023
  27. 'Extreme Robots 2023 Cheltenham Show 1 LIVESTREAM', Extreme Robots (YouTube), streamed 11 November 2023
  28. The Combat Robot Hall of Fame ®, Team Run Amok website

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