White Tiger Guardian

* Season 2
* TiFR

**白虎卫士** (**Báihǔ wèishì**, meaning **White Tiger Guard**, often referred to in English as **White Tiger Guardian** or simply **White Tiger**), was a heavyweight robot from Hubei that competed in *King of Bots II* and *This is Fighting Robots*. It was the successor to **Great Wilderness War Tiger**, a robot which previously competed in Season 1 of *King of Bots*.

Competing as part of Wu Chun's Red team in the 2018 spin-off, it fought the reigning *King of Bots* champion Spectre in its first battle, lasting the full three minutes and causing damage to the UK entry. Though losing the subsequent Judges' decision, its performance was met with rapturous applause from team managers, roboteers and audience members alike. White Tiger Guardian also united with Sandstorm to win an Alliance War 2v2 battle against Zen Oh and Golden Hoops, but was eliminated by 'challenger' Great White in destructive fashion.

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. Relegated to the Redemption Round, White Tiger Guardian performed strongly in a four-way rumble against Mr Hippo, Ouch Ouch and Stalker, but ultimately lost the Judges' decision to Mr Hippo, eliminating White Tiger Guardian at this stage.

## Design

White Tiger Guardian was an invertible machine, driven by two large wheels in *This is Fighting Robots*, 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 *This is Fighting Robots*, 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 during *This is Fighting Robots*, an issue that was improved upon in Season 2 where it withstood several slams into the arena wall.

## Robot History

### This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5)

White Tiger Guardian was chosen by Wu Chun during the initial 'blind selection' process, thus securing its place in the main competition.

The robot itself would not make its combat debut until Episode 4, where it was the final robot available to Chun during the Freestyle Combat stages. Here, it fought a head-to-head against reigning *King of Bots* champion Spectre, which was also the final battle of the the second stage. Going into this fight, the White Tiger Guardian team dreaded this match-up, while the team captain of Earth Mover urged the robot itself to 'preserve its whole body' against the British crusher.

At the start of the battle, White Tiger Guardian was scooped up by Spectre, but caused sparks to fly as its bar spinner made contact. Another attack enabled White Tiger Guardian to throw more spark and loosen one of Spectre's drive belts, which fell to the arena floor.

On a direct hit to Spectre's front, White Tiger Guardian threw Spectre onto its back, also buckling its front wedge. In the televised episode, this moment was broadcast much further into the battle, despite actually taking place near the beginning. Although White Tiger Guardian had damaged Spectre, it also lost the use of its vertical spinner. Once Spectre quickly self-righted, the Chinese machine was rammed from the front, the collision temporarily lifting both robots off the arena floor.

"*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

Having damaged Spectre's wedge - preventing it from exploiting its own ground clearance - White Tiger Guardian survived another ram before driving away. Under minimal pressure, it got caught by the battle rings and electric saws, the latter generating sparks from its armor. Spectre again tentatively rammed the front of White Tiger Guardian, which briefly got underneath Spectre using its own front wedges.

Still with its spinner powered down, White Tiger Guardian drove into the spikes on the arena wall, where Spectre pinned it in place. Again, the damage to Spectre's wedge spared White Tiger Guardian from being lifted up and crushed, with Spectre repeatedly missing with its crushes before backing away. Despite being freed, 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 mace on the arena side, where Spectre prevented it from escaping. Once freed, White Tiger Guardian continued to lure Spectre across the arena, only to be collected by its opponent once more and pushed around in circles.

In its escape, White Tiger Guardian was clipped by the ejection board. By this point, Wu Chun was encouraging the White Tiger Guardian team to survive; he, along with a number of Red team roboteers, were convinced that a victory for their side was in reach as it was ahead on points. However, in the final moments of the match, White Tiger Guardian made a critical mistake and drove into a mace. The impact flung it directly onto the wedge of Spectre, which bit down and caused significant internal damage to White Tiger Guardian. Sparks flew from the insides of White Tiger Guardian as Spectre clamped and rammed it back into the mace, then maneuvered it into the electric saws.

White Tiger Guardian initially appeared to be immobilized by this attack, but after a period of inactivity, made a final movement to show its competitiveness as time expired on the match. The battle went to a Judges' decision, the climatic moments exciting the audience along with Wu Chun, Zhang Yishan and Sa Beining. Such was the performance of White Tiger Guardian, that Chun lead a rapturous response in support of his machine, involving several roboteers and audience members.

"*White Tiger still has chances, right? Go, White Tiger! Go, White Tiger! White Tiger! White Tiger!*"
— Wu Chun leads celebrations in support of White Tiger Guardian

Addressed as a 'stalemate' by co-presenter Wang Cong, the battle was revealed to have been won by Spectre, denying White Tiger Guardian a point for Chun's team.

Next appearing in Episode 6, White Tiger Guardian was again Chun's last-remaining machine for the Alliance War 2v2 stage. Here, it would be united with another British entry from the Green team - Sandstorm - the duo facing Portuguese spinner Zen Oh (Zhang Yishan, Blue team) and Chinese translational drift spinner Golden Hoops (Sa Beining, Yellow). Prior to the fight starting, the White Tiger Guardian team agreed with Chun to 'retreat', in response to a past instance of a Red team machine being eliminated through engaging in battle.

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 own weapon. 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 the spinner, and briefly helped Sandstorm shepherd the Portuguese machine into the wall spikes. Reversing, White Tiger Guardian lingered near the maces, before bumping into Sandstorm and Golden Hoops.

White Tiger Guardian avoided its opponents for some time, only to be briefly bumped by Sandstorm. It continued to stay out of the action while Sandstorm rammed and deflected Golden Hoops, but was soon identified as a target for Beining and Yishan's machines. Unable to drive properly, White Tiger Guardian eventually retreated and hesitated over the electric saws, just as the pit started to descend. Regardless, Wu Chun instructed it to 'retreat to the side', as Golden Hoops and Zen Oh initially kept trying to 'contain' Sandstorm.

White Tiger Guardian dodged and survived rams from a rejoining Zen Oh, and was still mobile when time ran out. Although it played a limited part in the battle, it and Sandstorm automatically won on the basis of Zen Oh accidentally pitting itself. Therefore, it helped secure the last 2v2 victory for Wu Chun and Zheng Shaung.

White Tiger Guardian's position on the Red team was directly challenged in Episode 7 by the Australian entry Great White. The two vertical spinners fought head-to-head on Chun's behalf, which captain Pan Feng looked forward to in spite of the risk of his machine being potentially eliminated.

"*I was actually happy, because relatively speaking, we were among the weakest in the team. Given that this was actually a competition, I think it was reasonable to eliminate my robot. Of course, everyone wanted to go further in the game. To me, it was a good decision to eliminate me if our team could continue to fight.*"
— Pan Feng, captain of White Tiger Guardian, upon being chosen to fight Great White

In the battle, White Tiger Guardian appeared to make the first strike by attacking Great White head-on with its vertical spinner; however, its top-right panel was bent upwards in this exchange. White Tiger Guardian sustained another attack to its right-hand side from Great White's minibot Remora, only to suffer a pincer attack from both segments of the Australian multibot. Great White tore White Tiger Guardian's left panel clean off before flipping it over, leaving White Tiger Guardian unable to self-right or drive upside-down.

White Tiger Guardian was counted out and eliminated by knockout, relinquishing its place in the competition to Great White. Pan Feng, none the worst for its demise, reflected on his positive experience with the Red team, including its famous match against Spectre.

"*We are all teammates. [in English] We are one team, you know. We are one team. Come. Together... 1, 2, 3, Warrior!*"
— Wu Chun celebrates the handover between Pan Feng (White Tiger Guardian) and the Great White team

### 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

"*I don't have a choice! This is the best Spectre has ever been, ever. I love White Tiger so much, I didn't want that to happen to him.*"
— Emma Dumont on her dismay that either White Tiger Guardian or Spectre would miss out on her team

When the battle started, White Tiger Guardian circled around the arena and Spectre, in an effort to reach top speeds on its vertical spinner. However, White Tiger Guardian exposed its side to Spectre in the process, and a ram from Spectre turned it so that White Tiger Guardian's back end was placed on Spectre's wedge. This situation helped Spectre exponentially, and it pushed White Tiger Guardian into the arena wall while biting down on the back end of the Chinese machine. The bite from this attack disabled the rear end of White Tiger Guardian's drive system, and Spectre also slammed White Tiger Guardian's vertical spinner into the wall to try and stop the blade, although the weapon kept spinning, throwing sparks off the wall.

Spectre attempted to release its claw, but instead pulled White Tiger Guardian into the air completely, and Spectre brought it to the wall in an attempt to separate, but the two machines remained locked together. In a more powerful attempt, Spectre drove across the entire length of the arena with White Tiger Guardian at ground level again, only to be stopped by White Tiger Guardian's front prongs digging into the arena floor, causing both robots to crash in place. White Tiger Guardian turned off its spinner in resignation as Spectre suspended it off the floor again, before slamming it into the Grinder, to the dismay of Emma Dumont who felt great sympathy for White Tiger Guardian.

This attack was enough to finally free White Tiger Guardian from Spectre's grip, but it could only turn in place slowly while powering up its spinner again, allowing Spectre to once again scoop it up from behind and take it to the corner of the arena, and ram the bar spinner into the wall. Spectre pressed down lightly on the top of White Tiger Guardian, aiming not to get the robots stuck again, but a burst of flame emerged from the front of White Tiger Guardian, forcing it to stop spinning again, and Spectre let go of its opponent. White Tiger Guardian was now motionless and smoking, so Spectre drove around the arena in celebration, firing its self-righting mechanism, while White Tiger Guardian was counted out, subsequently losing the battle, and its place on Emma Dumont's team.

"*It's a shame, it looks like you've done a really good job on your machine this time around, and I'm just sorry to say that, uh... we'll be taking your place...!*"
— Grant Cooper compliments White Tiger Guardian but takes its place on Emma Dumont's team

To retain its place in the competition, White Tiger Guardian would need to win a four-way melee against Mr Hippo, Ouch Ouch and Stalker outright, to rejoin a celebrity team.

White Tiger Guardian was pensive in the opening stages, with Ouch Ouch gaining an early lead through its attacks on Ouch Ouch and Stalker. White Tiger Guardian momentarily pursued Ouch Ouch, until it noticed that Stalker was struggling for mobility. White Tiger Guardian closed in and struck it, which split one of the arms on Stalker's lifter, significant damage to the weaponry. Stalker was able to drift forwards, but White Tiger Guardian chased after it, slamming Stalker into the Ouch Ouch minibot, which was pushed into the Grinder as a result, allowing White Tiger Guardian to indirectly immobilize the Ouch Ouch minibot.

Stalker was counted out shortly afterwards, bringing the field down to three. Meanwhile, both White Tiger Guardian and Ouch Ouch both rammed into Mr Hippo, pausing its drum spinner, forcing Mr Hippo to focus on Ouch Ouch and take it to the Grinder. At this stage, White Tiger Guardian sped into both robots, knocking Ouch Ouch into the Grinder and connecting with its vertical spinner to chuck Ouch Ouch high into the air, and causing it to land next to some of its lost armor, upside-down and unable to self-right. With only two robots left in the fight, Mr Hippo turned its drum into the side of White Tiger Guardian, tearing away its side panel in a shower of sparks, also grinding at its wedgelets.

A follow-up hit from Mr Hippo also knocked White Tiger Guardian backwards across the arena floor, although Mr Hippo carried on forwards and broke a spike off the arena wall, also slowly killing the momentum in its drum. White Tiger Guardian was slow to escape, and Mr Hippo hit its exposed side before both robots got away, albeit without any significant bite. Upon separating, White Tiger Guardian delivered a weapon-to-weapon hit, but Mr Hippo's drum had already subsided, and White Tiger Guardian won the interaction. only for Mr Hippo to return and catch White Tiger Guardian side-on, driving it in circles by pushing at its side, until it could press White Tiger Guardian into the corner of the arena. The fight ended with Mr Hippo spinning in place to knock White Tiger Guardian aside, with White Tiger Guardian never escaping its corner of the arena due to a broken drive system. Partially due to its lack of mobility, Mr Hippo won the Judges' decision, and despite its best efforts, White Tiger Guardian was eliminated from the competition.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 2
* Losses: 4

## Series Record

 Season 2 | **Eliminated in Redemption Round**(1-2 record)

## References

1. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/8gtpo3/this\_is\_fighting\_robots\_episode\_4\_discussion/dyf2kyy/