Tirtouga made its main series debut in ''[[BW075|A Restoration Confrontation! Part 1]]'', where it was befriended by [[Ferris]] in the past. The same Tirtouga appeared in [[BW076|the follow-up episode]], where it managed to evolve into {{p|Carracosta}}.
Tirtouga made its main series debut in ''[[BW075|A Restoration Confrontation! Part 1]]'', where it was befriended by [[Ferris]] in the past. The same Tirtouga appeared in [[BW076|the follow-up episode]], where it managed to evolve into {{p|Carracosta}}.
A Tirtouga appeared in [[JN058]], under the ownership of the [[Turtle Master]]. It took part in a race with {{TRT}}'s {{p|Chewtle}}.
===Minor appearances===
===Minor appearances===
Multiple Tirtouga debuted in [[M14|''White—Victini and Zekrom'' and ''Black—Victini and Reshiram'']].
Multiple Tirtouga debuted in [[M14|''White—Victini and Zekrom'' and ''Black—Victini and Reshiram'']].
Tirtouga is a reptilian Pokémon resembling a baby leatherback sea turtle. Its body is blue with black spots on the edges of its flippers. Its black shell has six circular indentations in it. It has a black upper beak and a mask that covers most of its head. It has a light blue patch underneath its eyes.
Tirtouga's shell is very tough, and it can dive down to depths of as much as 1,000 meters. Tirtouga was known to actively hunt for prey to the extent that it would go on land to reach them. Tirtouga lived in the ancient oceans from about 100 million years ago. It now exists in the present thanks to being revived from fossils. Tirtouga is believed to be the ancestor of most turtle Pokémon.
Marshal owned a Tirtouga sometime before arriving in Nimbasa City. Because of his uncontrollable nature, he released him the day before meeting Black and White. He was later caught by Black and nicknamed Costa. Under Black's ownership, he eventually evolved. He first appeared in Growing Pains.
Tirtouga and its evolved form are the only Fossil Pokémon to have Rock as their secondary type.
Tirtouga has a striking resemblance to a Pokémon-like design which appeared in the April 1997 issue of MicroGroup Game Review.
Tirtouga and its evolved form have only been obtainable with their Hidden Ability in the Pokémon Dream World. Due to the closure of the Pokémon Global Link, they could no longer be obtained with their Hidden Ability except through breeding. The Tirtouga family's Hidden Ability can currently be obtained via the Ability Patch.
Origin
Tirtouga appears to be based on a baby sea turtle, more specifically, a leatherback. It also may be based on Protostega, a large, prehistoric sea turtle that was smaller than the Archelon that Carracosta may be based on.
Name origin
Tirtouga may be a corruption of tortuga (Spanish for turtle, tir having a similar phonetic pronunciation to the tur in turtle) or derived from Tortuga (translated as Turtle Island in French and Spanish). It may also be a corruption of tartaruga, Italian and Portuguese for tortoise, seeing as turtles are closely related to tortoises.
Protoga may be a combination of Protostega (an extinct turtle species largest second to only the Archelon, which its evolution is based on) and tortuga.
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.