Night Falls # 1 The Philippines Demons

Also known as "My Illustrations of Philippines Supernatural Creatures of the Night". ^_^

Based loosely on my old College Thesis Research Project on the supernatural beings of  the Philippines. Illustrations were based on reports of each supernatural being and included their description and types.

The demons of Philippine mythology are said to be of a dark-complexion, as well as being generally quite huge.  They have a wide variety of terrifying shapes, some of them even being headless!  Some of them smoke large cigars, bletch fire and cause nightmares. For the most part, the chief function among them seems to be  frighten people into insanity.  Their ability to assume the sizes and shapes of people and animals appears to be another common characteristic.  They appear and vanish at will.  There are those among them that have magic charms, or jewels which can give humans tremendous physical strength.  These must be wrested from their mysterious owners by force and/or skill.  Still others are violent demons.  Most of them are quiet harmless creatures of the night that vanish the instant light is cast on them.

 It is believe that these creatures do not live in communities of their own.   They seem content with their silent adobes in, or among dark trees, especially those with large, oblong leaves. Of these, they prefer to reside in large trees, especially the balete (Ficus indica).


===== The Demons: ====

The Kapre are the most common demons.  They are describe as a black creature with the power to change its size from that of a manikin, to that of a giant with the proportion of a church tower!  Its glassy eyes were as large as plates.  It was known also to smoke a roll of tobacco big as a banana trunk.

In some provinces, Kapres have different descriptions:

• The Agta hail from Masbate. Is a creature that was black and twice as tall as an ordinary man. And said to carried a rattan cane.

 • The Bawo and Ungo of Cebuano have been described as "big muscular men dressed only with a loin cloth." They would sit in large trees to "smoke the biggest pipes."

 Next to the Kapre, the Tikbalang was another of the most famous supernatural beings.   It was described as "having bodies like those of men, but their heads are similar to those of horses. Their limbs are said to be so long that when they sit their knees reach above their heads." This is the most common specie in Manila.

 An incident happened on the night of April 15,1580. A Tikbalang is said to have kidnapped and murdered one of the belles at a grand ball in Manila.  It was describe as a "tall, hideous creature dressed in a dark tunic"  Its long straight hair flowed over its shoulders and although it had horses legs, it had the wrinkled yellow feet of a bird. It wore a cloak that hung down to its knees.

Aside from the regular specie only 2 ver of a Tikabalang can be found:

• One The Tulung found in Mt. Pinatubo in the Zambales Range, is usually described as being horse-like, but having clawed feet, long hair and very large testicles.

 • The other the Binangunan found in the Baler Area in Quezon Province is said to have "looked somewhat like a horse, but had a fire on its back from head to tail."

The Pugot was a creature widely known by the name The Decapitated One in Northern and central Luzon.  It was a headless, dark, terrifying being, that was infact not particularly harmful. In an Ifugao myth called "Tulud-Numputul: The Self-beheaded" proof of this demeanor can be found in the statement that he was seen with "his neck-stump bubbling and frothing as he dances along the way." It is also said it grab snakes and large centipedes and stuff them into his throat, the more he stuffed the more he feels better. While in the Iloko Region, it was known as the Awan-ulo-na (healess one) and like any demon, it could change its size and shape.

 The Mantabungal of Tagbanua are describe as cow like in body and voice but having no horns. They have shaggy coats of hair which hang to the ground and monstrous mouths with huge tusk-like incisors, two above and two below.  These were capable of ripping a person to bits.

The Batibat, described in  Iloko folktale as appeared in a nightmare as "a huge fat woman...  coming into the room and filling the doorway with her bulk." This creature would sit on the victim's chest causing him/her unable to move, talk and hard to breath*.
  

*You might notice, this kind of syndrome is identical to the common Bangungot aka Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome in the medical community.


Special thanks to my friend, Wintrycynicism-chan for these reference links :)

And also to my friend Dinosaurprince for helping proof-reading this illustrated research.

REFERENCES:

Research book : Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology.

Links:

Philippine Mythology and Folklore

Magical Creatures and Non-Human Beings of the Philippines.