Superheavyweight robots is the name given to the largest division of BattleBots competitors which weighed up to 340lbs, though this rule changed over time.
Introduced for the 1999 Las Vegas event, superheavyweight robots were categorized as robots which weighed between 211-325lbs, or between 316-488lbs for walking robots. This newfound freedom to build bigger not only allowed for robots such as Minion to make a name for themselves, but also more artistic robots to debut, such as the revolutionary Mechadon built by Mark Setrakian. As BattleBots became televised, the superheavyweight limit remained the same until the end of Season 3.0, where controversy surrounding shufflebots saw weight bonuses, and indeed boundaries, get reworked.
From Season 4.0 onward, traditional superheavyweight robots saw their weight limit increase to 340lbs. Walking superheavyweights, as was the case with every other weight division, saw a 20% bonus on the upper limit. By contrast, superheavyweight walkers were now down a whole 80lbs on the previous upper limit. This saw Season 3.0 heavyweight champion Son of Whyachi be bumped up into the superheavyweight division for subsequent seasons, where it could not replicate its success.
Superheavyweights made their return for the 2004 NPC Charity Open and the 2005 Rochester Robot Rampage, but were not seen in subsequent events as middleweights took priority. Although they did not feature in BattleBots IQ competitions, superheavyweights such as Diesector would perform demonstrations during events.
Weight Limits[]
| Non-Walkers | Walkers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Weight | Maximum Weight | Minimum Weight | Maximum Weight | |
| Long Beach 1999 | n/a | |||
| Las Vegas 1999 | 211lbs | 325lbs | 316lbs | 488lbs |
| Season 1.0 | ||||
| Season 2.0 | ||||
| Season 3.0 | ||||
| Season 4.0 | 220lbs | 340lbs | 264lbs | 408lbs |
| Season 5.0 | ||||
| NPC Charity Open | 286lbs | 442lbs | ||
| Rochester Robot Rampage | ||||
| Cisco Party 2006 | n/a | |||
| JavaOne 2007 | ||||
| BattleBots Championships 2009 | ||||
| World Championship I | ||||
| World Championship II | ||||
| World Championship III | ||||
| World Championship IV | ||||
| World Championship V | ||||
| World Championship VI | ||||
| World Championship VII | ||||
Superheavyweight Champions[]
| Robot | Team | Image | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minion | Team Coolrobots |  |
Las Vegas 1999 |
 |
Season 1.0 | ||
| Diesector | Mutant Robots |  |
Season 2.0 |
| Vladiator | Team Vladmeisters |  |
Season 3.0 |
| Toro | Inertia Labs |  |
Season 4.0 |
| Diesector | Mutant Robots |  |
Season 5.0 |
| Tombstone | Hardcore Robotics |  |
NPC Charity Open 2004 |
| Shovelhead | DNA Robotics |  |
R3: Rochester Robot Rampage |
Outside BattleBots[]
Ziggy taking on Shovelhead during Combots Cup I.
The superheavyweight division remained competitive following the cancelation of Comedy Central BattleBots, with events such as RoboGames holding a superheavyweight division for almost a decade afterwards. The final recognized superheavyweight fight came in RoboGames 2010, where only two robots competed in what made up the entire superheavyweight bracket - Ziggy and Riddle Box. Both fights were won by Ziggy - whose design became the basis for Lucky - as the pneumatic launcher's dominance was credited as the reason for the weight division's discontinuation.
Since 2010, superheavyweight robots have not been accommodated in live events as they have offered no discernible advantages in power or damage potential compared to heavyweight robots.
- "Back in the CC era if I recall a lot of the teams who were doing superheavies basically said they chose that class because it was more expensive to use lighter motors and batteries, you didn't have to give a crap about any of that because you had so much weight to play with."
- — Recollection from Mattiator, builder of RoboGames entry Bullion[1]
Trivia[]
- The superheavyweight division is the only former BattleBots weight class to have been discontinued throughout the United States.
- Whereas BattleBots has only seen heavyweight robots compete since 2015, other events have accommodated antweight, lightweight and middleweight competitors.
- World Championship II Giant Nut winner Tombstone started life on the US live circuit as a superheavyweight robot, where it won the 2004 NPC Charity Open event.
References[]
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