Will Bales (born October 24, 1992) is a medical device research and development engineer who has captained Team HyperShock since BattleBots World Championship I.
He also worked as a stand-in presenter for Chris Rose during the 2022 re:MARS all:STARS event, and served as a guest analyst during World Championship VII.
A Miami native, his introduction to combat robotics came as a child, when at the age of 12, he and teammate Tyler Bond fought with a robot armored with a kitchen wok called HyperBot.[1] Six years later, he first appeared on camera in the Bots High documentary[2] which centered on the events of BattleBots IQ, while studying at Ransom Everglades School and representing them through a combat robotics team. Alongside future HyperShock team members Alex Mattaway and Tyler Bond, Bales featured in the documentary with their robot Fluffy (later called Fluffy II).
Having previously competed in the 2009 event with SpiderPig and the first iteration of Fluffy, finishing second overall[3] with their 15lb drum spinner, he would also appear in these events with Fluffy DeLarge and El Cholo, finishing champion and runner-up with both in 2011, and Ransom Everglades Robotics would compete with a number of different robots across the years. He spearheaded Shenanigans and Co. as HyperShock entered the first two seasons of BattleBots on ABC, before the team name and bot's theme changed drastically ahead of World Championship III. Having been ever-present within the show's reboot era, he has also driven HyperShock in each main season. Bales has become one of the show's biggest competitive personalities, engaging with fan-run shows and podcasts alike.
Bales featured heavily across various episodes of BattleBots Resurrection, a mini-series which offered a behind-the-scenes look during World Championship III. During the third episode, which was partially dedicated to Team HyperShock, he was seen assessing issues with the robot's drive following a visceral loss to Bite Force. In other episodes, he can be seen in the background of filmed segments and offering to lend spare parts to other teams, as seen in Episodes 2 and 4 to benefit Team Monsoon and Team Axe Backwards. During one interview in the pits with then-reporter Jenny Taft, Will Bales elaborated on the financial and emotional investment that goes into building for BattleBots each year.
- "You spend all your money, you spend all your friend's money. You go out and find some other people's money and spend that... thanks to all our sponsors! But it's all because we're obsessed with doing all this stuff. You get here and you slave away up until the very last moment and then it finally, just for a glimpse, pays off... and now, we're gonna go break it again!"
- — Will Bales during World Championship IV
Until the end of the 2020 season, he hosted the Tale of the Tape After Show alongside Team Witch Doctor co-captains Andrea and Mike Gellatly, a series which recapped episodes of BattleBots soon after their airing.
In July 2022, Will Bales co-presented the re:MARS all:STARS event, hosted in collaboration between BattleBots and Amazon. Filling in alongside Chris Rose, he was unable to balance this with captaining his team, meaning his wife Alex Bales took control of HyperShock for the first time. During the event, he dressed in a chicken costume in response to unanswered emails concerning whether he should wear Team HyperShock uniform for the event, or more formal attire. Bales would ultimately be asked to follow a dress code similar to Florian, but brought the chicken suit regardless.[4]
During Episode 11 of World Championship VII, he served as a guest analyst for the Fight Night battle between Triton and Glitch.
Trivia[]
- Will Bales' brothers Max and Greg, as well as father Tom Bales took part in three seasons of the show with their own heavyweight robot, Mohawk.
- Tom Bales served as a judge during BattleBots IQ, whereas Greg and Max Bales later joined Team HyperShock ahead of the 2020 and 2021 seasons respectively.
- HyperShock's prototype HEXBUG toy was present at Will and Alex Bales' wedding, with the remote control robot acting as ring bearer.
- Will's main article image for this Wiki page was selected by Team HyperShock member Kyle Awner.
References[]
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/notes/649461762434993/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE7Gg7lvo8o
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/9cqjtz/comment/e5co1yh/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
- ↑ Context provided by Team HyperShock's Kyle Awner in the Out of the Arena Discord server