Ninjas, pirates and robots turned the Quad into a battlefield yesterday morning during passing period as dozens of passers-by looked on.

The Collective, the UW’s only improv group, orchestrated the mock melee. Their members chose whether they wanted to be a ninja, pirate or robot; three robots, four ninjas and five pirates participated in the battle.

Each choice has it’s own benefits.

Pirates can act drunk and disorderly, while ninjas can stealthily climb trees, explained Katrina Hamilton, a Collective member and pirate during the fight.

Richard Sloniker, a graduate student cheering for the robots, said robots have superior technology and superior talent.

The pirates claimed victory after a pitched struggle with the robots. The battle end with the death of the last robot warrior.

“It doesn’t look like they fared very well,” Sloniker said.

The event, which is in its fifth year, happens every spring, but that’s all The Collective wants anyone to know: the melee is a secret.

“It was rumored a few years back of a group of people who wanted to crash the party and wanted to fight us,” said John Axell, a member of The Collective and a robot during the fight.

Publicly listing the fight might encourage others to dress up and join in, which could be potentially dangerous. The Collective members spend weeks choreographing certain fight moves and training to improvise the rest.

“Were someone else to come and join the fight they wouldn’t know how to do it, and someone could get very hurt,” Hamilton said.

The Collective members spend the weeks before the event preparing their costumes and practicing stage combat. For the robots, the costume preparation is particularly laborious.

Losing sleep and missing class time are all part of the preparation, Axell said. But the time investment is dedicated to a public cause.

“It’s all for the greater good of educating the public on the dangers of robot, pirate and ninja battles,” Axell said.

Like the fight, the idea for the event was originally a joke.

“This fight was pitched as a joke by one of the previous directors who then had his idea taken seriously,” Axell said.