On a pad of hotel notepaper, a young artist drew the giant robot from Super Rabbit Boy and all of its
friends. This page calls every one of them out of the drawing and finishes writing up their files.
What does the drawing say? — the handwritten labels, transcribed
gigantic bot
The giant filling the middle of the page, top to bottom: square head, a little antenna, a pair of curved horns, a frown, a glare and a row of big teeth; its arms and legs are long striped spring-tubes
robo boss in space · 5
Top right, inside a "space bubble": the robot boss standing on his command deck. The 5 is the level he guards
King Viking and Super Rabbit Boy
The circle at top left: King Viking's round flying machine, and one very small standoff
robo UFO · 10
Down the left side, the flying-saucer robots and a string of egg pods. The 10 is the level they hold
robo basher brothers
Bottom right: eight or nine square-headed brothers with antennas, squeezed into one crowd
robo bosses
The bottom-right corner, a whole patch of bigger robots — the "management" of the level guards
robo boss
One boxy robot, sitting on its own inside a small circle at bottom left
robo army
The dense swarm of foot soldiers at bottom left; the scribbled-black smoking blobs are last night's casualty list
Where all this happens
Next door to Animal Town, in the pixel world, stands King Viking's black castle. The King hates fun of every
kind, so he built himself a robot army with exactly one slogan:
"No fun for anyone!"
The troops are posted through the levels of the game — level 5 is all the way out in space, level 10 is held by
the saucer squadron, and the closing act is a robot so big that one step of it shakes the whole screen.
The only one brave enough to stand in front of them is a hopping, laughing Super Rabbit Boy.
Character files
Five pips is a full bar. Psst — try clicking the Gigantic Bot's portrait.
Gigantic Bot
GIGANTIC BOTClosing act · final level
Power
Brains
Speed
Wreckage
Beep — (that means it is about to swing. Run.)
LooksAs tall as a block of flats. The curved horns glow red whenever an order arrives from the King; the frown, the glare and the row of big square teeth add up to the meanest face in the universe — that is the expression it left the factory with, and it can't change it either.
Signature movesSpring punch (the arms stretch ten screens), earthquake stomp, wire-brush sweep.
Weak spotIts processor is one of the King's old game cartridges from when he was small, so every order takes three bars of charge before anything happens. Its striped joints are horribly ticklish — one tickle and it falls to pieces all by itself.
Little secret: it really loves small animals. Its hands are just too big to pet them with, so every time it pretends not to have noticed.
King Viking
KING VIKINGCommander of the legion
Power
Brains
Speed
Mischief
No fun for anyone!
LooksA very short king with a red beard that nearly drags along the floor, a two-horned helmet and a black cape. He never leaves home without his round flying machine, which has two little mechanical claws underneath — for putting his hands on his hips.
CharacterGenius inventor, and the worst loser in the universe. After a defeat he never rethinks the tactics. He just builds the next robot bigger.
The real secret: he doesn't hate playing. It's that nobody plays with him. The robot army is a set of playmates he built for himself — he just hasn't worked that out yet.
Robo Boss in Space
ROBO BOSS IN SPACEGuard of level 5
Power
Brains
Speed
Red tape
Reporting in! According to this officer's observations — the rabbit has won again!
LooksStands on a floating command deck and never comes down (from down there he can't reach the levers). A ring of tiny satellites turns above his head like a crown that moves.
Signature moveThe satellite laser cannon. Tremendous power — except the screen has always read "charging, 99% remaining".
Little secret: he is frightened of weightlessness, and has been quietly wearing magnet boots clamped to the deck this whole time.
The UFO Squad
ROBO UFOAir force of level 10
Power
Brains
Speed
Showing off
Show first, fight after! — oh no, we forgot the fighting.
LooksA squadron of dome-topped saucers on three thin legs. Parked in a row, they look like a set of little stools.
Signature moveThe egg drop: with a glug-glug they let egg-shaped pods fall out of their bellies, and every shell that cracks hatches a foot soldier — that's the string of ovals in the drawing.
Weak spot: clap for them and they stop in midair to take a bow. That is exactly the moment to hit them.
The Eight Basher Brothers
ROBO BASHER BROTHERSGround assault squad
Power
Brains
Speed
Sync
One — two — BASH!
LooksEight square-headed brothers, identical down to the last bolt; you tell them apart by the bend in their antennas. The antennas are networked, which is why the chant is always perfectly in time.
CharacterThey know exactly one move — bashing — but they bash with tremendous discipline. Their internal league table is "things smashed this week", and whoever comes last has to oil everybody else.
Weak spot: bend an antenna and the signals cross over, and then all eight start bashing each other on the head.
The Boss Club
ROBO BOSSESManagement of the level guards
Power
Brains
Speed
Bickering
Last time? Last time I let him win!
Set-upThe "management layer" made up of every level's boss — the boss in space is a member too. They meet once a month, and the meeting is always the same argument about who is second-in-command after the King. It has never once been settled.
What they all have in common: a size bigger than the foot soldiers, a level of their own, and a thorough beating from the rabbit.
The Robo Army
ROBO ARMYRank and file · from No. 001 up
Power
Brains
Speed
Headcount
Chaaaarge — oh no, I've dropped a screw. Boo hoo.
CharacterLong on numbers, short on nerve. They charge in with a roar that shakes the sky and turn around all together the moment anything bounces off them; lose a single screw and one will sit straight down and cry until a friend helps him up.
Those scribbled-black smoking blobs near the bottom of the drawing are last night's casualty list — don't worry, the King repaired every one of them that same evening, so they could go and lose again the next day.
Repair Bot 000
REPAIR BOT 000Off the books · everybody's rescue service
Power
Brains
Speed
Popularity
Fallen apart again? Hold still, I'll get the ladder.
Where he comes fromThe one propping up a ladder in the bottom-right corner of the original drawing — that's him. The only repair bot the legion has.
He has seen every robot here at its most undignified, which is precisely why nobody in the legion dares cross him.
Super Rabbit Boy
SUPER RABBIT BOYThe opposition · our hero
Power
Brains
Speed
Optimism
One more go! This time for sure!
LooksA little blue pixel rabbit in a red scarf, with an astonishing jump; one super carrot and he goes invincible.
How he fits inHe bounces from level 1 all the way to the last one. He is the one the King can least stand and least do without — without him the legion wouldn't even get the chance to lose.
Who reports to whom
King Viking KING VIKINGgives the orders from his flying machine
Gigantic Botclosing act · final level
The Boss Clubmanagement of the level guards
Robo Boss in Spacelevel 5 · space
The UFO Squadlevel 10 · air force + airdropped hatchlings
The Eight Basher Brothersground assault squad
The Robo Armyrank and file, from No. 001 up
Repair Bot 000off the books, everybody's rescue service
Opponent: Super Rabbit BoySUPER RABBIT BOY
The characters and the scene come from a young artist's pencil original; the files are a letter written back to
that drawing. Inspired by Thomas Flintham's Press Start! series — this page is not affiliated with the
books and is non-commercial.
