Manananggal

Manananggal

Greaterwell-documentedFilipinoSoutheast AsiaPhilippinesVisayas

A terrifying Philippine vampire who severs its own upper body from its lower half at night, sprouting bat wings to fly out and feast on sleeping pregnant women's fetuses.

Origin

The Manananggal ('one who separates') is a specific and well-documented form of aswang found primarily in the Visayan islands of the Philippines. It is distinguished by its ability to detach its upper body from its lower half, sprouting large bat wings to fly at night. The lower half stands in a safe spot while the upper half hunts. Finding and destroying the lower half with salt, garlic, or ash prevents the creature from reattaching and kills it.

Appearance

By day an ordinary woman, sometimes beautiful. At night, the torso detaches at the waist with wings erupting from the back, trailing entrails below the ribcage. It flies with the dangling viscera and inserts its long tongue-proboscis into sleeping pregnant women's navels to feed.

Abilities

Self-segmentation — severing the upper body from the lower half. Bat flight. Long tongue that could extract a fetus without waking the mother. Immune to most physical attacks while in flight.

Weaknesses & Wards

Weaknesses

  • substance
    Salt, garlic, or ash rubbed on the lower half prevents reattachment — killing it at dawn

Wards

  • substance
    Garlic
  • ritual
    Hanging garlic and salt around the bed of pregnant women
Sources
  1. [1]
    The Aswang Complex. Ramos, Maximo. 1971. The Aswang Complex in Philippine Folklore. Phoenix Press.academic
  2. [2]
    Philippine Demonology. Eugenio, Damiana. 1993. Philippine Folk Literature: Myths. University of the Philippines Press.academic
well-documented