he's a turtle. when i first saw him in the form of a spinning top from a burger king kid's meal as a stupid child i instantly recognized this, despite the fact that he looks nothing like any other turtle there is; his design is completely distinct, while still evoking the profound feelings a turtle gives you, with an understated elegance. but what my six-year old brain failed to grasp while i watched him break dance on the living room coffee table is that he's not just any turtle. only when i matured and became more worldly would i understand that he's based on the mytheme of the cosmic turtle which bears the world upon its shell taken to its final conclusion: he is the world. the plates of his carapace are the tectonic plates of the earth, colored a drab green to imply the stone his body's made of, the testudines which his concept stems from, and the continents which they represent. he accomplishes this with subtlety, no aspect of his design glares or insults the beholder by cock slapping them across the jaw with its throbbing premise.
but some people are left mystified still at why he loses limbs when he evolves from graveller. some think it's because he's meant to give them to machamp.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ao_(turtle)golem's a ten out of ten.
