It's hard to not hear "turd-onator" when saying its name aloud...
And uh, if you say turtle do you hear "turd-le"?
I love everything about this derpy turtle. It looks dangerous, has a ridiculously silly name(in a good way) and is a fire/dragon type. I was expecting to see some praise for it, but then...Seems like I'm the only one who even likes it after reading the comments. Now I'm sad.
I was prepared for it when I saw everyone on Skype being disappointed in this guy. But if you love the Pokémon don't let the haters put you down! #Retweetable And don't worry I'm with you all the way <3
Turtonator? Not the worst design revealed, but definitely one of the weirdest. I'm thinking it's that weird looking nose that has everyone hating on it... if it had a beak, like a snapping turtle, it would have looked better. The name isn't the best either... if it's based of a Mata Mata turtle, why not Matanator?
I actually agree with you as far as the name goes, but I think the idea is that it's meant to market towards the little kiddies. Turtonator sounds "cooler" than Matanator since, as the Internet has already jumped on very quickly, it's got a Terminator vibe to it. Personally would have preferred Matantor, and I agree with you wholeheartedly about the yellow tube/nose instead of a beak!
I'm actually really excited about Turtonator! I love the ruggedness of its design and the theme of explosions was actually handled well IMO. It's taken a comic book approach to the whole idea of explosions with vibrant cartoony reds and yellows but that's really to be expected, and the fact that they threw another mini-explosion on its head is also really neat. The worst part of it is the weird face, more specifically the tube, but I think this is for a reason. In keeping with the theme of explosions, I believe Turtonator will learn all of the firing and shooting moves, like Rock Blast, Gunk Shot, Bullet Seed, Psybeam... kind of an Octillery 2.0! Octillery should still keep Octazooka, but maybe Turtonator will get that too. As such, the tube on its face, which somewhat resembles a barrel of a gun, seems more than appropriate. After all, guns use gunpowder to cause mini-explosions and propel a bullet, so it'd almost be a shame if Turtonator couldn't learn these moves.
Shell Trap will be mostly useless, I think. Something which I haven't seen anyone mention yet is that Shell Trap lite was already introduced in Generation VI under the guise of Powder, Vivillon's signature move. Obviously it's on a Pokémon with substantially worse defensive typing and only triggered on Fire-Type moves, but the whole idea of a Destiny Bond-esque trapping move never stirred up any interest, and I think it's for a reason. Destiny Bond sees some use because it's a good way for support Pokémon who are somewhat sacrificial later on in the battle (usually hazard setters like Froslass or Prankster support Pokémon like Banette-Mega) to get the last laugh when they inevitably faint. A Pokémon like Turtonator, whose design screams decent bulk with a strong offensive moveset and excellent defensive typing, wouldn't benefit from something like Destiny Bond. Shell Trap is a little different because I guess it's more likely not to die, but the only way Shell Trap would ever see use is if they make its offenses terrible so as to force players into using the move to generate any offensive pressure, which would make the Pokémon useless as a whole.
My only hope is that Shell Trap will also protect Turtonator's partner from physical attacks in double battles.
Then it could see some use!