Not to be confused with Robot Wars competitor with the same name.
Overkill's Season 5.0 appearance.
OverKill was a heavyweight robot that competed in all five televised seasons of BattleBots. It was built by the experienced Team Coolrobots, and sponsored principally by Wizards of the Coast. It was a standard wedge-shaped robot armed with a very large torque-reaction "Rambo knife." While not particularly damaging, the visual appeal and wide attack range of the swinging knife were heavily influential in judge's decisions. The blade was made of a high-tensile steel, effectively making it a "spinner killer" - spinners that hit the blade would often end up breaking their own weapon. In addition to being invertible, OverKill proved to be very durable. Consequentially, it never lost by KO. OverKill never won a championship but enjoyed a very successful BattleBots career, finishing runner-up in Season 4.0 and ending BattleBots as the #2 ranked heavyweight. OverKill was essentially a second attempt at building an upscaled version of Toe-Crusher, one of Team Coolrobots' lightweights, replacing Slugger, an earlier heavyweight built for the first BattleBots event and modified for the second with the assistance of Jason Bardis from Infernolab.
Overkill's design was inspired by Toe-Crusher's. Christian liked how Toe-Crusher was performing and the idea of a giant knife on a robot so he scaled up Toe-Crusher's design to add the knife weapon.
Robot History
Season 1.0
OverKill's Season 1.0 appearance.
OverKill fighting frenZy.
OverKill's first ever fight in the BattleBox was up against the veteran bot frenZy. Both robots steadily approached each other, looking unsure to attack. OverKill finally broke the tension with a blow to frenZy's top, causing both robots to flail their weaponry aimlessly as frenZy got its first hammer blow to the front of OverKill. The two rammed each other following continuous attacking from both sides when OverKill pushed frenZy onto the hellraiser. frenZy retaliated by pushing OverKill onto the killsaw, sending it flying and retreating. OverKill came back, however, and delivered a massive blow to its opponent who likewise returned the favor. frenZy then pushed Overkill into the corner and resumed pounding on its opponent, delivering four blows. This back and forth hitting continued for a while before Overkill ended the fight by getting a strong slam onto frenZy. This move decided the fight in OverKill's favor and won with a 7-2 judge's decision. This pushed OverKill into the quarterfinals against reigning champion Vlad the Impaler.
Vlad the Impaler flips OverKill.
Both robots approached timidly, until OverKill decided to charge at Vlad the Impaler and swing its knife blade at the top of Vlad's armor. Vlad the Impaler then pushed OverKill across the BattleBox before backing off. OverKill then continued to strike Vlad the Impaler across the top, causing various scrapes and dents in Vlad's armor. Vlad the Impaler retaliated by ramming OverKill onto the killsaws, then got underneath OverKill and bent the wedge armor so much OverKill had to drive on its back. Vlad the Impaler then rammed OverKill again and pushed it back onto the killsaws, which split the wedge armor of OverKill in half. Vlad now clearly had the upper hand, almost flipping OverKill upside down with its forks. OverKill then began swinging its blade quickly in desperation, but none of the strikes landed a blow on Vlad the Impaler. In dramatic fashion, OverKill then drove itself over the killsaws and flipped itself upside down, making the knife blade useless from the front. Vlad charged and pushed OverKill into the spikes, further ripping the wedge armor apart. Vlad then rammed OverKill into the arena wall so quickly the arena Lexan shook, and it partially damaged the entrance area. This attack damaged OverKill's drivetrain, allowing it to only move backwards and forwards. Vlad the Impaler lifted OverKill back onto its correct side, but it was too little, too late. OverKill's tire became punctured by the killsaws, which further limited motion to only being able to spin forward in a clockwise direction or backwards in a counter-clockwise direction. OverKill languished in the arena corner, before Vlad the Impaler ended the fight with a few more hits. Vlad the Impaler won on a 8-1 judge's decision and OverKill was eliminated from the tournament.
OverKill wasn't done yet, however, as it was entered for the heavyweight rumble minus its destroyed wedge armor. It did fairly well at the beginning of the rumble, attacking Knome II with its knife blade, but was eventually immobilized after getting its tires punctured again. Unsurprisingly, it lost the rumble to BioHazard.
Season 2.0
OverKill's Season 2.0 appearance.
For Season 2.0, OverKill received some adjustments, such as foam filled tires to prevent future puncturing and a tougher wedge that was bolted to the main cylinder, complete with side panels. Its first fight was up against the Japanese entry Iron Eagle.
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, moving OverKill into the round of 16 against FrostBite.
FrostBite pins OverKill against the spikestrip.
The two robots met in the middle of the BattleBox and OverKill began attacking FrostBite, before shoving it up against the arena wall. FrostBite then got too close to the killsaws, and took a ride on them a couple times, damaging the drive-train and underside. OverKill then received a shot from the killsaws itself, which was so powerful it launched OverKill onto FrostBite's back. Both robots continued to push each other around, with FrostBite generally getting the upper hand due to having a lower center of gravity and a greater amount of torque. OverKill, however, still attempted to line up for a good weapon hit on Frostbite. A few blows were landed, but minimal damage was done to FrostBite's body shell. After more shoving and hitting, neither robot was able to do a significant amount of damage and the fight went to the judges, who scored a 23-22 decision for FrostBite, eliminating OverKill from the main competition.
Like the previous season though, OverKill was entered for a Heavyweight Rumble, only this time it was the consolation rumble due to the losing in the earlier part of the season. In the earlier stages of the rumble, it drove around the BattleBox aggressively, getting under Bigger Brother and ramming it into the wall. OverKill then disabled Gammatron's weapon by swinging its blade at it, before damaging Punjar's armor by doing a similar maneuver. However, OverKill was flipped by Surgeon General, which left its blade now useless. OverKill was still able to cause damage though, snapping off Mjollnir's weapon by driving over it and attacking the disabled Mauler, which had been flipped by Bigger Brother earlier on. During the closing stages of the rumble, OverKill began to slow down due to damage it received to its internal components but was still mobile at the end of the rumble. As a result of the earlier carnage, and being one of the few robots moving at the end of the fight, OverKill and Punjar were declared the winners of the consolation rumble and both robots advanced to the heavyweight royal rumble.
Overkill performed decently in the Heavyweight Rumble, as it was one of many robots still moving in the end but, it lost to Tazbot overall.
Season 3.0
OverKill's Season 3.0 and 4.0 appearance.
Minor modifications were made to OverKill for Season 3.0, mainly in the aesthetics department, as Team Coolrobots began a sponsorship contract with Wizards of the Coast who supplied the team's robots with decals advertising its Magic: The Gathering trading card series.
Due to OverKill entering Season 2.0, it was seeded and was able to start in the round of 64 up against the heavily redesigned M.O.E.. For this battle, Team Extreme had constructed a "Voodoo OverKill" out of roller skate wheels and cardboard. M.O.E. drove into OverKill early on, but OverKill got away, taking a hit from the killsaws as it did. OverKill drove around to the side of M.O.E. and pushed it around the BattleBox, but M.O.E. escaped and hit OverKill's wheel with its ditch cutter. However, it did no damage and OverKill continued to push M.O.E. around with its wedge, stopping the ditch cutter in the process. OverKill whacked M.O.E. with its blade and then rammed M.O.E. with the wedge, continuing to use the blade as M.O.E. spun the ditch cutter up to its top speed again. M.O.E. continued to drive after OverKill until it got scooped up by the wedge again, pushed around the BattleBox and whacked by the blade numerous times. M.O.E. finally got the upper hand as it wedged OverKill's blade into the Lexan, keeping it from moving, but OverKill managed to free itself. OverKill hit M.O.E. with the blade numerous times until the fight ended. OverKill won on a 28-17 judge's decision and advanced to the round of 32, where it faced RoboSapien.
OverKill rams RoboSapien into the spikestrip.
OverKill dominated this fight, getting underneath RoboSapien several times and eventually pinning it under the spike strip. OverKill won by KO at 1:36 and advanced to the round of 16, where it faced frenZy again. OverKill won on a close 23-22 judge's decision and advanced to the quarterfinals, where it faced Voltronic. OverKill won on a 30-15 judge's decision and advanced to the semifinals, where it faced BioHazard.
OverKill gets lifted by BioHazard.
Much like its previous fight with Voltronic, Christian Carlberg locked down OverKill's blade with the hope that the lower center of gravity combined with sudden forward inertia would make OverKill's wedge lower than BioHazard, allowing OverKill to get underneath. The fight begun with both robots avoiding the hellraisers before OverKill timidly hit the front of BioHazard. OverKill reversed and got away from the front of BioHazard before attempting to line up for another attack. OverKill got its blade stuck on the killsaws momentarily but freed itself before having one wheel land on top of BioHazard. Both robots then kept making contact with each other and OverKill drove itself into the spikestrip before eventually, BioHazard got under OverKill and flipped it into the pulverizer. OverKill suffered one blow directly on its main cylinder but drove deliberately along the side of the spikestrip in order to self-right itself. This worked and the sparring continued for a while. BioHazard then got another flip on OverKill, which resulted in another self-righting maneuver BioHazard then attempted another lift, but OverKill escaped before it was turned upside down. However, OverKill took a hit from the hellraiser and a shot from the killsaws, scoring points against it. Several more flips later, and BioHazard was able to damage OverKill's knife blade on the pulverizer, where it took 3 hits. The fight ended with OverKill being flipped by the piston, and almost taking another flip from BioHazard. Despite being relentless, OverKill lost a 38-7 decision in favor of BioHazard, knocking OverKill out of the competition.
OverKill wasn't finished, however, as it participated the heavyweight royal rumble at the end of the tournament. First it pounds FrenZy, and hits Little Sister. It then goes for FrenZy again, then starts hitting MechaVore. Then it scoops up MechaVore and shoves it into the wall. Then it attacks HexaDecimator. While fighting FrenZy it accidentally flips itself over after driving onto Little Sister, it then attacks HexaDecimator again, who flips OverKill right-side-up. After this it tangos with FrenZy some more. Next it scoops HexaDecimator and rams it into the spikes. OverKill drove onto FrenZy but retreats before FrenZy could attack. OverKill then confronted HexaDecimator again, then is attacked by GoldDigger. Next it attacks FrenZy again, and last but not least it assaults Nightmare. OverKill did very well as it was one of six robots still moving, but lost out to HexaDecimator.
Season 4.0
The match deciding hit between OverKill and Greenspan.
For Season 4.0, OverKill received very minor cosmetic changes yet again, receiving new sponsor logos. Due to being seeded, OverKill was allowed to skip the preliminary rounds straight to the round of 32, against Greenspan. This fight was fairly uneventful in the beginning stages, until Greenspan decided to follow OverKill towards the red square. OverKill, however, drove over the killsaws in the process, and was tossed backwards by them. This resulted in OverKill hitting the front of Greenspan, throwing Greenspan up into the air, and sending it upside down on its back, leaving Greenspan immobilized. OverKill won by a KO in dramatic fashion.
OverKill fighting MechaVore.
OverKill's next bout in the round of 16 was up against MechaVore. At the start both robots strafed slowly around each other before MechaVore began chasing down OverKill. OverKill drove over the killsaws, turned, and exposed its right wheel to MechaVore, resulting in Mechavore cutting into OverKill's rim and slicing into its blade. MechaVore then crashed into OverKill's blade again, but this sudden impact stalled its gas-powered disc motor, and wasn't able to work for the rest of the fight. This allowed OverKill to get underneath its opponent before MechaVore reversed itself into the pulverizer, where OverKill pinned it. Mechavore escaped but began having control problems as OverKill drove over the top of MechaVore and flipped itself. Both robots then drove around the BattleBox for a while before MechaVore took damage from the killsaws. OverKill then took control of MechaVore and pushed it into the hazards, scoring points. OverKill continued its aggression and eventually bent MechaVore's disc out of shape. Then OverKill pushed MechaVore back to the pulverizer for a final shot. With 20 seconds left, MechaVore began malfunctioning and spun uncontrollably. Both robots took significant damage from each other but OverKill controlled the match and won on a 29-16 judge's decision.
Overkill pushes M.O.E. towards the killsaws
OverKill then moved on to the quarterfinals for a rematch against M.O.E. This battle was close, with M.O.E. doing damage to OverKill's wheels and blade, which it mangled, but for the most part OverKill was unharmed. OverKill, however, was the aggressor, pushing M.O.E. into the hazards constantly (one time almost cut the motor to M.O.E.'s weapon) and out-driving it (OverKill dodged M.O.E. for much of the first minute, wearing down M.O.E.'s battery), and M.O.E.'s saw blade hubs became loose. At one point in the match, M.O.E.'s blade got caught in the rim of OverKill's wheel, and Christian Carlberg gunned it, flipping M.O.E. over. After awhile, the two bots eventually became loose. Near the end of the bout, M.O.E.'s weapon began to slow down. In the end, it was close, but OverKill was given the judge's decision, 25-20, controversially (the crowd massively booed the outcome) pushing OverKill into the semifinals for the second season in a row, this time against Surgeon General, another horizontal spinner. Because of the damage M.O.E. did to the blade, Team Coolrobots had to replace it for the one MechaVore damaged, after fixing it up.
OverKill spent most of the first part of the match dodging the horizontal spinner, but then Surgeon General managed to get some strikes on OverKill's wheels and wedge. Eventually, Surgeon General got its disc caught in OverKill's blade, stopping it. OverKill drove the two of them over the killsaws, knocking Surgeon General loose, but it was immobilized. OverKill won by KO in 1:45. According to Christian Carlberg, of the three horizontal spinners (MechaVore, M.O.E., and Surgeon General) that OverKill faced in Season 4.0, Surgeon General was the one that caused the most damage to OverKill. This win put OverKill to the heavyweight finals for the first time, where it faced BioHazard once again.
OverKill and BioHazard face off.
OverKill gets pushed on the killsaws by BioHazard.
Both robots drove out of their squares and BioHazard rammed straight into OverKill, nearly flipping it over. While OverKill swung its blade, BioHazard got underneath OverKill, lifted the arm and headed toward the arena wall, tipping it onto its side. OverKill landed right side up and drove back. BioHazard then took a few hits from OverKill's blade. OverKill drove itself over the killsaws and went straight at BioHazard, flipping itself onto its back again. The flipped OverKill ran into the spike strip in order to flip itself back over. After this, OverKill tried to drive away, but its blade was caught on the spike strip. BioHazard came over and pushed OverKill into the wall, bending its blade. BioHazard then pushed OverKill over to the center of the BattleBox. BioHazard flipped OverKill back over again, but its lifting arm was stuck in the up position. OverKill hit BioHazard several times with its blade before driving over the low profile of BioHazard once again. BioHazard rammed into OverKill, flipping it, and began to push OverKill around. For the rest of the match, both robots attempt to gain an upper hand, but are unable to. BioHazard won on a 27-18 judge's decision and OverKill was declared the runner-up.
Season 5.0
OverKill pushes Wrath to the pulverizer.
Due to previously competing in Season 4.0, OverKill was allowed to skip the preliminary rounds of Season 5.0, where it eventually fought Wrath. The first time that Wrath slammed OverKill into the wall, the adjuster became loose and slipped, causing the drive train to pop out. This rendered it a sitting duck, and OverKill pushed it into a pulverizer, winning by KO and advancing to the round of 16, where it faced BattleRat. OverKill won on a 35-10 judge's decision and advanced to the quarterfinals, where it faced Warhead.
OverKill pushes Warhead to the killsaws.
At the start, Warhead failed to land a hit on OverKill to begin with, while OverKill was able to hit Warhead's spinning dome with its blade and push Warhead around using its wedge. This continued for the rest of the match, with OverKill pushing Warhead into the spikestrip and onto the killsaws. Eventually, Warhead's spinning dome stopped working. The fight went to the judges, who ruled 34-11 in favor of OverKill. This win put OverKill to the semifinals, where it faced Voltronic again. After driving over Voltronic's wedge multiple times, the time ran out and Voltronic won on a close 24-21 judge's decision, eliminating OverKill from Season 5.0.
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 13
- Losses: 5
| Competition | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1.0 | Bye | Vlad the Impaler |
| Season 2.0 | Bye | FrostBite |
| Season 3.0 | M.O.E. | BioHazard |
| Season 4.0 | Greenspan | BioHazard |
| Season 5.0 | Wrath | Voltronic |
Series Record
Long Beach: Did Not Compete
Las Vegas: Did Not Compete
Season 1.0: Quarterfinals
Season 2.0: Round of 16
Season 3.0: Semi-finals
Season 4.0: Runner-up
Season 5.0: Semi-finals
Mark Beiro Introductions
"The heinousness hay-maker from North Hollywood. The bane of every bot, weighing in at 208 pounds. Here is the BattleBot ranked OVERKILL!"
"He's super ultra violent whose hobbies is giving out punishment. Here is OVERKILL!"
"If your mother thought running with scissors was dangerous, she should try fighting the BattleBot named OVERKILL!"
"The robot in red square woke up, got out of bed, dragged a steel blade across your head. Introducing OVERKILL!"
"As you sit on the porch of the asylum, drool trickling down your chin, you will have good stories to tell of the time you were beaten senseless by OVERKILL!"
"He's battered, but still unbeaten and now he's hoping to ride his blade to his first Giant Nut. Here is OVERKILL!"
"In the box, your blood will spill. This is the wrath of OVERKILL!"
Merchandise
Any appearances by OverKill in merchandise are listed below:
- OverKill/Metal Mechanics
- OverKill/McDonald's
- OverKill/Battle Chains
- OverKill/MiniBot
- OverKill/Build 'Em Bash 'Em
- OverKill/BattleBots: Beyond The BattleBox
Trivia
- OverKill made a brief cameo on CSI in the episode Precious Metal. Its given name was "Biker Chick."
- OverKill fought a total of four other heavy weights twice, M.O.E., FrenZy, Voltronic and BioHazard.
- OverKill's creator Christian Carlberg designed a working model of OverKill that was available for purchase on his original CoolRobots website.
- Overkill fought against Tazbot in a mini version of the arena for Hasbro's IBM exhibition match.
- Overkill's fight against FrostBite was briefly shown in the 2014 film "Kelly & Cal".
- In 2017 Coolrobots fought a Middleweight version of OverKill called Rampage , which was driven by his daughter in RoboGames 2017.
- Overkill was one of at least eight robots to battle at the Hasbro Showroom's miniature arena for the 2001 Toy Fair. The other seven robots known to have participated are Tazbot, Diesector, Vlad the Impaler, Ginsu, Ziggo, Toe Crusher and BioHazard.