WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Torterra, a Pokemon

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>and monsters in time. In this episode, we returned to

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<v Speaker 1>the rich world of Pokemon, full of elaborate and creative

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<v Speaker 1>creatures with the knack for evolution and combat. Today's Pokemon

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<v Speaker 1>begins as an adorable baby tortoise with a plant on

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<v Speaker 1>its head named turt Wig, and ultimately evolves into a

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<v Speaker 1>titanic tortoise with a forest on its back named Tortara.

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<v Speaker 1>In the movie Pokemon Detective Pikachu, we encounter multiple tortas

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<v Speaker 1>the size of islands. So once more I turned to

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<v Speaker 1>my son's Sebastian for help navigating the Pokemon world. He'd

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<v Speaker 1>like to share the following using the Pokemon Super Extra

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<v Speaker 1>Deluxe Essential Handbook as a primary source to Terra, the

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<v Speaker 1>continent Pokemon found in the Center region, a grass and

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<v Speaker 1>ground type. Its first forms part Quick is the grass

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<v Speaker 1>thirder Pokemon in the Sinner region. Some people believe that

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<v Speaker 1>as a cant secure Terra dwelled under the surface, it

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<v Speaker 1>is big enough to have a small pokemon on its back. Naturally,

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<v Speaker 1>tortoises and turtles factor into various myth cycles, and to

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<v Speaker 1>consider giant specimens with forests on their back, we have

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<v Speaker 1>to discuss the European tradition of the aspido clone or

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<v Speaker 1>asp turtle, as it was listed in the second century

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<v Speaker 1>b c. E book Physiologus. As Carol Rose explains in Giants,

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<v Speaker 1>Monsters and Dragons, this tone was widely distributed across medieval Europe,

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<v Speaker 1>and still other texts spoke of similar creatures. Beasts so

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<v Speaker 1>vast their stony backs resemble islands in the sea, and

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<v Speaker 1>they are often covered with vegetation as well. The resulting

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<v Speaker 1>nautical horror stories were irresistible sailor's land on these islands,

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<v Speaker 1>thinking they have found refuge, until the island itself roars

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<v Speaker 1>to life and sends them fleeing back to their boats.

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<v Speaker 1>In the Middle East, the great creature is known as

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<v Speaker 1>Zaratan and is sometimes described as a whale, other times

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<v Speaker 1>as a turtle or general sea monster. It too is

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<v Speaker 1>mistaken for land. The legendary Sinbad the sailor, encounters the

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<v Speaker 1>Tzaratan during his first voyage in the Tales of the

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<v Speaker 1>Thousand and One Nights. We see the same motif in

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<v Speaker 1>the immap UMAs Sorsa of Greenland, a turtle and the

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<v Speaker 1>giant fish jess Conius of Irish legend. But such turtles

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<v Speaker 1>and tortoises are not always depicted as false islands. In

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<v Speaker 1>Hindu mythology, is explained in Sacred Animals of India by

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<v Speaker 1>Nanditha Krishna, Vishnu incarnates as the great turtle Kurma and

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<v Speaker 1>carries Mount Mandara on his back to churn the primordial ocean.

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<v Speaker 1>We also have the tradition of a world turtle that,

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<v Speaker 1>in one way or another supports or contains the world itself.

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<v Speaker 1>In Hinduism we have Akupara, the cosmic turtle who supports

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<v Speaker 1>the earth. We also find this motif in the beliefs

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<v Speaker 1>of certain indigenous North American tribes. My son Sebastian recommends

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<v Speaker 1>the Circle Round and Earth Rangers podcast episode Turtle Island,

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<v Speaker 1>which details related folklore of the Ojibwe First Nations people

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<v Speaker 1>of Canada, in which the world is rebuilt upon a

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<v Speaker 1>great turtle's back. In Chinese mythology, we also have Ow

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<v Speaker 1>the mythical sea turtle. When the four pillars holding up

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<v Speaker 1>the sky are destroyed. The goddess Nuah cuts the legs

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<v Speaker 1>from the great turtle and uses them to hold the

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<v Speaker 1>sky up. We also have one related story concerning legendary

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<v Speaker 1>ruler You, the Great tam or of floods, measurer of

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<v Speaker 1>the Earth, and master of the nine cauldrons. There are

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<v Speaker 1>many different accounts of how he combats the Great flood,

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<v Speaker 1>but in some he has assisted by a yellow dragon

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<v Speaker 1>and a black tortoise. He is also said to make

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<v Speaker 1>use of the sea or self renewing soil. Sometimes it

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<v Speaker 1>is said that yous father stole the soil from the

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<v Speaker 1>gods and was punished for it, but in some accounts

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<v Speaker 1>the magical earth is brought to him on the back

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<v Speaker 1>of the black tortoise. If you turn to page forty

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<v Speaker 1>three of the Enchanted World Book on Dragons, you'll see

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<v Speaker 1>a wonderful illustration of this tail by Jill Carla Shorts.

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<v Speaker 1>We see the self renewing soil heaped upon the tortoise's back,

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<v Speaker 1>like picturesque mountains. In the natural world we do not

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<v Speaker 1>find such wonders, but hibernating turtles have been observed to

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<v Speaker 1>come up from the ground with dirt on their backs,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes with vegetation clinging there or growing there. But this

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<v Speaker 1>is of course temporary and a bit of rare luck.

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<v Speaker 1>But the resemblance of such shells to land has clearly

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<v Speaker 1>long tickle of the human imagination, and we see the

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<v Speaker 1>tradition carry on in our fiction. Just to consider a

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<v Speaker 1>few examples, there are the island like dragon turtles of Avatar,

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<v Speaker 1>The Last Airbender, and of course there is the Great

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<v Speaker 1>World Turtle, a tune from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Tune

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<v Speaker 1>in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week.

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<v Speaker 1>As always, you can email us at contact That's Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your

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<v Speaker 1>Mind is production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts

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