Deep-Sea Shark

Deep-Sea Shark
Participation Information
Series	S1-2 (King of Bots)
Other Names	Hammerhead Shark Deep Sea Giant Shark
Team Information
Team	Harbin Institute of Technology
Team Members	Wei Jin Li Lidong Li Yun Chau Cao Mengyu
Robot Statistics
Weapons	Vertical spinner

深海巨鲨 (officially translated as Deep-Sea Shark or Hammerhead Shark) is a robot from Harbin, China, which competed in the first and second seasons of King of Bots. Entered by a team of students from the Harbin Institute of Technology, it progressed to the second round in Season 1 after defeating Hurricane, despite losing the use of its drum weapon during the battle. There, it lost to Tánshè in a close fight which resulted in a late knockout where Deep-Sea Shark was flipped out of the arena.

A brand-new version of Deep-Sea Shark returned for Season 2, being selected by Huang Jian Xiang and winning one battle against Bullseye despite losing the use of its spinning weapon. Deep-Sea Shark then defended its place on Huang Jian Xiang's team by immobilizing the American entry Excelsior in its next battle. Teaming up with Thunder, Deep-Sea Shark defeated Iron Scrap and Earth Mover in a two-on-two battle next. The new Deep-Sea Shark was immobilized for the first time in its next Tag Team battle after taking a blow from Mist Lion, and although its teammate Thunder initially won the battle on Deep-Sea Shark's behalf, the victory was taken away due to Thunder launching an attack after the battle had ended. Deep-Sea Shark continued its undefeated run by beating Rhino and advanced to the final tournament.

Versions of Deep-Sea Shark

Season 1

The Season 1 Deep-Sea Shark with the Harbin Institute of Technology team

Deep-Sea Shark's optional defence

The original Deep-Sea Shark (also referred to as Hammerhead Shark) was an invertible, box-shaped robot armed with a large single-toothed drum at the front. Along with Chinese Aegis, it was the first King of Bots competitor to use tracks as its primary method of locomotion, which featured sets of circular rubber pads to increase the robot's traction along the arena floor. Deep-Sea Shark itself sported a two-tone blue and turquoise colour scheme, with the drum finished in black. Two 'feeder wedges' were also present at either side of the drum, to lead other robots into the spinning weapon. In the second round of the competition, the sides of Deep-Sea Shark were replaced with white HDPE for added protection.

This incarnation of Deep-Sea Shark also had an optional piece of thick top armor, which it would use to defend itself from overhead weapons such as the crusher of Spectre, but this was never seen on television.

Season 2

Official shot of Deep-Sea Shark

Statistics board for the Season 2 version of Deep-Sea Shark

The Season 2 version of Deep-Sea Shark was substantially different to its Season 1 predecessor, exchanging tracks for wheels and adopting a significantly bulkier design. In place of the drum, a red vertical bar spinner now served as the robot's main weapon, mounted at the front and spinning at 2,000rpm. Deep-Sea Shark also featured a set of interchangeable front wedge configurations in this incarnation, including a plain angled wedge and a wedge with three large spiked tips. The robot adopted a two-tone blue and white color scheme in this form.

Robot History

King of Bots (Season 1)

Deep-Sea Shark first appeared in Episode 2 of Season 1, where it fought Hurricane in the first round.

Deep-Sea Shark weathers an early collision with Hurricane's spinner

One of Deep-Sea Shark's drum mounts is sheared off

Deep-Sea Shark pushes Hurricane over the flame jets

In the opening seconds, it drove straight into Hurricane, with the two competitors proceeding to exchange several blows with their spinning weapons. One of these collisions resulted in Deep-Sea Shark having one of its drum mounts ripped off by Hurricane, causing its drum to hit the floor as it drove into Hurricane again. This stopped both of their weapons from spinning up, but Deep-Sea Shark pushed Hurricane away from the red square, before both robots separated. Deep-Sea Shark continued ramming and pushing Hurricane around the arena, all while surviving more hits from its opponent’s spinner. It was pushed into the wall spikes by Hurricane, but reversed away as the latter momentarily pinned itself under them. The two competitors continued pushing and dodging each other until time ran out, at which point the battle went to a Judges’ decision. Despite the damage it sustained, the Judges ruled in favor of Deep-Sea Shark as a result of it displaying more control throughout.

Gabriel Stroud: "It's the Hammerhead Shark, is it John?"

John Reid: "Yes, a young team. They've been up all night before, all through the night, no sleep."

Gabriel Stroud: "Well, I think we're confident!"

— Tánshè's team on the Deep-Sea Shark team

In the second round, Deep-Sea Shark fought Tánshè.

Deep-Sea Shark is pinned on the arena wall

Deep-Sea Shark smashes the front of Tánshè

Within the opening seconds of the battle, Deep-Sea Shark's team activated a smokescreen in front of Team Legion to obscure their vision, so the British team did the same, preventing both teams from seeing the battle. Regardless, Tánshè was able to drive under Deep-Sea Shark and flip it onto its drum, where it then toppled onto the spikes on the arena wall. Tánshè's team believed they had won, while Deep-Sea Shark remained pinned on the spike. It constantly spun its tracks and drum, but the referee began to count Deep-Sea Shark out. The referee counted all the way up to nine, but then Deep-Sea Shark miraculously escaped from the wall and attacked the celebrating Tánshè.

"We thought we'd won, so John was in the middle doing his thing, but then I saw them coming! I went, John, John, they're coming, they're coming!"

— Gabriel Stroud

Deep-Sea Shark pressures Tánshè into flipping itself over

Deep-Sea Shark is thrown into the commentators

Panicking, Tánshè flipped itself over, and was forced to self-right. This allowed Deep-Sea Shark to hit the front of Tánshè directly, and tear away various pieces from it. Tánshè attempted to self-right, but it was too close to the wall, and landed on its back again, losing more parts. Tánshè self-righted, while Deep-Sea Shark knocked a loose gear of Tánshè's towards the commentators. Tánshè started to recover, and drove under Hammerhead Shark to then flip it over. With a huge flip, Tánshè then launched Deep-Sea Shark into the plexiglass screen straight in front of the commentators, and again into the spiked wall.

Tánshè spins Deep-Sea Shark through the air

Tánshè throws Deep-Sea Shark into the wall

With Tánshè keeping up the pressure, Deep-Sea Shark was flipped onto the top of the arena hammer, and sent was sent spiralling forwards with another flip. Tánshè tossed Deep-Sea Shark back into the spikes, although its next flip was noticeably weaker. Deep-Sea Shark was shepherded towards the corner of the arena, and Tánshè attempted to lift it over the wall, but lacked the necessary power. It made another attempt, and this time flipped Deep-Sea Shark directly into the wall, but not over. In its retreat, Tánshè then drove over a floor flipper and was overturned, allowing Deep-Sea Shark to assert its presence.

Deep-Sea Shark's armor comes off from ramming into Tánshè

Tánshè flips Deep-Sea Shark out of the arena

Deep-Sea Shark's drum had slowed but it still pressed a loose piece of armor against Tánshè. Within the last thirty seconds, Tánshè started to rely on its pushing power, pressing Deep-Sea Shark against the spikes, but Deep-Sea Shark was now approaching the end of the battle. Tánshè only had enough CO₂ on board for one last flip, but it used this well, and flipped Deep-Sea Shark over the wall in the corner, putting it out of the arena with barely twenty seconds left on the clock.

"That was the best fight we've ever had, I think, in our entire lives!"

— Gabriel Stroud

This last-second defeat created an emotional finish for the Deep-Sea Shark team, who were tearful in defeat, with even Ling Zhou shedding tears of sympathy, but nonetheless the team were comforted by the victorious Team Legion, and Deep-Sea Shark was eliminated at this stage.

Season 2

A new version of Deep-Sea Shark returned for Season 2, first appearing in Episode 1. The robot appeared in the opening sequence of the episode, showcasing its 'evolution' in between seasons, and in the main competition, where it was selected by a celebrity to take part in the second round of head-to-head battles.

Deep-Sea Shark lands its first blow on Bullseye

Deep-Sea Shark attacks Bullseye again, shortly before its spinner stops working

There, Deep-Sea Shark fought drum spinner Bullseye, and began the battle by slowly advancing towards its opponent. It attempted to attack Bullseye, but missed, only to eventually land a front-on blow as the two robots met spinner-to-spinner. A few moments passed before Deep-Sea Shark attacked Bullseye again, at which point its spinner stopped working. Resorting to its powerful drivetrain, Deep-Sea Shark darted across the arena, pursuing then ramming Bullseye head-on.

Deep-Sea-Shark rams Bullseye into the wall spikes

Deep-Sea-Shark pushes Bullseye into the circular saws

Deep-Sea Shark proceeded to shove Bullseye into the wall spikes, as it became clear that the latter's drum was also not working properly. The two robots rammed each other again; as before, Deep-Sea Shark prevailed, pushing Bullseye into the spikes a second time. Deep-Sea Shark next chased Bullseye across the arena, resulting in the latter driving into the circular saws. It followed on from this action by pushing Bullseye sideways into a grinder, then the other set of circular saws, causing the saws to throw Bullseye into a violent spin. Just before time ran out, Deep-Sea Shark returned to the blue corner, having surviving the full duration along with a partially-immobile Bullseye. It was declared to have won the Judges' decision, securing a place on Huang Jian Xiang's team alongside Xiake.

Deep-Sea Shark's place on Huang Jian Xiang's team came under threat when the American entry Excelsior challenged it to a head-to-head battle, with the winner retaining or stealing the place on the celebrity team.

The two robots come together

Deep-Sea Shark's killer blow on Excelsior

Deep-Sea Shark spun its blade up to speed, and Excelsior was cautious of this, attempting to point its front wedge at Deep-Sea Shark without directly approaching it. This caused Deep-Sea Shark to miss with its first attack, also allowing Excelsior to swing its decorative tail at Deep-Sea Shark, but it was then forced to flee and create space. Deep-Sea Shark was unfazed, and chased Excelsior down, delivering a frontal blow which threw Excelsior into the air. This hit bent the drive axle of Excelsior and the wheel guard, which was a large enough impact for both drive chains to slip from Excelsior's wheels, and with only forty seconds passed in the match, Excelsior then ground to a complete halt. Although it fired its flipper to show signs of movement, Excelsior was counted out, and Deep-Sea Shark easily collected its second victory, retaining its place on Huang Jian Xiang's team.

Moving into the next round, Deep-Sea Shark had the opportunity to earn a point for Huang Jian Xiang's team by teaming up with Thunder to fight against Iron Scrap and Earth Mover of Tu Ziya's team.

Deep-Sea Shark throws Iron Scrap over

Deep-Sea Shark throws Iron Scrap into the Grinder

Straight away, Thunder and Earth Mover charged into each other, while Deep-Sea Shark and Iron Scrap powered up their vertical spinners. Iron Scrap then collided with the front of Deep-Sea Shark, but threw itself over using its own drum. Thunder shunted Earth Mover side-on while Iron Scrap self-righted using a gyro-dance, but Thunder caught up to block its landing and press Iron Scrap's drum into the arena floor. This presented a big opportunity for Deep-Sea Shark to creep up on the rear of Iron Scrap and pelt it into a Grinder with a powerful hit. This provided Iron Scrap with lasting concerns, but it self-righted again while Thunder pushed Earth Mover across the arena again. Working in combination again, Thunder deflected the drum of Iron Scrap, allowing Deep-Sea Shark to hit it from behind again, and a push from Thunder on Earth Mover carried it across the arena until one of its rear forks hit an imperfection in the floor and negated the drive, forcing Thunder to hook under Earth Mover again and drag it on a separate attack.

Deep-Sea Shark is jolted into the air briefly

Deep-Sea Shark is pushed across the arena by Earth mover

Iron Scrap started to assert itself, visibly jolting Deep-Sea Shark upwards with an attack and caused damage, but then missed on its next charge, instead colliding with the arena wall to rip a spike away from it. Iron Scrap then managed to attack Deep-Sea Shark again, but briefly stopped moving upon delivering this attack, and Deep-Sea Shark knocked it aside with another blow. All four robots separated, but Earth Mover drove over the floor flipper, and was overturned, forcing it to self-right. In the meantime, Iron Scrap was surrounded by both of its opponents, and with a forward drive, Thunder slammed into Iron Scrap and pushed it onto the arena saw slots. This proved to be the final attack Iron Scrap could survive, having been somewhat hindered by its earlier attacks from Deep-Sea Shark, and it stopped moving. This left Earth Mover to fight alone, and it took a blow to the front from Deep-Sea Shark, largely taking evasive measures while hoping for Iron Scrap's revival, but nevertheless Iron Scrap was counted out. With just over a minute left, Deep-Sea Shark briefly became stuck on its own teammate, and this gave Earth Mover the chance to push it across the arena, and into the Grinder.

Deep-Sea Shark is momentarily high-centered

Deep-Sea Shark delivers a late blow to Earth Mover

This caused Deep-Sea Shark to momentarily stop moving, but Thunder caught Earth Mover from behind and pushed it into the Grinder, also dragging it back on the top of its lifter, forcing Earth Mover to separate using its own weapon. Deep-Sea Shark was revealed to be high-centered on one of its own broken wedges, and the referee was forced to start a count, but Thunder rammed into its teammate and freed it. Thunder then attempted to push Earth Mover, but drove up its opponent's wedge and ended up receiving a spinner hit from its teammate. Deep-Sea Shark then bumped into the immobile Iron Scrap before pushing Earth Mover back, and fully losing a broken wedgelet. Thunder then completed a powerful drive, pushing Earth Mover into the wall, and piggy-backed it into Deep-Sea Shark's spinner which tossed it into the air and bent its front lifter completely, despite not managing to turn Earth Mover over. With less than twenty seconds left in the match, Earth Mover bumped into the back of Deep-Sea Shark, and survived a blow from Deep-Sea Shark's visibly slowed spinner, but Thunder pushed both robots into the arena wall one last time, jamming Earth Mover under a spike until time expired on the three-minute fight.

The Judges comfortably awarded the victory to Deep-Sea Shark and Thunder, allowing them to earn a point for Huang Jian Xiang's team, which proved crucial in the team's overall victory this round, in turn allowing Deep-Sea Shark and Thunder to both survive and progress. Both robots then teamed up again to fight against Cracked Sword and Mist Lion.

Deep-Sea Shark frees Thunder from Mist Lion

Deep-Sea Shark knocks Mist Lion back down

Deep-Sea Shark hung back to power up its spinner, while allowing its teammate Thunder to drive in and deflect the bar spinner of Cracked Sword, sending it spiralling across the arena. Thunder blocked its escape, catching Cracked Sword as it backed away, and then pushed it into Deep-Sea Shark. Mist Lion pushed its way past its opponents, and Thunder drove onto the arena saws, which caused it to land on top of the evasive Mist Lion. Deep-Sea Shark was required to knock Thunder off its opponent, particularly as Mist Lion had ground to a temporary halt over the saws, due to one of its forks being wedged into the slot for the arena hazard. Mist Lion eventually backed away, but gyroscopic forces pulled it into the air, and Mist Lion landed on one of its own wedgelets, stranding it again. Thunder continued to assert itself over Cracked Sword, comfortably withstanding its bar spinner while pushing it into the arena corner. Thunder then backed away, and Cracked Sword hit the front of Thunder directly to knock both machines aside. Cracked Sword flew directly into the front of Deep-Sea Shark, which pushed it into Mist Lion, which was still stuck in place. Finally, Deep-Sea Shark hit the front of Mist Lion with its spinner, knocking its opponent back into the battle.

Deep-Sea Shark targets the side of Mist Lion

Deep-Sea Shark is thrown over by Mist Lion

Thunder and Cracked Sword continued to face off, with the spinner of Cracked Sword starting to create visible damage in Thunder's scoop, but Thunder pushed it onto the floor flipper which lifted both robots up. This allowed Thunder to continue its attack, sliding Cracked Sword around the arena. Deep-Sea Shark launched a direct hit on the side of Mist Lion while pushing it aside, and it became clear that Mist Lion could no longer move with this side of drive, using only the gyroscopic forces of its drum to move outside of its circumference. Meanwhile, Thunder moved Cracked Sword into the grinder mount, inflicting severe recoil onto the bar spinner. With Mist Lion clearly struggling for movement, Deep-Sea Shark attempted to capitalize and charged in, but directly collided with the drum spinner of Mist Lion and was thrown onto its front. Deep-Sea Shark's spinner threw sparks off the arena floor, but the robot did not fall back on its wheels, and slid into the corner of the arena, stranded on its front. Thunder moved in to try and free its teammate, but the referee counted Deep-Sea Shark out, and it became the first to fall in the two-on-two battle. Soon after, Mist Lion would be counted out, and Thunder fought Cracked Sword one-on-one

Deep-Sea Shark and Mist Lion are declared immobile

Thunder's controversial drive which cost Deep-Sea Shark the win

Thunder largely dominated the late proceedings of the match, and pinned Cracked Sword against the side of the arena until the end of the three-minute fight. However, Thunder continued to drive Cracked Sword across the arena and into the Grinder, delivering an attack after the fight was supposed to have ended. Originally, the Judges were required to determine a winner of the battle, naming Deep-Sea Shark and Thunder as the winners. However, Di Yang objected to the decision, believing that rewarding a robot which launched an attack after time had expired would encourage other teams to attack their opponents in the same position, and worsen the issues they already faced with repairing their robots in between rounds. In response, the Judges and producers re-evaluated the battle, and concluded that no winner would be declared, stripping Deep-Sea Shark of its win, but nevertheless allowed both teams to advance without losing any robots.

In its next head-to-head fight, Deep-Sea Shark faced the British entry Rhino, of Di Yang's team.

Deep-Sea Shark's tentative start baits a miss from Rhino

Deep-Sea Shark's attack causes Rhino's drive belt to fall out

At the start of the battle, Rhino sped over to Deep-Sea Shark and tried to find an opening, but Deep-Sea Shark remained in its starting position, only turning in place to keep its spinner pointed towards Rhino. This frustrated the Rhino team, who kept swerving around Deep-Sea Shark until they exposed their side to the blade of Deep-Sea Shark. It was at this moment that Deep-Sea Shark finally moved forwards, and it tore through the side of Rhino, ripping away one of its side panels and eventually causing one of Rhino's drive belts to fall out, leaving Rhino with only half its drive system for the remainder of the match.

Rhino attacks the wedges of Deep-Sea Shark

Deep-Sea Shark drives straight into Rhino's blade and comes off worse

Deep-Sea Shark sustained a light blow from Rhino after this, but only sustained minimal damage. Rhino's next attack saw it scrape at the wedges of Deep-Sea Shark, bending one of the three wedges up slightly, but its drive issues were becoming more readily apparent. Knowing that it needed to land more attacks of its own, Deep-Sea Shark moved in, but ran into the blade of Rhino twice, ramping itself into the air as a result of its first moment of aggression. A visibly damaged Deep-Sea Shark retreated, eventually losing one of its wedges entirely while regaining its composure. Nevertheless, Deep-Sea Shark still recognised its advantage in the battle, as Rhino could not catch its retreating opponent.

Deep-Sea Shark drives back into Rhino's spinner

Deep-Sea Shark smashes into Rhino's front

Deep-Sea Shark took its time and then drove back into Rhino, although it again collided with Rhino's blade. Deep-Sea Shark landed a more precise blow after this, hitting the side of Rhino while taking no hits in response, although it caused little damage. The next blow from Deep-Sea Shark was more decisive, generating a shower of sparks off the hardened front of Rhino, while narrowly avoiding its opponent's spinner. The robots separated, and with Rhino unable to travel freely across the arena, Deep-Sea Shark measured up its shot and then drove back into Rhino's front to toss more sparks. In the final seconds, Deep-Sea Shark was momentarily lifted by the floor flipper, and seemed as though it had backed off for the remainder of the fight, with Rhino even raising its self-righting mechanism to signal the end, but Deep-Sea Shark dealt a last-second blow to Rhino, ending the match on a favorable note. The Judges rewarded Deep-Sea Shark with the victory.

Deep-Sea Shark was not required to fight again for several episodes afterwards. Although its position on the team was briefly put at risk when Flaming Wheel of Huang Jian Xiang's team lost to Rhino, Deep-Sea Shark was spared and Flaming Wheel itself was eliminated. After four of the six teams were eliminated from the competition, Huang Jian Xiang's team, Deep-Sea Shark included, progressed through to the final tournament.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 5
• Losses: 1

NOTE: Deep-Sea Shark's 2v2 with Cracked Sword and Mist Lion is not included

Series Record

Rear view of Deep-Sea Shark

Series	Deep-Sea Shark Series Record
Season 1	Round 2
Season 1.5	Did not enter
Season 2	Huang Jian Xiang's team (4-0 record)

Trivia

King of Bots Deep Sea Giant Shark Teaser

• Deep-Sea Shark, along with Ink Thorns, Suspension and Scorpion appeared in a teaser trailer for the series.
• An alternative translation for the robot's name was Deep Sea Giant Shark.

External Links

• Hammerhead Shark on the official King of Bots website (Chinese)