White Tiger Guardian

White Tiger Guardian
Participation Information
Series	S2 (King of Bots) S1.5 (This is Fighting Robots)
Team Information
Team	White Tiger Guardian
Team Members	Pan Feng Wang Xianze Xu Zhiwei
Other Entries	Drought War Tiger (King of Bots)
Robot Statistics
Weapons	Vertical bar spinner

White Tiger Guardian was a heavyweight robot from Hubei that competed in King of Bots II and This is Fighting Robots. White Tiger Guardian was the successor to Drought War Tiger, a robot which previously competed in Season 1 of King of Bots.

Competing as part of Wu Chun's Red team in Season 1.5, it fought the reigning King of Bots champion Spectre in its first battle, and survived to a Judges' decision, but ultimately lost the battle. White Tiger Guardian also fought in a Tag Team battle, paired with Sandstorm, which both robots won on a Judges' decision against Zen Oh and Golden Hoops. However, White Tiger Guardian's place on the red team was taken by Great White, which obliterated White Tiger Guardian in combat.

In Season 2, White Tiger Guardian was chosen by Emma Dumont for her team at the last second, putting it into a rumble with Iron Barbie and Twin Panthers, which it comfortably won to join Dumont's team. However, White Tiger Guardian was stripped of its place on Emma Dumont's team after losing to Spectre for the second time in its career.

Design

White Tiger Guardian on its table in This is Fighting Robots

White Tiger Guardian in King of Bots II

White Tiger Guardian was an invertible machine, driven by two large wheels in Season 1.5, and four wheels in Season 2, which also allowed the robot to be somewhat invertible. It was armed with a vertical spinning bar, alongside two thick front wedges to lead robots into the dangerous rotating weapon in Season 1.5, while in Season 2, two thinner forks were used as wedges instead. The weapon had a high top speed, but sometimes ceased functionality from the recoil of its own impact in battle.

Robot History

This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5)

White Tiger Guardian was chosen by Wu Chun during the initial selection process, and thus participated in the main competition as part of the Red team. Its first appearance in combat saw it fighting the reigning King of Bots champion Spectre in a head-to-head battle.

Spectre turns into White Tiger Guardian's blade

White Tiger Guardian severs a drive belt from Spectre

At the start of the battle, Spectre charged straight out of its square, and drove under White Tiger Guardian, but turned into the spinning blade, throwing sparks across the arena. Another attack from White Tiger Guardian threw more sparks, and loosened one of Spectre's drive belts, which fell to the arena floor.

White Tiger Guardian throws Spectre over with an attack

White Tiger Guardian is trapped by the ram rods

On a direct hit to Spectre's front, White Tiger Guardian threw Spectre onto its back, also buckling its front wedge, in an attack which was broadcast much further into the battle, despite taking place near the beginning of the fight. Although White Tiger Guardian had damaged Spectre, it also lost the use of its spinning weapon, and Spectre was able to quickly self-right, ramming into the front of White Tiger Guardian in a collision which brought both robots from the floor. With its wedge broken, Spectre rammed into White Tiger Guardian again but could no longer breach its ground clearance. White Tiger Guardian, with no weapon, drove away from Spectre and became trapped on the ram rods in the floor, also driving onto the arena saws, where sparks were thrown from White Tiger Guardian's surface, in spite of minimal pressure from Spectre. Although Spectre then tentatively rammed the front of White Tiger Guardian, the wedges of the Chinese robot were lower, briefly breaching Spectre.

Spectre pins White Tiger Guardian, but misses with its bite

Spectre proves unable to get under White Tiger Guardian

Still with its spinner powered down, White Tiger Guardian drove into the spikes on the arena wall, where Spectre pinned it in place. However, because Spectre's wedge was so heavily damaged, it could not drive under White Tiger Guardian, leaving Spectre unable to use its weapon on the pinned robot. After missing with its crushes, Spectre backed away, but White Tiger Guardian only backed itself further into the corner, where Spectre again attempted to crush, but failed to do so. When released, White Tiger Guardian drove straight into the Grinder on the side of the arena, where Spectre prevented it from escaping. Spectre held its ground, chasing White Tiger Guardian around the arena, which was making no offensive efforts while its spinner was ceased. Spectre drove into the side of White Tiger Guardian, and flared its self-righting mechanism while pushing its opponent in circles.

The Grinder throws White Tiger Guardian onto Spectre's wedge

Spectre clamps down on the internally damaged White Tiger Guardian

Spectre also collided with the ram rods, while White Tiger Guardian was clipped by the floor flipper. However, in the final moments of the match, White Tiger Guardian made a critical mistake and drove into a Grinder, which flung the robot directly onto the wedge of Spectre. Taking its opportunity, Spectre bit down onto the flat top of White Tiger Guardian, and caused significant internal damage, as sparks flew from the insides of White Tiger Guardian after the crushing damage, while Spectre also rammed White Tiger Guardian back into the Grinder. Spectre continued to hold White Tiger Guardian in the center of the arena, as it poured out sparks, and drove it into the arena saws. White Tiger Guardian initially appeared to be immobilized by this attack, but after a period of inactivity, White Tiger Guardian made a final movement to show its competitiveness, as time expired on the match. Despite a strong performance from White Tiger Guardian, the Judges' decision was ultimately awarded to Spectre.

"It's actually damaged the front wedge on the robot, and it had folded under the front. We thought it would be an easy fight, and it turned out to be the hardest one yet."

— Grant Cooper of Team Spectre

In its next appearance, White Tiger Guardian was paired with another British entry from the Green team, Sandstorm, for a Tag Team battle. There, both robots faced Zen Oh from the Blue team and Golden Hoops of the Yellow team.

White Tiger Guardian sustains damage from Zen Oh's initial attack

White Tiger Guardian (top-center) tussles with Golden Hoops as Zen Oh rams Sandstorm into the spikes

White Tiger Guardian turned round in the opening seconds, seemingly unable to get its bar spinner working. In doing so, it exposed its rear panel to a charging Zen Oh, which tore the panel open with the first blow of its bar spinner. This attack exposed White Tiger Guardian’s internals, causing it to shed several pieces of debris. White Tiger Guardian survived a second blow from Zen Oh, this time to its own spinner, and briefly helped Sandstorm shepherd the Portuguese machine into the wall spikes. Reversing, White Tiger Guardian lingered near the grinders, before bumping into Sandstorm and Golden Hoops.

White Tiger Guardian is rammed by Zen Oh

White Tiger Guardian avoided its opponents for some time, only to be briefly bumped by Sandstorm. It continued to stay out of action while Sandstorm rammed and deflected Golden Hoops. Unable to drive properly, White Tiger Guardian eventually retreated and hesitated over the circular saws, just as the pit descended. White Tiger Guardian dodged and survived rams from a rejoining Zen Oh, and was still mobile when time ran out. Although White Tiger Guardian played a limited part in the battle, it and Sandstorm won the subsequent Judges’ decision, securing the last Tag Team victory for Wu Chun and Zheng Shaung.

White Tiger Guardian's position on the red team was then directly challenged by the Australian entry Great White, intending to join Wu Chun's team, and the two vertical spinners fought head-to-head.

Great White rips a side panel from White Tiger Guardian

Great White sends White Tiger Guardian flying

In the battle, White Tiger Guardian made the first strike by hitting Great White head-on with its vertical spinner, although the impact didn't seem to cause that much visible damage to Great White. As the Chinese machine backed away for another assault, driving over Remora in the process, Great White made its first attack by smashing into the side of White Tiger Guardian, ripping its entire side panel off. Turning around, Great White then made another attack this time to the back of its opponent, the impact causing the entire machine to fly into the air and land upside down. With seemingly no way of self-righting, the Chinese machine was counted out and declared immobile. As a result, White Tiger Guardian lost its place in the competition.

King of Bots II (Season 2)

White Tiger Guardian returned for King of Bots II, although it was largely ignored by the celebrities for most of their selection processes. After most robots had already fought once, White Tiger Guardian remained as one of the few robots left to be selected, and this was noticed by Emma Dumont, who considered choosing the machine but did not commit to her decision. Left with only ten seconds to make her final decision, Emma Dumont finally selected White Tiger Guardian, which placed it into a three-way rumble with Twin Panthers and Iron Barbie to earn a place on her team.

White Tiger Guardian overturns the smaller half of Twin Panthers

White Tiger Guardian attacks the immobile Twin Panthers

At the start of the battle, White Tiger Guardian and Iron Barbie moved off the mark, as did the smaller half of Twin Panthers - the main body of Twin Panthers, meanwhile, did not move at all. The opening ram from White Tiger Guardian overturned the smaller half of Twin Panthers, which also left it essentially immobile for a period, and White Tiger Guardian landed a blow on the wedge of Twin Panthers' larger half, to the discouragement of its celebrity representative Emma Dumont.

"Be nice! Be nice! Be nice!"

— Emma Dumont to White Tiger Guardian as it attacks the immobile Twin Panthers

White Tiger Guardian's first attack on Iron Barbie

The motionless White Tiger Guardian is surrounded

The referee proceeded to count Twin Panthers out, and White Tiger Guardian focused its attacks on Iron Barbie, which flailed its flipper about in response to the first blow. Strangely, the next time White Tiger Guardian was seen, it had ground to a halt in the center of the arena, and Iron Barbie charged into it, as did the recovered smaller half of Twin Panthers, but Iron Barbie missed with its lift, and White Tiger Guardian launched another sequence of attacks on Iron Barbie.

White Tiger Guardian throws Iron Barbie over

White Tiger Guardian punishes the defenceless Iron Barbie

By the end of its barrage, White Tiger Guardian had thrown Iron Barbie onto its back, and Iron Barbie slid into the Grinders, which were not currently active. Although the Grinders turned on after this, Iron Barbie managed to self-right, with some encouragement from Emma Dumont. However, Iron Barbie opened its flipper again immediately after self-righting, which afforded White Tiger Guardian another opportunity to attack the side of Iron Barbie, hitting it into the side of the arena, where the spikes were lined.

White Tiger Guardian knocks the gas bottle out of Iron Barbie

Iron Barbie sheds a drive motor

Iron Barbie struggled to recover from this attack, and only made small movements, while White Tiger Guardian's driver held back and waited to see if it was immobile. However, Iron Barbie was still capable of controlled movement, so White Tiger Guardian struck it from behind, causing a gas bottle and more to fall loose from Iron Barbie. This attack also caused Iron Barbie to lose drive on one side, and it could only turn in circles with its gas bottle hanging loose, until Iron Barbie spun so fast that its own damaged drive motor fell out of the machine. The referee completed his count, and White Tiger Guardian won the battle by knockout, claiming the third space on Emma Dumont's team.

"My robot won, so I'm really happy with it! He's stable, and sturdy, and everything I'm looking for, which I'm so excited about!"

— Emma Dumont

Unfortunately for White Tiger Guardian, its place on the team was put in jeopardy when twelve international competitors joined the field in Episode 3, with White Tiger Guardian being the first robot randomly selected to fight in a head-to-head battle, with a loss costing it a place on the team. To add to the woes of White Tiger Guardian's team and Emma Dumont, it was drawn to fight Spectre for the second time in Chinese combat.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 2
• Losses: 3

Series Record

White Tiger Guardian's statistics in King of Bots II

Series	White Tiger Guardian Series Record
Season 1	Entered with Drought War Tiger
Season 1.5	Selected by celebrity, one victory
Season 2	Selected by celebrity, one victory