Philippine folklore creatures

Uncanny Atlas has 10 entries on creatures of Philippine folklore, including Aswang, Manananggal and Tikbalang, and 7 more. Each says how well its claim stands (10 folklore) and links to the sources it is told from.

10 entries

Folklore

Aswang

Aswang is a Filipino umbrella name for a range of flesh-eating night beings. The oldest record here, from 1589, places the belief in the Visayas and says it was absent among the Tagalogs.

Before you read on. Kentaro Azuma (Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia, 2012) found that aswang rumours can be used to justify discriminating against and excluding particular people. A 2015 Rappler essay by Wel Mendoza says people with X-linked dystonia parkinsonism in Capiz have been linked to aswang, and that the stigma led some families to hide them, leaving them with little or no medical care.

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Folklore

Manananggal

The manananggal is a Filipino night creature said to split at the waist and fly off with its upper half, leaving the legs behind. It has relatives across Southeast Asia, most of them flying heads.

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Folklore

Tikbalang

The tikbalang is a Philippine forest being, most often pictured as a very tall figure with horse's hooves or a horse's head. Records run from a 1589 list of Tagalog phantoms to modern sculpture. None of these sources counts it among the aswang.

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Folklore

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.

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Folklore

Tiyanak

The tiyanak is a Philippine creature that takes the form of a baby and cries in the forest to lure travellers. Its oldest recorded form, from 1589, was the lament of a woman who died in childbirth.

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Folklore

Sigbin

The sigbin is a goat-like night creature of Philippine folklore, said to drink blood from its victims' shadows. A Facebook video said to show one caught in Surigao City was rated false by Rappler in 2020.

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Folklore

Wakwak

Wakwak is a Philippine name for a bird-like night creature said to carry people off. Some use it as another word for the aswang; others treat it as a being of its own.

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Folklore

Dwende

The dwende is a small house and earth spirit of Filipino folklore, sharing its name with the duende. Isabelo de los Reyes wrote in 1889 that the local figure had taken on traits of native spirits.

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Folklore

Santelmo

Santelmo is the Filipino name for a ball of fire said to lead night travellers astray. The name comes from St. Elmo's fire, though Wikipedia says the folk light is described more like ball lightning.

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Folklore

The manglalabas in the widow's house

Three days after a father's death, a manglalabas starts coming to his family's house at night. It throws stones, breaks the water-jars and pinches the widow, and the family decide to leave.

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