The 'Shroom:Issue 232/Pipe Plaza
Director's Notes
Hello and happy July!! I hope everyone is surviving the weather where they are. For me it's been nonstop 90 degrees F or more for several days in a row, ugh.
I went roller skating with some of my friends the other night, and it was the first time I've been roller skating in a while so it was a good time! The skating rink we went to did skate limbo (it is exactly what it sounds like) which the rink that used to be in my hometown always did. It was very nostalgic. ^^ Unfortunately, because it was my first time going skating in YEARS, my legs have been aching nonstop since getting back home. Maybe this is the universe telling me to get into shape...
As always, we have our fabulous regular assortment of Pipe Plaza sections for you to read and enjoy! Remember that you, too, can sign up to write a fabulous Pipe Plaza section of your own as well! Just head to the sign up page to learn more.
Enjoy the rest of your month, and happy reading!
Section of the Month
Congratulations to this month's winners! In first place, we have Koopa (talk) with Poll Committee Discussion! Taking silver, we have Shoey (talk) with What's in a Campaign?! Tying at third is Hooded Pitohui (talk) with The 'Shroom Report and Camwoodstock (talk) with To-Do Tracker! Thank you to everyone who votes for their favorite sections as well.
| PIPE PLAZA SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | Poll Committee Discussion | 6 | 35.29% | Koopa (talk) |
| 2nd | What's in a Campaign? | 4 | 23.53% | Shoey (talk) |
| 3rd | A Section of Muppetational Origins | 2 | 11.76% | Zange (talk) |
| 3rd | The 'Shroom Report | 2 | 11.76% | Hooded Pitohui (talk) |
| 3rd | To-Do Tracker | 2 | 11.76% | Camwoodstock (talk) |
To-Do Tracker
Written by: Camwoodstock, of the Seven Stars (talk)
Howdy! We're right in the middle of summer, and it is HOT out... At least, over here, anyways. We'd be willing to trade with whatever the heck is going on in the Southern Hemisphere right now, is all we're saying. As things heat up physically, they're heating up on-site too. We're in the lead-in to awards season! We've personally reviewed every single table on every video game's page! But, if there's one thing that'll remain consistent in its intensity, it's the to-do bar. That's our segue this time, we're too hot (temperature) to think of a better one.
Note: All dates here were taken fairly late at night in EST; around 1-3 AM EST.
| To-Do Item | Jun 17, 2026 | Jun 24, 2026 | Jul 1, 2026 | Jul 8, 2026 | Jul 15, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotlight focuses | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Active PipeProjects | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Ongoing TPPs | 9 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Unimplemented Proposals | 40+ | 50+ | 40+ | 50+ | 50+ |
| Unresolved Discussions | 246 | 246 | 244 | 250 | 254 |
| Missing Romanizations | 0 | 35 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Unknown Meanings | 124 | 133 | 90 | 106 | 70 |
| To-do Lists | 1,386 | 1,391 | 1,370 | 1,265 | 1,281 |
| Sourcing Issues | 16,981 | 16,842 | 16,815 | 78,882 | 78,740 |
| Wanted Articles | 1000+ | 1000+ | 1000+ | 1000+ | 1000+ |
| Requested Deletions | 23 | 27 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Suggested Moves | 53 | 50 | 48 | 49 | 49 |
| Suggested Merges | 90 | 87 | 86 | 86 | 86 |
| Suggested Splits | 77 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 78 |
| Deprecated Parameters | N/A | 220 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Note Trims | 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Image Quality | 3,858 | 3,857 | 3,861 | 3,859 | 3,856 |
| Images Needed | 904 | 917 | 895 | 892 | 890 |
| Media Needed | 653 | 650 | 668 | 688 | 695 |
| Media Quality | 13 | 20 | 20 | 26 | 24 |
| Unused Files | 450+ | 450+ | 400+ | 450+ | 450+ |
| Files To Be Used | 16 | 16 | 25 | 25 | 24 |
For some observations for how the numbers have progressed, and some potential targets:
- A new PipeProject enters the ring! Foreign Media! Focused primarily on things such as Japanese-exclusive games and manga, or more transformative localizations such as select dubs of the DIC Entertainment cartoons. Check it out!
- The decrease in To-Dos is, in part, because of a push from staff to curb misuse of the templates. Cleaning up instances of the table being used too broadly (e.g. only saying stuff like "add more information" or "finish the page" without clarifying what, specifically, needs to be added) or for a purpose outside the scope of the to-do template (e.g. mostly instances of people using it to denote "this was released in this language, but there's no entry for its name in this language".)
- Two categories have been shuffled over! Missing Romanizations and Unknown Meanings are now sorted alongside To-do lists, sourcing issues, and wanted articles. (This actually happened partway through the month, and caught us off-guard while writing out the entries.)
- The absolutely CATACLYSMIC growth of sourcing issues isn't due to some library blowing up. Rather, it's because of a few splits that were made relatively recently to how we organize those sourcing issues. The category for unsourced foreign names, in particular, now boasts 51 sub-categories, one for each of the supported names and any unsourced names within it. As you can imagine, when every missing language counts as its own entry rather than one page counting as its own entry, the total skyrockets accordingly... That being said, if you happen to be fluent in any of these languages, please look at the corresponding categories here! If everything goes according to plan, even though the total was made roughly four times larger, it'll start shrinking four times as fast, too.
- Weirdly quiet month for moves, merges, and splits. Moves went down a tiny bit. Splits had a net increase of one.
- Media needed continues to flare up, approaching 700. We're sure the people behind the Music PipeProject would appreciate any additional help clearing these out!
Poll Committee Discussion
What's going on everybody? I'm Sparks, and welcome to another edition of Poll Committee Discussion, where one member of the current (in this case 16th) Poll Committee writes about the results of recent polls! Fun With Despair (talk) and Koopa (talk) both did fantastic jobs writing May's and June's poll analyses respectively, but I decided to come back for July because I have a lot of fun writing this section! Don't worry - there's still lots of time for the other members to take a shot at creating their own spins on this!
Do you see this incredible banner of the 16th Poll Committee? We have GoldGal64 (talk) to thank for being the one to make it a reality! I'm very thankful that she would dedicate some of her time to create something wonderful like this. The Super Mario Galaxy is pretty fun (at least I think so) and I heard it's on Blu-Ray, so you can watch it anytime! Anyway, I'm not here to shill said film, but to provide the results of the previous two polls in a fun and entertaining way, so, here we go!
Archives
What are your feelings towards locations from the real world appearing or being referenced in the Mario Series? (Brooklyn, Mario Kart Tour tracks, etc.) (CaptainOdyssey (talk), June 7, 2026)
| What are your feelings towards locations from the real world appearing or being referenced in the Mario Series? (Brooklyn, Mario Kart Tour tracks, etc.)
|
|---|
| I like the occasional appearance of real world locations, but I think that it should remain about as frequent as it is now. 33.18% (630 votes) |
| I prefer real world inspired locations over real world locations themselves (Such as New Donk City). 22.75% (432 votes) |
| I really enjoy real world locations in the Mario series, and think they should be included more often. 16.32% (310 votes) |
| I am neutral about this topic, it doesn't affect my enjoyment whether real world locations appear or not. 13.69% (260 votes) |
| I think that references to the real world should exist, but only limited to small easter eggs. 6.42% (122 votes) |
| I prefer the Mario universe to be presented as a fantasy world with as little connection as possible to reality. 6.32% (120 votes) |
| I would prefer that the Mario series takes inspiration more from real world history over the present day. 1.32% (25 votes) |
| Total votes: 1,899 |
Of the main relics that have appeared in the Mario RPGs, which are your favourite? (Paper Plumm (talk), June 21, 2026)
| Of the main relics that have appeared in the Mario RPGs, which are your favourite?
|
|---|
| Crystal Stars (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door) 23.83% (423 votes) |
| Star Spirits (Paper Mario) 21.24% (377 votes) |
| I have no opinion. 15.32% (272 votes) |
| Pure Hearts (Super Paper Mario) 13.18% (234 votes) |
| Star Pieces (Super Mario RPG) 7.15% (127 votes) |
| Streamer Spools (Paper Mario: The Origami King) 4.00% (71 votes) |
| Big Paint Stars (Paper Mario: Color Splash) 3.94% (70 votes) |
| Great Lighthouses (Mario & Luigi: Brothership) 3.61% (64 votes) |
| Cobalt Star Shards (Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time) 3.21% (57 votes) |
| Purified Darkmess Energy Crystals (Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope) 2.65% (47 votes) |
| Royal Stickers (Paper Mario: Sticker Star) 1.86% (33 votes) |
| Total votes: 1,775 |
Analysis
What are your feelings towards locations from the real world appearing or being referenced in the Mario Series? (Brooklyn, Mario Kart Tour tracks, etc.) (CaptainOdyssey (talk), June 7, 2026)
The Super Mario franchise isn't afraid to make pop culture references and real world locations have appeared in various Mario media, but what is the general public's opinions on these types of places appearing? This is a poll made by CaptainOdyssey (talk), and it received a total of 1,899 votes.
Kicking things off with seventh place is the I would prefer that the Mario series takes inspiration more from real world history over the present day option, only receiving 25 votes! What an interesting option to begin with, huh? Mario's Time Machine is a perfect example of this, where several important moments throughout history are visited. I'll admit I know next to nothing about that game, but it's nice to see voters acknowledge its existence, even if the number isn't many at all. I can't think of any other games that were inspired from history, but the inclusion of this option certainly made the poll more interesting!
Up next is sixth place, which is I prefer the Mario universe to be presented as a fantasy world with as little connection as possible to reality, obtaining 120 votes, almost five times as much as the previous option. I totally get why people would choose this option; the Super Mario franchise takes place (for the most part) in a fantasy world, completely separate from reality. As such, players and viewers can immerse themselves into the Mushroom Kingdom and all it has to offer. It's kinda like "escapism" in a sense, and the Mario franchise was created to bring joy to everyone! As a bonus, the worlds this franchise contains are special and unlike anything we've ever seen before.
With 122 votes, fifth place goes to I think that references to the real world should exist, but only limited to small easter eggs! Sometimes real world locations don't have to be shown at all, but rather alluded to in Easter Eggs, like the Eiffel Tower appearing in the background of a set in the "Rayman in the Phantom Show" DLC of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. By doing this, the fictional location will stay as the main focus, but Easter Eggs of the real world tell players that it exists as well.
Right in the middle (fourth place) is I am neutral about this topic, it doesn't affect my enjoyment whether real world locations appear or not, with 260 votes, more than double 5th place! This is basically the "I have no opinion" option for this poll, so I won't elaborate.
Now for the top three! Next in line with 310 votes is I really enjoy real world locations in the Mario series, and think they should be included more often. This one's self-explanatory! Brooklyn is perhaps the most popular of the real-world locations used, but Mario Kart has taken real places and turned them into race tracks! I admit it'd be nice to see more locations in the real world, whether it be places like Brooklyn or more fun Mario Kart tracks!
Taking the silver medal with 432 votes is I prefer real world inspired locations over real world locations themselves (Such as New Donk City)! As the choice states, New Donk City is perhaps the most popular real world inspired location in the Marioverse, having made quite the entrance in 2017's Super Mario Odyssey and still going strong. 432 people want more locations like this one, so please brainstorm for great locations like this one, Nintendo! It's fun to wonder what could happen next, and only time will tell what'll actually happen!
And now for the most popular option of the poll! In first place it's I like the occasional appearance of real world locations, but I think that it should remain about as frequent as it is now, snagging 630 votes as well as the gold medal! New locations are cool and all, but if they're introduced too quickly, then we won't be able to immerse ourselves in them as effectively. This current pace is the perfect balance, so it makes sense that this option won out.
What a diverse array of results! I apologize that my descriptions for these options aren't the best, but they're very interesting to put into words. We still got one more poll to check out!
Of the main relics that have appeared in the Mario RPGs, which are your favourite? (Paper Plumm (talk), June 21, 2026)
This one's for the RPG fans! Paper Plum (talk) crafted a poll involving relics obtained throughout the RPG games, so let's look at the results, shall we? This poll received a total of 1,775 votes.
To nobody's surprise, Royal Stickers (Paper Mario: Sticker Star) find themselves in eleventh place, earning only 33 votes. You don't think it has something to do with the game's overwhelmingly negative reception, do you? Or is it that the bosses are incredibly tedious to fight? Jokes aside, it was expected that the Sticker Star option would receive the least amount of votes of the bunch. Rather than being simply relics to find, enemies equip them to drastically increase their power in their battles against Mario. That's mainly what sets them apart from the other relics in this poll, so bonus points for the Royal Stickers, I guess! Shame it wasn't enough to escape last place.
Now for the tenth place option! Purified Darkmess Energy Crystals (Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope) barely edges out the Royal Stickers with 47 votes. As a big fan of Sparks of Hope, it saddens me to see this option so low. At least it isn't the worst, right? Anyways, Mario and his friends save planets from the goopy black slime known as Darkmess, and obtain the Purified Darkmess Energy Crystals from two Darkmess Tentacles on each intergalactic location. These allow for the WM-ARC (the spaceship) to reach the next planet on the way to Cursa's stronghold. Not only that, but all characters have a unique animation for obtaining one of these Crystals! Glad I'm not the only fan of the game here!
Earning ninth place with 57 votes are the Cobalt Star Shards (Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time)! The first of two Mario & Luigi options involves the most underrated game in the series. The Cobalt Star Shards form the Cobalt Star (obviously), the power source of Prof. E. Gadd's Time Machine. Princess Peach used this to trap Elder Princess Shroob before shattering it. As a result, we get an amazing plot twist as the Bros. are unaware of the villain trapped inside! These Shards are also pretty to look at, wouldn't you agree?
Taking eighth place is the other Mario & Luigi choice, Great Lighthouses (Mario & Luigi: Brothership), with 64 votes. While these aren't relics you collect, they are activated throughout the game, so that's why they're here! The Great Lighthouses play a vital role in restoring Concordia, and all of them have been taken over by Zokket's forces! The one in the Gulchrock Sea even has the lore of Zokket and his army, although it's very short and has no epic boss battle. What follows are a lot of Paper Mario options, but there's still a choice not from that series!
Nabbing seventh place with 70 votes are the colorful collectibles, the Big Paint Stars (Paper Mario: Color Splash)! Paper Mario: Color Splash fared better in reviews compared to Sticker Star, so it makes sense that this option would receive more votes. Other than being nice to look at, the Big Paint Stars provide valuable lore on how Bowser and his forces attacked Port Prism Island and how Bowser became corrupted in the first place. They also increase Mario's maximum HP and create the Rainbow Road to get to Bowser's floating castle! Let's not forget that they also paint HUGE areas in specific stages...
Obtaining sixth place and taking the middle spot are the Streamer Spools (Paper Mario: The Origami King), earning 71 votes, beating out the Big Paint Stars by just one vote! The Streamer Spools are scattered far and wide across the Mushroom Kingdom, shielding Princess Peach's castle from everything. Each spool is also guarded by one of King Olly's Legion of Stationery members, so they aren't unguarded! Getting to hold more confetti after destroying a spool is also a nice bonus.
We've reached the top five! With 127 votes (what a jump!) are the Star Pieces (Super Mario RPG)! The very first Mario RPG finds a comfortable spot on the poll results, and why wouldn't it? The Star Pieces are the first ever RPG relics in a Mario game, and they aren't the last Star-related relics on this poll. Geno lent his aid to Mario and his allies to recover all seven of them before Smithy and his minions could get them!
Getting there! Acquiring fourth place with 234 votes are the Pure Hearts (Super Paper Mario)! The Pure Hearts are essential to stopping Count Bleck and the Chaos Heart. They're also used to open up new worlds for the heroes to continue their adventure! One Pure Heart has a sad story behind it - the white one. To protect it from Bonechill, Queen Jaydes and Grambi transformed it into a Nimbi named Luvbi. They're truly forces of good!
Earning the bronze medal is the obligatory I have no opinion option! 272 votes is a high amount for this option. I guess the people who vote for this option like all the relics equally or haven't played the RPGs? Maybe.
Taking the silver medal and therefore claiming second place with 377 votes are the Star Spirits (Paper Mario)! All seven Star Spirits are sentient and have unique personalities and abilities to support Mario and harm the enemies. They all also have the power to remove the power Bowser gains from the Star Rod! The Star Spirits also appear in Mario Party 5, where they act as the hosts for the game! They're all lovable and I can totally see why they got so far in the results. There's only one choice to go over now!
And here we are! With 423 votes, and the winner of the gold medal are the Crystal Stars (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)! Totally not because it's the most popular game in the poll right? The Crystal Stars have interesting lore - they were created by the Shadow Queen, but they were also used to defeat her for good! Mario and the X-Nauts (oh, and Bowser too) competed against each other to get them before the other party did, but Mario always came out on top! The Crystal Stars themselves also provide nice abilities in battles, just like the Star Spirits. They're also colorful too, but I wish there was an amethyst one included... oh well! They're still very nice!
Interestingly, the winning option didn't win by a huge majority of votes. In fact, I'd say this entire poll was balanced well. There was quite a jump from Star Pieces to the Pure Hearts, but it was only by 107 votes. Talking about these ones is much easier because I love the RPGs a lot! I also realized that most of these were related to stars, huh.
Looks like that's it for July's Poll Committee Discussion! August will provide more poll analyses, so look forward to that when it releases! See ya!
The 'Shroom Report
Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)
Hello, all you readers of The 'Shroom! As of this issue's release, there are still close to two weeks before Awards presentations are due. That's plenty of time to finish up what you've started or to snag any remaining open slots. Trust me, presentations don't need to be massive productions! You can keep them short, sweet, and simple. Speaking of Awards, don't forget to swing by and vote in this year's special All-Time Favorite Character Bracket. A new round started yesterday!
Oh, right, 'Shroom! I'll cut the Awards talk and get to the stats from issue 231! As always, my thanks go to MightyMario for updating the sheets, as well as to Waluigi Time for reining in the errors of which the sheets are oh-so fond.
For new readers or anyone needing a refresher, please open the box below.
First-Time Writers lists everyone who wrote their first section for The 'Shroom in the previous issue.- New Sections lists recurring sections that started their run in the previous issue. This includes returning sections that previously went inactive.
- Guest Sections lists one-off submissions from the previous issue.
- Milestones covers certain section numbers reached in the previous issue. Writers are mentioned for every 10 sections written in a team and every 50 sections written overall, teams are mentioned for every 100 sections, and The 'Shroom itself is mentioned for every 500 sections. Additionally, established writers are mentioned the first time they contribute to a particular team.
- Most Sections Written lists the current all-time record holders.
| Section | Writer |
|---|---|
| The 'Shroom Report | Hooded Pitohui (talk) |
| Section | Writer |
|---|---|
| Captain Clawgrip's Quest! | Boo1268 and ClawgripFan9001 |
| Character Parade | ClawgripFan9001 |
| Diggin' Up Dirt | Waluigi Time (talk) |
| News Flush | Shoey (talk) |
| Quiz | Waluigi Time (talk) |
| The Florida Man & the Business Man | Boo1268 and Hooded Pitohui (talk) |
| Writer | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Cloudwalker (talk) | 20 Fake News sections |
| Hooded Pitohui (talk) | 200 Strategy Wing sections |
| 450 sections overall | |
| Koopa (talk) | 1st Pipe Plaza section |
| MightyMario (talk) | 10 Palette Swap sections |
| Sparks (talk) | 20 Palette Swap sections |
| Waluigi Time (talk) | 190 Fake News sections |
| Team | Writer | Number of Sections |
|---|---|---|
| Main/Staff | Henry Tucayo Clay (talk) | 142 |
| Fake News | Waluigi Time (talk) | 190 |
| Fun Stuff | Shoey (talk) | 172 |
| Palette Swap | FunkyK38 (talk) | 221 |
| Pipe Plaza | Yoshi876 (talk) | 128 |
| Critic Corner | Hypnotoad (talk) | 232 |
| Strategy Wing | Hooded Pitohui (talk) | 200 |
| Overall | Yoshi876 (talk) | 747 |
| Not including the ongoing 2026 term, every January-to-January term of The 'Shroom has introduced at least one new recurring staff portrait since the introduction of staff portraits back in 2015. Thanks to Ninja Squid (talk) for pointing this one out! |
What's in a Campaign?
Hello, and welcome back to What's in a Campaign?, a section where I take a look at various robots from the hit series Robot Wars. It's a special issue this month, as we're officially hitting our 60th robot covered in Robot Wars. That's right, sixty robots! That means we've hit five full years of Robot Wars coverage, which doesn't really seem possible. It seems like only yesterday I was driving home from a classic weekend 3:00 AM anxiety check at work when I suddenly got the inspiration to write a section covering various competitors from one of my all-time favorite TV shows. For our 60th robot, we're going to do something a little special. We're going look at the debut of my all-time favorite robot - the Series 2 run of Behemoth!
We've covered Behemoth before, so you know the team. We're once again discussing brothers Anthony and Michael Pritchard, who for this series only are accompanied by their father Edward. The very first version of Behemoth is kind of funny. It's clear that they already had the dump truck idea in mind for Behemoth, but it's like they built a baby Behemoth. This version has a much smaller scoop than we're used to. That scoop is powered by CO2 from a Sodastream bottle and can allegedly lift 1,000kg. Unlike future version of Behemoth, this one isn't really able to flip robots over, only lift them. Instead of the familiar Behemoth nameplate at the front of the scoop, this version of Behemoth instead features "Eat Me" painted on the scoop.
Made from an old wheelchair with armor made from metal shelving, this Behemoth has no self-righting mechanism, which was the style of the time. I'm pretty sure only two robots in Series 2 could self-right at all. It's a very good first effort. You can see what they're going for and it's kind of neat that right off the bat the team nailed the basic template that all Behemoth machines will follow.
As a reminder, all pictures are sourced from the fantastic Robot Wars Wiki. If you'd like to watch any of these fights or trials/Gauntlet runs, a video has been provided with timestamps provided in the section.
It's not 100% known how Behemoth qualified for Series 2. More than likely it was through a combination of Gauntlet performance and having a unique-looking robot that didn't break down if you looked at it wrong. Behemoth was placed in Heat D, which is kind of good for it because that means its Gauntlet run won't feature the Sentinel blocking the left path. Though that really doesn't matter, because, like a lot of robots, Behemoth decided that the center path would be by far the easiest path in the Gauntlet.
Taking the center path (0:49), Behemoth easily knocks down the brick wall blocking the first ramp by using its scoop. Unlike some robots, Behemoth has enough ground clearance to get over the ramp, which they do with ease. With only SGT. Bash in the way of completing the Gauntlet, Behemoth drives right into the SGT. SGT Bash for a time blocks Behemoth, who can't push the heavier machine, but then, for some reason, as the House Robots tend to do right before the goal, SGT. Bash just drives off! This allows Behemoth to complete the Gauntlet (still wearing one of bricks from the wall) and move onto the Trial stage of the Heat!
The Trial for this Heat is soccer. All five remaining robots start with the objective of scoring a goal against the House Robots, or more specifically Dead Metal, who serves as goalie, and SGT. Bash, who runs interference. When one robot scores a goal, they're removed from the Trial. This goes on until every robot but one has scored a goal, with the last remaining robot eliminated from the competition. If not every robot scores a goal, the judges will eliminate a robot based on whoever was the least active.
The trial starts (1:56) with Razer (who is also making their debut in this episode) quickly darting towards the ball and nearly scoring a goal with one push! Dead Metal attempts to block the ball, so Razer goes after Dead Metal. Dead Metal then decides to go after Razer and inadvertently ends up knocking the ball in the goal! Because Razer was the last one to touch the ball, they're given credit for the goal and qualify for the arena stage. At the start of the second round, Milly Ann Bug, a strange two-segmented robot, attempts to corral the ball with little pincer extensions on itself. But before they can get too far, Elvis charges, at them lifting them with their lifter… Hey, wait a minute. Elvis is back??? ELVIS???
What loser bot crashed out in the Gauntlet to allow Elvis to make it through? BODYHAMMER??? Series 1 Grand Finalist and number three-seeded Bodyhammer? The guys who would go on to make future Series Runner-Up Pussycat? They lost to ELIVS???
Anyways, this allows Behemoth to get control of the ball and to fight off Elvis and Dead Metal to score a goal, making it to the Arena stage. The other two robots to qualify are the Inquisitor, who we haven't mentioned yet, and, somehow, Elvis, who manages to score the fourth goal after Milly Ann Bug breaks down. Yes, Elvis somehow made it to the Arena stage!
In the arena stage Behemoth honestly gets a little bit of good luck with their draw. Instead of facing off against Razer, they instead draw Elvis. In even better news, the fearsome Razer broke down in the process of handing the Inquisitor its ass, so if Behemoth beats Elvis, then they'll face Inquisitor in the Heat Final instead of Razer! I bring this up because there's a fun little moment in the Behemoth vs. Elvis fight where the Inquisitor team are asked who they want to face in the Heat Final and they just bluntly say Elvis!
The fight (3:15) starts with Behemoth charging at the slow-moving Elvis. For some reason, Behemoth already has their scoop lifted when they make contact with Elvis. Uh, boys, that's not how that's supposed to go! Elvis manages to push Behemoth away with its lifter. Elvis then decides to try and get its circular saw into the battle, turning to face Behemoth from the rear. But Behemoth easily blocks the saw with their scoop. Behemoth then gets to the side of Elvis and lifts it up as Shunt comes in for no reason and attacks Elvis!
Elvis and Behemoth meet in the middle and Elvis misses a lift with its lifter, allowing Behemoth to get its scoop wedged under Elvis' lifter. This gives Behemoth great traction against Elvis, allowing them to push Elvis into the CPZ Zone of Death that Series 2 has. Before Elvis can even hope to escape, Shunt hits the king's head with its ax, then Matilda pushes Elvis into the wall and attempts to cut him with her chainsaw. The fight is over because the House Robots refuse to let Elvis leave the Zone of Death and just spend the next 30 seconds attacking him, as was the style of Series 2. Elvis' death sends Behemoth into the Heat Final!
In the Heat Final, Behemoth faces off against Inquisitor, whose team does not think they can win! Inquisitor, who I believe originally had a front-mounted chainsaw, is coming into this fight sans chainsaw, so they're basically just a wedge (which is probably better). The fight (5:45) starts with the two meeting in the middle, where Behemoth easily gets its scoop under the wedge of the Inquisitor and pushes them a little bit. Behemoth pushes the retreating Inquisitor onto the floor spikes, which ram the soft underbelly of Inquisitor repeatedly as Inquisitor tries to escape.
After escaping the spikes, Behemoth and Inquisitor meet face-to-face twice, and Behemoth has it scoop lifted both times for some strange reason. Despite that, Behemoth actually has superior pushing power and manages to push Inquisitor into Sir Killalot, who rips off the backside chain flail of Inquisitor. Inquisitor then gets just a little too close to the Zone of Death and quickly has to swerve out of the way of an attack from Matilda. Behemoth takes advantage of this and gets to the front of Inquisitor, lifting them up and pushing them fully into the Zone of Death. The House Robots quickly put an end to Inquisitor, sending Behemoth into the Series Semi-Final!
In Series 2 the Semi-Final was split into two episodes, with half the Heat winners in one episode and half in the other. The Semi-Final episodes themselves were split into three phases: the Gauntlet, the Trial (which was pinball in both episodes), and, finally, the Arena. With six robots in each episode, the robot that traveled the least in the Gauntlet was eliminated, the Robot who scored the least in pinball was eliminated, and, finally, the Arena stage consisted of two 1v1 matches, with the winners of those matches going on to the Grand Final! Having won one of the top half Heats of Series 2, Behemoth was placed in Semi-Final 1 along with such legends as Mortis; Panic Attack; and of course a What's in a Campaign favorite, a robot whose reputation needs no introduction, Napalm!!!
The second robot to run the Gauntlet after Napalm (who surprisingly completed the Gauntlet), Behemoth's run sees it once again go down the center route. This time, the path forward starts with two ramps, the left of which is guarded by The Sentinel (basically a giant pushing arm). There's also a pit between the two ramps. Not wishing to test the mercurial Sentinel, which sometimes allowed robots to pass by it with ease and other times just would not stop blocking them, refusing to move out of the way, Behemoth instead attempts to climb the right ramp, easily getting over it. Rather than finding SGT. Bash at the end of the ramp, Behemoth instead finds Shunt trying to block it. Behemoth manages to get off the ramp, but they don't get any further; not only are they blocked by Shunt, but Matilda flies in to keep them boxed in. Behemoth attempts to push Shunt out of the way, but Shunt is far heavier than Behemoth and Behemoth can't push them. Shunt then lines up its lifting scoop and flips Behemoth over, pushing Behemoth back in the process. Cease is called on the run, with Behemoth's final distance coming in at 7.5 meters.
It's not exactly a great run and puts them in danger of being eliminated. Luckily for Behemoth, both Panic Attack and Mace only travelled 6.9 meters, meaning Behemoth manages to just squeak into the second stage of the Semi-Final and the top 10 of all of Series 2!
In pinball, Behemoth goes third after Panic Attack and Napalm. Luckily, they shouldn't have to do too much to advance since, while Panic Attack managed to score 320 points which (like, wow!), our beloved Napalm only managed to score 65 after getting stuck on the ramp (they drove off halfway through) and got destroyed by Sir Killalot.
Behemoth begins their pinball run (9:05) somewhat tentatively, going after the beeg beeg metal ball (which is worth 20 points if put in the pit). Behemoth then goes after the easy targets, targeting the barrels (10 points) and the bricks (5 points) and quickly scoring 55 points. Behemoth then drives into the remaining barrels and bricks, knocking over several, but Sir Killalot is like "wow, this run is boring" and charges in (Sir Killalot has free roam of the arena in pinball). Sir Killalot picks up Behemoth and drives them around the arena before pitting them. It's a really bad run for Behemoth, who only scores 95 points, but luckily for them Napalm managed to only score 65 after also running afoul of Sir Killalot, so once again Behemoth manages to just barely skirt by into the Arena stage of the Semi-Final and the Top 8 of Series 2.
In the Arena stage Behemoth faces off against the pickaxe-wielding Killatron, with a win here sending the victorious bot into the Grand Final. Behemoth starts the fight by getting to the front of Killatron and lifting up the pickaxe-wielding machine. Unfortunately, that's probably a mistake. Killatron gets away from Behemoth, who drives past Killatron. Killatron manages to get to the side of Behemoth and drives its pickaxe right into the top of Behemoth, just destroying the top panel on Behemoth. Wobbling and wounded, Behemoth flees before coming in for another attack. They get to the side, but they don't fire the lifter. I don't know why, but it's possible that pickaxe blow broke it.
Killatron quickly makes Behemoth pay, swinging around to the side of Behemoth and just landing blow after blow after blow to the top of Behemoth. It's very brutal for Series 2 of Robot Wars, probably the most damage done by a competitor's machine in Series 2. I'm pretty sure these blows have immobilized Behemoth, but it doesn't matter, because with one last blow Killatron gets its pickaxe into the top panel and manages to literally pull Behemoth over. This brutal act ends the fight, sending Behemoth packing and sending Killatron into the Grand Final. Still, a Top 8 finish in your first war is nothing to be ashamed of.
With the taste for carnage acquired, the Behemoth team would go on to appear in literally every Series of Robot Wars from here on out. They even appear in all three reboot Series and are still fighting on the live circuit to this day. The team loves robot combat so much that Behemoth was even featured in Anthony Pritchard's wedding as a static display. Hell, Anthony Pritchard's wedding ring was even made out of titanium from one of the Behemoth machines!
What's kind of crazy is that, despite appearing in every war and various side events, this bout is the highwater mark for the Behemoth machines in televised robot combat for 20 years. Well, it's the highwater mark outside of maybe Behemoth's close loss to Razer in the Series 3 World Championship tournament or maybe Anty B's (an antweight Behemoth) win in the Extreme 2 Antweight!
Despite constantly improvements, the Behemoth machines wouldn't win another heat or a televised tournament until an upset victory over Apollo in Series 10! That's when Behemoth finally surpassed Series 2's placement by beating Magnetar in its Grand Final Redemption battle. It's a wild fight. Behemoth successfully flipped Magnetar over despite losing drive on one side, and since Magnetar's self-righter broke after an earlier flip from Behemoth, Behemoth won! Unfortunately, it went on to narrowly lose to Eruption on a close judges' decision, but that did leave it with a Top 4 placement in the final televised series of Robot Wars. It's wild that a robot that was always pretty good - a at least B+ player in Robot Wars history – took so long to surpass its debut performance!
Although it should be noted this applies primarily to televised Behemoth. On the UK live circuit, which Behemoth still competes at to this day, Behemoth had considerably more success! They finished third at the 2005 and 2017 UK Championship, placing second at a Robot Wars live event in 2019, and winning the 2006 Roaming Robots Winter Tour Championship! So maybe Behemoth was just camera shy?
Still, for all its struggles on TV, I love Behemoth. It's easily my favorite robot. While this is clearly the worst of the Behemoth robots (which makes sense since it's the team's first effort), I still like it. I think it had a good run and honestly I think it's a cute little baby Behemoth. I can't think of a better robot to feature for our 60th robot or a better way to celebrate five full years of What's in a Campaign? than the debut of my favorite robot, a robot that means so much to not only my Robot Wars fandom but to Robot Wars and, hell, even to the UK Robot Combat scene in general. While it may not have the accolades of robots such as Razer or Chaos 2 or the iconic look of a Hypno-Disc, the fact that Behemoth has been competing for over twenty years means something to me. This is the only team to appear in every Series from 2 to 10 (plus Extremes). When I think of robot combat, one of the first robots to come to my mind is Behemoth!
That's all for this month! Join me next month when I look at another robot!
| The 'Shroom: Issue 232 | |
|---|---|
| Staff sections | Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight • Poochy's Picks • Credits |
| Features | Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing |
