Number 37 - Nightmare

Nightmare was equipped with perhaps the most devastating vertical spinner ever built. Its spinner has caused massive damage on opponents and, sometimes, on itself. It has fought in ten Battlebots tournaments across the years, and is one of the biggest names in Battlebots history. In the Long Beach 1999 competition, Nightmare went a disappointing 1-2, but won the "Most Aggressive" award. In Las Vegas later that same year, it went all the way to the quarterfinals before losing to Rhino. In season 1.0, Nightmare lots in the first round but performed well in the heavyweight rumble. In season 2.0, Nightmare did well again, making it to the quarterfinals for a second time (the robot that took it out was Biohazard, also one of the biggest names in classic Battlebots), but failed to win the Heavyweight Royal Rumble. In season 3.0, Nightmare won its first fight in interesting fashion. Nightmare knocked out a robot called SlamJob in 34 seconds but immobilized itself in the process, winning a judges' decision. It lost its next battle to Son of Whyachi and lost in the Heavyweight Royal Rumble again. In season 4.0, Nightmare started out on a rampage, tearing through Junkyard Offspring and beating BattleRat in a decision, and looked good for its quarterfinal rematch with Biohazard. The match was legendary, with tons of damage, but Nightmare ended up losing again. In season 5.0, Nightmare's first opponent was Warhead, who was even more successful. Warhead ended up knocking Nightmare out. In the Heavyweight Consolation Rumble, however, Nightmare tore many pieces off of other robots, until it lost a tooth from its blade, causing it to shake around when it spun. What none of the drivers knew at the time was that the tooth had smashed through the lexan walls of the Battlebox and landed in the crowd. Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured, but the Battlebots staff, in an attempt to protect the crowd, cancelled the rest of the rumbles. Nightmare didn't win the rumble, which enraged the crowd. Thirteen years later, Battlebots came back and Nightmare came back with it. Its first fight was against Warrior Clan, and although it caused severe damage to the top of Warrior Clan an obliterated one or both of its minibots, Nightmare lost and didn't earn one of the four wildcards (automatic tournament berths given to robots which lost in the qualifying round but put up a good fight). It competed in the three team exhibition rumble before the championship against quarterfinalists Witch Doctor and Overhaul, and in a dominant performance, it won by knockout. In season 2, it battled another returning quarterfinalist - Stinger - in the first round, but lost. This time it did do well enough to earn a wildcard, and it was seeded 25th in the round of 32, scheduled to fight the deadly horizontal spinner Icewave. In 48 seconds, Nightmare pulled off the upset knockout and met hammer robot Beta in the round of 16, as seen above. It dominated the entire fight until it was flipped over at the very end, giving Beta the knockout. In season 4, it fought an exhibition match against Mammoth, and it lost. In all, Nightmare's record (excluding rumbles from classic Battlebots) is 10-12 (.455) with six knockouts. Because it took out some of the most feared robots in Battlebots history (Mortis, Icewave) and had one of the best weapons of all time, Nightmare makes my list of the top 50 Battlebots of all time.