Manananggal: The Flying, Disembodied, Blood Sucking Nightmare | Monstrum

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One of the Phillipine’s most dangerous and bizarre aswangs, the viscera-sucking, self-segmenting monster hunts at night. A beautiful woman by day, this creature detaches its upper torso and grows wings after sunset. You might never have heard of this monster before, but after this episode, I can promise you’ll know everything you need..and probably some stuff you didn’t want to know.

An intestine-dangling nightmare woman with a taste for fetuses sounds like absolutely madness, but can she teach us about the history of social and religious power in Filipino culture? You might be surprised by the answer. #manananggal #aswang #filipinofolklore #MonstrumPBS

Written and Hosted by: Dr. Emily Zarka
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Stephanie Noone
Illustrator: Samuel Allen
Editor: Sara Roma
Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Eugenio, Damiana L. Philippine Folk Literature: An Anthology. University of the Philippines, 1982.

Eviota, Elizabeth Uy. The political economy of gender: women and sexual division of labour in the Philippines. Zed Books, 1992.

Jorolan-Quintero, Genevieve. “Oral traditions: An aid to implementation of mother tongue-based multilingual education in the Philippines’ basic education programme. International Review of Education, Vol. 64, Issue 6, December 2018, pp. 759-777.

Lim, Bliss Cua. “The Fantastic as Temporal Translation: Aswang and Occult National Times.” Translating Time: Cinema, the Fantastic, and Temporal Critique. Duke University Press, 2009, pp.96-148.

Magat, Margaret. “Fertilized Duck Eggs and Their Role in Filipino Culture.” Western Folklore, Vol. 61, No. 1, Spring 2002, pp. 63-96.

Nadeau, Kathleen. “Aswang and Other Kinds of Witches: A Comparative Analysis.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Vol. 39, No. 3/4, Sept./Dec. 2011, pp. 250-266.

Paraiso Brothers. The Balete Book. Giraffe Books, 2003.

Ramos, Maximo D. Aswang Complex in Philippine Folklore. Phoenix Publishing House, Inc., 1990.

Ramos, Maximo D. The Aswang Syncrasy in Philippine Folklore. Philippine Folklore Society, 1971.

Sherman, Josepha. “Filipino Mythology.” Storytelling: An Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore, Routledge, 2008.

Tofighian, Nadi. “José Nepomuceno and the Creation of a Filipino National Consciousness.” Film History, vol. 20, no. 1, 2008, pp. 77–94.

[miay]

every filipino kid has an uncle who says they saw one in the province as a kid

[camillel.]

The irony: this is well researched than those of the local Filipino films.

[kurkeh]

This is well researched, even into the sociological aspect of the myth of the manananggal! Kudos team!

[CAPTAINCOOKPH]

"Okay lang naman maging manananggal, basta't wala kang tinatapakang Tao."
- Manananggal

[NewMessage]

Did anyone notice we didn't see Dr. Zarka's lower half in this video?


* narrows eyes *

[celinev]

"I think we should be seeing more of this creature"

*Me, a filipino: OH HELL NO*

[johnelmartagbago]

By the way, if you still want to continue on the Philippine mythological creatures, I have some few suggestions:

*MYTHICAL BEASTS* - They're humongous monsters that resembles animals.
*1. Baconaua/Bakunawa* _(a giant serpentine being that devoured 6 of the 7 moons in Philippine Mythology. )_
*2. Minokawa* _(Said to resemble a giant eagle. This creature could end any eclipse with its wings.)_
*3. Wakwak* _(A giant flying black beast that oddly resembles either a crow or a bat. This is basically our version of Mothman. It brings undescribable fear and nightmares to whoever lives to tale the tale. Its sound could instantly end one's breath.)_


*ASWANGS* - Collective term for humans who could transform into beast-like ghouls
*1. Regular Aswangs* _(People that transforms into these man-eating monsters at night. They typically have this Dog-like appearance. And that could be the reason why they are called Aswang, because "Dog" in Tagalog is "Aso". But other than dog, they could also look like pigs, cats, etc.)_
*2. Tiyanak* _(an abandoned demon baby that lures innocent people who have soft heart for kids. They feast on man-flesh. This is a variant of the Aswang class)_
*3. The Sigbin* _(A shapeshifting vampire-werewolf type creature, which is a variant of the Aswang creatures. As someone pointed out in the comment section, they can't shapeshift though, but it still depends on the region where you came from. I said vampire-werewolf hybrid, because of its nature of transformation and beast-like features but they're way worse because they full-on slaughter anyone. Their shapeshifting is unstable and constant, making them look uncanny and disgusting.)_
*4. Tiktik* _(This is already mentiomed on the video but why the hell not. An aswang type with long prehensile tongues that sucks the fetus out of a pregnant ladies. What this video misses to discuss is how those tongues are as tough as fucc and how sharp they are. Their tongues are basically weapons 😂)_
*5. Manananggal* _(The one mentioned in this video.)_


*ENGKANTOS* - Engkantos are collective term for powerful spirits from another world.
*1. Diwatas/Diwanis* _(These are goddess/fairy-like beings with humanoid appearance. But even though they're humanoid, they lack certain features like wrinkles, the weird gap between our nose and lips, fingerprints, etc. These lack of feafures is what makes them weirdly and other-worldly beautiful though. They're notable for luring handsome men and women to join their world, and to some extent, ranks. Yes, they're basically egotistic elitists who values beauty over anything else. They only bang beautiful people, so don't expect fro them to appear if you're not pretty/handsome. 😂)_
*2. Nuno sa Punso* _(They are dwarve-like creatures that hide on anthills. They can curse you or grant you wish depending on your attitude towards them. But they mostly curse people by making their limbs bloat. Important thing to note, they really love their anthill house so don't go destroying them, say "Tabi-tabi po" once you encounter one. Ofcourse these are just tales.)_
*3. Bangungot* _(This is the personification of Nigthmares in Philippine mythology. Her name literally means nightmare in Tagalog. They're usually portrayed as these oversized ladies with black skin and smokes, sitting on top of whoever's sleeping. Their eyes are yellow as fucc. Not a great roommate, gotta say.)_
*4. Kapre* _(Due to popular demand, I was forced to wrote this one 😂. Kapres are hairy chainsmoking giants that typically reside in Balete trees, which is a dwelling place for most supernatural beings here in he Philippines. They're sometimes portrayed in media as this wise, good-hearted, misjudged creature. But the most common description of witnesses of Kapres are their glaring red eyes, dark skin, mouth with sharp fangs and everflowing salivas, etc.)_
*5. Tikbalang* _(Reversed Centaurs; a huge muscular man with a wild horse as its head, another variant of the Aswang in some versions, but typically a guardian of nature. Also, there's a belief that when you managed to get hold of its hair, you can wish for anything.)_


*OTHERS* - The rest that don't fit the descriptions of other groups
*1. Bungisngis* _(It's a superstrong giant cyclops with elephant-like tusks protruding out of his mouth, because of that same tusks, it makes him look like he's smiling when he's in fact, not. And as the name suggest "Bungisngis", "Giggle" in English, it creates these giggling sounds whenever air passes through his mouth.)_
*2. Santelmo* _(Named after Saint Elmo, this thing is a flying ball of fire that chases people. That's it. 😂😂 Nothing notable here but that's what's interesting about it because its motivation is still unknown. Perhaps they're guarding treasures or planning a takeover of the world? 😂😂)_
*3. Shokoy* _(I don't really know where to put this guy. Shokoy are mermans. They are humanoid in form but their skin is covered with fishscales and they have gills. They also eat people, that's why I like to refer to this creature as an underwater aswang.)_
*4. Sirena or Sirens/Mermaids* _(This is also another hard one to classify since paranormal experts claim it to be spirit in appearance like Engkantos, but Filipino witnesses claim they are physical creatures. This myth is most definitely brought by Spaniards to the Philippines to monopolize the sea.)_

EDIT: I don't know why people are saying I copypasted this even though they have no proof to back it up and why my supposed "copypasting" is even triggering them. Get a life. 😂

[sioboy]

"There are many types of monsters in the Philippines that are labeled as Aswang but their appearance and habits divide them into subcategories." Some are in the City Hall, in the traffic management offices, in tax offices, Barangay halls, and Commission on Audit Office to name a few.

[valmarknicorubia]

Can you feature the most popular monsters in Philippines?
The "Chismosas"

[longlongthepro]

Kapre: *Chillin in a mango tree with a cigarette*

[areallygoodsquash]

Pregnant lady : *sleeping peacefully*

Manananggal: *Swiggity Swaggaty your baby is my property*

[pheo]

There’s another monster called “chismosas” they are the type of monster that is like human who whispers to each other and suddenly people will hate you.

[jessarubio]

*As a Russian-Filipino, my mom sisters always use the mananangal stories to scare us when my siblings and I sneak out the door to go out at night.*

[diehop]

Nobody:

Gordon Ramsay : *Season the lower-body*

[wanderinghistorian]

Westerners: We have this monster called the "vampire!" It's like a man, but he has fangs and drinks your blood!

Filipinos: That's cute.

[marcmoon]

I only knew salt would be effective as a filipino. When I heard the other ingredients..

I was like: Are we marinating the lower half? 😂

[cococosmic]

Do the
1 tiyanak- a monster looks like as a baby
2 tikbalang- half horse half man
3 kapre-a giant smoking that lives in a tree

[ZyozyoPadilla]

Hi there, I'm a Filipino anthropology student and I'd wanna add that when the Spanish arrived, it was pretty much Game of Thrones: there were at least three dominant "factions" at that time, Indianized Rajas, Islamic Sultans, or Native Datus. There were even reports of a state in the north with Chinese-inspired culture, probably due to trade with the Ming Dynasty (perhaps they were a tributary state of the Dynasty, I forget, it's been a while since I've checked out the National Museum).

Oh dude imagine a medieval fantasy RPG but in this setting! Imagine all the monsters and stats per faction.

[plantliyo]

Her pronunciation of mananangal is soo innocent and pure, at least she tried her best !!!

[bruderspatzlemitso]

This reminds me of the Nukekubi, a Japanese yokai. It's a woman whose head detaches when asleep and flies around sucking blood. Just like the Manananggal you can't really tell during nighttimes whether a woman is a Nukekubi or not