Medusa

**Medusa** (Chinese: **美杜莎**, romanized as **Měi dù shā**) was a Chinese competitor robot which competed in Season 2 of *King of Bots*. Entered by a female teacher and her students, Medusa joined Emma Dumont's team after earning a closely-fought victory over Ouch Ouch in its first battle, although its place on Emma Dumont's team was taken by Megabyte, which defeated Medusa in a head-to-head battle. Medusa was sent to the redemption round, where its next opponent was Cat King, but it quickly lost the battle, and became the second robot to be eliminated from *King of Bots II*.

## Design

"*Medusa is made by a team of students and teachers. They have also entered Thunder. We checked the calculations for the battery capacity of Medusa and found that the batteries are undersize for the weapon, which is why it dies toward the end of its fights.*"
— The Huntsman team on Medusa

Medusa used a design not unique to *King of Bots*, previously used by the likes of Knife Legend and Cracked Sword, and inspired by the former *BattleBots* champion Tombstone. This design consists of a two-wheel driven invertible robot armed with a large horizontally spinning bar at the front of the machine, housed by external framework. Medusa's bar spun up to speed relatively slowly in comparison to other bar spinners, but still delivered heavy damage to opponents with its 4000rpm total speed. The weight of this powerful weapon forces Medusa to compromise on defence, evidenced by its exposed tyres and thin armor, but nevertheless Medusa was capable of withstanding its own blows, although its batteries and their lifespan are considered to be too small for the robot by other roboteers.

## Robot History

### King of Bots II (Season 2)

"*Very confident, she said "I'm good because I have my students here supporting me", and I just loved her attitude, I loved her confidence... she reminds me a little of myself, she didn't question herself which I thought was important, and I was hoping to have the first female driver winner!*"
— Emma Dumont on choosing Medusa

Medusa debuted in Episode 2 of *King of Bots II*, where the female captain Li Li inspired Emma Dumont to select Medusa for her team. To solidify this decision, Medusa was required to defeat Ouch Ouch before joining Emma Dumont's team.

"*No offence against multibots, but I don't think those two could take Medusa!*"
— Emma Dumont

Medusa attempted to spin its bar up to speed, but the larger segment of Ouch Ouch rushed straight into the bar spinner to stop it from spinning up to speed. Although Medusa managed to get its weapon up to speed out after this, it was indecisive in choosing a target, which allowed Ouch Ouch to catch Medusa from behind and throw it into the air.

"*It doesn't matter, pick one and go after it!*"
— Emma Dumont's advice for Medusa's driver

Medusa did not heed the advice of Emma Dumont, and continued to fight passively, and Ouch Ouch once again flipped Medusa from behind, throwing the bar spinner into the floor and also catching the smaller multibot of Ouch Ouch in the process, which had not been able to spin up its own vertical blade during the battle. Seemingly, the smaller half of Ouch Ouch had been completely immobilized by this hit, but the main body of Ouch Ouch continued to attack, driving under the front of Medusa to flip it over.

Medusa remained fairly passive after this, with Ouch Ouch using its flipper surface to knock Medusa into the air through recoil. Regardless, Ouch Ouch fired its flipper at thin air shortly afterwards, and Medusa turned in place to swing its blade into Ouch Ouch's flipper, throwing sparks. Although Ouch Ouch was punted into the wall, it remained mobile, and rammed into Medusa again, but then the battle started to turn in Medusa's favor.

Cleverly, Medusa made use of the immobile half of Ouch Ouch, and drew near to it with its blade at top speed, also exposing its backside to the flipper of Ouch Ouch in the process - however, Medusa did not attack the smaller half of Ouch Ouch, and instead turned 180 degrees to slash into the charging flipper of Ouch Ouch, throwing it aside and ripping off its side armor panel. Ouch Ouch did then land a glancing blow on the smaller multibot of Ouch Ouch, and mostly turned in circles until Ouch Ouch drove in to sustain more damage. Ouch Ouch drove straight under Medusa and drove it across the arena, but Ouch Ouch bumped into the arena saws, allowing Medusa to rip away more armor. Although Ouch Ouch briefly escaped, it returned to the same gap in the floor to completely wedge one of its forks underneath it. Medusa kept its distance, perhaps awaiting a count-out from the referee, but Ouch Ouch eventually reversed away and continued to drive around the arena. With less than one minute on the clock, Ouch Ouch slammed straight into Medusa's bar spinner and was cast into the arena wall, but it responded well by driving straight under Medusa's spinner again, completely stopping the momentum of the bar and forcing it to spin up again.

While Medusa was proving slow in spinning its blade back up to speed, Ouch Ouch wedged under Medusa's wheel, before launching another attack, flipping Medusa over, but also overturning itself with the same flip. Due to the damage it had sustained in the battle, and the amount of gas supply that it had already used in the battle, Ouch Ouch's efforts to self-right were in vain, and after a number of failed attempts to right itself, Ouch Ouch was counted out by the referee. Although Medusa's drive and weaponry had also completely stopped moving, and smoke was now venting out of Medusa's top armor at this point, it had remained mobile slightly longer, and won the battle by knockout to join Emma Dumont's team.

However, Medusa's place on Emma Dumont's team was quickly endangered, with the American entry Megabyte joining the competition in Episode 3, and was randomly selected to face Medusa in the second 'challenger battle' of the episode. Emma Dumont was supportive of Medusa going into the battle, hoping it could surprise the seasoned full-body spinner.

"*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 Medusa subsequently forfeited its 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 on Medusa's driving

In the redemption round, the first battle of the round saw Cat King seek an opponent, and Li Li offered to battle it with Medusa. Martin Mason of Cat King saw this as an opportunity to prove himself, believing Medusa to be a strong opponent, and both robots fought head-to-head.

"*Cat King has played one match and did not do well, their weapon did not work, at all! So I think Medusa will do very well, I hope this is her opportunity to come back with me, and we can all be a family, and we would all be very happy!*"
— Emma Dumont

After both robots quickly spun up their blades, Medusa made the more active charge, running head-first into Cat King for a collision which threw Medusa across the arena, also causing some damage to Cat King. Having bounced across the arena on its own blade, Medusa landed on top of the arena wall near the 'out of the arena' zone, with one tire suspended on the wall. With one lifting arm raised, and Emma Dumont pensive in fear, Cat King charged in to hit the stranded Medusa, throwing it into the air. Medusa landed with a crash, and although it was able to spin up its bar to dangerous speeds, the robot itself was mostly immobile, only twitching in place, and the referee counted Medusa out, eliminating it from the competition.

"*Medusa lost from one hit from Cat King, the match was so short, which was pretty heartbreaking, that she didn't even get to show her stuff...*"
— Emma Dumont

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 1
* Losses: 2

## Series Record

 Season 2 | **Eliminated in Redemption Round**(1-2 record)

*NOTE: Medusa's team also entered Season 2 with Thunder.*

## References

1. ↑ https://www.hellfirelabs.com.au/index.php/2019/07/24/kob-diary-part-2/
2. ↑ https://www.hellfirelabs.com.au/index.php/2019/07/24/kob-diary-part-2/

## Trivia

* The name Medusa would often be referenced in visual gags where various team members and celebrity captains would be "turned to stone" in editing, a trait associated with the Medusa monster.
* Medusa was the first robot to be eliminated from Season 2 in the Redemption Rounds, and the second robot overall to be eliminated from the competition, after Ocean Waves.