Basenji

**Basenji** was a competitor from New York which competed in Season 2 of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors and Nickelodeon Robot Wars. It reached the second round of both the Season 2 US Championship and the Nickelodeon Annihilator before being eliminated. Team Chippermonkey also competed in Nickelodeon Robot Wars with loanerbots Rigby and Squirmin Vermin.

Basenji was named after the breed of African hunting dog; in the team's first round intro John Carioti noted the dogs were the breed favoured by Egyptian Pharaohs.

## Robot History

### US Season 2

Basenji competed in Heat E of the US Championship, fighting Night Stalker and Rosie the Riveter 2 in the first round. It immediately drove towards Night Stalker, reversing into it and losing one of its hole saws as it and Rosie the Riveter 2 slammed Night Stalker into the Disc of Doom button. Basenji rammed into Night Stalker again, before Rosie the Riveter 2 pushed Night Stalker into an empty CPZ where Sir Killalot picked it up and lifted it as Basenji got underneath it again. Night Stalker was dragged back into the middle of the arena by Sir Killalot, before Basenji and Rosie the Riveter pushed it into the wall and Sir Killalot again. Night Stalker's batteries had become dislodged following these attacks, and dangled out of the robot's chassis as Sir Killalot picked it up again and carried it towards the Flame Pit once it was counted out. Night Stalker was eliminated after being dumped out of the arena by Sir Killalot, allowing Basenji to progress along with Rosie the Riveter 2.

In the second round, Basenji was drawn against Darkness. Both robots began by charging into each other, with Basenji momentarily getting underneath Darkness and ramming it. Darkness responded by ramming Basenji twice, losing one of its saws in the process, but causing Basenji's axles to bend with each successive attack. Basenji attempted to push Darkness around again, but as it did so, both of its left-hand wheels fell off their axles simultaneously, immobilizing it instantly. Basenji was counted out by Refbot, before Dead Metal grabbed hold of it, pushed it around the arena, and cut into its back armor several times with his saw. 'Cease' was called, and Basenji was eliminated from the US Championship.

### Nickelodeon

Driven by John Carioti's son, Andrew, Basenji competed in the Annihilator, alongside Hannibal, Bunny Attack, The Piecemaker and Techno Trousers. It performed strongly in the first round, immediately lunging at Bunny Attack and ramming it several times, at one point almost pushing it into a CPZ. As Bunny Attack and The Piecemaker attacked each other, Basenji slammed into Techno Trousers, before scooping The Piecemaker up with its wedge and pushing it into the Disc of Doom button. Basenji rode on top of Hannibal's side, before pushing Techno Trousers around the arena, which became immobilized and was counted out by Refbot. Techno Trousers was picked up by Sir Killalot and spun around before being placed on the Floor Flipper and thrown onto Bunny Attack, with Basenji surviving to the next round.

In the second round, Basenji started more tentatively, staying out of the early action and pressing the pit release button as Bunny Attack pushed and hammered The Piecemaker around. It briefly nudged Bunny Attack before attacking Hannibal, spinning and constantly nudging Hannibal until it suddenly drove towards the pit and swerved itself in. This eliminated Basenji from the Nickelodeon Annihilator.

### RCG-212

Basenji's first match was against the impromptu multibot Jersey Devil & Skidmark. It won this match by a judges decision, and was now against Tornado Mer. This fight started with Tornado Mer spinning up, and immediatly removing a wheel from Basenji, as well as shredding another. However this hit also sent Tornado Mer into a gyroscopic spin from which it did not recover.

The match was then called into a time out, however the G-Forces from the robots now spinning body cause the contractor powering the weapon motor to be held in the closed position, and there was little else to do but wait for its batteries to wear down. The fight went to the judges who gave the match to Basenji by KO.

This win meant that Basenji had won the most points of any bot in the round robin, and thus won its first, (and last) ever championship.

## Wins/Losses

* Wins: 4
* Losses: 2