Tikbalang

Tikbalang
Gender	Male or female
Region	Philippines

Tikbalang (also written Tigbalang, Tigbalan, or Tikbalan) is a creature of Philippine folklore said to lurk in the mountains and forests of the Philippines. It is generally described as a tall, bony humanoid creature with disproportionately long limbs, to the point that its knees reach above its head when it squats down. It has the head and sometimes feet of an animal, most commonly a horse. It is sometimes believed to be a transformation of an aborted fetus which has been sent to earth from limbo.

Superstitions

Tikbalangs are said to scare travelers and lead them astray. Tikbalangs play tricks on travelers such that they keep on returning to an arbitrary path no matter how far he goes or where he turns. Supposedly this is counteracted by wearing one's shirt inside out. Another countermeasure is to ask permission out loud to pass by or, not to produce too much noise while in the woods in order not to offend or disturb the tikbalang.

A common saying has it that rain from a clear sky means may kinakasal na tikbalang. (Filipino, "a tikbalang is getting married".) This was most likely derived from a similar Spanish proverb that claimed a witch was getting married when there was rain on a sunny day.

According to traditional folklore, the tikbalang can also transform itself into human form. It may assume the form of someone a victim may be acquainted with, such as a close relative, and imitate their exact voice and mannerisms. At this point, the tikbalang is said to ask the victim to follow it into the woods. The traveler, believing the creature to be someone he knows, will do so willingly and end up getting even more lost, sometimes never to be seen again.

Taming a tikbalang

By one account a tikbalang has a mane of sharp spines, with the three thickest of these being of particular importance. A person who obtains one of these spines can use them as an anting-anting (talisman) in order to keep the tikbalang as his servant. The tikbalang must first be subdued, however, by leaping onto it and tying it with a specially-prepared cord. The would-be-tamer must then hang on while the creature flies through the air, fighting madly to dislodge its unwelcome rider, until it is exhausted and acknowledges its defeat.

In popular culture

• A tikbalang named Lusyo features prominently in The Mythology Class, a graphic novel written and illustrated by Filipino comic creator Arnold Arre.

• The Filipino hardcore band, Tame the Tikbalang, is an obvious reference to this creature.

• X-Men and Wet Works illustrator Whilce Portacio has created a comic book series called Stone: The Awakening, which features Filipino legendary creatures, including the tikbalang.

• In World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, Griftah, a Troll Vendor in Shattrath City's Lower City district in Outland, sells an Infallible Tikbalang Ward: A novelty necklace with the inscription, "With this trusty warding talisman, no tikbalang will ever find you and steal you away to the treetops. It really works!"

• A tikbalang is the antagonist of the issue "Rules of the Race" in the comic Trese, where it engages in street races with unwitting drivers.

• In February of 2006, a crazed Turkish homeless man, later identified as Marcus Goktuna after being arrested on counts of public nudity, claimed to be a living Tikbalang.

See also

• Other Filipino mythological creatures

References

• Blair, Emma Helen (1905). The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803. The A. H. Clark company. pp. pp. 269-270. ASIN B000858BO4. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)^[1]
• Bergaño, Diego (1860). Vocabulario de la lengua Pampangan en romance (in Spanish). Ramirez y Giruadier. pp. p. 254. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)^[2]

External links

• Keith Thompson's rendition of a tikbalang.