Black Turtle

Black Turtle is a Beastformer from the Generation 1 continuity family.

WAR FORK!

Black Turtle (ブラックタートル Burakku Tātoru) comes across quiet, and his incredibly slow movements make him seem like a very peaceful sort. He has an incredible amount of patience, and can weather tough times without complaint... but he has his limit. And when that limit is reached, look out. This tortoise explodes with an overwhelming violent fury. He's even gone toe-to-toe with the brutal Badshark at times.

And when he's fighting, he may be slow, but good luck stopping him. His Black Spark (ブラックスパーク Burakku Supāku) MVP Weapon is capable of creating a spark current of up to a million volts. He's considerably quicker in the water, which is definitely not a good place to find yourself during his rages, what with the electricity. He's both very strong and impossibly durable; by tucking his limbs and head into his shell, he can withstand direct-hit missile fire without a scratch. The only way to stop him is for him to tire himself out or calm down.

Only one beast has proven to be able to calm Black Turtle's rages, and that's the kind-hearted Bonga, the King of Halas. It is a testament to Bonga's temperament that the two beasts have become such good friends, even after having served on opposite sides of the Great War. In fact, Turtle now serves as Bonga's subordinate Emperor, patiently working to help the people of the island nation get through any hardship.

Fiction

The Headmasters cartoon

He loves being a turtle.

Galvatron and the Decepticons came to planet Beast to enslave the population, forcing them to work on a mysterious engineering project. Alligatron and the Beasts loyal to him, including Black Turtle, became collaborators with the Decepticons, helping to enslave their own people. They were opposed by White Leo and his rebel forces. After White Leo sought help from the Autobots, the Headmasters and Monsterbots arrived on Beast. Black Turtle fought back against the Autobot invaders until they overcame the Decepticons and their allies. Rebellion on Planet Beast

Beastformers comic

Black Turtle was among the allied Beastformers who stood in defense of Bistoram during the Laser Beast invasion. Beastformers VS Laser Beasts

Legends comic

Black Turtle took part in the final battle between the Beastformers and the Laser Beasts on Beast in 2023. He cheered on the Monsterbots as they defeated the Tigerburn-controlled Battle Bases. The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 1

In 2038, the then-peaceful Beast was invaded by Galvatron II's Decepticons. Black Turtle was part of the joint Beastformer-Laser Beast alliance that fought against the invaders. The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 3

Toys

Transformers: Beastformers

Left: Late-Hasbro-run orange-plastic release, identical to the Takara Beastformers release.
Right: Hasbro-only black-plastic vesion.

• Black Turtle (Beastformer, 1987)

• ID number: 17
• Pack: B, C
• Accessories: Trident

Part of the first series of Takara's Beastformers toys, Black Turtle is an anthropomorphic, well, black snapping turtle, in orange robotic armor. His left arm ends in a bright green clamp. The Battle Emblem on his chest reveals one of three symbols when warmed up; Fire, Water or Wood.

The Beastformers version of the toy is cast in orange plastic with his skin painted black. The earlier Hasbro Battle Beasts release of the figure was cast in black plastic with orange-painted armor (which usually ends up pretty messy-looking), though the orange-plastic version was released late in the line, making it much rarer. It is uncertain if the black-plastic version ever was released by Takara, though it seems highly unlikely.

He usually comes with a bronze trident weapon marked with the same ID number as on his back. However, Beastformers is notorious for toys coming with someone else's weapon; it's unclear if this was just originally poor QC, but in the sequel series, this semi-random weaponry was actually turned into a "gimmick".

He was re-released in the second series; while the toy proper was not changed, the packaging and packed-in bio card was. The first-series release comes in a generic purple-grid "Destron Beastformer" box, with a purple-grid bio card with a painted character image on the front, though there was a random chance of his card being replaced by the rare "Holography Mirror" card. In series 2 came in a green-grid generic "Destron Beastformer" box, with the bio card putting the painted image on a jungle backdrop. As he shipped in the "C Pack" case, there was a chance of his bio card being replaced with a rare "Secret Photo" card featuring White Leo.

Beastformers

• Black Turtle (Beastformer, 1988)

• ID number: 17
• Accessories: "Black Spark" MVP Weapon

Re-released in the Transformers-less Beastformers sequel series, Black Turtle was given a straight re-release with new packaging and a new, more filled-out bio card with corrected coloring. This new card also gave his weapon, now branded an "MVP Weapon", the name "Black Spark". Speaking of, once again there is a chance he could come with someone else's weapon, but this time it's "justified" by being tied into the "Beastformers Role-Playing Game".

He was sold in the second assortment of individually-packed Beastformers, with a peg-hole in the top flap, and a sticker on the bottom with his name and role on it. This series did not have any kind of "rare card" random pack-in promotion.

Late in the run, the "mood ring" styled rubsigns were replaced with new rubsigns that revealed full-color Fire/Wood/Water images on black backdrops. (These rubsign variants also happened at the same time in the Hasbro Battle Beast version of the line.)

What's black and white all over?

• Black Turtle (Gashapon Beastformer, 1988)

• ID number: 17
• Accessories: Randomized weapon

Many Beastformers were also sold in gashapon capsule machines for the same price as their boxed versions (200 yen) during the "RPG" line, Black Turtle included. This version is identical to the regularly-released boxed version, including the randomized rubsign, except the gashapons appear to have randomized weapons (or just really crummy quality control).

According to their pack-in paperwork, fifteen rare all-white/cream Beasts were available in these capsules, though only four were shown; Black Turtle is one of only twelve confirmed "rare types" found. These rare versions can vary in how white they actually are, and it's uncertain if that's how they started or if some have simply yellowed with age. These versions tend to be very expensive on the secondary market, going for $100+ even when missing their arms.

Notes

• His 1987 poster-art (at top) shows him with a weird flat vague approximation of his actual trident weapon. The recolored 1988 version of the art fixes this, giving him the actual trident.
• His 1988 bio gives him the nickname "Blackie" (ブラッキー Burakkī).
• He is the only Beastformer out of the Hasbro line's "Series 1" (ID numbers 1 through 28) to not have a Meiji "Battle Card".

Foreign names

• English: Hardtop Tortoise