Agate

* Season 2
* TiFR

**青玛瑙** (romanized as **Qīng mǎnǎo**, translated as **Green Agate** or **Blue Agate**, also referred to simply as **Agate**, **Onyca** or **Emerald**) was a competitor from the one-off series *This is Fighting Robots* and later *King of Bots II*. It was the direct successor to *King of Bots* Season 1 competitor Hunting Wind, entered by the Crystal Dust Alchemist team (also referred to officially as **Team Onyca**) captained by Chen Hang.

In its debut in *This is Fighting Robots*, Green Agate made very little impact in its preliminary group battle, largely as a result of issues with its drive chains. Regardless, it was chosen to advance into the main competition through being selected by Green team manager Zheng Shuang. Green Agate's success thereafter, however, was limited, as it also lost its first main fight to Shrederator Tiger Claw in the Freestyle Combat stage, and was forced to forfeit a head-to-head battle against Blue due to further technical issues. As a result, Green Agate was eliminated from *This is Fighting Robots* without a victory.

The improved Season 2 version turned its form around by initially defeating the experienced Snake to join Tu Ziya's team. Agate also defended its place on the team by collecting a second win over the Indian challenger Yesaji. However, it then suffered two back-to-back losses in team battles, and was removed from Tu Ziya's team as a result.

## Versions of Agate

### Green Agate (*This is Fighting Robots*)

"*Hunting Winds' weapon actually got some great power, but when firing at full force the bot would just break apart by itself, hence why he changed to a soft tail. The wielding is not good either as shown in the fight, and the biggest problem is that the LiPo batteries are placed on the outside of wheels, making it basically a time bomb. After the fight the fire of the bot is heating up the gas cans, and he need to wear a mask to defuse the whole robot. The next version of Hunting Wind would be much more reasonable though, and hopefully he can do better next time.*"
— A correspondent of Agate's team detailing the strengths and weaknesses of its predecessor

Green Agate's design was an improved evolution of that of its predecessor, Hunting Wind. While retaining a similar double-ended pneumatic axe/hammer weapon, it featured a more durable and stable body based around a box-shaped chassis with angled sides and top armor. This design change was an effort to keep the robot from pulling itself over, with Green Agate being painted green, turquoise and brown.

### Agate (*King of Bots II*)

The Season 2 Agate was a natural advancement of its predecessors, using a four-wheel drive system and a powerful, centrally-mounted hammer weapon doubling as the machine's self-righting mechanism. Unlike the box-shaped Season 1.5 incarnation, the revised Agate now used a wedge shape more similar to that of Vulcan, sporting a broad and curved wedge which was not completely attached to the robot's body. The latter would often bend or even completely pop up from the main body of the robot, once even separating from the robot entirely. This armor could also be hooked by certain weapons, but did provide optimal airflow between the front plough and the robot's internals. Agate's color scheme for this season was simplified to green, dark brown and black.

## Robot History

### This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5)

Debuting in Episode 1 of *This is Fighting Robots*, Green Agate was not initially chosen by any celebrity team managers. To impress them and secure its place in the main competition, it competed in the first preliminary group battle of the series, against Bonesaw, Mr Hippo and Weber.

Green Agate was able to make an early impact, slamming into Bonesaw, moments before the American machine was overturned and eliminated. Following Bonesaw's defeat, Green Agate's involvement was extremely limited, as it hovered around the beaten Bonesaw, failing to make an impact on the active Mr Hippo and Weber. These difficulties - compounded by issues with the robot's drive chains - were commented on by the various team managers; the dialogue and accompanying edits suggested that the indecisive Green Agate was going through an existential crisis.

Later into the battle, Green Agate made another glancing impact with Weber, having failed to do anything of note in the whole battle. Following this, Green Agate aimlessly drove into the arena wall twice. Despite this, the charm of the robot convinced Zheng Shuang to select Agate for her team, to the surprise of the other team managers. As a result, Green Agate, along with Mr Hippo and Weber, advanced to the main competition.

As part of Zheng Shuang's Green team, Green Agate was chosen to fight Eater, Fango and Shrederator Tiger Claw in the first battle of the Freestyle Combat stage, effectively commencing the main competition. Prior to this, Shuang had inquired Chen Hang about the robot's previous reliability issues - causing its sluggish movements in the group battle - while similarly expressing doubts about the power of Green Agate's hammer. In response, Hang openly admitted his own concerns about facing other robots with overhead weapons, while repeatedly expressing apprehension about his machine being drawn first instead of its more powerful international counterparts.

Shuang revealed immediately before the Freestyle melee that her reasoning for picking Green Agate was that its paint scheme closely matched the Green team's house color, a combination which she hoped would bring her side 'good luck'.

"*I'm about to have a mental breakdown. Those are the big dudes, I'm just the little guy. Our capabilities are quite far apart. Those nine big dudes are all stronger than me. Why send me up first?*"
— Chen Hang, light-heartedly objecting to Zheng Shuang's offer to make Green Agate her first fighter (Mech+ subtitles, edited)

Immediately, Green Agate darted towards the main part of Eater, but missed, instead slamming into one of the maces. Reversing, it sustained a side-on blow from Eater's spinners, and after incurring a second hit from Shrederator Tiger Claw, reversed to the far end of the arena. However, Green Agate immediately stopped, briefly shuffling forwards and firing its hammer before being left stationary for some time.

Eventually, it regained full mobility, momentarily pushing the smaller part of Eater back. Green Agate proceeded to drive into the left-hand spinner of Eater's main robot, deflecting it into Shrederator Tiger Claw and disabling the spinner in the process.

However, not long afterwards, Green Agate drove head-on into Shrederator Tiger Claw, causing the latter to break part of its front armor off and send it recoiling into the corner. As a result, Green Agate was left immobile on one side – much to Zheng Shuang's concern – and was ignored by its remaining opponents for some time. This was until Shrederator Tiger Claw approached it from the other side of the arena for another attack.

Green Agate remained stationary as Shrederator Tiger Claw was thrown by the floor flipper into one of the mace mounts, the impact causing the American shell spinner to ricochet into it. The impact tore Green Agate's front and top armor open, and completely immobilized it, resulting in it and Shuang being eliminated from the battle prior to the subsequent Judges' decision.

"*Being eliminated means a big relief. I will just say to this pile of trash, "Bye, I'm going home." If I don't get eliminated, then I still have the chance to fight in the battle field, which is really my passion. But, it's really a big ugly mess in front of my eyes. I... have a lot to do. I need to repair it, which is giving me a headache.*"
— Chen Hang weighs up his options concerning the damaged Green Agate (Mech+ subtitles)

After the battle's conclusion, the damage sustained by Green Agate was assessed by both Chen Hang and Zheng Shuang. This included, but was not limited to, a bent armor panel and an ejected battery. Hang dispelled Shuang's initial concern that he was upset with the outcome, instead expressing his 'relief' at the potential of his machine being eliminated early. This was not to happen, however, as Shuang won both Freestyle Combat stages and was thus not required to drop any robots from her roster at either point in the competition.

Therefore, Green Agate was still available to Shuang through the subsequent Alliance War stage. However, it would not be until Episode 6 when it was next set to appear in combat. At the conclusion of this stage, it and American competitor Blue - another member of the Green team - were required to fight each other to decide the final place in the initial top 13.

"*Blue is good at striking you from the top. Even though my robot's cover has been glued together, honestly, it's a comfort at most. I'm just kidding myself.*"
— Chen Hang, commenting on Green Agate's draw against Blue

By this time, the damage from Freestyle Combat had not been fully repaired, which briefly led Shuang to consider not letting Green Agate fight at all. However, she still considered the match a 'great opportunity' for captain Chen Hang to gain more experience in combat. Hang, meanwhile, struggled to fix the now-bent top cover of Green Agate into position while working on it in the pits. With assistance from roboteers including Ellis Ware - and several pieces of duct tape - this work was completed in time for it to fight.

"*Have a good one, buddy! You're gonna have lots of holes in the top of you!*"
— Gabriel Stroud, wishing Chen Hang and Green Agate well on their way to the arena

During pre-battle checks, Green Agate encountered problems almost immediately, appearing to be unresponsive to Chen Hang's controls. Hang requested more time to diagnose and resolve these unforeseen technical issues, and the match was put on hold to allow for this. Hang's repairs, however, proved unsuccessful; while Green Agate's power light blinked, neither its drive nor weapon systems responded to his transmitter inputs.

Gabriel Stroud offered to assist in checking Green Agate's internals, and the two roboteers made further adjustments to its wiring. At one point, Green Agate was propped on its right-hand side in an attempt to test its wheel movements. Zheng Shuang received permission from one of the show producers to utilize the trap, allowing Green Agate to be pitted in case it was able to compete.

"*Because I didn't want to frustrate him. He wouldn't be here if he wasn't passionate about this. If it's defeated furiously, it's unlikely to recover fully. It seems that he can never find the root cause of its problems. He couldn't figure out why it didn't move. If he cannot find the causes, he will hardly make a better robot.*"
— Zheng Shuang, on Chen Hang's struggle to fix Green Agate

Even with Stroud's assistance, Green Agate's drive was still not responding to any control inputs. Zheng Shuang assured Chen Hang not to worry, and was open to the possibility of Green Agate withdrawing despite the audience still wanting the fight to take place.

"*I need to examine it to find out which part went wrong. I thought it over and it could be many. But I'm not sure which part exactly. I couldn't do such examination on the site. So unfortunately, I had no choice but to give up the game.*"
— Chen Hang, on his decision to forfeit the match

Ashamed and apologetic over the delay resulting from this, Hang eventually opted to pull Green Agate out so he could further investigate its technical issues. Thus, Green Agate forfeited the match to Blue, ending its stint on the Green team and its overall run in *This is Fighting Robots*.

### King of Bots II (Season 2)

Before the main season began, a significantly redesigned and improved Agate competed in a two-on-two "warm-up battle" alongside teammate Doraemon, not included as part of the main series. The duo fought Saber and Mist Lion in their battle.

At the start of the fight it was clear that Mist Lion's drum was not turning, so Saber engaged with Doraemon, which was attempting to spin up to top speed. Doraemon collided with the arena wall, and Agate missed its swing towards Saber, putting that team at an opening deficit shortly before Saber flung Doraemon into the arena wall, causing it to land upside-down. Agate bumped into the weaponless Mist Lion, but Saber caught up to it, and Mist Lion was able to slightly push Agate back. Attempting to attack, Agate pushed its defeated teammate aside and swung its hammer at Saber, but missed, instead wedging under Saber while Doraemon was counted out. The three active robots circled around each other in a two-against-one scenario until Saber found its way under Agate and threw it back.

Another charge from Saber briefly buckled Agate's armor, although Emerald responded with a slam of its hammer which allowed Agate to drive Saber across the arena. Mist Lion and Saber then completed a pincer attack on Agate, again throwing up its loose shell, and Mist Lion then drove directly into the exposed back end of Agate. From this, Agate lost drive on one side, and Saber then threw it over. Agate had landed on the Grinder and could not swing its weapon, leaving it to be counted out by the referee, making Saber and Mist Lion the winners.

When the main competition began, Agate was quickly selected by Tu Ziya, and it competed in one of the first battles of the season, taking on the seasoned Snake in its debut battle, to earn a place on Tu Ziya's team.

Snake was quicker out of the gates, bumping into Agate and then driving underneath it completely, while Green Agate was left swinging at thin air. Snake fired its flipping panel forward, which hooked under the front armor of Agate, and allowed it to lift its weapon system up, but lost its grip on Agate in the process. Agate swung its hammer towards Snake, but missed and struck the floor - meanwhile, Snake was having difficulty retracting its weapon.

Snake pushed Agate over the saw slots, and Snake's raised weapon also clattered into Agate, but remained open. Snake's wedgelets then held Agate in place as Snake swung itself around with Agate still on top of it, but a hammer blow from Agate disrupted Snake's attack. The two robots separated, only for Agate to swing at the arena floor, and drive into the spiked wall. Snake backed away and finally managed to retract its weapon, while Agate's front armor was visibly loose after driving into the wall.

However, having comfortably led the match up until this point, Snake swerved into a corner of the arena and stopped moving completely. Agate capitalized; despite missing some swings, it landed a number of hammer blows on the motionless Snake, before backing away as the referee counted Snake out. As a result, Agate emerged as the turnaround victor, becoming the second robot to join Tu Ziya's team alongside Iron Scrap, and later Earth Mover.

During Episode 3, a wave of international competitors made their season debut, and the Indian robot Yesaji was randomly drawn against Agate, threatening to steal its place on Tu Ziya's team. Fortunately for Agate, the weapon of Yesaji did not work in the battle.

At the start of the fight, Yesaji swerved around the arena, likely attempting to spin up its broken weapon, but eventually charged into Agate regardless, popping it into the air. Agate responded by driving straight into Yesaji, and although the collision altered its alignment, this helped it land an accurate hammer blow on the top of Yesaji. However, the force of this swing was enough to break Agate's hammer mechanism, leaving it in the down position for the remainder of the fight.

Nevertheless, Agate kept its broken weapon in place and used it to guide Yesaji into the Grinder, and then the corner of the arena with a continuous charge. The two robots separated and danced around each other in the center of the arena, with Yesaji nudging Agate back, until it managed to hook its wedges under the front of Agate, and drive it into the arena saws, which visibly buckled the rear armor of Agate.

Yesaji then made another charge, but rode up the side of Agate and knocked its hammer back into place. The two robots engaged in a back-and-forth which resulted in Yesaji driving over the floor flipper, which turned it over. Agate then simply sat back while Yesaji unsuccessfully attempted to self-right using the arena wall and the Grinders.

Agate eventually caught the distracted Yesaji at the start of the second minute, and pressed it against the arena wall. Although Yesaji drove away, it was raised slightly by the floor flipper, and Agate slid Yesaji into the Grinders, which finally righted Yesaji, and allowed it to use its wedges once again, even if the spinner remained inactive.

The upright Yesaji bulldozed into Agate and caused Agate's front shell to completely detach from the robot temporarily, bending up into the air. When Agate's armor fell back into place, it wedged under Yesaji and used the top of its armor to hold Yesaji in place, for a drive into the wall. Upon their collision with the wall, Agate's shell bent up again completely, but one the robots separated, it was clear that Yesaji had lost drive on one side of the robot, with smoke also emerging from the machine. Agate kept its distance and allowed the referee to count out Yesaji, which could not leave its own circumference. Therefore, the victorious Agate kept its place on Tu Ziya's team.

As a member of Tu Ziya's team, Agate partnered with Doraemon to take on the seasoned veterans Vulcan and Xiake, of Huang Jian Xiang's team, in a two-on-two battle.

Agate started on the backfoot as Xiake launched a strong hit on Doraemon, also forcing Doraemon to briefly clip Agate with its spinner. During the distraction of Xiake's second attack on Doraemon, Vulcan then used this opportunity to slide under Emerald and throw it over, causing its front armor to buckle in the process, and Agate became stuck on its own front wedge. Agate flailed its hammer and spun its wheels, with a retract of its hammer eventually helping it down. Agate then tried to attack Xiake but missed with its swing, shaving sparks off the floor, and Xiake hit it side-on. Soon after this, Vulcan threw Doraemon out of the arena.

Agate was left to fight alone, and it was targeted by Xiake which shaved sparks from Agate and managed to pin it under the arena flipper until Vulcan caught up and tossed it backwards. Agate laid inverted by the arena corner, and Vulcan attempted to flip it out, but there was no more room with Doraemon already sitting outside the arena. Nevertheless, Agate had landed on its back with its hammer already fired, and could not retract for self-righting purposes. Although Agate wriggled back and forth on its exposed wheels, it was counted out by the referee, and the team of Agate and Doraemon ultimately lost the battle, and the best-of-three series to Huang Jian Xiang's team.

Following on from this loss, Agate was entered into another two-on-two battle for Tu Ziya's benefit, teaming with its former opponent Yesaji to battle against Snake and Switch.

Agate entered the battle equipped with a large pole attached to its hammer, potentially to snag the drum spinner of Switch, but Agate immediately drove onto the wedge of Snake and was briefly suspended there. However, Switch hit the back of its own teammate Snake, and then Yesaji hit the back of Switch in convoy. Snake then managed to drive under the side of Yesaji, and carried it across the arena until it had been delivered to the Grinder. The impact of the Grinder knocked Yesaji further up the wedge of Snake, and off the back end, causing Yesaji to topple over. Switch clipped the hammer of Agate and then drove under its front armor to knock it loose, also ripping bolts and loose pieces out of Agate's body. The inverted Yesaji had moved over to the Grinder, and turned itself into the hazard blade-first in order to throw itself back onto its wheels, also clipping Snake in the process. Switch had managed to push Agate back towards the wall, inflicting more damage with successive hits from its drum spinner. At the same time, Snake also pushed Yesaji into the arena wall and started lifting it forwards.

The repeated attacks from Switch eventually ripped Agate's armor loose entirely, with it hanging off the side of the robot, and although Emerald landed a light hammer blow on Switch, the British robot slammed it into the wall and ripped away the front armor entirely. With Agate's internals completely exposed, Switch was free to drive in and attack the innards, ripping away a wheel while throwing Agate onto its back. Although some of Agate's tattered wheels still spun helplessly, it could not fire its hammer to self-right, and Agate was counted out by the referee. Yesaji was immobilized by Switch not long afterwards, and so Agate and Yesaji lost the battle to Switch and Snake.

After Tu Ziya had lost the series of battles against Zhu Zheng Ting by a 2-1 margin, she was required to cut either Agate or Yesaji from her team. Based on its two back-to-back losses in 2v2 battles, Tu Ziya decided that Agate would be removed from her roster, eliminating it from the competition.

Following the original airings of Season 2, Agate and Chen Hang received the 'Most Popular Award' for that season from the *King of Bots* Organizing Committee.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 2
* Losses: 3

*NOTE 1: Green Agate's preliminary group battle and subsequent forfeit against Blue in Season 1.5 are not considered to be wins or losses.*

*NOTE 2: Agate's unaired 2v2 fight in Season 2 is not included.*

## Series Record

 Season 2 | **Tu Ziya's second cut**(2-2 record)

## Outside King of Bots

Team Crystal Dust Alchemist competed at the 2017 FMB MLF event with a Featherweight robot named after the team. However, they lost early on after getting their robots wheel torn off and its electronics ripped out by another robot.

## Trivia

* + Agate's flippers
	+ Agate's flippers CAD
	+ A large-scale Green Agate model at a promo event1/3Despite incurring more losses, Agate's two back-to-back wins in Season 2 made it a much more successful robot than its predecessor, Hunting Wind.
* Agate was one of only four Chinese robots in Season 2 to be armed with an axe or hammer-type weapon, alongside Fat-Head Fish, Giraffe and Huntsman.
* Agate has a flipper config, but it's not used since it was deprecated too early

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://www.facebook.com/KOBCHINA/photos/pcb.340653726463926/340653619797270/?type=3&theater
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E9%93%81%E7%94%B2
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://www.facebook.com/KOBCHINA/posts/750373105491984
4. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/7v5p0t/king\_of\_bots\_episode\_5\_discussion\_thread/dtrrwgd/
5. ↑ https://weibo.com/6501525795/I3e5kqTcQ?pagetype=profilefeed
6. ↑ https://weibo.com/6501525795/I3e6xy44b?pagetype=profilefeed