Giant tortoises are enormous, incredibly slow reptilian creatures, gigantic versions of the much smaller, much rarer water tortoises that have only been spotted in extremely rare outside areas with natural bodies of water.
These hulking beasts usually reach 6 feet of in length, 5 feet of in height, and 400 pounds of in weight, though certain exceptional individuals have been spotted with even greater dimensions. The heaviest giant tortoise ever recorded in the Mazes, an individual that was nicknamed "Thousand-Pound Bert", required four to six people to carry comfortably, and nearly broke the scale it was measured on, reaching an exceptional weight of 986 pounds (~0.45 metric tons).
All tortoises are famous for their protective bony shells, but the giant tortoise's shell is famous for its thickness and resistance to impacts, which is so high, it is considered as tough as the lightest type of bullet-resistant armor. At rest, a giant tortoise's soft body and underside are exposed, particularly their head, neck, eyes, and four limbs. However, the giant tortoise can fully retract these body parts inside of their shell, using their shell as full body armor. Though it has the disadvantage of rendering them immobile, and will not detract a sufficiently intelligent or determined foe, it is designed as a deterrent against biting or crushing attacks, in the hopes that the predator will simply give up or hurt themselves trying to attack the tortoise while fully retracted.
Fortunately for sapients, these creatures are as placid and averse to violence as it gets. Their extremely low agility makes it difficult for them to traverse the Uncivilized Area, so they simply follow other creatures while doors are open, or let themselves be carried, in the hopes of reaching a body of water or some type of patch of grass for them to feed on. Because of their lack of ability to open doors by themselves, biologists suggested that much like with [[chicken]], they are not adapted to life in the UA and their natural environment is in some type of outside area with grass and water in abundance, and that the individuals found in the UA have somehow wandered away from their habitat and gotten lost.
Giant tortoise meat is also famous for being one of the finest and most delicious in the world, considered to be an expensive luxury that is experienced by few, and regularled affored regularly afforded by even fewer. For that reason, despite being peaceful creatures that couldn't possibly harm a sapient, they are frequently and mercilessly hunted, to the point that they are believed to be close to extinction. Anti-tortoise hunting groups have formed in response and have been seen attempting to stop tortoise hunters by any means necessary, resulting in gunfights over the creatures.
[[Category:Creatures]]