Two-Headed Death Flamingo

Two-Headed Death Flamingo
Participation Information
Reboot Seasons	World Championship III (Not selected) World Championship VI (Not selected)
Other Names	2HDF Mingo Mingo 2 (WC VI)
Team Information
Team	Team Two-Headed Death Flamingo (WC VI) Die Gracefully Robotics (WC III)
Team Members	Craig Croucher Felix Townsend Sam Elliott Rory Mangles Joe Brown (WC VI) Dave Lawrie (WC III)
From	Bristol, UK (WC VI) Antrim, Northern Ireland (WC III)
Associated Robots	Predator, Monsoon (Rory Mangles)
Robot Statistics
Weight	230lbs
Drive	2x 120kv 6384 Brushless motors
Weapons	Twin pecking axes Articulating saws (WC III) Flamethrowers (WC VI-WC VII)
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Two-Headed Death Flamingo, often abbreviated to 2HDF and affectionately nicknamed Mingo, is a heavyweight robot from the United Kingdom which applied for BattleBots World Championship III and VI. It was originally built by Die Gracefully Robotics and later by Team Two-Headed Death Flamingo after Dave Lawrie left the team and Joe Brown joined.

Two-Headed Death Flamingo was constructed from mild steel with HDPE overlaying the metalwork, and was armed with a pair of electric-powered pecking 'beaks', which could also be swapped out for saws. These would move independently, and could also help the robot self-right. The team applied for World Championship III on Discovery with the original version of the robot built in 2017 and costing under £1000, but were ultimately turned down.

Ahead of World Championship VI, a new version of Two-Headed Death Flamingo was built at a higher budget of £3,000, and with significant upgrades to the overall robot. However, it would again be turned down.

The original Two-Headed Death Flamingo in 2018.

Following a run of regular appearances at UK live events (during which it fought established competitors such as Robot Wars Series 10 champion Eruption), Two-Headed Death Flamingo would later apply for World Championship VI with a reshuffled team and a brand-new version of the machine. This version would feature considerably stronger drive and weapon power, tougher armor, a front-mounted flamethrower and HDPE wings mounted to each side. The front of the robot, weaponry and wings could be swapped out depending on its opponent. Despite significant upgrades, including more potent weaponry boasting six pecks per second, Two-Headed Death Flamingo was again rejected, though state department would have turned down the team's NIE Visas regardless - an issue prevented all travel from UK to Las Vegas ahead of filming for the sixth World Championship. Nevertheless, a panel from the original build would be shipped over with Monsoon and signed by other teams during filming.

Team member Rory Mangles would later reunite with Team Monsoon for World Championship VII, advancing to the Top 32 before being eliminated at the hands of eventual champion SawBlaze.

In May 2023, Craig Croucher confirmed the team do not plan to apply to World Championship VIII.

Outside BattleBots

Two-Headed Death Flamingo in April 2022.

The prospective World Championship VI version made its first appearances as a static display at RoboNerd 2021, an annual event hosted in Wolverhampton, England. It would then appear in active combat at the Robots Live! event in Crawley, hosted by Team MAD in October 2021. Two-Headed Death Flamingo performed well throughout its five battles, finishing the main competition fourth overall following defeats against Eruption and Ignition, but scored a win in a rumble including former BattleBots competitor Nelly The Ellybot.

Two-Headed Death Flamingo and its team at RoboNerd 2021.

Team member Joe Brown uploaded the final part of their build log ahead of its Extreme Robots appearance in May 2022. Representing Team Inferno - and taking captaincy in the absence of Robot Wars Series 10 champion Eruption - Two-Headed Death Flamingo proceeded to achieve a 2-2 win record over the entire event, including a knockout victory in a 'captains rumble' against Manta (representing Team Quake) and Gabriel (representing Team Divinity). Following an appearance at RoboNerd 2022 as a static display, Two-Headed Death Flamingo would again fight at Robots Live! Crawley in September, and return for the Extreme Robots Cheltenham event in November.

In September 2023, Two-Headed Death Flamingo once again attended RoboNerd as a static display, and Robots Live! Crawley as an active competitor. Upgrades included new wheels with grippier tires and shorter, thicker wings, the latter to reduce flexing and combat the risk of the robot getting stranded on arena walls. Two-Headed Death Flamingo went on to reach the semi-finals of the 2023 Irish heavyweight championship in Dublin (RoboRiots) the following month. A closely-fought match against Ripper 6 saw both machines last the full three minutes, though Two-Headed Death Flamingo was eliminated from the competition at that stage.

Two-Headed Death Flamingo returned to Extreme Robots Cheltenham on November 11-12 2023, principally competing in melee and Tag Team fights. A series of aggressive performances included a Tag Team win alongside Leviathan on the Saturday, during which Two-Headed Death Flamingo controlled and immobilized former Robot Wars competitor Beast. This win was essential in allowing "Team Wolfpack" to qualify for the Show 1 final, which was won by fellow team representative Meggamouse. However, Two-Headed Death Flamingo also suffered reliability issues affecting its own weapon and drive systems on various occasions, and took damage to its wings during its Sunday melee. The team later confirmed on Facebook that their robot was planned to receive multiple internal and external updates for the 2024 live event season, including the use of TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) material.

On 1 July 2024, Two-Headed Death Flamingo was announced as a heavyweight competitor for the forthcoming MechMania tour, run in conjunction with Robots Live! Rebuilding work began later the same month, ahead of the robot's planned appearance at the Stoke-on-Trent event on October 26-27.

Two-Headed Death Flamingo's team members have also built their own robots in lower weight classes. Craig Croucher was responsible for the Snappy lineage of UK beetleweights, as well as Mr. Cat's Mouse House and its various iterations for other weight classes which attack in a similar way to Tentoumushi. In mid-2023, he designed and built a beetleweight hammer called bop! which takes inspiration from Beta.

Joe Brown's Team Reckless Crabandon compete with an array of animal-themed robots. These include Grab Crab and Grab Crab XL, as well as a Mammoth-inspired beetleweight called Lob-ster. Alongside Craig Croucher, he runs the combat robotics group Bristol Bot Builders. Based in south-west England, they host events as well as stocking parts for people to build their own UK antweight, beetleweight and featherweight robots.

Felix Townsend's Rev series of robots competed in both series of the web-series Bugglebots, and the 2018 Euro Beetleweights Championships. Likewise, as part of Die Gracefully Robotics, Dave Lawrie fought in the web-series with a shark-themed beetleweight called Shark Setrakian - its name being a pun on BattleBots Hall of Fame inductee Mark Setrakian. Sam Elliott co-hosts the combat robotics podcast RoboCast, and often serves as part of the Bristol Bot Builders event safety crew if not competing. He entered the June 2023 Norwalk Havoc Robot League event with his 3lb robot, Gold Dust.

bop! (3lb)

Lob-ster (3lb)

Gold Dust (3lb)

Grab Crab XL (30lb)

Grab Crab (3lb)

Mr. Cat's Mouse House (3lb)

Snappy (3lb)

See Also

• Two-Headed Death Flamingo - Combat Robot Facebook page
• Bristol Bot Builders website
• Crabsolutely Clawful (King of Bots)

Trivia

• Had it been selected for World Championship III, the original version of Two-Headed Death Flamingo would have been the least expensive robot to compete since the show's original run on Comedy Central.
• In Episode 4 of World Championship VI, Skorpios co-captain Diana Tarlson was seen wearing a Two-Headed Death Flamingo shirt in their pre-fight interview before facing Blade.