Ninja

**Ninja** (Chinese: **忍者**, romanized as **Rěnzhě**) was a robot from the United Kingdom which competed in the 2018 series *This is Fighting Robots*.

Although it was not initially selected by any of the celebrity team managers, it was chosen by Sa Beining during its preliminary group battle, securing its place on the Yellow team. Under the controls of Beining, Ninja lost a subsequent head-to-head against Wu Chun and Polar Opposite, but managed to win a Judges' decision over Wrecker, which was vying to take its place in the competition. Ninja would avenge its loss to Polar Opposite in a rematch during the main 1v1 Fights, only to be eliminated after losing a four-way rumble to Tungsten. As a result, it was dropped from Beining's team just before the Top 8 bracket.

Paul Streeter returned for *King of Bots II* as a member of the Rhino team, captained by Rob Pickford.

## Design

Ninja is a 'axlebot', driven by two large tires at either side of the robot similar in design to former *BattleBots* competitor **OverKill**. It was armed with a large sword, which swung overhead courtesy of the robot's drive power, and a wedge which enabled it to get underneath, push and attack other robots using the sword. As a axlebot, Ninja is also invertible. The robot lacks a weapon motor, which means that it cannot attack from a standstill, and needs to reverse, or halt on a forward drive in order to deliver a blow.

## Robot History

### This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5)

Ninja was not initially chosen by any celebrities during the initial 'blind selection' process. As such, it was required to fight a preliminary group battle against 008, Saturn and Xiake, in the hope of convincing a team manager to select it. Stylized highlights of the battle itself were shown in Episode 2.

In the highlights themselves, Ninja was initially seen to push Xiake across the arena, at the same time that 008 had one of its wheels ripped off by Saturn. However, it was unable to land any significant attacks on its remaining opponents, despite coming close to striking Saturn as the British machine drove up its wedge. Ninja continued to dodge and mistime its attacks throughout the battle; however, its aggressive display impressed Sa Beining, who chose it to become part of the Yellow team. As a result, Ninja's place in the main competition was secured.

As part of the Yellow team, Ninja fought fellow British machines in Bonfire and Griffin Mk II, alongside the American Blue, in a Freestyle Combat melee. Ninja initially challenged Bonfire, and landed an overhead blow on Griffin Mk II, following this up with a lighter hit. Ninja was later forced to abandon its private battle with Griffin Mk II to target the immobile Bonfire, which Blue was relentlessly attacking. Ninja followed suit, and landed several attacks on the motionless Bonfire before leaving the beaten machine. Griffin Mk II came in to hold Blue in place, and Ninja landed an overhead hit on Blue. Ninja and Griffin Mk II collaborated to push Blue back, ultimately resulting in Griffin Mk II's immobilization under an arena hammer.

With only Ninja and Blue active, both robots attempted to strike each other from above, but largely missed. After narrowly missing an attack on Ninja, Blue turned itself over when retracting its weapon. Ninja pushed Blue back, managing to prevent it from self-righting, but became stuck on the ramrods. The momentum of Ninja's push sent Blue sliding back, where it could freely self-right. Ninja continued to pin Blue against the wall, and Blue missed with its retaliating strikes. In the final ten seconds of the battle, Ninja drove under Blue, which climbed even further up the body of Ninja by swinging its weapon, but Ninja pushed Blue towards the mace, before the battle concluded. The episode was left on a cliffhanger, which was resolved in Episode 4; the subsequent Judges' decision went against Ninja, ultimately resulting in Sa Beining losing the first round of the competition to Green team captain Zheng Shuang, despite being tied on three points each.

Sa Beining then elected to drive Ninja in a celebrity-only battle against the multibot Polar Opposite, itself partially driven by Wu Chun. Ninja immediately exposed its wedge to a hit from Negative Charge's disc, and swung its weapon around aimlessly, being lifted up by another blow from Negative Charge. Ninja retreated into the corner of the arena, and the back end of the robot was hit by Negative Charge's disc, briefly causing it to lose traction. Ninja spun in place, knocking Negative Charge aside, while Wu Chun drove Positive Charge into the way of this attack. Beining's machine thus took another slam to its wedge from Positive Charge, which threw the robot upwards. Ninja was further pressured by both segments of Polar Opposite, but responded by swinging its mace down on Positive Charge, throwing sparks from the latter's wedge.

Polar Opposite retaliated, but Ninja pressured Positive Charge to drive over the floor ejector. At this moment, captain Paul Streeter activated the hazard, lifting both robots upwards. After being rammed by Positive Charge, Ninja, proceeded to wedge underneath Negative Charge and push it towards the arena wall. Ninja returned to the center of the arena, offering no offense, allowing it to be rammed again by Positive Charge. It next threw its mace down on Negative Charge again, producing more sparks. Critically, after Ninja hit the arena floor several times, it fed its mace right into the disc of Negative Charge, which severed the chain and sent the mace itself flying against the wall.

Negative Charge capitalized, striking the wedge of the now-weaponless Ninja. Ninja's wheel hubs had taken damage throughout this battle; following a combined attack from both Polar Opposite halves, the left hub being bent upon being attacked by Negative Charge. Ninja absorbed more hits from Negative Charge's disc along with another ram from Positive Charge, the latter just before time expired on the battle. With no knockout, the battle was sent to a Judges' decision, which was awarded to Polar Opposite and Wu Chun. Nevertheless, Ninja remained in the competition despite this loss.

Ninja's place on the Yellow team was challenged by the American entry Wrecker, which fought Ninja for a place on Sa Beining's selection of robots. Both robots came together, and Wrecker boasted the lower ground clearance, but lost grip on Ninja. Similarly, when Ninja slammed straight into the front of Wrecker, it was buffeted into the air, while Wrecker's minibot threw flames. Wrecker was being edged towards the arena corner, and Ninja still could not breach its scoop, and Wrecker threw it backwards, but not over. Wrecker held its ground in the center of the arena, and flipped itself over, but this allowed Ninja to drive straight under it, toppling the American machine. Ninja then sought out the back end of Wrecker, causing the American machine to flip itself over, and fire its scoop as though it were an axe, on the wedge of Ninja. Despite this, Ninja continued to push Wrecker back, towards the Grinder, and then landed the first blow of its weapon, straight onto the top surface of Wrecker. Afterwards, Ninja wedged under the back of Wrecker and landed a second overhead blow.

"*As soon as we started to hit them on top, we noticed that he just keeps going, keep going, keep moving away*"
— Paul Streeter of Ninja's team, on Wrecker's driving

Ninja again wedged under the back of Wrecker, although its tyre caught the scoop of Wrecker, and Ninja was momentarily lifted. Wrecker's minibot was now incapable of throwing fire, and could not leave its location in the center of the arena. Ninja drove the disadvantaged Wrecker towards the Grinder, and landed another hit. In the final ten seconds, Ninja used its wedge to stay under Wrecker, hitting it once again, impressing Zheng Shuang. Time expired on the match, and Ninja was declared to be the winner, defending its place on the Yellow team.

In the main 1v1 stage, Ninja would face Polar Opposite a second time, allowing it a chance at redemption with regular driver Paul Streeter. Brief highlights of this match were aired in the main Episode 8, which initially suggested that it struggled to keep up and prevent itself from being rammed by Positive Charge once more. However, Ninja landed more accurate mace attacks on both Polar Opposite segments, which were suggested to have been turned over during the match. At one point, it collected and pushed Negative Charge over one of the floor ejectors, enabling the hazard to flip both machines over. Ultimately, Ninja was declared to have won, enabling it to become one of the final thirteen robots.

Towards the final stages of the competition, Ninja again competed in a four-way rumble against Polar Opposite, Tungsten and Vulcan. Ninja was immediately bumped by Positive Charge, which was outfitted with its wedge, but the larger Ninja simply overturned it. Despite this, Paul Streeter's machine missed Positive Charge with its sword attack, but Vulcan assisted by striking the underside of the latter with its own axe. Ninja then proceeded to engage in its own tussle with Vulcan, largely off-screen. Ninja was pinned in the corner of the arena by Vulcan, and was unable to retaliate for some time. Ninja briefly pushed Positive Charge back, but the multibot was already immobile. Ninja and Vulcan then seemingly collaborated, holding Tungsten in a corner, which allowed Vulcan to land a blow with its axe, although Ninja missed with its own attacks, before keeping its distance for a large part of the match.

Further into the battle, Tungsten drove under Ninja's wedge and struck it with an attack using its vertical spinner. Ninja was thrown over entirely, and was forced to retreat. Towards the end of the battle, Ninja was trapped on the floor rings by Vulcan, and time expired on the battle. Split seconds after the battle had officially ended, Tungsten landed a late hit on Ninja, which had already stopped moving, and threw it over one meter into the air. Although this late attack was likely discounted, Ninja ultimately lost the Judges' decision to Tungsten, although it still earned a point for the Yellow team as a reward for surviving the full three minutes.

However, the Yellow team ultimately lost this stage of the competition, and Sa Beining was required to cut two of his three robots, opting to save Shrederator Tiger Claw over Ninja and Formula. As a result, Ninja was eliminated from *This is Fighting Robots* just one stage prior to the Top 8.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 2
* Losses: 3

*NOTE: Ninja's preliminary group battle is not considered to be a win or a loss*.

## Outside King of Bots

Paul Streeter is part of Robo Challenge, a Birmingham-based engineering company whose founders entered Spectre into *King of Bots* and *This is Fighting Robots*. This connection also meant that Streeter was a driver of the House Robots in the UK show *Robot Wars*.

## Trivia

* Ninja's team had not previously competed on any television show, despite being based in the United Kingdom, although Paul Streeter was connected to *Robot Wars* as a House Robot driver.