Megabyte

* S2
* 2019
* TiFR
* S1

"*Megabyte is a full-body spinner robot - once its blades start to spin, it will become invincible. Megabyte will become a new legend in China, and being a legend in China is not too bad!*"
— John Mladenik in Season 1

**Megabyte** (Chinese:**极速代码**, romanized as **Jísù dàimǎ**, translated to **Extreme Speed Code**) is a robot from the United States of America which competed in both seasons of *King of Bots* along with the 2018 spin-off series *This is Fighting Robots*. Megabyte and its team (the Robotic Death Company, known in China as the Robotic Destruction Company) entered *King of Bots* with a sixteen-year pedigree in North American robot combat events, including multiple championship victories.

Megabyte won the first-ever battle in the show’s history, against Russian drum spinner Stingray, but initially lost in the second round to Chiyung Jinlun. After receiving a wildcard, Megabyte won its next two battles against EarthShaker and fellow American entry Spin Doctor to reach the semi-finals, where it was defeated a second time by Chiyung Jinlun despite dealing significant damage to the latter. It would ultimately finish Season 1 in third place, after winning the playoff against Thunder and Lightning via knockout.

In *This is Fighting Robots*, Megabyte was selected by Zheng Shuang, allowing it to compete in the main competition as part of the Green team. There, it emphatically defeated Saturn and Golden Hoops, and was a key player for its team's success in the Tag Team round, eliminating the dangerous Two BBQ alongside rival full-body spinner Anchor and Shield. However, Megabyte lost the use of its spinner against Vulcan in the head-to-head rounds, and was overturned by the floor ejector, losing the battle by knockout. It was also a key player in the Eight-robot Rumble - where it fought for a chance to maintain its place in the competition - but lost mobility after the five-minute mark due to a drivetrain malfunction. Megabyte's subsequent elimination by knockout sparked brief controversy in the ensuing Judges' decision, when Shuang briefly objected to the outcome.

Megabyte also competed in the King of Bots 2019 Opening Battle, representing the blue team. There, it fought the first battle of the event against Snake 2.0, but lost after getting deflected and flipped over upon hitting Snake 2.0's plough, and being left unable to self-right when its shell spinner malfunctioned.

Megabyte made its Season 2 debut in a battle against Medusa, winning the fight to take Medusa's place on Emma Dumont's team, the celebrity team which John Mladenik had most hoped to join. On this team, Megabyte defeated the similar bar spinner of Cracked Sword, and later beat the Brazilian entry Big Carioca, also avenging a former loss to Snake after it became pinned under the arena wall. It then quickly disposed of Two BBQ, and qualified for the final tournament. There, it tore Deep-Sea Shark apart in a lengthy bout, but lost the use of its spinner prior to fighting long-time rival Xiake and was knocked out by its foe for the third time.

## Design

Megabyte is a four-wheel drive full-body spinner, featuring a slanted shell spinning at 1,300rpm. The titanium shell weighs 100lbs (approximately 45.6kg) and features two 1-inch thick steel blades at the base for slashing and concussing opponents, along with several more along the upper surface of the shell. According to the Robotic Death Company, Megabyte’s weapon features a tip speed of 200mph. The robot is painted silver with its name written in black, and is fitted with a bent metal pole at the top of the weapon shaft to help the team identify its position when the weapon is spinning. The same pole also allows the gyroscopic forces of Megabyte’s spinner to re-right the robot should it be left upside-down. In addition to the pole, Megabyte also features two sets of LED lights at either end of the chassis - a row of white lights at the front, and another row of blue or red lights at the rear. These lights are visible beneath the shell, and act as a further aid in identifying the robot's orientation while the shell spins.

In later rounds, Megabyte also used an alternative spinning shell, which shared a similar design to the regular shell, but featured several cut-outs and polycarbonate armor panels on the top which exposed its internals.

For *This is Fighting Robots* a new version of Megabyte was built, likely to free up the previous version for *RoboGames*. While keeping the same shape and profile, this version featured a spinning shell painted gold with black lettering and characters. Heart-shaped cutouts with polycarbonate armor panels were integrated into the top, which were specifically intended to draw appreciation from Zheng Shuang during selection and 'learning' processes. Slight adaptations to Megabyte's self-righting bar were made for its appearance in *King of Bots II*, and the robot's top spinning speed was now a frighteningly quick 4500rpm.

Also seen in the later stages of Season 2, Megabyte could also enter the battle with a wedge-shaped minibot, and a set of forks attached to the exterior of the robot, designed to breach under anti-spinner wedges and fight against primarily pushing-based robots such as Snake. An optional shell for Megabyte in Season 2 also filled the top of the robot with heart-shaped holes, to match John Mladenik's signature pose before battles.

## Robot History

### King of Bots (Season 1)

Megabyte initially appeared in Episode 1, fighting in the very first battle of *King of Bots* alongside Russian entry Stingray.

Immediately, Megabyte jolted sideways and spun up its spinning shell, dodging an initial lunge from Stingray and attempting to drive away from the latter before the two robots collided. Megabyte was sent hurtling across the arena upon impact, the gyroscopic forces of its weapon almost causing it to overturn as it constantly hit the walls and arena floor with its blades. Landing on its wheels and next to a partially-immobile Stingray, Megabyte retreated to get its weapon spinning and proceeded to rip Stingray’s drum off with its second hit.

"*Total destruction, my friends!*"
— One of the commentators shortly after Megabyte tears Stingray's drum off

It proceeded to tear one of Stingray’s right-hand armor panels off just before the latter was counted out, emerging victorious and advancing to the next round. Afterwards, it was discovered that Megabyte had also torn one of the wall spikes off, as a result of it clipping the walls during the recoil of its initial hit.

In the second round, Megabyte faced the Chinese drum spinner Chiyung Jinlun.

Immediately, it spun its shell up as Chiyung Jinlun approached; however, the robot’s chassis also spun simultaneously, resulting in Megabyte lifting itself up before being slammed by Chiyung Jinlun. The impact deflected it into the wall and sent it skittering across the arena; coming to rest against the spikes on the other side, Megabyte struggled to drive away, allowing Chiyung Jinlun to launch it into the air and buffet it into the wall as it got its shell spinning again. Megabyte shook and violently flipped itself over onto its self-righting pole; it spun helplessly as Chiyung Jinlun proceeded to rip one of its top-mounted blades off and maneuvere it towards the grinders.

One more drum blow from Chiyung Jinlun flipped Megabyte upright; however, a nut at the tip of Megabyte’s pole became lodged between the gaps at the top of the wall as it landed, leaving it partially lifted off the floor. Robotic Death Company attempted to power Megabyte’s spinner up to break free, but were unable to do so. As a result, Megabyte was counted out, smoke pouring from inside as a result of a strained weapon belt, and lost the battle.

"*That doesn’t happen all the time, you know, everyone makes mistakes - but, he drove very well. He knew exactly how to hit us, and to be able to maneuver in the right place to hit us in the right way.*"
— John Mladenik praises Chiyung Junlin’s driver following Megabyte’s second-round loss

Despite this, Megabyte’s performance in the first round was sufficient for it to earn one of four wildcards from the producers. This led to it being reinstated for the third round, where it fought fellow wildcard entrant EarthShaker.

"*Good luck to my opponent, and may the best robot win!*"
— John Mladenik

Megabyte started the battle tentatively; it attempted to spin its shell up, but was quickly deflected by EarthShaker, which proceeded to drive underneath and deflect Megabyte again towards one of the grinders. It was flipped opposite the grinder by EarthShaker, but bounced on its shell and self-righting pole to land back on its wheels. Immediately, Megabyte’s spinner spun up to full speed, enabling it to charge into EarthShaker and cause light damage to its front armor. The same impact, however, caused Megabyte to skitter across the arena towards the far corner; it was deflected into the nearby wall spikes by EarthShaker, temporarily stopping its weapon. Megabyte attempted to attack EarthShaker again, but was deflected and destabilized once again – sparks flew as its lower cutting blades made contact with the floor. A few moments later, Megabyte was sent skittering into the blue square, again hitting the wall spikes; this allowed EarthShaker to deflect and drive underneath it once more.

However, Megabyte avoided getting flipped as both teams fired smokescreens in each other’s control areas, and got its weapon up to speed again as EarthShaker backed away. It drove head-on into EarthShaker, sending it spinning away in a volley of sparks – two more hits resulted in Megabyte tearing into EarthShaker’s front armor and ripping an entire panel off. Despite clipping one of the circular saws, Megabyte approached a retreating EarthShaker and hit it one last time – the impact threw EarthShaker into the wall violently, sheared three of its wheels off and caused it to catch fire within seconds. Megabyte was instantly declared the winner, and progressed to the fourth round.

"*Their only chance is [that] their front wedge is a hunk of steel sitting on the floor, so they have to hit us square. If we hit their side or edge, they’re gone... Spin Doctor… nothing personal, but you’re going home in pieces!*"
— John Mladenik’s message to the Spin Doctor team

Within the top eight of the competition, Megabyte fought a fellow American wildcard entry Spin Doctor, a drum spinner of a similar design to Chiyung Jinlun. Aware that David Calkins had earlier given advice to Chiyung Jinlun’s team on how to defeat Megabyte, John Mladenik was determined that his team would change their strategy to avoid a similar loss in this battle.

"*I think this will be a tough fight. I think… if they succeed in stopping us from spinning and getting us in the corner, they will be successful. But, you know, we’re gonna do everything we can so that won’t happen.*"
— John Mladenik anticipates a close battle

Immediately, Megabyte darted to the left of the blue square, getting its shell up to speed as it evaded an approaching Spin Doctor. Slamming into Spin Doctor, it launched itself into the wall spikes, sparks flying as it skittered across the arena into the red square. Megabyte recovered, approaching Spin Doctor before evading and reversing into its left-hand side, tearing one of Spin Doctor’s panels clean off. It followed up on this attack by reversing, shuffling and hitting Spin Doctor’s rear, circling around its American co-patriot before slamming into its left-front wheel and front wedge. Another head-on collision spun Spin Doctor away – seconds later, Megabyte tore Spin Doctor’s left-rear tire off its axle. The same impact caused both robots to recoil into opposite sides of the arena – Megabyte, still spinning, slammed into the wall, breaking and getting its own cutting blades caught in the left-most panel. Realizing that the panel had been damaged, Robotic Death Company promptly told the Judges to stop the battle while repairs to the arena were carried out – during this time, Megabyte was also freed from the wall.

Following consultation between the Judges and the Spin Doctor team, the battle was restarted – upon the referee's whistle, Megabyte spun up again and steadily approached the badly-damaged Spin Doctor. It spent several seconds trying to position itself for another attack, before slamming into Spin Doctor’s front once more. Megabyte elected not to attack any further as Spin Doctor was left immobile on one side and counted out, emerging victorious by knockout once again.

"*Should thank him, because they exposed our weaknesses. By telling [Chiyung Jinlun] how to beat us and beaten us, we went back and looked at everything and we fixed our problem. We, we know how to stop that tactic from beating us.*"
— John Mladenik following Megabyte’s third knockout victory

With this, Megabyte secured its place in the semi-finals, where it faced Chiyung Jinlun for the second time.

In the opening moments, it dodged Chiyung Jinlun’s initial charges to get its shell up to full speed, momentarily clipping the Chinese machine’s front wedge at one point. Megabyte continued maneuvering around Chiyung Jinlun before finally slamming into it head-on, sparks flying as both robots recoiled across the arena. A second collision resulted in Megabyte disabling Chiyung Jinlun’s drum, although not without being deflected violently into the wall itself and losing its self-righting pole. It proceeded to cause more damage to Chiyung Jinlun, buckling then tearing its wedge open with two successive hits. Another hit ripped Chiyung Jinlun’s wedge off entirely; the same collision also resulted in Megabyte being deflected into a grinder, the grinder launching it across the arena and into a stationary Chiyung Jinlun. The deflection appeared to slow Megabyte down considerably – it hit Chiyung Jinlun again, although without causing any more major damage as it tried to spin its weapon up again.

Nevertheless, Megabyte absorbed a few more rams from Chiyung Jinlun, damaging the latter’s weapon mount sufficiently for its drum to fall off. However, it struggled to drive forwards as Chiyung Jinlun approached once again, and its spinner cleaved a gash through the latter’s rear panel. Momentarily retreating, Megabyte drove into Chiyung Jinlun’s rear again, causing more damage to the panel, tearing the Chinese machine’s left panel completely off and spinning it around. However, the collision immobilized Megabyte instantly; a bewildered Robotic Death Company attempted to regain control as its shell spinner continued rotating, but not before Megabyte was fully counted out. With this, it lost to Chiyung Jinlun via knockout once more, and was eliminated from the competition for the second time - after the battle, John Mladenick praised the Xiake team for their performance, and for Chiyung Jinlun’s durability throughout the battle.

**Ling Zhou**: "*Hey guys! Good to see you again! So, why do you think you lost today?*"
**John Mladenick**: "*‘Cos we fought a very tough robot… and I don’t remember ever losing a fight where we knocked the wedge off, we knocked the weapon off, and the guy’s still moving. It’s incredible! I’d like – I’m gonna go see what he did to take all those hits, because these hits were bigger than all the other fights!*"
— Ling Zhou interviews John Mladenik following Megabyte’s second loss to Chiyung Jinlun

Megabyte would fight again in a playoff for third place, where it faced the father-and-son team of Thunder and Lightning.

Initially unaware of the modifications carried out to the Chinese multibot, the team exchanged its shell for one with cut-outs and transparent top panels. In the opening seconds, Megabyte slowly drove out of the blue square and got its shell up to speed – however, it was scooped up by the wedge of the extensively-rebuilt Lightning, the momentum in the multibot’s attack causing Megabyte to skitter into the wall. Sparks flew as Megabyte’s cutters hit the wall, causing it to rebound across the arena towards Thunder. It promptly got its weapon spinning again, and proceeded to rip Thunder’s left wheel and motor out with a side-on attack. Megabyte proceeded to hit Lightning a few times, launching the gray multibot across the arena and sending it spinning with each individual hit. It then hit Thunder again, sending it spinning into the grinder – seconds later, it took advantage of Lightning’s control issues by hitting its side and causing it to recoil into the center grinder mount as well. The latter attack immobilized Lightning completely and caused it to catch fire – Megabyte withdrew its attacks as Thunder and Lightning were both counted out, and was soon declared victorious via knockout. With this, it finished third overall in *King of Bots* Season 1, although not without John Mladenik congratulating and praising the Thunder and Lightning team afterwards.

### This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5)

During the 'blind selection' stage of *This is Fighting Robots*, Megabyte quickly drew attention from Yellow team captain Sa Beining, who was recommended it by the captain of Golden Hoops. John Mladenik, while open to negotiations from Beining, was determined for his machine to be selected by Zheng Shuang. Not only did he openly call Shuang a "pretty lady", but he also presented her with a heart-shaped card out of appreciation.

When Shuang visited Megabyte's table, she considered adding it to her Green team roster, but was persuaded by the captain of Shrederator Tiger Claw to abandon Megabyte for the alternative shell spinner, upsetting Mladenik. However, other competitors previously chosen by Shuang - the UK roboteers behind Spectre, Vulcan, Tánshè and Tungsten - convinced her to select Megabyte in response. This action enabled the Robotic Destruction Company machine to complete the Green team line-up and take part in the main competition, while Beining "apologized" to and patted it on the shell before selecting Shrederator Tiger Claw instead.

"*This feels... like underneath its tough appearance, it's got a soft, fuzzy inside.*"
— Zheng Shuang, upon seeing Megabyte's heart-shaped cutouts

Megabyte's top cutouts succeeded in charming Shuang during the 'learning' process. Here, John Mladenik expressed early confidence in it potentially defeating machines such as Weber and Greedy Snake, but advised Shuang that it was less suited to fighting opponents with heavily-armored wedges and wedged lifters, an example being Sandstorm.

In its first competition battle, Megabyte fought British ring spinner Saturn and Chinese competitor Golden Hoops in a Freestyle Combat melee. Mladenik was among the roboteers to doubt Golden Hoops' unproven capabilities in an earlier episode, though the Golden Hoops team remained confident about fighting Megabyte at their machine's fullest potential.

**Wang Tao**: "*Why aren't Jingu Bang and Saturn moving?*"
**Xiao Cang**: "*Are they shocked by Megabyte's impressive combat power?*"
— The tentative opening moments of Megabyte's first fight in *This is Fighting Robots* (Mech+ subtitles)

All three robots initially hesitated to attack each other as they got their spinning weapons up to speed – this was until Megabyte sustained a collision with an approaching Saturn. Sparks flew as both robots were sent flying into the maces on opposite sides of the arena, with Megabyte losing one of its cutting blades and being left unbalanced as it recoiled off the mace mount. Nevertheless, Megabyte drove forwards, weaving its way across the arena to line up an attack on the spinning Golden Hoops. It charged into Golden Hoops, throwing it into the air and into a nearby mace.

This attack was sufficient to cause damage to one of Golden Hoops’ hammer mounts, causing the mount itself to shear off a few seconds later. With Golden Hoops spinning and bouncing uncontrollably near the arena spikes as a result, Megabyte landed one more hit to throw its Chinese opponent upwards and immobilize it. With this, it won the rumble via knockout, securing it and Zheng Shuang one point to equalize Sa Beining’s score.

"*That’s a good argument – she chose Megabyte because she wanted that sure point.*"
— John Mladenik comments on Zheng Shuang’s decision to choose Megabyte following its first *This is Fighting Robots* victory

In the Alliance War stage, Megabyte was partnered with Earth Mover of the Red team for one of the initial 2v2 battles. Together, they fought Chinese vertical spinner Two BBQ of the Yellow team and Anchor and Shield of the Blue team.

Initially, it waited in its corner to get its spinning shell up to speed, before approaching and dodging lunges from Two BBQ. As Two BBQ lifted itself and spun over the fire pit, Megabyte drove into the latter’s front end, breaking Two BBQ’s bar spinner and sending it ricocheting violently towards the wall spikes. No sooner had it disabled Two BBQ’s weapon, Megabyte hesitated to drive away as Two BBQ reversed, turned and drove into its shell. As well as throwing Two BBQ into a grinder and flipping it over, the impact sent Megabyte flying towards and over the pit; one of its cutting blades clipped the pit edge and launched it upwards.

Megabyte bounced onto the nearby battle ring zone, to celebrations from Zheng Shuang and Red team captain Wu Chun. With Two BBQ eliminated, it retreated to the corner to get its shell spinning again as Anchor and Shield was raised up by the pit panel to re-join the battle after an earlier pitting. Megabyte pursued Anchor and Shield as soon as the latter drove away, and proceeded to land several blows on its retreating opponent. At one point, both robots lingered near the mace; in addition to sending more sparks and debris flying out of Anchor and Shield, Megabyte destroyed the remainder of Two BBQ’s bar spinner, sending it up into the polycarbonate wall panels.

Megabyte continued to buffet, damage and shepherd Anchor and Shield across the arena for some time, until the blue and silver full-body spinner was left completely immobilized. Megabyte stood stationary as Anchor and Shield was counted out; as a result, it and Earth Mover secured a second consecutive Tag Team victory for Zheng Shuang and Wu Chun in spectacular fashion.

In the head-to-head rounds, Megabyte fought Vulcan of the Blue team, formerly a member of Megabyte's green team. While Megabyte powered up its spinner, Vulcan missed on its charge, failing to cease the shell spinner. When Vulcan caught up to Megabyte, it was thrown aside by the powerful spinner, and this caused Vulcan's axe to break, leaving the robot weaponless. Megabyte lingered in the corner of the arena, and Vulcan rammed it, causing Megabyte to bounce off the arena wall, and under the arena hammer, which landed on top of Megabyte's shell. This caused no significant damage, and Megabyte's blades pushed Vulcan aside on its next attack.

Both robots met face-to-face, and Megabyte rebounded away from Vulcan, failing to gain purchase on the arena floor until it slid back into the wall. In a series of collisions, Megabyte struck the wedge of Vulcan, bounced into a solid piece of wall next to the Grinder, and ended up on Vulcan's wedge, allowing Vulcan to push Megabyte into the arena wall, while it was at a low spinning speed. Upon this impact, a bolt sheared from Megabyte.

"*Yeah, we were just in the corner there, and, so that's when that mass is spinning like that, there's no 'driveability'. At that point, I thought we had the fight.*"
— John Mladenik

Megabyte spun up once again, but struck the wedge of Vulcan, and due to the sheared bolt, Megabyte's shell did not spin again after this impact. Vulcan pushed Megabyte into the mace, and then held it against the arena wall. Megabyte briefly wedged underneath Vulcan and escaped, but Vulcan caught up and rammed it again. A similar impact took place again, allowing Megabyte to drive under Vulcan, but lost its grip. After this, Megabyte drove straight over the floor ejector, and was immediately turned over. Vulcan made no further movements, and waited for the referee to count Megabyte out of the battle, and out of the main competition.

For a chance to be potentially reinstated ahead of the final stages, Megabyte also fought in the Eight-robot Rumble, as one of two representatives for Zheng Shuang's Green team. This drew it against Anchor and Shield, Golden Hoops, Lieutenant Bam, Polar Opposite - the direct successor to Thunder and Lightning - Spectre, Two BBQ, and Wrecker.

There, Megabyte immediately proved be an major contender as it attacked and immobilized Anchor and Shield with a single impact. Heading back out to the middle of the arena, Megabyte then attacked Positive Charge (Polar Opposite) and successfully managed to sandwich the multibot between itself and Lieutenant Bam. This attack ripped a wheel from Positive Charge, leaving it partially immobile as it flew across the arena. Next, Megabyte made few attacks towards Golden Hoops, but was unable to cause any major damage, despite one attack lifting the Chinese machine high off the arena floor.

Megabyte then proceeded to remove a wedge from the nearby Two BBQ, before once again continuing its assault onto Golden Hoops. After being briefly distracted by Wrecker, which landed on top of Megabyte after it had been sent flying across the arena by Two BBQ, Megabyte attacked the one-wheeled Lightning again, an attack which ricocheted it into Lieutenant Bam.

Megabyte targeted Lieutenant Bam next by briefly pinning it against the spinning side bars of the arena. Megabyte then made another attack onto the one-wheeled Positive Charge which sent the Chinese machine into a wall, and second hit by Megabyte followed, which caused something in the Blue machine to short-circuit as it was left immobile and on fire near another wall. After making another hit on the now partly immobile Lieutenant Bam, Megabyte tried to damage Golden Hoops once again, succeeding in ripping part of one of its tire treads away. As Megabyte continued to tussle with Lieutenant Bam, it suddenly stopped moving right in the middle of the arena, after the long fight had caused its drive motors to cease.

"*Megabyte's drive died. What happened is that we lost a motor controller on one side, and we lost a motor on the other. But the spin motor and spin motor controller worked perfect. Got to say that's the longest fight Megabyte has ever survived. My heart fell. I knew we lost that fight.*"
— John Mladenik reflects on Megabyte's late immobilization

This prompted Lieutenant Bam to hit Megabyte's still-spinning body with its mace, although Megabyte was otherwise left alone for the remainder of the seven-minute battle. When its immobilization became clear, Robotic Destruction Company were instructed by a referee to power down its spinning shell, the robot as a whole being counted out and eliminated by knockout, to Zheng Shuang's great disappointment. When Polar Opposite was revealed to have won the subsequent Judges' decision, Shuang briefly protested that the elimination should be overturned on the basis of Megabyte's performance and the moment where its shell was still spinning. The head Judge clarified that, as Megabyte could not make a '3-meter displacement' across the arena, it was considered as no longer having movement - a ruling Shuang politely accepted. Even before this, Robotic Destruction Company captain John Mladenik had already accepted Megabyte's defeat. In any case, the decision was not overturned.

### 2019 Opening Battle

Megabyte was one of ten heavyweight robots which attended the 2019 Opening Battle, competing as part of the blue team. Appearing in the first battle of the event, it fought Snake 2.0, the latest version of fellow Season 1 and 1.5 returnee Greedy Snake. Megabyte started tentatively, driving alongside the nearby wall spikes as it got its shell up to speed. This did not prevent it from being driven into and lifted up by an approaching Snake 2.0; the collision caused Megabyte to clip two of the spikes and to recoil across the blue corner. Megabyte hit another wall, and was sent ricocheting across the arena into the red corner, where it briefly landed on another spike. As Snake 2.0 closed in, Megabyte freed itself, wobbling back onto its wheels and retreating to the center of the arena. There, it spun its weapon up again, and after several seconds hit the front of Snake 2.0’s plough. Amidst a shower of sparks, Megabyte was sent recoiling into the wall spikes again, and attempted to maneuver away from Snake 2.0.

More sparks flew as Megabyte’s spinner grazed the plough of Snake 2.0, with Megabyte again attempting to evade Snake 2.0’s charge. Suddenly, it turned round and slammed into Snake 2.0; again, Megabyte was catapulted into the wall, but was flipped upside-down and sent sliding back towards the center of the arena. At this point, Megabyte’s shell spinner stopped rotating, preventing it from being able to self-right as Robotic Destruction Company tried unsuccessfully to get the spinner working again. Smoke poured from underneath Megabyte as its chassis slowly turned round; the Season 1 third-place finisher was soon counted out. Long after being eliminated, Megabyte attempted to turn and use its top pole to self-right, but abandoned this effort as more smoke began pouring from the robot. By that time, Megabyte had already been defeated via knockout, incurring an opening loss for the blue team as a result.

### King of Bots II (Season 2)

Megabyte made its *King of Bots II* debut in Episode 3, where it and eleven other international competitors attempted to replace Chinese robots on their existing celebrity teams. John Mladenik was hopeful that he could join Emma Dumont's team, believing the American actress to be an inspiration for young girls such as Mladenik's daughters, and through a random draw, Megabyte was able to fight for a place on Dumont's team by battling her existing team member Medusa.

"*It's terrible because I love Megabyte in real life, I'm such a big fan, and this time I don't know if I want him to do well!*"
— Emma Dumont remains supportive of Medusa

At the start of the battle, both robots kept their distance from each other, attempting to spin up to full speed, while Emma Dumont encouraged Medusa to attack quickly, fearing Megabyte's potentially greater power. Having reached its full 4500rpm top speeds, Megabyte circled around its opponent, expecting Medusa to let its guard down, but Medusa kept its own 4000rpm bar spinner pointed at Megabyte without leaving its general area. After an extended period of no contact, Medusa eventually crept towards Megabyte and threw sparks as the two spinners collided, but there was no major bite between either weapon, and Medusa was only pushed away.

However, this attack turned Medusa around, which allowed Megabyte to hit the back of it, and Megabyte destabilized Medusa while hitting its underside. Medusa recovered but still chose to remain largely in place, pointing its blade at Megabyte, while delivering a number of blows at Megabyte from a standstill. Despite its best efforts, Medusa was hit side-on by Megabyte over a minute and twenty seconds into the match, and Megabyte crippled both exposed tires of Medusa in a single drive towards the arena wall, leaving Medusa unable to move. Medusa could still spin its motors, and turned its wheels further off their mounting, while the referee counted out the immobile machine. This made Megabyte the winner, and it took Medusa's place on Emma Dumont's team.

"*They seemed to drive better than I expected, and kept their weapon in front of me, as I tried to maneuver and go around, I wasn't really able to get behind him until after I hit the weapon and then they spun around, then I was able to hit them.*"
— John Mladenik

In Emma Dumont's efforts to defeat Di Yang's team in the next stage of the competition, Megabyte was enlisted to fight in the only head-to-head battle of this round, against Di Yang's representative Cracked Sword.

Megabyte quickly spun up its weapon, although Cracked Sword was the one to make the first approach. Within seconds, both exchanged sparks with their weapons, before proceeding to damage and knock loose one of the wall spike panels. Debris and a spike flew as Megabyte and Cracked Sword retreated, then charged into each other again. The impact threw Cracked Sword upwards and sent it recoiling into the blue corner; however, this also allowed it to break Megabyte's pole off and send it flying against one of the control area screens. As both competitors approached each other again, Megabyte sent the loose spike into the upper polycarbonate screens, before severely damaging Cracked Sword's left wheel.

Cracked Sword skidded towards the red corner, and attempted to lunge at Megabyte again. However, it slid side-on into Megabyte's shell, sustaining even more damage as it was lifted and sent recoiling back towards the spikes. With its right tire punctured, Cracked Sword struggled to move away, but spun round into Megabyte once more. The collision sent the two robots flying across the arena in opposite directions, with Cracked Sword ultimately being left immobile and on fire in the red corner. Having ricocheted back into the blue corner, Megabyte emerged victorious via knockout, despite taking considerable damage to its shell.

In the next round, Megabyte had the opportunity to secure another victory for Emma Dumont, against Tao Shen's team and his representative, Big Carioca.

Within seconds, Big Carioca approached and drove into a spinning Megabyte, only for Megabyte to rip off its front-right wedge and send it recoiling into the grinders. Megabyte, meanwhile, ricocheted into the spikes, rebounding back into the blue corner before getting its shell up to speed. Big Carioca charged into Megabyte again, and as before was launched towards the grinder, this time with considerable damage to its right axle.

Despite this, Big Carioca drove into Megabyte’s shell twice more; these blows resulted in Megabyte tearing off one of Big Carioca’s weapon supports and its remaining wedge, as well as dislodge the Brazilian machine’s bar spinner entirely. As a result of this damage, Big Carioca began to overbalance, flipping its chassis upside down while Megabyte closed in. Megabyte cleaved Big Carioca’s right wheel off, sparks flying as Big Carioca was knocked back into the blue corner.

Big Carioca moved back and forth in a circle on its remaining wheel, and began to shuffle out of the blue corner in an attempt to avoid getting eliminated. Although the referee initially began counting Big Carioca out, its movements across the arena were noticed, terminating the countdown after three seconds. Big Carioca made its way towards the pit, at which point Megabyte charged forwards and slammed into it one more time. The impact sent Big Carioca flying into a grinder mount, and the remainder of its weapon mount into one of the polycarbonate screens directly above. Big Carioca came to rest against another grinder mount nearby, where it was left to smoke copiously. After a spectacularly destructive battle, Megabyte was declared the winner by knockout, securing Emma Dumont’s second consecutive victory in this round.

"*The Brazilian team is really good friends with Megabyte, the Megabyte team, and they said “Let’s do it, let’s go full out, let’s try our hardest… you know, come at us!”… that was really honorable and very, very cool.*"
— Emma Dumont’s verdict on Megabyte vs Big Carioca

Under Dumont's successor Ye Hong Li, Megabyte's next fight was against Snake, which greatly worried John Mladenik due to his machine's loss to Snake earlier in the year at the 2019 Opening Battle. It entered the fight with a set of forks at the front, to breach the hardened front wedge of Snake, alongside a wedge-shaped minibot.

At the start of the battle, Snake made the first move, cruising across the arena while Megabyte remained in place to spin up its shell, and release its minibot. Snake collided with the spinning Megabyte and knocked it straight into the arena wall to completely disrupt its spinning momentum. Megabyte attempted to spin back up, but Snake was already underneath it, and Megabyte's forks pushed it off the surface of Snake and unbalanced it as the shell spinner recoiled away. Snake continued its assault by pressing Megabyte against the arena wall, hoisting it up briefly using its front-hinged lifter, but soon let go.

Megabyte's spinning motion had come to a complete stop from these early attacks, and could not power up its shell spinner for the rest of the battle. It was therefore forced to fight using only its minibot and its partially bent forks, but surprisingly these were still able to wedge under the front of Snake, allowing Megabyte to guide it into the wall. Snake bumped into Megabyte and tried to pin it against the wall, although it again rode up Megabyte's forks. The two robots separated, and Snake charged past Megabyte's minibot to ram into its main target, again riding up the shell spinner slightly, but Snake was nevertheless on top. This lead came to a sudden halt, however, when Snake missed its next charge at Megabyte and pinned itself directly under an arena spike. With Snake's back wheels spinning in the air helplessly, Megabyte backed off and waited for Snake to be counted out, ending the fight abruptly.

"*If he didn't get stuck, there's no way we'd have won that fight, so we had luck on our side!*"
— John Mladenik

In an effort to knock another robot out of Zhu Zheng Ting's team, Megabyte next took on Two BBQ. For this battle, it reverted to its normal configuration, while John Mladenik wished Two BBQ's captain Song Peng a 'good fight' between the two spinners.

Megabyte initially started the more tentative machine, trying to get its shell spinning while Two BBQ rushed in for an attack. As it did so, the robot itself also began spinning, causing Megabyte to lift off the floor several times before Two BBQ slammed into the shell. The impact caused Megabyte to recoil towards a grinder; however, Two BBQ flipped itself over and spun on its side towards the other end of the arena in the process. With Two BBQ unable to right itself, Megabyte approached its opponent and spun its shell up again, but declined to attack any further before the Chinese machine was counted out. Megabyte's knockout victory was crucial in instrumenting Two BBQ's voluntary elimination from Zhu Zheng Ting's team, and securing Ye Hong Li's place in the final stage of the competition.

Megabyte was the third robot to represent Ye Hong Li in the final Attrition War, with the team at a large deficit, as Megabyte's opponent Deep-Sea Shark was still Huang Jian Xiang's first robot.

**John Mladenik**: "*He's already beat two robots he didn't expect to beat.*"
**Jason Marston**: "*I chopped all his wheels off the top.*"
**John Mladenik**: "*Yeah, I noticed that he barely moved out of the start. We're gonna hit him at full speed.*"
— Plans from the Megabyte team

Megabyte was somewhat taken aback by Deep-Sea Shark's unusually aggressive approach, but Deep-Sea Shark only connected with its front wedgelet rather than its disc, and was blasted aside by Megabyte, although Megabyte seemingly came off worse as it was thrown into a Grinder by the impact. Deep-Sea Shark used this chance to throw Megabyte upwards with a hit which caused it to smash into the arena wall, and when the two came together again, the force of a weapon-on-weapon hit between the two robots caused Megabyte to shed its tensioner and a drive belt which fell to the arena floor uselessly. Fortunately for Megabyte, this drive belt only connected Megabyte's slave wheels to its powered wheels, so the robot could still function without the component.

"*It was the drive belt and tensioner that is used for the drive wheel to drive the slave wheel. The tensioner floats in the middle making the cogged belt tight. It is 3D printed.*"
— Robotic Death Company Facebook page describes the broken component

While getting back up to speed, Megabyte deflected Deep-Sea Shark into the Grinder, and then caught up to deliver a mighty slam on the side of Deep-Sea Shark, generating a shower of sparks while spinning Deep-Sea Shark into the arena wall. Surprisingly, Deep-Sea Shark escaped without significant damage, but the next attack from Megabyte completely blew apart one of its front wedgelets, casting it across the arena in three distinct parts. This did not stop Deep-Sea Shark from attacking, as it valiantly charged into Megabyte only to be thrown across the entire length of the arena, also knocking Megabyte into the wall.

The spinning motion of Deep-Sea Shark was momentarily halted, but it charged straight back into Megabyte without its weapon, and was sent recoiling into the air, landing on its back in the process, also losing part of its frontal frame. However, Deep-Sea Shark reacted very quickly and drove into a Grinder while inverted, using the arena hazard and its own spinner to self-right, at the cost of yet more framework. Deep-Sea Shark returned to attack Megabyte, while the shell spinner continued to shave away the front of the suffering Deep-Sea Shark. This was repeated with the next few attacks, where Deep-Sea Shark continually drove into Megabyte, only to be swatted away, taking more damage in the process. After several more hits, including a blow which lifted Deep-Sea Shark into the air, Megabyte finally connected a combo hit which swung Deep-Sea Shark around, and allowed Megabyte to connect a hit to its opponent's wheels, exposed at the back of the robot. These hits to Deep-Sea Shark disabled its drive on one side, and loosened a side panel. Megabyte backed off, and Deep-Sea Shark was counted out despite its attempts to keep moving, giving the win to Megabyte.

"*The only thing that was broken after the fight was the ETEK weapon motors, the brushes were burned up, desoldered and prevented the spin from working in the next fight.*"
— Robotic Death Company Facebook page describes the remaining damage after the fight

Although Megabyte had earned a very impressive victory, it lost the use of its spinner prior to its next battle against Xiake, due to a soldering issue inside its ETEK motors that started to take place during the previous bout. The team were given five minutes to repair their spinner, but could not do so, and entered the arena to face the Chiyung Jinlun series of machines for the third time, without the use of its weapon.

Without a working weapon, Megabyte could only run away while Xiake was able to leisurely spin its drum up to speed, and then quickly delivered a blow to Megabyte, throwing it into the air. Megabyte landed on its self-righting bar and bounced upright, but could only continue to run away from Xiake, and it did not take Xiake long to catch up and throw Megabyte high into the arena wall, near its drivers. Although Megabyte once again landed upright, this did not last, as with one final blow, Xiake smashed Megabyte up and over with a fatal third hit. Although Megabyte attempted to use its self-righting mechanism, it was soon counted out, and effectively lost to Xiake for the third time.

With one win and one loss, Megabyte was forced to leave the rest of the Attrition War in the hands of teammates Spectre and Drift, and although Ye Hong Li's team was successful in reducing Huang Jian Xiang's team down to its final robot, they ultimately fell in defeat, resigning Megabyte and its teammates to second place.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 12
* Losses: 6

## Series Record

 Season 2 | **Ye Hong Li's team, joint runners-up**(6-1 record)

## Outside King of Bots

Megabyte was originally built by the Robotic Death Company as a heavyweight version of their lightweight spinner, **Rambite**, which competed in Seasons 4.0-5.0 of the original *BattleBots*. The robot itself debuted in the Season 5.0 heavyweight championship (its name originally spelt as **Megabite**), where it was eliminated after losing its first battle.

Following the cancellation of the original *BattleBots*, Megabite was renamed and rebuilt, adopting the full-body shell spinner design it features today. It enjoyed significant success in North American robot combat tournaments in this form, winning the Heavyweight Division at the 2003 RFL National Championships following an undefeated streak as well as the combat tournament of RoboGames 2004. Megabyte also finished runner-up in the 2004 RFL National Championships and reached the quarter-finals of the 2009 *BattleBots* Pro Championships, before it and Robotic Death Company retired from robot combat. Its success spawned a super-heavyweight version, **Super Megabyte**, which won its respective weight class tournament at RoboGames 2005.

In 2016, the Robotic Death Company returned to robot combat events, entering the second season of ABC’s *BattleBots* reboot with **Invader**. A modified and renamed version of Megabyte, featuring glow-in-the-dark paint, LED lights and various improvements, Invader lost its first battle – a three-way preliminary melee against Lycan and Mohawk – after suffering a receiver failure, despite inflicting considerable damage to the former.

An entirely new version of Megabyte – also known as **Megabyte 2.0** by the team - was completed in 2017, although it retains the shell used between 2003-2009. It is this incarnation with which Robotic Death Company entered into *King of Bots* – prior to this, the new Megabyte made its robot combat debut at RoboGames 2017, where it reached the quarter-finals before losing to Original Sin and Crash n’ Burn.

The Robotic Death Company entered the 2018 season of *BattleBots*, while *This is Fighting Robots* was being filmed. They entered with **Gigabyte**, a robot identical in concept to Megabyte, with new internals. In its first battle, it fought the reigning champion Tombstone, but its entire spinning shell was ripped from the robot, causing the Robotic Death Company to feign immobility in order to avoid further damage from Tombstone. As the shell came loose due to parts ordered in China not following specifications, Gigabyte took a large absence from the competition so that the team could create a new joint to attach the shell with. By the time Gigabyte was ready to compete again, its combat record of 0-1 was too detrimental at this late stage of the competition, and Gigabyte entered the 'Desperado Bracket' in order to win a place in the final 16. Here, Gigabyte earned a destructive victory by knockout over Double Dutch, but was defeated by Lucky after Gigabyte was flipped over, and its self-righting bar snapped off. Returning to the main competition, Gigabyte fought Brutus, and in spite of losing the use of its spinner, Gigabyte used its wedge shape to overturn Brutus and win by knockout. This left Gigabyte with a combat record of 2-2, so it entered into the six-way Last Chance Rumble in order to earn the sixteenth seed in the main competition. Despite starting strongly, Gigabyte lost all drive after being deflected into the BattleBox wall, with only its weapon still spinning. Gigabyte ultimately lost the rumble to Bombshell, eliminating it from the competition.

Gigabyte returned for the 2019 season of *BattleBots*, with John Mladenik now present for all of the robot's fights. In its first battle, Gigabyte fought a fellow full-body spinner, Chronos, and quickly immobilized it with superior spinner blows. Gigabyte then faced the defending runner-up Minotaur and emerged victorious in a close Judges' decision, although it then lost a Judges' decision to HUGE after its shell spinner was disabled. A destructive loss to Witch Doctor concluded Gigabyte's Fight Night campaign at a 2-2 record. Although Gigabyte was invited to fight a play-in battle for a place in the Top 16, the team lacked spare parts and conceded their place in the competition.

Gigabyte later competed in the 2020 season of *BattleBots*, sporting a new look in homage to its sponsor MaxAmps. However, it quickly lost its first fight to Copperhead after its entire outer shell was ripped off. Gigabyte redeemed this by comfortably defeating Extinguisher and **Claw Viper** by knockout in its next two fights, bringing its fight record to 2-1 and granting it a place in the main competition as the 17th seed. Here, it defeated the higher ranked **Malice** by knockout, but was beaten on a Judge's decision by **Hydra**, eliminating it from the competition.

Outside the main competition, Gigabyte also competed in the *BattleBots Bounty Hunters* spin-off, fighting for the right to take on *BattleBots* legend **Son of Whyachi**. After scoring two knockouts against **GRABOT** and **The Big Dill**, Gigabyte went into a rematch against Copperhead and was able to wear down its opponent, knocking it out and earning the right to face Son of Whyachi. Here, Gigabyte had its srimech torn off quickly, but a subsequent attack on Son of Whyachi's spinning hammers was enough to overturn the "legend", leaving Gigabyte victorious.

Gigabyte returned for the sixth modern season of *BattleBots* with internal upgrades, with some of the team competing with Cobalt. Gigabyte lost its first fight of the season to former Top-16 finisher Uppercut after being flipped over whilst its self-righting pole was bent, but followed this up with a very quick win over Captain Shrederator. A final win over SMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, after destroying one of its opponent's body segments, meant that Gigabyte finished its Fight Night run with a 2-1 record and it subsequently qualified for the main competition as the 22nd seed. It did not progress any further in the main competition, losing a judges' decision to Tantrum. Gigabyte also competed in the spin-off series *BattleBots: Champions*, where its position as a winner in the *Bounty Hunters* tournament allowed it to fight as a "gatekeeper". It was eventually challenged by HyperShock and defeated in an extremely destructive knockout where HyperShock's final attack tore Gigabyte apart.

For the seventh season, Gigabyte returned under the captaincy of Derek Tran and Camden Wallraff, with John Mladenik captaining Cobalt. Gigabyte had a poor start, losing its first fight to Free Shipping after being knocked upside down and its second fight to Bloodsport after a strong impact from both spinning weapons disabled Gigabyte's drive. It was able to score a win against Starchild on a judges' decision, but its final fight against former champion End Game saw Gigabyte knocked upside down after a destructive 43 seconds, leaving it with a 1-3 record and failing to qualify for the main competition. Gigabyte would later return for the second season of *BattleBots: Champions* where it quickly knocked out Triton in its first battle, before scoring a come-from-behind victory against Death Roll when a collision between both robots' spinning weapons knocked Death Roll into the BattleBox wall paddle, trapping it there. In its third fight, Gigabyte faced Free Shipping in a rematch from their Season 7 encounter and once again lost after a ricochet across the BattleBox knocked it upside down and broke off its srimech.

## Trivia

* As Chinese broadcast regulations forbade the usage of the word "death" on television, Megabyte's team was introduced as the "Robotic Destruction Company" on King of Bots.
* By reaching the semi-finals and finishing third overall, Megabyte was the most successful robot to receive a wildcard, defeating two fellow wildcard entries in consecutive battles.
* The above performance also made Megabyte the most successful robot from the United States of America in Season 1 of *King of Bots*.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/RoboticDeathCompany/photos/a.143723766017670.1073741827.143673286022718/522492904807419/?type=3&theater
2. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/7y1f1d/king\_of\_bots\_episode\_7\_discussion\_thread/duvwirm/
3. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/8eqy2r/this\_is\_fighting\_robots\_episode\_3\_discussion/dy1r551/
4. ↑ Private correspondence with User:ToastUltimatum
5. ↑ Private correspondence with User:ToastUltimatum

## External Links

* Megabyte on the official *King of Bots* website (Chinese, archived)
* Robotic Death Company website
* Original Robotic Death Company website
* Robotic Death Company Facebook page