Cobra (Belgium)

*Not to be confused with the British robot or the Australian robot of the same name*

   **Cobra** is a heavyweight robot from Belgium, which competed in Series 9 of *Robot Wars*.

The robot's name and logo are based on the venomous snake.

Like its predecessor Brutus, Cobra is an invertible robot with a focus on pushing power. The robot’s weapon is a ‘snake bite’, designed to clamp robots onto its wedge for the purposes of pushing them, physically resembling a cobra. The weapon is powered by a pneumatic ram, although the robot's wheels are slightly exposed. The jaw could also be swapped out with a lifting wedge depending on opponent, as was demonstrated when they fought Sabretooth during the 4'th world championship.

## Team Rubbish

Team Rubbish were formerly known as VHS-Robots, having competed in Dutch Robot Wars with Pika. The team attempted to enter the previous series with Brutus, which formed the design concept for Cobra.

As Tough as Nails was not selected to compete in Series 9, Marco van Hek invited Jeroen van Lieverloo and Tim Bouwens of Team KODOX to join his team, creating a Dutch-Belgian blend of team members.

## Robot History

### Series 9

Cobra competed in Episode 2, where in its first battle, it fought powerful flipping weapons in Behemoth and Eruption, as well as the 'egg beater' spinner Hobgoblin. Cobra showed no hesitation, and punished a mistimed flip from Behemoth with repeated slams, before avoiding the action briefly while Hobgoblin was immobilised. Cobra drove onto the flipper of Eruption, and was tossed over, so Cobra willingly drove onto the floor flipper to right itself, although this led to a sequence of flips from Eruption and the floor flipper again. Cobra was turned over by Behemoth, so it fled the scene and pressed the Arena Tyre, lowering the pit, although here Eruption flipped Cobra towards Sir Killalot, which grabbed Cobra and held it over the flame pit. Cobra maintained its aggression, although this led to it being flipped by Behemoth, and was trapped over the arena spikes by Eruption. Although Cobra was inverted, rendering its weapon useless, it continued to ram into both opponents using its back end. Eruption eventually righted Cobra, but after the Belgian team slammed into Behemoth, Cobra turned itself over once again. Cobra successfully evaded Behemoth, but could not avoid a powerful throw from Eruption. In the final seconds of the match, Cobra chased Eruption across the arena, earning points but also sustaining one last flip. Cease was called at the end of the battle. Although Cobra had survived until a Judges' decision, having fought an aggressive battle throughout the duration of the fight, the Judges ultimately ruled that Behemoth and Eruption would be the robots to progress, and Cobra was eliminated.

### Series 10

Though not appearing in the main competition of Series 10, Cobra represented Belgium in the first episode of the concurrently-filmed World Series. It helped open up the episode for Team Rest of the World, as it fought the British entries Apollo and Gabriel 2 in a Tag Team battle, partnered with the Dutch entry TMHWK, a robot that Marco van Hek had previously owned.

Cobra opened the battle for its team and fought Apollo head-to-head, while TMHWK and Gabriel 2 laid in waiting. Cobra snapped across the arena straight away, skidding over the wedged front of Apollo, before turning and darted towards the opposite corner of the arena. Cobra then found itself up on Apollo's flipper arm for the first time but managed to wriggle itself free before a flip was carried out by the Series 8 champions. Cobra made a retreat over the Arena Spikes, which sent sparks flying, before Cobra's next drive saw it completely shoot over the top of Apollo.

Cobra then backed into the Arena Tyre which dropped the Pit of Oblivion, before once again speeding up and over Apollo. After another one of these instances, Cobra then squeezed Apollo back towards the Arena Tyre with a drive. Apollo responded with a flip, hurling Cobra into the arena wall and prompting the Rest of the World team into a tag, with TMHWK taking over the reins. Cobra came back into the arena for a short period after the Fog of War was activated, but moved back into the CPZ to rest again after this. After a brief encounter with Gabriel 2, TMHWK tagged Cobra back in, with the Belgian machine pursuing Gabriel 2 as it tagged in Apollo. After Craig Colliass' machine completed its drive back into the CPZ, Cobra turned its attention back to Apollo - with the initial duel at the start of the fight being resumed. Once again, Cobra skidded up Apollo, and another one of these drives saw Cobra turned over. Now inverted, Cobra initially struggled for traction on the arena floor, and was harassed into the CPZ by Apollo as a result.

In the mayhem that followed, Cobra was flung into the distance by the Floor Flipper while Apollo lifted the rear of Dead Metal. While the House Robot fought back by attacking Apollo itself, Cobra attempted to put pressure on Team UK's captain, but was only swatted away by the Floor Flipper for a second time. Another tag followed, but both Cobra and Apollo didn't remain out of the action for long, with the two machines charging in to create a huddle between all four of the competing robots. Cobra's teammate, TMHWK, was chucked by Apollo, but then the two misbehaving robots were driven back by Dead Metal, who attempted to put to a stop to their rule-breaking antics. The House Robot's attempts at keeping the fight under control weren't appreciated by the pair, however, with both Cobra and Apollo pursuing Dead Metal, before Apollo toppled Dead Metal onto its side, while Cobra sat in behind the House Robot.

In the remaining moments, the two played with the overturned Dead Metal, but unfortunately for Cobra, its partner fell down into the Pit in the closing moments. The resulting Judges' decision went in favour of Team UK, who picked up the first 2 points of the episode, although Cobra's efforts had prevented the British team from collecting a full three points.

Cobra then started the Head-to-Head stage for Team Rest of the World, as it faced off against Team Legion and their robot Sabretooth.

The fight started with Cobra pushing Sabretooth backwards, before Gabriel Stroud's robot darted off towards the Arena Tyre, which set off the Fog of War. After hassling Sabretooth around the arena, Cobra decided to activate the Arena Tyre itself, which saw Sabretooth pursued by Sir Killalot in Rogue House Robot mode. At the end of the House Robot's roam into the arena centre, Cobra came in with a charge, inverting Sabretooth in the process.

Cobra followed this strong drive up with another one, as it shovelled Sabretooth's rear upwards and accelerated it into the arena wall inside Sir Killalot's CPZ. Again, Sabretooth tried to compose itself, but Cobra continued to unsettle it with a long-range drive. Despite gyro-dancing its way back onto its normal way up, Sabretooth was still unable to assert itself on proceedings, with Cobra slamming it into an arena entry gate and then against the arena wall. Sabretooth threatened to cause damage to Cobra's tyres when it came back down towards the arena floor, but Cobra's wheels only sustained minor damage.

After another strong drive, Cobra then found itself in trouble with Dead Metal, which allowed Sabretooth to come in and chip away at the rear of Marco van Hek's robot. Cobra quickly resumed its dominance though, and turned Sabretooth over again. Sabretooth attempted to turn itself right-way up again via the use of its drum, but only succeeded in edging itself into Sir Killalot's possession, while Cobra was caught by the Floor Flipper. Once Sabretooth moved itself back into the centre of the arena, Cobra slammed into the Arena Tyre - although no arena hazards were activated due to Cobra already pressing the tyre earlier on in the contest. Cobra continued to keep on top of Sabretooth in the closing period, causing Sabretooth's weapon belt to slip after one slam from Cobra, which also fed Sabretooth into Sir Killalot with one final drive before 'cease' was called. The battle was sent to a Judges' decision.

Cobra unanimously won the Judges' decision that followed - gaining Team Rest of the World their first 2 points. Team Rest of the World would not win the competition, but Cobra contributed towards Team Rest of the World's total of four points.

## Results

Eruption
Hobgoblin
 Robot Wars Series 10
Gabriel 2
 Head to Heads

## Wins/Losses

* Wins: 1
* Losses: 2