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This article is about the reboot heavyweight BattleBots competitor. For other uses, see Malice (disambiguation).
Malice is a heavyweight robot built by Team Malice, which competed in Discovery Seasons 5 and 6 of the BattleBots reboot.
It is red and black, two-wheel drive robot armed with a single-toothed horizontal spinning drum, alternatively referred to as a "thicc disc" due to its thick structure, or a "drumette". In Malice's debut season, the team had two weapon options both made from aluminum to support the hardened steel teeth. Their large red disc was named Red Rush (later called Big Red), but they also had a twin-toothed frame-like spinner called Purple Pain to allow for heavier armor. Malice's weapon is run by a powerful Moto-Energy 0909 motor which delivers 4.8hp and spins the weapon at roughly 50,000kJ per hour. This is approximately half the level generated by Tombstone. However, Bunny Sauriol claims they have a greater transfer of energy, allowing them to hit harder than Tombstone and therefore boast a higher potential for damage. The motor is protected by a 1/4" thick titanium plate and Malice has a weapon brace in which the shaft sits to further protect their primary weapon.
- "We sacrificed reach to have a drum instead of a bar. But doing that allowed us to have a more sturdy blade at the hub. We found the biggest issue with other horizontal spinners was that they would shatter, or crack, or facture at where the hub mounts to the bar because there's just less material to absorb the force, and having a drum or thick disc prevents that from happening, we have more material to absorb the force."
- — Bunny Sauriol on the concept of Malice.
Malice has AR500 wheelguards which are very stiff and triangualar in shape, but are very heavy. The robot also has UHMW wheelguards which can make room for weight, but bend more easily and ended up getting Malice high-centered in their loss to MadCatter. The team added a small blunt spike at the rear for BattleBots: Bounty Hunters dubbed the "bunny tail" to prevent Malice from getting stuck on it's rear again, but because of a change in speed controllers, Malice managed to find itself stuck in the same way. Malice uses spherical roller bearings rather than the more common tapered kind, often referred to as "lazy man's bearings." This provides a larger margin of error for shaft and bearing alignment, as well as providing it with more slack to prevent breakage.
Malice's construction is also unique in the way that it sports a 'clam shell' design, meaning a two-piece design with large through bolts to keep the chassis together. This allows for the frame to be stronger with fewer individual pieces to come loose, but also allows for much easier accessibility. Ray Billings of Tombstone helped the team by suggesting that the ring on the weapon brace should be made out of steel instead of aluminum, as the latter would bend too easily.
Malice impressed in its rookie season, finishing 2-1 in the qualifying rounds and making it into the Championship Tournament, before losing to Gigabyte in the Round of 32. Malice also participated in the Witch Doctor Bounty Hunters bracket, defeating Tracer and HUGE but lost out to SubZero.
Bunny Sauriol and Malice returned for Discovery Season 6, now featuring several additional weapons depending on who they are fighting dubbed Big Red (formerly Red Rush), The Drumstick and Purple Pain. While Big Red was their signature 55lb "drumette", Purple Pain was lighter and allowed for the team to apply more top armor against dangerous overhead weapons. For the 2021 season, Malice team captain Bunny Sauriol teased a brand new weapon that weighed 80lbs - the maximum weight allowed to be dedicated to a spinning weapon according to BattleBots rules. In December 2021, the team showcased Rolling Blackout, a 60lb aluminium bar with large, AR500 steel teeth at either end. As the name suggests, it was painted black.[1] The weapon belts had also been upgraded according to the team.

The canceled design for Malice (right).
For future seasons of BattleBots, the team intended to elongate Malice's body to prevent it from getting beached on its rear end. This was a flaw which cost Malice two fights in its debut year, even despite modifications between fights. However, Bunny Sauriol also stated this design was scrapped due to the addition of the Upper Deck for the 2021 season.[2] In place of this, Malice added a white "bunny tail" to combat their past design flaw.
- "The shelf removed 30% of the usable area of the Arena floor, hortizontals depend on huge amounts of floor space, so a short stubby horizontal was better off than the long redesign we had."
- — Adrian "Bunny" Sauriol explains the reasoning behind scrapping Malice's initial redesign.
Malice suffered a tough start to Season 6, losing consecutive fights to 2020 season Top 4 finisher Tantrum and Las Vegas representatives JackPot. Malice defeated Blacksmith late in the Fight Night bracket, but could not escape a negative record during the 2021 Fight Night. Bunny Sauriol's team were handed a lifeline with the announcement of the Top 32 bracket as they were one of four robots who fought in a play in match to decide the No.32 seed. However, they lost their weapon early on and ultimately lost to Skorpios.
Malice fought in BattleBots: Champions, defeating Slammo! but falling short to eventual bracket champion Ribbot.

Malice's brand new hinged forks.
Following the 2021 season, team members David Small and Nick Dobrikov departed to captain their own entries for Discovery Season 7 - Banshee and Drago. Both of these are sponsored by Team Malice for 2022, inferring Bunny Sauriol's intention to also compete with Malice itself. The team posted footage of serrated fork additions to either side of Malice's drum in June 2022.
Bunny Sauriol and David Liaw also joined up with Bot Bash Party Crew as Skorpios entered the re:MARS all:STARS BattleBots Challenge. Malice was present too, but was an unused reserve for the event, only fighting in a single grudge match against fellow backup JackPot.
Robot History[]
Discovery Season 5[] | |
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Malice vs. Axe Backwards ![]() Malice strikes Axe Backwards. ![]() Malice delivers the killing blow to Axe Backwards. Malice's first fight of the season was against veteran Axe Backwards. Malice opted to start the fight going straight for Axe Backwards' tires and managed to quickly hinder its opponent's movement as a result, ripping the right tread off before breaking off the right axe head fully, then breaking the left to make an eruption of fire. Axe Backwards struggled to move around with a shredded tire, but still had a working weapon so Malice moved in again and manage to disable the flaming Axe Backwards near the screws after four more hits. Axe Backwards was counted out, giving Malice the win by KO. | |
Malice vs. Shatter! ![]() Malice shreds Shatter!'s front panel. ![]() Malice rips off Shatter!'s hammerhead, but Malice's weapon is also disabled. Malice's second fight was against Bunny Sauriol's former team Bots FC and Shatter!. For this fight, Malice opted to switch out their discs by bringing in Purple Pain to allow for more top armor. Malice started the fight by tearing off little pieces from Shatter!. However, when they came to attack the second time around, Malice's weapon belt was cut and fell out, but this had also allowed Malice to rip off Shatter!'s hammerhead. Post fight revealed Malice actually broke two of the fingers off the titanium arm as well, sending the hammerhead flying. For the remainder of the fight, Malice pushed Shatter! around the BattleBox causing it to smoke, while taking some hits with the Shatter!'s hammer arm, but none of these seemed to inflict much damage. When the fight was over, the judges awarded a close 2-1 split decision in favor of Malice. | |
Malice vs. MadCatter ![]() Malice is flipped on its rear end by MadCatter. With the potential to be one of the first bots to finish unbeaten in Fight Night, Malice had to battle Martin Mason and MadCatter. For this fight, Malice decided to use Big Red in order to inflict more damage. Malice had a poor start to the match as MadCatter's wedge deflected Malice in the first impact. Malice then hit the arena floor and deflected upward, allowing its opponent to move in. Unfortunately for Malice, when MadCatter impacted Malice for a third time, it was flipped it onto its rear end. Malice was working its drive wheels in hope of rocking itself back on its wheels, but could not do so. Malice was scorched by the flames from MadCatter's minibot and was counted out, meaning MadCatter had won by KO. However, with a 2-1 record, Malice had performed well enough to enter the Top 32 as the No.16 seed. | |
Malice vs. Gigabyte ![]() Gigabyte and Malice collide. | |
Battlebots: Bounty Hunters[] | |
Malice vs. Tracer ![]() Tracer's belt comes loose. | |
Malice vs. HUGE ![]() HUGE and Malice go weapon-to-weapon. | |
Malice vs. SubZero ![]() Malice removes one of SubZero's wheels in the opening seconds. ![]() Malice becomes stranded on its rear, resulting in a heartbreak defeat. Next up for Malice was SubZero, fresh off its revenge win over Valkyrie. At the start of the battle, SubZero initially drove to the side of the box, and attacked Malice from the side, sending it spinning. After backing away to avoid the horizontal drum, SubZero was chased down by Malice and took a shot right to the left size, having the front left wheel removed fully and the side armor mangled. SubZero then had some nicks to the back, but not causing much until Malice broke the other left tire and what was left of the armor on that side. Wounded, SubZero looked to have lost this early, but after having its eye plate removed again, Malice violently recoiled and hit Spitfire, becoming stranded on its rear. Despite the addition of the spike, Malice struggled to right itself. SubZero backed off and allowed Malice to be counted out, winning by KO and eliminating Malice from the competition. | |
Discovery Season 6[] | |
Malice vs. Tantrum ![]() Tantrum threatens to land another punch on a weaponless Malice. ![]() Malice continues to be harrassed by Tantrum.
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Malice vs. JackPot ![]() JackPot and Malice deflect away after exchanging blows. ![]() Shrapnel smashes the lights above the BattleBox as JackPot hits Malice once more. ![]() Ditto.
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Malice vs. Blacksmith ![]() Sparks fly as Malice and Blacksmith collide. | |
Malice vs. Skorpios ![]() Sparks fly as Malice and Skorpios fight for their lives. ![]() Malice is pinned against the screws. | |
re:MARS all:STARS BattleBots Challenge (2022)[] | |
Malice vs. JackPot Despite only being a reserve for the event, Malice fought in a single grudge match against JackPot, which was also a 2021 season rematch. For this fight, Malice debuted its hinged forks either side of the horizontal drum weapon.[4] Little is known about the battle, but both robots exchanged multiple blows and Malice won by knockout after taking a chunk out of one disc and flipping JackPot over. | |
BattleBots: Champions[] | |
Malice vs. Slammo! ![]() Slammo! and Malice duke it out. ![]() The remains of Slammo!. | |
Malice vs. Ribbot ![]() Ribbot pins Malice against the Upper Deck. ![]() Malice with its frog decal ahead of fighting Ribbot. |
MALICE - RESULTS | ||
Discovery Season 5 | ||
Fight Nights 2-1 | ||
Fight Night | vs. Axe Backwards | Won (KO) |
Fight Night | vs. Shatter! | Won (Split JD) |
Fight Night | vs. MadCatter | Lost (KO) |
Top 32 16th Seed | ||
Round of 32 | vs. Gigabyte (17) | Lost (KO) |
Bounty Hunters | ||
Bounty Hunters - Witch Doctor Episode | ||
Round 1 | vs. Tracer | Won (JD) |
Round 2 | vs. HUGE | Won (JD) |
Round 3 | vs. SubZero | Lost (KO) |
Discovery Season 6 | ||
Fight Nights 1-2 | ||
Fight Night | vs. Tantrum | Lost (JD) |
Fight Night | vs. JackPot | Lost (KO) |
Fight Night | vs. Blacksmith | Won (JD) |
Play-in | vs. Skorpios | Lost (JD) |
re:MARS all:STARS BattleBots Challenge (2022) | ||
Grudge Match | vs. JackPot | Won (KO) |
BattleBots: Champions | ||
Sin City Slugfest Lock-Jaw Episode | ||
Round of 8 | vs. Slammo! | Won (KO) |
Semi-Finals | vs. Ribbot | Lost (JD) |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 6
- Losses: 6
Competition | Wins | Losses |
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Discovery Season 5 | Axe Backwards (Undercard Match)
Shatter! (Undercard Match) |
MadCatter (Undercard Match) |
BattleBots: Bounty Hunters | Tracer | SubZero |
Discovery Season 6 | Blacksmith (Undercard Match) | Tantrum (Undercard Match)
JackPot (Undercard Match) Skorpios (Play In Match) |
re:MARS all:STARS BattleBots Challenge (2022) | JackPot | None |
BattleBots: Champions | Slammo! | Ribbot |
Faruq Tauheed Introductions[]
"From San Jose, California, the bell of the brawl, MALICE!"
"From San Jose, the bay area bomber, MALICE!"
"From San Jose, California. This Bunny ain't from Energizer, but when it's time to kill you, she keeps going and going and going! Give it up for MALICE!"
"A hard-hitting bot with the head engineer who's got killer instinct and some killer bunny ears. Think bots are just for boys? You're wrong and you'll be reeling. She'll knock you out of the pass and right through the glass ceiling, it's MALICE!"
"From San Jose, California, call her the Beaster Bunny but you won't be looking for eggs, you'll be hunting for blown-off robot parts. It's MALICE!"
"From San Jose, California, forget about Wonderland, this bot's gonna take you to thunderland. It's MALICE!"
"From San Jose, California, the queen of the palace, it's MALICE!"
"From San Jose, California, when you see those bunny ears, your bot's about to lose some gears. It's MALICE!"
"The most powerful drummer since Rush's Neil Peart. This bot smashes and pounds you until you're hurt. A modern-day warrior, mean, mean stride. If I were you, I would run and hide. It's about to rock hard like it sold out the palace. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for MALICE!"
Trivia[]
- When the Konami Code is entered on TeamMalice.com, a raptor runs across the screen.
- Alongside a handful of other robots from the season, Malice made an appearance as a static display at a live premiere of the 2021 tournament conclusion in San Jose, California.
- Team member Isaak Malers wanted Big Red to weigh 65lbs initially, but it had to drop to 55lbs to comply with the weight limit.
- Team Malice sponsored Arizona Robotic Combat's RoboRumble event in November 2021.
References[]
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CYEtcqVlKU9/
- ↑ Public message from Bunny Sauriol on the Out of the Arena Discord server.
- ↑ Public message from Bunny Sauriol on the Out of the Arena Discord server.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWhRnktPq-Q
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