Overview[]
ßeta (pronounced bee-tah in the UK) is a heavyweight robot that was entered in Season 5.0 of BattleBots, built by John Reid of Team Hurtz to replace KillerHurtz after Season 4.0. The robot was built especially for BattleBots, armoured in polycarbonate with stainless steel corner panels and armed with a large geared hammer that was so powerful it needed incredibly powerful magnets to keep it from destabilizing whenever it hit something. Unfortunately, the magnets pulled the floor panels up, meaning beta could not move under its own power in the BattleBots test arena. Team Hurtz was going to remedy this and enter beta in Season 6.0 but the show was cancelled after Season 5.0.
ßeta returned to BattleBots for World Championship I of the ABC reboot, with Reid being assisted by Grant Cooper and David Moulds of Team RoboChallenge. Multiple changes had been made to beta in order to bring it up-to-date, including a new hammer arm which was bent so it could strike opponents even when mid-air and a suction fan system to replace the magnets. Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts to get it working, they were forced to forfeit their first match. This was due to American Airlines losing a 25kg bag of important parts for beta on its way to San Francisco. This bag had beta's custom weapon controller, wiring harness, armor mounting, wheel bearings, chargers and more in it. The bag was eventually found eight weeks later. Finally in World Championship II, they got the bot in the BattleBox and did very well, defeating Lucky by a close unanimous decision in the round of 48, Overhaul by an easy unanimous decision in the round of 32 and Nightmare (a robot beta's predecessor defeated in the very first BattleBots event) by a knockout, but losing to eventual champion Tombstone (a robot beta was supposed to fight in the first round of World Championship I) in the quarterfinals by a unanimous decision.
For World Championship V, Beta was upgraded with help from his team from Tánshè, using a new shorter hammer powered by nitrogen for more power, four-wheel driven with two of the wheels being behind the hammer, and different armor configurations. Although its weapon showed a lot of power, John Reid often held back too much to save it and it often cost Beta points, especially in the main tournament. While Beta did go unbeaten in the fight cards, it was viciously disposed of in the Round of 32 and then battered in its sole BattleBots: Bounty Hunters fight.
Beta was initially confirmed to have been accepted for World Championship VI though Gabriel would not have been on the team as he intended to compete with Sabretooth. However, both Beta and Sabretooth were forced to drop out of the competition due to their NIE visas being denied by the US State Department.
After Robot Wars had ended, beta was taken to a barbecue and placed it on a friend's lawn by John who tied it to 2 foot long rods that were driven into the ground. When John gave demonstration of beta's power, the force of its hammer pulled the pegs right out of the ground and beta jumped in the air.
beta also participated in the pilot episode of the 2016 series of Robot Wars as Basher. However, it could not compete in the main competition due to its exclusivity contract with BattleBots, as well as the fact that Reid had already entered it with beta's predecessor, Terrorhurtz.
Robot History[]
BattleBots Comedy Central Season 5.0[]
beta was meant to fight Bender in its first ever match, but failed to move under its own power and thus forfeited the fight. Bender won by default and beta was eliminated from the tournament.
Live Events[]
beta fought in a battle in Robots Live! against Merlin, Chronic and Cherub. Cherub was flipped out of the arena early by Chronic and Merlin was immobilised not long after, leaving only the former two to fight on until time ran out.
BattleBots World Championship I[]
beta returned to BattleBots for the 2015 reboot, and was slated to battle Tombstone. However, due to the circumstances noted above, they were unable to get running and had to forfeit. They were replaced in the competition by alternate Counter Revolution.
UK Robot Wars Series 8[]
For legal reasons, Beta was renamed "Basher" for its one appearance on Robot Wars.
Although Basher did not participate in the main series of Robot Wars in 2016, Team Hurtz were invited to attend filming of the pilot episode on March 1st, giving them the opportunity to have a head-to-head battle in front of a live audience as part of a camera test.
Basher first entered a four-way melee against Ka-Pow!, Tanto, and Turbulence. Basher was aggressive in its performance, where at the same time, Tanto became immobilised, knocking out its safety link by driving over Ka-Pow! Basher capitalised, and pitted the defeated Tanto, but in the process, overbalanced, and fell into the pit itself, eliminating both robots from the competition.
BattleBots World Championship II[]
beta's first match in Season 2 was against Lucky. Before getting into the BattleBox, beta fell off the trolley and landed on the entrance ramp. Luckily, this caused no damage to beta and it was still moving before the match began. When the battle began, its first hit managed to break off a protective panel from the top of Lucky. Lucky fought back strongly, flipping beta over a few times, but beta righted itself each time. beta eventually landed a hit on Lucky's flipping arm, causing it to lock upright until beta hit it back into position. The two robots continued to attack each other until the battle ended, to which beta won a unanimous 3-0 judge's decision. This win put beta to the round of 32 with its No.9 seeding, where it faced the No.24 seed Overhaul.
Both robots moved around trying to avoid the other's weapon. beta managed to get a hit on Overhaul's weapon but no damage was done. Overhaul eventually found itself cornered and took a few blows from beta's hammer. After a few more blows from beta's hammer, Overhaul stopped moving as the impacts destroyed the power switch for the drive as well as the battery box. Overhaul was counted out and the time ran out before the countdown was finished. beta won on a unanimous 3-0 judge's decision and advanced to the round of 16, where it faced the No.25 seed Nightmare, a bot beta's predecessor beat in the very first BattleBots event.
Things started out rather poorly for beta as Nightmare was quickly getting the upper hand by taking out beta's weapon as well as doing other damage. However, beta found an opening and manged to get Nightmare on top and paraded it around the BattleBox. Nightmare got off but beta got underneath again and this time topped Nightmare with only 13 seconds left. Nightmare was counted out and beta won by KO at 3:00. This win put beta to the quarterfinals, where it finally faced the No.1 seed Tombstone after forfeiting its first match in Season 1.
Unlike the other robots that faced Tombstone before, from the very start of the match, beta had the advantage. beta came right at Tombstone, and both robots collided in the centre, sending Tombstone flying out of control, effectively fending off the No.1 seed using its wedge. Despite Tombstone's blade sending shrapnel flying, beta took very little damage compared to all other robots that faced Tombstone, and continued to control the match. beta pushed Tombstone around and attacked Tombstone's top with its hammer after pinning Tombstone against the wall. However, beta managed to flip Tombstone by trying to pin it blade-first sending Tombstone flying onto its back, allowing Tombstone's blade to hit higher on beta. beta continued to attack even after its weapon mount took damage from Tombstone's blade, leaving beta with no active weapon. beta got underneath Tombstone again but both robots remained motionless as the clock had been inadvertently reset (though any mention of this was left out of the TV broadcast and made to look like it was just a stalemate in the final seconds). The fight went to the judges who ruled unanimously in favour of Tombstone, eliminating beta from the tournament. This marked the first time beta lost without forfeiting.
BattleBots World Championship V[]
Beta's return to combat gave it a match with Victor Soto and Rotator, but due to the filming schedule and Beta arriving a bit late, this fight was actually filmed last but aired first. In response, the robot was equipped with a lighter hammer and thicker armor to deflect Rotator's attacks. Beta started off very well as they were fending off Rotator and began carrying them around the arena. Since Rotator had pretty much no answer, Beta continued to push them around, taking them to the screws and taking advantage of Rotator's attempt to keep its weapon running. Beta then pushed Rotator near the pulverizer and lost its hammer head as it turned into Rotator's spinning disc. The time ran out and the judges awarded a 2-1 split decision for Beta.
This fight, which was filmed after the highly controversial fight between HUGE and Hydra, was also highly controversial due to Beta winning despite not using his active primary weapon and would force the producers to update the judging guidelines for future seasons.
Beta’s next televised fight was against Dave Eaton and Rusty, though this was actually Beta's first filmed fight. As the match started, Beta circled Rusty before scooping it up and shoving it into the wall. After circling again Beta shoved Rusty into the screws and brought down the hammer, crumpling the rear of Rusty, but only two of the magnets intended on keeping Beta on the arena floor worked, leaving Beta to still jump in the air. Rusty was still twitching somewhat, so Beta hammered it again. Rusty was immobilized after this and was counted out, giving Beta the win by KO.
Beta's next battle was against another newcomer, this time in GRABOT. Beta attempted to box rush its opponent and missed, but this didn't phase them and they went on the attack, slamming GRABOT hard into the arena barrier. GRABOT recovered, so Beta took them to the pulverizer, but only managed to cause very superficial damage with its own hammer. However, after bringing GRABOT back to the corner, Beta delivered multiple blows that left GRABOT's top armor caved in and smoke pouring out of GRABOT as a result. Beta final left off the assault and waited for the count out, which came and went, giving Beta the win by KO.
Despite the controversy surrounding its fight with Rotator, Beta finished unbeaten in the Fight Night rounds qualified for the Championship Tournament as the No.13 seed. In the Round of 32, they faced No.20 seed, Ribbot. For this fight, Beta was armed with an anti-vertical spinner configuration which came in the form of sloped armor. Unfortunately, this configuration was not useful, as Beta was first shoved across the arena before taking a barrage of hits from Ribbot, one of which ruptured the gas tank for the hammer. This left Beta very vulnerable and eventually they were left twitching on their side of the arena near the screws. Unable to move, they were counted out, giving Ribbot the win by relatively quick KO and eliminating Beta from the competition.
BattleBots: Bounty Hunters[]
Beta also participated in a mini bracket, but had to wait until it was over to find out their opponent, which turned out to be Donald Hutson and Lock-Jaw. Beta was armed with a similar anti-vertical spinner armor and an all-silver hammer, but started off the match looking for an opening and ended up losing sparks off its front. Beta continued to wait and was eventually sent airborne and onto its back. Beta was unable to right itself with its hammer despite it working, but was given help from its opponent. Beta tried to retaliate with a hammer blow, but only delivered a glancing blow. Beta was then flipped again and wasn't helped out this time as it was counted out, giving Lock-Jaw the win by KO and a piece of the prize money.
Results[]
| Series | Event | Round | Opponent(s) | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BattleBots Comedy Central Season 5.0 | Heavyweight Division | Preliminary Round | Bender | Forfeit |
| Robots Live! | Birmingham Expo 2015 | Exhibition Match | Merlin Chronic Cherub |
Survived |
| BattleBots World Championship I | Heavyweight Division | Preliminary Round | Tombstone | Forfeit |
| UK Robot Wars Series 8 (as Basher) |
Pilot Episode | Eliminator | Turbulence Ka-Pow! Tanto |
Eliminated |
| BattleBots World Championship II (Seeded 9th) |
Heavyweight Division | Preliminary Round | Lucky | Won |
| Round of 32 | (24) Overhaul | Won | ||
| Round of 16 | (25) Nightmare | Won | ||
| Quarter-Finals | (1) Tombstone | Lost | ||
| BattleBots World Championship V (Seeded 13th) |
Heavyweight Division | Fight Nights | ROTATOR | Won |
| Rusty | Won | |||
| GRABOT | Won | |||
| Round of 32 | (20) Ribbot | Lost | ||
| BattleBots: Bounty Hunters | Beta Bracket | Boss Battle | Lock-Jaw | Lost |
| BattleBots World Championship VI | N/A | N/A | N/A | Withdrew |
- Wins: 6
- Losses: 6
See Also[]
- Beta (BattleBots) (SPOILER WARNING)
- Basher (Robot Wars)
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