Aswang is an umbrella term in Filipino folklore for various shape-shifting evil and malevolent creatures, including figures resembling vampires, ghouls, witches and viscera suckers, as well as beings that transform between human and animal forms, most often dogs, cats or pigs. Because the term covers such a wide range of creature types rather than one single figure, aswang functions in Philippine folklore more as a broad category of feared night creatures than as the name of any single monster.
Facts
Attestation
HistoricityLegendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record 1 Connections
Attested in Region
Belongs to Tradition
Related To
Manananggal is described in Philippine folklore as a specific self-segmenting variant within the broader Aswang category of shapeshifting flesh eating creatures.
Both figures belong to the same live Philippine-indigenous-religion-anitism tradition record and are standard paired entries in Philippine lower-mythology sources.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Aswang
Lead section: historicity
Aswang is a general term used to describe various evil and malevolent shape-shifting creatures found in Filipino folklore, such as vampires, ghouls, witches, viscera suckers, and transforming human-beast hybrids (usually dogs, cats, pigs).
- In Group: Aswang-Type Viscera-Sucker Shapeshifters, Historical accounts section; summary
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