Stealth

Stealth's statistics

**Stealth** (Chinese: **夜鹰**, romanized as **Yè yīng**, directly translated as **Nighthawk**, alternatively referred to as **Night Owl** in the Mech+ version) was a robot from South Korea which competed in the one-off series *This is Fighting Robots*.

After landing powerful blows with its spinner in its preliminary group battle, Stealth was selected by celebrity team captain Zheng Shuang, allowing it to take part in the main competition as part of the Green team. It achieved one victory under Shuang's captaincy in a Freestyle melee against EarthShaker, Switch and Polar Opposite, but it was defeated in head-to-head combat with Shrederator Tiger Claw.

## Design

As its written name suggests, Stealth's design was based upon stealth bomber planes, using a low profile to hide its undercutting bar spinner at the front of the robot. The robot is painted black, and is sloped at all sides, again like a stealth bomber. Although its ground clearance is low, and its weapon is powerful, Stealth lacks a self-righting mechanism. The sides of Stealth were protected by side skirts, offering a low ground clearance, although spinners could easily rip these away.

## Robot History

### This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5)

Having not initially been selected by any of the celebrity team managers, Stealth competed in a preliminary four-way group battle to impress the celebrities and potentially secure a place in the main competition. There, it fought three fellow spinners - Firefox, Mad Moustache and Zen Oh.

At the beginning of the battle, all four robots attempted to spin their weapons up to speed, although as Stealth was the slowest machine, it was largely ignored in the opening stages. Before Stealth landed its first attack, all three of its opponents had joined a celebrity team, and Mad Moustache had been immobilized in destructive fashion. Stealth finally made its move when Zen Oh bumped into Firefox, as this allowed Stealth to land its own weapon-to-weapon blow, creating a shower of sparks. This led to a second hit, which knocked Firefox away. After these attacks, Zheng Shuang selected Stealth for her team, meaning that all four robots had qualified, and Stealth would advance to the next round.

Nevertheless, the three active robots fought on, and Stealth targeted the wheels of Firefox, ripping a wheel away from the rear of the machine while casting more sparks. Firefox was still able to drive away, but Stealth inflicted more damage, and Zen Oh rammed into the side of it, immobilizing it. With only Stealth and Zen Oh active, Stealth struck Zen Oh with its spinner, which sent the Portuguese robot recoiling into a mace, to the satisfaction of Zheng Shuang. Zen Oh crashed back down, and took evasive measures, having already qualified. Regardless, Stealth pursued its opponent and struck it with another strong blow, causing Zen Oh's drive belt to fall out. Stealth continued to chase Zen Oh for the remainder of the match, but the quicker machine escaped, and time elapsed on a battle where all four robots had qualified.

In the main competition, Stealth was first chosen by Zheng Shuang to fight in the second Freestyle Combat round, where it faced Polar Opposite, Switch and EarthShaker in another four-way melee.

Initially, it retreated towards the corner in the opening moments to get its weapon up to speed, before striking Positive Charge (Polar Opposite) as the latter drove into EarthShaker and Switch. Stealth proceeded to attack the front of EarthShaker, sparks flying as its undercutter spinner repeatedly hit the floor, before tearing one of Positive Charge's front wedges off.

All five robots converged in the arena, with Stealth narrowly avoiding Switch's hammer as the British machine was thrown over by EarthShaker. With its spinner rotating again, Stealth proceeded to hit one of Switch's front wedges as EarthShaker flipped the latter over again, and dodged a charge from Negative Charge as it made its way to the center of the arena. It sustained another ram from Positive Charge as it and EarthShaker made their way across; seconds later, Stealth ripped EarthShaker's left wheel off, immobilizing and eliminating the Chinese machine instantly.

Following this, Stealth hit both parts of Polar Opposite as they attacked Switch, throwing Positive Charge upside-down in the process. It reversed and drove into Negative Charge's wedge, only to be rammed by Switch and to deflect Negative Charge underneath the latter with a second hit. Stealth weaved its way across the arena before colliding head-on with Negative Charge's wedge once again. In its attempt to drive away, it was instead maneuvered into the wall spikes by Negative Charge, sparks flying as its spinner made contact with the wall. Momentarily, Stealth remained close to the spikes, but slowly weaved its way forwards. In an attempt to pursue Negative Charge again, it inadvertently clipped the battle rings, and was sent spinning over one of the ejection boards.

Stealth recovered, hitting Negative Charge's wedge again and allowing Switch to be jolted free from the latter's top panel. It sustained another pair of head-on rams from Negative Charge, and concluded the battle by hitting the side of Switch, the attack throwing Switch upwards and onto the fire pit. Time ran out, and the battle went to a Judges' decision. The decision went in favor of Stealth, earning Zheng Shuang her second point and extending her lead over Wu Chun in the Freestyle Round 2 standings.

In the next round, Stealth fought Shrederator Tiger Claw in direct combat. At the start of the battle, Stealth could not power up its own weapon, so Shrederator Tiger Claw attacked its spinning bar head-on, throwing sparks. Shrederator Tiger Claw then delivered a direct blow to the back end of Stealth, damaging its skirts. The next attack from Shrederator Tiger Claw hit the bar of Stealth, and swung the South Korean robot around for a follow-up hit. Shrederator Tiger Claw struck the back and sides of Stealth in quick succession, but Stealth drove back into Shrederator Tiger Claw's spinner, which peeled up the side of Stealth. Shrederator Tiger Claw then landed glancing blows on the side and back of Stealth, which drove towards the Grinder. Suddenly, after Shrederator Tiger Claw directly struck the bar spinner of Stealth, the weaponry of Stealth started functioning, and it reached top speed, while Shrederator Tiger Claw rebounded into the arena wall. Stealth drove around, avoiding its opponent, when Shrederator Tiger Claw closed in. Although Shrederator Tiger Claw missed on its drive, due to a late change in direction from Stealth, Shrederator Tiger Claw bounced off the arena wall, and slammed back into Stealth, ceasing the bar spinner once again.

The back of Stealth was again targeted by Shrederator Tiger Claw, ripping away more armor while trapping it over the arena saws. After two more blows in the center of the arena, Shrederator Tiger Claw forced Stealth into the corner of the arena, which could now only spin in place, having lost drive on one side. The referee counted out Stealth, and Shrederator Tiger Claw won the battle. As a result, Stealth was eliminated from the competition, and was given a large send-off by Zheng Shuang and the audience.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 1
* Losses: 1

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

## Outside King of Bots

A middleweight version of Stealth competed in the Korean show *Robot Power* in the mid-2000s.

## Trivia

* The robot's Chinese name translates literally to **Nighthawk** in English, but the word "Stealth" is present on the surface of the robot, confirming the name officially given to it by the team.