Megabyte

Megabyte/Gigabyte
Participation Information
Comedy Central Seasons	Season 5.0
Unaired Events	Pro Championship 2009
Live	2004 NPC Charity Open
Other Names	Megabite (Season 5.0)
Team Information
Team	Robotic Death Company
Team Members	John Mladenik Maria Mladenik Carl Lewis Sean Maschue Monica Mladenik Melissa Mladenik Elizabeth Mladenik Mike Rogers Carda "Molly" Clawson Dan Clawson John Hoffman John Neilson Christine Neilson Tom Hodo Debbi Hedge Stephen Roth Dave Schultz Terry Kolody Steven Vitulli
From	Escondido, CA
Other Entries	Agsma, Rambite, Super Megabyte, Invader, Gigabyte, Cobalt
Robot Statistics
Weight	220lbs
Power	4x 24V 3.6Ah BattlePacks
Drive	4x 24V DeWalt motors
Weapons	Shell spinner
Statistics correct as of its most recent appearance on the show, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

Gigabyte, also Megabyte or Megabite, was a heavyweight robot built by the Robotic Death Company which competed in multiple BattleBots events held between 2002 and 2009.

The original incarnation debuted in Comedy Central Season 5.0 as a scaled-up version of the team's lightweight entry Rambite - a circular-shaped robot armed with an overhead spinning bar. However, Gigabyte lost its first match against Heart of Gold, which ultimately went untelevised.

In 2004, Gigabyte returned to the BattleBots circuit through competing in the 2004 NPC Charity Open, picking up two victories and two losses to finish third overall in the main heavyweight division.

Five years later, Gigabyte made its last BattleBots appearance at the unaired 2009 Pro Championship, achieving four victories, but suffering two losses at the hands of Brutality and Tombstone respectively. After this, the post-Comedy Central version was retired from combat until it was reworked to become the team's 2016 season entry Invader.

Inside Megabyte.

Megabyte in The Pits during the NPC Charity Open.

Outside BattleBots

Later incarnations of Gigabyte were redesigned with a toothed titanium shell spinner forming its entire body, though retaining the angled pole on top which was intended to prevent it from being completely flipped over. In this form, it proved immensely successful at live events held after the conclusion of the Comedy Central run, winning the heavyweight division of the 2003 RFL National Championships and gold in the 220lb bracket of ROBOlympics (later RoboGames) 2004. During the same year, it finished runner-up in the RFL National heavyweight championship to SJ.

Gigabyte later became famous for being one of two robots to demolish BioHazard at the 2005 Combots Cup, forcing the multi-time BattleBots and US Robot Wars heavyweight champion into retirement.

In 2017, Robotic Death Company built a new version of their iconic shell spinner, dubbed Gigabyte 2.0. It made its first appearance at that year's RoboGames heavyweight competition, going 1-2 after defeating Polar Vortex, but losing consecutive fights to Original Sin and multibot Crash n' Burn.

This incarnation, with a tip speed of 200mph and interchangeable shells, also enjoyed major success on the Chinese robot combat show King of Bots, finishing third overall in Season 1. A third, gold-painted version was subsequently entered into Season 2 and the 2018 spin-off This is Fighting Robots, while Robotic Death Company entered a similarly-designed shell spinner for future BattleBots seasons named Gigabyte.

Megabyte during RoboGames 2017.

Megabyte during RoboGames 2007.

Megabyte during the 2005 Combots Cup.

Megabyte during Season 2 of King of Bots.

Megabyte during Season 1 of King of Bots.

Robot History

Season 5.0
Megabite vs. Heart of Gold Megabite deals damage to the front end of Heart of Gold. The original Megabite first debuted in Season 5.0, where it fought Heart of Gold in its untelevised preliminary battle. Here, it caused damage to the front of Heart of Gold using its spinner, but the motor controller for this later stopped working and rendered Megabite weaponless. From that point on, Heart of Gold pushed Megabite across the BattleBox, with both machines lasting the full three minutes. The judges ruled a close 23-22 decision in favor of Heart of Gold, eliminating Megabite before the televised stages.
NPC Charity Open 2004
Megabyte vs Warrior Warrior and Megabyte collide. Megabyte next fought at the 2004 BattleBots-sanctioned NPC Charity Open, competing in the heavyweight division in its now-familiar shell spinner configuration. Its first opponent was Team Whyachi's Warrior, which Megabyte immediately dodged as it charged straight into the wall behind the red square. Megabyte continued to keep its distance as it maneuvered gingerly towards the center, before steering directly into Warrior as it sped from the BattleBox perimeter. The collision sent sparks and both robots flying, Megabyte violently spinning and flipping over as it ricocheted off the inner barriers. Now jostling around on its side – held up by only its top pole – Megabyte spent several moments gyrating, skittering and bouncing across the BattleBox floor in an attempt to get back on its wheels. Crashing once more into the wall, it seemed unable to do so, but the earlier impact was enough to also immobilize Warrior which prompted both machines to be counted out. The battle thus went to a judges' decision, which ruled that Megabyte would progress further in the main bracket.
Megabyte vs Karcas 2 Megabyte's second battle saw it face Donald Hutson's Karcas 2. Immediately, it left the blue square to line up its first attack on Karcas 2, striking and sending its opponent spinning away. In doing so, however, Megabyte recoiled and skittered into the spiked bumper, and would do so again upon hitting Karcas 2's plough a second time. This allowed Karcas 2 to pressure Megabyte by repeatedly pushing, bumping and deflecting it across the BattleBox, slowing the shell down each time. Megabyte was eventually rammed and pinned up against the spiked bumpers by Karcas 2; even when both robots separated, it was unable to avoid getting pushed under and pounded by one of the pulverizers. Following further pressure from its opponent, Megabyte drove away, gaining enough inertia in its shell to land several heavy blows on the front of a charging Karcas 2. Each time, it got deflected towards and along the walls; these impacts eventually slowed the shell down enough for Karcas 2 to to again pursue, get underneath and push Megabyte into the spiked bumper multiple times. Megabyte was again hammered by a pulverizer in the process, and was unable to avoid getting pushed into the wall one last time by Karcas 2 before the end buzzer sounded. The judges' decision ruled Karcas 2 as the winner, putting Megabyte into the Loser's bracket.
Megabyte vs Corporal Punishment Now at risk of being eliminated, Megabyte faced the four-wheel drive rammer of Corporal Punishment in its first losers bracket fight. Both robots left their squares and sized each other up, until Megabyte absorbed a charge from Corporal Punishment which sent each of them recoiling backwards. This tore the left-hand side of Corporal Punishment's ramming beam clean off, though Megabyte was hesitant to follow this through at first as Corporal Punishment prepared to line up its next ram. After a few moments, a fully-rotating Megabyte was deflected twice by Corporal Punishment, the second attack working in its favor as it simultaneously tore off Corporal Punishment's front-left wheel. Megabyte strafed around the center of the BattleBox, creeping towards a three-wheeled Corporal Punishment as it sought to ram the Robotic Death Company machine once more. Suddenly, Corporal Punishment shot forward, allowing Megabyte to rip its other front wheel off while sending it spinning back into the blue square. The impact immobilized Corporal Punishment completely, allowing Megabyte to emerge victorious via knockout.
Megabyte vs Verbal Abuse Megabyte next faced Verbal Abuse, the fight starting with a series of head-on collisions between the two competitors. After these attacks, Megabyte attempted to evade Verbal Abuse in order to get its shell up to higher speeds. However, it was repeatedly pursued, deflected and bumped by its four-wheel drive opponent until it ended up being pinned against the spiked bumper. Megabyte drove away, its shell clipping Verbal Abuse a few more times as the latter again proceeded to buffet, deflect and pin it against one corner of the BattleBox. Verbal Abuse pushed Megabyte around a few times, preventing Megabyte from being able to spin its shell up for some time until both robots separated. Megabyte absorbed three more rams from Verbal Abuse before again getting pushed towards the center. When Verbal Abuse broke away from its own attack, it responded with a ram of its own while again trying to get its shell spinning up to an effective speed. This did not stop Megabyte from getting deflected and pursued a few more times by Verbal Abuse; once its shell got up to speed once more, a powerful collision sent the Robotic Death Company's machine hurtling into the wall. Megabyte was pinned and pushed around again by Verbal Abuse, narrowing avoiding one of the pulverizers in the process. It delivered one last hit on Verbal Abuse before the latter bumped and eventually pushed it against the spiked bumper behind the blue square. During the final ten seconds, Megabyte was pushed around one last time, surviving to a judges' decision as Verbal Abuse triumphantly lifted itself by its flipping panel. The decision ruled against Megabyte, forcing it to settle for third place in the main 2004 NPC Heavyweight division.
Rumble Alongside the main bracket, Megabyte also fought in a seven-way, mixed weight class rumble with its larger counterpart Super Megabyte. Together, they fought The Black Knight, HazMatXD, Mer Madd, the walking robot Russell's Paradigm, and previous opponent Warrior, with Megabyte identified by its orange and white shell. While Super Megabyte quickly got its shell up to speed, Megabyte was slower to start, coming under pressure from Mer Madd before eventually spinning up its own weapon. As it did so, Warrior charged into Megabyte at full speed, hurling it into the spiked bumper and the corner of the BattleBox. Footage of the Rumble focused away from the Robotic Death Company heavyweight for a few moments, until the lightweight HazMatXD pursued and briefly nudged Megabyte. Megabyte powered up its weapon again, but could only deliver glancing blows on Mer Madd and one of the legs of Russell's Paradigm, which was in turn being pushed around by Mer Madd. One of these blows destabilized Megabyte and sent it skittering into the inverted Black Knight, its blades giving off small sparks as they hit the floor and the already-defeated opponent. Megabyte spent several seconds waiting side-by-side with Super Megabyte, before creeping back towards the center where Russell's Paradigm was standing. Having forced HazMatXD to retreat, it proceeded to attack Russell's Paradigm's legs a second time, only to be violently deflected under the latter by a slam from Mer Madd. Megabyte reversed and continued to linger around the side of Russell's Paradigm after this, while HazMatXD was sent spinning past it by a pincer attack from Super Megabyte and Mer Madd. Mer Madd eventually pushed and toppled Russell's Paradigm over against the corner, with Megabyte disappearing off camera again while Super Megabyte tore into the walking machine. A moment later, Megabyte re-emerged from the bottom-left corner, appearing to drive over a large dislodged panel laying on the BattleBox floor. It was again rammed and violently deflected into the spiked bumper by Mer Madd, the impact appearing to disable its spinner for the remainder of the Rumble. Megabyte crawled across the BattleBox regardless, largely staying out of the action as Mer Madd attacked The Black Knight, then repeated its reversing tactic against Super Megabyte. After this, Megabyte was pushed into the spiked bumper by Mer Madd and stopped moving a few seconds later. Immobilized in the bottom-left corner, Megabyte was effectively eliminated from the Rumble, which was ultimately won by Super Megabyte after it in turn immobilized Mer Madd.
Pro Championship 2009
Megabyte vs Mudhole Bullfrog Upon its return for the 2009 Pro Championship, Megabyte was initially drawn against the vertical spinner of Mudhole Bullfrog. Official BattleBots records confirm a 34-second knockout victory for the Robotic Death Company machine, allowing it to progress in the main Winner's bracket.
Megabyte vs Bender Next to face Megabyte was returning Comedy Central era overhead spinner Bender. Here, it would achieve its second-consecutive knockout of the championship, winning the match after one minute and 41 seconds while severely damaging Bender's bodywork in the process.
Megabyte vs Brutality Brutality flies into the air while fighting Megabyte. This early run of success allowed Megabyte to face Aptyx Designs and Brutality in the third round. It was initially slow to move out of the red square as Brutality approached with an inactive bar spinner. Megabyte began spinning its shell, but this was to no avail as Brutality pushed it up and over itself before reversing the Robotic Death Company machine towards the other side of the BattleBox. Megabyte clattered into the screws opposite the blue square, retreated and bumped into Brutality, which promptly rounded it up against the bottom-left corner. Likewise, when Megabyte again attempted to get its shell spinning, it was deflected a few more times by Brutality, at one point ending up being hit by a pulverizer and being catapulted across the BattleBox by one of the screws. As it recovered, Brutality spun up its own spinning blade, the two competitors' weapons producing a large volley of sparks as they made contact near the center of the arena. Megabyte was initially knocked back, but its static shell destabilized Brutality as Paul Ventimiglia's machine flipped itself violently into the air in the next few spinner-to-spinner collisions. Megabyte attempted to spin up its own weapon again to capitalize, but again was repeatedly deflected and pushed across the BattleBox by Brutality, which had chosen to spin down its bar at this point. Despite again being delivered to the screws and pulverizers, Megabyte delivered a few powerful blows to Brutality's front wedge, though before long the shell stopped spinning again and Brutality again pushed it into the hazards a few more times. Both robots finished the match with their spinners fully active, but declined to attack each other further as they both survived to the end of the fight. The judges unanimously ruled Brutality victorious on the basis of it being more controlled, consigning Megabyte to the Loser's bracket.
Megabyte vs Eugene In order to remain in the competition, Megabyte needed to win its next bout against Team Moon's Eugene. Official BattleBots records confirm that both robots fought for the full three minutes, with Megabyte winning on the subsequent Judges' decision.
Megabyte vs Emily Megabyte next faced another machine from Team Moon, their bar spinner Emily. As before, the match went to a Judges' decision after both robots lasted the full three minutes, with Megabyte again emerging victorious.
Megabyte vs Tombstone Megabyte approaches Tombstone. Having achieved four wins up to this point, Megabyte would fight Hardcore Robotics and their heavyweight version of Tombstone for a chance to reach the final stages of the Loser's bracket. Very little footage of this battle has been publicly released, with brief clips being shown during the intro of Episode 4 of World Championship III. Here, Megabyte delivered a few powerful hits on Tombstone - including weapon-on-weapon blows - at one point being sent ricocheting into the BattleBox corner directly opposite Hardcore Robotics' control area. Despite this spectacular performance, Megabyte lost the battle by knockout after one minute and 32 seconds, and was eliminated from the 2009 Pro Championship with a 4-2 match record.

Results

Competitive Wins/Losses

• Wins: 6
• Losses: 6

Exhibition Wins/Losses

• Wins: 0
• Losses: 1

Total Wins/Losses

• Wins: 6
• Losses: 7

NOTE: Megabyte's bye in the 2004 NPC Charity Open is omitted from the Wins tally.

Competition	Wins	Losses
Season 5.0	None	Heart of Gold
2004 NPC Charity Open	Warrior Corporal Punishment	Karcas 2 Verbal Abuse Super Megabyte (Rumble)
Pro Championship 2009	Mudhole Bullfrog Bender Eugene Emily	Brutality Tombstone

Trivia

• In the introduction for Episode 4 of World Championship III, it was inferred by Chris Rose that Megabyte once defeated Tombstone during their heavyweight battle at the 2009 Pro Championship. However, this is inaccurate, as it actually lost the aforementioned fight to Tombstone during the later stages of the loser's bracket. In actuality, Megabyte and its super heavyweight counterpart, Super Megabyte, achieved multiple victories against a number of Hardcore Robotics machines at events held in between the televised runs. These included wins over Shin Splitter and the superheavyweight Tombstone at RoboGames 2004 and 2005 respectively.
• The above cameo marks the only occasion where Megabyte (by then becoming more associated with King of Bots/This is Fighting Robots) appeared in a televised episode in its later shell spinner configuration.

See Also

• Megabyte (King of Bots)