- "A defensive foe? How boring."
- ―Matt, Epic Battle Fantasy 4
Turtles (also known as Eaters) are a recurring group of enemies in the Epic Battle Fantasy series. They resemble massive turtles with horns and hard shells, with details that correspond to their elements.
Turtles are durable, defensive foes with high amount of HP and few moves that can boost their defensive stats. They have a number of Earth-elemental attacks that target the entire party and an elemental attack of their corresponding type. They can also simply bash their enemies with their horns.
Species
Initially in Epic Battle Fantasy 2 two species made their appearance, Glacier Eater and Rock Eater, who specialized in Ice and Fire element respectively. In Epic Battle Fantasy 3 both of them reappeared, yet Rock Eater was renamed Lava Eater, and two new species were introduced, Poison-based Leaf Eater and Dark elemental eater who took Lava Eater's previous name - Rock Eater. Epic Battle Fantasy 4 features all four previous species and did not introduce any new one, but all of them were renamed Turtles instead of Eaters. Few balance changes (mostly regarding weakness to Bomb-element) were also made.
Glacier Turtle
The first Turtle introduced in the series, an Ice-based enemy with blue scales, crystalline spikes on its frozen shell, and a long, blade-like horn. It first appears in Stage 10 and 11 of Epic Battle Fantasy 2, returns as a denizen of Glacier Valley in Epic Battle Fantasy 3, and appears in the Crystal Caverns in Epic Battle Fantasy 4.
It has the standard attacks of a Turtle, as well as an icy breath that can Freeze its victims. Its "shell quake" attack boosts its Defence and Magic Defence.
Lava Turtle
An orange-skinned turtle with two horns on the sides of its head and a rocky brown shell with glowing orange craters. It first appeared in Stages 11 and 13 of Epic Battle Fantasy 2. In Epic Battle Fantasy 3, it was mainly found in Volcano Peak, but first appeared in the final sections of Glacier Valley, near a small volcano that had emerged from the tundra. In Epic Battle Fantasy 4, it appeared in the first Lava Cave, as well as around the Crystal Caverns.
It is a Fire-based creature that can spit a barrage of small fireballs at the party, dealing moderate Fire damage and (in EBF4) potentially Burning them. It has the standard "shell quake" that boosts both defensive stats, but in EBF2, it actually increased its Attack and Magic Attack as well, making it more dangerous than the Glacier Eater. It is usually weak to Water and Earth, but resistant to Fire.
The Lava Turtle was originally called "Rock Eater" in EBF2, but had its name changed when the EBF3 version of the Rock Eater was conceived.
Leaf Turtle
The first Turtle species introduced in Epic Battle Fantasy 3, a forest-dwelling Eater with brown scales and vegetation growing on its head and shell. In its debut, it was found in the later half of Vegetable Forest; in Epic Battle Fantasy 4, it appeared in Lankyroot Jungle.
The Leaf Turtle is a Poison-based enemy whose special attack releases a storm of leaves from its back to bombard the party for multiple small hits and a chance to poison them. It is usually weak to Fire and Ice.
Rock Turtle
The final Turtle variant is a black turtle whose horn and shell appear to be made of round black rocks. It has a distinctive pair of asymmetrical spikes on its shell that resembles a crescent when viewed at a distance. It first appeared in Epic Battle Fantasy 3 as an enemy in Volcano Peak; come Epic Battle Fantasy 4, it was mainly found in the later sections of the Crystal Caverns.
Unlike other Eaters, the Rock Eater has no magic attacks. Instead, its special ability is performing an impressive forward flip on a single player, crushing them beneath its spines for heavy physical damage. It is a Dark-based foe that is usually weak to Holy-element.
Trivia
- The Lava Turtle had a different name in every of its appearances: in EBF2, it was called "Rock Eater", in EBF3, it was called "Lava Eater", and in EBF4, it was called "Lava Turtle".
- In EBF4 the different types of turtles make up the tenth wave of the Battle Mountain Monster Marathon.