Cobalt

*Not to be confused with the Season 3.0 competitor of the same name.*

**Malice** is a heavyweight robot built by Team Malice, which competed in every season of the *BattleBots* reboot since Discovery Season 5.

It is red and black, two-wheel drive robot armed with a single-toothed horizontal spinning drum, alternatively referred to as a "Thicc disc" due to its thick structure, or a "drumette". In Malice's debut season, the team had two weapon options both made from aluminum to support the hardened steel teeth. Their large red disc was named **Red Rush** (later called Big Red), but they also had a twin-toothed spinner called **Purple Pain** to allow for heavier armor. Malice's weapon is run by a powerful Moto-Energy 0909 motor which delivers 4.8hp and spins the weapon at roughly 50,000kJ per hour. This is approximately half the level generated by Tombstone. However, Bunny Sauriol claims they have a greater transfer of energy, allowing them to hit harder than Tombstone and therefore boast a higher potential for damage. The motor is protected by a 1/4" thick titanium plate and Malice has a weapon brace in which the shaft sits to further protect their primary weapon.

* Malice CAD Design.pngMalice original CAD.
* Malice Cost Statistics.pngMalice cost split for Discovery Season 5.
* Malice Ar-500 version rear.jpgMalice AR500 wheelguards.
* Malice UHMW Wheelguards.jpgMalice UHMW Wheelguards
* Malice Bunny Tail.jpgMalice's additonal "Bunny Tail" to prevent it getting stuck
1/5

"*We sacrificed reach to have a drum instead of a bar. But doing that allowed us to have a more sturdy blade at the hub. We found the biggest issue with other horizontal spinners was that they would shatter, or crack, or facture at where the hub mounts to the bar because there's just less material to absorb the force, and having a drum or thick disc prevents that from happening, we have more material to absorb the force.*"
— Bunny Sauriol on the concept of Malice.

Malice has AR500 wheelguards which are very stiff and triangular in shape, but are very heavy. The robot also has UHMW wheel guards which are lighter, but bend more easily and ended up getting Malice high-centered in their loss to MadCatter. The team added a small blunt spike at the rear for *BattleBots: Bounty Hunters* dubbed the "bunny tail" to prevent Malice from getting stuck on it's rear again, but because of a change in speed controllers, Malice managed to find itself stuck in the same way. Malice uses spherical roller bearings rather than the more common tapered kind, often referred to as "lazy man's bearings." This provides a larger margin of error for shaft and bearing alignment, as well as providing it with more slack to prevent breakage.

Malice's construction is also unique in the way that it sports a 'clam shell' design, meaning a two-piece design with large through bolts to keep the chassis together. This allows for the frame to be stronger with fewer individual pieces to come loose, but also allows for much easier accessibility. Ray Billings of Tombstone helped the team by suggesting that the ring on the weapon brace should be made out of steel instead of aluminum, as the latter would bend too easily.

The robot impressed in its rookie season, finishing 2-1 in the qualifying rounds and making it into the Championship Tournament, before losing to Gigabyte in the Round of 32. Malice also participated in the Witch Doctor *BattleBots: Bounty Hunters* bracket, defeating Tracer and HUGE but lost out to SubZero.

Bunny Sauriol and Malice returned for Discovery Season 6, now featuring several additional weapons depending on who they are fighting dubbed **Big Red** (formerly Red Rush), the **Drumstick** and **Purple Pain**. While Big Red was their signature 55lb "drumette", Purple Pain was lighter and allowed for the team to apply more top armor against dangerous overhead weapons. For the 2021 season, Malice team captain Bunny Sauriol teased a brand new weapon that weighed 80lbs - the maximum weight allowed to be dedicated to a spinning weapon according to *BattleBots* rules. In December 2021, the team showcased **Rolling Blackout**, a 60lb aluminium bar with large, AR500 steel teeth at either end. As the name suggests, it was painted black. The weapon belts had also been upgraded according to the team.

 File:Long Malice.png  * Malicerollingblackout1.pngRolling Blackout equipped to Malice.
* Malicerollingblackout2.pngRolling Blackout separate from the bot.
* Malicerollingblackout3.jpegMalice on the scales with Rolling Blackout installed.
1/3For future seasons of *BattleBots*, the team intended to elongate Malice's body to make it weight less to put more weight into the weapon. However, Bunny Sauriol also stated this design was scrapped due to the addition of the Upper Deck for the 2021 season.

"*The shelf removed 30% of the usable area of the Arena floor, horizontals depend on huge amounts of floor space, so a short stubby horizontal was better off than the long redesign we had.*"
— Adrian "Bunny" Sauriol explains the reasoning behind scrapping Malice's initial redesign.
Malice suffered a tough start on its return, losing consecutive fights to 2020 season Top 4 finisher Tantrum and Las Vegas representatives JackPot. Malice defeated Blacksmith late in the Fight Night bracket, but could not escape a negative record during the 2021 Fight Night. Bunny Sauriol's team were handed a lifeline with the announcement of the Top 32 bracket as they were one of four robots who fought in a play in match to decide the No.32 seed. However, they lost their weapon early on and ultimately lost to Skorpios.

 File:Malice fork 2022.png  Bunny Sauriol and David Liaw briefly joined up with Bot Bash Party Crew as Skorpios entered the re:MARS all:STARS BattleBots Challenge. Malice was present too, but was an unused reserve for the event, only fighting in a single grudge match against fellow backup JackPot. Malice also fought in *BattleBots: Champions*, defeating Slammo! but falling short to eventual bracket champion Ribbot in the second round of the tournament bracket.

Following the 2021 season, team members David Small and Nick Dobrikov departed to captain their own entries for *BattleBots* World Championship VII - Banshee and Drago. Both of these are sponsored by Team Malice for 2022 and whereas Banshee was accepted for the competition, Drago's fate is as yet unknown. In October 2022, Malice was officially confirmed to be competing in the competition, ranked #28 in the *BattleBots* Pre-Season Power Rankings. The most notable change to Malice concerns the addition of hinged, serrated forks both sides of the spinning weapon, which were debuted at re:MARS 2022. The team have forks made from AR500 steel and also lighter ones made from titanium. Malice's two-inch thick **Drumstick** option returns, made primarily from aluminum but featuring AR500 steel teeth at either end. The **Rolling Blackout** weapon also makes a comeback, reduced from 60lbs to 55lbs between seasons and manufactured from a mixture of 4140, S7 and AR500 steel as well as an aluminum hub with teeth either side. Thirdly, **Purple Pain** returns as Malice's lightest weapon, weighing just 45lbs. However, the weapon measures 22" end-to-end and allows for a 190mph tip speed. Purple Pain is made from AR500 steel plates separated by a number of aluminum spacers. Lastly, the iconic single-toothed Big Red weapon designed by David Rush returns, weighing 60lbs in total and measuring three inches in thickness and featuring a 4140 hardened steel tooth. Depending on their weapon selection, Malice's top plate is variable in thickness and material, ranging from 0.25" to 0.75" UMHW if deemed necessary for their traditional "Mischief" setup, specifically 0.5" UMHW for their "Mayhem" armor configuration or the same 0.5" thick UMHW with an additional 0.25" titanium plate fitted too for their "Madness" armor setup. The latter was specifically planned to combat overhead spinning weaponry such as the robot which knocked them out of the 2021 tournament officially, Skorpios.

## Robot History

 File:Malice vs Axe Backwards.jpg
 File:Malice vs Axe Backwards 2.jpg
 **Malice vs. Shatter!**
 File:Malice vs Shatter.jpg
 File:Shatter delivers a disabling shot to Malice .png
 **Malice vs. MadCatter**
 File:Malice gets stuck on its rear end.png
 **Malice vs. Gigabyte**
 **Malice vs. HUGE**
 **Malice vs. SubZero**
 File:Malice takes one of SubZeros wheels off.gif
 File:Malice does the thing.jpg
 **Malice vs. JackPot** File:Jackpot Malice S6.jpg   File:Malice jackpot lights.gif   File:Malice jackpot 2.gif  Malice's second fight came against the home team, JackPot. Having replaced the damaged bearings and speed controller, they opted again for Rolling Blackout. Both bots spun up their weapons as the fight commenced, dodging one another to start. JackPot landed the first hit of the match which saw Malice gyro onto its wheel and land a hit in return on JackPot's plow. After a glancing hit, Malice was flung into the corner of the BattleBox with the next hit, bouncing back onto its wheels. The two robots exchanged several minor hits before JackPot sent Malice twisting in the air, hindering Malice's drive on one side. The casino-themed bot coerced Malice back into the middle of the arena before delivering a brutal shot which not only sent Malice bouncing halfway across the box, but caused debris to shatter a light and send shards of glass falling onto the floor. JackPot then punted Malice onto the screws, as it became clear Malice could only drive in circles. Although JackPot's primary weapon began to smoke and slow to a halt, Malice was already being counted out as its right-side wheel had locked up. Losing by KO, Malice was now 0-2 in the season.
 **Malice vs. Ribbot**
 File:Ribbot Malice bb champs.jpg   File:Malice look for Ribbot BB Champs.png  Malice faced David Jin and Ribbot in the next round, who had previously beaten Double Jeopardy. For this battle, it was equipped with Big Red. Malice began poorly, however, as it was overturned by Ribbot in the opening moments and then thrown towards the screws. One side of drive appeared damaged from this early assault as Malice struggled to escape the red square. Ribbot flung Malice over a few more times and then used its superior pushing power to ram it around the arena. Ribbot purposely spun down its weapon, shoving it into one of the paddles before taking it to the pulverizer. Ribbot then pinned Malice against the Upper Deck before pinning it in the short corner once more. Ribbot spun back up in the closing seconds to prove its weapon had not been broken during the course of the battle. It went the distance, and Ribbot was declared the winner by unanimous judges' decision.

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 6
* Losses: 6

Shatter! (Undercard Match)
 BattleBots: Bounty Hunters
HUGE
JackPot (Undercard Match)
 re:MARS all:STARS BattleBots Challenge (2022)
 BattleBots: Champions

## Faruq Tauheed Introductions

"From San Jose, California, the bell of the brawl, MALICE!"

"From San Jose, the bay area bomber, MALICE!"

"From San Jose, California. This Bunny ain't from Energizer, but when it's time to kill you, she keeps going and going and going! Give it up for MALICE!"

"A hard-hitting bot with the head engineer who's got killer instinct and some killer bunny ears. Think bots are just for boys? You're wrong and you'll be reeling. She'll knock you out of the pass and right through the glass ceiling, it's MALICE!"

"From San Jose, California, call her the Beaster Bunny but you won't be looking for eggs, you'll be hunting for blown-off robot parts. It's MALICE!"

"From San Jose, California, forget about Wonderland, this bot's gonna take you to thunderland. It's MALICE!"

"From San Jose, California, the queen of the palace, it's MALICE!"

"From San Jose, California, when you see those bunny ears, your bot's about to lose some gears. It's MALICE!"

"The most powerful drummer since Rush's Neil Peart. This bot smashes and pounds you until you're hurt. A modern-day warrior, mean, mean stride. If I were you, I would run and hide. It's about to rock hard like it sold out the palace. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for MALICE!"

## Trivia

* When the Konami Code is entered on TeamMalice.com, a raptor runs across the screen.
* Alongside a handful of other robots from the season, Malice made an appearance as a static display at a live premiere of the 2021 tournament conclusion in San Jose, California.
* Team member Isaak Malers wanted Big Red to weigh 65lbs initially, but it had to drop to 55lbs to comply with the weight limit.
* Team Malice sponsored Arizona Robotic Combat's *RoboRumble* event in November 2021.
* Malice's "drumstick" weapon was designed with assistance from Ray Billings.
	+ Ray Billings would later assist with Malice during World Championship VII.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CYEtcqVlKU9/
2. ↑ Public message from Bunny Sauriol on the Out of the Arena Discord server.
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/BattleBots/status/1578339507677659136
4. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CjQl3v\_JGZq/?hl=en
5. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CjKXScxN7vI/?hl=en
6. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CjYT8bILeyY/?hl=en
7. ↑ Public message from Bunny Sauriol on the Out of the Arena Discord server.
8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWhRnktPq-Q
9. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cja5YzgPUHD/?hl=en

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