Thunder and Lightning

*Not to be confused with Thunderstorm from Seasons 1, or Thunder from Season 2*

Thunder (left) and Lightning (right)

**电闪 雷鸣** (romanized as **Diàn shǎn léimíng**, translated as **Thunder and Lightning**) is a multibot from Shenzhen, China, which competed in the first season of *King of Bots*.

Entered by a father-and-son team, it won its first battle by defeating fellow multibot Steel God of War on a split decision. Thunder and Lightning's campaign was more comfortable in the following two rounds, immobilizing the Japanese multibot Ninja General before winning a unanimous Judges' decision over Saber. In the fourth round, Thunder and Lightning defeated Greedy Snake to reach the semi-finals, where it lost to British entry Spectre via knockout. It ultimately finished fourth overall in Season 1, after both halves sustained heavy damage - including an internal fire for Lightning - in the playoff against American full-body spinner Megabyte.

A similarly-designed multibot, Polar Opposite, was entered by the same team into the one-off 2018 series *This is Fighting Robots*.

## Design

Thunder and Lightning were 'twin' multibots (or clusterbots), each being invertible two-wheel drive machines with semi-enclosed wheels and a 'vertical spinning alloy weapon'. The weapons comprised of single-toothed discs mounted at the front, with a reported rotational speed of 15,000rpm, and were supported by small fork-like wedges to feed opponents in. The identically-designed segments had a top speed of 7 meters per second (approximately 25.2 km/h or 15.7mph), making them especially fast and maneuverable across the arena.

Aesthetically, the only discernible difference between the two multibots was in their color schemes, with one half being painted red, and the other blue. The removable link covers on each machine used the color of the other half of the robot. The red half (driven by Liu Yuan) was named **Thunder**, and the blue half (driven by Yuan's father, Kunfeng) was named **Lightning**.

## The Team

"*I will prove that the ability to make robots has nothing to do with age. I dream of becoming the first youth champion of King of Bots.*"
— Liu Yuan (Mech+ subtitles)

The Polar Opposite team comprised of father Liu Kunfeng and his then 12-year-old son Yuan, the youngest roboteer to compete in Season 1. According to Kungfeng, Yuan had begun building mechanical devices in his workshop at the age of two, and his first robot at the age of seven. Some of these devices were showcased in Thunder and Lightning's VT segment, including robotic hands and underwater thrusters, alongside Yuan's proficiency with using workshop tools such as drills and an angle grinder.

## Robot History

### King of Bots (Season 1)

The two-part multibot Thunder and Lightning faced the three-part multibot Steel God of War in the first round.

Initially, neither Thunder and Lightning moved from their starting positions, and one of Steel God of War's wedges ran straight into the disc of Lightning, and was thrown over. Thunder, meanwhile, collided head-on with Steel God of War's "boss" segment, flicking it upwards and buckling its feeder wedge. The attack also had the effect of disabling the "boss" robot's drum spinner, putting the Taiwanese student entry at an instant disadvantage. While Lightning focused on one of Steel God of War's wedge segments, Thunder was unable to avoid the other, which drove under its back end and held it against a Grinder. When freed, Thunder was also suspended by the Floor Rods briefly.

Lightning was also damaged by the arena saws, but managed to launch a brutal attack on a Steel God of War wedge, throwing it high into the air and over, before grinding at its wedge. Lightning was then able to push both static wedges at once, driving them both towards the Grinder, but Lightning instead drove straight into it, and was knocked away in recoil. Lightning attempted to gyro-dance using the power of its spinner in order to self-right, but was stopped by its wedges, as it wobbled onto a floor flipper, and would not be righted until it danced into the Grinder, sustaining damage in the process. Lightning struggled to drive away, and turned itself back over again, before Steel God of War pushed it straight back into the Grinder.

It had become evident that Lightning had lost the use of one wheel, but Thunder recovered by throwing a wedge of Steel God of War over, also chasing the main body of the machine across the arena. Thunder was pushed from behind by Steel God of War, and used gyroscopic procession to turn itself over, and it was pinned against the wall while Lightning was also pushed back into the Grinder before time expired on a very close match. Though the Judges considered both multibots to be equally competitive, Liu Yuan felt that Steel God of War had a stronger chance of winning through its more frequent use of the arena hazards.

Ultimately, a 2-1 split decision put Thunder and Lightning through to the next round; Ian Lewis and Zhao Ziyang both felt that it had demonstrated more consistent performances and a stronger impression of teamwork relative to Steel God of War.

**Ian Lewis**: "*Damage for 'blue' was very good. It was very strong.*"
**Zhao Ziyang**: "*So for the control, I think for the whole fight, 'blue' controlled the two bots, kept fighting, working with each other, but I don't think the 'three-one' [Steel God of War] worked very... teammates. So control, I think 'blue' is better.*"
— The Judges praise the teamwork of Thunder and Lightning

In the second round, Ninja General fought another multibot, Ninja General, resulting in five robots battling at once again.

Ninja General was tentative at first, and held back in the red square without purpose. After reaching its top speed, Lightning drove straight into the red robot of Ninja General, and rammed it into the wall. It was then flipped over by Lightning's disc, while Thunder ripped into the golden part of Ninja General. With the red robot immobile, Lightning smashed the yellow Ninja General into the disc of Thunder, bending its frame while leaving a gash in the side. The robot could now only move backwards, so while the blue component of Ninja General attempted to attack Thunder, it was Lightning which pushed the yellow machine into the arena wall, where it did not escape. With 66% of Ninja General immobile, the robot was counted out, and eliminated from the competition.

In the third round, Thunder and Lightning fought Saber, their first opponent to not be a multibot.

Thunder and Lightning used their usual tactic of remaining stationary to power up their spinners, but Saber slammed into Thunder and turned it over with a charge. Lightning retaliated by hitting Saber's back plate with its disc, before proceeding to hug the side of Saber, limiting its movement. A big hit from Lightning threw Saber up into the air, and caused part of its top armor to break loose, only staying on via a rear hinge. Saber backed into the wall, while Thunder attempted to use gyro-dancing to right itself, albeit without success, as Thunder became stuck on its left-hand side. While Thunder continued to attack the side of Saber, the larger machine was careful to avoid putting Thunder back on its wheels. Lightning drove into Thunder, but did not succeed in righting its partner, while Saber intentionally remained close to the stranded multibot to keep it immobile. Through its own gyro-dance, Lightning flipped itself over to collide with Thunder, but again did not knock it down until it finally drove into its partner and revived it.

Saber missed a flip, and Lightning struck its wedge, causing damage. Lightning then drove into the Grinder, while Thunder again attempted to gyro-dance back onto its wheels. Lightning then delivered a direct blow to the side of Saber, creating a visible tear. With an aggressive charge, Saber turned Thunder back onto its neutral position. Saber missed its next flip, and neither robot attacked each other for a period, with Saber driving over the floor rods, and Thunder eventually landing a small hit. After Lightning also drove over the rods, it struck the front wedge panel of Saber and damaged it, pushing the heavyweight robot across the arena. Saber also drove into the Grinder while trying to lead Lightning into it. Thunder briefly stopped moving, but Lightning was able to rip off Saber's loose wedge panel entirely.

Saber focused its efforts on the more active Lightning, while Thunder remained passive, and Saber rammed Lightning into the wall. Thunder managed a small attack, driving under the wedge of Saber, but without causing damage. Saber fought Lightning atop the flame jets, but Thunder asserted itself at the right moment to rip away Saber's other front wedge panel, leaving it with only the flipper at the front. Thunder started to dominate, hitting Saber's back end before driving under its front, while Saber's balance was too upset for it to drive under Thunder properly. Towards the end of the battle, Thunder hit the back of Saber, and Lightning attacked the side one more time, finishing with a big hit to Saber's front. The battle went to a Judges' decision, while Thunder and Lightning celebrated with a coordinated gyro-dance. The decision was unanimously awarded to Thunder and Lightning.

Within the top eight, Thunder and Lightning were originally intended to face Rust Boar. However, after Rust Boar withdrew due to the mounting for its drum spinner sustaining damage, it was replaced with Greedy Snake, which fought Thunder and Lightning for a place in the semi-finals.

Greedy Snake initially drove beyond Thunder, and rammed into Lightning, with the smokescreen also being activated in the faces of Thunder and Lightning's team. Greedy Snake then edged Thunder backwards, and overturned Lightning with a powerful drive. Lightning quickly self-righted through gyro-dancing, but landed in the grip of Greedy Snake. Lightning was able to free, and delivered a direct blow to Greedy Snake's lifter, throwing it up. Greedy Snake drove into the front of Lightning again, swiftly turning it over, but Lightning righted itself within seconds. While trying to attack Greedy Snake, Thunder was deflected into the air by Greedy Snake's shape, and on its next attack, Greedy Snake rammed Thunder into the corner of the arena, stranding it on its side.

Thunder was a considerable distance from its partner, and so it was left idle while Lightning fought Greedy Snake alone, and the lighter robot was cast into the air. While Greedy Snake attempted to grab Lightning with its weaponry, the multibot landed a decisive blow, and ripped away one of Greedy Snake's forks using its discs. Greedy Snake was still able to hound Lightning into the wall, but Lightning used the entire arena to flee, and eventually draw Greedy Snake onto the floor flipper, where both robots were turned over together. While Lightning landed perfectly on its side, Greedy Snake was stuck on its side, and Lightning pressured it to prevent Greedy Snake from self-righting effectively. Lightning then left Greedy Snake idle as it struggled to self-right, and rescued the stranded Thunder before Greedy Snake was counted out, and the win by knockout was awarded to Thunder and Lightning.

Thunder and Lightning had advanced to the semi-finals, where it fought the final remaining representative of the United Kingdom, Spectre.

Straight away, Lightning was targeted by Spectre, which pursued the blue machine across the arena while Thunder proceeded to give chase itself. With Team Spectre realizing that the multibots had swapped drivers, Spectre drove into and pushed Thunder around in circles, before scooping up, clamping and ramming it into the wall – however, Thunder’s disc tore the teeth of Spectre’s crusher off, reducing the crusher’s effectiveness. Lightning, meanwhile, had retreated towards another wall, but was left unable to drive properly as Spectre pushed Thunder into its own spinner. Spectre let go of Thunder and reversed, leaving the Chinese multibots to slowly negotiate towards the red square. Lightning proceeded to slam head-on into Spectre, its disc momentarily throwing the British machine off the floor. However, Spectre landed on all four wheels, chasing Lightning across the arena again before grabbling and slamming Thunder into the wall spikes once more. The impact dislodged Thunder’s left wheel, immobilizing it on one side.

With this, Lightning was left to fight Spectre alone. It was soon grabbed and driven into the grinders by Spectre, whose attacks were sufficient to occasionally throw Lightning off-balance and leave it immobilized on one side. Thunder, still attempting to maneuver across the arena on one wheel, met Spectre once more – Spectre clamped and pushed it into the nearby grinder, which threw Thunder over and left it completely immobilized. Both parts of Thunder and Lightning were counted out as Spectre drove slowly away and raised its srimech several times in celebration.

Thunder and Lightning could still compete in a third place playoff, where it fought the American full-body spinner, Megabyte. Prior to this battle, Lightning underwent a comprehensive rebuild, sporting a gray color scheme, a shallow front wedge in place of its disc and its side and rear armor completely replaced with tubular columns. Meanwhile, Megabyte’s shell was exchanged for one featuring cut-outs and polycarbonate top panels, with John Mladenik and his teammates initially unaware of the modifications carried out to Thunder and Lightning.

In the opening seconds, the heavily-modified Lightning drove into and scooped Megabyte up with its wedge, the momentum in its attack causing Megabyte to skitter into the wall. Sparks flew as the American robot’s cutters hit the wall, causing Megabyte itself to rebound across the arena towards Thunder. Thunder hesitated as Megabyte got its shell up to full speed again, before ripping its left wheel and motor out with a powerful side-on attack. Lightning subsequently took several hits from Megabyte's spinner, which repeatedly launched and sent it spinning across the arena. Megabyte then hit Thunder again, sending it spinning into the grinder. By this point, Lightning began encountering control issues which again prevented it from driving in a straight line – Megabyte capitalized on this by weaving around, then hitting the left-hand side of Lightning one last time. The impact threw Lightning into the center grinder mount, immobilizing and causing it to catch fire within seconds. With the motors and wires for its left wheel hanging out of the robot, Thunder weaved itself across the arena in an attempt to show signs of mobility, but this was not enough to prevent Thunder and Lightning from being counted out as a whole. Defeated, Thunder reversed and stopped alongside the burning Lightning as Megabyte sat nearby; the father-and-son team of Thunder and Lightning were left disconsolate about their loss in post-battle interviews, but were soon congratulated and praised by John Mladenik of the Robotic Death Company.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 4
* Losses: 2

## Outside King of Bots

Before entering *King of Bots*, the Thunder and Lightning team found success in the FMB (*Fighting My Bots*) 60kg tournaments. For the 2018 World Cup Final, they entered with **Shanfeng Warrior**, an improved version of one of the Thunder and Lightning multibots, which reached the round of eight before losing to famous Brazilian competitor Touro on a judges' decision.

## Trivia

* Thunder and Lightning was one of two robots in *King of Bots* Season 1 to be named after thunder - Thunderstorm also debuted in the same episode as Thunder and Lightning.
* Thunder and Lightning fought two fellow multibots in two consecutive battles.
* The young son of the team first gained an interest in engineering after playing with his father's tools at the age of 2.
* Due to its fourth-place finish in *King of Bots* Season 1, Thunder and Lightning, alongside *RoboGames* competitor **Crash n' Burn**, and *Robot Wars: Series 10* joint third-place finisher Nuts 2, is one of the most successful heavyweight multibots in the history of robot combat.

## References

1. ↑ During the robot's introduction, the blue half was referred to as the electric half of the team. This naming convention is confirmed in the Mech+ translation, which directly translates the robot's full name as **Lightning and Thunder**.
2. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/7wfc7r/fmb\_world\_cup\_final\_60kg\_round\_of\_8\_touro\_bra\_vs/

## External Links

* Thunder and Lightning on the official *King of Bots* website (Chinese, archived)