 |
Ain't That Just The Way
This article covers an essential topic and is in need of major additions and/or work. Please follow the guidelines in the Manual of Style and complete this article to the highest level of quality before continuing on other articles. |
 |
We Came Here to Burgle Your Turts!
Parts of this article have been identified as no longer being up-to-date. Please make this article be up-to-date so that it reflects recent events. Refer to this general list of compiled works that need improvement. Please remove this template when finished. |
 |
There is Only Me. There is Only My Way
This article or section needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of article quality. Please follow the guidelines in the Manual of Style and complete this article. Remove this message when finished. |
 |
Come on Sheriff: It's a Rock Fact.
This article or section is in need of referencing per Over the Garden Wall's sourcing guidelines. This article needs some help with citation! Please improve this article by referencing valid sources. Remove this message when finished. |
 |
And What Say You, Reader?
This article, or a section of this article, must be expanded. See the request on the larger listing or on this article's talk page. Once the improvements have been completed, you may remove this notice and the page's listing. |
The Black Turtles are animals that appear numerous times throughout Over the Garden Wall. They appear to be connected to The Beast and the black oil of his Edelwood Trees.
Physical Description[]
Black turtles are very small turtles found in forested areas and rivers in the Unknown. Their skin is a desaturated green, their carapaces are black, with four bumps arranged in a symmetrical diamond pattern, and their plastrons are slightly lighter than their skin, with four or five parallel lines spanning them horizontally. They have circular black eyes, no visible mouth, rounded head and legs, and a short, pointed tail.
Role in Over the Garden Wall[]
During Wirt's and Beatrice's conversation in The Old Grist Mill, Greg sees a black turtle and sticks a piece of candy to its shell. Later, it is revealed that swallowing that turtle was what turned Beatrice's dog into the monster that attacked the boys and destroyed the mill.
In The Ringing of the Bell, Auntie Whispers is shown to keep a large basket full of black turtles, which she eats. When Lorna arrives at the house, Greg exclaims that he came to "burgle [her] turts," and when she warns Wirt and Greg to hide from Auntie Whispers, they hide in the basket of turtles.
Appearances[]
- The Old Grist Mill: See Role in Over the Garden Wall.
- Schooltown Follies: When the brothers stop at the school, one crawls over the overturned tree before the badger picks it up and throws it into the water.
- Songs of the Dark Lantern: At the very beginning the Woodsman is seen looking at one crawling on the ground before he's distracted.
- The Ringing of the Bell: See Role in Over the Garden Wall.
- Babes in the Woods: During the beginning of the Cloud City sequence, an anthropomorphized black turtle can be seen walking alongside Greg in the bedcart.
- Into the Unknown (chapter): In Wirt's bedroom, there's a band poster with one, the poster also reads "Black Turtles".
- The Unknown: The epilogue shows the Fisher Fish catching one.
Trivia[]
- They have relatively frequent appearances (they appear in more episodes than the series' primary antagonist) and can be seen almost everywhere, the black turtles but their origin and purpose remain quite mysterious. Patrick McHale described them as "an imperfection in the quilt" both metaphorically and literally: they are an intentionally unexplained mystery but, like some kind of allegory of inner darkness, they are seen where edelwood grows and warp the mind and body of whoever eats them.
Gallery
Click here to view this page's gallery.
References[]
....