Ming

"Will Ming be gone in a flash, or will it prove to be an emperor of robots?"

- Jonathan Pearce upon Ming's debut

Ming was the name given to a series of robots across the history of Robot Wars. The team competed with the Ming robots from Series 3-7 whilst also entering in the first series of Extreme. Ming was named after a villain from Flash Gordon, and the team wore outfits in later seasons to fit the theme. The team featured four robots during its time. A pattern was detected amongst the Ming robots' performance - in the odd numbered series (Series 3, 5 and 7) Ming lost in the first round, but in the even numbered series (Series 4 and 6), it passed the first round convincingly and lost in the second. With only two exceptions in Hypno-Disc and Ceros, every robot to defeat Ming fell in the next battle it fought in.

The original Ming, known also as Ming the Merciless, was a box wedge shape with a serrated circular saw that covered the robot's entire back. This disc spun counter-clockwise at 3200 RPM. It also hid a "quaint" sound producing device that was supposed to distract enemy robots. Ming broke down early in its first fight, and when flipped, the disc came off its axle on contact with the floor, shearing it off and causing it to fly across the arena. "Ming the Merciless? I doubt it, what about you?"

- Jonathan Pearce's predictions of Ming 2, based on prior performances

Ming 2 was a long metallic wedge shape. The robot weighed in at 80kg, making it the heaviest in its heat. Its wedge lead on to a flipping panel. It was also invertible, and had two air-driven spikes for glancing blows on its side. It performed much stronger than its predecessor, easily dispatching the seeded Diotoir before falling in the second round. It also represented the UK in the War of Independence, although the Ultimate Guide makes the false statement that it was actually Ming 3.

Ming 3 was the most succesful of the Ming robots, retaining the same wedge as Ming 2 as its body shape, but removing the wheel guards (this cost it significantly during its life). Ming 3's primary weapon was a large piercing claw added on top, very similar to Razer. It could double as a lifter, and had self-righting rods on the side of the piercer. Just as Razer's was, the beak was drilled with holes to fit the weight constraints. It was upgraded in Series 6 with a 3 tonne pressure behind the claw. "A Razer-esque crusher..."

- Jonathan Pearce's statement

Ming 3 has been heavily criticised by Robot Wars fans for being a bad clone of Razer, or even "the poor man's Razer". This is similar to how Gravedigger was labeled as a Cassius clone, but more stressed. Most of these statements spawn from Jonathan Pearce's introductions, and merely the fact that Ming has a crushing claw and side srimech. Despite this, Razer did not, in fact, have anything to do with the inspiration for the crusher, as the Ming team themselves admitted.

Ming 3 lost in the first round of Series 5 after a controversy with Matilda, and failed to report major success in Extreme 1 or Series 6. However, Ming 3 represented the UK in Nickelodeon Robot Wars alongside Rick in the Tag Team Terror, of which they were crowned champions. This is arguably Ming's finest performance.

The team's final robot was named Ming Dienasty. The robot was constructed from an RCV (Radio Controlled Vehicle), which were produced by Andrew Cotterell's new company Robogeddon. The main reason Ming 3 was set aside for this machine was because Cotterell wanted to gain publicity for his new company, but was forbidden from publishing corporate logos. The RCV was given a Ming-theme paint job, and a powerful drill was added to the lifting arm built in to each RCV. Ming Dienasty had the special features of the RCV's - skid steering and four wheel drives. The drill could spin at 2000 RPM, but was unable to gain any purchase in its only Series 7 battle.

Ming Dienasty was given the number 15 seed for fighting in five wars, after Dominator 2 was unable to compete. This has been viewed as extremely controversial, as nearly all Robot Wars fans believed that other robots were more deserving of the seeding. Ming's loss in the first round is suspected to be the reason it was not invited to the All-Stars of Series 7, although this is not confirmed. It was the only seed to lose in the first round in Series 7 via a Judges decision.

The team also entered Series 7 with Zorro, a separate robot from Ming Dienasty, which was also made from an RCV.

Series 3
Ming's first match was against Mortis. Prior to the fight, Alex Cotterell put on a huge white beard in an imitation of Mortis team's Arthur Chilcott.

At the start of the match, Ming attempted to turn and use its spinning disc, but after one blow from Mortis' axe, it stopped moving. Mortis flipped Ming onto its side, and Ming's disc flew off and across the arena on contact with the arena floor. However, Mortis then assailed the House Robots and was pitted instead, leaving Ming totally unharmed by the end of the fight. "We lost signal, something interfered, and we just lost total control and it just stopped going."

- Andrew Cotterell post-battle

Series 4
"I hope we'll be a bit more successful than the last one - we've got a much meaner machine"

- Andrew Cotterell

Ming 2 made quick work of its melee against Bolt from the Blue and Diotoir (the 21st seed), flipping the seeded Diotoir straight away, who could not self-right since the flipping arm of Diotoir was deactivated before the battle began. This was enough for Ming 2 to go through to the next round. "Well, we were here in the last wars and we were up against Mortis. We didn't really have a good crack at it, we didn't do very well, to cut a long story short, we lost. Arthur (Chillcot) said to us: I don't mean to be rude but I don't know why they put people like you against guys like us. So I thought right, that's it, I'm going to come back and I'm going to show 'em who's the best."

- Andrew Cotterell before Round 2

In the heat semi-final, it began as the favourites against the reinstated The Morgue, who had already lost to a flipper once in the heat. The Morgue got under Ming 2, but could not lift it. Ming 2 then got underneath The Morgue, and flipped it, but The Morgue rolled back onto its wheels. Ming then flipped The Morgue, but not over. The robots charged into each other, and Morgue impaled its spikes into Ming 2's front. They separated, and Morgue rammed Ming 2 once more, immobilising it to great surprise. Ming 2 was pitted by Sir Killalot. The Ming team returned for the War of Independence, representing the UK. In the first round, Ming 2 faced The Mangulator. The two robots drove at each other several times in the early stages of the battle, but Ming couldn't use its flipper effectively, since The Mangulator was invertible. After a few more charges, Ming 2 rammed into The Mangulator side-on, breaking off one of its wheels. The house robots attacked and pitted the US machine. In the semi-final, Ming 2 was to battle with the only first round winner from the United States, Frenzy. Before the fight, the Ming 2 team figured that the best tactic would be to hit the axe full on, knocking off the chain and preventing it from self-righting if it was flipped over. However, as it charged in, Frenzy struck Ming 2's body, breaking the receiver on/off switch. This immobilised Ming 2 almost completely, only the flipper left working. Frenzy continued to hit Ming 2 until Dead Metal placed it on the arena flipper, where it was thrown.

Extreme 1
"There's goes a wheel! A whole wheel has come off! Oh, there goes the other one!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Hypno-Disc cleaves off Ming 3's wheels

Ming 3 had two appearances in the first series of Extreme. Its first was a Mayhem battle, where it was easily defeated by Hypno-Disc, who immobilised it and Wheely Big Cheese by focusing its attacks on both robots' exposed wheels. Ming 3 suffered especially, with its wheel sheared into pieces, before both wheels were completely severed. Ming 3's remnants were pitted alongside the immobile Wheely Big Cheese.

Ming 3 also had a vengeance battle against Mega Morg, seeking revenge after Ming 2 was bested by the Welsh robot in Series 4. Ming repeatedly buried its beak into Mega Morg, and Mega Morg escaped, only to drive into the CPZ and be attacked by Sir Killalot. Mega Morg rammed Ming 3 several times, and the match ended in a judges' decision in favour of Ming 3.

Series 5
Ming 3 was thrown up against Terrorhurtz in its first fight of Series 5. It was unable to get a grip on the axe-wielding robot at first and got hit several times by the double-headed weapon. Eventually, Ming managed to grab hold of Terrorhurtz and started to drag it around the arena. However, as it was crossing the flame pit, Matilda came out of her CPZ and hit Ming 3 with her flywheel, immobilising it. Terrorhurtz was able to escape, but the match went to a judges decision because Matilda had intervened with the battle. The judges gave Terrorhurtz the win, whilst Ming was given an apology for what happened. Matilda was given a red card and "a good smack up the backside", according to Jonathan Pearce.

Series 6
Ming 3's melee was against The Hassocks Hog, Spam, and Hot Pants. Ming went for Hassocks Hog first, but could not get a grip on it. Hot Pants came into the fray, attacking the Hog with its pickaxe. Ming then buried its beak in Hot Pants, while the other two rammed it. Hot Pants was counted out, so Sergeant Bash dumped it into the pit, and Ming followed suit, pitting Spam. It appeared as though Ming 3 and The Hassocks Hog would go through, but the judges ruled that The Hassocks Hog has lost drive to one side before Spam was pitted, so Spam took The Hassocks Hog's place. "The problem is, my wheels are spinning disc magnets, and everytime I come up against spinning discs, they go straight for the wheels. I know I should do something about it, but now I can't"

- Andrew Cotterell before the fight with Supernova

In the next round, Supernova damaged Ming 3's wheel on the very first hit. It continued attacking Ming, destroying Ming's srimech, and loosening its tyres from its wheels. Ming 3 was soon immobilised and counted out.

Series 7
In its melee, Ming Dienasty was almost immediately flipped by Ceros, but was eventually able to self-right. Scraptosaur flipped Ming repeatedly, and as it flailed, Ceros joined the fight having defeated Metalis. The rhino-based robot righted Ming and chased the seed down. Ming was harassed by Scraptosaur and Ceros, however Ming was managing to drill away at both machines and avoid the flippers. It then activated the pit release, Ceros then began to leave the action as Ming Dienasty started shoving and maneuvering around Scraptosaur. "Tremendous work from Ming Dienasty...too little too late, I think...they put in a good late effort"

- Jonathan Pearce

Metalis then ended up being shoved by Refbot into the pit right before cease was called. The match ended in a judges' decision between Ming Dienasty, Ceros and Scraptosaur. The judges went in favour of Scraptosaur and Ceros.

Nickelodeon
Ming 3 fought alongside Rick in the US Vs UK Tag Team Terror competition in the Nickelodeon series, fighting Bigger Brother and Kat 3 in the first round. It was flipped over numerous times by Bigger Brother but was able to self right. Ming 3 and Rick went on to win and fight the Revolutionist and Spin Doctor in the Final. The Revolutionist flew off of Ming 3 and was then flipped over by Rick. Sir Killalot dragged Ming 3 out of the corner and then proceeded to throw Rick out of the arena. Ming 3 and Rick won on a close judges decision and got to keep the Tag Team trophy in the UK.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * UK Wins: 4
 * UK Losses: 7
 * US Wins: 2
 * US Losses: 0

Series Record

 * Series 1-2: Did not enter
 * Series 3: Heat, Round 1
 * Series 4: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 5: Heat, Round 1
 * Series 6: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 7: Heat, Round 1