Trese Netflix Review: 9 Ups & 2 Downs
7. Up: The Creatures
Filipino mythological creatures as a whole deserve their own entry, given how many were presented in Trese, and given how many more exist outside of the series.
The unapologetically dark and gory nature of the creatures seen in Trese were largely unchanged from their "real world" mythological counterparts, some of them even made a little more palatable for wider audiences. For example, the horse-headed Tikbalang were made somewhat nobler than their creepy, long-legged counterparts; and the dog-shifter Sigben's legends describe a much more grotesque creature.
Other creatures include the popular man-eating Aswang; the frightening baby monster Tiyanak (which has had much scarier portrayals than the horrific spider-baby of the series); the strange and sometimes benevolent, sometimes malevolent Nuno-Sa-Punso or dwarf/gnome-in-a-mound, in this case transplanted into a manhole; and even some creatures that were seen but not named, such as the sharp-toothed fish-people, Siyokoy; the fairy-like Diwata; the gigantic Higante, the hairy cigar-smoking, tree-dwelling Kapre, and so on.
Elemental spirits of wind and lightning also appear, in reference to the animist precolonial beliefs of such spirits in the archipelago.
The series has a rich mythology to pull from, and does a fantastic job interpreting them into a grotty, gritty urban setting.