a malevolent Spirit lurks in the shadows
of forests and the darkest mountains of
the Philippines capable of adopting
physical form the most terrifying a
massive half-human half-horse hybrid the
Filipino tick belong thrives on chaos
capable of imitating any human and
cursing the living with illness this
creature's cruel high-pitched laugh
signals horror to come in most modern
interpretations The Tick belong is
imagined primarily with equine features
but horses aren't native to the
Philippines so where do the origins of
this monster come from
I'm Dr Emily zarka and this is monstrum
the tick belong is at its core a
malevolent spirit being while usually
incorporeal it can take on physical form
as an old man monkey or horse hybrid
creature while their shape may change
their gender rarely does tick belongs
are traditionally male in their equine
guys their heads and legs mimic a horse
with their arms and torsos appearing
human-like
they're very tall and very thin features
made more distinct by their ungainly sea
I think balang is like a Minotaur except
instead of a Bull's Head it has a
horse's head a humanoid body and the
horse's feet it is a creature that you
would encounter at the crossroads in the
provinces so when you're going home at
night and you're all alone you will meet
atikbala that's budget tan writer and
co-creator of the comic series trece a
series based on Filipino folklore and
mythology that prominently features
tickle on characters I can't remember if
it was through stories that I heard from
relatives or was it a movie that I saw
as a kid where dolphy a very popular
actor in the Philippines who's known to
be the king of comedy appeared as a
tikbalang in a movie called once upon a
time where we saw dolphy you know
transform into atikbalam and there was
even this scene where he like carries
the two kids and they jump over the moon
I'm not even sure if I'm remembering
right but these are the images that are
stuck in my head as far as seeing I
think balang on screen is concerned
existing in caves trees and bamboo
Groves deep in the forest this monster
can imitate anyone and can turn
invisible at will which it uses for one
of its favorite pastimes tricking and
killing local Travelers commonly The
Tick belong will lure someone off their
regular course before keeping them
trapped and terrified in the forest for
days take for example the legend of the
farmer's son one day a farmer's son was
hurrying home after running an errand at
his uncle's house when a stranger
approached him in the forest although he
tried to ignore the mysterious man from
the corner of his eye he saw that he was
very very tall and very thin the two
began a conversation as the man kept in
stride with the boy his feet making a
clumping sound as they walked the man's
long black hair hung to his bear their
shoulders only partially covering his
extremely hairy neck and his eyes glowed
with blue fire contrasting with the red
glow of the cigar in his large mouth The
Stranger coily pulled the boy deeper
into the woods and off his path lost and
frightened the boy allowed the man to
take his hand when the boy sat down to
rest the stranger picked him up and
carried him further into a dense bamboo
forest the mysterious man then laughed a
strange high-pitched chuckle and
abandoned the boy alone in the dark the
next morning his parents were frantic
that they could not find their son after
a long search they found the terrified
boy sick and Delirious with fever
falling ill is a common element of the
legend it said that to even catch a
glimpse of this creature might cause
illness a fever or a headache or even
blindness sudden death is also an even
unluckier consequence if a tick belong
calls out your name wishing illness upon
you there is little hope for a cure it
was five days before the boy's fever 5
finally broke and he regained
Consciousness when he told his family
what he had seen his father concluded
the child had survived an encounter with
a tick belong his mother wisely warned
him to never go into the woods with a
stranger again like much of the folklore
of the Philippines written accounts of
this story appeared after Spanish
colonizers began to record the practices
and beliefs of the indigenous peoples
missionary priests wrote a widespread
fear of the monster a kind of ghost that
can appear as an animal or Monster and
compel them to do evil Deeds but it's
likely that the oral legend of the tick
belong was altered when translated and
written down by the Spanish colonizers
The Tick belong Legend likely evolved as
a blend of Filipino traditions and
foreign beliefs Filipino animism
practices largely revolve around respect
with veneration paid to ancestors and
placations sought from malevolent
Spirits a tricky invisible force being
is well within the realm of possibility
the Usman project presents an addition
to this Theory the early Hindu presence
in the Philippines early religious
iconography of Hinduism found in the
Philippines dating to the 9th and 14th
centuries proves the religion had a
cultural presence on the islands one of
the avatars of the prominent God Vishnu
appears with a horse head on a human
male body ascribing the attributes of
speed and strength to the deity
characteristics that would be adopted
into existing ideas of the tick belong
spirit being indigenous Filipino
inhabitants adapted components like
foreign language social practices and
religion into their own existing
cultural beliefs so while many
indigenous peoples seem to willingly
adopt religions like Christianity after
the Spanish arrived many of their older
spiritual practices were maintained in
secret in 1613 father Pedro de San Juana
Ventura described the tick belong as a
giant foul-smelling ghost or phantasma
with wings that kidnapped men and
weakened them until they died
increasingly The Tick belong became seen
as evil or demonic to use Christian
terminology this parallels Spain's
movement towards a religious framework
that had a defined system of Good and
Evil a dichotomy made gruesomely obvious
with the Witchcraft Trials of the 16th
and 17th centuries first introduced by
Muslim Travelers in the southern regions
of the Sulu archipelago and what is now
known as the Mindanao Island it's likely
that the horses of this region came from
trade between sultanates during the 14th
and 15th centuries and helped Inspire
The Tick belongs horse form with the
arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in
1565 the horse population in the
Philippines grew and became sustainable
Spanish colonialism depended heavily on
horses on the military Advantage travel
convenience and perceived social status
equines provided the island location of
the Philippines was a significant
traveling distance from the Spanish
supply lines of the animals located in
Central America North America and Europe
so they turned to China and Japan for
horses by the beginning of the 17th
century horse trade and breeding farms
were well established in the area a lack
of natural pasturage and food supply
meant the horses bred in the islands
were smaller than their ancestors
continuing into the 18th century when
missionaries uncovered indigenous
spiritual Traditions they quickly
labeled the practicing individuals as
Wizards who could cause or cure illness
and who could change themselves into
animals in order to kill others the more
frequent references to horses with tick
belong lore may have resulted from these
changes with Spanish tax descriptions
increasingly accentuating the hybridity
of the monster's appearance today this
interpretation of the tick belong
lingers particularly in comics Arnold
Ra's award-winning the mythology class
first published in 1999 was really the
first introduction of the tick belong to
Modern popular culture extremely
muscular and tattooed Ari's version
appears more in line with what readers
had come to expect in traditional
superhero comics their portrayal changed
when they started to appear in pop
culture that's when the creators of
their times you know whether it was the
80s 90s or comic book creators today
have started to take Liberties on how to
portray the tikbalang it's one of those
creatures that has become pretty much
open to interpretation as far as what is
the best way they serve the story in the
world of trece the creatures are also
incredibly strong and muscular instead
of shape-shifting they can produce a
magical glamor that allows them to
appear as regular humans now a popular
Netflix series The Animated portrayal of
the tick belong reinforces the muscular
horse hybrid appearance to an even wider
Global audience these are our stories
and if we don't retell them they will
soon be forgotten I think we need to
keep retelling these stories and find
new ways to tell them tell them in our
own ways it's not because we want this
to be the definitive you know storyline
of what the tikbalang is but again it's
what sparks the imagination it's what
strikes fear and hopefully this will
inspire the reader or viewer to want to
know more whether it's the terrifying
and gangly version of tick belong from
Tales told in the Philippines centuries
ago or the ripped and tatted Incarnation
that we see on Netflix today one thing
is certain the legend is likely to
endure for many years to come
Sulu archipelago Sula archipelago the
Sulu archipelago archipelago the Sulu
archipelago archipelago archipelago
archipelago Sulu archipelago
of the Sulu archipelago
I need to be done