Knife Legend

**尖刀传奇** (**Jiāndāo chuánqí**, directly translated as **The Legend of the Blade**, alternately translated as **Knife Legend** or **Dagger Saga**) was a competitor robot from Shanghai, China, which competed in the first season of *King of Bots*. It reached the second round after winning its first battle against Ink Thorns on a Judges’ decision, despite immobilizing itself and the latter simultaneously with a single blow in the process. Its good luck continued in the second round, where its opponent Juzi lost reception before the two robots even made contact, only to lose in identical fashion to Rust Boar in the following round.

Team member Wang Zheng also competed in the 2019 Opening Battle with his featherweight drum spinner Forsaken 2.0, and later entered *King of Bots II* with Twin Panthers.

## Design

Knife Legend was an invertible, black and gold robot with two-wheel drive, a narrow T-shaped chassis and a large horizontal bar spinner, also painted gold. The spinner was capable of causing substantial damage to opponents upon contact, although its weapon chain was completely exposed from all angles, especially at the top. The robot also suffered from general reliability issues in the event of recoil, losing mobility altogether in two battles, and losing weapon power in the other.

At the start of the competition, Knife Legend's frame housing the bar spinner was extremely long, but through re-welding, this was shortened for its second battle.

## Robot History

### King of Bots (Season 1)

Knife Legend debuted in Episode 3, where it fought Ink Thorns in the first round.

It immediately moved forwards from its starting position, facing away from Ink Thorns as it got its weapon up to speed. However, Knife Legend’s sluggishness allowed Ink Thorn to get underneath and manoeuvre it across the center of the arena; it responded by hitting Ink Thorns’ left-hand side, leaving a gash through the latter’s armor. The impact caused both robots to spin away and be left immobilized at opposite ends of the arena – in attacking Ink Thorns, Knife Legend had inadvertently short-circuited itself. With neither machine regaining mobility, the battle was stopped while a Judges’ decision took place. The Judges ruled Knife Legend victorious, allowing it to progress to the second round.

There, it faced a fellow bar spinner, Juzi. Before the battle, a tearful Wang Zheng was reluctant in entering the arena due to nervousness, which was edited to display a late arrival to the arena, but nonetheless Knife Legend fought its battle. Knife Legend now sported a shorter frame for its weapon, having been trimmed and re-welded between rounds.

While spinning up its blade, Knife Legend pressured Juzi by driving over the arena saws to draw nearer to its fleeing opponent, but in the process, Knife Legend drove weapon-first into the arena wall. The recoil of this attack disabled Knife Legend's bar spinner, but in spite of this disadvantageous state, Juzi ground to a halt due to radio reception issues. Knife Legend drove circles around Juzi, not even making contact with its opponent for the forty seconds of the fight, but Knife Legend had won the battle by knockout.

"*A win is a win!*"
— David Calkins to the Ayutthaya team

In the third round, Knife Legend fought a drum spinner, Rust Boar.

Knife Legend's first action was to accelerate its bar spinner. However, Knife Legend immediately turned into the arena wall while spinning up its weapon. This caused the frame holding Knife Legend's weapon, which had been re-welded several times throughout the competition, to shatter, and the entire weapon sheared from the robot, with debris narrowly missing Rust Boar. Knife Legend had also been immobilised through the recoil of the impact, and so it was immediately counted out. Thus, Knife Legend had lost to Rust Boar in the same manner as it won the previous round, in a battle where neither robot made contact with the other.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 2
* Losses: 1

## Series Record

*NOTE: Wang Zheng also competed in the 2019 Opening Battle with Forsaken 2.0.*

## Trivia

* Knife Legend managed to both win and lose a battle on the show without making ever contact with its opponents.
	+ Its heavyweight successor Twin Panthers would also lose a battle in Season 2 without reaching its opponents.
* Knife Legend's team were the only competitors to fall in the third round of Season 1, and not appear in Season 1.5.

## External Links

* Knife Legend on the *King of Bots* website (Chinese, archived)