Piranha Advancements (formerly known as Pir-hana, stylized as Piranha.A) are an Anti-Gravity racing team based in Brazil, although they did once appear as a China-based team. They first appeared as a secret team in Wipeout 2097 and later become a playable team in the subsequent installments.
History[]
Pir-hana was formed in 2044 as a result of a merger between two smaller Brazilian companies, Pir and Hana. Despite the subtle and mysterious appearance of the team, they had played an important role in the history of Anti-Gravity Racing by establishing both the Anti-Gravity Federation and the Anti-Gravity Racing Championship.
Mysteriously, Pir-hana pulled out of AG racing entirely before the F3600 League was announced in 2050. They were bought out by an unknown Chinese consortium. From then, they produced airbrakes for AG Systems and Auricom craft before returning to craft development in 2060 under the new name of Piranha Advancements.
From this time on, Piranha started to gain a reputation as fierce perfectionists. The team brought this reputation to a craft of their own for the first time in 47 years in the F5000 League, entering an unarmed prototype ship that was literally perfect in every area. In spite of a lack of weapon capabilities, its speed and manoeuvrability was mind-blowing. However, the cost to build such a powerful machine was very high, and finding pilots skilled enough to control them was difficult, especially in the face of Qirex's financial superiority.
In the F7200 League, with the Piranha team having returned to Brazil, their craft was no longer godlike in all aspects, but it was still a strong performer overall. Their perfectionism was consistent throughout the team's journey, as evident with the company owner at the time of the F9000 League, Aries Piermont, who always emphasized on aiming as high as possible.
The company's acquisition of Assegai in 2150 allowed Piranha to develop a craft that was in line with Piermont's philosophy of perfectionism. Their Swiftkiller craft was indeed true to that perfectionism, becoming one of the best in the F9000 League thanks to Assegai's stabilization technologies. This helped them put up a great fight during races, leading up to a number of race wins on par with those of FEISAR and Xios.
Through the great recession, Piranha withdrew from the public eye before the F9000 League was abolished, but continued operations at their secure factory base in Brazil. Images captured by covert surveillance over the years showed that Piranha employees were busy indeed, as evident with their recorded activities at the wind tunnels and fabrication facilities.
However, with no outlook for their development as a result of the recession that occured during the decade, combined with the death of Aries Piermont sometime in the same decade, Piranha faced a financial downturn. In a desperate attempt to keep itself afloat, the Piranha company sold the Assegai name back to the United African Nations in 2181. Not long afterwards, Piranha was brought under the ownership of the Brazilian government. Because of this, they were no longer able to continue creating a craft built with the philosophy of perfection, but fortunately, they still had the signature design style of sleek and agile craft.
Secretive as ever, a surprise appearance at the Anti-Gravity Rebirth Festival in 2185 confirmed that Piranha were most certainly continuing to develop the fastest kind of craft imaginable. Although they took a limited role in the development of the FX150 League, Piranha did make a prominent contribution to petitioning the League Commission to organize a professional series, resulting in the announcement of the FX300 League in 2195.
Piranha thus entered the FX300 League with a craft that had shown a superior top speed, making it untouchable on the straights. However, the craft's weak thrust force and sluggish handling proved too much for the Piranha team, given the technical nature of racetracks in Makana. As a result, the team struggled to remain competitive throughout the league, although they did manage to win several races and, in the end, they came out as a mid-pack runner.
Dissatisfied with their performance in the FX300, Piranha decided to move on to the FX400 League. For this purpose, they had created a new craft, which they claimed to be the fastest since their return to AG racing. Nobody dared to challenge that claim, but perhaps Icaras would beg to differ. That said, the Piranha team had promised not to disappoint as they sought to relive their former glory from the front of the grid.
FX300 Background[]
From the day that Piranha Advancements' unarmed prototype rocked the F5000 League in the late 2090's, its consistently strong performance has been the envy of almost every other team. The team's trademark sleek, fast craft have remained competitive through each evolution of anti-gravity racing and, in the hands of the right pilot, have dominated the opposition.
Always mysterious, Piranha is back for the FX300 League with a ship secretly developed over an unknown time period in anticipation of the return of professional AG racing.
FX400 Background[]
Back with a vengeance after five years of uncertainty behind the scenes, Piranha bring what's claimed to be the engine with the fastest top end performance since the return of professional AG Racing in 2197. None, except maybe Icaras with their own extreme power-plant, are going to argue the point.
Now back under the control of the Brazilian government, the Piranha team don't have the financial depth that they previously enjoyed. The new chassis needs work, too – it's not the best when the track gets twisty. But that engine is going to be hard to beat in a straight line, make no mistake.
FX400 Message[]
Statement issued by Piranha Director of Racing Operations, Zack Vilma, São Paulo, Brazil
Since the turn of the century and the passing of Aries Piermont, Piranha has travelled a sometimes difficult and treacherous path.
With Aries' death I lost a great friend and a man I looked to daily for guidance and inspiration. Piranha the team lost not just our leader, but our reason for being. Thus, we have struggled on like a ship without a rudder for the past six years, unsure of tomorrow, unsure of our ultimate destiny.
Now, as the man chosen to replace Aries Piermont, I have set our team on the road to recovery mindful of something he once told me: 'It is not enough just to run the team – one must lead the team.'
For Brazil, for the fans, and for Aries I will do my very best to follow that advice and return our team to the front of the pack, starting with the inaugural season of the FX400 Racing League.
Appearance, Evolution and Stats[]
The Piranha ships have always had a highly aerodynamic shape, resembling a fish. As Aries Piermont's vision implies, Piranha devoured most of the grid with its perfectionism. In Wipeout 2097, the craft had perfect stats in every area, but lacked the ability to use weapons. This craft was easily the hardest to control in the game due to its insanely high speeds. In Wipeout 3, the craft was very mobile with moderate to high speed, but low shielding, due to the craft's very lightweight frame. In Wipeout Fusion, the craft returned to its 2097 reincarnation in terms of stats, though not as perfect, still suffering from weak shielding, along with mediocre braking power.
However, in the post-Piermont era, the ships have generally been heavier, with a very high top speed and a strong shielding, compensating for poor thrust and handling, despite the retained aerodynamic design, likely because of state ownership. As such, it is difficult to control without a precise use of airbrakes. However, once the tough handling is mastered and the wall and weapon impacts are minimized, it can truly devour the competition with raw speed and power. Therefore, avoiding any wall grinding, and when possible, weapon hits, is recommended.
In Pure, the Piranha is the fastest ship compared to the other ships in the starting line-up, perfect for open circuits. However, due to the low thrust, it will take a bit more time to reach the top speed. Besides, the lack of handling proves a problem on the technical tracks. Last but not least, the ship shielding is somewhat mediocre.
The ship model in Pure is reused for Pulse and HD, having the shield improved while maintaining the high top speed. The lack of thrust and handling remains the cause of issues; remember though, that if these issues are held off, it will be able to outrun the competition. The Piranha Fury-class ship shows an explicit improvement in thrust force, which has at least solved the problem on low acceleration. In addition, the minor handling improvement makes the ship slightly better at turning.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- A piranha is an omnivorous freshwater fish that inhabits South American rivers, noted for its sharp teeth and a voracious appetite for flesh should its territory be threatened.
- In Wipeout 2097, this team were referred to as "Piranha Development" during the ending cutscene following the completion of the eponymous Piranha Challenge.
- The team's ship in the game is referenced in the PlayStation 5 game Astro Bot with one of its many VIP Bots, "Prototype Pilot", which pays homage to Piranha in general, with the tagline in particular also referring to the fact that the aforementioned ship has maxed out stats, but lacks weaponry of any kind.
- The 'Prototype' in the Bot name refers to that ship and, to a slightly lesser extent, the team's Prototype ship in the AGRC.
- The ship is referred to in-game as the "Brazilian Bullet", referencing Piranha's ships being synonymous with high top speeds.
- The team's ship in the game is referenced in the PlayStation 5 game Astro Bot with one of its many VIP Bots, "Prototype Pilot", which pays homage to Piranha in general, with the tagline in particular also referring to the fact that the aforementioned ship has maxed out stats, but lacks weaponry of any kind.
- In Wipeout 3, the in-game team name is misspelt as "Pirhana". It is also a reference to the fact that Piranha came from the companies "Pir" and "Hana". Chronologically, there was a hyphen separating the two names (as Pir-hana) during the AGRC. This may suggest that at the time, they went through rebranding during the F7200 League (to symbolize their return to their native Brazil), then in the F9000, got renamed once again to the current Piranha name.
- Piranha's team colors are based on a psychological study, which hypothesizes that the colors red and yellow tend to make one feel hungry.
- One of Piranha's mottos in the F9000 League, "Just when you thought it was safe...", is a reference to the 1978 horror film, Jaws 2.
- Piranha chairman Aries Piermont was referred to as the team founder in Wipeout Fusion as stated in their Super Weapon Challenge. Given the retconning of the team's establishment in 2044 and having raced in the AGRC before withdrawing by the time of the F3600, his role was changed to the chairman and owner of the team during the F9000 era.
- Aries Piermont is an homage to Enzo Ferrari, who was also known for being a fierce perfectionist who would push his crew and racers to the very edge of perfection.
- Piermont is also known to have written an autobiography titled "The Fish that Bites", which also includes the description his philosophy regarding Piranha.
- Piranha is the only team in the series known to have undergone 'nationalization', the act of which refers to a national government acquiring and taking over a private company's assets and operations, making the company public under state ownership.
- As the Piranha company was taken over by the Brazilian government in the aftermath of the fall of the F9000, this can also be a reference to the practice of governments nationalizing their automotive industries during World War II and at the end thereof, for example the Brazilian automotive industry following the end of World War II.
Anti-Gravity Racing Teams in Wipeout |
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AG Systems • Assegai • Auricom • EG-X • FEISAR • Goteki 45 • Harimau • Icaras • Mirage • Piranha • Qirex • Triakis • Van-Über |
Defunct/Former Teams: EG-R • G-Tech • Tigron • Xios |