Mortician

Mortician
Participation Information
Unaired Events	BattleBots JavaOne 2007
Live	BattleBots Proving Ground
Other Names	The Mortician
Team Information
Team	Hardcore Robotics
Team Members	Ray Billings Rick Russ (JavaOne 2007) Justin Billings Teri Billings
From	Placerville, CA
Other Entries	Tombstone, Swamp Thing, Darkness, The Raven, Puddle Jumper
Associated Robots	Malice (Ray Billings)
Robot Statistics
Weight	120lbs
Drive	2x brushless motors (BB Proving Ground) 2x NPC motors (JavaOne 2007)
Weapons	Horizontal bar spinner
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Mortician, originally known as The Mortician, is a middleweight robot built by Hardcore Robotics which competed in the 2007 BattleBots JavaOne event as well as BattleBots Proving Ground.

Its original build was a two-wheel drive, invertible robot which was armed with a powerful horizontal bar spinner, similar to Ray Billings' superheavyweight turned heavyweight, Tombstone. Unlike Hardcore Robotics' flagship robot, the version of The Mortician which fought in the 2007 event featured wheels mounted on the inside of its chassis, thus narrowing its wheelbase. Earlier and later builds, however, sported exposed wheels which gave it a near-identical look to Tombstone. The Mortician performed well in the 2007 JavaOne competition, beating Fork and reaching the semi-finals before losing to Icewave.

In July 2023, it was revealed that Ray Billings would be bringing The Mortician to BattleBots: Destruct-A-Thon, competing in a 2v1 Proving Ground battle alongside CatKong against a heavyweight opponent in DOOM. The middleweight team were beaten twice by DOOM, however, first by judges' decision and then by knockout.

Outside BattleBots

The Mortician debuted in ROBOLympics 2004 and competed in the renamed RoboGames and Combots Cup events with a great deal of success up until 2013, when it was ultimately retired. It has over 40 career wins to its name, earning two gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze medal finish across its time in RoboGames, as well as two Combots Cup championships in the middleweight division.

In early 2023, Ray Billings announced his intention to build a brand new version for RoboGames 2023, ten years since The Mortician's last competitive appearance. He produced several progress updates to his YouTube channel, showcasing its brand new brushless drive motors, chassis and weapon bars. The robot was driven by Ray's son, Justin Billings, who has previously driven Tombstone during special BattleBots events. The Mortician fought on Day 2, winning against Who's Your Daddy Now? but losing out to Copyright Infringement in Round 2. After losing out to BMF in the loser's bracket, The Mortician's elimination was confirmed.

In February 2024, Ray Billings confirmed Mortician's involvement in RoboGames. Mortician received a Round 1 bye and met Budget Bot 2. It won this fight by knockout before taking on Who's Your Daddy Now? in a rematch from the previous year. Mortician picked up another win, but immediately fought Who's Your Daddy Now? again as the loser's bracket winner. Mortician won once more - this time by judges' decision - and became the middleweight champion for RoboGames 2024.

The Mortician ahead of RoboGames 2023.

Ray working on The Mortician.

The Mortician and VD6.0 during RoboGames 2009.

Robot History

BattleBots JavaOne 2007
The Mortician vs. Fork The Mortician rips Fork's wedge off. The Mortician's first match in the 2007 event was against Fork. Early in the fight, The Mortician slammed into the front wedge of Fork, which absorbed the blow initially. The Mortician then struck its opponent's side, ripping the wedge off. This impact also disabled one side of Fork's drive and ripped a tire away. Ray Billings continued to attack until Fork could no longer move, and The Mortician took the win by knockout.
The Mortician vs. Icewave Icewave takes out The Mortician. Now in the semi-finals, The Mortician took on Marc DeVidts and Icewave. This match started with both bots spinning up to full speed and The Mortician going weapon-to-weapon with its opponent. However, Icewave was able to strike the side of The Mortician, which disabled its drive immediately. Unable to move, The Mortician was counted out and eliminated from the competition.
BattleBots Proving Ground
Mortician & CatKong vs. DOOM (8/19/2023) The promotional image used ahead of the fight. Mortician returned for BattleBots Proving Ground in a 2v1 battle against heavyweight, DOOM. It was joined by middleweight CatKong, captained by Martin Mason of MadCatter fame. CatKong and Mortician take turns attacking DOOM. CatKong immediately charged at DOOM while its teammate held back to spin up. DOOM struck CatKong in retaliation and flipped it over. However, it was able to self-right against the arena wall and then struck the front of DOOM, popping its heavyweight opponent into the air. Looking to capitalize, Mortician attacked with its bar spinner but was promptly deflected away. CatKong struck again and almost toppled DOOM before Alejandro Pina's bot landed right side up. "It seems like they got a fight plan here and it's working pretty well here!" — Bil Dwyer credits the tactics of CatKong and Mortician CatKong tees DOOM up for Mortician. Both middleweights then attacked each flank of DOOM simultaneously, but the sloped armor of DOOM held strong. CatKong chipped away at its side again before Mortician struck its front and threatened to hit its weapon mechanism as the horizontal spinner clambered up DOOM. Just over a minute into the fight, it appeared CatKong's vertical spinner was no longer moving. It instead slid its front forks underneath DOOM's flank and pushed, trying to tee it up for a Mortician hit. However, Ray Billings' middleweight could only land glancing shots to DOOM, whose armor deflected Mortician away. In the chaos, Mortician accidentally struck the side of CatKong, much to the amusement of commentators Bil Dwyer and Steve Judkins. "Hey... I think he hit his buddy, then." — Steve Judkins as the fight enters the final minute DOOM removes a wheel from Mortician. Mortician then tried to attack, but suffered a direct hit from DOOM's hammer saw and lost its left side tire. A weapon belt was also now strewn across the BattleBox floor. Though its weapon was still a threat, Mortician's mobility was now seriously impaired and it could only edge its way towards DOOM. CatKong was shoving from the other side, looking to ram it into the blade of Mortician, but this proved ineffective. DOOM attacks CatKong late on. In the closing moments, DOOM led the weaponless CatKong into the wall and near the screws, slamming it into the wall as the feline-themed bot was reduced to twitching in place. Mortician post-fight. DOOM went after Mortician in the final ten seconds, but was unable to land a final blow against its middleweight opponents. With neither middleweight able to drive properly, DOOM took the win by crowd vote.
Mortician & CatKong vs. DOOM (8/20/2023) Mortician and CatKong fought DOOM for a second time during the weekend. CatKong misses its box rush. This time, CatKong was quick out of the starting square, but crashed into the screws and flipped over. It played no further part in the fight, leaving Mortician to fight alone. Steve Judkins: "Oh, he's done himself in!" Bil Dwyer: "OH NO!!" Steve Judkins: "That's a bit early..." Bil Dwyer: "Oh no!" Steve Judkins: "He's run himself straight into the wall, there!" — Steve Judkins and Bil Dwyer react as CatKong immobilizes itself immediately Mortician strikes DOOM's armor. Mortician and DOOM tussled in the middle of the BattleBox, with the middleweight's horizontal spinner grazing the armor of DOOM, whose hammer saw swung over but only made slight contact. DOOM rammed into CatKong but was intercepted by Mortician, whose blade struck Alejandro Pina's robot and separated CatKong from the wall. However, the vertical spinner was still beached on its side with its weapon unable to right it. Both remaining robots got their spinners up to speed, though DOOM kept its arm raised to allow it to feed its sloped armor into the blade of Mortician. CatKong was nudged again and almost returned to its wheels, but the screws instead stripped it of a fork before swallowing the middleweight. Mortician attacks a distracted DOOM, but suffers damage to its wheel. While DOOM's attention was with the immobile CatKong, Mortician looked to take advantage and land a big hit on its opponent, but mistimed its attack. The right-side wheel was driven into the path of DOOM's blade, ripping a chunk out of the tire. "Could the little fella cause an upset here? Woah, ho ho, sparks are definitely flying. That armor of DOOM taking real punishment." — Steve Judkins praising the power of Mortician's weapon Mortician was still able to drive, albeit with a slight hobble, and continued to attack on behalf of its fallen teammate. "This is like a sumo wrestler versus an eighth grader... and the eighth grader's hangin' in there!" — Bil Dwyer DOOM immobilizes Mortician. DOOM again clipped the damaged tire of Mortician, which peeled away completely as the middleweight reversed from danger. With Mortician down a wheel, it could only arc around the arena, but still managed to keep its weapon pointed at DOOM. With the next attack, however, DOOM's blade tore away Mortician's remaining tire. A count began on the middleweight team, and DOOM again took the win, this time by knockout.

Results

Competitive Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 1

Exhibition Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 2

Total Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 3

• For these Proving Ground battles, The Mortician was paired with fellow middleweight CatKong.

Competition	Wins	Losses
JavaOne 2007	Fork	Icewave
BattleBots Proving Ground	None	DOOM DOOM

See Also

• The Mortician (RoboGames)