Originally made by Red Devil builder Jerome Miles for the Chinese shows This is Fighting Robots and King of Bots, Dragon King was purchased by the Skorpiosteam in 2020. Like Red Devil, Dragon King is a tracked robot with independently-powered drive pods either side of its weaponry.
Dragon King during World Championship VII hero shots.
Whereas Dragon King is black and gold in color and sports a dragon head design for its single grabbing jaw with twin cutting saws, Red Devil featured multiple grabbers but just one circular saw weapon. It was Jerome Miles' final build before he announced his retirement in 2020, and the subsequent sale of his heavyweight robots.
In October 2022, Bot Bash Party Crew revealed they had not only brought Skorpios to compete in World Championship VII, but Dragon King as well. Will Prater was confirmed to be the Dragon King captain in an Instagram post from the team, with Zach Lytle and Diana Tarlson taking up the roles of characters named Numbskull and Wing-a-Ding.[1][2] Dragon King debuted in Episode 12, dominating a fellow alternate in Doomba, before losing to Terrortops in the following episode. It did not return for BattleBots: Champions II.
In a May 2023 Reddit AMA, the team expressed uncertainty over Dragon King returning for future seasons.
"We are not sure yet if Dragon King will be invited back. That one is in the selection committee's hands."
Dragon King was originally built for Chinese televised robot combat events which saw multiple BattleBots builders compete overseas. Under the ownership of DT Robotics, it debuted in This is Fighting Robots as a "Challenger" robot, fighting ORBY Blade in an attempt to take its place on Wu Chun's team. Despite losing and being eliminated as a result, Dragon King won the Best Design Award at the end the competition.
Returning for King of Bots II, Dragon King fought Boxing Champion in the team battles known as "Attrition War". It lost this battle, but avoided elimination as fellow teammate Big Carioca was unable to progress due to a lack of spare parts following a destructive loss to Megabyte. Dragon King's second battle came against Warrior, where it was able to use its saws to slice into the British bot's armor. The fight was relatively close until Warrior managed to flip itself over on an arena hazard, and could not self-right. In spite of Dragon King picking up its first win, its team lost the two battles which followed. This meant the entire team, Dragon King included, were eliminated from the competition as a result.
Dragon King was displayed at Fundemonium in Rohnert Park, California in September 2023.
Dragon King in September 2023.
Dragon King during This is Fighting Robots.
Robot History[]
World Championship VII[]
Dragon King vs. Doomba
Dragon King in the blue square.
Dragon King's BattleBots debut came in Episode 12 of World Championship VII. It fought an exhibition match against Doomba, which previously lost to Double Tap earlier in the season. By the time the match started, Dragon King had pivoted its track modules so that they sat behind the front jaws.
Dragon King slices into Doomba.
Both robots raced out of their squares, with Dragon King pursuing Doomba as the latter maneuvered towards the Upper Deck screws. Taking a few grazing hits from its opponent's undercutter, it chased and bumped Doomba across the BattleBox, until it was able to drive around and push it from the side. At that moment, Dragon King pivoted around and clamped down on Doomba's cylindrical body. Sparks flew as it brought down its right-hand saw, though both competitors instantly separated and weaved around the BattleBox for a few seconds.
Doomba gets its chainsaw into play.
Dragon King next grabbed the front of Doomba as the latter attempted a head-on charge. However, it took a swipe from Doomba's chainsaw in the process, sparks flying as the right-hand saw was brought to a stop.
"...here comes Doomba, and OH, they've caught the chainsaw! Bags the Tomahawk Jam!"
— Chris Rose as Dragon King and Doomba lock horns
Dragon King gets to grips with its opponent.
Again, Dragon King released its grip, heading towards the bottom-left corner while rotating its tracks back into their normal position. For several seconds, it demonstrated its track and weapon modules to the audience, while Doomba sped past into the nearby bumper. Dragon King bumped into an escaping Doomba, resuming its earlier chase. Another bump allowed it to repeat its grab and slice tactic in the center of the BattleBox, this time using the left-hand saw. Both robots circled around together in their embrace, though Dragon King was pushed sideways and eventually lost its grip. Dragon King briefly drove up the front of Doomba to get away, its tracks and weapon module having gradually been lifted upwards in the process.
"Well, Doomba's the robot built out of a vacuum, but Dragon King's the one who's cleaning up so far, Kenny!"
— Chris Rose quips about Dragon King's more aggressive display
Dragon King damages the chainsaw housing of Doomba.
After another bump between the two, Dragon King again initiated a clamping attack, cutting into Doomba's lowered chainsaw as it did so. Again, both robots broke free, with Doomba briefly getting itself stuck on the killsaw slots opposite the control booth. Dragon King capitalized by driving around and lowering its right saw arm down on Doomba's front end. Slicing into the top bodywork, it proceeded to slam Doomba into the bottom-right corner, pressuring its opponent to take damaging blows from Bot Bash Party Crew's pulverizer. As the match approached its halfway point, Dragon King kept slicing into Doomba's top panel, with Doomba now immobilized on one side.
"Doomba now out from under the pulverizer, but Dragon King starts slicin' away like they’re servin' up some birthday cake... and I don't think this is what Brice Farrell wished for when he blew out the candles!"
— Chris Rose, as Dragon King continues to slice a battered and half-immobilized Doomba
Dragon King backed away and paused, again raising its weapon and track modules to the crowd. After a few seconds, it lunged at Doomba once more, sending a broken piece of its chainsaw scattering into the corner. In a segment omitted from the televised episode, Dragon King turned its track and weapon modules over, but re-righted itself before maneuvering back towards the struggling Doomba.[4]
Doomba takes out a weapon chain on Dragon King.
Dragon King next attempted to push Doomba into the bumper, clipping the chainsaw as it did so. However, it caught the bumper itself, disrupting its movements and briefly allowing Doomba to retreat. Dragon King quickly recovered to pin Doomba against the bottom-right bumper, allowing it to bring both of its weapons into action. In the process, the arm supporting its right-hand saw was snagged by Doomba's chainsaw, which caught the chain running the saw itself. While trying to free itself, Doomba suddenly snapped the chainsaw downwards, removing the saw's chain and disabling it instantly.
"Oh, and there goes the belt of one of Dragon King's saws. Are we gonna see a late push from Doomba?"
— Chris Rose, after Dragon King loses a weapon chain to Doomba's chainsaw
Doomba is pinned in the corner.
With only the left-hand saw still running, Dragon King retreated to the center, before quickly pinning Doomba against the bumper a second time. Though struggling to gain purchase with the jaw, it managed to hold Doomba in place under its entire weapon module. Dragon King, unable to line up another saw attack, backed away with just over ten seconds to go. A final self-lifting followed, before Dragon King bumped and briefly nudged a spinning Doomba as the end buzzer sounded.
The fight went to a judges' decision, ruling unanimously in favor of the dominant Dragon King. This earnt it its first-ever victory in BattleBots.
Dragon King vs. Terrortops
In Dragon King's second and final Fight Night battle, it took on Ben Burton and Terrortops. For this battle, Terrortops was fitted with the smaller asymmetrical disc seen in its official photos.
Dragon King gets to grips with Terrortops.
Both robots fled their starting squares and Terrortops spun up its weapon before charging at its opponent. Dragon King then got to its flank, lowering its left-side saw but failing to grip Ben Burton's bot. Terrortops raised its lifter, threatening to deliver a blow with its vertical spinner, but instead opted to get underneath the right tread of Dragon King and lift. It then dropped Dragon King, who again failed to capitalize on getting Terrortops' frame inside its jaws.
Dragon King's tread is torn up.
The rookie bots tussled in the corner of the BattleBox and as Terrortops raised its lifter, the vertical spinner struck left drive pod of Dragon King, slicing into its tread and disabling that side of drive. Terrortops did not come out of this exchange unharmed, however, as a piece of Dragon King's tread was consumed by the vertical spinner, becoming lodged in a bearing and jamming the primary weapon up for good.
Terrortops lands a suplex move on Dragon King.
Despite this setback, Terrortops was still able to drive and had full functionality over its lifting mechanism. It slowly approached, sliding the forks underneath the mouth of Dragon King and flipping it over. Terrortops narrowly avoided a pulverizer shot as Will Prater's bot attempted to escape. The pneumatic ram powering its jaws then came loose, hanging limply while Terrortops got underneath again, hoisting Dragon King and performing a suplex move.
Kenny Florian: "No, and Dragon King... oh, look at that lift. Nice suplex there by Terrortops! Beautiful stuff!"
Chris Rose: "Love that! Excellent move by Terrortops."
— Chris and Kenny react as Terrortops throws Dragon King behind itself
Dragon King is pinned in the closing seconds.
With half the fight gone, Terrortops remained the aggressor, jamming its forks into the treads of Dragon King and using this as leverage to throw its opponent. One of its outermost forks was now bent upward, though this did not impact its ability to consistently get the better of Dragon King. Terrortops driver Sophia Musk-Burton rammed their bot into Dragon King again, looking to take their opponent into the screws and then pinning it in place as Dragon King appeared immobile in the final ten seconds of the fight.
Dragon King did enough to escape a count-out, but the judges gave the nod to Terrortops, confirming a first BattleBots loss for the team's new machine.
Dragon King is the only known alternate for World Championship VII which did not ultimately withdraw. Retrograde and Dragon Slayer are also known to have been alternates, but would not compete without confirmation of a main season appearance.
