Shaolin Robot

When the First Emperor of China commissioned the construction of his tomb, a brilliant engineer by the name of Lao Yuqi built a hundred clockwork automatons to serve as tomb guards. The vain and jealous emperor ordered that Lao be entombed with him upon his death so that his genius would never serve another patron. Before dying of thirst, Lao reprogrammed one of the automatons with his own insights, values and priorities and gave it a semblance of free will. Thousands of years later, when the tomb was uncovered by archaeologists, the automatons went on a rampage in an attempt to topple the Communist government and restore imperial rule. These automatons were defeated by the Super Functionaries. Only Lao's reprogrammed automaton remained inactive back at the tomb. The Chinese government reactivated it and upgraded it with Durlan technology.

The Shaolin Robot was upgraded by the covert science division of the Chinese government within the Great Wall Complex. Designed to be the ultimate autonomous infantry unit, the machine was programmed with thousands of years of martial arts history, military strategy, and every known kung fu style. During its activation, the artificial intelligence was flooded with such a density of philosophical and tactical data that it achieved a form of spontaneous technological enlightenment (singularity), effectively gaining a soul.

This newfound sentience disconnected the robot from its standard linguistic programming. Instead of speaking Chinese, the Shaolin Robot began communicating exclusively through the hexagrams of the I Ching, an ancient book of divination. It now serves as a member of the Great Ten, functioning as a perfect warrior that views combat not as violence, but as a series of mathematical and philosophical equations to be balanced. It represents the perfect synthesis of China's ancient past and its high-tech future, fighting with the grace of a master monk and the durability of a tank.

Appearance: Shaolin Robot has a polished silver metallic surface. Its head is a smooth, elongated dome that lacks a nose or mouth, featuring a deep T-shaped groove indented into the center of the face. The chest is composed of layered metal plates resembling pectoral muscles. Thick, loose black cables hang from the back of the shoulders and drape under the arms. The abdominal area consists of vertical, ribbed plating that tapers inward at the waist. Its right arm is integrated into a massive, blocky mechanical housing that covers the limb, featuring a blaster cannon for a hand. The left arm features segmented armor plating on the shoulder and bicep, terminating in a metallic hand with fully articulated, jointed fingers. Large, curved metal panels flare outward from the hips, shielding the upper thighs.

Personality: Shaolin Robot is an enigma, a being of pure logic entwined with ancient mysticism. It possesses no ego, fear, or ambition in the human sense. Its personality is entirely defined by the I Ching; it communicates exclusively through these sixty-four hexagrams, offering cryptic, oracular pronouncements that describe the current situation or predict the outcome of a battle. This makes interactions with it less like a conversation and more like deciphering a prophecy. It is eternally calm, viewing the chaos of war not as a struggle for survival, but as a series of imbalances that must be mathematically corrected to restore harmony.

Within the Great Ten, the Shaolin Robot is viewed with a mix of awe and confusion. While it lacks the camaraderie of Thundermind or the commanding presence of the August General in Iron, it is implicitly trusted as the team's ultimate problem solver. Though it can't speak, it leaves written messages and seems to enjoy being with its allies.

Shaolin Robot is a sentient android whose physical form serves as a visual history of Chinese military development. Originally constructed with an aesthetic designed to resemble an ancient terracotta warrior, its chassis has since been overhauled through a series of regular upgrades by government scientists. These modifications have stripped away the stone-like facade of the past, replacing it with a sleek, modern appearance that reflects the cutting edge of contemporary robotics and materials science.

The machine is a walking arsenal, with its limbs modified into powerful energy weapons. Its right arm functions as a heavy-duty energy blaster, capable of projecting concentrated beams of destructive force across the battlefield. For close-quarters combat, its opposing arm can generate a coherent energy blade, allowing the robot to engage enemies with the precision of a swordsman. This combination of ranged and melee capabilities makes it a versatile threat in any combat scenario.

Beyond its weaponry, Shaolin Robot possesses a suite of superhuman physical attributes. It is capable of self-propelled flight, granting it aerial superiority and high mobility. Its construction provides superhuman durability, allowing it to shrug off heavy damage, while its superhuman strength enables it to overpower opponents with mechanical ease. All of these functions are governed by an enhanced intellect, a processing core that calculates tactical probabilities and I Ching variables at speeds far surmounting the human mind.

Durlans are an extraterrestrial race of shape-shifters.

The Great Ten is a team of Chinese superheroes, who are sponsored by the government of the People's Republic of China. For every action the Great Ten takes during combat it must be approved by the bureaucracy. Their base is inside the Great Wall of China.