From TES issue 39 (May 2006)

Series 2. Level 1/2.
THE AUTOMATUM

Performed the same role as many Knightmare creatures and monsters. He came into Dungeon chambers, threatening to kill the dungeoneer, necessitating a hasty escape. And, like many Knightmare creatures, that’s about all he did.

Played by Edmund “Gumboil” Dehn, the Automatum was a mechanical warrior that ran on clockwork. Dressed in a black and white crusader’s tabard, the mindless robot would relentlessly pursue dungeoneers through levels one and two, hoping to smash their heads in with his flail. This was his one salient objective – he could not to be stopped, or reasoned with. He just had to be avoided, and usually this was as far as his appearances on Knightmare went – he clanked into the room, whirring and clicking mechanically, and chased the dungeoneer out. For this reason, the Automatum really did feel more like a creature than a character, even though he (unlike Igneous) was included in the cast along with Gumboil at the end of each episode.

However, some of the Automatum’s appearances were a little more varied. At the end of the series, Karen had to physically defeat the Automatum in the wellway room, utilising a RUST spell from Mildread. The advisors, however, were a bit slow on the uptake: ”Cast the spell on him or something!” – Karen. This was definitely the Automatum’s most interesting encounter, and it gave Edmund Dehn a chance to do a nice pratt-fall as a bit of variety from just walking rigidly, but his involvement in Jamie’s quest earlier in the series had proved to be more crucial to the dungeoneer’s progress. In level two, the task fell to Jamie to collect the scattered pieces of a MEDAL spell. However, the presence of the Automatum in the room flustered the team sufficiently for them to miss out on collecting the spell, which led to their subsequent entrapment in Ariadne’s lair.

So, as a character, the Automatum was unusual to say the least. As a creature, he didn’t do much other than scare dungeoneers and advisors into hurrying up a bit, although a couple of his scenes were slightly more interesting. By the way, to those of you who are wondering why this character was named the Automatum rather than the Automaton, which would seem to be a more sensible spelling, I say only this – let me know if you ever work it out!

Fear Factor: 7 Strangely eerie and frightening.
Killer Instinct: 2 Never really given a proper chance.
Gore Factor: 3 Looked like a normal guy in a costume, really…
Humanity: 1 Human-shaped, but all mechanical underneath.

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A character in RPG Season 6 (filmed 2004). Created by Lord Wraith, Automatum's purpose is to patrol the Dungeon, pursuing and terminating any dungeoneer it encounters. However, it is not beyond Automatum's remit to tangle with other adversarial minions, such as Ruke. Automatum was played by Jace. Footage of the character can be viewed here.

Later in 2004, Jace reprised the role of Automatum on the Knightmare Roleplay forum. On this occasion, Automatum was a contestant in Knightmare Battle Royale, to which, as a ruthless killing machine, it was excellently suited. Automatum succeeded in removing Sylvester Hands from the game, but was foiled by Hordriss, who ambushed Automatum and cast a WRAP spell that compacted the automaton into an inert cube.

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