Kapre

The kapre is a giant of Philippine folklore. Wikipedia says its modern image grew out of racist depictions of Negrito peoples by Christianized lowlanders in the Spanish period.

Fletcher Gardner, writing on Tagalog superstitions in 1906, described the kapre as a benign monster, larger even than the tik-balan and entirely black. He thought its name and description pointed to an Arabic source and guessed the belief might come from the Moros, while admitting he had no contact with them.

Wikipedia says the modern kapre grew from the way Christianized lowland groups of the Spanish period depicted Negrito tribes, with racial prejudice. Yapan, speaking to Jonathan Chua of Philstar in 2009, traced the name to an Arabic word for an unbeliever. He pointed out that tobacco came in with the Spanish conquest, so the tobacco-linked kapre may be a colonial remake of the native diwata, spirits that could be benign.

The film Chua writes about recasts the creature as an ancient chieftain, with tattoos copied from the Boxer Codex illustrations in place of wiry hair. The sources here file it apart from the aswang.