Conquering Clown

* BattleBots Proving Ground
* Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors: Season 2
* Robot Wars: Extreme Warirors: Season 1

* BattleBots Proving Ground
* Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors: Season 2

## Overview

**Conquering Clown** (sometimes referred to as Killer Clown) was an American competitor robot that fought in both seasons of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. It was a wedge-shaped robot with a clown body and head built on top of the wedge. The first version of Conquering Clown featured hammers on its arms and two saws at the rear, while the second version had a spinning lawnmower blade on its wedge. The team however, believed that their primary weapon was a little plastic butterfly that could be used against opponents to "bug the heck out of them" as they put it. Conquering Clown was largely a comedy entrant; its head bobbled all about, and was topped with a rainbow afro wig that got set on fire several times. The team members themselves were equally spirited, arriving to the wars wearing rainbow tie-dye shirts and afro wigs, as well as carrying around a clown horn that could always be heard when the Conquering Clown team was on camera. The team often clashed with host Mick Foley, due to the ex-pro wrestler's professed phobia of clowns. Despite its silly appearance, Conquering Clown proved to be a formidable contender, reaching the Grand Final in Season 2 of Extreme Warriors, and finishing in the top eight. It also fought in *Mechwars* and the 2003 RFL National Heavyweight Championship.

## Robot History

### Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors: Season 1

Conquering Clown was slated to enter the US championship, but last-minute technical difficulties forced it to forfeit its place to Tiger Cat.

Conquering Clown did however, take part in the Annihilator. In the first round, it was bullied by Drillzilla, who got underneath and pushed it around the arena. Unibite and Rippa Raptor joined in attacking the clown, but it was Skullmania who fell first after taking too much damage. In the second round, Conquering Clown proved more aggressive than before, wedging underneath Red Virus and pushing it around the arena. Conquering Clown the met Unibite's disc head-on, and the force was enough to knock its wig off. Unibite then struck Conquering Clown at the rear, and immobilized itself upon impact. In the third round, the clown was again targeted by Drillzilla, who pushed it all around the arena. Surprisingly though, Conquering Clown was able push back on Drillzilla and shove it into the wall a couple times. This success was short-lived though, Drillzilla came back on the attack and pushed Conquering Clown into Shunt's CPZ. After enough pushing, Conquering Clown stopped moving, so it was pushed onto the flame pit, where the flames burned its wig and melted off its face. Only after it was counted out, and its head was completely burned up, did Refbot finally extinguish the blaze.

### Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors: Season 2

Conquering Clown 2 came to Season 2 with a new spinning blade weapon. In its first match, it appeared somewhat ponderous, but its blade was working just fine, tearing off a side panel from Sir Force-A-Lot. Sir Force-A-Lot retaliated with its own blades, and managed to bend Conquering Clown's spinner, rendering it useless for the rest of the fight. Sir Force-A-Lot was having trouble getting traction, so Conquering Clown pushed it into the CPZ, where Shunt flipped and axed it. Time ran out in the match, so the judges had to make the decision, and they ruled that Sir Force-A-Lot was out. In the second round, Conquering Clown 2 met Black Widow. The two robots charged at each other, making terrific sparks upon impact. Both robots went into the CPZ, where Sergeant Bash lit Conquering Clown's head on fire. Unfazed, Conquering Clown got underneath Black Widow, and pushed it all around the arena. Sir Killalot grabbed Conquering Clown by the blade, and carried it around for a bit, before setting it back down, and allowing it to wedge under and push Black Widow until the clock ran out. The judges were called upon to decide the winner, and they ruled in favour of Conquering Clown. The team did not have a spare head to replace the burned one, so they were forced to use an iron mask in its place. The Conquering Clown and Unibite attacked head-on with their spinning weapons, glancing off each other and tearing small pieces off the other. One of Conquering Clown's wheel guards was buckled Unibite's disc, causing the wheel to lock up. Conquering Clown was only moving in circles, but it hit Unibite in just the right place, and caused it to lose mobility completely. Unibite was therefore counted out, making the Conquering Clown the surprise winner of the heat.

In the Grand Final, Conquering Clown met Destructive Criticism. The two robots looked pretty evenly match from the start, just like in its battle with Unibite, Conquering Clown and its opponent traded blows with their spinning weapons. Eventually, Destructive Criticism pulled ahead, making a visible gash in Conquering Clown's rear before the clown drove itself onto the flame pit. As its face burned, it drove into the CPZ, where it tangled with Sir Killalot until the time ran out. The judges had to make the decision, and they ruled that Conquering Clown 2 was out.

### BattleBots Proving Ground

Conquering Clown returned to combat at *BattleBots* Proving Ground, where it fought Warthog on the weekend of October 14-15, 2023 as part of the live show, *BattleBots: Destruct-A-Thon*.

During the fight, Conquering Clown was able to win many of the head-to-head exchanges it had with Warthog, as its opponent found itself stuck on the BattleBox several times. Conquering Clown was not without its issues, however, as it suffered a snapped weapon chain. Although it suddenly became immobile in the closing stages, Conquering Clown escaped a count-out by a second and both robots survived the three minutes.

Conquering Clown was declared the winner by crowd vote.

Conquering Clown faced Warthog for a second time over the weekend. The team lacked confidence in their improved solution to fixing their weapon, so went into this second fight as a pushbot.

Despite having no weapon from the get-go, Conquering Clown was able to consistently out-wedge its opponent, and won by knockout after Warthog flipped itself over and was unable to self-right.

## Results

* Wins: 11
* Losses: 7

## References

1. ↑ Recollection by audience member Zassa2

## See Also

* Silvis Robotics Website (Archived)
* Conquering Clown (Robot Wars)
* Conquering Clown (BattleBots)