Megabyte

Megabyte
Participation Information
Series	S1-2, 2019 Opening Battle (King of Bots) S1.5 (This is Fighting Robots)
Other Names	Extreme Speed Code (Chinese)
Team Information
Team	Robotic Death Company/ Robotic Destruction Company
Team Members	John Mladenik Mike Lindberg Bradley Warren Hanstad (S1) Richard Loehnig Mark Liu
Robot Statistics
Weapons	Full-body spinning shells with cutting blades

"Megabyte is a full-body spinner robot - once its blades start to spin, it will become invincible. Megabyte will become a new legend in China, and being a legend in China is not too bad!"

— John Mladenik

Megabyte (also referred to in Chinese as 极速代码, translated to Extreme Speed Code) is a robot from the United States of America which competed in all seasons of King of Bots This is Fighting Robots. Megabyte and its team (the Robotic Death Company, known in China as the Robotic Destruction Company) entered King of Bots with a sixteen-year pedigree in North American robot combat events, including multiple championship victories.

Megabyte won the first-ever battle in the show’s history, against Russian drum spinner Stingray, but initially lost in the second round to Chiyung Jinlun. After receiving a wildcard, Megabyte won its next two battles against EarthShaker and fellow American entry Spin Doctor to reach the semi-finals, where it was defeated a second time by Chiyung Jinlun despite dealing significant damage to the latter. It would ultimately finish Season 1 in third place, after winning the playoff against Thunder and Lightning via knockout.

In Season 1.5, Megabyte was selected by Zheng Shuang, allowing it to advance to the main bracket. There, it emphatically defeated Saturn and Golden Hoops, and was a key player for its team in the Tag Team round, eliminating the dangerous Two BBQ alongside Spear and Shield. However, Megabyte lost the use of its spinner against Vulcan in the head-to-head rounds, and was overturned by the floor flipper, losing the battle by knockout. It was also a key player in the Eight-robot Rumble, but lost mobility after the five-minute mark, causing controversy when the Judges did not award it the victory.

Megabyte also competed in the King of Bots 2019 Opening Battle, representing the blue team. There, it fought the first battle of the event against Snake 2.0, but lost after getting deflected and flipped over upon hitting Snake 2.0's plough, and being left unable to self-right when its shell spinner malfunctioned.

Megabyte made its Season 2 debut in a battle against Medusa, winning the fight to take Medusa's place on Emma Dumont's team, the celebrity team which John Mladenik had most hoped to join. On this team, Megabyte defeated the similar bar spinner of Cracked Sword, and later beat the Brazilian entry Big Carioca, also avenging a former loss to Snake after it became pinned under the arena wall. It then quickly disposed of Two BBQ, and qualified for the final tournament.

Design

Megabyte with Robotic Death Company in Season 1

Megabyte, fitted with the alternative shell

Megabyte is a four-wheel drive full-body spinner, featuring a slanted shell spinning at 1,300rpm. The titanium shell weighs 100lbs (approximately 45.6kg) and features two 1-inch thick steel blades at the base for slashing and concussing opponents, along with several more along the upper surface of the shell. According to the Robotic Death Company, Megabyte’s weapon features a tip speed of 200mph. The robot is painted silver with its name written in black, and is fitted with a bent metal pole at the top of the weapon shaft to help the team identify its position when the weapon is spinning. The same pole also allows the gyroscopic forces of Megabyte’s spinner to re-right the robot should it be left upside-down. In addition to the pole, Megabyte also features two sets of LED lights at either end of the chassis - a row of white lights at the front, and another row of blue or red lights at the rear. These lights are visible beneath the shell, and act as a further aid in identifying the robot's orientation while the shell spins.

Megabyte in Season 1.5

Top view of the new Megabyte

In later rounds, Megabyte also used an alternative spinning shell, which shared a similar design to the regular shell, but featured several cut-outs and polycarbonate armor panels on the top which exposed its internals.

Megabyte with John Mladenik in Season 2

Megabyte's statistics in Season 2

For This is Fighting Robots a new version of Megabyte was built, likely to free up Megabyte for RoboGames. While keeping the same profile, this version was painted gold, and had heart shaped cutouts with polycarbonate armor panels on the top. Slight adaptations to Megabyte's self-righting bar were made for its appearance in King of Bots II, and the robot's top spinning speed was now a frighteningly quick 4500rpm.

Megabyte with it's fork attachment

Also seen in the later stages of Season 2, Megabyte could also enter the battle with a wedge-shaped minibot, and a set of forks attached to the exterior of the robot, designed to breach under anti-spinner wedges and fight against primarily pushing-based robots such as Snake.

Robot History

King of Bots (Season 1)

Megabyte initially appeared in Episode 1, fighting in the very first battle of King of Bots alongside Russian entry Stingray.

The initial collision between Megabyte and Stingray

Megabyte (right) tears Stingray's drum off

Immediately, Megabyte jolted sideways and spun up its spinning shell, dodging an initial lunge from Stingray and attempting to drive away from the latter before the two robots collided. Megabyte was sent hurtling across the arena upon impact, the gyroscopic forces of its weapon almost causing it to overturn as it constantly hit the walls and arena floor with its blades. Landing on its wheels and next to a partially-immobile Stingray, Megabyte retreated to get its weapon spinning and proceeded to rip Stingray’s drum off with its second hit.

"Total destruction, my friends!"

— One of the commentators shortly after Megabyte tears Stingray's drum off

It proceeded to tear one of Stingray’s right-hand armor panels off just before the latter was counted out, emerging victorious and advancing to the next round. Afterwards, it was discovered that Megabyte had also torn one of the wall spikes off, as a result of it clipping the walls during the recoil of its initial hit.

In the second round, Megabyte faced the Chinese drum spinner Chiyung Jinlun.

Megabyte is immediately deflected by Chiyung Jinlun

Chiyung Jinlun launches Megabyte into the air

Megabyte flips itself over

Immediately, it spun its shell up as Chiyung Jinlun approached; however, the robot’s chassis also spun simultaneously, resulting in Megabyte lifting itself up before being slammed by Chiyung Jinlun. The impact deflected it into the wall and sent it skittering across the arena; coming to rest against the spikes on the other side, Megabyte struggled to drive away, allowing Chiyung Jinlun to launch it into the air and buffet it into the wall as it got its shell spinning again. Megabyte shook and violently flipped itself over onto its self-righting pole; it spun helplessly as Chiyung Jinlun proceeded to rip one of its top-mounted blades off and maneuvere it towards the grinders.

A nut at the end of Megabyte's pole (right) locks the robot in place

Smoke pours from Megabyte as it is eliminated

One more drum blow from Chiyung Jinlun flipped Megabyte upright; however, a nut at the tip of Megabyte’s pole became lodged between the gaps at the top of the wall as it landed, leaving it partially lifted off the floor. Robotic Death Company attempted to power Megabyte’s spinner up to break free, but were unable to do so. As a result, Megabyte was counted out, smoke pouring from inside as a result of a strained weapon belt, and lost the battle.

"That doesn’t happen all the time, you know, everyone makes mistakes - but, he drove very well. He knew exactly how to hit us, and to be able to maneuver in the right place to hit us in the right way."

— John Mladenik praises Chiyung Junlin’s driver following Megabyte’s second-round loss

Despite this, Megabyte’s performance in the first round was sufficient for it to earn one of four wildcards from the producers. This led to it being reinstated for the third round, where it fought fellow wildcard entrant EarthShaker.

"Good luck to my opponent, and may the best robot win!"

— John Mladenik

Megabyte is deflected by EarthShaker's initial charge

EarthShaker flips Megabyte over

Megabyte started the battle tentatively; it attempted to spin its shell up, but was quickly deflected by EarthShaker, which proceeded to drive underneath and deflect Megabyte again towards one of the grinders. It was flipped opposite the grinder by EarthShaker, but bounced on its shell and self-righting pole to land back on its wheels. Immediately, Megabyte’s spinner spun up to full speed, enabling it to charge into EarthShaker and cause light damage to its front armor. The same impact, however, caused Megabyte to skitter across the arena towards the far corner; it was deflected into the nearby wall spikes by EarthShaker, temporarily stopping its weapon. Megabyte attempted to attack EarthShaker again, but was deflected and destabilized once again – sparks flew as its lower cutting blades made contact with the floor. A few moments later, Megabyte was sent skittering into the blue square, again hitting the wall spikes; this allowed EarthShaker to deflect and drive underneath it once more.

Megabyte sends EarthShaker spinning away...

...before proceeding to tear one of its opponent's armor panels off

Megabyte's final blow results in EarthShaker catching fire

However, Megabyte avoided getting flipped as both teams fired smokescreens in each other’s control areas, and got its weapon up to speed again as EarthShaker backed away. It drove head-on into EarthShaker, sending it spinning away in a volley of sparks – two more hits resulted in Megabyte tearing into EarthShaker’s front armor and ripping an entire panel off. Despite clipping one of the circular saws, Megabyte approached a retreating EarthShaker and hit it one last time – the impact threw EarthShaker into the wall violently, sheared three of its wheels off and caused it to catch fire within seconds. Megabyte was instantly declared the winner, and progressed to the fourth round.

"Their only chance is [that] their front wedge is a hunk of steel sitting on the floor, so they have to hit us square. If we hit their side or edge, they’re gone... Spin Doctor… nothing personal, but you’re going home in pieces!"

— John Mladenik’s message to the Spin Doctor team

Within the top eight of the competition, Megabyte fought a fellow American wildcard entry Spin Doctor, a drum spinner of a similar design to Chiyung Jinlun. Aware that David Calkins had earlier given advice to Chiyung Jinlun’s team on how to defeat Megabyte, John Mladenik was determined that his team would change their strategy to avoid a similar loss in this battle.

"I think this will be a tough fight. I think… if they succeed in stopping us from spinning and getting us in the corner, they will be successful. But, you know, we’re gonna do everything we can so that won’t happen."

— John Mladenik anticipates a close battle

Megabyte tears a side panel off of Spin Doctor

Sparks fly as Megabyte drives into Spin Doctor's wedge

Another hit from Megabyte rips Spin Doctor's left-rear tire off...

... and causes Megabyte itself to damage the arena wall

Immediately, Megabyte darted to the left of the blue square, getting its shell up to speed as it evaded an approaching Spin Doctor. Slamming into Spin Doctor, it launched itself into the wall spikes, sparks flying as it skittered across the arena into the red square. Megabyte recovered, approaching Spin Doctor before evading and reversing into its left-hand side, tearing one of Spin Doctor’s panels clean off. It followed up on this attack by reversing, shuffling and hitting Spin Doctor’s rear, circling around its American co-patriot before slamming into its left-front wheel and front wedge. Another head-on collision spun Spin Doctor away – seconds later, Megabyte tore Spin Doctor’s left-rear tire off its axle. The same impact caused both robots to recoil into opposite sides of the arena – Megabyte, still spinning, slammed into the wall, breaking and getting its own cutting blades caught in the left-most panel. Realizing that the panel had been damaged, Robotic Death Company promptly told the Judges to stop the battle while repairs to the arena were carried out – during this time, Megabyte was also freed from the wall.

Megabyte's final blow on Spin Doctor

Following consultation between the Judges and the Spin Doctor team, the battle was restarted – upon the referee's whistle, Megabyte spun up again and steadily approached the badly-damaged Spin Doctor. It spent several seconds trying to position itself for another attack, before slamming into Spin Doctor’s front once more. Megabyte elected not to attack any further as Spin Doctor was left immobile on one side and counted out, emerging victorious by knockout once again.

"Should thank him, because they exposed our weaknesses. By telling [Chiyung Jinlun] how to beat us and beaten us, we went back and looked at everything and we fixed our problem. We, we know how to stop that tactic from beating us."

— John Mladenik following Megabyte’s third knockout victory

With this, Megabyte secured its place in the semi-finals, where it faced Chiyung Jinlun for the second time.

Megabyte inflicts numerous blows on Chiyung Jinlun...

...one of which causes it to recoil into the wall

In the opening moments, it dodged Chiyung Jinlun’s initial charges to get its shell up to full speed, momentarily clipping the Chinese machine’s front wedge at one point. Megabyte continued maneuvering around Chiyung Jinlun before finally slamming into it head-on, sparks flying as both robots recoiled across the arena. A second collision resulted in Megabyte disabling Chiyung Jinlun’s drum, although not without being deflected violently into the wall itself and losing its self-righting pole. It proceeded to cause more damage to Chiyung Jinlun, buckling then tearing its wedge open with two successive hits. Another hit ripped Chiyung Jinlun’s wedge off entirely; the same collision also resulted in Megabyte being deflected into a grinder, the grinder launching it across the arena and into a stationary Chiyung Jinlun. The deflection appeared to slow Megabyte down considerably – it hit Chiyung Jinlun again, although without causing any more major damage as it tried to spin its weapon up again.

Megabyte tears Chiyung Jinlun's wedge off

Megabyte causes further damage to Chiyung Jinlun, but is eventually immobilized by the Chinese machine

Nevertheless, Megabyte absorbed a few more rams from Chiyung Jinlun, damaging the latter’s weapon mount sufficiently for its drum to fall off. However, it struggled to drive forwards as Chiyung Jinlun approached once again, and its spinner cleaved a gash through the latter’s rear panel. Momentarily retreating, Megabyte drove into Chiyung Jinlun’s rear again, causing more damage to the panel, tearing the Chinese machine’s left panel completely off and spinning it around. However, the collision immobilized Megabyte instantly; a bewildered Robotic Death Company attempted to regain control as its shell spinner continued rotating, but not before Megabyte was fully counted out. With this, it lost to Chiyung Jinlun via knockout once more, and was eliminated from the competition for the second time - after the battle, John Mladenick praised the Xiake team for their performance, and for Chiyung Jinlun’s durability throughout the battle.

Ling Zhou: "Hey guys! Good to see you again! So, why do you think you lost today?"

John Mladenick: "‘Cos we fought a very tough robot… and I don’t remember ever losing a fight where we knocked the wedge off, we knocked the weapon off, and the guy’s still moving. It’s incredible! I’d like – I’m gonna go see what he did to take all those hits, because these hits were bigger than all the other fights!"

— Ling Zhou interviews John Mladenik following Megabyte’s second loss to Chiyung Jinlun

Megabyte would fight again in a playoff for third place, where it faced the father-and-son team of Thunder and Lightning.

Megabyte is scooped up by the heavily-modified Lightning

Megabyte rips one of Thunder's wheels off

Megabyte's knockout blow on Lightning (background) sends the latter spinning into the grinder mount

Initially unaware of the modifications carried out to the Chinese multibot, the team exchanged its shell for one with cut-outs and transparent top panels. In the opening seconds, Megabyte slowly drove out of the blue square and got its shell up to speed – however, it was scooped up by the wedge of the extensively-rebuilt Lightning, the momentum in the multibot’s attack causing Megabyte to skitter into the wall. Sparks flew as Megabyte’s cutters hit the wall, causing it to rebound across the arena towards Thunder. It promptly got its weapon spinning again, and proceeded to rip Thunder’s left wheel and motor out with a side-on attack. Megabyte proceeded to hit Lightning a few times, launching the gray multibot across the arena and sending it spinning with each individual hit. It then hit Thunder again, sending it spinning into the grinder – seconds later, it took advantage of Lightning’s control issues by hitting its side and causing it to recoil into the center grinder mount as well. The latter attack immobilized Lightning completely and caused it to catch fire – Megabyte withdrew its attacks as Thunder and Lightning were both counted out, and was soon declared victorious via knockout. With this, it finished third overall in King of Bots Season 1, although not without John Mladenik congratulating and praising the Thunder and Lightning team afterwards.

This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5)

In Season 1.5, John Mladenik was determined for Megabyte to be selected by Zheng Shuang, as Mladenik openly called her a "pretty lady". When Zheng saw Megabyte, she considered choosing it for her team, but was persuaded by the captain of Shrederator Tiger Claw to abandon Megabyte for the alternative shell spinner, upsetting Mladenik. However, Zheng Shuang's chosen teams, which included Spectre, Vulcan, Tánshè and Tungsten, convinced her to select Megabyte for her team, allowing Megabyte to advance to the main bracket.

In its first battle, Megabyte fought British ring spinner Saturn and Chinese competitor Golden Hoops, whose design had been ridiculed by Robotic Destruction Company in a previous episode.

Megabyte and Saturn recoil following their initial collision

Megabyte launches Golden Hoops into the air

Megabyte fully immobilizes Golden Hoops

All three robots initially hesitated to attack each other as they got their spinning weapons up to speed – this was until Megabyte sustained a collision with an approaching Saturn. Sparks flew as both robots were sent flying into the grinders on opposite sides of the arena, with Megabyte losing one of its cutting blades and being left unbalanced as it rebounded off the grinder mount. Nevertheless, Megabyte drove forwards, weaving its way across the arena to line up an attack on the spinning Golden Hoops. It charged into Golden Hoops, throwing it into the air and into a grinder. This attack was sufficient to cause damage to one of Golden Hoops’ hammer mounts, causing the mount itself to shear off a few seconds later. With Golden Hoops spinning and bouncing uncontrollably near the arena spikes as a result, Megabyte landed one more hit to throw its Chinese opponent upwards and immobilize it. With this, it won the rumble via knockout, securing it and Zheng Shuang one point to equalize Sa Beining’s score.

"That’s a good argument – she chose Megabyte because she wanted that sure point."

— John Mladenik comments on Zheng Shaung’s decision to choose Megabyte following its first This is Fighting Robots victory

In the Tag Team round, Megabyte was partnered with Earth Mover of the Red team; together, they fought Chinese vertical spinner Two BBQ of the Yellow team and Spear and Shield of the Blue team.

Megabyte and Earth Mover partner up for the Tag Team round

Megabyte breaks Two BBQ's spinner in half with a powerful hit

Megabyte is sent recoiling towards - and over - the pit by Two BBQ

Megabyte (background) prepares to pursue Spear and Shield as the latter is raised out of the pit

Initially, it waited in its corner to get its spinning shell up to speed, before approaching and dodging lunges from Two BBQ. As Two BBQ lifted itself and spun over the flame jets, Megabyte drove into the latter’s front end, breaking Two BBQ’s bar spinner and sending it ricocheting violently towards the wall spikes. No sooner had it disabled Two BBQ’s weapon, Megabyte hesitated to drive away as Two BBQ reversed, turned and drove into its shell. As well as throwing Two BBQ into a grinder and flipping it over, the impact sent Megabyte flying towards and over the pit; one of its cutting blades clipped the pit edge and launched it upwards.

Megabyte causes damage to Spear and Shield, while also destroying the remainder of Two BBQ's weapon

Sparks fly as Megabyte continues its attacks on Spear and Shield

Megabyte bounced onto the nearby floor rod area, to celebration from Zheng Shaung and Red team captain Wu Chun. With Two BBQ eliminated, it retreated to the corner to get its shell spinning again as Spear and Shield was raised up by the pit panel to re-join the battle after an earlier pitting. Megabyte pursued Spear and Shield as soon as the latter drove away, and proceeded to land several blows on its retreating opponent. At one point, both robots lingered near the grinders; in addition to sending more sparks and debris flying out of Spear and Shield, Megabyte destroyed the remainder of Two BBQ’s bar spinner, sending it up into the transparent panels. Megabyte continued to buffet, damage and shepherd Spear and Shield across the arena for some time, until the blue and silver full-body spinner was left completely immobilized. Megabyte stood stationary as Spear and Shield was counted out; as a result, it and Earth Mover secured a second consecutive Tag Team victory for Zheng Shaung and Wu Chun in spectacular fashion.

Megabyte disables Vulcan's axe with a big hit

Vulcan knocks Megabyte into the arena wall

In the head-to-head rounds, Megabyte fought Vulcan of the blue team, formerly a member of Megabyte's green team. While Megabyte powered up its spinner, Vulcan missed on its charge, failing to cease the shell spinner. When Vulcan caught up to Megabyte, it was thrown aside by the powerful spinner, and this caused Vulcan's axe to break, leaving the robot weaponless. Megabyte lingered in the corner of the arena, and Vulcan rammed it, causing Megabyte to bounce off the arena wall, and under the arena hammer, which landed on top of Megabyte's shell. This caused no real damage, and Megabyte's blades pushed Vulcan aside on its next attack. Both robots met face-to-face, and Megabyte rebounded away from Vulcan, failing to gain purchase on the arena floor until it slid back into the wall. In a series of collisions, Megabyte struck the wedge of Vulcan, bounced into a solid piece of wall next to the Grinder, and ended up on Vulcan's wedge, allowing Vulcan to push Megabyte into the arena wall, while it was at a low spinning speed. Upon this impact, a bolt sheared from Megabyte.

"Yeah, we were just in the corner there, and, so that's when that mass is spinning like that, there's no 'driveability'. At that point, I thought we had the fight."

— John Mladenik of Megabyte's team

Megabyte drives under Vulcan

Megabyte is thrown over by the floor flipper

Megabyte spun up once again, but struck the wedge of Vulcan, and due to the sheared bolt, Megabyte's shell did not spin again after this impact. Vulcan pushed Megabyte into the Grinder, and then held it against the arena wall. Megabyte briefly wedged under Vulcan and escaped, but Vulcan caught up and rammed it again. A similar impact took place again, and allowed Megabyte to drive under Vulcan, but lost its grip. After this, Megabyte drove straight over the floor flipper, and was immediately overturned. Vulcan made no further movements, and waited for the referee to count Megabyte out of the battle, and out of the main competition.

Megabyte attacks and incapacitates Spear and Shield

Megabyte ricochets across the arena after sandwiching Lightning between itself and Lieutenant Bam

Golden Hoops is sent flying into the air from an attack by Megabyte

Megabyte also fought in the Eight-robot Rumble, as one of two representatives for Zheng Shuang's green team. This placed Megabyte against Golden Hoops, Lieutenant Bam, Spear and Shield, Spectre, Thunder and Lightning, Two BBQ, and Wrecker. There, Megabyte immediately proved be an major contender as it attacked and destroyed Spear and Shield with a single impact. Heading back out to the middle of the arena, Megabyte then attacked Lightning and successfully managed to sandwich the multibot between itself and Lieutenant Bam, resulting in Thunder losing a wheel as flew across the arena. Next, Megabyte made few attacks towards Golden Hoops, but was unable to cause any major damage to it, despite one attack lifting the Chinese machine high off the arena floor

Megabyte destroys one of Two BBQ's wedges

Megabyte hits Wrecker after it lands on-top of it

Megabyte then proceeded to remove a wedge from the nearby Two BBQ, before once again continuing its assault onto Golden Hoops. After being briefly distracted by Wrecker, which landed on top of Megabyte after it had been sent flying across the arena by Two BBQ, Megabyte attacked the one-wheeled Lightning again, an attack which ricocheted it into Lieutenant Bam.

Lieutenant Bam is temporarily pinned by Megabyte

Megabyte tears some rubber from Golden Hoops' locomotion

Megabyte targeted Lieutenant Bam next by briefly pinning it against the spinning side bars of the arena. Megabyte then made another attack onto the one-wheeled Lightning which sent the Chinese machine into a wall, and second hit by Megabyte followed, which caused something in the blue machine to short-circuit as it was left immobile and on fire near another wall. After making another hit on the now partly immobile Lieutenant Bam, Megabyte tried its luck with Golden Hoops once again, and was slightly more successful in causing damage to it, as it manged to rip some rubber from Golden Hoops' locomotion, but still found itself unable to cause any major damage. As Megabyte tussled with Lieutenant Bam some more though, Megabyte suddenly stopped right in the middle of the arena, after the long fight had caused its drive motors to cease.

Lieutenant Bam smashes the immobile Megabyte with its mace

This prompted Lieutenant Bam to hit Megabyte's still-spinning body with its mace, although Megabyte was otherwise left alone for the remainder of the seven-minute battle, as it was still a damaging threat, despite being counted out to Zheng Shuang's great disappointment. When Thunder and Lightning were revealed to have won the Judges' decision, Zheng Shuang protested, believing that Megabyte deserved the victory for its significant contributions to the battle prior to its immobilization. However, the decision was not overturned.

2019 Opening Battle

Snake 2.0 rams Megabyte into the wall spikes

Megabyte is deflected a second time

Megabyte was one of ten heavyweight robots which attended the 2019 Opening Battle, competing as part of the blue team. Appearing in the first battle of the event, it fought Snake 2.0, the latest version of fellow Season 1 and 1.5 returnee Greedy Snake. Megabyte started tentatively, driving alongside the nearby wall spikes as it got its shell up to speed. This did not prevent it from being driven into and lifted up by an approaching Snake 2.0; the collision caused Megabyte to clip two of the spikes and to recoil across the blue corner. Megabyte hit another wall, and was sent ricocheting across the arena into the red corner, where it briefly landed on another spike. As Snake 2.0 closed in, Megabyte freed itself, wobbling back onto its wheels and retreating to the center of the arena. There, it spun its weapon up again, and after several seconds hit the front of Snake 2.0’s plough. Amidst a shower of sparks, Megabyte was sent recoiling into the wall spikes again, and attempted to maneuver away from Snake 2.0.

Sparks fly as Snake 2.0 drives into Megabyte once again

Megabyte recoils - and is flipped - after hitting Snake 2.0's plough

Megabyte smokes as it tries to self-right, long after being counted out

More sparks flew as Megabyte’s spinner grazed the plough of Snake 2.0, with Megabyte again attempting to evade Snake 2.0’s charge. Suddenly, it turned round and slammed into Snake 2.0; again, Megabyte was catapulted into the wall, but was flipped upside-down and sent sliding back towards the center of the arena. At this point, Megabyte’s shell spinner stopped rotating, preventing it from being able to self-right as Robotic Destruction Company tried unsuccessfully to get the spinner working again. Smoke poured from underneath Megabyte as its chassis slowly turned round; the Season 1 third-place finisher was soon counted out. Long after being eliminated, Megabyte attempted to turn and use its top pole to self-right, but abandoned this effort as more smoke began pouring from the robot. By that time, Megabyte had already been defeated via knockout, incurring an opening loss for the blue team as a result.

King of Bots II (Season 2)

Megabyte made its King of Bots II debut in Episode 3, where it and eleven other international competitors attempted to replace Chinese robots on their existing celebrity teams. John Mladenik was hopeful that he could join Emma Dumont's team, believing the American actress to be an inspiration for young girls such as Mladenik's daughters, and through a random draw, Megabyte was able to fight for a place on Dumont's team by battling her existing team member Medusa.

"It's terrible because I love Megabyte in real life, I'm such a big fan, and this time I don't know if I want him to do well!"

— Emma Dumont remains supportive of Medusa

Both robots show extreme caution towards each other

Megabyte deflects Medusa's attack

At the start of the battle, both robots kept their distance from each other, attempting to spin up to full speed, while Emma Dumont encouraged Medusa to attack quickly, fearing Megabyte's potentially greater power. Having reached its full 4500rpm top speeds, Megabyte circled around its opponent, expecting Medusa to let its guard down, but Medusa kept its own 4000rpm bar spinner pointed at Megabyte without leaving its general area. After an extended period of no contact, Medusa eventually crept towards Megabyte and threw sparks as the two spinners collided, but there was no major bite between either weapon, and Medusa was only pushed away.

Megabyte knocks Medusa's bar spinner into the floor

Megabyte targets the exposed tires of Medusa

However, this attack turned Medusa around, which allowed Megabyte to hit the back of it, and Megabyte destabilized Medusa while hitting its underside. Medusa recovered but still chose to remain largely in place, pointing its blade at Megabyte, while delivering a number of blows at Megabyte from a standstill. Despite its best efforts, Medusa was hit side-on by Megabyte over a minute and twenty seconds into the match, and Megabyte crippled both exposed tires of Medusa in a single drive towards the arena wall, leaving Medusa unable to move. Medusa could still spin its motors, and turned its wheels further off their mounting, while the referee counted out the immobile machine. This made Megabyte the winner, and it took Medusa's place on Emma Dumont's team.

"They seemed to drive better than I expected, and kept their weapon in front of me, as I tried to maneuver and go around, I wasn't really able to get behind him until after I hit the weapon and then they spun around, then I was able to hit them."

— John Mladenik

In Emma Dumont's efforts to defeat Di Yang's team in the next stage of the competition, Megabyte was enlisted to fight in the only head-to-head battle of this round, against Di Yang's representative Cracked Sword.

Sparks fly as the spinners touch

Megabyte damages the side wall

Megabyte quickly spun up its weapon, although Cracked Sword was the one to make the first approach. Within seconds, both exchanged sparks with their weapons, before proceeding to damage and knock loose one of the wall spike panels. Debris and a spike flew as Megabyte and Cracked Sword retreated, then charged into each other again. The impact threw Cracked Sword upwards and sent it recoiling into the blue corner; however, this also allowed it to break Megabyte's pole off and send it flying against one of the control area screens. As both competitors approached each other again, Megabyte sent the loose spike into the upper polycarbonate screens, before severely damaging Cracked Sword's left wheel.

A major impact from an attack from Megabyte

Megabyte destroys Cracked Sword's wheel

Cracked Sword skidded towards the red corner, and attempted to lunge at Megabyte again. However, it slid side-on into Megabyte's shell, sustaining even more damage as it was lifted and sent recoiling back towards the spikes. With its right tire punctured, Cracked Sword struggled to move away, but spun round into Megabyte once more. The collision sent the two robots flying across the arena in opposite directions, with Cracked Sword ultimately being left immobile and on fire in the red corner. Having ricocheted back into the blue corner, Megabyte emerged victorious via knockout, despite taking considerable damage to its shell.

In the next round, Megabyte had the opportunity to secure another victory for Emma Dumont, against Tao Shen's team and his representative, Big Carioca.

The first collision between Megabyte and Big Carioca

Megabyte's second hit on Big Carioca

Within seconds, Big Carioca approached and drove into a spinning Megabyte, only for Megabyte to rip off its front-right wedge and send it recoiling into the grinders. Megabyte, meanwhile, ricocheted into the spikes, rebounding back into the blue corner before getting its shell up to speed. Big Carioca charged into Megabyte again, and as before was launched towards the grinder, this time with considerable damage to its right axle.

Successive attacks from Megabyte result in Big Carioca losing its spinner

Megabyte rips Big Carioca's wheel off

Despite this, Big Carioca drove into Megabyte’s shell twice more; these blows resulted in Megabyte tearing off one of Big Carioca’s weapon supports and its remaining wedge, as well as dislodge the Brazilian machine’s bar spinner entirely. As a result of this damage, Big Carioca began to overbalance, flipping its chassis upside down while Megabyte closed in. Megabyte cleaved Big Carioca’s right wheel off, sparks flying as Big Carioca was knocked back into the blue corner.

Megabyte considers attacking the struggling Big Carioca

Megabyte flings Big Carioca towards the grinders

Big Carioca moved back and forth in a circle on its remaining wheel, and began to shuffle out of the blue corner in an attempt to avoid getting eliminated. Although the referee initially began counting Big Carioca out, its movements across the arena were noticed, terminating the countdown after three seconds. Big Carioca made its way towards the pit, at which point Megabyte charged forwards and slammed into it one more time. The impact sent Big Carioca flying into a grinder mount, and the remainder of its weapon mount into one of the polycarbonate screens directly above. Big Carioca came to rest against another grinder mount nearby, where it was left to smoke copiously. After a spectacularly destructive battle, Megabyte was declared the winner by knockout, securing Emma Dumont’s second consecutive victory in this round.

"The Brazilian team is really good friends with Megabyte, the Megabyte team, and they said “Let’s do it, let’s go full out, let’s try our hardest… you know, come at us!”… that was really honorable and very, very cool."

— Emma Dumont’s verdict on Megabyte vs Big Carioca

Megabyte's next fight was against Snake, which greatly worried John Mladenik due to Megabyte's loss to Snake earlier in the year at the 2019 Opening Battle. Megabyte entered the fight with a set of forks at the front, to breach the hardened front wedge of Snake, and a wedge-shaped minibot also entered the arena with Megabyte.

Megabyte's spin-up is disrupted by Snake

Megabyte's shell hits the floor, bending its forks

At the start of the battle, Snake made the first move, cruising across the arena while Megabyte remained in place to spin up its shell, and release its minibot. Snake collided with the spinning Megabyte and knocked it straight into the arena wall to completely disrupt its spinning momentum. Megabyte attempted to spin back up, but Snake was already underneath it, and Megabyte's forks pushed it off the surface of Snake and unbalanced it as the shell spinner recoiled away. Snake continued its assault by pressing Megabyte against the arena wall, hoisting it up briefly using its front-hinged lifter, but soon let go.

Megabyte's bent forks prove deceptively useful against Snake

Megabyte backs off as Snake becomes pinned under the spikes

Megabyte's spinning motion had come to a complete stop from these early attacks, and could not power up its shell spinner for the rest of the battle. It was therefore forced to fight using only its minibot and its partially bent forks, but surprisingly these were still able to wedge under the front of Snake, allowing Megabyte to guide it into the wall. Snake bumped into Megabyte and tried to pin it against the wall, although it again rode up Megabyte's forks. The two robots separated, and Snake charged past Megabyte's minibot to ram into its main target, again riding up the shell spinner slightly, but Snake was nevertheless on top. This lead came to a sudden halt, however, when Snake missed its next charge at Megabyte and pinned itself directly under an arena spike. With Snake's back wheels spinning in the air helplessly, Megabyte backed off and waited for Snake to be counted out, ending the fight abruptly.

"If he didn't get stuck, there's no way we'd have won that fight, so we had luck on our side!"

— John Mladenik

In an effort to knock another robot out of Zhu Zheng Ting's team, Megabyte took on Two BBQ.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 11
• Losses: 5

Series Record

Series	Megabyte Series Record
Season 1	Third Place (4-2 record)
Season 1.5	Zheng Shuang's team, Top 20 (2-1 record)
Season 2	Ye Hong Li's team (5-0 record)

Outside King of Bots

Megabyte was originally built by the Robotic Death Company as a heavyweight version of their lightweight spinner, Rambite, which competed in Seasons 4.0-5.0 of the original BattleBots. The robot itself debuted in the Season 5.0 heavyweight championship (its name originally spelt as Megabite), where it was eliminated after losing its first battle.

Following the cancellation of the original BattleBots, Megabite was renamed and rebuilt, adopting the full-body shell spinner design it features today. It enjoyed significant success in North American robot combat tournaments in this form, winning the Heavyweight Division at the 2003 RFL National Championships following an undefeated streak as well as the combat tournament of RoboGames 2004. Megabyte also finished runner-up in the 2004 RFL National Championships and reached the quarter-finals of the 2009 BattleBots Pro Championships, before it and Robotic Death Company retired from robot combat. Its success spawned a super-heavyweight version, Super Megabyte, which won its respective weight class tournament at RoboGames 2005.

In 2016, the Robotic Death Company returned to robot combat events, entering the second season of ABC’s BattleBots reboot with Invader. A modified and renamed version of Megabyte, featuring glow-in-the-dark paint, LED lights and various improvements, Invader lost its first battle – a three-way preliminary melee against Lycan and Mohawk – after suffering a receiver failure, despite inflicting considerable damage to the former.

An entirely new version of Megabyte – also known as Megabyte 2.0 by the team - was completed in 2017, although it retains the shell used between 2003-2009. It is this incarnation with which Robotic Death Company entered into King of Bots – prior to this, the new Megabyte made its robot combat debut at RoboGames 2017, where it reached the quarter-finals before losing to Original Sin and Crash n’ Burn.

Gigabyte at BattleBots in 2018

The Robotic Death Company entered the 2018 season of BattleBots, while This is Fighting Robots was being filmed. They entered with Gigabyte, a robot identical in concept to Megabyte, with new internals. In its first battle, it fought the reigning champion Tombstone, but its entire spinning shell was ripped from the robot, causing the Robotic Death Company to feign immobility in order to avoid further damage from Tombstone. As the shell came loose due to parts ordered in China not following specifications, Gigabyte took a large absence from the competition so that the team could create a new joint to attach the shell with. By the time Gigabyte was ready to compete again, its combat record of 0-1 was too detrimental at this late stage of the competition, and Gigabyte entered the 'Desperado Bracket' in order to win a place in the final 16. Here, Gigabyte earned a destructive victory by knockout over Double Dutch, but was defeated by Lucky after Gigabyte was flipped over, and its self-righting bar snapped off. Returning to the main competition, Gigabyte fought Brutus, and in spite of losing the use of its spinner, Gigabyte used its wedge shape to overturn Brutus and win by knockout. This left Gigabyte with a combat record of 2-2, so it entered into the six-way Last Chance Rumble in order to earn the sixteenth seed in the main competition. Despite starting strongly, Gigabyte lost all drive after being deflected into the BattleBox wall, with only its weapon still spinning. Gigabyte ultimately lost the rumble to Bombshell, eliminating it from the competition.

Gigabyte at BattleBots in 2019

Gigabyte with its team at BattleBots in 2019

Gigabyte returned for the 2019 season of BattleBots, with John Mladenik now present for all of the robot's fights. In its first battle, Gigabyte fought a fellow full-body spinner, Chronos, and quickly immobilized it with superior spinner blows. Gigabyte then faced the defending runner-up Minotaur and emerged victorious in a close Judges' decision, although it then lost a Judges' decision to HUGE after its shell spinner was disabled. A destructive loss to Witch Doctor concluded Gigabyte's Fight Night campaign at a 2-2 record. Although Gigabyte was invited to fight a play-in battle for a place in the Top 16, the team lacked spare parts and conceded their place in the competition.

Trivia

• As Chinese broadcast regulations forbade the usage of the word "death" on television, Megabyte's team was introduced as the "Robotic Destruction Company" on King of Bots.
• By reaching the semi-finals and finishing third overall, Megabyte was the most successful robot to receive a wildcard, defeating two fellow wildcard entries in consecutive battles.
• The above performance also made Megabyte the most successful robot from the United States of America in Season 1 of King of Bots.

External Links

• Megabyte on the official King of Bots website (Chinese)
• Robotic Death Company website
• Original Robotic Death Company website
• Robotic Death Company Facebook page