Manananggal

Manananggal Title Manananggal Description Self-segmenting flying viscera sucker of fetuses Gender Hermaphrodite & capable of reproducing with itself Region The Philippines Equivalent Vampire

The manananggal (sometimes confused with the Wak Wak) is a mythical creature of the Philippines. It resembles a Western vampire, as an evil, man-eating monster or witch. The myth of the manananggal is popular in the Visayan region of the Philippines, especially in the western provinces of Capiz, Iloilo, and Antique. There are varying accounts of the features of a manananggal. Like vampires, Visayan folklore creatures, and aswangs, manananggals are also said to abhor garlic and salt.[1] They were also known to avoid daggers, light, vinegar, spices and the tail of a stingray, which can be fashioned as a whip.[2] Folklore of similar creatures can be found in the neighbouring nations of Indonesia and Malaysia.

Features

A manananggal is described as a hideous, scary, vampire-like creature (as opposed to an aswang), often depicted as female, and capable of severing its upper torso and sprouting huge bat-like wings to fly into the night in search of its next victim. It is said that they mostly prey on sleeping, pregnant women, using an elongated proboscis-like tongue to suck the hearts of fetuses, or the blood of someone who is sleeping. The severed lower torso is left standing, and it is said to be the more vulnerable of the two halves. Sprinkling salt or smearing crushed garlic or ash on top of the standing torso is fatal to the creature. The upper torso then would not be able to rejoin itself and will die by sunrise.[citation needed]

Manananggal comes from the Tagalog word tanggal (cognate of Malay tanggal), which means "to remove" or "to separate", which literally translates as "remover" or "separator". In this case, "one who separates itself". The name also originates from an expression used for a severed torso.

Capiz

The province of Capiz is the subject or focus of many manananggal stories, as with the stories of other types of mythical creatures, such as ghosts, goblins, ghouls and aswangs. Sightings are purported here, and certain local folk are said to believe in their existence despite modernization.

Appearances in film and other media

Manananggal (1927)

First ever Filipino horror movie, [ 3 ] [ 4 ] A silent picture movie portraying the manananggal in its current form, having the upper torso detach. Not much was known on the plot of the story. Cast: Mary Walter Directed: Jose Nepomuceno

Horror Comedy starring the top comedians of the 60's. Directed by: Consuelo Osorio cast: Pugo Lopito Patsy Chichay Aruray Studios: Lea Productions (Prod. company)

Mga Bata ng Lagim (1964) [ 5 ]

Star studded by the teen matinee idols of the 60's "Sampaguita-VP All-Stars". A scene whereGerman Moreno and Boy Alano turned into manananggals after applying a suspicious oil at their bodies. Then the hilarious part came when they started singing the"paro parong bukid" song. Directed by: Consuelo Osorio cast: Sampaguita-VP All-Stars, German Moreno, Boy Alano

Gloria Romero plays as the respectable Miss Luna, Narda's school teacher who has a mysterious secret. She is the blood sucking flying creature that roams at night. cast: Vilma Santos, Gloria Romero Directed: Maning Borlaza

Pagsapit ng Dilim (1975) [ 5 ]

Perla Bautista plays a mother who tricked her daughter Gina Pareno into becoming a manananggal as part of her coming of age rites. cast: Perla Bautista, Gina Pareno

Herbert Bautista plays a teenager in a faraway province in an episode of this horror anthology movie series. A manananggal is said to live within the vicinity and is out to eat people. He is given the task by his grandmother to kill this creature. Having found a way to prevent it from returning to its body, he must now survive the night to protect his family from the creature's attacks. This story is one of the most popular and suspenseful episodes of the entire series. Cast: Irma Alegre, Herbert Bautista, Mary Walter Director: Peque Gallaga

Impaktita (1989)

Jean Garcia plays the role of a young girl whose mother is a manananggal, and when she turns 18, she will transform into a wild bloodsucking creature at night by the eerie sound of a bat and sucks the blood of any living person she can find. Cast: Jean Garcia, Richard Gomez, Aga Muhlach, Gloria Romero, Nida Blanca

A homeless family and their neighbors in the city of Manila are plagued by attacks from a manananggal. A little boy (IC Mendoza) suspects a nun (Aiko Melendez) to be that creature, but no one believes him. He finds himself racing to prove his suspicions before he becomes the monster's next victim.

Takot Ka Ba Sa Dilim? (1996)

A brief scene where Marjorie Barretto plays a young lass who turns into a ravenous manananggal at night who hunts for unsuspecting victims. Cast: Angelu de Leon, Rica Peralejo, Bobby Andrews, Marjorie Barretto, Red Sternberg, Amanda Page

Manananggal in Manila (1997)

An English-speaking manananggal Alma Concepcion spreads terror in Manila.

Krasue, 2002 film by Bin Bunluerit

based on krasue folklore

Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia(2008)

The plot revolves around Bubuy (Nash Aguas) who is out to save his abducted grandparents in the land of Elementalia, a magical and mystical world that houses many of the Philippines' mythical creatures and other enchanted elements.It features a friendly Vegetarian Manananggal named Anna (Katrina Legaspi), relating her to a different species of bat which is a fruit bat, as opposed the blood thirsty ones based on the folklore. [ 7 ] Cast: Nash Aguas, Katrina Legaspi, Pokwang Directed: Robert Quilao

Lose #3, 2011 comic by Michael Deforge

"Manananggal," a three page wordless comic.

Marvel Anime: Blade (2011)

In Episode five of the Anime project between Madhouse and Marvel featuring Blade, he and his partners encounter a mutated version of the Manananggal and its victims while hunting down Deacon Frost on the island of Siquijor, an island province in the Philippines.

The Aswang Phenomenon (Documentary) (2011)

Jordan Clark's documentary is an exploration of the aswang folklore and its effects on Philippine society. The evolution and history of the Manananggal is explored from an anthropological, sexual and pop culture view. Produced by High Banks Entertainment Ltd. Cast: Peque Gallaga, Rodolfo Vera, Maricel Soriano

Aso ni San Roque (TV series) (2012)

Fatima is a blind girl with a golden heart who is the offspring of a mortal and a manananggal. Her fate is to end the devastation of the Aswang in the human world with the help of Anghel, the dog statue of San Roque that has miraculously animated. It features Kanlaon, the manananggal leader of the Aswang of the Wind (or Airborne aswangs). He once loved and failed to Lourdes, a manananggal herself and the mother of Fatima. Cast: Mona Louise Rey, LJ Reyes, Gardo Versoza Directed: Don Michael Perez

Other terms and versions

Aswang: Manananggals are popularly referred to as aswangs. However, aswang is a generic term and can refer to all types of ghouls, mananangals, witches (mangkukulam), etc.

is a generic term and can refer to all types of ghouls, mananangals, witches (mangkukulam), etc. Tik-tik: Manananggals are sometimes referred to as tik-tik, the sound it makes while flying. Folklore dictates that the fainter the sound, the nearer the manananggal is. This is to confuse the victim. Black cats and crows often signal a tik-tik's presence, and deformed faces or bodies in children are allegedly signs of the aftermath of a tik-tik attack.

Leyak

See also

Philippine mythology

Penanggalan - A vampire akin to Manananggal from the Malay peninsula

Tiyanak - Blood-sucking creature in a form of a baby that turns into what is known to be the child of the devil

Krasue - Floating vampiric female head and entrails that is similar to a manananggal

Chonchon - Mapuche creature that also detaches its head

Nukekubi - Japanese creature that also detaches its head to feed on victims

References