Turu the Terrible

Turu the Terrible is the fifteenth episode of the 1960's Jonny Quest.

Premise
While Dr. Quest researches a piece of rare metal in South America, an old man uses a still living Pteranodon to force the natives into mining an ore of the material.

Synopsis
In the Amazon Jungle, a black jaguar is seen hunting for food. However, it heard something strange and ran off. In the mountains, there was something amazing! The creature coming out of the cliffs is a living Pteranodon longiceps! Its name was Turu (which means bird). Turu sees two natives at the Amazon river, riding a canoe. The mighty pterosaur flies down and abducts Nuago. Aku watches in horror to see his brother being taken by the Pteranodon.

At a river camp, Hadji and Jonny are fishing at the river. They caught a slender, river fish that resembles a pike. Bandit looks at the fish and it bit him on the tail. Bandit ran to the tent and then Race and Benton Quest asked if the boys are picking on him, but it appears that the answer is no and appears to be having one of his dog days. Dr. Quest then told Race to look at the microscope. The rock that he was looking at has a new metal called trinoxide and it's absolutley essential to the space program. Race asked where did it came from and Dr. Quest said it was right around somewhere in the Amazon. As Race looks at it, Quest explains that there are many trinoxide mines in the world, but none half as pure as the sample essays. Race once again asked where did it came from and Quest told him somewhere up river where a native and his brother gave it to him and they told him it came from "The Land of the Turu". He told him that they have to find the trinoxide before someone else does.

Suddenly, Jonny and Hadji were shouting. Quest and Race head outside and see the unconscious Aku in the canoe. Dr. Quest and Race get into the speedboat and get Aku to safety. Once they reached back to their campground, Dr. Quest recognises the native as Aku, one of the brothers who gave him the sample. Soon, Aku wakes up and becomes scared when he saw the Pteranodon taking his brother from the last time he saw his brother being abducted. Dr. Quest told his son to run up to the Ore Lab and get his bag to get this fellow around. As Jonny went to the lab, Race asked what does Turu mean. Quest told him that Turu means bird. Once Aku is revived, Dr. Quest told him that no bird alive could be big enough to lift a man. Aku told him that he saw it that the big bird abducted his brother. He then makes a picture of the creature on the ground. He described the creature has skin, no feathers, and it flies. Dr. Quest and Race were confused that the creature has the likeness of a Pteranodon and there hasn't been a Pteranodon on this planet for a million years. Aku told him that Turu took Nuago. Race asked who was Nuago and Quest said Nuago is Aku's brother. Race then said that Turu is incredible and unbelievable. Quest asked Aku where Turu is. Aku told him it's in the same place where the trinoxide comes from, about 1 or 2 days up river, and where his brother gave Quest the stone in the Land of Turu. Dr. Quest then told everyone to pack their things and told Aku to come with them, but Aku is scared, due to Turu may come back, but Quest told him not to worry and said that they'll take care of Turu.

It was time to find the giant bird and more of the trinoxide. Soon, the protagonists (and Aku) are riding on a boat (which is called Amazon Queen) and their guide is an unamed captain of the boat. The captain told the protagonists that they'll meet crocodiles soon or later. As the boat went deeper into the river of the jungle, they spotted a family of crocodiles! The crocodiles prepared to attack the boat. Everyone gets their guns and start shooting at the crocodiles. The crocodiles then retreat from the guns. The captain told the kids to keep their eyes open, since this isn't a city. Soon, it was now night time at the jungle at the campground. The captain is reading a book and Race and Dr. Quest (who is smoking a pipe) and sitting next to the fire. Suddenly, they heard the familiar screech that Aku heard. Aku then pointed at the sky that it was Turu! Jonny, Hadji, and Bandit come out of their tent and hear the screeches. Quest told the captain to douce the light and told Race to put out the fire. The captain turns off his lantern and Race uses a bucket of water and puts out the fire. Jonny, Hadji, Bandit, the captain, Dr. Quest, Race, and Aku continue to hear the screeches. Quest told Aku that the Turu thing he described told him that he didn't say enough and the Turu must be bigger than an elephant.

Suddenly, a huge, winged figure in the sky is revealed to be the same Pteranodon that abducted Nuago, menacing the group. Everyone got into the tents as Turu flies down. The captain hides under the roof curtain and Turu destroys half of the boat (which is the roof curtain). The captain yells at the Pteranodon for destroying half of the boat. Turu heads back in the cliffs. Soon, he hears a voice which is his owner/trainer. The person is a man riding a wheelchair who's name is Deen. Deen told Turu to not feel bad just because he failed and will hunt the intruders tomorrow. He then gave Turu a pat on the head and told him to go to the top of the cliff. As the two head to the top, they pass tar pits, a wooden gate, and a village. Deen told Turu to head to his cage and rest and he'll speak to the workers. The workers are revealed to be natives and are doing work in the mines.

Deen then shows up and tells the slaves to listen carefully to the words he said: "Some of you tried to escape. There is no escape from Turu on my plateau. As Turu captured you, so he will capture the intruders below. Meanwhile, you will continue your work. Do you understand?" The natives all said yes and then Deen asked "Are there any questions?" A man asked "When we go home?" Unfortunately, Deen said "Until all this precious metal is mine, you will stay!" The natives become upset that Deen won't let them free. Deen they told them if they attack him and Turu, they'll both kill them all. Turu screeches and Deen laughs evilly.

The next day, the captain is fixing the boat and Jonny and Hadji are having breakfast. Race and Dr. Quest were doing some exploring and Race is using binoculars to look at the cliff. Quest also used binoculars and they finally see Turu and Deen! Deen saw the protagonists and tells Turu to kill them! Turu flies down to attack the protagonists. They get back into the jungle and the Pteranodon has landed! They must get down low or Turu will find them. Quest and Race get back to camp and told the rest of the crew that Turu is a trained Pteranodon and Jonny asked who trained it, but Quest hasn't known yet. Quest and Race will get rocket belts and a bazooka and told the rest of the crew to stay on the boat and not get separated. Race suggested to fly at the back of the cliff. As they with their rocket belts, the Pteranodon returns and attacks them. Race and Quest get on the side of the cliff and use revolvers and shoot Turu, but the mighty pterosaur dodges the bullets. Turu managed to grab Quest. Quest told Race to use the bazooka. Race uses the bazooka and a blast of it hits Turu on the leg, releasing Quest and he uses his rocket belt.

The two return to camp and they'll have to use the bazooka again, but not until dark. It was now dark time and Race and Dr. Quest have reached to the top of the cliff. They uses their rocket belts and fly low and they see small buildings and Turu's cage. They hear noises in the mines and found the slaves. The natives then show them a huge piece of trioxide. Soon, they hear Turu. Back outside the mines, Turu seems grouchy, but Deen told him to never mind about it. He told him that they'll get the white men tomorrow and they should both get some rest. As Turu enters his cage, he comes out and screeches. Deen asked if some of his slaves are out of the mines. When he turned around it was Quest and Race and tells Turu to kill them. The second blast from the bazooka missed. Turu flies down to the jungle and once again destroys half of the boat, causing the captain to yell at the pterosaur.

After a couple more hits, Turu was injured and Deen yells at them for hurting him. After the last blast from the bazooka, Turu falls into the tar pit. Deen rushes to Turu and becomes scared, upset, and heartbroken upon seeing his friend sink, telling Turu he can't die. Quest and Race watch Deen heading for the pit and they'll know he'll fall in and told him to wait. Deen doesn't listen to them and told Turu he will save him. "Oh no!" shouted Dr. Quest. "The poor devil," said Race. Turu has sunk completely in the tar pit and then Deen (and his wheelchair) fall into the tar pit and dies. Race wished that he and Quest could have saved both Deen and Turu, but there wasn't a chance. Quest then told Race to let him have his flashlight to signal the boat.

Soon, Jonny, Hadji, Bandit, Aku, and the captain see the light on top of the cliff. Captain then signal them back about the bird and the boat and the other part seems to be a foul word, since Quest told Race that he never uses that kind of language and they both laugh. Soon, Quest and Race told the natives it's all over, they're all free, and can head home. The next day, the protagonists are on the boat (even Nuago). Jonny is playing a harmonica, captain is upset that Turu damaged his boat twice, and Aku thanks Quest and Race for rescuing Nuago. Soon, a giant crocodile appears out of the river and bites Jonny's stick in half and Bandit barks at the croc. The crocodile watches Bandit barking and growling at it. Hadji then pretended to be a crocodile and clapped his hands together like a crocodile's jaws. Bandit became scared and hides behind Nuago. Jonny told Bandit that Hadji was only playing. Nuago thinks Bandit is brave and not afraid of crocodiles. Bandit then takes a nap.

Characters
Main characters:


 * Jonny Quest
 * Dr. Benton Quest
 * Race Bannon
 * Hadji
 * Bandit

Supporting characters:


 * Aku
 * Skipper

Villains:


 * Turu
 * Deen

Other characters:


 * Nuago

Locations

 * South America
 * Dr. Quest's lab
 * Land of Turu

Objects

 * Trinoxide
 * Wheelchair
 * Rocket belts
 * Bazooka

Vehicles

 * Canoe
 * Amazon Queen

Cast
Unknown: Skipper

Notes/trivia



 * Dr. Quest smokes from a pipe in this episode.
 * Turu can be seen several times in every intro and credits of Jonny Quest, but has a different color which is having a white beak and belly, lavender skin, and red eyes. He also has different screeches.
 * Turu has a cameo in the first scene of The Man Called Flintstone.
 * Turu also appears in Wishbones, an episode from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, where he captures Saliva and Irwin. He looks similar to his intro version, but is turquoise. His screeches were reused from the original show.
 * "Tulu," a pterosaur virtually identical to Turu, appears in the Venture Bros. episode Venture Libre as one of many creatures rallied by the undead Venturestein in the fictional South American country Puerta Bahia to eventually form the Abomi Nation. Tulu is killed early in the episode while attacking Dr. Venture's jet. It should be noted that Venture Bros. is itself a deconstruction of Jonny Quest and that entire genre, and several Jonny Quest characters have appeared during the course of the series.
 * Even though Deen's name was never revealed in this episode, it was revealed in the episode guide.

Goofs

 * Despite being a Pteranodon, Turu has a jagged, toothed beak, considering Pteranodon means "wing without teeth" or "toothless wing".
 * He also is bipedal, lacks fur-like coverings on his torso, and grabs things with his feet. Pterosaurs walked in a quadrupedal posture like a bat, hair-like covering is found on fossil impressions, and pterosaurs caught things with their mouths. However, the first two features weren't known at the time of this episode's release.
 * There's a pronunciation discrepancy. The natives call the Pteranodon Turu because they can't get the 'L' pronounced in Tulu, which was given by Deen.

Home media

 * 🇺🇸 Jonny Quest: The Complete First Season DVD released on August 15, 2006 by Warner Home Video.
 * 🇺🇸 Jonny Quest: The Complete First Season (Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection) DVD released on June 6, 2017 by Warner Home Video.
 * 🇺🇸 Jonny Quest: The Complete Original Series Blu-ray Disc released on June 11, 2019 by Warner Archive Collection.