History Main / SturdyAndSteadyTurtles

There are two general ways this trope is often employed. Sometimes, the turtles' slowness is equated with patience and endurance in contrast with hurry and impatience, ''a la'' Literature/TheTortoiseAndTheHare, with the turtle's plodding but steady progress reliably getting it where it needs to go, even if not in a very flashy way. Other times, it is combined with the turtle's natural and seemingly impenetrable armor to create a StoneWall or MightyGlacier-type character, slow and not necessarily very strong, but capable of weathering almost any attack. Together, these two attributes create characters that rely on their trusty defenses to patiently endure the attacks of more hotheaded, brash foes and wait until they give up in boredom or frustration -- something based off of the way turtles defend themselves in real life, retreating into their shells and waiting for would-be predators to give up and leave before coming back out.

There are two general ways this trope is often employed. Sometimes, the turtles' slowness is equated with patience and endurance in contrast with hurry and impatience, ''a la'' [[Literature/AesopsFables The Tortoise and the Hare]], with the turtle's plodding but steady progress reliably getting it where it needs to go, even if not in a very flashy way. Other times, it is combined with the turtle's natural and seemingly impenetrable armor to create a StoneWall or MightyGlacier-type character, slow and not necessarily very strong, but capable of weathering almost any attack. Together, these two attributes create characters that rely on their trusty defenses to patiently endure the attacks of more hotheaded, brash foes and wait until they give up in boredom or frustration -- something based off of the way turtles defend themselves in real life, retreating into their shells and waiting for would-be predators to give up and leave before coming back out.

* ''Literature/AesopsFables'': One of the most famous fables, ''The Tortoise and the Hare'', tells of a race between a proud, speedy hare and a slow, plodding tortoise. The hare, being the fastest animal around, has no doubts that he will win, quickly gains a large lead and stops partway through to nap under a tree, confident in his advantage. The tortoise instead keeps making his slow but steady progress towards the finish line. By the time the hare finally wakes up and realizes that the tortoise has passed him and is approaching the finish, it's too late for even his speed to close the distance and the tortoise wins. The moral of the story is not to let oneself be blinded by arrogance, and that determination and perseverance can make up for a lack of natural advantages.

* One of the most famous of Literature/AesopsFables, ''The Tortoise and the Hare'', tells of a race between a proud, speedy hare and a slow, plodding tortoise. The hare, being the fastest animal around, has no doubts that he will win, quickly gains a large lead and stops partway through to nap under a tree, confident in his advantage. The tortoise instead keeps making his slow but steady progress towards the finish line. By the time the hare finally wakes up and realizes that the tortoise has passed him and is approaching the finish, it's too late for even his speed to close the distance and the tortoise wins. The moral of the story is not to let oneself be blinded by arrogance, and that determination and perseverance can make up for a lack of natural advantages.

** Rainy Turtloid of ''VideoGame/MegaManX6'' is a tortoise-based robot who is built with high defenses to withstand high levels of pollutions and made to work for a pollution survey team. As a boss, his shell makes him nigh invincible, except for [[AttackItsWeakPoint attacks at his weak points]].

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': [[https://magiccards.info/ktk/en/141.html Meandering Towershell]], a very large turtle creature, is notable for having its slowness written in as a mechanic. Instead of attacking normally on the turn when it's activated, like most creatures do, it's removed from battle for a turn, and in the next turn it returns into play and deals damage to its target, representing the slow process of the Towershell plodding over to its foe and attacking. This trope is also referenced in the FlavorText for [[https://scryfall.com/card/ema/52/giant-tortoise Giant Tortoise]]:
-->''In the coastal states of Jhess and Valeron, "tortoise" is a synonym for 'stubborn".''

* ''VideoGame/IronMarines'': The Tortugons -- turtle-shaped walking tanks -- have a giant amount of health. The bad news is that they're all slower than molasses.

See also TurtleIsland and WiseOldTurtle. For other shelled animals associated with toughness and defensibility, see ToughBeetles.

*** In terms of personality, generic Koopa Troopas tend to be a variation on this trope, being pretty easygoing. Specific Koopa characters, however, aren't always like this, with [[OverarchingVillain Bowser himself]] being incredibly HotBlooded.

* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': Tor the Shuttlezord and its ''Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger'' is a giant turtle mecha whose main strength is the ability to protect the other zords inside its shell. It could even withstand being stomped on by Serpentera/Daijinryuu

See also TurtleIsland and WiseOldTurtle.

* In ''Series/SesameStreet'', Shelly the Turtle has a song called "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bnv-2OLuhk I Get There]]".
-->Puppies travel at a run,\\
I suppose a run is fun.\\
Me, I'm kind of slow,\\
But I get there.\\
Bunnies hop along so fast,\\
Hopping fast I couldn't last.\\
Me, I take my time,\\
But I get there.

* ''VideoGame/{{Saurian}}'': Most of turtles [[AvertedTrope avert this]] -- a fair number of them, being softshell turtles, are surprisingly fast, and most are capable of defending themselves. ''Basilemys'', however, plays this straight, as it primarily defends itself by retreating into a shell that only ''TyrannosaurusRex'' can hope to break.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E7MayTheBestPetWin May the Best Pet Win!]]", Rainbow Dash holds a contest to choose a new pet, and one contestant is a tortoise. Rainbow is highly unimpressed, particularly since she wants a fast pet to keep with her racing and the tortoise is anything but, something most clearly evident in a race Rainbow holds to judge the speed of the prospective pets and all the other animals complete three full circuits in the time it takes the tortoise to take ''a single step''.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'': Turtle Tamers are the defensive Muscle class, and have skills themed around turtle motifs, including ones focusing on [[BreadEggsMilkSquick armor, patience, and communing with ancient turtle spirits.]]