Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Tales

Title: Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Tales
Author(s): Terry Pratchett
Translation: Maciej Szymański
Release year: 2014 (ENG), 2014 (PL)
Publisher: Doubleday (ENG), Rebis (PL)

Why in Database: A book collecting early short stories by Terry Pratchett, it is not related to Discworld, but it have one story entirely about the turtle. Of course, we paste only small fragments, not the entire story.

The stories in this collection are a selection of those. There are dragons and wizards, councillors and mayors, an adventurous tortoise and a monster in a lake, along with plenty of pointy hats and a few magic spells (a few of which actually do what they are supposed to).

It was the end of March – in fact about quarter to April – when the smell of spring broke into the shed. It drifted across the floor, found its way under a pile of old packing cases, and stopped at a large wooden box. The box smelled of autumn straw and deep in the heart of it something began to stir.
Or rather, someone.
Hercules awoke from dreams of lettuce fields under a midsummer sun. Slowly his wrinkled head poked out of his shell. He sniffed, and yawned, and tried to wriggle deeper into the straw. But it was no use.
Spring again, he thought. Without a doubt. And he tried to get his head round so that he could see his shell, because tortoises have rings on their shells and grow one for every year. Yes, there it was, the new ring, and Hercules felt ready to face the outside world.

Hercules lay on the lawn and stretched his legs. The hands put a small heap of lettuce leaves in front of him, and he chewed them thoughtfully. The land beyond the shed had occupied his dreams during the long winter sleep.
I Wonder What Lies Beyond, he mused, thinking as he often did – in capital letters. There Might be Lettuce. Or Even Buttercups. But secretly he knew that it was not buttercups he was after – he really wanted to travel beyond the shed to see what lay on the other side. He didn’t think of it as escaping from the garden.
But the people did, when they found him gone from the lawn.

A larger shadow detached itself from the rocks. It was Old Mother Greengroan the toad.
‘What is this?’ she asked, staring at Hercules.
‘He’s – he’s a tortoise, madam,’ said Pod.
‘A very brave one,’ said the toad. ‘But why is he here?’
‘I Wanted to See What the World was Like,’ said Hercules.
‘It’s no place for tortoises,’ said Old Mother Greengroan, ‘but you killed the adder, so you can stay if you wish. It’s a big place, bigger than a garden, and a lot happens, and there might be other adders.’

Author: XYuriTT

The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah

Title: The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah
Author(s): Stephen King
Release year: 2004
Publisher: Donald M. Grant

Why in Database: The next, sixth volume of the The Dark Tower series, with a lot of turtle fragments! So this time we present not all, but only the more important fragments that mention turtles! In fact, all the fragments revolve around Maturin in one way or another, and there is also a reference to Turtles all the way down.

”We’re on the Path of the Bear, Way of the Turtle,” Eddie said absently.
”I don’t know why it would ever matter, since the Tower’s as far as we’re going, but on the other side it’s the Path of the Turtle, Way of the Bear.” And he recited:
”See the TURTLE of enormous girth!
On his shell he holds the earth,
His thought is slow but always kind;
He holds us all within his mind.”
At this point, Rosalita took up the verse
”On his back the truth is carried,
And there are love and duty married.
He loves the earth and loves the sea,
And even loves a child like me. ”
”Not quite the way I learned it in my cradle and taught it to my friends,” Roland said, ”but close enough, by watch and by warrant.”
”The Great Turtle’s name is Maturin,” Jake said, and shrugged. ”If it matters.”

In it was a fountain; nearby was a metal sculpture of a turtle, its shell gleaming wetly in the fountain’s spray. She cared nothing for fountains or sculptures, but there was also a bench. WALK had come around again. Trudy tottered across Second Avenue, like a woman of eighty-three instead of thirty-eight, and sat down. She began to take long, slow breaths, and after three minutes or so felt a little better.
Beside the bench was a trash receptacle with KEEP LITTER IN ITS PLACE stenciled on the side. Below this, in pink spray-paint, was an odd little graffito: See the TURTLE of enormous girth. Trudy saw the turtle, but didn’t think much of its girth; the sculpture was quite modest. She saw something else, as well: a copy of the New York Times, rolled up as she always rolled hers, if she wanted to keep it a little longer and happened to have a bag to stow it in. Of course there were probably at least a million copies of that day’s Times floating around Manhattan, but this one was hers.
She knew it even before fishing it out of the litter basket and verifying what she knew by turning to the crossword, which she’d mostly completed over lunch, in her distinctive lilac-colored ink.
She returned it to the litter basket and looked across Second Avenue to the place where her idea of how things worked had changed. Maybe forever.
Took my shoes. Crossed the street and sat here by the turtle and put them on. Kept my bag but dumped the Times. Why’d she want my bag? She didn’t have any shoes of her own to put in it.

On the far side was a bench beside a fountain and a metal sculpture. Seeing the turtle comforted Susannah a little; it was as if Roland had left her this sign, what the gunslinger himself would have called a sigul.

She reached in and brought out not a stone but a small scrimshaw turtle. Made of ivory, from the look of it. Each detail of the shell was tiny and precisely executed, although it had been marred by one tiny scratch that looked almost like a question-mark. The turtle’s head poked halfway out. Its eyes were tiny black dots of some tarry stuff, and looked incredibly alive. She saw another small imperfection in the turtle’s beak — not a scratch but a crack.
”It’s old,” she whispered aloud. ”So old.”
Yes, Mia whispered back.
Holding it made Susannah feel incredibly good. It made her feel safe, somehow.
See the Turtle, she thought. See the Turtle of enormous girth, on his shell he holds the earth. Was that how it went? She thought it was at least close. And of course that was the Beam they had been following to the Tower. The Bear at one end — Shardik. The Turtle at the other — Maturin.
She looked from the tiny totem she’d found in the lining of the bag to the one beside the fountain. Barring the difference in materials — the one beside her bench was made of dark metal with brighter coppery glints — they were exactly the same, right down to the scratch on the shell and the tiny wedge-shaped break in the beak. For a moment her breath stopped, and her heart seemed to stop, also. She went along from moment to moment through this adventure — sometimes even from day to day — without thinking much but simply driven by events and what Roland insisted was ka. Then something like this would happen, and she would for a moment glimpse a far bigger picture, one that immobilized her with awe and wonder. She sensed forces beyond her ability to comprehend. Some, like the ball in the ghostwood box, were evil. But this . . . this . . .
”Wow,” someone said. Almost sighed.
She looked up and saw a businessman — a very successful one, from the look of his suit — standing there by the bench. He’d been cutting through the park, probably on his way to someplace as important as he was, some sort of meeting or a conference, maybe even at the United Nations, which was close by (unless that had changed, too). Now, however, he had come to a dead stop. His expensive briefcase dangled from his right hand.
His eyes were large and fixed on the turtle in Susannah-Mia’s hand. On his face was a large and rather dopey grin. Put it away!’ Mia cried, alarmed. He’ll steal it! Like to see him try, Detta Walker replied. Her voice was relaxed and rather amused. The sun was out and she — all parts of she — suddenly realized that, all else aside, this day was beautiful. And precious. And gorgeous.
”Precious and beautiful and gorgeous,” said the businessman (or perhaps he was a diplomat), who had forgotten all about his business. Was it the day he was talking about, or the scrimshaw turtle? It’s both, Susannah thought. And suddenly she thought she understood this. Jake would have understood, too — no one better! She laughed. Inside her, Detta and Mia also laughed, Mia a bit against her will. And the businessman or diplomat, he laughed, too.
”Yah, it’s both,” the businessman said. In his faint Scandinavian accent, both came out boad. ”What a lovely thing you have!” Whad a loffly thing! Yes, it was lovely. A lovely little treasure. And once upon a time, not so long ago, Jake Chambers had found something queerly similar. In CalvinTower’s bookshop, Jake had bought a book called Charlie the Choo- Choo, by Beryl Evans. Why? Because it had called to him. Later — shortly before Roland’s ka-tet had come to Calla Bryn Sturgis, in fact — the author’s name had changed to Claudia y Inez Bachman, making her a member of the ever-expanding Ka-Tet of Nineteen. Jake had slipped a key into that book, and Eddie had whittled a double of it in Mid-World. Jake’s version of the key had both fascinated the folks who saw it and made them extremely suggestible. Like Jake’s key, the scrimshaw turtle had its double; she was sitting beside it. The question was if the turtle was like Jake’s key in other ways.
Judging from the fascinated way the Scandinavian businessman was looking at it, Susannah was pretty sure the answer was yes. She thought, Dad-a-chuck, dad-a-churtle, don’t worry, girl, you got the turtle! It was such a silly rhyme she almost laughed out loud. To Mia she said, Let me handle this.
Handle what? I don’t understand —
I know you don’t. So let me handle it. Agreed?
She didn’t wait for Mia’s reply. She turned back to the businessman, smiling brightly, holding the turtle up where he could see it. She floated it from right to left and noted the way his eyes followed it, although his head, with its impressive mane of white hair, never moved.
”What’s your name, sai?” Susannah asked.
”Mathiessen van Wyck,” he said. His eyes rolled slowly in their sockets, watching the turtle. ”I am second assistant to the Swedish Ambassador to the United Nations. My wife has taken a lover. This makes me sad. My bowels are regular once again, the tea the hotel masseuse recommended worked for me, and this makes me happy.” A pause. Then: ‘Your skölpadda makes me happy.”

”I have quite an important position,” Mats said. His eyes never left the turtle. ”I am meeting many important peoples. I am going to cocktail parties where good-looking women are wearing ‘the little black dress.’ ”
”That must be quite a thrill for you. Mats, I want you to shut your trap and only open it to speak when I ask you a direct question. Will you do that?”
Mats closed his mouth. He even made a comical little zipping gesture across his lips, but his eyes never left the turtle.
”You mentioned a hotel. Do you stay at a hotel?”
”Yah, I am staying at the New York Plaza-Park Hyatt, at the corner of First and Forty-sixth. Soon I am getting the condominium apartment — ”
Mats seemed to realize he was saying too much again and shut his mouth.
Susannah thought furiously, holding the turtle in front of her breasts where her new friend could see it very well.

He started away, then paused and looked back at her. Although his cheeks were wet, his expression was pixie-ish, a trifle sly. ”Perhaps I should take it,” he said. ”Perhaps it is mine by right.”
Like to see you try, honky was Detta’s thought, but Susannah — who felt more and more in charge of this wacky triad, at least for the time being — shushed her. ”Why would you say that, my friend? Tell, I beg.”
The sly look remained. Don’t kid a kidder, it said. That was what it looked like to Susannah, anyway. ”Mats, Maturin,” he said. ”Maturin, Mats. You see?”
Susannah did. She started to tell him it was just a coincidence and then thought: Calla, Callahan.
”I see,” she said, ”but the skölpadda isn’t yours. Nor mine, either.”
”Then whose?” Plaintive. Den hoose? it sounded like. And before her conscious mind could stop her (or at least censor her), Susannah spoke the truth her heart and soul knew: ”It belongs to the Tower, sai. The DarkTower. And it’s to there I’ll return it, ka willing.”
”Gods be with you, lady-sai.”
”And you, Mats. Long days and pleasant nights.”
She watched the Swedish diplomat walk away, then looked down at the scrimshaw turtle and said, ”That was pretty amazing, Mats old buddy.”
Mia had no interest in the turtle; she had but a single object. This hotel, she said. Will there be a telephone?

”Why — yes, sai. You use it in the elevator as well as to open your room. Just push it into the slot in the direction the arrows point. Remove it briskly. When the light on the door turns green, you may enter. I have slightly over eight thousand dollars in my cash drawer. I’ll give it all to you for your pretty thing, your turtle, your skölpadda, your tortuga, your kavvit, your — ”
”No,” Susannah said, and staggered again. She clutched the edge of the desk. Her equilibrium was shot. ”I’m going upstairs now.” She’d meant to visit the gift shop first and spend some of Mats’s dough on a clean shirt, if they carried such things, but that would have to wait. Everything would have to wait.
”Yes, sai.” No more ma’am, not now. The turtle was working on her. Sanding away the gap between the worlds.
”You just forget you saw me, all right?”
”Yes, sai. Shall I put a do-not-disturb on the phone?”
Mia clamored. Susannah didn’t even bother paying attention. ”No, don’t do that. I’m expecting a call.”
”As you like, sai.” Eyes on the turtle. Ever on the turtle. ”Enjoy the Plaza-Park. Would you like a bellman to assist you with your bags?”
Look like I need help with these three pukey li’l things? Detta thought, but Susannah only shook her head.
”Very well.”
Susannah started to turn away, but the desk clerk’s next words swung her back in a hurry.
”Soon comes the King, he of the Eye.”
Susannah gaped at the woman, her surprise close to shock. She felt gooseflesh crawling up her arms. The desk clerk’s beautiful face, meanwhile, remained placid. Dark eyes on the scrimshaw turtle. Lips parted, now damp with spittle as well as gloss. If I stay here much longer, Susannah thought, she’ll start to drool.

”There are six Beams, as you did say, but there are twelve Guardians, one for each end of each Beam. This — for we’re still on it — is the Beam of Shardik. Were you to go beyond the Tower, it would become the Beam of Maturin, the great turtle upon whose shell the world rests.
”Similarly, there are but six demon elementals, one for each Beam. Below them is the whole invisible world, those creatures left behind on the beach of existence when the Prim receded. There are speaking demons, demons of house which some call ghosts, ill-sick demons which some — makers of machines and worshippers of the great false god rationality, if it does ya — call disease. Many small demons but only six demon elementals. Yet as there are twelve Guardians for the six Beams, there are twelve demon aspects, for each demon elemental is both male and female.”

King smiled a little and made a gentle wissshhhing sound. ”The wind blows,” said he.
”Gan bore the world and moved on,” Roland replied. ”Is that what you mean to say?”
”Aye, and the world would have fallen into the abyss if not for the great turtle. Instead of falling, it landed on his back.”
”So we’re told, and we all say thank ya. Start with the lobstrosities biting off my fingers.”
”Dad-a-jum, dad-ajingers, goddam lobsters bit off your fingers,” King said, and actually laughed.
”Yes.”

Roland said, ”Listen for the song of the Turtle, the cry of the Bear.”
”Song of Turtle, cry of Bear. Maturin from the Patrick O’Brian novels. Shardik from the Richard Adams novel.”
”Yes. If you say so.”
”Guardians of the Beam.”
”Yes.”
”Of my Beam.”
Roland looked at him fixedly. ”Do you say so?”
”Yes.”
”Then let it be so. When you hear the song of the Turtle or the cry of the Bear, then you must start again.”
”When I open my eye to your world, he sees me.” A pause. ”It.”
”I know. We’ll try to protect you at those times, just as we intend to protect the rose.”
King smiled. ”I love the rose.”
”Have you seen it?” Eddie asked.
”Indeed I have, in New York. Up the street from the U.N. Plaza Hotel.
It used to be in the deli. Tom and Jerry’s. In the back. Now it’s in the vacant lot where the deli was.”
”You’ll tell our story until you’re tired,” Roland said. ”When you can’t tell any more, when the Turtle’s song and the Bear’s cry grow faint in your ears, then will you rest. And when you can begin again, you will begin again. You — ”
”Roland?”
”Sai King?”
”I’ll do as you say. I’ll listen for the song of the Turtle and each time I hear it, I’ll go on with the tale. If 1 live. But you must listen, too. For her song.”

He held the scrimshaw turtle up to his face and ran the pad of his index finger over the question-mark-shaped scratch on its shell. Looked into its wise and peaceful eyes. ”How lovely it is,” he breathed. ”Is it the Turtle Maturin? It is, isn’t it?”
”I don’t know,” Jake said. ”Probably. She calls it the skölpadda, and it may help us, but it can’t kill the harriers that are waiting for us in there.” He nodded toward the Dixie Pig. ”Only we can do that, Pere. Will you?”
”Oh yes,” Callahan said calmly. He put the turtle, the skölpadda, into his breast pocket. ”I’ll shoot until the bullets are gone or I’m dead. If I run out of bullets before they kill me, I’ll club them with the gun-butt.”

November 18th, 1984
I had a dream last night that I think breaks the creative logjam on It. Suppose there’s a kind of Beam holding the Earth (or even multiple Earths) in place? And that the Beam’s generator rests on the shell of a turtle? I could make that part of the book’s climax. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m sure I read somewhere that in Hindu mythology there’s a great turtle that bears us all on his shell, and that he serves Gan, the creative overforce. Also, I remember an anecdote where some lady sez to some famous scientist, ”This evolution stuff is ridiculous. Everyone knows that a turtle holds up the universe.” To which the scientist (wish I could remember his name, but I can’t) replies, ”That may be, madam, but what holds up the turtle?” Scornful laugh from the lady, who says, ”Oh, you can’t fool me! It’s turtles all the way down.”
Ha! Take that, ye rational men of science!
Anyway, I keep a blank book by my bed, and have gotten so I write down a lot of dreams and dream elements w/o even fully waking up. This morning I’d written Remember the Turtle! And this: See the TURTLE of enormous girth! On his shell he holds the earth. His thought is slow but always kind; he holds us all within his mind. Not great poetry, I grant you, but not bad for a guy who was three-quarters asleep when he wrote it! Tabby has been on my case about drinking too much again. I suppose she’s right, but . . .”

Author: XYuriTT

Leo

Title: Leo
Year: 2023
Director: Lokesh Kanagaraj
English dubbing: Adam Sandler, Bill Burr, Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Rob Schneider, Allison Strong, Jo Koy, Sadie Sandler, Sunny Sandler, Coulter Ibanez
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family,
Country: Australia, USA

Why in Database:In this animation we have two main characters, a lizard named Leo and a turtle named Squirtle, which of course refers to Pokemon. They both appear throughout the film, Leo a little more, but still, it’s a very turtle movie!

Author: XYuriTT

World of Warcraft

Title: World of Warcraft
Year: 2004
Producer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Platforms: PC
Genre: MMORPG

Why in Database: To say that World of Warcraft is a game with a lot of turtle content is an understatement. Because the game is huuuuuge, the amount of turtle content is also quite big. We describe it very closely, but it is definitely not a “we will describe everything!” type of note, it would be very difficult.

First of all, the largest turtle in the game, referring to the concept of World Turtle Shen-zin Su! It is also known as the “Wandering Isle” and as such is the starting place for the Pandaren race, added in the expansion “World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria”.

Another named turtle chosed by us to describe is Ghamoo-Ra, a huge turtle boss, we can meet him in the Pool of Ask’ar, in the Blackfathom Deeps location. Some (e.g. WOWpedia) consider his name to be a reference to Gamera!

The last turtle we decided to describe separately is Torga, one of the loa (deities) of the Zandalari pantheon. His story is important in the game, he is killed and eaten, but thanks to the player’s efforts he returns, first as a ghost, then again in physical form and is accompanied by Lashk.

Speaking of Lashk, the entire Tortollan race is definitely a turtle race! They originally debuted in the card game Hearthstone, an expansion to WOW, and later they joined the main game. They come from Zandalar. One of the texts during the “Don’t Turtle” mission mentions that killing a member of this race brings bad luck (“But, it’s bad luck to kill a Tortollan and I don’t need any more bad luck.”). The game also includes locations such as Little Tortolla, where you can meet many Tortollan.

The game features boats built on the shells of real turtles, they have several different names and appear in different places, but they use one design.

Several turtle skeletons also appear in the game:

There are a HUGE number of enemies or simply turtle-looking animals in the game. They have different names,statistics, loot and appears in different places, but generally they come in a small number of skins/models that are simply recolored. We do not discuss them all in detail or even show them all, but each picture is properly labeled, which will allow you to find more information about individual turtles.

The first turtle pattern we describe are small turtles, very realistic if compared to others:

Small turtles also come in the following version:

Another design is a turtle with two fangs protruding from its lower jaw and a tall, spiny shell.

The next pattern also has a quite spiky shell, but it is easiest to distinguish it by the spikes on the edge of it.

The next model is easiest to describe as crystalline – crystals protrude from the turtle’s shell and front legs. The first three photos are showing Tortos, the boss, the next ones are of various other turtles:

The next model also has a characteristic, layered shell, and can also be recognized by its horns.

The next one also has horns, it also has spines on the edge of the shell, otherwise the shell is quite normal:

The sea turtle model is very realistic:

A whole separate category of turtles are animals that we can use as mounts in the game!
One of such turtles is the Dragon Turtle, it comes in six colors, Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Purple and Red:

Great Dragon Turtle also is available in six color versions, Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Purple and Red:

Other mounts include The Sea Turtle, Arcadian War Turtle and The Riding Turtle, which can only be obtained through a TCG card (by hitting or buying from someone a card with a code).

All the above mounts are available for both factions in the game, the following Vicious War Turtle is the only one that has a separate and unique skin for the horde and a separate one for the alliance.

The last graphical element we will discuss are various pieces of equipment!
We can collect, for example, various pieces of turtle shells:
Extinct Turtle Shell, Fire Turtle Shell Fragment, Gleaming Turtle Shell
Soft Turtle Shell, Hardened Tortoise Shell, Turtle Shell

The game also includes many different nutritional products made from turtles, from literal turtle meat, through broths, soups, etc.:
– Braised Turtle, – Tender Baked Turtle, – Foaming Turtle Broth
– Great Turtle Soup, – Fried Turtle Bits, – Giant Turtle Tongue
– Turtle Meat, – Raw Turtle Meat, – Great Turtle Meat
– Tender Turtle Meat, – Turtle Meat Scraps, – Tortoise Jerky
– Herbed Turtle Meat, – Tortoise Flank, – Sack of Raw Turtle Meat

Other items include various items with a turtle name that you can come across:
Amulet of the Primal Turtle, Giant Turtle Collar
Tome of Polymorph: Turtle, The Turtle-Digested Key
The Drums of the Turtle God, Terrapin Oils
The Hematite Tortoise Pendant, Band of the Great Tortoise

The game also includes a set of five items made from Turtle Scale – Breastplate, Bracers, Leggings, Helm and Gloves. On the left there are icons of these items, below are screenshots of what they look like in the game when we equip our character with them.

The above set is not the only turtle equipment in the game, we also found six other items with a turtle name!
Twilight Turtleskin Leggings, Dragon Turtle Handlers
Cloak of the Hardened Tortoise, Tortoise Armor
Worn Turtle Shell Shield, Turtle-Minders Robe

The last turtle visual element we want to discuss is an Easter egg, a reference to Ninja Turtles! In the sewers under the city of Dalaran you can see five animals, a rat and four turtles, there are also some broken greenish vials with slime nearby, etc., the whole thing has definitely a TMNT vibe.

Finally, we will mention that turtles also appear in the names of achievements and quests.

There are achievements such as “Turtles All the Way Down”, referring to the concept of with sthe same name or “Triumphant Turtle Tossing”, there are also quests such as “I Like Turtles”, “A Turtle’s Invitation”, “Children of a Turtle God”, “Turtle Powered” (another reference to TMNT!), “Turtle Tactics” , “Don’t Turtle” or “Tortoise Mastery”.

Author: XYuriTT

Tibia

Title: Tibia
Year: 1997
Producer: CipSoft
Publisher: CipSoft
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Genre: MMORPG

Why in Database: Like many other Fantasy-based MMORPGs, Tibia also has some turtle content – although only since the eighth year of its existence!

The first element we will mention is Turtle Sprouter – a plant with a turtle name, it can be spotted in the Tiquanda jungle, it was added in update 7.5 (2005), so it has probably been present in the game since then.

Tortoise and Thornback Tortoise are the first turtle creatures to be introduced to the game, in 2006 with update 7.6, which added pirates and a set of associated islands (Caribbean style). These turtles can be found on some of these islands. The loot that can drop from both of them includes Tortoise Egg: and Turtle Shell: , and only from Tortoise we have a chance to get Tortoise Shield: .

Other turtle elements also appeared in this update, a large turtle served as a means of fast transport (by entering it, we were teleported to another island, it should not be confused with the “mounts” added much later). In update 8.60, in 2010, the “Quick as a Turtle” achievement was added, earned by using this turtle to travel 2,000 times.

Other turtle items include, for example, Tortoise’s Nest, there is also the “Tortoise Egg from Nargor” item, but it looks identical to the regular tortoise egg, only the description reveals the difference.

Moreover, in the basement of Liberty Bay, you can meet four turtles and a rat in an inaccessible room, and there are also various weapons lying around – an obvious Easter egg and a reference to Ninja Turtles.

Update 8.61 (2010) introduced a new monster that appears only during a specific event (Rise of Devovorga). Chikhaton: is basically a recolored Thornback Tortoise.

In update 10.94, in 2016, new mounts were added – includingt hree turtles! All of them can be obtained by purchasing them in the store.
Mould Shell: Reed Lurker: and Swamp Snapper:

Update 12.20.8834 (2019) added two turtle items – Small Tortoise (needed for the quest) and Small Petrified Tortoise.

More turtles were added during update 12.90.12182 (2022)! Two regular:
Emerald Tortoise: from which you can dropEmerald Tortoise Shell and Two-Headed Turtle from which you can drop Two-Headed Turtle Heads .
One turtle boss has also been added, The Primal Menace: .
This update also added some turtle items: Turtle Amulet and Enchanted Turtle Amulet .


Author: XYuriTT

Smite

Title: Smite
Year: 2014
Producer: Hi-Rez Studios
Publisher: Hi-Rez Studios
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox One (2015), PlayStation 4 (2016)
Genre: MOBA

Why in Database: Smite is a multiplayer online MOBA game. It have a lot of turtle content.

The main turtle element in this game is one of the playable characters, Kuzenbo, King Kappa, added to the game in February 2017. The introductory video includes the following text and relevant images, also shown below.

Kappa are devious creatures. They linger just below the surface of rivers and lakes, waiting for mortals to test the water before snatching and drowning their fleshy meal. Taken merely at their appearance and juvenile sense of humor, they could be mistaken for mischievous turtle-men, almost playful in a rude sort of way, but they are dangerously strong and ruthless when submerging their prey. King among these monsters is Kuzenbo; bigger, stronger, and more cunning than the rest, but just as infantile.

Kuzenbo led his nine thousand Kappa followers to Japan, where they harried river villages and fishing boats, using their unnatural strength to pull mortals below. So clever, so hungry had the Kappa become, that Japan’s army marched to fight back, but they were no match.

As the bowl-shaped indentation atop a Kappa’s head is filled with water, that Kappa grows impossibly stronger – far stronger than a mortal. Yet, bound by their strange sense of honor, a Kappa must bow when bowed to, spilling their power upon the ground. It is the only known way to defeat one.

And of the countless battles Kuzenbo has fought, he was defeated only twice. Upon his second defeat at the hands of General Kiyomasa, Kuzenbo was forced to swear to never again sow strife between man and beast. A vow the Kappa King has honored ever since.

Gods, however, are fair game.

The mentioned introductory video also shows various skills of this character (and his smaller companion), we show some screenshots below:

This character debuted with one skin, the basic one (default), and over time it acquired a large range of other appearance options. All 13 available skins are: Default, Yokozuna, Honorbound, Shino-bo, Kuzenbot, Slash, Kaijunbo, Jingle Shells, Crime Boss, Molten Doom, Golden, Legendary i Diamond.

There are a lot of sound cues in the game, including “taunts”, both in general and directed at a specific character. Many of them are directed to Kuzenbo and clearly contain turtle references. We present them below:
Trickster Loki – “Who brought the turtle to the party?”
Primal Storm Susano – “Aren’t turtles supposed to be.. gentle?”
Admiral Ao Kuang – “Turtles don’t belong in the air.”
Hachiman – “You should respect your betters, Kappa!”
Paintballer Jing Wei – “Ah ha, I love your little turtle buddies!”
Regal Warrior Erlang Shen – “Even I am a greater turtle than you!”
Space Cadet Vulcan – “Encountered angry turtle-like being with a hole in its head. Well, two now.”
Vamana – “What happened to your turtle power?”
Lady of the Sea Discordia – “Heh, uhh! Don’t scare me like that, I thought you were a sea turtle, urghhh!”
Kson Nemesis – “Can I keep this little turtle?”
Maui – “Hoo, that was the meanest turtle I ever caught! And I’ve got some nasty buggas.”
Croaki Loki – “You were quite quick for a turtle.”


Not everything about turtles in this game revolves around the above character, however!

As many as three characters in their introductory videos, in the “Lore” section, mentions turtles, we quote them below, in two cases, turtle images were also shown, and of course we also show them.
Mercury:

As an infant, Mercury escaped the watchful eye of his half-brother, Apollo, stole his cattle, fashioned a lyre from a tortoise shell, and snuck in a nap, all before Apollo found him missing.

Apollo:

In his humble youth, Apollo was a cattle herder. The trickster God Hermes stole Apollo’s charges and led them to a nearby cave. From the shell of a tortoise and the body of a cow, he crafted the first Lyre. Apollo finally caught up with Hermes, saw the instrument, and simply had to have it, trading the rest of his cattle to Hermes for it.

Nu Wa:

As the Earth shuddered and broke, and the skies turned black with ash, Nu Wa forged five mystic stones, one for each of the elemental forces of nature: Earth, Water, Fire, Wood, and Metal. With the power of these stones, she slew a gargantuan tortoise, severed its legs, and raced to the broken World Pillar. One leg she used to prop the Heavens aloft and with the elemental stones, she sealed it in place.

One of Erlang Shen’s skills is “72 Transformations”, which allows you to turn into a mink or a turtle, which of course adds appropriate bonuses to the character.

Kappa Bot is one of the skins that can be used when placing a “ward” (something like a lookout tower), and there are a few different turtle icons in the game, probably more than a few shown below.

Among the sets of character quotes, there are also some turtle ones:
Chang’e – “The hare always wins! ..Right guys?” (reference to The Tortoise and the Hare)
Foxy Amaterasu – “You’re as slow as a tortoise!”
Lady of the Sea Discordia – “Sea turtles are what we really need to be looking out for.”
Erlang Shen – “I’d show you my turtle form, but I wouldn’t want to… shell-shock you.”


In November 2020, one of the regular updates was released, containing a lot of content related to Ninja Turtles!. We will not describe in detail here how you could obtain individual items, we will only present what elements were included in the game.

First of all, four characters received special skins related to the basic four turtles. All the mentioned characters received a regular skin and a radical version, Loki was the only one who received three skins, Raphael in the Retro version is the third one.
Osiris – Leonardo, Radical Leonardo.
Loki – Raphael, Radical Raphael, Retro Raphael.
Mercury – Michelangelo, Radical Michelangelo.
Sun Wukong – Donatello, Radical Donatello.

In addition to the basic lineup, four other TMNT skins also appeared, including one more turtle, Slash.
Hachiman – Splinter
Ravana – Shredder
Xing Tian – Krang
Kuzenbo – Slash (we also show it in the list of Kuzenbo skins, because we discuss it separately above, but here we double it to describe everything related to TMNT in one section)

Four different loading screens have also been added:

The last elements are a set of unlockable avatars, two skins for Ward, two thematic boxes and a frame. There are probably some more TMNT/turtle elements in this game, but I think we’ve covered in this note the vast majority of them.

Author: XYuriTT

Injustice 2

Title: Injustice 2
Year: 2017
Producer: NetherRealm Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Platforms: Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Genre: Fighting

Why in Database: Ninja turtles are available in this game as DLC, part of “Fighter Pack 3” – in theory it is one character, but depending on what weapon we equip him with, the color of the bandana changes accordingly (in online tournament mode, however, all 4 turtles are available to choose from as separate characters). As in fighting games, turtles have their own characteristic attacks, finishers, etc.

Author: XYuriTT

Stories of Jedi and Sith

Title: Stories of Jedi and Sith
Author(s): Various
Release year: 2022
Publisher: Disney–Lucasfilm Press

Why in Database: The turtle element appears in one of the stories from this collection – “What a Jedi Makes” (Author: Michael Kogge), where a member of the Kadrillian race appears, this is a turtle race, which is clearly stated in the text.

“Hey, Padawan,” chirped the pilot inside, an orange-scaled Kadrillian in a police uniform that accommodated his terrapin half shell.

Source: Mossar, Developed: XYuriTT

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Title: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Year: 2023
Director: James Gunn
Actors: Chris Pratt, Chukwudi Iwuji, Bradley Cooper, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, Austin Freeman, Stephen Blackehart, Terence Rosemore, Maria Bakalova, Sean Gunn, Sarah Alami, Jasmine Munoz, Giovannie Cruz, Will Poulter, Nico Santos, Miriam Shor
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, SF
Country: Canada, New Zealand, France, USA

Why in Database: Turtles appear here in three or four scenes. Two scenes show the turtle transforming into a humanoid creature, in the first one it is much more visible and there is also a verbal reference. At the end of the movie, when all the animals are released, you can also see the turtles. The uncertain appearance is a figure seen on a billboard, possibly a humanoid turtle.

…and then, angry turtleses.

Author: XYuriTT