Botopsy Report: This BattleBots article is in need of rewriting to bring it up to a higher standard. You can help the BattleBots Wiki by rewriting/expanding it. Please note that all battle write-ups should be in the past tense.
It was originally a box-shaped robot armored in Kevlar to reduce weight as well as car steering. It was then revised to Lexan armor for Season 4.0 with a new, boxier design and then given even stronger armor for Season 5.0. For all three seasons, it was armed with a powerful spiked hammer that could leave holes in the BattleBox floor. The Judge sported one of the most feared weapons in the division, winning the Superheavyweight Royal Rumble in Season 4.0. For the final season of Comedy CentralBattleBots, a lightweight version of The Judge was made called The Prosecutor.
In 2015, builder Jascha Little returned as part of the team behind Chomp for the BattleBots reboot on ABC and Discovery, where he has remained ever since.
The Judge competed for several years after BattleBots, ultimately retiring after winning silver at RoboGames 2007. During its untelevised career, The Judge picked up a gold medal at ROBOlympics 2004, the first superheavyweight winner of the event which would later become RoboGames.
Robot History[]
Season 3.0[]
The Judge vs. IceBerg
The wrap-up between The Judge and IceBerg.
The Judge's first match was against IceBerg. In preparation for this fight, Team Toad had two battery packs removed from IceBerg so a stronger steel top could be fitted without going over the weight limit. In the match, IceBerg was able to get to The Judge's side at the beginning of the fight, and it was able to push The Judge around the BattleBox, even managing to lift it with the plow. Eventually, the quicker Judge was able to drive around IceBerg and deliver a blow with its hammer. IceBerg got around The Judge again, but The Judge escaped again and hit IceBerg with its hammer again, disabling the plow. The Judge got one more hit in on IceBerg before the fight ended. The Judge won a 38-7 judges' decision and advanced to the next round.
The Judge vs. Wack-a-Tron
One of several holes in the floor caused by The Judge.
In the next round, The Judge took on Wack-a-Tron. Following its match against IceBerg, the arena repairmen had to weld shut the holes that The Judge's axe punched through every time it missed, each gouge measuring up to 20mm in diameter. To prevent an event like this from happening again, the team was forced to use a blunt tip for the rest of its fights. When the match began, The Judge performed a box rush to reach its opponent before Wack-a-Tron's saw could get up to speed. Not long after, The Judge fired and landed hits on the sawblade, shattering it into pieces and disabling it. The Judge continued to land hammer shots on the now defenseless Wack-a-Tron until it was rendered incapacitated and later counted out. The Judge won by knockout and advanced to the TV rounds.
The Judge vs. No Apologies
The Judges gets its hammer into No Apologies.
In the TV rounds, The Judge took on No Apologies. The match began with both robots colliding with each other until The Judge pushed No Apologies straight into the pulverizer. No Apologies then took a big hit from The Judge's hammer which punctured its top. The Judge kept pounding No Apologies until No Apologies started smoking due to the impact of The Judge's hammer. No Apologies was then counted out and The Judge won by KO.
The Judge vs. Rammstein
The Judge fires its axe into Rammstein's wheel.
The Judge immobilized itself under the pulverizer.
This win put The Judge in the Round of 16, where it faced Rammstein. In between the last two fights, the arena repairmen found out that the switch to a blunt hammer tip only made their job more difficult. Although the axe no longer punched holes in the floor whenever it missed, the sheer force of the weapon caused entire steel plates on the floor to get warped, creating damage that was even harder to repair. Due to this, the team was again allowed to use their traditional pointed axe tip for the rest of the tournament. When the match began, both robots circled around each other with Rammstein trying to use its spear but missing. Rammstein tried reversing away to position itself for another attack. Rammstein eventually charged into the front of The Judge and was able to push it across the BattleBox before The Judge attacked with its hammer, incapacitating Rammstein's pneumatic systems. Rammstein backed itself against the screws as The Judge chased it around the arena, before trying to hit the front of The Judge but backing off, with the latter also missing an attack. The Judge tried to go in for another shot but drove over the top of Rammstein, avoiding its target altogether. After some more driving, The Judge hit Rammstein squarely on its top once more before landing systematic blows, managing to pierce through Rammstein's entire shell where it was not reinforced with titanium and ripping off one of Rammstein's tires in the process. However, The Judge seemed to be having control problems and drove itself into the pulverizer, where the first hit was able to knock out the power switch and immobilize the bot. The Judge suffered many blows from the pulverizer, before being counted out in 2:35. Rammstein won by KO and The Judge was eliminated from the tournament.
Superheavyweight Royal Rumble
The Judge also participated the Superheavyweight Royal Rumble at the end of the tournament. It almost hits Anubis just before getting shoved by Ogre. Diesector started carrying The Judge around for awhile until The Judge came back striking its hammer in between Diesector. At one point The Judge suffered a gaping gash on its left-side. The Judge got a hit on Electric Lunch, piercing through the top. Then The Judge got flipped by Toro but self-rights, at the same time Atomic Wedgie scooped up The Judge but it escapes. Then Diesector scooped up The Judge along with Electric Lunch but Diesector backed off, while Electric Lunch rammed The Judge into the spikes then started carrying The Judge around for a bit. After this Diesector went for The Judge again, getting its lower mandibles caught in Judge's hole in The Judge's left-side, but they managed to separate. The Judge went to tackle Electric Lunch some more and again hits Electric Lunch with the hammer, but got stuck from the attack. For the rest of the brawl The Judge and Electric Lunch remained stuck together. It performed well as it was one of four robots still moving in the end, but it lost overall to Toro.
Season 4.0[]
The Judge vs. Hammertime
The Judge and Hammertime collide.
Due to previously competing in Season 3.0, The Judge was allowed to skip the preliminary rounds of Season 4.0, where it eventually fought Hammertime. In the beginning, Hammertime went straight at The Judge and The Judge activated its hammer on the front of Hammertime. The Judge gets into the fight and aims for Hammertime's side, but it missed. The force of the hammer blow pushes the front of The Judge's body up in the air. The Judge drives around to take another shot at Hammertime. It hits Hammertime's back and bends some of the decorative fins. The Judge takes a couple more swings, but misses. The bots turn toward each other for a faceoff. They move forward for a head-on collision. As they meet, The Judge fires the hammer, hitting Hammertime's shaft. Hammertime fires its hammer about three seconds too late. The Judge is at Hammertime's side and makes a good dent in Hammertime's top armor. Three more hits in the same spot from The Judge and pieces of armor go breaking off of Hammertime and Hammertime stopped moving as its battery had been destroyed. The Judge repositions itself and goes to work on the very top of Hammertime. More blows that bend the armor inward and The Judge retreats as Hammertime was being counted out. The Judge won by KO and advanced to the Round of 16.
The Judge vs. Toro
The Judge gets flipped by Toro.
Next up for The Judge was Toro. The Judge gets the first hit on Toro's side and later on the top of Toro's flipping arm. Toro raises its flipping arm and flips The Judge onto its back, bending The Judge's hammer out of place and preventing it from working. Toro moves back to its square as The Judge was being counted out. Toro won by KO and The Judge was eliminated from the tournament again.
Superheavyweight Royal Rumble
The Judge also participated the Superheavyweight Royal Rumble at the end of the tournament. Details on the rumble are scarce, but The Judge won overall.
Season 5.0[]
The Judge vs. No Apologies
The Judge gets attacked by No Apologies.
Due to previously competing in Season 4.0, The Judge was allowed to skip the preliminary rounds of Season 5.0, where it faced No Apologies again. The Judge fires its hammer early and No Apologies surveys The Judge before scooping and unleashing its own hammer. The Judge hits twice and No Apologies hits once more. Both miss hitting each other at least twice and The Judge started smoking. No Apologies took advantage and successfully lands one hit with its hammer, then drove The Judge into a pulverizer. After The Judge escaped No Apologies moves in and lands another blow with its hammer. The Judge's mobility seems to have died, although it's hammer continued flailing. No Apologies delivered one more hit until The Judge was counted out. No Apologies won by KO and The Judge was eliminated from the tournament once again.
2004 NPC Charity Open[]
The Judge vs. Shovelhead
After receiving a bye through Rounds 1 and 2, The Judge first fought Shovelhead.[1] The Judge picked up the win, and advanced.
The Judge vs. Bounty Hunter
Bounty Hunter getting pounded by both the Pulverizer and The Judge
Next up for The Judge was a fight against Bounty Hunter. When the match began, Bounty Hunter attempted to get to the side of The Judge, only to be stopped by a seam. Bounty Hunter then escaped getting hit by the hammer, giving it an opportunity to get under, but The Judge got away. After a few moments of eyeing each other, Bounty Hunter tried to get around to the sides of The Judge, but it failed to do so, taking a hammer shot to just behind the flipping arm in the process. Bounty Hunter then charges in for the front, but wound up taking a hammer shot to the front of its flipper. After another few moments of eyeing each other, Bounty Hunter tried to get to the sides again, but The Judge backed away and readied for a hammer shot. When it missed, however, Bounty Hunter seized the opportunity, getting under the right front of The Judge and flipping it over. When the Judge self-righted using its axe, Bounty Hunter tried to flip it back over, but missed. The Judge left its rear end exposed, however, and Bounty Hunter popped it in the air and lifting it. When The Judge escaped, Bounty Hunter then went for the left side, flipping it over again. When The Judge performed a backflip with its axe instead of righting itself, Bounty Hunter pushed it away from the wall, where The Judge twisted in the air and back on its wheels, before Bounty Hunter flipped it on its back again. As The Judge managed to right itself again, Bounty Hunter reversed into a corner, where it got pounded by a pulverizer. Bounty Hunter appeared to have suffered some kind of failure, causing it to get stuck in reverse. Soon enough, The Judge arrived to the corner where Bounty Hunter was getting pounded and delivered some pounding of its own. Bounty Hunter tried to retaliate by firing its flipper when The Judge was near it, but it was hopeless. Bounty Hunter was counted out, giving The Judge the win by KO and moved on in the bracket.
The Judge vs. Tombstone
Tombstone grinds into the right side of The Judge.
The Judge fires its hammer
In the finals, The Judge met Ray Billings and his superheavyweight incarnation of Tombstone. For this match, a thick Lexan plate was added to the top of Tombstone to protect its vital internals from The Judge's powerful hammer. When the match began, Tombstone's blade got struck by The Judge's hammer, before Tombstone dished out shots to the wedge of The Judge, one hit causing The Judge to miss the hammer shot and spin itself around. Tombstone then charged in and withstood a hammer shot from The Judge before striking the left side of it, sending sparks flying. After a bit of maneuvering around, Tombstone got to the back of The Judge and delivers a shot to the right side as The Judge backs into the wall. Tombstone then charged in and received a blow from The Judge's primary weapon, this time to the weapon frame, before getting under and delivering some shots to the left side. As Tombstone moved across to the other side, it took another hammer shot from The Judge, this time to the Lexan plate, before delivering some more shots to The Judge's front. Tombstone then delivers some more shots to the front, while taking another hammer blow to the weapon frame. With The Judge on the wall after Tombstone swung around and dished out another shot to the right front, Tombstone charged in and ground away, shaving tons of sparks from The Judge's right side without retaliation from The Judge. Tombstone then delivered some more shots to the front of The Judge before it tried to retaliate with a hammer swing and miss. Tombstone then struck the left side of The Judge as it swung and missed once again, giving Tombstone the opportunity to strike The Judge in the rear end. As The Judge backed into the wall once again, Tombstone immediately took a hammer shot to the weapon frame before striking the left side as The Judge swings and missed again, allowing Tombstone to strike its rear end once more. With The Judge backing into the wall yet again, Tombstone delivers a shot to the front while taking a hammer shot to the Lexan plate. With The Judge still on the wall, Tombstone came around and struck the right front and attempted to deliver a shot to the front when The Judge fired the hammer into the blade, causing it to spin around. After some more manoeuvring, along with Tombstone delivering a few more shots to the rear end as The Judge was mostly just moving back and forth, Tombstone delivered a shot to the front near the pulverizer. After some more manoeuvring, Tombstone gets its blade rammed into by The Judge moving in reverse, stopping the blade as it was no longer at full power. After getting the blade back to half-power speed, Tombstone gave a few taps on The Judge on the front and the left side, before taking a blow to the weapon frame that gets it under The Judge and striking the right side. Tombstone took some more hammer shots and delivered some more weak shots to The Judge as the weapon continued to lose power. After grinding the right side of The Judge, the match made the distance. Tombstone won by judges' decision.
The Judge vs. Shovelhead
The Judge now saw a rematch against Shovelhead, who it had beaten in its first fight. The Judge won for a second time and advanced to the overall finals.
The Judge vs. Tombstone
Tombstone pins The Judge into the wall as it tries to reposition the hammer.
In the finals, The Judge had another rematch, this time against the heavy-hitting Tombstone. As the rematch began, Tombstone moved to a corner to let its blade spin up as The Judge charged in, before turning around and striking the left front. Tombstone then moved to the other side, avoiding a hammer shot and giving a blow to the right front. After The Judge backed into the wall, Tombstone moved in and took a hammer shot to the weapon frame before immediately delivering a blow to the front while The Judge was in the air, causing it to spin around and face the wall. As The Judge attempted to push back with its rear end, Tombstone made sparks flew as it made contact with its blade. When The Judge backed into the wall next to a pulverizer, Tombstone struck the front end and immediately took a hammer shot to the blade, which wound up flipping The Judge onto its back. As The Judge constantly tried to self-right using its hammer, Tombstone delivered a shot to the hammer and the rear end, which sent The Judge into the wall, while seemingly disabling Tombstone's blade. Tombstone then pinned The Judge against the wall as it tried to get its hammer back into firing position. This seemingly disabled the hammer, as The Judge was unable to fire it to right itself afterwards. The Judge was counted out, giving Tombstone the win by KO and the superheavyweight championship.
