Philippine mythology Philippine mythology is rooted in the many indigenous Philippine folk religions. Philippine mythology exhibits influence from Hinduism, Hindu, Islam, Muslim, Buddhism, Buddhist, and Christianity, Christian traditions. Philippine mythology ...

, a Bal-Bal is an undead monster that steals corpses whether it is in a funeral or grave and feeds on them. It has a strong sense of smell for dead human bodies. It also has claws and teeth sharp enough to rip the clothing of the dead. Since it eats nothing but corpses, it has a foul breath. Once this monster has spotted and eaten the corpse, it will leave the trunk of a banana tree in the coffin creating an illusion of the stolen body to trick people. ''Bal-Bal'' was also associated to ''

Aswang Aswang is an umbrella term for various shape-shifting evil creatures in Filipino folklore, such as vampires, ghouls, witches, viscera suckers, and transforming human-beast hybrids (usually dogs, cats, pigs). The aswang is the subject of a ...

'', '' Amalanhig'', and even to ''

Busaw Busaw is a legendary creature that resembles humans in appearance and behavior, raising farm animals and planting root crops. However, its favorite food is humans, resulting in scattered human skeletons on the grounds of its dwelling place. The ' ...

'', which were all flesh eaters. They were classified to one of the most fearful creatures in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

because of their appearance. They were even described and compared to the

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

of the western continents.

References

Undead Visayan mythology Philippine legendary creatures {{Philippines-stub