Ominous

Ominous
Participation Information
Reboot Seasons	World Championship V (Withdrew) World Championship VI (Withdrew) World Championship VII
Team Information
Team	Team Ominous
Team Members	Tim Bouwens (Captain) Stef van Itterzon Heleen de Hoon
From	Tilburg, The Netherlands
Other Entries	Reality
Robot Statistics
Weight	250lbs
Top Speed	18mph
Drive	3x Maytech 6396 brushless motors
Weapons	Drisk spinner
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Ominous was a heavyweight robot built by Team Ominous which debuted in BattleBots World Championship VII. Prior to this, it applied for the World Championship V and VI, but had to withdraw both times.

Hailing from The Netherlands, Ominous is a triangular-shaped robot driven by three omniwheels which allow the robot to strafe side-to-side as well as moving forwards, backwards and turning. For weaponry, Ominous is armed with a large spinning 'drisk' at the front, comprised of a drum sandwiched between two disks similar to that of HyperShock, and spinning at 240mph. Towards the back of Ominous is a dedicated self-righting arm. The overall design bears a strong resemblance to Glitch, though Team CRB's robot is predated by Ominous. Work began on Ominous in late 2019 and it was officially accepted for the 2020 season, even being announced to BattleBots Supporters on Facebook in early 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, filming for the season was delayed and international teams were unable to travel to compete. Despite this, Ominous made a brief appearance in a YouTube video uploaded by Team Witch Doctor in June 2020, showcasing its ability to strafe and spin its weapon.

Ominous during World Championship VII hero shots.

By the time the 2021 competition rolled around, Ominous again applied and were accepted. However, despite the robot shipping to Las Vegas, Nevada without issue, the team were again prevented from making the journey by international travel restrictions. As such, Ominous remained in a crate throughout the entirety of filming, pitted next to Shatter! according to Adam Wrigley.

"The USA borders remain closed and despite our best efforts we didn't receive a National Interest Exemption in time from the state department."

— Team BonX explain their absence from World Championship VI

The crate returned back to The Netherlands in September 2021, and the team reapplied for World Championship VII. The team shipped their crate in August 2022, and posted again a month later to state they were Vegas-bound. In their first battle, however, Ominous was overwhelmed by the speed and power of Claw Viper. Although it picked up a win against a struggling SHREDDIT BRO!, Ominous followed this up with back-to-back defeats against Switchback and Shatter!, finishing with a 1-3 record. In all of its fights, Ominous had trouble driving well due to its omniwheels keeping it from pointing it straight and not getting a proper grip around the arena, and it had trouble attacking its opponents due to is poor weapon reach.

Ominous returned for BattleBots: Champions II, but was beaten by Valkyrie in the opening round of its bracket.

It was confirmed in a 2023 Reddit AMA that Ominous would be redesigned ahead of future competitions.

Team BonX previously competed in World Championship III with another drum spinner called Reality, and team member Jeroen van Lieverloo joined Petunia ahead of World Championship IV.

The crate containing Ominous at filming for the 2021 season.

Ominous under construction.

The official Facebook reveal of Ominous in 2020.

Outside BattleBots

Ominous made its competitive debut in May 2022's Extreme Robots event held in Portsmouth, England. It won its first two fights against Wormgear 2 and Zadkiel by knockout, before chalking up a rumble win against Donald Thump and a second win over Wormgear 2. However, due to the event's lower tip speed limit of 125mph, Ominous was not capable of testing its spinning weapon at maximum power.

On November 11-12 2023, Ominous made its second Extreme Robots appearance at the end-of-season Cheltenham event. Again, its drum was limited to the maximum 125mph tip speed, and it would lose all of its scheduled fights to Monsoon, Donald Thump and Zadkiel respectively. Ominous took extensive damage to its wheelguards on various occasions, and was at one point thrown into the Fire Pit flip-out hazard by Donald Thump during the second battle - a melee also involving fellow vertical spinner Mongrel.

Ominous was shown in Tim Bouwens' workshop in an interview uploaded to the Dumpert YouTube channel on January 11, 2025.

Ominous on display in Tim Bouwen's workshop, circa 2025.

Ominous at Extreme Robots in 2022.

Robot History

World Championship VII
Ominous vs. Claw Viper Ominous first took on the speedy Claw Viper in its BattleBots debut. Ominous takes on Claw Viper. In the opening seconds, Ominous was charged at by its opponent before the Dutch bot drove away. Claw Viper gave chase and attempted a lift, but made contact with the spinning weapon of Ominous as it escaped to the short corner. Ominous is dropped onto the screws. Claw Viper responded by driving around Ominous before charging into and flipping it over, then holding Ominous against the screws of the Upper Deck as it positioned itself for a lift. Ominous used its front-hinged self-righter to flip back over, but fell right into the lower jaw of Claw Viper, who clamped down and picked it up before spinning and dropping its opponent. Claw Viper pins Ominous against the rails. Ominous tried to escape but Claw Viper kept up the aggression, shoving Tim Bouwens' robot into the Upper Deck before driving it into the screws, dropping it against the serrated edges. Ominous struggled to escape and required the screws to reverse for the fight to continue. Kevin Milczewski was waiting in position, and used Claw Viper's weaponry to lift and further control Ominous. While its weapon was still spinning, Ominous struggled to catch the speedier, more nimble Claw Viper as it found itself inverted once more. Claw Viper drove over and hoisted it into the air, tearing down signage in front of the drivers' booths in the process. Ominous was slow in its attempt to self-right and Claw Viper took full advantage, forcing it into and on top of the Upper Deck. Ominous is immobilized. Although Ominous was quick to escape, its opponent was again waiting in the short corner and continued to overwhelm it with attack after attack. The controlbot unbalanced Ominous again and attempted to grab its opponent, but settled on nudging it against one of the paddles. The front wedges of Ominous prevented its wheels from reaching the floor, and the drisk weaponry appeared unable to help Ominous clamber away from danger. With under a minute to go, Ominous was deemed immobile and counted out, pushing the Dutch representative to 0-1.
Ominous vs. SHREDDIT BRO! Keen to earn its first BattleBots victory, Ominous next took on SHREDDIT BRO!, piloted by Evan Arias. Ominous is upended and bounces across the BattleBox. It was a slow start for both robots as SHREDDIT BRO! couldn't attack Ominous from the side before the Dutch robot drove towards the corner. Nonetheless avoiding the wall, Ominous shifted its way toward the middle, attempting to find an angle at which to charge at its opponent. After a fairly successful pop on the side of SHREDDIT BRO!, Ominous then tried another run at it, and the two collided weapon on weapon. The resulting blow launched Ominous next to the far left corner of the arena, nearly inverting it, but it quickly landed back on its feet and raced back toward the middle. Kenny Florian: "How about this - do we have life from the weapon of Ominous?" Chris Rose: "Tim Bouwens able to get it going there briefly. Doesn't look like it has the ability to do much damage but certainly doesn't hurt his case to the judges that 'Hey, we're in better shape than those dudes from New York!'." — Chris and Kenny as Ominous proves it still has full weapon functionality Neither robot is able to mount a decisive attack. SHREDDIT BRO, with its drum no longer spinning, took another small pop from Ominous, whose drisk briefly slowed down as well. After spinning up, Ominous got stuck on the arena for a short moment but was able to free itself. SHREDDIT BRO! endured the same thing after pushing Ominous around for a few seconds. Though occasionally pushed around by its opponent, Ominous quickly escaped all of SHREDDIT BRO's attacks, occasionally landing a shot on it and briefly pinning it at one point. Despite its drisk briefly slowing down after the pin, Ominous would quickly spin it up again and keep circling SHREDDIT BRO! and landing a few attacks until the time ran out. Ominous was later declared the winner by unanimous decision, giving it a 1-1 record. Not long afterward, Team Shreddit launched an Appeal, but were unsuccessful and Ominous' first win was confirmed.
Ominous vs. Switchback Next up for the Dutch robot was a fight against Switchback, who also sat at 1-1. Ominous throws Switchback over. The two robots met in the middle of the BattleBox, with Ominous the quicker to get its vertical spinner up to speed. Sensing danger, Switchback drove away and the Dutch robot gave chase. Switchback turned to face its opponent and went weapon-to-weapon, which threw Greg Needel's machine into the air. Greg Needel: "Self-right?" Kenny Florian: "Now that's a big shot..." Chris Rose: "The Texans are able to self-right and square back up." — Chris and Kenny react as Switchback is upended Ominous lands a big hit on Switchback but overturns in the process. Though Switchback recovered, its beak attachment had been bent into the path of its eggbeater drum, not only preventing it from spinning but also affecting its ability to get in underneath its opponent. Ominous remained aggressive, forcing Switchback into the corner and throwing its drisk weapon into the damaged beak, tearing it off but also flipping itself over. Ominous loses in a sudden knockout. While Switchback landed upright, Ominous did not, and the latest attack also removed the damaged beak attachment which was obstructing the eggbeater drum of the Texan bot. As such, it could spin up again and landed a glancing shot to the rear of Ominous as it lay inverted. The self-righting mechanism of Ominous failed to activate and a count began on the Dutch machine, pushing the team to a 1-2 record. According to the team, the hydraulic power pack for the self-righting mechanism had become dislodged, locking the motor powering it.
Ominous vs. Shatter! For its final Fight Night battle, Ominous took on Shatter!, in the first-ever BattleBots match between two omniwheeled robots. To counter the hammer blows of its American opponent, it was modified to feature reinforced front wheelguards, along with additional UHMW top panels on either side. Ominous and Shatter! meet in the middle of the BattleBox. Ominous initially strafed to the right from the red square, but slowly reversed direction as Shatter! approached. Driving in a clockwise arc, it met the Bots FC machine in the center of the BattleBox, but could not get its drum to damage its front end. Ominous was steered back towards an Upper Deck screw mount by Shatter!, which axed its top-right panel at the same time using its "New Rusty" hammer. This held the Dutch machine in place as it was pushed into the top-left pocket, where Shatter! landed more blows on Ominous' srimech and back wheel. Ominous grinds the front armor of Shatter!. This onslaught, ironically, freed Ominous, which turned around and flicked Shatter! upwards. However, it did not immediately drive out of the corner, leaving Tim Bouwens' machine vulnerable to a direct hit from the nearby pulverizer. Still unable to properly escape, Ominous delivered a direct hit to Shatter!, ripping off its left-front wedgelet and sending it recoiling into the Upper Deck bumper. Dodging another blow from the pulverizer, it proceeded to send the loose wedgelet flying across the perimeter as it landed on its drum. Ominous similarly avoided another hammer blow from Shatter!, while again lifting it onto its side with a drum attack. Shatter! hones in on the UMHW panel of Ominous, prying it away. The two competitors separated, but again, Ominous encountered difficulty pointing its drum and driving out of the corner. Tapping the nearby bumper, it inadvertently strafed into the front of Shatter!, prompting another unsuccessful hammer attack from the latter. Seconds later, another head-to-head collision followed; sparks flew as Ominous flicked Shatter! backwards and recoiled towards the yellow bumper. As before, it strafed sideways into Shatter!, which, following two hammer strikes, proceeded to bend, spear and prise its top-right UHMW panel clean off. A florescent yellow chunk also fell from beneath Ominous' front-right wheel. Even as Shatter! became high-centered on the removed panel, Ominous again could not drive completely out of the top-left corner or capitalize on its struggle. After briefly ducking underneath its flailing opponent, it lingered over the hellraisers opposite the Upper Deck, before finally strafing towards the center with Shatter! in pursuit. During these tentative maneuvers, it attempted to line its drum up against the right-hand side of Bots FC's machine, but could not connect with its flat surface. A few more nudges followed, before Ominous dodged more of Shatter!'s missed hammer throws. Spinning around quickly, it again tried to attack Shatter! from the side, but could not find enough reach to utilize its drum. More nudging and bumping ensued, after which Ominous was forced back into the top-left corner by Shatter!. Ominous pushes against the side of Shatter!, who struggles for mobility. Taking a hammer blow to its front-left corner, Ominous slithered and thrust itself underneath Shatter! as the latter threw itself upwards with its weapon. This allowed its drum to engage with Shatter!’s baseplate, throwing the Bots FC machine aside. Ominous, however, careered into the Upper Deck bumper, and was axed by a recovering Shatter! while attempting to leave the pocket. Spinning quickly, it briefly got its rear wheel underneath the leaping Shatter!, dodging another of its hammer attacks while retreating towards the inner perimeter. At this point, the killsaws became active, prompting Ominous to briefly gyro-dance as it headed back into the red square. Ominous turned and hopped around, but did not engage with Shatter! even as the latter was struggling to maintain forward drive. It again slid and spun around, though the gyroscopic forces of its drum carried the robot into the front of a creeping Shatter! Sparks flew as Ominous' drum received a hammer blow from Shatter!, though this dragged Shatter! forwards and allowed Ominous to again clip its baseplate. Neither robot attacked each other for some time after; Ominous powered its drum down, maneuvering between the BattleBots logo and the red square. It was from that point that Ominous was again pressured by Shatter!, this time towards the bottom-left corner. Ominous tears off Shatter!'s other wedgelet. Spinning its drum up once more, Ominous tore Shatter!'s remaining wedgelet off as it was pinned against the bumper. A swing of Shatter!'s hammer allowed it to get underneath and flick its opponent onto its left side, though as before it could not flip Shatter! completely over. Again, neither robot engaged after this point, though Ominous spun and slid its way out of the corner to chase Shatter! In its pursuit, however, it mistakenly backed into the killsaws, right after Shatter! was temporarily lifted by them. Ominous rests on Shatter!'s hammer head momentarily as the fight concludes. During the final 20 seconds, Ominous kept spinning and strafing across the BattleBox, as it tried to outmaneuver Shatter! This tactic enabled it to avoid several more hammer swings from its opponent, though it would not inflict any further attacks with the drum before the full three minutes expired. Ominous ended the match by suddenly flipping itself onto its left-hand side, its fall only broken by Shatter!'s hammer head. A final bump was exchanged before both robots spun around in celebration of the match. As the arena lights dimmed, Ominous completely flipped itself over and caught the floor with the drum, coming to rest upside-down opposite the Upper Deck screws. Though having survived the distance, the subsequent judges' decision ruled unanimously against Ominous, adding a third loss to its Fight Night tally. It thus completed its schedule with a difficult 1-3 record.
BattleBots: Champions II
Ominous vs. Valkyrie Ominous equipped with its anti-horizontal spinner wedge. Ominous returned for BattleBots: Champions II and fought Lucy Du and Valkyrie in the first round of the bracket. The team added a large, steep plow to its front in order to deflect attacks from its opponent's undercutter. The pair met head-on in the opening seconds, and this exchange immediately halted the spinning weapon of ominous. Valkyrie scuffed its plow as Kenny Florian questioned the Dutch team's tactics. "The weapon of Ominous has stopped spinning after that first exchange. Have they lost it or is Tim Bouwens shutting [it] down?" — Kenny Florian, seconds before Ominous' weapon fires back up Valkyrie turns to strike the chasing Ominous. As Valkyrie continued to pose a threat, Ominous spun its drisk back up but struggled for reach as Lucy Du continued to chip away at Ominous. Both robots returned to the middle of the BattleBox as Valkyrie peeled a slither of metal away from the plow before tearing it off completely. Sparks flew as Valkyrie kept attacking, but as it oversteered slightly, Ominous landed a glancing shot to its right wheelguard. Tim Bouwens gave chase, but Valkyrie turned quickly and delivered a side swipe with its undercutter. A piece of Ominous' wheel lays on the arena floor as Valkyrie retreats. "Now Ominous in pursuit, but Valkyrie with the whip-around counterstrike. Doing her best Ray Billings and Tombstone impression!" — Chris Rose compliments Lucy Du's tactics The knockout shot. One of the rollers from Ominous' rear omniwheel lay on the BattleBox floor as the damage began to rack up. Valkyrie then caught the left side of Ominous' plow and flung it across the arena in a move which sent Valkyrie the other way and cost it some ablative armor. After this impact, Ominous was struggling to move as two of its three wheels were no longer mobile, and the other appeared high centered. A count began on Ominous, as its elimination was confirmed.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 4

Competition	Wins	Losses
World Championship VII	SHREDDIT BRO! (Undercard Match) *	Claw Viper (Undercard Match) Switchback (Undercard Match) Shatter! (Undercard Match)
BattleBots: Champions II	None	Valkyrie

* Ominous was declared the winner of this battle on a unanimous judges' decision. Team Shreddit appealed this decision, but were unsuccessful and the unanimous decision stood.

Faruq Tauheed Introductions

"From Tilburg, Netherlands and speaking fluent Netherlandian, it's OMINOUS!"

"From Tilburg, Netherlands, the hills may have eyes but do they have a deadly spinner? Didn't think so. It's OMINOUS!"

Trivia

• In the submitted CAD of Ominous, its omniwheels and disks on its weapon were orange. However, they were neon yellow on the finished robot.
• A beetleweight version of Ominous was built in June 2021.