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Henry was a robot that competed in Series 3 and Series 4 of Robot Wars. In Series 3, Henry controversially advanced over previous Semi-Finalists Haardvark before it was beaten in the second round by future Grand Finalist Steg-O-Saw-Us, while in Series 4, Henry 2 was knocked out by a single hit from Dominator 2 in the first round.

Versions of Henry[]

Henry[]

"The fully charged batteries for the two motors only last seven minutes. What happens to Henry the Eighth minute, I wonder?"
— Jonathan Pearce
Henry

Henry in the arena in Series 3

The first Henry took approximately one week to build at a cost of £700. It was a box-shaped robot armoured in steel and aluminium alloy, with a slight spiked wedge at the front and a picture of the team's grandmother on the back. Henry was painted in the likeness of World War 2-era dazzle camouflage, and ran on hydraulic motors.

Henry 2[]

"Back with their petrol driven machine and its hydraulic ram. Some of the parts come from a three wheeled truck which is to run an Ipswich speedway track? Can that be right? Grandma's picture on the front for luck, again."
— Jonathan Pearce introduces Henry 2
Henry 2 arena

Henry 2 in the arena

For Series 4, Henry 2 was redesigned into a wedge-shaped machine that was driven by a petrol engine. The blue wedge featured a hydraulic lifting arm that could lift a car. Henry's wedge was drilled with small holes to fit the weight constraints, a technique used on many other robots. Some of its parts originated from a three-wheeled Reliant Robin. The grandmother picture was moved to the front of the machine, with the words "Granny's Revenge!" written underneath it.

Tom Moye: "We've also got a secret weapon from last year, which is, Mel?"
Melanie Moye: "My nan on the front. It used to be on the back last time, and she's going to get her revenge in this war."
— Henry's "secret weapon"

Qualification[]

Henry successfully qualified for the Third Wars by going through the auditions.

In the Fourth Wars qualifiers, Henry 2 faced Agvart. Not much is known about the battle, however, Henry 2 won the fight and was successful in qualifying for the main competition.

Robot History[]

Series 3[]

For its first round battle of its first Robot Wars appearance, Henry was drawn up against Series 2 Semi-Finalist and heat favourite Haardvark.

Henry vs Haardvark

Henry takes damage from Haardvark

Henry Haardvark 1

Haardvark comes to a stop in the remaining seconds

Haardvark seemed to be on top during most of the fight; Henry was constantly getting caught on the arena floor, impaling its spike into it, which allowed Haardvark to slice several times into Henry's shell, despite the circular saw not doing much damage to Henry. Time was running out, and it looked like the battle would go to a judges' decision, but suddenly, Haardvark received a few bashes and broke down completely. During the countdown towards the end of the battle, Henry spun around in delight before cease was called. Because Haardvark had broken down so late into the battle, it went to a judges' decision (which was not shown on the televised edit), but Henry was controversially given the win due to still being mobile. This victory put Henry through to the next round of the heat.

In the second round, it went up against original reserve for the Third Wars, Steg-O-Saw-Us.

Steg-O-Saw-Us Henry 1

Henry is rammed into the arena wall by Steg-O-Saw-Us

Henry didn't get off the mark at all at first, but eventually started moving. However, there was no control over the robot, and Henry drove straight into Sgt. Bash's CPZ.

"I think Sergeant was a little bit kind on letting you out there. I think Sergeant was taken by surprise, to be honest!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Henry escapes Sgt. Bash's CPZ unharmed
Henry vs Steg-O-Saw-Us

Dead Metal slices into Henry

Henry got away unharmed, but it then drove straight into Shunt's CPZ. Shunt axed holes into the top of Henry's shell, immobilising the out-of-control newcomers. As Shunt exited the CPZ, Steg-O-Saw-Us then came in and bashed Henry into the arena side wall to make sure that it was immobilised. Sgt. Bash then laid into Henry with its hydraulic claw, ripping its front left panel, while Dead Metal sliced into its back. Cease was then called and Henry was eliminated from the competition.

Series 4[]

"We've got Tom Moye, Leon Moye and Melanie Moye - it's a Moyeathon!"
— Stefan Frank

In Heat E of the Fourth Wars, Henry 2 was drawn up against Dominator 2, who competed in the Pinball Competition, but was a newcomer to the main competition, and the number nine seed 101 in the first round melee.

Dominator2Henry22s

Henry 2 gets immobilised by Dominator 2 in 2.6 seconds

Henry 2 Dominator 2 101

Dominator 2 puts Henry 2 out straight away

Henry 2 was slowest off the mark and as soon as it got going, Dominator 2 slammed its axe down on top of Henry 2. The attack struck Henry 2's carburetter cable, cutting off the fuel line to the engine[1], which immobilised it straight away, in 2.6 seconds.

"And I think the drive motors are there or thereabouts; the axe has gone in and I think that's destroyed Henry 2's chances straight away, look! Immobilised!"
— Several seconds into the bout, Jonathan Pearce shows doubt about Henry 2's mobility
101 shunt henry

101 and Shunt put Henry 2 down the pit

101 then came in and pushed Dominator 2 away from Henry 2 and ended up on the receiving end of another attack from the axe, only just surviving. While the two mobile competitors continued to chase each other around the arena, the House Robots began to close in on Henry 2. After several attempts by Sir Killalot to grab Henry 2, 101 and Shunt combined to push the defeated machine down into the pit of oblivion, eliminating Henry 2 from the competition.

"Well, Henry immobilised. Our seed gets taught a lesson from the newcomer. 101 and Dominator 2 go through."
— Craig Charles

Results[]

HENRY - RESULTS
Series 3
The Third Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 2
Heat G, Round 1 vs. Haardvark Won
Heat G, Round 2 vs. Steg-O-Saw-Us Lost
HENRY 2 - RESULTS
Series 4
The Fourth Wars - UK Championship
Heat, Round 1
Heat E, Eliminator vs. 101 (9), Dominator 2 Eliminated

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 1
  • Losses: 2

Series Record[]

Series Henry Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Heat, Round 2
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[]

Outside Robot Wars[]

Judge Mech vs Henry RR2000

Henry 2 flips Judge Mech at the Debenham Robot Rumble in 2000

Henry 2

Henry 2 fights Bigger Brother at the Debenham Robot Rumble in 2000

Henry 2 also competed in the 2000 Debenham Robot Rumble. In the morning session, it lost to Bigger Brother, but was able to gain a victory against Judge Mech in the afternoon session.[2]

IMG 2000

Henry 3 being flipped Chaos 2 at the 2001 Debenham Robot Rumble

The team competed at the 2001 Debenham Robot Rumble the following year with an updated version of Henry 2 known as Henry 3, which was painted red and silver with a black lifting arm. It was also smaller, sleeker and more rounded than its predecessor. Its only known battle at the event was a loss to Chaos 2. A photo of its battle was featured in Issue 17 of the Ultimate Real Robots Magazine.[3]

Both models of Henry were scrapped sometime after the original run of Robot Wars ended.[4]

Trivia[]

  • After being immobilised by Dominator 2 in 2.6 seconds, Henry 2 was the victim of the fastest immobilisation in the original run of Robot Wars, and the second-fastest immobilisation in Robot Wars altogether.
  • Both of Henry's losses were one-hit KOs by the eventual heat winner.
  • The Henry team had a member called Tom, and the Major Tom team had a member called Henry. Both teams appeared in the same heat in Series 4.
  • Henry 2 had the phrase "Granny's Revenge" written under a photo of the children's grandmother. However, the team played no part in the construction of the robot of the same name in later series.
  • All four of Henry's opponents were robots that have finished in the top eight of a UK Championship at some point.
  • Both of Henry's appearances were in the same heat as Dartford Girls Grammar, and on both occasions the robot that immobilised Henry fought them next and won.

References[]

  1. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Tom Moye in December 2020
  2. Debenham Robot Rumble 2000 - Team Tornado
  3. Team Tornado Debenham Robot Rumble 2001 report mentioning Henry 3's participation at the event
  4. Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Tom Moye in December 2020

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