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"We're the first people to really throw robots up in the air."
— Alexander Rose on Toro

Toro was a superheavyweight robot built by Inertia Labs which competed in four seasons of Comedy Central BattleBots.

It was a black and silver, box-shaped robot running on four wheels and powered by six sets of batteries. Themed after a bull, its main weapon was a powerful, rear-hinged flipping arm which was pneumatically-powered and extended all the way to the front, bent in the middle to aid with self-righting. Toro's arm sported a short, narrow flipper plate to get underneath opponents and bull horns for decoration. Toro's weapon was strong enough to flip 325lb competitors over five feet into the air thanks to the twin rams exerting in excess of 7,000lbs of force. This primary weapon proved a reliable way to score points with the judges and earn knockout wins against robots lacking self-righting mechanisms and invertibility. Inertia Labs claim Toro to be the pioneer of powerful pneumatic flippers on the US scene.

Inertia Labs' superheavyweight proved to be a strong and aggressive competitor throughout its BattleBots career. Despite an early loss in Season 2.0, Toro proved its dominance by winning the rumble at the end of the season, flipping three robots over single-handedly in a matter of seconds. Toro got its second rumble victory in Season 3.0 and would go on to win the superheavyweight championship outright in Season 4.0, but was unable to carry its success into Season 5.0, with it losing its only battle in the first round.

Toro's strong performances turned it into a crowd favorite due to its power and dominance, with the crowd regularly chanting its name during its battles. Alexander Rose and Reason Bradley had previously entered with Rhino, which was armed with a pneumatic spear. Rose and Bradley liked the power of the ram used for Rhino's spear and decided to reuse the same ram for a flipper robot to see how powerful it could be, this being the idea that sparked Toro's creation. According to the BattleBots website, Toro was built within two weeks.[1]

Inertia Labs also entered several other robots including T-Minus, The Matador and The Butcher. They would later compete in the first four BattleBots World Championships on ABC and Discovery with the similarly-designed heavyweight, Bronco.

Outside BattleBots[]

Toro made appearances at several events outside of BattleBots, including a February 2001 filming for an episode of the CBS show Nash Bridges, where it took on heavyweight Voltronic.[2]

Toro also fought at RoboJoust in Las Vegas, alongside 64 other competitors. After beating Alcoholic Stepfather in the superheavyweight bracket, Toro was forced to forfeit its next match against Little Blue Engine. It would then fight Maximus in a rematch from Season 4.0. It lost this fight too and was eliminated.

Returning for the inaugural Battle Beach event held in Ormond Beach, Florida, Toro picked up five wins from six in the competition's Round Robin format, against Black Knight, Black Widow, Merr Mad, Shovelhead, and Eradicator, losing only to The Judge. As a result, Toro got an immediate rematch against Team Mechanicus and The Judge in the event final. However, it lost and Toro finished runner-up.

Alongside Inertia Labs' other robots, Toro resides on display in the team's workshop. During a January 2024 episode of the Skorpios Builder Blog, Diana Tarlson visited the workshop and spoke with co-captain Reason Bradley.[3]

Robot History[]

Season 2.0[]

Toro vs. Tortoise

TorovsTortoiseBBLV00

Toro flips Tortoise.

Toro's first match in Season 2.0 was against Tortoise. As Tortoise started spinning, Toro starts to go straight at Tortoise. Tortoise drives over the killsaws, but Tortoise started spinning again. Toro hit Tortoise and fired its pneumatic flipper, but missed, tossing itself in the air. Toro tried to flip Tortoise again but missed once more. Shortly after, Toro used its powerful drive to slam Tortoise against the spikestrip, stopping Tortoise from spinning. Toro then finally gets leverage on its opponent, throwing Tortoise onto its side. Toro then threw Tortoise back onto its wheels, before flipping its opponent back on its side. Both robots survived to the end of the fight, but Toro won on a unanimous 45-0 judges' decision and advanced to the Round of 16.

Toro vs. Tripulta Raptor

Toro Tripulta Raptor

Toro misses a flip on Tripulta Raptor.

Torovstripultaraptor LV00

Toro flips Tripulta Raptor.

Next up, Toro faced Tripulta Raptor. As both robots approached each other, Toro moves to the side of Tripulta Raptor in an attempt to flip it. Toro misses and got underneath the side of Tripulta Raptor again. Tripulta Raptor was then flipped by Toro and was pushed towards the pulverizer. Tripulta Raptor was being counted out and Toro won by KO in 55 seconds. This win put Toro in the superheavyweight quarter-finals.

Toro vs. Atomic Wedgie

Toro Atomic Wedgie flip

Toro gets another flip on Atomic Wedgie.

TorovsAtomicWedgie

Toro flips Atomic Wedgie.

In the final eight, Toro matched Atomic Wedgie. As the match began, Atomic Wedgie's tri-foils were not spinning and Toro drove across the BattleBox, attempting to flip Atomic Wedgie. However, it only managed a small lift and Atomic Wedgie got its tri-foils spinning. This was followed up by a carefully timed flip which sent Atomic Wedgie flying onto its back, but because Atomic Wedgie was invertible, the fight went on. Toro continued trying to flip Atomic Wedgie once more, but kept missing. Both robots then squared each other off until Toro got in another flip. Atomic Wedgie then drove over the killsaws, but the tracks remained undamaged. Toro then managed to score a fourth flip against Atomic Wedgie shortly after. Toro then attempted yet another flip, but this time Atomic Wedgie was ready and waiting to score a hit, and got underneath Toro momentarily. Atomic Wedgie sliced a part of Toro's flipper extension with its tri-foils before pushing Toro into the spikestrip. Toro was held in the corner for a while, before Atomic Wedgie backed off and let Toro out. This allowed Toro to flip Atomic Wedgie twice more, scoring more points for Inertia Labs. Damage was clearly done to Atomic Wedgie's tracks, as it had trouble moving about the BattleBox. Toro attacked Atomic Wedgie before it uncontrollably drove itself into the spikestrip and was barely able to continue driving. Another flip from Toro rectified the problem to an extent, as Atomic Wedgie began driving in a linear direction once more. Toro positioned itself for yet another flip, but this time there appeared to be a problem, as Toro did not flip and was being pushed without resistance into the spikestrip. Atomic Wedgie almost incapacitated itself on the killsaws but continued pushing Toro into the spikes, before letting off. By this point, Toro had stopped moving as the impact jarred loose the battery and one of its wires leading to it. Reason Bradley tried to find the source of the problem, but was unable to before Toro was counted out. Atomic Wedgie won by KO at 2:37 and Toro was eliminated from the tournament.

Superheavyweight Royal Rumble

LiquidLunchSWRumble lV00

Toro flips Liquid Lunch.

Toro later came back for the Superheavyweight Royal Rumble and performed very well. In less than a minute and a half, Toro managed to flip World Peace, Revision Z, Minion and Liquid Lunch. Toro later managed to flip Diesector but as it was invertible, this did not affect Donald Hutson's bot. For the rest of the rumble, Toro chased War Machine around the arena before time ran out. In the end, Toro was the winner of the Superheavyweight Royal Rumble.

Season 3.0[]

Toro vs. World Peace

Torovsworldpeace SF01a

Toro flips World Peace.

Torovsworldpeace3
Toro's first fight in Season 3.0 was against World Peace. In the match, Toro tried to flip World Peace two times but wasn't able to because of the skirts added to World Peace. However, one flip bent the left skirt of World Peace and Toro then got caught on the killsaws. Toro then finally flips World Peace three times and the final flip put World Peace on its back. As World Peace tries to self-right, Toro pushed World Peace to the red square and was then counted out. Toro won by knockout once again.

Toro vs. Phere

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Phere is thrown over by Toro almost immediately.

ToroVSphere
Toro was now in the quarter-finals, where it faced Phere. Immediately, Toro went straight at Phere and flipped it on its back with its first attack of the fight. Phere had no way of running inverted or righting itself and was counted out. Toro won by a quick KO in just 37 seconds and progressed to the superheavyweight semi-finals.

Toro vs. Minion

MinionvsToro sf01

The impact between Toro and Minion.

In the semi-finals, Toro took on Christian Carlberg and Minion. Toro began by driving straight at Minion, but as Minion quickly came forward with its spinning disk going full speed, Toro quickly backed away. Toro is trying to go around Minion to get at it under its side, but Minion is pivoting in the center, aiming its spinning disk at Toro. Minion charges at Toro, but misses. Minion gets Toro near the spikestrip and both robots collide. Minion's spinning disk is the first to connect, knocking Toro into the air and sending Co2 shooting out of Toro's body. Toro activates its lifting arm after its propelled into the air. When Toro lands on the ground, Co2 starts to leak out of Toro. The leak stops and the two robots were driving around the BattleBox. Minion drives over a set of killsaws and Toro started pushing Minion from the front. Toro backs into Minion and started pushing its side against the wall a few times. While Minion struggles with the wall, Toro got its front under Minion's wedge. Despite Toro's flipping arm not working, Toro pushed Minion around the arena traps. Minion's spinning disk slammed into the screws and later became caught on the killsaws. Toro uses its back end to ram against Minion and almost pushed it under the pulverizer before Minion drove away. At this stage in the fight, Minion's primary weapon began to smoke, but as Toro drove over the killsaws, the Inertia Labs bot was barely moving. Toro tried to drive toward Minion, but Minion pointed its disk at its opponent. Toro slammed into Minion's side, but did not appear to have the power to push Minion any more. The time ran out and Minion won on a 27-18 judges' decision, eliminating Toro from the competition.

Superheavyweight Royal Rumble

Toro returned for the the Superheavyweight Royal Rumble at the end of the tournament. After Toro was flipped by Techno Destructo early on, it righted itself and threw it against the spikestrip. Toro later attacked Half Gassed, Phere and Odin II. Toro then turned its attention to The Judge, which it threw around the BattleBox a few times before attacking Electric Lunch. Toro was pushed by Atomic Wedgie at one point and Toro attempted to flip the wedge-shaped bot, but struggled to do so. With only 30 seconds left, Toro was under attack from Diesector, who used its jaws and hammers to good effect. The time ran out with several robots still mobile, and Toro was declared the rumble winner.

Season 4.0[]

Toro vs. Maximus

TorovsMaximusBBSF01

Toro gets flipped by Maximus.

Due to previously competing in the previous competition, Toro was allowed to skip the preliminary rounds of Season 4.0, where it faced Maximus. In the beginning of the match, Toro tried to flip Maximus from behind, but couldn't do it in time. Maximus is zipping around the BattleBox and Toro tries another flip on Maximus, but Maximus has already driven away. Both robots later got caught on the killsaws. Toro gets under Maximus again and Toro finally flips Maximus. Toro pushes Maximus against the arena wall and gives Maximus another flip, this time putting Maximus on its back. Maximus drives directly underneath the pulverizer on the opposite side of the BattleBox. The pulverizer drops and leaves a big dent in the armor of Maximus. Toro comes over and flips Maximus again. After Maximus drives away, it turns around and charges at Toro. Toro drives up the wedge of Maximus and is flipped over. Toro quickly self-rights and flips Maximus immediately. Toro backs up and pushes Maximus over the killsaws, and Maximus tries to gain position, but Toro gets under Maximus' side again and flips it onto its back again. Maximus drives up the entrance ramp and then back onto the floor, where Toro flips Maximus back over and holds it against the wall for a couple seconds. Toro follows and gets its flipping arm caught under the seam of the ramp. Maximus pushes Toro back and Toro flips Maximus again. Maximus takes a shot from the killsaws, producing showers of sparks in the process, and Toro flips Maximus onto the entrance ramp again. Maximus tries to get free and Toro gets its flipping arm caught under the ramp again. Maximus frees Toro once more and with only ten seconds left, Toro pushed Maximus against the spikestrip. Toro won on a 32-13 judges' decision and advanced to the Round of 16.

Toro vs. The Judge

TorovsTheJudge sf01b

Toro flips The Judge.

Next up for Toro was The Judge. Early in the fight, The Judge got the first attack on Toro's side and later on the top of its flipping arm. Toro retaliated and was able to toss The Judge onto its back. Typically able to self-right, the hammer appeared bent as The Judge struggled to flip back over. Toro moved back to its square as The Judge was assessed for mobility. Having been deemed immobile, it was counted out. Toro won by knockout and moved on to the quarter-finals for the third successive season.

Toro vs. Vladiator

Torovlad

Toro flips the reigning champion, Vladiator, into the air.

Next up for Toro was the defending champion, Vladiator. Both robots drove towards one another, but Toro manages to miss Vladiator. Gage Cauchois' bot's spike became caught in the BattleBox floor momentarily as the two robots turn to ram into each other again. Toro caused Vladiator's spike to break away, which was weakened in part due to damage from its previous fight with TriMangle, and its detached weapon was left on the arena floor. Vladiator then targeted the vulnerable side of Toro, pushing it into the wall. Toro turned to get its arm under its opponent, but Vladiator managed to escape. Vladiator momentarily drove into the front of Toro and in the danger zone of its flipper, but Inertia Labs do not activate it and Vladiator drives to the other side of the BattleBox. Both robots meet over the killsaws and Toro again tried to flip Vladiator, but Vladiator escaped once more. Eventually, Toro managed to land another flip on Vladiator, throwing it over. Vladiator stopped moving for a moment and Toro took the invite to flip its opponent again, which it did several times over. Vladiator was mobile again and maneuvred towards the entrance ramp, but Toro continued to flip Vladiator. Although invertible and therefore able to run both ways up, Vladiator struggled to get a grip on the battle until it rammed into Toro again. Following a missed flip from the flipper, Vladiator was chased by Toro, but found itself flipped against the pulverizer. Toro backed away as Vladiator appeared noticeably weak. However, the fight went the distance and Toro won on a 32-13 judges' decision.

Toro vs. Little Blue Engine

ToroVsblue01

Toro flips Little Blue Engine.

In the semi-finals, Toro met Little Blue Engine. Toro never let Little Blue Engine to do anything in this fight, tossing Little Blue Engine around the BattleBox. Eventually, Toro's attacks caused two of Little Blue Engine's wheels to fall off and causing the forks to become a mangled mess. Though Little Blue Engine did survive to the end of the fight, Toro won the judges' decision 37-8. This win put Toro to the superheavyweight finals for the first time.

Toro vs. New Cruelty

"It's gonna be just like any other one, I think....I think we're just going to try to outdrive him, get shots on him and try to do the best we can."
— Alexander Rose explains Inertia Labs' tactics ahead of the final
ToroVscruel

Toro flipping New Cruelty in the air.

In the title decider, Toro came up against the eight-wheeled New Cruelty. Immediately, Toro was on the defensive, finding itself coerced into the wall by New Cruelty. In between the spikestrip and floor spinner, Toro was pinned against the spikes before escaping. New Cruelty kept its front pointed at Toro as it misfired its flipper and was rammed again. Toro used its back end to try and control its opponent, but New Cruelty again wedged under Toro and rammed it back into the spikes. After a poor opening minute, Toro finally got to the side of New Cruelty and threw it into the air, where it landed right side up. After both robots tried to get the better of one another, Toro flipped New Cruelty again and it landed upside-down. Able to run both sides up, however, New Cruelty was still in the final as Toro lifted it with a glancing flip. Feeding its inverted wedge into the front of Toro and inviting another flip, Toro obliged and New Cruelty was now able to get its scoop back into play. Inertia Labs' bot misfired again, but New Cruelty's rear wheels drove over the killsaws momentarily. Toro misfired once more before throwing New Cruelty over several more times late on. New Cruelty stopped moving as its safety link fell out, leaving the robot dead on the ramrods, but without enough time left in the fight to begin a count. With five seconds left, Toro headed over to New Cruelty and flipped it once more to leave the lasting impression on the judges. Toro won on a 36-9 judges' decision and was crowned superheavyweight champion for Season 4.0.

Superheavyweight Royal Rumble

Toro participated the Superheavyweight Royal Rumble at the end of the tournament. It was one of few robots still moving in the end, but it lost overall to The Judge.

As well as the Giant Nut title, Toro also won the Coolest Robot Award for Season 4.0.

Season 5.0[]

Toro vs. Phrizbee-Ultimate

TorovsPhrizbee sf02

Phrizbee-Ultimate tears a piece off the left side of Toro.

TorovsPhrizUltimate sf02

Toro flips Phrizbee-Ultimate with only two seconds left.

Toro was allowed to skip the preliminary rounds of Season 5.0 and faced Phrizbee-Ultimate. In the beginning of the match, Toro dashed across the BattleBox in the hope that it could prevent Phrizbee-Ultimate from spinning up. However Phrizbee-Ultimate started to spin and dodged Toro by driving to the side. Toro bounced off of Phrizbee-Ultimate and slammed into the screws. Toro headed for the entrance ramp where its opponent deflected and tried to keep Phrizbee-Ultimate in that small space. Phrizbee-Ultimate continued to try to spin up momentarily as Toro attempted to get the edge of its flipper arm underneath the chassis of Brian Nave's robot before both robots return to the middle of the BattleBox. Phrizbee-Ultimate started to spin, but Toro pushed it into the spikestrip and missed with its flipping arm. Phrizbee-Ultimate drove itself toward the spikestrip and tore off one of the spikes as Toro tried to lead with its back end and push its opponent into danger. Toro then got caught on the ramrods and the pulverizer shortly after, before Phrizbee-Ultimate drove into Toro, damaging its rear armor. Phrizbee-Ultimate continues to damage Toro, causing more superficial wear as scratches appear on its side armor. Returning to the outer edge of the arena, Phrizbee-Ultimate drove into the spikestrip again, bending two of them on this occasion. It then bounced off of Toro, who fired the lifting arm, but again failed to connect. Toro rammed into Phrizbee-Ultimate again, ricocheting it against two spikestrips and the ramrods. After several failed attempts from Toro to overturn its opponent, Toro finally flipped Phrizbee-Ultimate onto its side with only two seconds to go. However, there was not enough time to count Phrizbee-Ultimate out and a 25-20 judges' decision went against the Inertia Labs robot. This meant that Toro was eliminated from the tournament at the first hurdle, failing to defend its title.

Competitive Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 9
  • Losses: 3

Exhibition Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 2
  • Losses: 1

Total Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 11
  • Losses: 4
Competition Wins Losses
Season 2.0 Tortoise
Tripulta Raptor
Numerous robots (Rumble)
Atomic Wedgie
Season 3.0 World Peace
Phere
Numerous robots (Rumble)
Minion
Season 4.0 Maximus
The Judge
Vladiator
Little Blue Engine
New Cruelty
The Judge (Rumble)
Season 5.0 None Phrizbee-Ultimate

Honors[]

TORO
Season 2.0
Superheavyweight Royal Rumble
Season 3.0
Superheavyweight Royal Rumble
Season 4.0
Giant Nut
Coolest Robot Award
(shared with Tazbot)

Mark Beiro Introductions[]

"You liked him as a lawnmower. You'll love him as a BattleBot. Here is TORO!"

"If you can't stand defeat, get out of the BattleBox. He'll never bore you but he'll always gore you. Say hello to TORO!"

"He make strong robots fly and then he makes them die. Its just that simple. Hello TORO!"

"Like a bull in a China shop, he'll smash and bang until the bell makes him stop. Introducing TORO!"

"Aye carumba! He tosses 300lb bots like they're tortillas. He's TORO!"

"He tosses robots around like a shot putter on steroids. Give it up for one of your favorite flippers, TORO!"

"His nasty flipping arm is strong like a bull. Repeat after me. Here's TORO, TORO, TORO!"

"He makes the box rock with his wicked strong flipping arm. He's one big step away from the Giant Nut. Give it up for the raging bull known as TORO!"

"He gets mad when he sees the color red. He gets mad when he sees green. In fact, his hate is color blind! Introducing TORO!"

Merchandise[]

Any appearances by Toro in merchandise are listed below:

Trivia[]

  • Toro's name comes from the Spanish word for bull. This is further played upon by the pair of novelty bull horns that adorned the top of the robot's flipping arm.
  • Toro and Voltronic appeared in an episode of Nash Bridges named Blood Bots, alongside DooAll and Nightmare.
  • The only time Toro was ever flipped during its run on BattleBots was in its match with Maximus.
  • All of Toro's losses came to a robot armed with a spinning weapon.

References[]

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