Alien Destructor

**Alien Destructor** is a robot that has competed in both series of the Dutch *Robot Wars* and the first series of *Robot Wars: Extreme*. It also competed in *Dutch Robot Games*, winning the Dutch Championship and coming Runner-Up in the International Championship at the first of these events in 2001, notably defeating future UK Champion Tornado along the way.

The team who built Alien Destructor also entered Dutch Robot Wars Series 2 with **Das Gepack** which went on to compete as a German representative in the UK vs Germany Special at the end of UK Robot Wars Series 6 due to the lack of suitable German robots. Das Gepack would also represent Croatia in a Dutch Robot Games event in 2005.

## Robot History

### Dutch Series 1

The original Alien Destructor made its combat debut in Heat B of Dutch Series 1, and fought Scraptosaur in its first round battle. It drove around Scraptosaur in the opening moments, attempting to punch its spike through the latter’s armour. The two robots dodged each other until Alien Destructor hit Scraptosaur at last, although without damaging it at all. Alien Destructor’s tail whacked the side wall as it drove into Sir Killalot, who lifted it with his jaws and attempted to turn it over. Sergeant Bash caught Alien Destructor’s tail as it backed away, dragging and pushing it across the arena before letting go. Alien Destructor turned round to run its spike over Scraptosaur’s front wedge, before ramming it head-on and into an angle grinder, getting its spike firmly impaled in Scraptosaur’s side while doing so. Sergeant Bash and Refbot freed both robots from each other and the wall, before Alien Destructor rammed into Scraptosaur again and pressed the pit release button as the two competitors circled round each other. This allowed Scraptosaur to spear Alien Destructor’s left-hand side with its own spike, and both robots continued pushing and nudging each other until ‘cease’ was called, with Sir Killalot causing more damage to Alien Destructor’s tail in the closing seconds. Despite the damage inflicted by the House Robots, Alien Destructor was declared the winner by the jury, advancing to the second round.

There, it faced the spinning disc of Twisted Metal. Both robots rammed straight into each other in the opening seconds, with Alien Destructor briefly getting under Twisted Metal before slamming into its disc, losing part of its fibreglass head. Alien Destructor was hit from the side by Twisted Metal as it drove near the Flame Pit, and both its armour and tail sustained more damage from the latter. The two robots briefly locked together as Alien Destructor’s tail folded under Twisted Metal’s side, before Alien Destructor rammed the tail completely under Twisted Metal. Both robots were quickly separated, with Alien Destructor taking more damage through each successive hit from Twisted Metal’s disc. Alien Destructor appeared to lose speed rapidly before it became wedged against Twisted Metal again, and had part of its tail ripped off by Sir Killalot as he came in to separate both competitors. In the closing seconds, Alien Destructor drove off the pit just as Twisted Metal activated it, surviving to a second consecutive jury’s decision. The jury ruled in favour of Twisted Metal, eliminating Alien Destructor from the first Dutch Series.

### Extreme 1

Alien Destructor’s only UK appearance came in the first series of Robot Wars Extreme, where it represented Holland in a one-off International Mayhem against the then reigning double UK champion Chaos 2 and Belgian robot Philipper, a fellow Dutch Series 1 competitor. As the International Mayhem was filmed after Dutch Series 1, Alien Destructor competed with its tail and much of its fibreglass armour removed, as a result of the damage sustained during its main Dutch series battles. As the battle started, Alien Destructor avoided the initial action as Philipper pushed – and was flipped by - Chaos 2, and drove itself into an angle grinder before joining the other two robots in the centre of the arena. It continued to play a minimal part until it rammed Chaos 2 into a CPZ, briefly pinning it against the wall before Chaos 2 flipped Philipper on top of it. Seconds later, Alien Destructor was flipped over itself, and was simultaneously attacked by Chaos 2 and Dead Metal as it was pushed over the Flame Pit. It retaliated by spearing Dead Metal as Chaos 2 flipped Philipper over once again, then ramming Chaos 2 several times before briefly getting itself pinned under the overturned Philipper. Alien Destructor and Chaos 2 continued dodging each other for the remainder of the battle, which went to a judges’ decision. Despite finishing strongly, the decision went against Alien Destructor, with Chaos 2 being declared the winner of the International Mayhem.

### Dutch Series 2

The returning Alien Destructor 2 competed in Heat C, fighting Krab-Bot in its first round battle. Both robots dodged each other in the opening moments, before Alien Destructor 2 drove into Krab-Bot’s front, briefly getting caught by its claws before reversing away. Alien Destructor 2 rammed Krab-Bot’s side and pushed it into an angle grinder, with Krab-Bot being caught by Dead Metal as it backed into his CPZ. It then attempted to push Krab-Bot again, but was lifted by one of Krab-Bot’s claws as it clamped onto Alien Destructor 2’s top panel. The two robots drove in circles around the arena, before Krab-Bot let go of Alien Destructor 2, allowing the latter to push it back into a CPZ. Krab-Bot retaliated by grabbing Alien Destructor 2’s side, pushing it and dragging it in its grip, although not without backing into Sergeant Bash. Dead Metal came out of his CPZ to help Sergeant Bash attack both competitors, slicing through Alien Destructor 2’s top panel a few times as Krab-Bot escaped. Alien Destructor 2 struggled to escape from the CPZ as Sergeant Bash’s pincers held a firm grip on its chassis, before having one of its tyres slashed by Dead Metal’s saw. Despite seemingly being immobile on one side, and having lose much of its speed, Alien Destructor 2 survived to a jury’s decision, which ruled in favour of Krab-Bot. This eliminated Alien Destructor 2 early on from the second Dutch Series.

### Live Events

Alien Destructor was a regular competitor in live events hosted across the UK and Europe. An earlier version of the robot achieved significant success in the Dutch Robot Games, where it won the Dutch championship and finished runner-up in the international championship, losing to Bigger Brother in the final.

A newer version of Alien Destructor, armed with a front clamping mechanism and without the decorative fibreglass body, continued to fight in live events after the original series of Robot Wars ended. It competed in the 2006 Fighting Robots UK Championships, where it took Killer Carrot 2 to a Judges' decision, but fell in the group stages after being flipped out the arena by Behemoth. Paired with Leveller 2, it also finished runner-up in the concurrent Tag Team Championships to Velocirippa and Merlin. Alien Destructor retired after this event, but in 2013 it returned to compete in the Robots Live! European Championship. After losing its heat to Big Nipper, it fought former UK series competitors such as Tornado, Tough as Nails, Ripper and Bulldog Breed in a number of melees held alongside the main championship.

## Results

### Wins/Losses:

* Wins: 7
* Losses: 7