Iron Rooster

* Season 2
* 2019

**Iron Rooster** (Chinese: **铁公鸡**, romanized as **Tiěgōngjī**, directly translating to **Stingy Person** or **Iron Cock**) was a Chinese heavyweight robot built by **Team Cybermark** which competed in the *King of Bots* 2019 Opening Battle, and subsequently *King of Bots II*. Representing the red team, it fought in one head-to-head battle against Saber during the 2019 Opening Battle, which it won on a Judges’ decision. Iron Rooster was referred to throughout this event by its team name (Chinese: **赛博马克**, romanized as **Sài bó mǎkè**).

For its return in *King of Bots II*, Iron Rooster first fought in a rumble against Red River Bull and Little Qinglong for a place on Tao Shen's team, but Iron Rooster lost the battle on a Judges' decision. Relegated to another rumble in the redemption round, Iron Rooster reached a Judges' decision again in its second battle, but once again lost to a non-functional spinner, with Yesaji emerging victorious.

Prior to Iron Rooster’s 2019 appearance, Team Cybermark had previously competed with a featherweight version of the robot at various live events organized by *King of Bots*. This version achieved considerable success, allowing Team Cybermark to finish the 2018 Qingdao World Tournament in the top three alongside Team 2BBQ and Team Knock Together. Team Cybermark captain Shi Lei had also entered *King of Bots* previously with Whirlwind.

## Design

Iron Rooster is a large two-wheel drive thwackbot armed with a double-sided swinging blade, inspired by robots such as the *Robot Wars* entry Gabriel. The blade relied mostly on torque reaction to swing down and hit opponents, although it was also capable of being operated independently of Iron Rooster’s drive system. Iron Rooster was driven by a pair of hub motors, while the robot’s wheels offered a substantially high ground clearance which made it difficult for opponents to flip or push it across the arena. Trapezoid-shaped attachments on each wheel also helped prevent Iron Rooster from being side-stranded. Iron Rooster was finished in a predominantly black and red/orange color scheme, with the wheels being decorated in red/orange and white spirals.

## Robot History

### 2019 Opening Battle

Iron Rooster was one of ten heavyweight robots present for the 2019 Opening Battle, held to promote the upcoming second season. Representing the red team, it faced established *King of Bots* and *This is Fighting Robots* competitor Saber in its solitary head-to-head battle.

Iron Rooster started tentatively, trundling its way across the arena, past the circular saws and towards the center. Swinging its blade, it was pushed and thrown off-balance by Saber, striking the white and blue machine’s flipper in response. Iron Rooster skidded sideways, before driving into and hitting the top of Saber; Saber responded by driving underneath and flicking Iron Rooster’s blade away with the flipper. The two competitors circled round and maneuvered into each other in the center; Iron Rooster swung its blade three more times, but missed Saber each time as the latter tipped it off-balance. Iron Rooster briefly caught air as it drove over the top of Saber’s flipper, only to be tipped up and thrown into the nearby grinders by Saber.

Moving into the top corner, Iron Rooster charged at Saber once more, but swerved towards and over the edge of the opening pit. With one of its wheels touching the pit panel, it escaped by driving forwards and throwing itself towards the top-right hand wall. Iron Rooster was briefly nudged by Saber as it retreated towards the wall; seconds later, it turned round and duelled with Saber again, striking Saber a few more times as the latter steered and flicked it towards the red corner. As Saber ducked underneath it, Iron Rooster tried to hit it once more, but missed, sparks flying as its blade smacked the floor. Again, it pursued Saber across the arena, only to be thrown upwards as Saber got underneath one of its wheels once again.

More sparks flew as Iron Rooster’s blade hit the floor, and the entire robot was briefly launched into the air. Iron Rooster bumped into the left wall as Saber chased it, landing two more blows on Saber as the two robots converged. Chasing Saber into the blue corner, it swung madly as the Team Excalibur machine again tried to drive and lift underneath it. For a few seconds, Iron Rooster struggled to move away from the corner, but turned, and almost spun itself into the pit as it made another lunge at Saber.

In the last thirty seconds, Iron Rooster struck the top of Saber once again, before the latter chased and shepherded it back towards the red corner. After being knocked off-balance a few more times, Iron Rooster spun precariously close to the pit, its blade dropping over the edge just as time ran out. This sent Iron Rooster gyrating and bouncing uncontrollably on one wheel, allowing it to escape just as Saber swerved itself into the pit. Coming to rest near the wall spikes, Iron Rooster spun wildly a few times in celebration while Saber unsuccessfully tried to bring itself back out of the pit.

Despite Iron Rooster touching the pit mid-battle, it and Saber survived to a Judges’ decision, which overruled the pit’s involvement as it was not meant to have been activated during the battle. The decision went unanimously in favor of Iron Rooster, allowing it to score the red team’s second consecutive victory of the 2019 Opening Battle.

### King of Bots II (Season 2)

Iron Rooster first appeared in Episode 2, where it was selected by Tao Shen to take part in a three-way rumble, to earn its place on Tao Shen's team. For this prize, Iron Rooster fought against two drum spinners, Little Qinglong and Red River Bull.

Initially, Iron Rooster charged in to attack the evasive Red River Bull, noting that its drum spinner was not working in tis battle and after reaching its target, Iron Rooster delivered the first blow of the fight, striking the top of Red River Bull. The robots separated, and then Little Qinglong attempted to launch its first attack of the battle, charging towards Iron Rooster, but suffered a glancing blow to its top armor from the thwackbot, which had built up an early lead.

"*How are they doing that?*"
— Emma Dumont on Iron Rooster's attacks

Iron Rooster continued to attack Little Qinglong, missing its initial hit, but retracted its weapon to hit Little Qinglong on the retract. Iron Rooster then made a mistake, driving over the floor flipper where it was lifted up, while Red River Bull slowly crashed into the spikes on the arena wall. Iron Rooster then circled the arena until it found an opportunity to attack, swinging its blade down onto Little Qinglong. Although this blow accurately struck the gap between Little Qinglong's drum and body, Iron Rooster came off worse from this attack, with Little Qinglong's drum tearing a shard out of its blade.

Some time after this, Red River Bull charged in to ram the side of Iron Rooster. On a second ram, Red River Bull drove directly under Iron Rooster and avoided its weapon swing, although it landed on the arena saws at the end of its drive. Little Qinglong then drove in to hit the front of Iron Rooster's wheel tread, but only lifted the robot lightly, and Little Qinglong crashed into a grinder - meanwhile, the more composed Red River Bull drove into the side of Iron Rooster and knocked it back, despite lacking an active drum. This attack was continued when Iron Rooster slipped back towards the arena wall, and Red River Bull swept in to ram Iron Rooster's weapon, and knocked Iron Rooster into the air, but also crashed into the arena spikes in the process.

At this stage, the two drum spinners seemed to team up on Iron Rooster, with a strong ram from Red River Bull flipping Iron Rooster over, and causing it to slide into the spikes on the arena wall. Red River Bull then broadsided Iron Rooster again, delivering it to the arena spikes and then separately tripping it up with a drive into Iron Rooster's wheel. Iron Rooster swerved back into the action, crashing into the arena corner, but Red River Bull was already there, allowing Iron Rooster to take one last swing, although it narrowly missed, and returned to the center of the arena when time expired on the three-minute bout.

The Judges were required to choose between all three active machines, and although Iron Rooster had landed a number of blows, the Judges favoured the weaponless but aggressive Red River Bull, which according to the on-screen counter, had charged into Iron Rooster a total of six times. As a result, Iron Rooster did not join Tao Shen's team.

Iron Rooster was relegated to the redemption round, where this time it took part in a four-way rumble, with only one robot able to win the battle and join a celebrity team of their choosing. In the rumble, Iron Rooster fought Bullseye, Drill Dragon and Indian competitor robot Yesaji. Very soon, it emerged that the Team Cybermark machine had entered with a major advantage, as both Yesaji and Bullseye had no working weapons in the fight, while Drill Dragon could not move at all due to a suspected dislodged magnet.

With only Iron Rooster fully functional, it and Yesaji collided, with Iron Rooster's swinging mace clipping Yesaji as it drove past. Iron Rooster momentarily kept away while Yesaji immobilized Bullseye next to the already-eliminated Drill Dragon, missing its only swing during this time. Iron Rooster closed in to attack Yesaji but was disrupted by the floor flipper, and the two robots returned to the center of the arena, largely missing attacks. Iron Rooster swung violently while Yesaji bided its time, measuring up a good attack, and managed to carry Iron Rooster to the side of the arena, but sustained a glancing blow in the process. In a more successful charge, Yesaji knocked Iron Rooster onto one wheel briefly, disorienting it. Yesaji continued its offence, ramming into Iron Rooster's wheel to knock it into the wall, while avoiding several swings from Iron Rooster. Yesaji delivered Iron Rooster to the wall once more, and delivered another ram while narrowly avoiding Iron Rooster's hammer, when time expired on the battle. The judges favored the controlled rams of Yesaji, and declared it the winner, which eliminated Iron Rooster from the competition.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 1
* Losses: 2

## Series Record

*NOTE: Iron Rooster also competed in the King of Bots 2019 Opening Battle.*

## References

1. ↑ https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/rdPxmtR4GivXJ9eL7OZ8Mw
2. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/KOBCHINA/photos/a.238468580015775/443551846174113/?type=3&theater
3. ↑ Correspondence with Adam Hamilton, 21st January 2019.
4. ↑ Private correspondence between Zassa2 and Bunny Sauriol, July 2021.