Cruella

**Cruella** was a robot that competed in the first two series of Robot Wars. It reached the Arena stage in Series 1, before losing to Robot The Bruce after driving itself onto an arena grille, but was eliminated at the Gauntlet stage in Series 2.

In Series 1, the team introduced themselves as "The Duelists", a team from University of East London", but in Series 2, they went by just University of East London. It is unknown if the team name was dropped for Series 2, or they just failed to use it in their introduction.

In Series 1, the driver Philip Martin was joined by future Robot Wars judge Martin Smith and Kaneesh Lingham. In Series 2, he was joined by Michelle Wheeley, the original driver for the stock robot WYSIWYG in Series 1, a robot which coincidentally was in Cruella's Series 1 Heat.

Cruella's name is a reference to the villainess from the film 101 Dalmatians, Cruella de Vil, which also inspired its appearance in Series 1.

## Robot History

### Series 1

Cruella was the first robot to make its Gauntlet run in Heat C, and immediately went for Shunt's route. Shunt blocked it, but Cruella eventually pushed and drove itself free, knocking down two of the skittles before spinning around and getting pushed into a pyramid by Shunt as time ran out. Cruella attained a distance of 10.15m, which was good enough for fourth overall and to allow it to qualify for the Trial stage.

The Trial stage was Football, with Cruella facing Robot the Bruce, Wedgehog, Dreadnaut and WYSIWYG to score a goal against Dead Metal and qualify for the Arena stage. Robot the Bruce used its strength and power to score the first goal effortlessly, while Cruella held off a charge from WYSIWYG to steer the ball towards the goal. However, its attempts were blocked by Dreadnaut, which appeared to have broken down, and Wedgehog capitalised by steering the ball and allowing Dead Metal to nudge it in despite Cruella shoving the House Robot into the goal. Cruella made up for this in the third round, steering the ball against the wall before charging it into the goal, with both Dreadnaut and WYSIWYG laying immobile.

Cruella qualified for the Arena stage, where it fought Robot The Bruce. It started reasonably well, using its wedge to get underneath Robot The Bruce twice, but unable to topple it onto its side either time. Robot The Bruce rammed into Cruella as it spun, then pushed it across the arena before riding up its wedge a few more times as it slammed into Cruella several times. Then, without provocation, Cruella turned round and drove straight onto a grille, immobilising itself instantly.

### Series 2

Cruella returned for Series 2 with a brand new circular saw as its primary weapon, competing in Heat I. However, it did not get a chance to demonstrate this new weapon following its Gauntlet run. Cruella immediately chose the right-hand route, running into the ramrig before easing itself out and getting stuck in it. Sergeant Bash shoved Cruella before it backed away, before Cruella attempted the central route and got intercepted by Matilda and Sir Killalot, with Matilda attacking its bodyshell. Cruella retreated back into the ramrig, getting pinned there by Sir Killalot as he ran up Cruella's wedge and drove it into the saws. 'Cease' was called, with the team visibly disappointed about their run and Cruella only managing to cover a distance of 1.9m, eliminating it from the competition.

## Results

 Football
 Semi-Final
 UK Robot Wars Series 2 | Heat I

## Wins/Losses

* Wins: 2
* Losses: 2