Fighting machine (The War of the Worlds) Fighting machine (The War of the Worlds) The Fighting Machine (also known as "Tripod") is one of the fictional machines used by the Martians in H.G. Wells' 1898 classic science fiction novel "The War of the Worlds". It is a fast-moving, three-legged walker, reported to be 100 feet tall, with multiple whip-like tentacles used for grasping, and two lethal weapons: the heat-ray and a gun-like tube used for discharging canisters of a poisonous chemical black smoke that kills humans and animals. It is the primary machine the Martians use when they invade Earth, along with the handling machine, the flying
Flying machine (The War of the Worlds) the tripods described in the novel, might be an obscure reference to the novel's Martian flying machine; the look of these machines actually derive from the complication of making convincing walking tripod effects and were given "invisible legs" to give the machines support and lift from the ground. In the pilot episode of the "War of the Worlds" TV series, a sequel to the 1953 film, these same machines are seen but the "legs" are not present and are given more of a look of taking flight, but still possess the speed and movement of their film counterparts. The flying