Case file · Folklore / legend
Aswang
An umbrella term in Filipino folklore for shape-shifting evil beings such as vampires, ghouls, witches and viscera-suckers.
1589 CE · 10.87, 123.49 · status: legend
The account
Spanish colonists noted in the 16th century that the aswang was the most feared creature in the islands, and Juan de Plasencia's 1589 account of Tagalog customs records related beliefs. It is especially popular in parts of the Visayas, southern Luzon and Mindanao.
The sceptical view
Scholars read the aswang as an inversion of traditional Filipino values, a figure of belief rather than an animal.
Connections in the atlas
- Kapre, the Philippine tree giant
- Aswang
- Lansdale's aswang operation
- Engkanto
- Penanggalan
- Kuntilanak / Pontianak