Ninja General

Ninja General

**统称忍武将军** (romanized as **Tǒngchēng rěn wǔ jiàng jūn**, translating to **General Ninja** or **Ninja General** (Mech+ version), alternately named **Wu Wu Generals**) is a Japanese heavyweight robot which contested the inaugural season of *King of Bots*. It was a three part multibot built by two high school students and their teacher, which reached the second round before falling to another multibot, Thunder and Lightning.

## Design

Ninja General was a three-part multibot, with the individual segments being two-wheel drive and roughly box-shaped in profile. Each was themed to represent a different type of warrior from Japanese history - a ninja (blue), a samurai (red) and a shogun (gold). The top panels all featured artwork of their corresponding warriors, or, in the case of the 'shogun' segment, a Japanese castle, largely inspired by traditional paintings.

As weaponry, the 'ninja' and 'shogun' segments featured front drum-like spinners with several cutting discs on the same axle. Meanwhile, the 'samurai' segment was equipped with a front ramming blade, with large cut-outs immediately behind the front ramming surface. Two smaller eight-pointed discs, likely referencing the shuriken weapon, were attached to the front of the 'shogun' segment, functioning as an additional pair of face spinners.

## The Team

Ninja General's team was a three-member entry from Oji Technical High School in Nara, Japan. Electrical engineering teacher Takahiro Yamamura, then 28 years old, assumed the role of captain, supported by two of his students - Daiki Yamaguchi and Kazuha Inui.

## Robot History

### King of Bots (Season 1)

Ninja General first fought Blazing Hot Wheels. Immediately the cluster splits into three, with the 'samurai' and 'ninja' parts coming in from both sides slamming into Blazing Hot Wheels, only to barged out of the way. As the clusterbots backed away and prepared for another attack, Blazing Hot Wheels steered towards the arena grinders, turning and completely removing one of its own cutting discs. Blazing Hot Wheels drove into the other grinder where it was damaged internally. Ninja General avoided contact with Blazing Hot Wheels as it drove slowly in circles and on top of the arena saw blades, sending a shower of sparks as it impacted with them.

The 'ninja' part of Ninja General became wedged on the front spikes of Blazing Hot Wheels, and was slowly driven into the side wall spikes. The 'samurai' smacked itself into the back of Blazing Hot Wheels, trying to free the 'ninja' from its opponent's clutches. Blazing Hot Wheels used its arm to lower its front saw and scrape the top of the 'ninja' segment, creating sparks, but was unable to make much of an impact as Ninja General drove away. Blazing Hot Wheels reversed slowly onto a flame jet, and circular saw once more as Ninja General rammed into it from all sides, with the 'ninja' being caught on the back spikes once more. As time ran out, the battle went to a judges' decision with Ninja General being declared the winner.

In the second round, Ninja General fought a fellow multibot, Thunder and Lightning, resulting in five robots battling at once. Ninja General was tentative at first, and held back in the red square without purpose. After reaching its top speed, Lightning (blue) drove straight into Ninja General's 'samurai', and rammed it into the wall. The 'samurai' was then flipped over by Lightning's disc, while Thunder (red) ripped into the 'shogun'. With the 'samurai' segment immobile, Lightning smashed the golden 'shogun' into the disc of Thunder, bending its frame while leaving a gash in the side. The 'shogun' robot could now only move backwards. While the 'ninja' component of Ninja General attempted to attack Thunder, it was Lightning which pushed the hobbled 'shogun' into the arena wall, where it did not escape. With 66% of Ninja General immobile, the whole robot was counted out, and eliminated from the competition.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 1
* Losses: 1

## Trivia

* Ninja General was one of the only Asian representative to not be built in China, other than Taiwan.

## External Links

* Ninja General on the *King of Bots* website (Chinese, archived)