Peter L.
Now that everyone’s in a bit of a Trese fever after the animated series debuted on Netflix last week, interest towards the fantastic and terrifying Philippine monsters and beings have surely sprung up after the show featured just a handful of well-known ones like the horse headed Tikbalang with Maliksi and his father, and the tragic Tiyanak from Episode 3.
Basically covering up the first three volumes of the graphic novel, the show has only scratched the surface when it comes to Philippine myths and legends. Granted that we still haven’t seen anything featured beyond the first season of the anime, nor haven’t gotten our hands on the graphic novel. As anime adaptations go, some original story arcs have been created to fill the time between the next saga from the source material, or just to fill in the ordered episodes in a season. So take this as a fan casting of some sorts, because we just can’t get enough of this world! In no particular order, here are some creatures we hope to see in future Trese episodes:
5. Tiburones
As if sharks aren’t scary enough as they are, imagine this one lunging at you while you’re staring at the deep blue ocean. The tiburones is a winged shark monster featured in the Bikolano epic, Ibalon. If on future episodes, Trese and the gang would do an ocean related crime investigation, we sure hope to see these guys. That would be a thrill.
4. Bungisngis
And it goes without saying that our very own version of the Grecian cyclops should show up on Trese somewhere down the line. They’re actually nice in spite of their looks. Their name comes from their giggling, teeth baring and all. Perhaps a Frankenstein’s monster story is in order with this one. An impoverished child and his/her misunderstood protector, perhaps?
3. Batibat/Bangungot
This one writes itself. The scene: mysterious deaths involving men and it doesn’t take Trese and the gang long to investigate. Batibats are described to be morbidly obese women who sit on sleeping humans, mostly men, suffocating them to death. Also, it’s interesting to note that legends aside, there is a thing called SUNDS or sudden unexplained nocturnal death syndrome in real life, and it remains a mystery how this happens, and why it’s been observed mostly in Southeast Asia, where The Philippines is located. We haven’t looked up at other neighboring countries if they have their own version of the batibat, but if there are, we bet it’d be as scary as ours.
2. The Robinsons Galleria Snake
Since they already put a spin on another famous urban legend with the white lady of Balete Drive in Episode 1, we do hope Trese gets to put their spin on this one. As the urban legend goes, a mall (which in this case is Robinsons Galleria, but there are other versions as to which mall this story is set) is purposely made as a hunting ground for a snakelike offspring of the owners. Back in the 90’s, a famous Filipina actress named Alice Dixson almost fell victim to this monster in the mall’s dressing room. Since Trese also did the “famous actress got her fortune because she was favored by an elemental” story already with the tiyanak episode, it’s not hard to see Trese have another go with the world of showbiz.
1. Bakunawa
The moon eater of legend! Wonder what the world of Trese would do with this one, but we bet it would be a sight to behold! Bakunawa is believed to be the cause of eclipses, and Pre-colonial Filipinos would go out of their homes banging pans and pots so that the snake would spit out the moon in the sky.
Trese is streaming on Netflix, with notable cast members including Shay Mitchell (Pretty Little Liars) and Liza Soberano (Bagani, Make It With You) as main lead, Alexandra Trese for English and Filipino dub respectively, Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Nicole Scherzinger (Pussycat Dolls member), among others.
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