Tornado

From Robot Wars Wiki

Tornado
Tornado in Series 5-7 form
Participation Information
UK Series	4-7, Extreme 1-2
US Series	2
Team Information
Team	Team Tornado
Team Members	Andrew Marchant David Gamble Bryan Moss
Robot Statistics
Weight	100kg
Dimensions	0.25m x 0.85m x 0.75m
Power	2 x 750W electric motors
Weapons	Interchangeable
Robot statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show

Tornado was a robot that competed in the British television game show Robot Wars. The robot was a basic box-shaped robot with a red frame and clear polycarbonate armor. It only had a pneumatic spike in Series 4, but was given a vertical spinning disc in Series 5. In Series 6, it had interchangeable weaponry - the disc, a wedge (which would later incorporate a chain flail), a static spike, and a rectangular frame with horizontal blade (intended for use against Razer). Rather than its weaponry, however, Tornado mainly relied on its speed and strength to push competitors into the pit or slam them into the arena walls. It featured 24V motors being run at 36V to give it high pushing power - its top speed was only 10mph, but it had very good acceleration. Tornado was also invertible, allowing it to continue running even when flipped.

Tornado was particularly notable in that it defeated the best performing clusterbot and the best performing walkerbot in Heat Finals across its history. It also defeated Chaos 2 and Pussycat twice each, the only robot to do so. It also managed to win two Challenge Belts across the Extreme Series.

The robot competed in Series 4-7 of Robot Wars, winning the sixth series. It was built by Andrew Marchant, Bryan Moss and David Gamble, from Huntingdon.

Tornado was renamed Storm Chaser for TechnoGames, where it fought alongside Sprocket (S.M.I.D.S.Y.) in the Football, winning 5-0 in the final against Snowcat and Snowstorm.

Contents 1 Rivalry 2 Robot History 2.1 Series 4 2.2 Extreme 1 2.3 Series 5 2.4 Series 6 2.5 Extreme 2 2.6 Series 7 3 Results 3.1 Wins/Losses 4 Series Record 5 Honours

[edit] Rivalry

Tornado had an infamous rivalry with Razer. The two robots first met in the All-Stars final in Extreme Series 1, in which Razer immediately grabbed hold of Tornado and tried to pierce the tyres of its opponent. Tornado briefly escaped but Razer grabbed hold once again, doing more damage and leaving it immobilised. This left Razer able to easily push Tornado into the pit. Their next encounter was in the semi-finals of The Second World Championship, which ended with a similar outcome. Once again, Razer quickly grabbed hold of Tornado and pierced through its armour. Razer then picked Tornado up and held it over the pit, eventually dropping it in.

Following these easy Razer victories, Tornado developed a special weapon for use in future battles between the two machines. It was a front-mounted spinning blade, supported by a large metal frame around the whole robot. This frame would make it very difficult for Razer to grab hold of it, which was proven in the Grand Final of Series 6. In response to this weapon, the Razer team added an extended claw to the end of its beak, but all it could do was grab the frame of Tornado, and Tornado was able to push Razer around the arena and slam it into the arena walls. Eventually Razer was able to lift Tornado and carry it over to the pit, but Tornado's frame meant that it could not be dropped into the pit. Cease was called and Tornado took Razer's crown of UK Champion.

The pair also met in Extreme Warriors, alongside Kat 3 and Wowot. Both of the other robots fell to the rivals, who met in the semi-final. In this, Tornado used its cage, which took a great deal of damage. Razer ripped outs Tornado's weapon motor in one of the attacks. The judges, however, gave the match to Tornado. Team Razer were so appalled, they confronted the judges directly. It became clear that the judges had accidently mistaken Tornado's motor for Razer's wheel. The decision stood, but one of the judges later said it was one of the worst moments of his career.

Tornado used the spinning blade and framework again in the semi-final of the European Championship in Extreme Series 2, but Razer had developed a new add-on in the shape of an upward-facing hook, which would be used to grab hold of Tornado's frame. The hook worked well, and Razer was able to lift Tornado by the frame. Razer opened the pit and tried to carry Tornado towards it, but the motors burnt out and it was unable to finish Tornado off. The judges went for Razer, but the team later decided to give the victory to Tornado as they felt that they had been immobilised.

[edit] Robot History

[edit] Series 4

Tornado's first fight was against Kater Killer and the clusterbot Gemini. It exploded off the starting position and slammed straight into Kater Killer. Shoving it into Sir Killalot, it rushed back, circled the arena and slammed into it again, pushing it into one of the Gemini twins, who flipped it over. It pushed Kater Killer around and righted it, pushing it into Shunt, who immobilized it with its axe. Tornado then shoved Shunt around the arena while Killalot finished off Kater Killer. Tornado's next battle was against the seeded Berserk 2. It rammed into the arena wall until it was immobilized. Finally, Tornado came up against Gemini again. Gemini started slower than the speedy Tornado, who was flipped twice, but came back immediately. It targeted one of the Gemini twins and impaled it on an arena spike, immobilizing it. The Gemini team was eliminated since one half was immobilized. The unanticipated win over the clusterbot put Tornado through to the semi-finals.

In the Semi-Finals, Tornado met Wheely Big Cheese. Tornado was far quicker, and although the Cheese flipped Tornado twice, Tornado shoved Wheely Big Cheese into a CPZ and buckled a wheel. Tornado was flipped again and started smoking, but the judges went for Tornado. Tornado's final battle against Chaos 2 was fought three times, but only the third one was shown on TV. Tornado ran into Chaos 2, who rushed it up and flipped it out of the arena. Tornado was awarded Best Newcomer.

[edit] Extreme 1

Tornado competed in a Robot Wars Vengeance battle against Stinger, the reason for this being because the Stinger team claimed Tornado was a box on wheels. Tornado shoved Stinger around the arena and into Dead Metal. Stinger escaped and Tornado narrowly avoided the house robot. The fight went to the judges and Tornado was given the win.

It also competed in a Mayhem battle against Steel Avenger and King B Powerworks where it unfortunately broke down eliminating it.

Tornado's highlight of Robot Wars Extreme was participating in the Challenge Belt competition. It challenged the holders, Behemoth. Tornado charged Behemoth towards the arena wall leaving it overturned and being unable to self-right until Refbot righted it. Tornado was then flipped by Behemoth before being flipped against the wall in the CPZ but fortunately, Matilda righted it. After much more pushing and shoving the fight went to the judges and the judges decided Tornado had won and taken the belt off of Behemoth. Tornado then took on Comengetorix, who landed ineffective axe-blows on it before Tornado shoved it around the arena tearing off one of its's side skirts. Tornado then finished off the fight by pushing Comengetorix down the pit. Tornado's next defense was against Wild Thing. Tornado again slammed the wedge-shaped robot into the angle grinders and the arena walls also managing to shred a bit of armour off. Wild Thing was taken to Sir Killalot who had to free it due to it still being mobile causing the fight to go to the judges to decide and they decided Tornado won the fight. Then, after winning 3 successful battles, Tornado was allowed to keep its belt outright and was given a second belt to defend, the first challenger for this was Chaos 2. Tornado managed to ram the current champions into the CPZ before it escaped and retaliated by throwing Tornado twice into the air. Tornado then came back and Chaos 2 was passed over to Shunt where despite overturning the house robot and escaping Dead Metal, it broke down allowing Tornado to go through. The last fight was against Pussycat who Tornado managed to ram into the arena walls and into Matilda's big vertical disc. The Series 4 runners-up managed to escape but Tornado then activated the pit before pushing Pussycat down it. Tornado had won all the challenges in Extreme 1.

After having reached the Series Semi-Finals of Series 4, Tornado also competed in the All-Stars tournament where it fought 3 Stegs To Heaven in Round 1. It was more aggressive in the fight as it rammed it's opponent into the CPZ where after 3 Stegs was picked up by Sir Killalot and roasted on the flame pit. Team Steg-O-Saw-Us' robot appeared to have lost a chain for one of its wheels which allowed Tornado to win the judges decision and go into the Quarter-Finals where it met Pussycat. It pushed Pussycat all over the arena as well as breaking off one of its wheels. Pussycat was immobilised after becoming stuck on its side which meant Tornado went through. The semi-final saw Tornado against Chaos 2. Tornado managed to push Chaos 2 around the arena, but ended up on the wall at one point in the right position to be flipped out by Chaos 2. Contraversially, Refbot knocked Tornado off the wall. The fight then went to a judges decision and Tornado was awarded the win and a place in the All-Stars Grand-Final at the end of the last episode. Despite its best efforts, Tornado couldn't get its disc into any great effect in on Razer who plunged its beak into it's bodywork, not letting it go. After being axed by Shunt and being shoved on the flame pit, Tornado broke down, was counted out by Refbot, flipped by the floor flipper and put out of its misery by getting dumped down the pit.

After finishing second in the All-Stars Grand-Final, Tornado represented the UK in the World Championships along with Chaos 2, Firestorm 3 & Razer. Its first round saw it in a bit of of trouble as it was flipped repeatedly by American Panzer Mk2 and sandwiched against Panzer and Belgian Philliper. After Panzer Mk2 and Yeborobo had both been eliminated, it was left to fight Philliper and shoved it on the flame pit in the last 10 seconds. The fight went to the judges and Tornado was given the win. Tornado then in the Semi-Final fought the Reigning Champion Razer this time with its scoop fitted to it. Again, Razer kept burrying its jaw into Tornado's bodywork before taking it to the pit and dropping it down.

[edit] Series 5

12th seeds Tornado eliminated former semi-finallists Gravedigger in the first round. Gravedigger put up a good fight in the opening moments, slamming blows on Tornado with its axe weapon. However, Tornado rammed it into submission against the arena wall. This put Tornado against the Dublin boys and Diotoir, whom it pushed around for most of the battle. However, in an unexpected turn of events, Tornado's disc became clogged with Diotoir's fur, so the Irish machine activated the pit, and pushed Tornado straight in. This meant that Tornado was the only top 12 seed not to reach the heat final in the whole series.

[edit] Series 6

Tornado returned for Series 6 with a new feature - an interchangable weapons bay. It had a wide variety of weapons for different opponents that could be swapped in or out depending on what was needed. Tornado started off its campaign against Terror-Bull, Inshredable and Edgehog. Tornado giving out some powerful slams in this battle - it pushed Inshredable around the arena a bit, then combined with Edgehog to push Inshredable into Matilda's CPZ. Edgehog became immobile soon afterward. Tornado continued shoving Inshredable around, then shoved Terror Bull into the pit a few seconds before Inshredable was counted out - Tornado and Inshredable qualified.

Inshredable was in no shape to fight again, as proved in its fight against Anarchy. In the second round, Tornado pushed Thor around the arena and into the House Robots, causing one of Thor's side panels to come off and won on a judges' decision. It replaced the spinning disc with a static spike for the final against Anarchy, and pushed the walker around, despite being flipped a few times. At one point, after a failed flip, Tornado charged into Anarchy's interiors, spike-first. This meant that Tornado was in position to prevent Anarchy from closing its flipper, and had lost its most potent weaponry. As a result, Anarchy could not attack Tornado, and Tornado won the judges' decision, through to the semifinals.

Tornado fitted a low wedge for the first round battle against Hypno-Disc. It simply shoved Hypno-Disc around, leaving Hypno-Disc unable to get its spinning disc up to speed and use it effectively. Tornado won the judges' decision. In the next battle, Tornado slammed into Dominator 2 twice with its scoop, while Dominator 2 axed it and made a hole. However, Tornado pushed Dominator 2 into the side of Matilda in a CPZ, but Matilda couldn't turn her flywheel into Dominator 2. Tornado backed straight into Matilda's flywheel, and went soaring above the pit and landed at the side of it, where it ran away. Dominator 2 tried to chase it, but did a backwards-nose-dive into the pit. Tornado had made it to the Grand Final for the very first time.

Tornado was drawn up against Firestorm 4 in the first round, and pushed it around the arena for a bit. Firestorm was having trouble getting under Tornado because its scoop was so low to the ground. Eventually Firestorm pushed Tornado into Shunt and Tornado got axed by the House Robot. Firestorm wedged Tornado into the wall. Tornado's wheels started smoking as it then pushed Firestorm back. Firestorm then got under Tornado again and pushed it around for a bit. Tornado was beginning to falter as it pressed the Pit Button. Tornado then got under Firestorm and slammed it into Shunt. After axing Firestorm, Shunt axed Tornado, nearly hitting the receiver. Firestorm flipped Tornado over. Tornado's scoop was now upside down and ineffective, until Firestorm flipped it again. Tornado then got under Firestorm and slammed them into the Pit Button. Just before time ran out, Tornado got under Firestorm and pushed it into the Pit, qualifying for the grand final.

For the battle against Razer, Tornado was fitted with a large metal frame with a lawnmower blade at the front. Created specially for this fight, should it have occurred, the frame made it impossible for Razer to reach the inner parts of Tornado. Razer retaliated by attaching a small claw extension to their weapon. The frame was heavily criticized, but was deemed legal as the team had made it clear alongside all its other weapons before the tournament had started. The round begun with Tornado ramming Razer several times, although rather ineffectively. Tornado's lawnmower blade stopped spinning at one point, and Razer grabbed onto the cage several times, but kept losing its grip. Razer became wedged behind the disc button, and Tornado began its patented "relentless ramming" technique. Refbot intervened and freed Razer. The pit button was pushed and Razer managed to get a grip on Tornado's cage, raised it into the air and tried to dispose it in the pit, but Tornado's wide frame prevented it from falling down the shaft. Cease was called. After a 45 minute wait, the judges finally ruled in favor of Tornado, who was subsequently crowned the new UK Champion.

[edit] Extreme 2

Tornado competed in the Extreme 2 All-Stars Championship after having won the Sixth Wars. In the first round it teamed up with Dantomkia on Terrorhurtz shoving John Reid's machine into the CPZs and the arena walls. Tornado went through along with Dantomkia after Terrorhurtz was dispatched down the pit. For the Quarter Final, Tornado faced Bigger Brother, Tornado started as the more aggressive shoving Bigger Brother into Sir Killalot. Tornado was then overturned by Bigger Brother and couldn't get its scoop to any good effect. After the pit had been activated, Bigger Brother put it down, only the second non-Razer loss that knocked out a mobile Tornado, the other being Diotoir.

Tornado also feautured in the Challenge Belt episode where Dantomkia, Sir Chromalot, S.M.I.D.S.Y., Hypno-Disc, Vader, Iron-Awe 2.1, Terrorhurtz and Barber-Ous 2 all fought in a tournament and Tornado the current challenge-belt holder fought the winner. The winner was Terrorhurtz, but Tornado immediately disposed of Terrorhurtz by putting it down the pit - the fastest pitting in the show's history at only 19 seconds - and claiming the Challenge Belt title for a second time in a row.

[edit] Series 7

Tornado kept the interchangeable weaponary and came back into the seventh wars as reigning UK champions. It started off a first round clash with Ewe 2, Saw Point 2 and Devastator. It dominated the early stages, ramming Devastator near the CPZ and singled it out as the probable weakest. It had to seperate it from the other two and continued to bash it into the sidewall, but it had a nudge at Sawpoint 2. After Ewe 2 pitted Saw Point 2, Tornado combined with the flipper to shove Devastator into oblivion and out of the competition. In the second round, it met Leveler 2 and again went with the scoop. Tornado was flipped over, rendering the scoop useless, but used the upside down weapon to get a grip on Leveler 2 and shove it into Sir Killalot. Poor driving meant it couldn't get away and Shunt and Killalot combined to bash it a bit. Leveler flipped Tornado once more but Tornado showed great aggresion by bashing its opponent towards the angle grinder. Leveler eventually was grasped by Killalot, who dropped it. Leveler 2 then drove into the pit. Tornado then destroyed Tetanus Booster in the final with a series of shoves when it kept getting underneath the lookalike. Tetanus started smoking and after a little bout in the CPZ, Tornado pitted it, putting it through to the semi-finals.

There it met Raging Knightmare. Tornado overturned Raging Knightmare with a rebound from a shove into the sidewall, but Shunt axed it. Tornado shoved Raging Knightmare hard repeatedly into the sidewall at speed. Raging Knightmare couldn't self-right and was pitted by Tornado. In the second round it met much-fancied Gravity, who had beaten Dantomkia and 13 Black. Gravity couldn't get underneath Tornado's low scoop and Tornado kept shoving it around the wall. Gravity chucked Tornado high in the air and landed Scoop side up. Although Gravity had a hissing tire, it could now get underneath Tornado. It didn't however and Tornado again pressed the pit release after it had shoved a damaged Gravity onto it and sped away to press it.

In the grand final it met Storm 2. Storm 2 was much like Tornado, meaning it shoved its opponents around the arena but with better speed and power. It also had a flipper. There was no respect between the two and Storm 2 span away into the sidewall with an attempted shove. That was before it kicked in and whammed Tornado into the wall at 25mph, which shook some elctronics. It got some more pushes in and Tornado couldn't handle the Storm 2 movement. It was so aggresive. Unfortunately, Tornado lost the judges decision as Storm 2 won on damage and aggresion. In its battle against X-Terminator, the opponents had taken so much damage against the eventual winners Typhoon 2, it didn't work as well. Tornado dodged the flywheel and more deadly shoving meant X-Terminator was counted out.

[edit] Results

TORNADO - RESULTS
UK Series
Series 4
The Fourth Wars - UK Championship Semi-Finals, Round 2
Heat F, Eliminator	vs. Gemini (8), Kater Killer	Qualified
Heat F, Semi-Final	vs. Berserk 2 (24)	Won
Heat F, Final	vs. Gemini (8)	Won
Semi-Final 1, Round 1	vs. Wheely Big Cheese (15)	Won
Semi-Final 1, Round 2	vs. Chaos 2 (1)	Lost
Extreme Series 1
All-Stars Runner-Up
Round 1	vs. 3 Stegs to Heaven	Won
Quarter Final	vs. Pussycat	Won
Semi-Final	vs. Chaos 2	Won
Final	vs. Razer	Lost
Mayhem & Annihilator Mayhem
Mayhem	vs. The Steel Avenger, King B Powerworks	Lost
Challenge Belt Holder
Challenge	vs. Behemoth	Won
Defence	vs. Comengetorix	Won
Defence	vs. Wild Thing	Won
Defence	vs. Chaos 2	Won
Defence	vs. Pussycat	Won
Other Battles Vengeance
Vengeance	vs. Stinger	Won
The Second World Championship Representing UK, Semi-Final
Heat	vs. Yeborobo, Panzer MK2, Philliper	Won
Semi-Final	vs. Razer	Lost
Series 5
The Fifth Wars - UK Championship 12th Seed, Heat Semi-Final
Heat G, Eliminator	vs. Gravedigger	Won
Heat G, Semi-Final	vs. Diotoir	Lost
Series 6
The Sixth Wars - UK Championship 12th Seed, Champion
Heat G, Round 1	vs. Terror Bull, Inshredable, Edge Hog	Qualified
Heat G, Round 2	vs. Thor	Won
Heat G, Final	vs. Anarchy	Won
Semi-Final 2, Round 1	vs. Hypno-Disc (4)	Won
Semi-Final 2, Round 2	vs. Dominator 2 (6)	Won
Grand Final Eliminator	vs. Firestorm 4 (3)	Won
Grand Final	vs. Razer (1)	Won
Extreme Series 2
All-Stars Quarter Finalist
Round 1	vs. Terrorhurtz, Dantomkia	Qualified
Quarter Final	vs. Bigger Brother	Lost
Challenge Belt Holder
Defence	vs. Terrorhurtz	Won
European Championship Representing UK, Champion
Round 1	vs. Snake Bite (SUI)	Won
Round 2	vs. Razer (UK)	Lost
NOTE: After Round 2, the Razer team handed the victory to Tornado as they believed that their robot had been immobilised (Razer's motors had burnt out very early on in the fight) and did not deserve to continue.
Final	vs. Philipper 2 (BEL)	Won
Series 7
The Seventh Wars - UK Championship 1st Seed, 3rd Place
Heat E, Round 1	vs. Sawpoint 2, Devastator, Ewe 2	Qualified
Heat E, Round 2	vs. Leveler 2	Won
Heat E, Final	vs. Tetanus Booster	Won
Semi-Final 1, Round 1	vs. Raging Knightmare	Won
Semi-Final 1, Round 2	vs. Gravity	Won
Grand Final Eliminator	vs. Storm 2 (16)	Lost
Grand Final Playoff	vs. X-Terminator (11)	Won
The Third World Championship Representing UK, Heat
Heat	vs. Ansgar 3, Storm 2	Lost
US Series
Season 2
International Championship Representing UK, Champion
Round 1	vs. Wowot (UK)	Won
Round 2	vs. Razer (UK)	Won
Final	vs. General Chompsalot 2 (USA)	Won

[edit] Wins/Losses

• UK Wins: 32
• UK Losses: 9
• US Wins: 3
• US Losses: 0

[edit] Series Record

• Series 1-3: Did not enter
• Series 4: Semi-Finals, Round 2
• Series 5: Heats, Round 2
• Series 6: Grand Champion
• Series 7: Third Place

[edit] Honours

UK Series Preceded by: Razer UK Grand Champion Series 6 Succeeded by: Typhoon 2 Preceded by: None Most Promising Newcomer Series 4 Succeeded by: Fluffy Preceded by: Behemoth Challenge Belt Holder Extreme 1-2 Succeeded by: Incumbent Preceded by: None European Champion Extreme 2 Succeeded by: None Preceded by: Firestorm 4 Robot Wars Third Place Series 7 Succeeded by: None US Series Preceded by: Pussycat (War of Independence) International Champion Season 2 Succeeded by: None

Non-Official Honour

Position in The Combat Robot Hall of Fame