Anyone here love cats? Then you might like this essay.
OK, this essay isn't about an actual cat, but you may still find it an interesting read anyway. In the world of Robot Wars, there are many legends in robot combat. Some are legends because of winning the title, some are legends for reinventing the sport and inspiring future designs going forward, some are legends for being incredibly destructive and some are legends for being entertaining and a joy to watch. This one is a legend for being one of the most successful machines in history. With a win/loss ratio of 31 wins and 8 losses, few machines have a success rate as big as this one. That machine...is Pussycat.
Famed for its unique design and deadly cutting blade, Pussycat is a machine like no other and has scored a large number of big victories in its career. Its taken down some of the big names, won many side-competitions and proven that even with its mere cutting blade, this kitty is a force to be reckoned with. To give you an idea on Pussycat's success rate, it's the THIRD most successful machine in terms of combat victories with Tornado in second and Razer in third, and it's the most successful machine to never win the title. It's also a merchandising queen too, having spawned numerous toys based on its likeliness and has appeared as a playable robot in various video-games such as Arenas of Destruction and Extreme Destruction. Sadly, the machine was plagued by tragedy that did hurt its career later down the line, but we'll cover that when we get to it. Pussycat is a classic machine that remains a firm favourite for many, myself included, and I think it deserves to be covered here in today's essay.
What were Pussycat's biggest wins? How many competitions did this kitty cat win and was it able to still keep on winning even after tragedy struck? All this and more will be covered here as we prowl like a cat on the hunt into the career of Pussycat...
Series 1: Before Pussycat
Our story begins in Series 1, where much like the famed Chaos 2 that I already covered, Pussycat was in that series in a VERY different guise to what would come later. Before there was Pussycat, Team Cold Fusion entered the series with the machine you see in the picture above. Named Bodyhammer, this machine was two-wheel drive and had a bodyshell made out of tough polypropylene-glass composite material. The material itself was supplied by one of the team members, Andrew Dayton-Lovett, who is an expert in thermoplastic composites. The shell was also covered in stainless steel sheeting. Bodyhammer's steel later was heat treated with the oxidisation process giving it the distinctive copper and gold colour you see in the picture above. This would lead to commentator Jonathan Pearce referring to it as a "coal scuttle" due to its appearance. Bodyhammer could run at 9mph and had excellent acceleration and pushing power. This was because of its four 18V drill motors. The robot was armed with a hammer, hence the name "Bodyhammer", but it proved to be unreliable and so the team removed it following its Gauntlet run. From then on out, Bodyhammer would use a twin-pronged ramming spike instead. Team member Robin Herrick summed it up like so:
"We had problems from the start. Our weapon (a hammer) never worked so we cut it off and fixed the base as a twin pronged steel spike. The motors we used worked well but the gearbox outputs were a weak point that kept me busy. In fact I think one of the shafts had gone in the early rounds and it wasn't until The Arena that the robot was working to its full potential." - Robin Herrick
And yet Bodyhammer proved it didn't really need a moving weapon in the end, for it managed to clear its trails and even clear its heat, beating Torgue of the Devil and REALI-T in order to qualify for the Grand Final. Being in Heat E of the series, it was the fifth robot to win a heat and qualify for the Grand Final.
Competing against Roadblock, Robot the Bruce, Recyclopse, T.R.A.C.I.E. and Cunning Plan, Bodyhammer didn't do a whole lot in the fight, and yet it managed to make it to the end along with Roadblock after all the other machines were knocked out and immobilized in some way. The fight went to the judge's and Roadblock was unambiguously declared the winner after a dominant display throughout. Bodyhammer was noted to have been dying near the end of the fight according to Robin Herrick, citing a broken driveshaft and a possibility that the batteries were also dying as to why it seemed to suffer at the end. As is, Bodyhammer went out as the first ever runners-up in Robot Wars, which is quite the way to start your career, wouldn't you agree? Imagine being in a show like this and finishing SECOND on your first try? I'd be pretty satisfied with a result like that too.
A Very Early Exit
Bodyhammer would return again in Series 2. The machine was rebuilt over a three-month period and was armed with a reciprocating spike powered by a garden strimmer. For some weird reason, Jonathan Pearce and Team Cold Fusion's website referred to it as a "flipper", even though it clearly isn't. Unless you're Spawn of Scutter, a spike ain't no flipper guys! Anyway, the robot was also armed with a 6-inch circular saw, both weapons being concealed within the robot's front wedge. It had a lightweight plywood chassis and a shell made out of 5mm military-grade steel, the latter of which was formed and welded by an engineering fabricator in Bath. Bodyhammer's top speed was increased to 15mph thanks to its 24V battery and its ground clearance was reduced from 1.5cm to 5mm. Interestingly enough, the drive wheels in Bodyhammer would be recycled years later when Robin Herrick would create his Kill-E-Crank-E machine for Series 8 in 2016.
So did all those upgrades to Bodyhammer any good? Not one bit I'm afraid. It didn't even pass the Gauntlet trial, finishing dead last and being eliminated as a result. Fancy finishing second on your first try and then going out immediately on your second try. Sounds like the kind of erratic track record I'd expect from Thermidor II! Bodyhammer did fight again in the Internet Insurrection battle where they lost to Griffon on a Judge's Decision, leaving Bodyhammer with no wins in Series 2. So yeah, not a great year for Team Cold Fusion. But their luck would change when they would make their next and most famous machine ever. Ladies and gentlemen, it's finally time for Pussycat to enter our story...
A Promising Debut Abruptly Ended By Disqualification
Come Series 3, Team Cold Fusion returned once more with their brand new machine, and quite a departure from their original Bodyhammer design too. As you can see, this is when Pussycat began to resemble the machine as we know it today with its iconic pyramid-shaped chassis, four wheels and cutting disc making their debuts here. Now you may be curious why Team Cold Fusion even named the machine "Pussycat" to begin with. I mean, does this look ANYTHING like a cat to you? Obviously not, but there is some logic behind the name. You see, Pussycat's design makes it so that no matter which way its flipped, it always lands on its wheels, akin to the phrase "a cat always lands on its feet". Also the cutting disc could kinda be like a cat's "claws" in a way, so the name does surprisingly make sense.
Anyhow, Series 3 Pussycat's design incorporated an aluminum chassis with a distinctly taller upper body compared to its future forms, sported plastic and polycarbonate armour and was armed with a diamond-edged saw that spun at 1,200rpm. The saw was problematic as it was prone to getting clogged with debris. The machine took two months to build with a total cost of £1,000. The transparent side panels features custom artwork drawn by Robin Herrick's wife. During early testing, Pussycat was found to have design issues with its handling. According to Ann Gribble, it handled like "a pig on stilts". Luckily, Alan Gribble was able to fix it in time for its debut in Series 3.
Pussycat debuted in Heat M of Series 3 and showed a good first impression where it dealt with Hammerhead and was able to beat it when the latter got its axe stuck in the floor and Pussycat was able to pit it. Surprisingly, it ended up facing against Cassius 2 in the second round. How about that, the runner-up of Series 1 faces the runner-up of Series 2? You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried, people! Anyhow, Cassius 2 seemed like it was going to win this battle, but Pussycat was able to drive out of the way just as Cassius 2 was about to pit it, causing the Series 2 runner-up to pit itself instead, eliminating it. Pussycat's Heat Final match-up was against Scutter's Revenge...and everything went wrong for it here. You see, a carbide-tipped blade was obtained partway during filming for Series 3 and Pussycat's regular saw was pretty ineffective, so they equipped the new blade on for their battle with Scutter's Revenge. This proved disastrous for the blade operated at a faster speed than its 12rpm design limit. This caused the blade to shatter against the arena wall when Pussycat struck it. Scutter's Revenge became immobile later in the fight, technically making Pussycat the winner...but it wasn't to be. You see, hardened steel blades are illegal under Robot Wars build rules. Blades that may shatter are prohibited and Pussycat's carbide-tipped blade did just that, so Pussycat were subsequently disqualified as a result. Should've kept the original saw instead of using that new one, eh guys? Alan Gribble took it well:
"Gutted!! That is the only way to describe it. I think the decision was harsh. Nobody was hurt, we gained no advantage from using the blade and in the end we beat Scutter's Revenge without a weapon at all. Ya Boo Sucks!" — Alan Gribble in answer to the disqualification from Series 3
Sorry Alan, but rules are rules, and you broke them, therefore you got disqualified. That's just how things work in the world of sport. =P
Pussycat left Series 3 in a rather unflattering way as a result of their disqualification, but that didn't stop them from coming back in Series 4 where they came back and really let the cat out of the bag...
Runners-Up Yet Again
Pussycat returned in Series 4, seeded 19th for its appearance, and had been extensively rebuilt for this series. It had a more durable and compact top section welded together by Robert Bettington's father, Malcolm, and maintained an aluminium and polycarbonate construction. It was given a new blue and silver colour-scheme incorporating hand-painted artwork on the upper body and the robot's logo on one side. Over the course of the series, the robot's paintwork would be touched up with illustrations of opponents that Pussycat defeated. In a sense, the machine pretty much carried a kill chart on it. Damn! XD The most significant change to the robot was the introduction of custom-designed cutting blades with four pointed tips. Robert Bettington and the Cold Fusion Team designed and patented the blades respectively and Alan Gribble CNC-machined them out of chrome vanadium alloy steel. Throughout Series 4, multiple variants of the blades would be seen in alternating black and silver diamond patterns. These blades would prove crucial to Pussycat's damage output and were much more effective than the previous saw blades in Series 3. Oh and they didn't shatter upon impact either, so that helps. XD
Pussycat's Series 4 run was nothing short of legendary. Appearing in Heat B, Pussycat won an easy first-round melee against Milly-Ann Bug and Reptirron after slicing up both opponents and Reptirron ended up catching fire. After that, it went up against Robochicken in the second round and practically ripped it apart, leaving Robochicken a very messy sight after the battle was over. Not surprising really, cats LOVE their chickens after all (ha, ha!). Their Heat Final match saw them face off against Razer. Now on paper, this should be an easy win for Razer, but given Razer before Series 5 would break down if you so much as sneezed at it, it suffered problems that caused it to lock into forward gear and that left it at Pussycat's mercy. Pussycat just tore and tore and tore into Razer to the point that Ian Lewis left the booth in anger. The Razer team felt Pussycat had broken the Gentlemen's Agreement and had caused an unnecessary amount of damage to them despite them clearly being out of the fight. This would lead to a Grudge Match between both machines later in Extreme, but we'll cover that later.
Pussycat went on to the semi-finals where they shredded Thermidor II and disrobed Dominator II (heh, both sequel bots no less). This made them a Grand Finalist once more, the first time since Series 1. Their next battle was against the second seeds, Hypno-Disc. Now this is definitely a fight with an obvious outcome. There's no way that Pussycat could possibly win this battle with its tiny blade against Hypno-Disc's enormous, destructive flywheel...
Oh right, that happened.
Talk about a million in one shot, am I right? What are the bleeding odds that you just happen to hit Hypno-Disc's VERY SMALL wheel and get it stuck so it can't move properly?! There's a reason why team member David Gribble is considered one of the best drivers in Robot Wars...
So after that incredible victory, Pussycat were in the final round against the then reigning champion, Chaos 2. It was a furious battle with Chaos 2 flipping and Pussycat clawing back with its blade and Pussycat was able to inflict the most damage that anyone had inflicted to Chaos 2 at the time. But things went wrong when its blade got stuck in its armour and couldn't move, leaving them without a weapon for the remainder of the fight. Pussycat even got stuck on its side and because the blade wasn't able to move, it spent a long time stuck on its side trying to roll back right way up. It was a close battle, but Chaos 2 were given the Judge's Decision, leaving Pussycat as runners-up for the second time in the show's history. As I previously mentioned in my Chaos 2 essay, you can see the raw, unedited version of this fight here if you're interested.
Later on, Pussycat would appear in the Celebrity Special during the Christmas period where it was teamed up with actor Adam Woodyat and it managed to win the tournament after defeating Iron-Awe, Sir Chromalot and Diotoir. Get used to me saying Pussycat won a tournament, because this thing will be winning PLENTY of tournaments going forward!
Overall, this was easily Pussycat's best year and their best performance yet. They showed their design's best capabilities and beat some really big-name opponents while holding their own against the then champion. It seemed Pussycat was it for great things going forward...
An Extreme-ly Good Run
Pussycat returned for Robot Wars Extreme with some upgrades to its body and weaponry. Interestingly enough, we saw two different versions of Pussycat in Extreme. This version in the picture above, referred to as "Pussycat 2" by the team, had an entirely new chassis which gave it a stockier and more angular appearance than before. It sported a new water-cut two-toothed blade that was introduced as an interchangeable weapon alongside a similar four-toothed blade with both blunt and sharp points. The reason for this was that the differing blades gave them different strategies to make use of. The two-toothed blade was for use against less durable opponents and the four-toothed variant was reserved for battles where damage points could easily be racked up through multiple slashing attacks. The Pussycat 2 version would only use the two-toothed blade during its time on the show. This machine also sported 4mm polycarbonate armour and wheels with six outer studs to help with re-righting itself from a sideways position. This version of Pussycat would also be seen in the War of Independence Tournament in the US spin-off series Extreme Warriors. Funny enough, Pussycat was the ONLY UK representative to win a battle in that tournament. All the others conked out in Round 1. And Pussycat went on to WIN that tournament no less!
This version of Pussycat that you see here was how it appeared in later episodes of Extreme and Series 5. It had a revised blue and silver paint scheme, an even more angular body, new wheels checkerplated base panels and the four-pointed blades it used previously in Series 4. This version of Pussycat cost £3,000, treble the cost of the original Series 3 machine. All that money was well spent, let me tell you!
For Extreme, the Pussycat 2 model appeared in its Mayhem, All-Stars and Tag-Team Terror battles while the later Series 5 model would appear in its Vengeance, Annihilator and Challenge Belt battles. Both machines enjoyed a great amount of success with Pussycat 2 beating S.M.I.D.S.Y. and Sumpthing in its Mayhem qualifier battle to win a place in the Annihilator and it won the Tag Team Terror alongside Diotoir after substituting for Mega Morg. It managed to beat Stinger in the first round of the All-Stars Tournament, but lost its quarter-final battle against Tornado. Funny enough, Pussycat managed to damage Sir Killalot during the battle and the resulting damage caused Sir Killalot to catch fire, reducing the remainder of the battle to this comical moment where Sir Killalot's basically going around in a panic as Refbot tries to put the fire out. I urge you to watch it for yourself, it's priceless. XD
The Series 5 model would win its Vengeance battle against Razer after a good hit from Pussycat warped Razer's chassis and left them unable to move and it managed to win the Annihilator it had qualified for after Thermidor II, X-terminator, Hypno-Disc and Splinter conked out and Arnold A Terminegger lost via a Judge's Decision. It was unable to win its Challenge Belt battle against Tornado, making this the second time it had lost to the red box on wheels. Still, only losing two battles out of all the other battles it had, I'd say Pussycat had one of the best runs in all of Extreme. Interestingly, it was supposed to have fought Draven in a Wild Car Warriors battle, but its spot was given to King B Powerworks instead. According to the Draven team's Facebook page:
"We were supposed to face Pussycat but they were banned due to having used a shattering blade."
— Draven's Facebook page on their Wild Card Warriors match
Um...that makes no sense. Pussycat stopped using blades that shattered after Series 3 and wasn't banned from any other tournament or event it participated in, so why was it banned from the Wild Card Warriors for that reason? Either they're remembering it wrong or that was the reason, as stupid was it was.
So, did it keep up its performance for Series 5? It did...but it didn't end well for the robot.
A Semi-Final Run Ends In Tragedy
Seeded Number 2 for Series 5, Pussycat went up against The Executioner in Round 1 and qualified when it pitted the latter. In the second round, it tore through the walker bot, Clawed Hopper, in order to secure itself a place in the Heat Final. It was against newcomers Fluffy, a rather vicious contender that had torn apart 101 and Terrorhurtz on its way to the final. Pussycat was in for a tough time with this one, especially since FLUFFY TORE ITS BLADE OFF!!! It looked to be all over for Pussycat but since Fluffy's the kind of machine that breaks if you so much as blink at it, it just randomly broke down and left Pussycat as the surprise victor for the heat. What are the odds that you lose your weapon and then your opponent just breaks down afterwards? That's like a having a boxer punch you in the face and then suddenly breaking his arm in the process so he can't fight anymore! Once again, you can't make this stuff up people!
Pussycat were in the semi-finals for the second series in a row and their first-round battle was against Panic Attack. Panic Attack suffered a lot of radio interference in the battle, so Pussycat had an easy time just hacking away at them until the time ran out and the judges granted Pussycat the win. Their next round was against Firestorm III, and that too went to the judges. This time, it was NOT in Pussycat's favour as the win was given to Firestorm III. The yellow and red bot was the worst kind of design that Pussycat could try taking on given its high ground clearance and all, so it was no real surprise that Firestorm won.
So Pussycat didn't make it to the Grand Finals this time. Maybe next time, right? Sadly...there wasn't one for them in Series 6. Why? It's time to cover that tragedy I was hinting at earlier in the essay...
Tragedy struck the Cold Fusion Team on the 13th of October 2001 when David Gribble was involved in a motorcycle accident and suffered severe injuries from which he didn't recover. He was only seventeen at the time of his passing. This tragedy was why Pussycat had to miss out on Robot Wars Series 6 and the machine was just never really the same after that. The first episode of Extreme and the last issue of the first Robot Wars Magazine were dedicated to him and a book of condolence was compiled on the official Robot Wars website at the time. It's a tragedy that shook the roboteering community and even now, David is still fondly remember for his excellent driving skills on the show. May he rest in peace...
OK, now the depressing stuff's over, let's get back to our story!
An Extreme-ly Underwhelming Return
Pussycat returned in Extreme II, now under the ownership of under the Barnwell family. It was given strengthened armour, new wheels, a black and silver colour scheme and to further enhance the "Pussycat" name, it was decorated with yellow paw print patterns. I always thought the blue and silver looked best, but this is a pretty good look for it too.
Pussycat only appeared twice in Extreme II, appearing in the Tag Team Terror and Iron Maidens Tournaments. It didn't win either of them after being thrown out of the arena by Bulldog Breed (an impressive feat as even Chaos 2 couldn't pull that off!) and being pitted by Chompalot in the Iron Maidens Tournament. It was clear that Pussycat's design was starting to become outdated and thanks to the chance in teams and drivers, it just wasn't looking as ferocious as it used to be. But that didn't stop the cat coming back one last time in the classic era for the final series...
Ending As An All-Star
Pussycat returned, seeded ninth this time, in the first episode of Series 7. Following the transition in captaincy between the Gribble and Barnwell families, this model was given one last set of upgrades. It was given revised castors, a pointed extension opposite the place to aid with re-righting from one side and more durable stainless steel top armour in place of polycarbonate sheeting. It was also given an eight-toothed twin blade with the hopes of doing more damage to the opponent. It still had the standard four-toothed blade that it used in its second-round bout against M2. It also returned to the blue and silver colour scheme from before.
Pussycat looked promising in its first-round melee against Roobarb, Brutus Maximus and Twister, doing damage to its opponents and winning alongside Roobard on a Judge's Decision. Unfortunately, that was as far as it got with M2 defeating it on a Judge's Decision in the second round. Pussycat did come VERY close to winning though as it actually managed to damage M2's safety link, but it didn't damage it enough to break it, so M2 kept on going and was able to win as a result. The team also entered a featherweight version of Pussycat, Kitty, in one of the Featherweight battles hosted in the series.
Pussycat would return for the last time in the Series 7 All-Stars Tournament where they won their first round melee against Behemoth and King B Powerworks, mostly thanks to Dantomkia throwing them both out of the arena, and they beat Kat 3 in the second round. Ironically enough, they did the same thing in the Iron Maidens Tournament. I guess Pussycat is just the stronger cat of the two. The All-Stars final saw them facing Dantomkia and what should've been an easy win for the former turned into a surprise win for Pussycat when they landed a hit on Dantomkia's aerial and immobilized it. As unlikely as it seemed, Pussycat were the All-Stars winners and thus they ended their career with another tournament victory. Pussycat is also the only robot other than Razer to ever win the All-Stars Tournament. Imagine an All-Stars final with Razer vs. Pussycat, I'd love to see it...
And that was the end of Pussycat. The show got cancelled and when it got rebooted, they didn't return. Team Cold Fusion themselves DID return with robots like Kill-E Crank-E and Crank-E for Robin Herrick and ironically enough, Stuart Barnwell would appear in Series 8 as part of the Dantomkia team. Funny considering he controlled the machine that beat Dantomkia in the All-Stars Tournament. XD Stuart would also appear in Series 9 as part of Team Push To Exit. Of all the machines listed, only Dantomkia saw any real success in the reboot, reaching the Heat Final in Series 8 before losing to TR2. The rest couldn't win a single fight. So what became of Pussycat? Well...
...it doesn't look so good. Team Cold Fusion entered Techno Games 2003 with a weaponless version of Pussycat that competed in the football in Team Pink under the name of "Pink Pants" and competed in the Assault Course. It lost them both. The Series 7 version of Pussycat was upgraded further and competed in several robotic fighting competitions across the country after the show's cancellation. But it wasn't to last as Pussycat was retired from full-on competitive combat. It did still appear in certain live events around the UK fighting in demonstration battles and fun events, as well as appearing as a static display piece on occasion. John Findlay of Team Roaming Robots was temporarily in possession of Pussycat before it was returned to Alan Gribble. Sadly, Alan himself would pass away in 2013, leaving Ann Gribble in possession of the machine with Ian Watts co-owning it with her. In September 2018, Pussycat would appear in a RoboNerd event alongside Ian Watts's other machines, Bigger Brother and The Four Horsemen, as a static display piece with former driver Stuart Barnwell also appearing alongside it. It returned to RoboNerd again in 2019 and 2023 respectively and as of now, Ian and Ann are still in possession of Pussycat. For now, I think we can say this kitty has had her time and it's time we let sleeping cats lie. Who knows if she'll ever be on the prowl again in the future...
Conclusion
And that's the end of our story. That was the career of Pussycat. And boy, what a career it was! Finishing second place TWICE, beating Razer TWICE (and the only one to do so via knockout too), winning several side tournaments and being the third most successful machine in the show's history, Pussycat was no mere kitty by any means! It was a savage animal that could rip opponents to pieces and keep on going no matter what. The machine is notorious for never losing via breakdown or mechanical failure and rather ironically, if we take in the "cats have nine lives" stereotype, it only had eight losses in its career, thus technically meaning it's down to its last life. And now all of a sudden, I'm expecting a creepy grim reaper-style wolf with twin sickles to start hunting it down for its last life...
Anyway, Pussycat is a legend in Robot Wars, famed for its iconic design, innovative creation, strong battle record and for always scoring it big nearly every series it was in. If there's anything to take away from this, it's that you shouldn't let tragedy bring you down in life. It's sad when you lose someone you love and someone important to you, but you mustn't give up no matter what. The Cold Fusion Team didn't let David Gribble's death stop them from competing in robot combat and even after David's death, Pussycat was still able to achieve something big. So I think we can all take inspiration from that. Even when tragedy strikes, we shouldn't let it bring us down and we can still carry on and achieve big things in spite of it...
And that's it for this essay. I hope you enjoyed reading about Pussycat and I invite you all to share your comments down below. What's your favourite Pussycat fight? What's Pussycat's best moment in your eyes? I'd love to hear your comments.
Next week, I'll be reviewing The Dragon Prince's sixth season. See you then media fans!
Comments