Dara handed us the trophy and we couldn’t have been happier! Out of 40 robots, a team of three Bluecoats that no one took seriously in the pits at first had won Robot Wars. - Dave Young
This robot is in the Combat Robot Hall of Fame! It's considered one of the best combat robots in the entire world!
Overview[]
KillerHurtz was a British competitor in the first six BattleBots competitions. Its weapon was a sharp pneumatically-powered rack-and-pinion axe. KillerHurtz was one of very few robots to use car-style steering, but made up for the wide turns with its high speed. This combined with its arrow-shaped front allowed it to ram as an effective secondary weapon. Another unique feature to KillerHurtz was its chassis, made entirely of lexan. The sheets of lexan were held together with bolts, tapped into the edges. The axe was custom built, weighed 7lbs and generated 800kg of force and from Series 3 onwards, featured a titanium cutting blade at the front (hardened steel in Series 4), similar to The Steel Avenger, interchangeable axe heads in the Third Wars and car-style steering in the all three series. Killerhurtz cost £5,000 and two months to build and quickly became a crowd favourite because of its 15-16mph speed, but the robot had a high ground clearance and never managed to get past the Heats.
In fact, it never even reached a Heat Final during its run on the show, and the only robot it ever defeated in the main competition was Destruct-A-Bubble, on a judges' decision. Its main UK pedigree came from placing third in both the Pinball Warrior tournament and the Northern Annihilator, two side competitions in Series 4.
Killerhurtz also entered The First World Championship, representing the Czech Republic (due to team member Dominic Parkinson being half-Czech). During the championship "you have a hairy tummy button" was written on the front of the robot in Czech.
After Series 4, Killerhurtz was retired by the team and replaced by the considerably more successful robot Terrorhurtz, which competed in Series 5-10 and also the second series of Extreme.
KillerHurtz performed respectably in BattleBots, finishing in the semifinals in Season 1.0, and as runner-ups in Long Beach, where it also received the Best Driver Award. KillerHurtz also competed in Robot Wars, but did not achieve much success back in Britain due to it never making it past the heats. John found that KillerHurtz was 20kg under the weight limit for BattleBots, allowing John to use different axe heads and heavier counterweights for the axe. To avoid transporting KillerHurtz' axe through customs, John Reid buried it in the Nevada desert after each BattleBots competition, then retrieved it when he returned to the US the following year. Reid buried the axe underneath a stone located at the side of the road, still there to this day. He retrieved and reburied it each subsequent appearance, but did not recover it after burying it following Season 4.0. It was, however, recovered on a later trip. Team Hurtz did try to compete in Season 5.0 with a new machine named beta, but failed to. beta was entered into the 2015 reboot but lacked essential components after the American airlines lost the bag it was in, leading to Counter Revolution getting a chance to fight. beta finally got a chance to fight in Season 2 where it reached the finals.
Robot History[]
UK Robot Wars Series 2[]
Killerhurtz made its début Robot Wars appearance in the Second Wars. Killerhurtz used its formidable speed to its advantage, shooting past the Sentinel in the Gauntlet stage of the heat. However, it drove straight into Dead Metal's claws, and was driven backwards into the pit of oblivion, meaning Killerhurtz had covered an overall distance of 10.6m. This placed it 4th out of 6 on the leaderboard, meaning it was sufficient to surpass R.O.C.S..
This put Killerhurtz through to the Trial stage, which for this heat was Skittles. There, Killerhurtz used its speed to smash through 64 barrels before it was pinned up against the arena side wall by the house robots. Despite this late setback, Killerhurtz easily went to the top of the leaderboard, putting it through to the arena stage of the Heat.
However, in the Heat Semi-Final, Killerhurtz was placed up against the reigning champions Roadblock. Roadblock charged at Killerhurtz side on, and pushed it with ease into the PPZ, Killerhurtz was then grappled by Dead Metal, and pushed down the pit of oblivion by the house robot again, eliminating it from the competition.
Killerhurtz later fought up against Griffon, Corporal Punishment and Bodyhammer in the Internet Insurrection Grudge Match at the end of the Second Wars. In the battle, most of the aggressive actions from the competitors were being brought out on the house robots, as Griffon quickly flipped over Sergeant Bash. Killerhurtz managed to break Matilda's chainsaw chain with its axe, but Killerhurtz then suddenly stopped moving, and was attacked by Matilda and Shunt before being overturned. With the axe not working, Killerhurtz was left helpless and was the first competitor robot to fall.
Killerhurtz was also nominated for the Best Engineered Robot Award, but lost out to The Mule.
BattleBots Long Beach 1999[]
The captain mistakenly left KillerHurtz' pneumatic ram back in England, leaving the robot with no weapon but a ramming spike. After receiving a first-round bye, KillerHurtz eventually fought Punjar, where it won by crowd vote. KillerHurtz then fought Nightmare and KillerHurtz won by crowd vote. After winning a surprising KO against Vlad the Impaler, it was now pitted up against BioHazard.
KillerHurtz lost by KO and fell into the loser's bracket. After beating Rhino by KO, KillerHurtz was now in the gigabot finals and fought BioHazard again. This match was better as it ended in a judge's decision, but lost again and was declared the runner-up of the first BattleBots competition.
For unknown reasons, KillerHurtz didn't participate the gigabot rumble at the end of the tournament.
BattleBots Las Vegas 1999[]
After receiving another first-round bye, KillerHurtz, with its new axe, was pitted up against Team Malicious' Malicious Mischief. Malicious Mischief only got one hit on KillerHurtz and KillerHurtz mostly kept slamming into Malicious Mischief until time ran out. KillerHurtz won on a 7-2 judge's decision and was now in the quarterfinals, where it was pitted up against Punjar again.
KillerHurtz drove straight at Punjar and fired its axe, but it bounced off Punjar's wedge and send cereening away. Punjar attempted to get underneath KillerHurtz and push it, but KillerHurtz drove out of the way before being slammed against the arena wall. There, it managed to axe Punjar, but failed to cause any damage. Punjar managed to stay on top of the fight, pushing KillerHurtz around into walls and hazards, occasionally flipping it up. The fight went to the judges, who ruled 9-0 in favor of Punjar, eliminating KillerHurtz from the tournament.
KillerHurtz wasn't finished, however, as it participated the heavyweight rumble at the end of the tournament, but lost to fallen Champions BioHazard.
UK Robot Wars Series 3[]
In the Third Wars, Killerhurtz had replaced its bladed axe with a spiked axe. It met the shiny Cerberus machine in the first round of the heat. Killerhurtz started promisingly, axing a hole in Cerberus' armour (and also smashing a hole in its batteries), and then coming back again to buckle the head of the dog. However, as the two robots then parted, in a shocking piece of driving, Killerhurtz drove away from Cerberus, turned, and drove straight into the open pit. The reason for doing this was later given as being that the plan was to turn and attack Cerberus again, the team had forgotten that the pit was there, having come back from BattleBots, which did not use a pit in the arena.
Killerhurtz also entered the Pinball tournament during the Third Wars. Killerhurtz had a very slow start, only moving away from the starting area after ten seconds. It ploughed through the barrels, then bumped into Sergeant Bash, bouncing off him and slammed into the multi-ball release. It rammed the arena wall, then backed away, nudged the bricks and slammed the car door open. After moving towards Shunt's target it ran into him, and was then pushed against a side wall. Shunt whacked it with his axe twice, then let it free. Killerhurtz was almost caught by Dead Metal as it reversed, then ran into Shunt again, who pushed it away. Cease was called shortly after, Killerhurtz had only scored 60 points, and finished joint 8th out of 10 overall on the leaderboard.
Killerhurtz then entered the First World Championship, representing the Czech Republic, as team member Dominic Parkinson was half-Czech. It was drawn against recently crowned UK champions Chaos 2 in the first round. Killerhurtz looked on top when it pinned Chaos 2 with its axe onto the flipper and pushed it into Shunt's CPZ. The house robot then pierced Chaos 2's gas canister. Despite this Chaos 2's flipper was still working and was able to then overturn Killerhurtz, flipping it into Shunt itself. Killerhurtz tried but failed to self-right with its axe and was eliminated from the competition.
UK Robot Wars Series 4[]
Killerhurtz was seeded 16th for the Fourth Wars, mainly due to its potential and its previous success in BattleBots, rather than any previous success in the UK wars. In the first round of the heat, Killerhurtz went up against Eric and newcomers Destruct-A-Bubble. Killerhurtz charged into both of its opponents, and Eric tried to flip the seed over, but failed. Killerhurtz then drove over the top of Eric and into Destruct-A-Bubble. Destruct-A-Bubble tried to attack Eric, but was rammed by Killerhurtz. Killerhurtz was then nearly flipped by Eric, so it retaliated with its axe, hitting the bubble of Destruct-A-Bubble while still on an angle, dragging the newcomers off balance as Killerhurtz got back onto its wheels. The melee ended with all three robots in a tangle, as the battle resulted in a judges' decision. Killerhurtz qualified on the judges' decision, along with Eric.
This put it through to the second round of the Heat, where they went up against Team Ivanhoe's new machine Splinter. Splinter drove out of Killerhurtz's way and used its grabbing axes, while Killerhurtz spun around in circles. Killerhurtz escaped, but Splinter caught the seeded robot again, pushing Killerhurtz around the arena.
Killerhurtz drove into Shunt's CPZ and escaped, but it got stuck in forward drive and soon got caught on the arena side wall, smoke pouring from its tyres. It started moving again after being picked up and thrown by Sir Killalot, taking a moment to attack Sergeant Bash and Refbot, but Killerhurtz had already been declared technically immobilised, and was eliminated from the competition.
Killerhurtz participated in the Pinball Warrior Tournament for this series as well, where it did much better than in Series 3, coming third out of sixteen overall on the leaderboard with an impressive score of 235 points.
Killerhurtz also participated in the Northern Annihilator which took place during the Christmas season of the Fourth Wars. Killerhurtz went up against Stinger, Dominator 2, Spikasaurus, the reigning champions Chaos 2 and Suicidal Tendencies. Throughout the entire event, it was continually picked on by all the other robots, in particular Dominator 2. However, the two eventually teamed up to eliminate Chaos 2 in the first round after Chaos 2 was trapped in the CPZ after trying to flip Killerhurtz out of the arena. Killerhurtz self-righted with its axe as Dominator 2 axed Chaos 2. After Killerhurtz found its feet, the two axed down on both the flipper and the electronics of Chaos 2, eventually both Chaos 2's flipper and mobility were ceased, and Killerhurtz qualified for the next round.
In the second round, Killerhurtz immediately rammed into Stinger, throwing it up into the air and seeming to immobilise one of the 30th seed's wheels, Killerhurtz would then be axed and stabbed by Dominator 2 and Spikasaurus for much of the battle before taking on Sergeant Bash. Killerhurtz struggled to survive to the judges' decision that eventually followed, but it went through as Stinger had spent the majority of the battle going round in tight circles. In the third round, things were much of the same, Dominator 2 and Killerhurtz spent much time chasing and axing each other with Spikasaurus in hot pursuit of them. However, a few bashes and attacks from these three machines were enough for Suicidal Tendencies to become immobilised with relative ease. By the end of the round, Suicidal Tendencies started to belch a little smoke.
This saw Killerhurtz through to the fourth round, where it finally faced off Dominator 2 and Spikasaurus, where the first few attacks from the former ruptured its CO2 bottle, rendering the axe inoperable, and damaging its drive. Unable to get away fast enough, it was rammed by Spikasaurus, whilst Dominator continued to attack it. When Killerhurtz eventually got away, it drove across the arena and ran into the arena side wall on the other side of the arena, rendering itself immobile, and eliminating it from the competition. This would be Killerhurtz's final appearance in Robot Wars as it was replaced by Terrorhurtz the following Wars.
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 1.0[]
KillerHurtz's first match of the season was against Knome II. KillerHurtz charged straight at Knome II and decapitated the head on top of Knome II. KillerHurtz then destroyed the top frame of Knome II and charges at Knome II, but ends up stuck against the pulverizer due to a likely speed controller crash. Both robots were immobile, but Knome II was eliminated because of the damage caused by KillerHurtz and its speed controller failing. This KO put KillerHurtz in the round of 16, where it met Monster.
KillerHurtz manged to get its axe on Monster, where it broke one of Monster's drive chains. However, the processor on KillerHurtz failed and was only going forward. Despite this, Monster got stuck on the spikestrip and KillerHurtz got one more blow on top of Monster before it was counted out. KillerHurtz won by another knockout and was once again in the quarterfinals, where it met the destructive Mauler.
Before the match began, KillerHurtz was upgraded with a rear lexan wedge. KillerHurtz was also fitted one of Team Delta's R/C switches so that the team could reset the processor of the speed controller interface remotely. The match started and Mauler spun up to full speed. KillerHurtz charged Mauler and was hit with the full force of its spinning maces. After a few more clashes, KillerHurtz attempted to back into Mauler to try to slow its weapon down. However it was of little effect because a piece of KillerHurtz' lexan was easily ripped off by Mauler. KillerHurtz then attempted to attack Mauler with its pickaxe, but Mauler easily ripped it off and launched it across the arena. KillerHurtz bumped Mauler one last time, and the impact sent Mauler into the killsaws and caused Mauler's radio receiver to become disconnected and all of its systems to stop. KillerHurtz hit Mauler again, but it was unnecessary because Mauler was knocked out. Mauler was counted out, causing one of the largest upsets in BattleBots history. KillerHurtz won by a surprising KO much to the fans dislike and was now in the semi-finals, where it fought Voltarc.
KillerHurtz immediately charged across the arena but impaled itself on Voltarc's lifting arm. It could not do anything to retaliate, as its axe was destroyed in its previous bout against Mauler and there wasn't enough time to fix it. KillerHurtz was then let free and rammed Voltarc before accidentally driving itself into the killsaws, leaving 2 thin cuts on its front right lexan panel and preventing KillerHurtz from driving properly as the lexan panel was pulled down. Both robots charged across the arena, before KillerHurtz bumped into Voltarc and backed off. No damage was done to either robot for a while, as both of them were positioning for an attack. KillerHurtz then drove into the spikestrip and lost its top-mounted union jack. It then drove over the killsaws, further damaging it. KillerHurtz continued driving over killsaws, out of control before Voltarc got underneath and activated its lifting arm. KillerHurtz was lifted onto the killsaws, cutting into the electronics. KillerHurtz was unable to do anything and came out of the fight heavily damaged. Voltarc won on a 8-1 judge's decision and KillerHurtz was eliminated from the tournament.
KillerHurtz was repaired in time for the heavyweight royal rumble at the end of the tournament. Unfortunately, KillerHurtz charged straight at Punjar and was flipped immediately against the corner of the arena. KillerHurtz couldn't self-right and was left there for the entire rumble.
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 2.0[]
After receiving a first round bye, KillerHurtz was scheduled to fight Lug Nutz, but Lug Nutz had technical issues and was forced to forfeit. This win put KillerHurtz in the round of 16, where it met GoldDigger. For the entire fight, KillerHurtz was unable to use its axe, as the team forgot to plug in the pneumatic line and spent much of the fight driving uncontrollably due to a computer crash.. KillerHurtz drove straight at GoldDigger, taking a hit from GoldDigger's pickaxe and pushing it into the killsaws. GoldDigger escaped, but KillerHurtz reversed and slammed into it, sending it backwards. GoldDigger begain spinning again, hitting KillerHurtz with the pickaxe, but was driven into the killsaws again. KillerHurtz reversed to set up another slam, but drove straight into the spikestrip, which seemed to affect its mobility. GoldDigger continued to hit it with the pickaxe until time ran out. GoldDigger won on a 38-7 judge's decision and KillerHurtz was eliminated from the tournament again. KillerHurtz wasn't finished, however, as it participated the heavyweight royal rumble at the end of the tournament. KillerHurtz failed to cause an impact on the fight and it was immobilized shortly after.
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 3.0[]
Due to its seeding, KillerHurtz was allowed to skip the preliminary rounds of Season 3.0, where it faced Center Punch. In the beginning of the match, KillerHurtz pushed Center Punch onto the killsaws and then pushed it against the spikestrip. After Center Punch tries to run away, KillerHurtz pushes Center Punch against the spikestrip again and got underneath it for a second. Moments after, KillerHurtz pushed Center Punch under the pulverizer and Center Punch stopped moving. Center Punch was being pounded by the pulverizer and it was being counted out. KillerHurtz won by KO at 2:13 and advanced to the round of 16, where it faced Omega-13.
In the beginning, KillerHurtz drove towards Omega-13 very quickly, pushing it into the killsaws and hitting it with its axe, which got stuck in Omega-13. Using this advantage, KillerHurtz dragged Omega-13 into the killsaws before the match was halted to separate the bots. This took several minutes using hammers and crowbars, and during this effort, the chain slipped off the pinion, which prevented the axe from returning to its original position. KillerHurtz relied on continuously driving Omega-13 into the killsaws and chasing it around the BattleBox. KillerHurtz won on a 30-15 judge's decision and advanced to the quarterfinals, where it faced HexaDecimator.
KillerHurtz drove around HexaDecimator but was immediately flipped over. It eventually self righted, but was flipped again. After self righting for a second time, KillerKurtz hits HexaDecimator with the axe and dragged it into the killsaws. KillerHurtz and HexaDecimator eventually had to be separated. After the match resumed, KillerHurtz managed to get in a few blows with the axe and pushed HexaDecimator into the killsaws again, but was flipped once more. It self righted once again but was very quickly flipped over again and again but then lost the ability to self-right due to a mechanical problem. The time ran out and HexaDecimator won on a 32-13 judge's decision, which meant KillerHurtz was eliminated from the tournament once again.
KillerHurtz wasn't finished, however, as it participated the heavyweight royal rumble at the end of the tournament. KillerHurtz immediately drives straight at Nightmare and then starts to attack Omega-13 with its axe, but misses. KillerHurtz moves to the center of the BattleBox and charges into the rear of Little Sister. KillerHurtz started pushing Tazbot toward a big pile up of heavyweights and KillerHurtz backs up. KillerHurtz charges into frenZy and drives to the center of the BattleBox. KillerHurtz then started pushing Voltronic under Nightmare and backs away shortly after. KillerHurtz charges into Nightmare and pushes it next to Voltronic. As KillerHurtz was fighting Voltronic, HexaDecimator got its flipping arm under KillerHurtz and flips it onto its back again. KillerHurtz couldn't self-right and was left near the corner of the arena for the rest of the rumble. In the end, HexaDecimator was declared the winner of the heavyweight royal rumble and KillerHurtz lost overall.
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 4.0[]
Thanks to its seeding, KillerHurtz was allowed to skip the preliminary rounds again. In its first fight, KillerHurtz met a fellow UK robot in Little Sister. It was fitted with side skirts in this fight to protect it from Little Sister's flipper. It attacked head on and attempted to attack with the axe, but missed, allowing Little Sister to flip it over. It self righted, but was flipped again and pushed into the screws. It got away and came back on the attack on Little Sister, which had already been immobilized due to a fried Vantec speed controller. KillerHurtz continued to axe Little Sister as it was counted out, meaning KillerHurtz went through to the round of 16 and went up against Surgeon General.
For this fight, KillerHurtz was fitted with pieces of metal at the front, assumedly to defend itself from the flywheel of Surgeon General. It worked well at first, allowing KillerHurtz to slam Surgeon General head on and momentarily stop the flywheel. KillerHurtz ended up right next to Surgeon General, which, after spinning the flywheel up to speed again, came around one of the unprotected sides of KillerHurtz and delivered a devastating blow, almost ripping it clean off and puncturing KillerHurtz's Co2 canister. Surgeon General attacked the vulnerable KillerHurtz once again, this time on the other side, damaging the armor and ripping a wheel out. KillerHurtz was counted out and was eliminated from the tournament.
Because KillerHurtz suffered so much damage from Surgeon General, KillerHurtz couldn't participate in the heavyweight royal rumble at the end of the tournament.
Results[]
Series | Event | Round | Opponent(s) | Results |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK Robot Wars Series 2 | Heat G | Gauntlet | N/A | 10.6m (4th) Qualified |
Trial - Skittles | N/A | 64 Barrels (1st) Qualified | ||
Semi-Final | (1) Roadblock | Lost | ||
Grudge Matches | Internet Insurrection | Bodyhammer Corporal Punishment Griffon |
Lost | |
BattleBots Long Beach 1999 | Heavyweight Division | Top 16 | Punjar | Won |
Quarter-Final | Nightmare | Won | ||
Semi-Final | Vlad the Impaler | Won | ||
Final | BioHazard | Lost | ||
Loser's Bracket | Rhino | Won | ||
BattleBots Las Vegas 1999 | Heavyweight Division | Round of 16 | Malicious Mischief | Won |
Quarter-Final | Punjar | Lost | ||
UK Robot Wars Series 3 | Heat N | Eliminator | Cerberus | Lost |
Pinball Competition | Pinball Warrior | N/A | 60pts (Equal 8th Place with Mortis) | |
First World Championships (Representing The Czech Republic) |
Round 1 | Chaos 2 (England) | Lost | |
UK Robot Wars Series 4 (Seeded 16th) |
Heat I | Eliminator | Destruct-A-Bubble Eric |
Qualified |
Semi-Final | Splinter | Lost | ||
Pinball Competition | Pinball | N/A | 235pts (3rd Place) | |
Northern Annihilator | Round 1 | Chaos 2 Dominator 2 Stinger Suicidal Tendencies 2 Spikasaurus |
Qualified | |
Round 2 | Dominator 2 Stinger Suicidal Tendencies 2 Spikasaurus |
Qualified | ||
Round 3 | Dominator 2 Suicidal Tendencies 2 Spikasaurus |
Qualified | ||
Round 4 | Dominator 2 Spikasaurus |
Eliminated | ||
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 1.0 | Heavyweight Division | Round of 32 | Knome II | Won |
Round of 16 | Monster | Won | ||
Quarter-Final | Mauler | Won | ||
Semi-Final | Voltarc | Lost | ||
Heavyweight Royal Rumble | Kill-O-Amp Mjollnir OverKill Knome II Mauler Nightmare frenZy Punjar Monster Gammatron BioHazard Suicidal Tendencies Blendo Vlad the Impaler Tazbot Voltarc Bender |
Lost | ||
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 2.0 | Heavyweight Division | Round of 32 | Lug Nutz | Won (By Default) |
Round of 16 | GoldDigger | Lost | ||
Heavyweight Royal Rumble | Punjar OverKill GoldDigger Nightmare Panic Attack 3 Mortis Suicidal Tendencies BioHazard Tazbot Voltronic FrostBite Vlad the Impaler |
Lost | ||
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 3.0 | Heavyweight Divison | Round of 32 | Center Punch | Won |
Round of 16 | Omega-13 | Won | ||
Quarter-Final | HexaDecimator | Lost | ||
Heavyweight Royal Rumble | Little Sister Kill-O-Amp frenZy GoldDigger HexaDecimator MechaVore Nightmare Omega-13 OverKill Shark Bite Tazbot Voltronic |
Lost | ||
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 4.0 | Heavyweight | Round of 32 | Little Sister | Won |
Round of 16 | Surgeon General | Lost | ||
Roaming Robots | Daventry Fighting Robots 2003 | Sunday - Session 3, Battle 4 | Kan-Opener 51 |
Won |
Sunday - Session 3, Battle 6 | Raging Knightmare 51 Dantomkia Kan-Opener |
Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 16
- Losses: 13
See Also[]
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