Black Turtle

Black Turtle is a Beastformer from the The Headmasters portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

WAR FORK!

Black Turtle (ブラックタートル Burakkutātoru), nickname Blacky (ブラッキー Burakkī), is one of the many Beastformers who joined the insurgent army under Alligatron raised by Galvatron in order to aid his Decepticons in conquering the formerly-peaceful planet Beast. His role in the Decepticon-allied Beastformer forces is amphibious infantry. When his arms and legs are drawn in, he can withstand even a missile attack. However, being a turtle he is slow on land. Using his MVP Weapon, the Black Spark, he can fire one million volt electric blasts.

Black Turtle is known for his patience and ability to endure hardship for long periods of time with no sign of distress, and woe be to those who cause that patience to run dry: when Black Turtle does lose his composure, he explodes into an uncontrollable state of rage. Because of this, he can be a cruel person and is known to pick on fellow soldier Badshark. Black Turtle holds the rank of Emperor of Halas Island, where he was born, under King Bonga who unfortunately chose the opposite side in the war. They are normally close friends during peacetime, with Bonga being the only one who can calm Black Turtle during his moments of rage.

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

File:Beastformers-17-blackturtle.jpg

Turtley enough for the turtle club.

• Black Turtle (Beastformer, 1987)
  • Beast ID number: 17
  • Accessories: Blade-weapon

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

The Hasbro Battle Beasts release of the figure can come in either black plastic with orange-painted armor, or in orange plastic with black-painted skin. The orange-plastic version was released in the Takara Beastformers line, but it it uncertain if the black-plastic version was.

He was re-released in the subsequent second and third series; while the toy proper was not changed, the packaging and packed-in bio card was. The Series 1 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. Series 2 came in a green-grid generic "Destron Beastformer" box, with the bio card putting the painted image on a jungle backdrop. Series 3's box was unchanged, but the bio card replaced the painted image with a simpler line-art image, first used in Hasbro's Battle Beasts cast poster. In the green-box releases, depending on the "Pack" he came in, there was a chance of his bio card being replaced with a rare "Secret Photo", "Bewitching Serpent Seal", or "VS Holography Mirror" card.

• Black Turtle (Gahsapon Beastformer, 1987)
  • Beast ID number: 17
  • Accessories: Blade-weapon

Many of the first-series Beastformers were also sold in gashapon capsule machines, 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 crummy quality control).

There is also a rare all-white/cream version of Black Turtle; 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 white versions tend to be very expensive on the secondary market.

Beastformers

• Black Turtle (Beastformer, 1988)
  • Beast ID number: 17
  • Accessories: "Black Spark" MVP Weapon

Re-released in the Transformers-less Beastformers sequel series, Big Serow 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" (ブラックスパーク Burakku Supāku).

The initial early releases of this series had the chance for any Beastformer to have the rare Burstsun symbol; we'll probably never know if Black Turtle was ever actually one of them. Later 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.)

Notes

Foreign names

• English: Hardtop Tortoise