Iron Eagle

Iron Eagle
Participation Information
Comedy Central Seasons	Season 2.0 Season 3.0 (Unfinished) Season 5.0 (withdrew)
Team Information
Team	Nishimura Robot Club
Team Members	Terukazu Nishimura Takayoshi Vemitsu
From	Kawasaki City, Japan
Robot Statistics
Weapons	Axe (Removed) Ramming spike
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Iron Eagle was a heavyweight robot built by Japanese team Nishimura Robot Club which competed in Season 2.0 of Comedy Central BattleBots.

It was a wide, box-shaped robot with a wedge and a central spike at the front which it used as a ram. For weaponry, Iron Eagle featured an overhead axe which had a spiked 'beak' at the end, representing that of an eagle. This could swing 180 degrees and was supposed to be powered by an auto-targeting system similar to the technology which would later be utilized in the 2016 build of Chomp. The robot's name adorned its top panel and 'NRC' (an acronym for the team's name) featured on its primary weapon. However, the axe mechanism had to be removed prior to battle as Iron Eagle was overweight. The robot was unique in that it featured a vacuum skirt system under its shell to improve its traction on the BattleBox floor and make it harder to get in underneath - a tactic much more common in robotic sumo. A biography for the robot suggests it was supposed to be autonomous, though this may have been hyperbole to promote another event. Iron Eagle lost its first and only battle against OverKill and was quickly eliminated. It returned for the Heavyweight Consolation Rumble, where it again lost out to OverKill as well as Punjar.

The team behind Iron Eagle planned to rebuild it for Season 3.0 as Iron Eagle 2001. However it never got past the design stage.

It was also likely to be scheduled to May 2002 competition Season 5.0 but did not compete for unknown reasons.

Nishimura Robot Club with Iron Eagle.

Iron Eagle in The Pits during Season 2.0.

A design sketch of what Iron Eagle 2001 may have looked like.

Outside BattleBots

In April 2000, Iron Eagle took part in the Japanese event Robot Coliseum, which aired on Fuji TV. There, it is known to have fought and lost to former BattleBots and US Robot Wars champion Vlad the Impaler, which ultimately won the tournament.

Iron Eagle is lifted by Vlad the Impaler during Robot Colosseum.

Robot History

Season 2.0
Iron Eagle vs. OverKill Iron Eagle without the axe. After reveiving a Round 1 bye, Iron Eagle's first opponent in the tournament was OverKill. In the beginning of the match, OverKill approached Iron Eagle immediately, swinging its weapon, before Iron Eagle backed off and retreated into the killsaws. Iron Eagle recovered and started to move around the BattleBox. OverKill got in several good blade hits on Iron Eagle, before Iron Eagle backed up the arena entry ramp, high-centering itself. Unable to move with its wheels off the ground, Iron Eagle was counted out by the referee. OverKill won by KO and Iron Eagle was eliminated from the tournament. Following the fight, the team found that their vacuum seal's fan had become clogged with debris and the skirt was damaged from the killsaws.
Heavyweight Consolation Rumble Iron Eagle also participated in the Heavyweight Consolation Rumble at the end of the tournament. For this fight, the team removed Iron Eagle's 'beak'. At the beginning of the rumble, Iron Eagle immediately turned right attempting to attack Dreadbot, and then charged across the arena. At some point shortly after, it wound up high centered on the wedge of Decimator, rendering both of the bots immobile. In the final thirty seconds of the rumble, Decimator was hit in the back by Punjar, freeing Iron Eagle and allowing it to move once again. Iron Eagle proceeded to push Decimator around the arena, after which it attempted to push Gammatron. Time eventually ran out and although it managed to survive the rumble, Iron Eagle lost out to Punjar and OverKill.

Competitive Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 1

Exhibition Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 1

Total Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 2

Competition	Wins	Losses
Season 2.0	None	OverKill Punjar, OverKill

Trivia

• The team were encouraged to compete in BattleBots by Gage Cauchois of Vlad the Impaler, who fought and defeated Iron Eagle at Robot Coliseum in April 2000.
• Iron Eagle was the only robot to represent Japan in BattleBots history.
  • It would be almost two decades before another Asian team would compete, as Team Atom and Team Gladiator fought in the 2019 season with Railgun MAX and Wan Hoo respectively.
• Iron Eagle's name was inspired by the manga Astro Boy and Tetsujin 28.

External Links

• Iron Eagle Website (In Japanese)