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What is it about turtles that make humans go "but what if big?"
Dragon turtles, world turtles, genbu, the black turtle of the North, Gamera. Why big turtles?
Oh, but I suppose if human mythologies all over the world had a bunch of giant owls instead that would seem perfectly natural to you??
Well yes, giant owls are pretty normal
Because we have found huge species of prehistoric turtle fossils. Throughout history humans have come across fossils and created myths based on these discoveries. I assume dragons were based on dinosaur bones and so forth.
Thank you, scholar. How do you explain that for millenia, people have looked at hedghehogs and thought "be sick if this was faster"?
Example A from the Middle Elamite Period (~1300 BC) in what is now Iran
Example B from the eternal 70s in what is still Japan as of time of writing
they're sick as fuck is why
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
5/7 of the world's sea turtle species nest/live throughout Southeast Asia and most of the examples you listed are rooted in SE Asian mythologies/cultures.
Asia (Southeast Asia especially) also has a ton of turtle/tortoise species in general. They're (turtles at least) considered a delicacy in China and other places (
).
Turtles/Tortoises are pretty abundant worldwide but idk all the myths & whatnot I know of beyond your examples are majority asian.
In short - because they rock 
yeah, i'm gonna guess central asian steppe nomads had fewer turtles in their mythology...
Cause they're fucking awesome. Why else?
Initially, they actually wanted to write about fast turtles, so they tried to conceptualize a turtle that can walk a long distance in a short amount of time, but instead, they rightfully realized just making the turtles really big so that each slow step ended up covering a long distance was a better, more convenient, and more badass idea.
some of them live a long ass time, especially the big ones. so giant turtle means basically immortal.
they are also pretty slow, which is the speed setting of 👑 Kings👑
imagine running when you can walk.
I like turtles + i like big butts = i like big turtles
In order for that to be mathematically correct you need to say you like big turtle butts.
I think it's because you'll see a hundred small turtles and one day you'll see a huge fucker out there and be like "Holy shit, look at that beast!"
Then you figure maybe there are bigger ones out there you haven't seen yet
Turtle Island also
I'd guess because some tortoises are already huge. You see tiny itty bitty turtle and big ass tortoise and then think "why not EVEN BIGGER"
Turtles are cool so naturally the bigger the turtle the bigger the cool.
They're incredibly cute so people go "damn what if this was bigger"?
Like, I want uant bumblebees to be a thing. Because they're so cute and it would be nice to see them in more detail
What if the traditional cultures of this world were far wiser and saw scutes as an analogy to plate tectonics?
I don't think we need to overthink this: it's because everyone loves turtles, and bigger=more love.
Chinese characters obviously came from the gods on the backs of turtles, at which point they evolved into durtles. Come on now, this is Durtjovah Theology 101
bc turtles are f*cking cool!!!
