King of Bots (Season 1)

Season 1 title card

**Season 1** of *King of Bots* was the first series of the show, filmed in late 2017 and aired in early 2018. It featured eight episodes. Season 1 of *King of Bots* was succeeded by the one-off associated series *This is Fighting Robots*, and the second season, marketed as *King of Bots II*.

An English-subtitled version of Season 1 was introduced by Mech+ on November 3 2023, marking the official launch of *King of Bots* on the international streaming service. The first three episodes were initially added on demand that evening, with subsequent episodes being added on Fridays.

## Format

The main competition consisted of a simple six-round knockout tournament between 48 robots weighing up to 110kg. Each round featured head-to-head battles between the competitors, the winners of which would progress to later rounds. For the third round, four 'wildcard' entries were added alongside the twelve second-round winners for a total of sixteen robots. The tournament continued until two robots remained in the sixth and final round, the winner of which would be crowned the inaugural *King of Bots* champion.

In addition to the main competition, Season 1 also featured two 'Tag Team' battles (also referred to as '2v2' battles) and a nine-robot 'Rumble', broadcast in Episode 7 and Episode 8 respectively.

The majority of robots competing in Season 1 hail from China, but a number of international countries are represented, such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia and Russia. Among these include teams who had experienced prior success in other robot combat shows and events, including the UK *Robot Wars* and US *BattleBots*.

## Episodes

### Episode 1

*Main article: King of Bots (Season 1)/Episode 1*
Episode 1 contained seven battles from the first round of the competition.

Robots competing: Great Wilderness War Tiger, Megabyte, Mighty Crossbow and Steel Shield, Nuclear Bomb, Red from the Flames, Residual Wind, Saber, Sea Wolf, Greedy Snake, Stingray, Spectre, Violent Dragon, Vulcan, Wild Beast

Battles (Round 1)

* Megabyte vs Stingray: **Megabyte won**
* Saber vs Vulcan: **Saber won**
* Nuclear Bomb vs Greedy Snake: **Greedy Snake won**
* Mighty Crossbow and Steel Shield vs Violent Dragon: **Mighty Crossbow and Steel Shield won**
* Great Wilderness War Tiger vs Wild Beast: **Wild Beast won**
* Red from the Flames vs Spectre: **Spectre won**
* Residual Wind vs Sea Wolf: **Residual Wind won**

### Episode 2

*Main article: King of Bots (Season 1)/Episode 2*
Episode 2 contained eight battles from the first round of the competition.

Robots Competing: Blazing Hot Wheels, Burning Twin Star, Chinese Aegis, Dark Knight, Hammerhead Shark, Hurricane, Great White, Ninja General, Rust Boar, Spin Doctor, Steel God of War, Tánshè, Thunder and Lightning, Thunderstorm, Two BBQ, Unlimited Numbers

Battles (Round 1)

* Steel God of War vs Thunder and Lightning: **Thunder and Lightning won**
* Great White vs Spin Doctor: **Great White won**
* Dark Knight vs Tánshè: **Tánshè won**
* Hammerhead Shark vs Hurricane: **Hammerhead Shark won**
* Blazing Hot Wheels vs Ninja General: **Ninja General won**
* Burning Twin Star vs Thunderstorm: **Thunderstorm won**
* Unlimited Numbers vs Rust Boar: **Rust Boar won**
* Chinese Aegis vs Two BBQ: **Two BBQ won**

### Episode 3

*Main article: King of Bots (Season 1)/Episode 3*
Episode 3 contained nine battles from the first round of the competition.

Robots Competing: Blade Gyro, Blue, Chiyung Jinlun, Crossfire, EarthShaker, Griffin, Hunting Wind, Ink Thorns, Inverse Scales, Juzi, Knife Legend, Scorpion, Steel Dragon, Stegodon α and Stegodon β, Suspension, The Grubs, Whirlwind, WU66

Battles (Round 1)

* Blue vs EarthShaker: **Blue won**
* WU66 vs Suspension: **Suspension won**
* Griffin vs Juzi: **Juzi won**
* Chiyung Jinlun vs Steel Dragon: **Chiyung Jinlun won**
* Stegodon α and Stegodon β vs Whirlwind: **Whirlwind won**
* Blade Gyro vs Scorpion: **Blade Gyro won**
* Hunting Wind vs Inverse Scales: **Hunting Wind won**
* Crossfire vs The Grubs: **The Grubs won**
* Knife Legend vs Ink Thorns: **Knife Legend won**

### Episode 4

*Main article: King of Bots (Season 1)/Episode 4*
Episode 4 contained six battles from the second round of the competition.

Robots Competing: Blade Gyro, Blue, Hammerhead Shark, Mighty Crossbow and Steel Shield, Rust Boar, Saber, Spectre, Tánshè, The Grubs, Thunderstorm, Two BBQ, Whirlwind

Battles (Round 2)

* Spectre vs Whirlwind: **Spectre won**
* Hammerhead Shark vs Tánshè: **Tánshè won**
* Two BBQ vs Mighty Crossbow and Steel Shield: **Two BBQ won**
* Blade Gyro vs Rust Boar: **Rust Boar won**
* Blue vs Thunderstorm: **Blue won**
* Saber vs The Grubs: **Saber won**

### Episode 5

*Main article: King of Bots (Season 1)/Episode 5*
Episode 5 contained six battles from the second round of the competition, concluding the round.

Robots Competing: Chiyung Jinlun, Great White, Hunting Wind, Juzi, Knife Legend, Megabyte, Moment, Ninja General, Residual Wind, Greedy Snake, Suspension, Thunder and Lightning, Wild Beast

Battles (Round 2)

* Great White vs Hunting Wind: **Great White won**
* Chiyung Jinlun vs Megabyte: **Chiyung Jinlun won**
* Greedy Snake vs Suspension: **Greedy Snake won**
* Residual Wind vs Wild Beast: **Wild Beast won**
* Juzi vs Knife Legend: **Knife Legend won**
* Ninja General vs Thunder and Lightning: **Thunder and Lightning won**

### Episode 6

*Main article: King of Bots (Season 1)/Episode 6*
Episode 6 contained all eight battles from the third round of the competition, featuring all twelve second-round winners and four wildcard entries.

Battles (Round 3)

* Great White vs Tánshè: **Great White won**
* Blue vs Two BBQ: **Two BBQ won**
* Crossfire vs Spin Doctor: **Spin Doctor won**
* Spectre vs Wild Beast: **Spectre won**
* EarthShaker vs Megabyte: **Megabyte won**
* Saber vs Thunder and Lightning: **Thunder and Lightning won**
* Knife Legend vs Rust Boar: **Rust Boar won**
* Chiyung Jinlun vs Greedy Snake: **Chiyung Jinlun won**

### Episode 7

*Main article: King of Bots (Season 1)/Episode 7*
Episode 7 featured all four battles from the fourth round of the main competition, as well as two Tag Team battles.

Battles (Round 4)

* Spin Doctor vs Megabyte: **Megabyte won**
* Two BBQ vs Spectre: **Spectre won**
* Chiyung Jinlun vs Great White: **Chiyung Jinlun won**
* Greedy Snake vs Thunder and Lightning: **Thunder and Lightning won**

Tag Team Battles

* Saber & Snake vs Tánshè & Vulcan: **Tánshè & Vulcan won**
* Great White & Spin Doctor vs Rust Boar & Wild Beast: **Spin Doctor & Great White won**

### Episode 8

*Main article: King of Bots (Season 1)/Episode 8*
This episode featured the Semi-Finals and the Grand Final of the main competition, alongside a third-place playoff and a separate nine-robot Rumble.

Semi-Finals

* Chiyung Jinlun vs Megabyte: **Chiyung Jinlun won**
* Spectre vs Thunder and Lightning: **Spectre won**

3rd Place playoff

* Megabyte vs Thunder and Lightning: **Megabyte won**

Final

* Chiyung Jinlun vs Spectre: **Spectre won**

Rumble

* The Grubs vs Griffin vs Tyrannosaurus Rex vs Nuclear Bomb vs Blue vs Ink Thorns vs Crossfire vs Steel Dragon vs Dark Knight: **Nuclear Bomb won**

## Trivia

* The first three teams to appear in the series all spoke in English. Only the fourth robot to appear, Saber, saw a team speak in Chinese.

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/Mech\_Plus/status/1720452598799409409