Tesla's Tornado was a middleweight robot which competed in Season 4.0 and Season 5.0 of Comedy Central BattleBots. It was a rectangular two-wheeled robot with no active weapon. Instead, in a unique variant of the thwackbot design, it would spin in place and use a laser-guidance system to drive around the BattleBox. The kinetic energy of it spinning was essentially the robot's weapon (for Season 5.0, steel beaters were added to the corners of the robot to aid in doing damage). Tesla's Tornado did decently in competition, both winning and losing two fights.
Robot History[]
Season 4.0[]
Tesla's Tornado's first battle was against Yoshikillerbot. Tesla's Tornado first battled Yoshi comes out slowly and meanders around, unable to stay in starting square so fight can begin. Yoshi never actually moves when the fight starts. Tesla spins noisily and, using the Melty Brain technology, moves over to the center of the box, but no further. It had a hard time translating. Yoshi tapped out, though. For reasons that aren't clear, this match was fought a second time (supposedly the Yoshi guys had apparently misunderstood something in the last fight, or something like that). This time Yoshi came out and took a hit from Tesla's, and immediately let the smoke out and died. Tesla's spun around it, moving slowly and in the wrong directions and not getting another hit before Yoshi tapped out yet again. This gave Tesla's Tornado the victory by KO and it officially moved on.
Tesla was then set up against Aftermath. Aftermath tried to box-rush Tesla's Tornado as it spun up, but didn't make it before TT had enough energy to kill half of Aftermath's drive. It could only go in circles after that. TT's infra-red remote just had terrible reception though, it never managed to maneuver a few feet in the right direction towards Aftermath again. Aftermath died anyway, and Tesla won by KO.
For a spot in the TV rounds, Tesla's Tornado went up against Darkness. Tesla's Tornado spun up, and banged and shook its way over to Darkness, its melty brain was working a bit better then in the previous matches. Darkness was hesitant to make any contact. Eventually, when the bots did hit each other a couple of times, Tesla's Tornado was stopped by the impacts, apparently it wasn't as strong a spinner as it appeared. Darkness circled its opponent and gave it a few whacks, and rammed it once, causing a part to fly off. Tesla's damage to Darkness wasn't very severe, its shaft was bent and it had a few dents. Still, Tesla was eliminated.
Season 5.0[]
Tesla's Tornado's first fight was against Mow-Blow. When the match began however, Tesla's Tornado failed to spin up, and it was later counted out. Tesla's Tornado was eliminated from the tournament as a result.
- "Unfortunately, on my very first battle Tesla failed to begin spinning. This, of course, was instant death and I lost the match. I am investigating why, but I know it was not related to the infrared communications. It has been a lesson in disappointment, but it is only a game after all."
- — William Mchargue's reflection on Tesla's Tornado's only match in Season 5.0
William McHargue with Tesla's Tornado at Season 4.0
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 2
- Losses: 2
| Competition | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| Season 4.0 | Darkness | |
| Season 5.0 | None | Mow-Blow |
Tesla's Tornado in the pits during Season 5.0