Gemini

Gemini
Participation Information
Reboot Seasons	World Championship II World Championship III World Championship IV World Championship V
Other Events	BattleBots: Bounty Hunters
Other Names	Fred (Red) Hydroxyl (Black) Free Radicals (Original collective name)
Team Information
Team	Team Gemini (formerly Team Radicand)
Team Members	Ace Shelander (Captain) Brentley Wiles (WC II) Greg Kress (WC II) Michael Chiasson (WC II) Scott Steber (WC II) Alan Debenedetti (WC II) Matt Walliser (WC III-WC IV) Andrew Kloface Lilibel de la Puente (WC III) Dominic Yankauskas (WC IV-WC V) Ben Hayton (WC IV) Lola Vars (WC IV) Hunter Yankauskas (WC V)
From	Joshua Tree, CA
Associated Robots	Slap Box (Dominic & Hunter Yankauskas) Bolt, MacGuffin, ZAP (Ben Hayton)
Robot Statistics
Weight	250lbs (125lbs each)
Drive	4x AmpFlow motors (2x per half)
Weapons	2x Horizontal spinners
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Unrelated to the British Robot Wars competitor of the same name.

Gemini was a robot built by Team Radicand, later known as Team Gemini, which has competed in four total seasons of the BattleBots reboot, as well as BattleBots: Bounty Hunters.

It was a multibot with two functionally identical halves, only differing in color. Each half was armed with a 5000rpm spinning disc powered by twin, chain-driven motors. The discs could be swapped out for bars in later seasons. Each half of Gemini weighed 125lbs, and together adhered to the 250lb limit. Officially, the red half is called Fred and the black half is called Hydroxyl, but the two were often simply referred to by their colors.

Gemini in 2016 ahead of World Championship II.

Originally an alternate for World Championship II, Gemini would end up competing due to numerous drop-outs in the original field. However, it lost its qualifying rumble against Basilisk and Blacksmith, the latter of which advanced in the tournament, and Gemini would not compete again in the season. Despite a modest overall record in its first three seasons, it gained a reputation for never losing by KO partly due to the nature of having to disable both halves of the multibot. This run would extend right through to the fifth season, where it was destroyed by Uppercut in the main season.

Gemini returned for the 2018 season, ditching the additional top and bottom wheels to allow for the rear wedges to sit flush with the BattleBox floor. Visually, the biggest changes to Gemini appeared to be cosmetic, with the spinning discs now painted red and each twin donning half of the astrological sign for Gemini. However, the team state each half was totally rebuilt internally, to allow for more power and reliability. Despite scoring up two wins in the regular season, Team Gemini entered the Desperado bracket for a shot at a guaranteed Top 16 place, but fell short against Lucky.

Gemini during World Championship IV filming.

In World Championship IV, Gemini had picked up several new team members, notably Ben Hayton of Team Panic who was best known for his beetleweight AnnieRUOK, an undercutter which competed in the UK web series Bugglebots. The robot itself returned with an eerier look, complete with jagged spikes on the sides and extending from the rear wedges. Gemini now featured something the team called "anti-gravity drive", which allow it to stay upright and balanced during collisions. Despite losing both of its main season fights, Gemini redeem itself somewhat by winning exhibition matches against SubZero and Mammoth. However, it would not make the Top 16.

Returning for the 2020 season, while Ben Hayton split off to apply with his own robot called Bolt, several members of the Slap Box team assisted with Gemini. The twins were completely redesigned, with the team now having multiple configurations for Gemini, including removable wheel protection, bar spinners replacing the discs used in previous seasons.

Team Gemini also had the option to equip one half of Gemini with 125lb of additional steel armor, called their "big boy pants". This came at the cost of being unable to enter the other half of the robot into battles, but provided a lifeline if one of the twins becomes damaged beyond repair during the season. Gemini was outmatched from the start against Uppercut, and lost by KO for the first time in its career. Having been heavily damaged from this match, Gemini made no other appearances in the main season.

It was not until Tombstone's BattleBots: Bounty Hunters tournament that Gemini would be seen again, albeit only the red half, losing out to Gruff in the first round of the bracket despite being fitted with its heavy duty additional armor.

For unknown reasons, Gemini would not return to BattleBots after 2020, but remains under the ownership of Ace Shelander. Team member Ben Hayton would apply with MacGuffin and ZAP, but was unsuccessful with both applications.

• An unpainted Gemini being tested prior to World Championship III.
• Both twins forming the Gemini Zodiac sign.

1/2

Robot History

World Championship II
Gemini vs. Blacksmith vs. Basilisk Geminiwas one of twelve competitors which had to fight its way through the preliminary rumble in order to qualify for the main tournament. In its qualifier, the multibot faced veteran Al Kindle and Blacksmith as well as newcomer Basilisk. Blacksmith targets Basilisk. Basilisk quickly targeted Blacksmith as the Gemini twins separated, but Blacksmith landed a direct shot to its shell. Basilisk fired its flipper in retaliation, though could not get underneath the plow of Blacksmith and found itself pushed into the corner by Al Kindle's flaming hammerbot. After this attack, Basilisk appeared immobile in the corner, and it played no further part in the rumble. Its drone, AfterByte, hovered in place as Blacksmith cornered both Gemini robots and landed multiple shots with its primary weapon, damaging the drive of the black half of Ace Shelander's multibot. "He's got Gemini cornered; both of 'em! POW! POW! POW!" — Chris Rose as Blacksmith strikes Gemini Basilisk with a disabled Afterbyte. With one half of Gemini experiencing drive issues, Blacksmith momentarily turned its attention towards AfterByte but failed to swat it out of the air. It instead attacked the remaining red half of Gemini, whose weapon was now out of commission too. Basilisk is hammered by Blacksmith. As AfterByte crash-landed, Basilisk suddenly returned to life as the team's drone was mercilessly attacked by Blacksmith, but Basilisk's flipper had been damaged from earlier attacks. The hammerbot then landed several more blows on Basilisk and the red half of Gemini drove wedge-first into Blacksmith, who then chased it around the middle of the BattleBox. "Chris, Al Kindle is going for the knockout in his first taste of a big time victory. What a display we are seeing!" — Kenny Florian as the fight enters its final minute Blacksmith catches fire late on. Blacksmith eventually struck the top of its multibot opponent, pinning it in place with the weight of its hammer before firing its flamethrower and scorching the red half of Gemini. After raining down even more hammer blows, Blacksmith began to smoke and a fire began inside Al Kindle's robot, who stopped moving. The referee initiated a count-out, but in a race against the clock, Blacksmith showed late signs of life to interrupt the count and force a dramatic judges' decision, which went in Blacksmith's favor. This eliminated Gemini from the competition as it was not awarded a wildcard.
World Championship III
Gemini vs. Mohawk vs. Kraken Gemini attack Mohawk and, collaterally, each other. Gemini's first match in the third season was against veteran Mohawk and newcomer Kraken in a Science Channel exclusive undercard rumble. The rumble started out rather poorly for Gemini as the pair of robots were slammed into sides of the arena barrier by Mohawk. Even so, Gemini fought back by attacking with their discs, one of which managed to tear off the tip of Mohawk's beak, though this didn't affect Mohawk's ability to use it like a clamping arm. Once again, the Gemini twins attacked and were shoved around the arena and into the arena barrier. However, the Gemini robots caught a break as Mohawk stopped moving right on the killsaws. Elsewhere, Kraken had become trapped in one of the screws earlier on in the rumble. With Mohawk and Kraken both out of action, they were counted out, giving the Gemini robots a win in their first fight of the season.
Gemini vs. Lucky Hydroxyl is thrown by Lucky. Gemini also participated in the Desperado Tournament, a last opportunity to make the Top 16, and their first opponent was Lucky. The match was fairly even to start as neither robot wanted to make the first move. Eventually, the red Gemini robot was tossed into the air and lost its rear wedge, followed shortly thereafter by the black one. Both robots recovered and continued to attack, taking off one of Lucky's rear wheels. However, both robots collided with each other, leaving the red Gemini robot without a working weapon or the plate that held its rear wedge. As Lucky tossed the black Gemini robot, the black Gemini robot collided with Lucky's extended lifting arm and disabled it. However, this impact caused the black Gemini robot to lose its weapon as well before the red Gemini robot was nearly thrown out of the arena. Luckily for the Gemini twins, Lucky couldn't retract its lifting arm, rendering it useless. However, by this point the red Gemini robot had lost all mobility, leaving the black one to fend for itself. Both robots continued to fight as the clock ran down and the judges awarded a unanimous 3-0 decision to Lucky.
Gemini vs. Sharkoprion Fred's exposed wheel is removed. Hydroxyl slams Sharkoprion into the screws. Up next for Gemini was Sharkoprion. When the match got underway, the two bots started circling around as Sharkoprion was spinning to keep them at bay. The Gemini twins took shots from Sharkoprion's weapon but only causing sparks. After more maneuvering, the black Gemini robot lost its front right corner. Making matters worse, the red Gemini robot took a hit from its twin that caused damage to its left drive wheel. After that, the red Gemini took another hit from Sharkoprion that tore off the wheel completely, leaving it driving in circles. Both robots continued to spin and try to dodge each other before the black Gemini robot got underneath Sharkoprion and slammed it into the screws in the final seconds of the fight. The judges awarded a 2-1 split decision in favor of Sharkoprion.
Gemini vs. The Four Horsemen Hydroxyl sends Pestilence careening. Weapons collide. The last chance for Gemini was against The Four Horsemen, a rare fight between two multibot competitors. Both sets of multibots approached and weren't really able to cause damage right away. However, The Four Horsemen started to take bigger hits and got thrown across the arena. As the match wore on, Pestilence was soon knocked out as well Buttercup, leaving War to fight alone but it still had a working weapon and drive. Gemini still had a weight advantage, but the red Gemini Twin was struggling to move at times after it collided with its twin and lost its rear wedge. The match went the distance and the judges awarded Gemini a unanimous 3-0 decision.
World Championship IV
Gemini vs. Gruff vs. Marvin Gemini watch on as Gruff attacks Marvin. Gemini began 2019 as part of a rumble with Gruff and Marvin. As the rumble got underway, the Gemini twins circled to try and find an opening. The black Gemini twin was then flipped by Gruff but managed to shave sparks off of Gruff in return. The red Gemini twin then attacked Marvin and took off one of the teeth on its disc, leaving Marvin to remain unbalanced whenever the disc was spinning, The black Gemini twin was shoved around the arena, including into the screws by Gruff before being righted by Gruff. The black Gemini twin then lost use of its weapon while the red Gemini twin was also shoved into the arena barrier. Time ran out with all robots still mobile. The judges awarded Gruff a unanimous 3-0 decision.
Gemini vs. Tantrum Tantrum pops one half of Gemini into the air. Next for Gemini in the 2019 season was a redesigned Tantrum. Early on, Gemini was was unable to mount an attack against Tantrum. Soon after, the black half of Gemini became high-centered on debris from its own armor so the red Gemini freed it. The black Gemini soon had its wheel guard ripped open on one side, exposing that wheel but it pressed on. Both twins took turns mounting attacks but were generally deflected away by Tantrum's weapon or front wedge. The black Gemini soon lost power to its weapon and then its drive while the red Gemini took a hit from the pulverizer thanks to Tantrum before time ran out. The judges awarded Tantrum a unanimous 3-0 decision.
Gemini vs. Mammoth (Exhibition) Mammoth creates a ring of fire with its flamethrower. Gemini returned for an exhibition battle against newcomer Mammoth. As the match got underway, both Gemini twins decided to use their wedges at first and swarm Mammoth. While not able to breach Mammoth's ground clearance from the front, Fred easily pushed Mammoth into the screws while Hydroxyl slipped in under the framework's support. After a bit more pushing, the twins turned their discs on finally to start racking up some damage. After briefly attacking each others' weapons, Gemini proceeded to attack Mammoth for a few more hits. Eventually, they each hit and disabled both of Mammoth's wheels, with one twin ripping out the left side motor. Mammoth spun its weapon with fire but by then, it had already stopped moving and was counted out, giving Gemini the win by KO.
Gemini vs. SubZero One half of Gemini is tossed into the air by SubZero. Gemini also had an exhibition match with SubZero. Gemini started off very poorly as Hydroxyl was tossed out of the arena via the screws. This left the Fred to fend for itself, but it proved unable to escape SubZero's attacks. However, the flips did not cause the Fred any major damage, and eventually SubZero stopped working. SubZero was counted out, giving Gemini the win by KO. Gemini did not advance to the Championship bracket, and was therefore eliminated from the tournament.
World Championship V
Gemini vs. Uppercut Hydroxyl is punted out of the arena by Uppercut. Fred gets a chunk taken out by Uppercut. Gemini's first and only match was against Uppercut. Just five seconds into the battle, Hydroxyl took a huge hit from Uppercut's weapon and was ejected out of the arena, having a chunk taken out of its back while landing right in front of judge Lisa Winter. The remaining half did not last long as Uppercut grazed Fred with its next attacks, before destroying its right-side drive and flipping it over, parts strewn across the BattleBox. Neither half of Gemini could move and it was counted out, giving Uppercut an impressive win by KO. Because of the extensive damage to both bots, they made no further appearances in partaking future matches for the remainder of the season.
BattleBots: Bounty Hunters
Gemini vs. Gruff Gruff grapples Gemini. Gemini also entered the Tombstone Bounty Hunters bracket, but were forced to only enter the one half due to damage sustained against Uppercut. First up for them was Sam McAmis and Gruff, who Gemini faced as part of last season's opening rumble. The team opted to beef up the functional Gemini half with the "big boy pants", 125lb of additional armor to take Gemini back up to the 250lb limit. Gemini was unable to mount much of an attack throughout the fight, as Gruff proved capable of taking hits from the spinner. Gruff started controlling the match, but Gemini continued to fight even as Gruff got its flamethrower weaponry into play. Smoke began to pour out after this exchange but the lone half of Gemini pressed on as its weapon now struggled to maintain its speed. After taking one more shot into the arena barrier, Gemini found itself on top of a pulverizer controlled by Gruff's team, which forced that hammer down. Gemini was unable to drive away and was counted out, falling at the first hurdle.

Results

Competitive Wins/Losses

• Wins: 3
• Losses: 7

Exhibition Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 0

Total Wins/Losses

• Wins: 4
• Losses: 7

Competition	Wins	Losses
World Championship II	None	Blacksmith
World Championship III	Mohawk & Kraken (Undercard Rumble) The Four Horsemen (Undercard Match)	Lucky (Desperado Tournament) Sharkoprion (Undercard Match)
World Championship IV	Mammoth (Untelevised Exhibition Match) SubZero (Exhibition Match)	Gruff (Undercard Rumble) Tantrum (Undercard Match)
World Championship V	None	Uppercut (Undercard Match)
BattleBots: Bounty Hunters	None	Gruff

Faruq Tauheed Introductions

"Your horoscope reads 'You're about to die'. It's the real Zodiac Killer, GEMINI!"

"This gruesome twosome will have you seeing double and reduce you to rubble. Your Gore-oscope today is looking grim. Say hello to the evil twins, GEMINI!"

"You might as well call these bots the Olsen Twins because they're Scary Kate and Slash-ly. It's about to be a full house or robot parts. It's GEMINI!"

"Double the trouble, double the spins. Double the trouble, double the spins. Y'all see what I did there? It's GEMINI!"

"Your Gore-oscope for today is looking grim. These two bots will take you for a spin. It's GEMINI!"

"If these bots were in a fairy tale, it would be called 'Whackin' a beanstalk.' Fee fie foe fum, two deadly bots are better than one. GEMINI!"

"Oh sheesh, it's the demonic two-headed beast, even crazier than a borderline grammar police. Corrects you so hard, won't let anything lie. It be like, "It's not Gem-in-ee." It's GEMINI!"

"This bot's got two turntables and a microphone. It'll spin you around and break your bones. It'll be cutting and scratching while it puts you in tr-tr-tr-tr-traction. Wave your hands in the air, like you just don't care. There's a body over here, there's a body over there. It's GEMINI!"

"When your bots are twins, everyone wins. They work together almost as well as our show hosts. These bots can't miss, and neither can Kenny and Chris. Together, we're me and him, and him and I. So let's sit together and watch GEMINI!"

"From Joshua Tree, California, the Zodiac Robot Killer, GEMINI!"

"From Joshua Tree, California, it still hasn't found what it's looking for and it's coming for you too, it's GEMINI!"

Trivia

• Gemini was originally going to be named Free Radicals, but this name was rejected by BattleBots.
• When positioned side-by-side, the 2018 season robots' designs would form the astrological sign for Gemini when viewed from the top.
  • The same is true when both halves are positioned back-to-back in the case of its Season 4 build.
• Though not the first multibot in BattleBots history, Gemini was the first multibot to compete in the modern era of the show.
  • This excludes heavyweight entries with distraction bots such as Witch Doctor's Shaman and various drones which were thrown in with the main bots.
• Gemini's sponsor Radicand is misspelt as "Raidcand" on the official BattleBots website's 2016 page.
• Gemini was the only multibot which competed in World Championship V.