小青龙 (romanized as Xiǎo qīnglóng, translated to Little Qinglong) was a Chinese competitor robot which fought in King of Bots II. Named after the mythological Qinglong dragon, Little Qinglong made its combat debut in a three-way rumble with Red River Bull and Iron Rooster to earn a place on Tu Ziya's team, but lost the battle on a Judges' decision. It then entered a four-way rumble against Cracked Sword, Button Lee and Tank, losing another Judges' decision to fall in the Redemption Round.
Design[]
Front view of Little Qinglong
Little Qinglong with its team captain
Little Qinglong, like many competitors in King of Bots II, was an invertible robot driven by two wheels, armed with a vertical drum spinner. The wide spinning drum is lined with two thick teeth across the width of the drum to deliver various points of bite, although the drum could not reach particularly high speeds in Little Qinglong's first battle, costing it damage potential in comparison to the other Chinese drum spinners which use only a single tooth on their drums. Two golden wedgelets surround either side of the drum to lead other robots into the weapon, and the curved nature of these wedgelets were relatively unique, and the robot's color scheme uses a dragon-like combination of green, gold and red, despite the Qinglong dragon (otherwise "Azure Dragon") generally being more associated with the color blue. However, Little Qinglong's main weakness was its passive nature, failing to assert itself in either of its rumbles.
Robot History[]
King of Bots II (Season 2)[]
Little Qinglong made its debut in Episode 2 of Season 2, where it was nominated by Tu Ziya to take part in a three-way rumble against fellow drum spinner Red River Bull, and the thwackbot Iron Rooster, to earn a place on Tu Ziya's team.
Little Qinglong's charge is intercepted by Iron Rooster
Little Qinglong's drum damages Iron Rooster's blade
At the start of the battle, Little Qinglong attempted to accelerate its drum up to full speed, although it could not reach particularly threatening speeds - meanwhile, Iron Rooster had landed the first attack of the match on Red River Bull. The robots separated, and then Little Qinglong attempted to launch its first attack, charging towards Iron Rooster, but suffered a glancing blow to its top armor from the thwackbot, although it took little damage in the process. Iron Rooster continued to attack Little Qinglong, missing its initial hit, but retracted its weapon to hit Little Qinglong on the retract. Little Qinglong then kept largely out of the action until it was struck by the blade of Iron Rooster. Although this blow accurately struck the gap between Little Qinglong's drum and body, Iron Rooster came off worse from this attack, with Little Qinglong's drum tearing a shard out of its blade.
Little Qinglong charges at Iron Rooster's wheel
Little Qinglong rips a spike from the arena wall
Little Qinglong escaped the situation with its drum at full speed, and after Red River Bull completed a drive on Iron Rooster, Little Qinglong drove in to hit the front of Iron Rooster's wheel tread. However, Little Qinglong only lifted the robot lightly, and then crashed into a grinder - meanwhile, the more composed Red River Bull drove into the side of Iron Rooster and knocked it back, despite lacking an active drum. At this stage, the two drum spinners seemed to team up on Iron Rooster, with a strong ram from Red River Bull flipping Iron Rooster over, and causing it to slide into the spikes on the arena wall. Despite this, Little Qinglong did not close in for any attacks, and after a period of absence, it drove into the arena wall to rip a spike away from the arena. This proved to be the last action Little Qinglong would make in the three-minute bout, ending the battle extremely passively. The Judges ultimately criticised Little Qinglong's lack of involvement, and awarded the victory to Red River Bull, costing Little Qinglong a place on Tu Ziya's team.
To remain in the competition, Little Qinglong would need to win a four-way rumble against Button Lee, Cracked Sword and Tank in order to join a celebrity team of its choosing; however, Little Qinglong's passive nature once again cost it a victory.
Little Qinglong hits Cracked Sword's wheel
Tank flips Little Qinglong over
Little Qinglong was extremely passive in the opening stages, powering up its drum spinner but failing to assert itself whilst Cracked Sword launched a number of attacks on Tank. Little Qinglong was able to bump into Button Lee at the same time Cracked Sword hit the same robot, in a pincer attack which immobilized Button Lee, but Little Qinglong returned to its avoidance of combat. Eventually, Little Qinglong did make an intentional attack by going weapon-to-weapon with Cracked Sword, also brushing up to Tank in another movement, before the robots separated. Later into the battle, the gyroscopic forces of Cracked Sword brought it into the air while turning, allowing Little Qinglong to hit it on the wheel directly, causing some damage before backing onto Tank. This reverse flattened Tank's flipper back into place, and Tank capitalized by turning Little Qinglong over with a delicate flip. Little Qinglong was also bumped by the floor flipper at the same time, causing Little Qinglong's drum to graze the flipper lip of Tank.
Little Qinglong sustains a blow from Cracked Sword
Three robots survive to a Judges' decision
With the robots separated once more, Cracked Sword closed in to land a heavy blow on the side of Little Qinglong, also colliding with Tank's flipper while recoiling, to throw more sparks. This proved to be Little Qinglong's final major involvement, avoiding the battle until the very end, where it brushed up to Cracked Sword in the dying seconds, once the bar spinner had stopped working. The battle was sent to a Judges' decision, and Cracked Sword was determined to be the winner, eliminating Little Qinglong from King of Bots II as a direct result.
Results[]
| LITTLE QINGLONG - RESULTS | ||
| King of Bots II (Season 2) | ||
| Main Championship Eliminated in Redemption Round | ||
| Episode 2, Rumble | vs. Iron Rooster, Red River Bull | Lost |
| Redemption Round | vs. Button Lee, Cracked Sword, Tank | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 2
Series Record[]
Little Qinglong's statistics
| Series | Little Qinglong Series Record |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | Did not enter |
| Season 1.5 | Did not enter |
| Season 2 | Eliminated in Redemption Round (0-2 record) |
Trivia[]
- Although "青龙" is often translated into English as "Azure Dragon", and "小青龙" as "Little Blue Dragon" or "Little Green Dragon", the Qinglong is considered to be a different mythological creature to the westernized Azure Dragon. Indeed, no part of Little Qinglong is painted azure or blue in general.
- Bizarrely, Zhejiang STV's official translations for the Episode 2 and 4 'Special' cuts refer to Little Qinglong as Baby Lobster, despite no parts of the robot's design or paint scheme having any resemblance to a lobster whatsoever. When translated back into Chinese, the phrase "Baby Lobster" actually means "小龙虾", romanized as Xiǎo lóngxiā.
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