Mauler (also known as The Mauler on battleboards and Mauler 2000), was a robot that was intended to compete in Series 3 of Robot Wars, as one of two robots representing the US in the The First World Championship. However, it was not allowed to compete as the producers considered it too powerful and too dangerous for the arena to contain.
Following upgrades to the arena made ahead of Series 4, Mauler subsequently took part in the unaired MTV Pilot, defeating Spike and frenZy to win the pilot, although this was not seen on TV after MTV decided not to pick up its own version of Robot Wars.
Various versions of Mauler, including the one banned from The First World Championship, also enjoyed considerable success in the original US version of Robot Wars, as well as mixed success in BattleBots.
Design
Mauler was a circular-shaped robot armed with two rotating flails and two chisels, each suspended on a large spinning lid which spun at high speeds, with the flails and chisels intended to cause significant damage to other robots when the weapon was up to full speed. This version was also called Mauler 2000 for its appearances in BattleBots.
Robot History
Series 3
Mauler in the testing area during the First World Championship
The South Bay RoboWarriors are disqualified
Mauler, representing the USA, was due to fight Cyprus representatives and UK series competitor Cerberus in its first round battle. However, during testing, the producers considered Mauler's weapon too powerful for the arena to contain safely, disqualifying Mauler and putting Cerberus through to the Quarter Finals by default.
Results
| MAULER - RESULTS | ||
| Series 3 | ||
| The First World Championship Representing USA, Round 1 (disqualified before first battle) | ||
| Round 1 | vs. Cerberus (CYP) | Disqualified |
| NOTE: Mauler was disqualified after the judges ruled that its weapon was too powerful to be safety contained in the arena | ||
| MTV Pilot Champion | ||
| Round 1 | vs. Spike | Won |
| Final | vs. frenZy | Won |
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 2
- Losses: 0
Series Record
| Series | Mauler Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Did not enter |
| The Third Wars | Disqualified before World Championship, Round 1 |
| The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
| 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 |
Outside Robot Wars
Mauler originally competed at the very first US Robot Wars in 1994 as South Bay Mauler, taking on and losing to X1 for the single-battle Middleweight title but it did win the all-weight-class Open Melee. Mauler was updated and renamed Mauler 95 for Robot Wars 1995, competing in the Heavyweight category from now on, where it won its first battle when The Mulcher was disqualified then lost to the eventual Champion The Master. It went by its original name in Robot Wars 1996 where it received a bye then lost to eventual Runner-Up La Machine. It competed as The Mauler in Robot Wars 1997 where it won three battles before once again losing to the eventual Champion, this time to BioHazard.
For the Long Beach 1999 BattleBots event, Mauler retained its Robot Wars 1997 name, but did not win a battle, losing to frenZy and Punjar in the main heavyweight division, and to Razer in the end of season Gigabot Rumble.
The version due to compete in the First World Championship, Mauler 2000, later fought in Season 1.0 of BattleBots. It did well in this season, beating Nightmare before losing to Killerhurtz in its second battle after breaking down, despite tearing its opponent's axe off. It also took part in the end of season Heavyweight Royal Rumble, but lost to BioHazard after getting turned over by its lifting arm.
For Season 2.0, a new version of Mauler, known as Mauler 51-50 was built, which competed in the rest of the BattleBots heavyweight championships. However, this version proved to be very unstable, as it overturned itself on two occasions after being put off balance, (including its first ever battle against Bigger Brother, which it lost). Within the fighting robot community, any act of instability thereafter was informally referred to as "doing a Mauler". Mauler 51-50 also entered one of the end of season Heavyweight Rumbles, but was flipped over, ironically, by Bigger Brother. Mauler 51-50 returned for Season 3.0, beating Dreadbot before losing to Canadian robot Incoming and being flipped by Little Sister, essentially a repainted Series 5 Bigger Brother, in the Heavyweight Rumble. It lost its first battle in Season 4.0 to Jabberwock, but won four battles in Season 5.0 (including a knock-out against SlamJob) to reach the round of 16, before losing to MechaVore.
For Season 5.0, Mauler 2000 was converted into super heavyweight competitor M2K02, and fitted with only two flails. However, it lost its only fight to Steel Reign.
After BattleBots ended, Mauler 51-50 was renamed Hellfire 666 but retired after only three fights including a fight against Shrederator. M2K02 was also renamed Mauler 2003 following its only BattleBots appearance.
Trivia
- Despite not competing in the First World Championship, Mauler lost to two UK Series robots throughout its career in BattleBots: Killerhurtz in Season 1.0 & Bigger Brother in Season 2.0.
- In 2003, Mauler was inducted into The Combat Robot Hall of Fame as an inaugural member, in recognition of its innovative full-body spinner design, entertainment value and for coining the term 'doing a Mauler' in reference to its stability issues.[1]
Honours
See Also
References
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