WARBOT
Real Name: Inapplicable
Identity/Class: Terrestrial robot
Occupation: War robot
Group Membership: AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics)
Affiliations: AIM agents (at least three, including Agent B-4), Arthur Shaman
Enemies: Defenders (Clea, Hellcat/Patsy Walker, Hulk/Bruce Banner, Nighthawk/Kyle Richmond, Valkyrie/Brunnhilde), Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers)
Known Relatives: Unidentified AIM scientists (creators)
Aliases: The Ultimate Soldier (as referred to by itself); Shiny-Man (as called by Hulk)
Base of Operations: Mobile throughout New York state, USA
First Appearance: Defenders
I#57 (March, 1978)
{Edizione Italiana: I Difensori#14 Editoriale Corno (giugno 1980)
Powers/Abilities: A semi-sentient automaton, the Warbot could analyze and vocally report its observations. It had super-human strength (class 50?), and gamma ray sensors. It possessed a number of weapons and defenses, including:a force field; it could also fire a variety of beams from its eyes, including a freezing "frigi-beam," an air- crystallizer beam, and destructive energy blasts. Even when it was badly damaged, and without its head and other body parts, it was able to continue fighting.
Height: Unrevealed (8'6"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Black
Hair: Inapplicable
History:
(Defenders I#57 - (fb) - BTS) - At
some point in the past, AIM scientists created the Warbot.
(Ms. Marvel I#7 - BTS) - Carol Danvers discovered the AIM headquarters of New York.
(Defenders I#57 - (fb) - BTS) - AIM decided to find out how Danvers had located their base, so they could "plug the leak"; they ordered Arthur Shaman to lead a task force to capture Michael Barnett, Carol Danvers' psychiatrist. After subjecting Barnett to the Psycho-Conditioner and learning that Danvers was having nightmares about being killed by the Hulk, Shaman decided to capture the Hulk and brainwash him with the Psycho-Conditioner; they would then force the jade giant to kill Carol Danvers, so AIM could not be linked in any way with Danvers' death.
AIM programmed the Warbot with the objective of capturing the Hulk. Arthur Shaman and other AIM agents took the Warbot in an aircar and attacked Dr. Strange's house (see comments).
(Defenders I#57) - The Warbot came out of the AIM aircar and immediately identified its objective: the Hulk. It was faster than the Hulk and struck him with a powerful right slap. When Clea attacked it with the Flames of Faltine, the Warbot reflected her spell back at her, and Clea fell unconscious. While the Warbot was concentrating on Clea, Valkyrie hit it with her sword Dragonfang, but the sword surprisingly bounced off the Warbot's metallic skin, without even scratching it; the Warbot then emitted eye-beams that solidified a crystal cube around the Valkyrie, entrapping her.
Meanwhile the Hulk had recovered from the previous strike and leapt to attack the robot; but the Warbot immobilized the Hulk by by using its "frigi-beam" and froze him in a mantle of absolute cold, which rendered the jade giant instantly unconscious. With extreme ease, the Warbot lifted the ice-covered Hulk with one arm and carried him into the AIM aircar, which then took flight.
(Defenders I#57 - BTS) - Nighthawk saw the AIM aircar flying away, so he covertly attached a "tracer bug" to it.
(Defenders I#57) - The aircar reached its final destination: an AIM laboratory, hidden within an abandoned barn in the wilds of Long Island's Suffolk county. But as they carried their prisoners (Barnett and the still-frozen Hulk) to the barn, the Warbot, Shaman, and the AIM agents were surprised by Nighthawk, Ms. Marvel, and Hellcat, and a fight ensued.
While Nighthawk and Hellcat dealt with Shaman and the AIM agents, Ms. Marvel attacked the Warbot, and every one of the heroine's punches broke off parts of the automaton. Although the Warbot fired its eye-blasts, it still missed the heroine--it didn't stop fighting, even after Ms. Marvel punched its head off. After she had reduced the Warbot into a mass of shattered junk, Ms. Marvel threw its remains into the laboratory, where it exploded and destroyed the AIM base.
(Iron Man: Hypervelocity#3) - Another Warbot (or possibly the original, refurbished) attended a mecha rave party aboard a sunken German U-boat on the bottom of the ocean--also in attendance were Gothic Lolita, Social Butterfly, and an undercover Iron Man. The Warbot wore a piece of "bling" in the shape of a woman's torso around its neck.
Comments: Created by Chris Claremont, George Tuska and Dave Cockrum.
The Warbot seemed unbeatable when it defeated three Defenders in the first encounter (it stopped the Hulk in 2 seconds!), but it seemed very weak when it was destroyed by Ms. Marvel. It resisted to the Flames of Faltine and took a blow from the magical Dragonfang wielded by the Valkyrie (who can lift 45 tons) with ease, so I assume it had an unseen force field (perhaps a Shield of Seraphim?). Probably the field was functioning when Ms. Marvel hit the Warbot the first time, but probably because of the strain of when it was carrying the Hulk, the first time Ms. Marvel hit damaged its force field device so she had an easier time fighting it. Probably.
...or how about this supposition: The Warbot had a pair of thin antennae on its head when first introduced (see main image) and during its initial battle with the Defenders (drawn by Dave Cockrum); however, during the later battle with the Defenders (drawn by George Tuska), its antennae were missing (see headshot)--maybe those antennae were the source of its seeming invulnerability, but they accidentally got snapped off when the Warbot was carrying the frozen Hulk into the aircar (see second image below). AIM eventually corrected this design flaw, which would explain why the later Warbot at the mecha rave had thicker and more durable-appearing antennae. OK, it was actually just a case of the mixing of two artists neglecting a minor detail, but I bet it's worth a No-Prize!
Since the Defenders were a "non-team" of heroes, they didn't have an official headquarters at this time, so they would usually just meet in Doctor Strange's home; and Strange himself never encountered the Warbot because he was away in the Quadriverse at the time of this story.--Ron Fredricks
Profile by Spidermay and Prime Eternal. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Warbot (aka the Ultimate Soldier) should not be confused with:
An armed VTOL aircraft used by the subversive organization AIM, it could fire destructive energy blasts. It transported Arthur Shaman, at least three AIM agents, and the Warbot.
The aircar traveled to Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum in Greenwich Village, where it targeted the house to draw out the Defenders before unleashing the Warbot.
After the Warbot captured the Hulk and carried him inside, the aircar took flight--but Nighthawk managed to attach a "tracer bug" to the aircar so they could trace its destination.
Minutes later, the aircar reached it final destination: an AIM laboratory, hidden within an abandoned barn in the wilds of Long Island's Suffolk county.
After the Defenders arrived and defeated the Warbot and all the AIM agents, the aircar was likely confiscated by legal authorities.
--Defenders I#57
images: (without ads)
Defenders I#57, p9, pan2 (main image - Warbot emerges from AIM aircar)
Defenders I#57, p13, pan3 (headshot - Warbot firing eye-beams)
Defenders I#57, p10, pan3 (Warbot fires eye-beams to entrap Valkyrie in crystal cube)
Defenders I#57, p14, pan1-2 (Ms. Marvel battles headless Warbot)
Iron Man: Hypervelocity#3, p20, pan3 (Warbot at mecha rave)
Defenders I#57, p8, pan5 (AIM aircar attacks Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum; Valkyrie, Clea, Hulk [right])
Defenders I#57, p11, pan1 (Warbot carries frozen Hulk aboard AIM aircar; Valkyrie, Clea [background])
Defenders I#57, p11, pan2 (AIM aircar takes flight)
Appearances:
Defenders I#57 (March, 1978) - Gerry Conway (plot), Chris Claremont (script), George Tuska & Dave Cockrum (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Francoise Mouly (colors), Peter Iro (letters), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Iron Man: Hypervelocity#3 (May, 2007) - Adam Warren (writer/layouts), Brian Denham (artist), Molly Lazer (editor)
First posted: 06/11/2005
Last updated: 09/07/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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