- "It will chew up and spit out all other bots!"
- — David Gilson
The Termite (also simply referred to as Termite) was an American competitor robot that fought exclusively in Season 2 of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. Entered by Team Critter of Omaha, Nebraska, it was eliminated in the first round of the US Championship after the team forgot to charge its battery before the battle. However, The Termite would later reach the third round in the Annihilator and the second round of the Tag Team Terror; the latter while paired alongside General Chompsalot 2.
Team Critter also fought in Season 1 of Extreme Warriors with Close Enough.
Design[]
The Termite in the arena
The Termite was a dark blue and red, four-wheel drive robot with a compact box-shaped body and an ½-inch plate aluminium construction. Uniquely, its wheels were set at a 23-degree camber (40-degrees according to Stefan Frank) for improved stability, and featured red-painted sawblades on the outer sides as protective covers for the tires and rims. The Termite's main weapon consisted of a 3000rpm drum made out of a set of six toothed sprockets, while it also featured sets of long, narrow spikes along its top, side and rear panels intended to protect its tires and snag opponents which drove over it. Only the rear and top spikes were used for The Termite's appearances in the Annihilator and Tag Team Terror competitions.
The Team[]
Team Critter
The Termite was entered by Team Critter, formerly known as Real Men Don't Need Instructions. The team consisted of David Gilson and his brother Elwin McKernan, with Jason Saker being the third team member, taking the place of David Gilson's wife Brenda, who had been the third team member when the team entered Close Enough.
David Gilson was an electronics engineer who worked as a network administrator for the First National Bank of Omaha, having earned a masters degree in electrical engineering. He drove the robot in all its appearances. Elwin McKernan was a computer software engineer, who helped David build The Termite and Close Enough[1][2].
Whilst competing with The Termite, the team wore blue overalls with US Flag bandanas on their heads, to match the robot's blue-and-red colour scheme.
Robot History[]
Season 2[]
The Termite fought in three competitions in Season 2: the US Championship, the Annihilator and the Tag Team Terror. In the US Championship, it competed in Heat F, fighting Dragbot and King of Diamonds in its first-round battle.
The Termite drives into King of Diamonds
The Termite starts to lose mobility
The Termite slowly moved away from its starting point as 'activate' was called, before ramming into Dragbot's side and reversing. It slowly pursued Dragbot and King of Diamonds as they attacked each other and Dragbot briefly caught fire on the flame jet, before reversing into Dragbot and momentarily driving up the latter’s wedge. A short while later, The Termite proceeded to bump into King of Diamonds, but sustained damage to one of its wheels as King of Diamonds spun and hit it. After this, The Termite avoided its opponents, only to be pushed towards the wall by King of Diamonds, which lost one of its side panels during the attack. The Termite drove sluggishly forwards over the Flame Pit, before it and Dragbot rammed each other a few times around a CO2 jet. However, The Termite stopped moving fully shortly afterwards, and shuffled back and forth across the arena while Shunt left his CPZ and pushed King of Diamonds into the pit. This resulted in the battle going to a Judges' decision, with all three robots still mobile up to the moment where Shunt intervened.
- "...and I wouldn't put any money on Termite, because they were just kinda sitting around on the outskirts of that arena."
- — Stefan Frank doubts The Termite's chances of progression
In a decision which Mick Foley considered to be controversial, the Judges chose to eliminate The Termite from the US Championship, ruling that it did not display enough mobility by the end of the battle to secure its place in the next round.
The Termite later returned for the Annihilator, where it fought Cyclone, Brute, Revenge, Thor's Hammer and Hyperactive. Very little was seen of it in the first round, where it briefly approached Cyclone as it threw Thor's Hammer towards the entry gate, but it would survive to the second round as Thor's Hammer was thrown out of the arena by Cyclone moments later, having already been immobilized by Hyperactive.
The Termite (left) is flipped onto two wheels after charging into Hyperactive's disk
In the second round, The Termite hesitated before driving straight into Hyperactive's spinner, the impact almost causing it to overturn. However, The Termite landed back on all of its wheels, and pushed Hyperactive back before reversing and being pushed itself by Revenge. The Termite drove away as Cyclone damaged Hyperactive and flipped it onto Revenge, but almost drove itself into Cyclone's disk at one point, and continued driving around the arena as Cyclone tore and flipped Hyperactive. It survived to the third round after Cyclone threw Hyperactive out of the arena.
The Termite (left) has one of its wheels ripped off by Cyclone
The Termite is pitted by Brute
At the start of the third round, The Termite drove straight towards Brute, only to turn away and avoid Brute's initial attack. Both it and Brute continued hitting, pushing and driving away from each other as Cyclone lingered near, before The Termite briefly nudged Cyclone. In response, Brute pushed The Termite towards an angle grinder, but The Termite escaped as Cyclone threw Brute across the arena. However, The Termite bumped into an angle grinder seconds later, and struggled to drive quickly away as Cyclone hit one of its wheels, ripping it off its axle and seemingly leaving The Termite immobilized close to the wall. Sir Killalot left his CPZ to grab, lift and carry the three-wheeled Termite around the arena, before dropping it back onto the floor, with The Termite crawling across the arena seconds later.
- "...and there's the three-wheeled Termite, still rolling!"
- — Stefan Frank as The Termite escapes Sir Killalot's clutches
Eventually, The Termite was attacked by Dead Metal and bumped into Refbot, still moving along on its three remaining wheels. However, it struggled for mobility as Revenge and Brute bumped and pushed it away, and eventually stopped moving completely as its battery ran out of power again. Brute bumped and pushed The Termite towards the pit, eventually succeeding. As a result, The Termite was eliminated from the Annihilator.
- Mick Foley: "...[Team Raptor] were able to get one shot in on the bug here and one shot seemed to be enough for The Termite."
- David Gilson: "Yeah, they were like evil kids, pulling the legs off little bugs! But luckily, ticks don't fly. They like to burrow, but they don't like to fly."
- — The post-battle interview
The Termite made one more appearance in the Tag Team Terror, paired with General Chompsalot 2. Their first round battle saw them face Hyperactive and Mechadroid, with General Chompsalot 2 and Mechadroid battling first.
The Termite survives as the one robot outside the pit
The Termite waited in its corner until General Chompsalot 2 bumped into Hyperactive, but was itself pushed, axed and pursued by Mechadroid, which pushed The Termite into General Chompsalot 2 and Hyperactive after the latter two became locked together. However, The Termite escaped, with it and General Chompsalot 2 progressing to the second round after the latter, Hyperactive and Mechadroid all fell into the pit within seconds of each other.
There, The Termite and General Chompsalot 2 faced the Top Secret Robotics pair of Rocky-Bot-Boa and Black Widow, from the husband-and-wife Bingham family.
General Chompsalot 2 grabs Rocky-Bot-Boa, whilst Black Widow attacks The Termite
General Chompsalot 2 pulls Rocky-Bot-Boa into the Pit, leaving The Termite to fight alone
As before, it remained in its corner at the start as General Chompsalot 2 and Black Widow fought first, before finally leaving to press the pit release button as Rocky-Bot-Boa joined in the battle. The Termite was then pinned in between Rocky-Bot-Boa and Black Widow, before Rocky-Bot-Boa pitted General Chompsalot 2 and itself seconds later. This left The Termite to fight Black Widow alone, with Black Widow getting underneath The Termite and using its wedge to bend its right-rear wheel cover. In the process, The Termite lost the drive chain for its drum, leaving it trailing as it drove back and forth across the arena.
Black Widow gets under The Termite
The Termite with its weapon chain hanging loose
The two robots rammed into and became stuck to each other, forcing Refbot to separate them, with The Termite again shuffling back and forth as Black Widow drove itself onto the Flame Pit. Again, The Termite and Black Widow impaled each other towards the closing seconds, with neither robot showing much mobility until Sir Killalot nudged them back. The Termite crawled slowly away from Black Widow just before 'cease' was called, and with both robots still mobile towards the end, the battle went to a Judges' decision. However, The Termite and General Chompsalot ultimately lost the decision to Rocky-Bot-Boa and Black Widow, eliminating them from the Tag Team Terror.
Results[]
| THE TERMITE - RESULTS | ||
| Season 2 | ||
| US Championship Heats, Round 1 | ||
| Heat F, Round 1 | vs. Dragbot, King of Diamonds | Eliminated |
| Annihilator Fourth Place | ||
| Round 1 | vs. Brute, Cyclone, Hyperactive, Revenge, Thor's Hammer | Qualified |
| Round 2 | vs. Brute, Cyclone, Hyperactive, Revenge | Qualified |
| Round 3 | vs. Brute, Cyclone, Revenge | Eliminated |
| Tag Team Terror Competing with General Chompsalot 2, Round 2 | ||
| Round 1 | vs. Hyperactive & Mechadroid | Won |
| Round 2 | vs. Black Widow & Rocky-Bot-Boa | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 3
- Losses: 3
Series Record[]
| US Series | The Termite Series Record |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | Entered with Close Enough |
| Season 2 | Heat, Round 1 |
| Nickelodeon | Did not enter |
Gallery[]
Outside Robot Wars[]
- "David is a part-time Scoutmaster from Omaha, Nebraska, who got the inspiration for his robot while on a nature hike! He hopes his robot is as indestructible as its namesake!"
- — Tanya Memme on The Tick[3]
The Tick from Robotica
The Termite originally entered Robotica Season 3 as The Tick, painted white and featuring an interchangeable front ramming wedge in addition to its drum. In its heat, The Tick won its Gauntlet run against Tiger Wood, but was flipped by the Flip Ramp, and was eliminated after losing its Labyrinth run to the latter.
Trivia[]
- The Termite is one of the few competitors in Robot Wars to use cambered wheels.
- In the team's introduction and the official photo, The Termite was seen with a Team Critter baseball cap.
See Also[]
References[]
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