For the past few weeks, people had been
asking me things like "why are everybody smoking?" in this single panel cartoon post. Or "what is
that creature?" in this comic strip post. And at first, I was "ok, my comic strips
just aren't relate-able" *sad for a while*. But now that I've thought more about it, I
think it is quite nice! When I first started
creating comic strips, I know I might not be able to make completely relate-able
cartoons but I was really adamant that I wanted to feature something close to
my heart; something very Filipino but also open for everybody to read (thus the English language usage). So I decided I wanted
to pattern my characters after Filipino Mythological/Folklore creatures which
produced these odd characters. I realize
now I shouldn't be sad about that decision, I should celebrate it!
Now, I have my character profile cards
and my glossary page, but I thought it would be nice to have some sort
of explanation in a single page on who and what these characters are about. So I'll be making a brief summary here:
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Kat is an entrepreneurial
"manananggal". Manananggals
are the Filipino version of vampire.
During mornings they are normal human beings, but they turn into
winged monsters at night. Plus, when
they're on their "vampire mode", their upper torso gets separated
from their legs. Manananggals are my favorite folklore creatures!
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Like Kat, Mutya is a manananggal. She's Kat's best friend and the first
character I've ever thought of, trying to pattern her after the stereotype Filipina, if there ever is one. "Mutya" in Filipino means "muse".
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Kap is short for "Kapre" -- his folklore type. They are smoking giants usually said to be
living in trees.
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Jake is a mummy basketball jock. Not a Filipino creature at all since he's
an immigrant! I mentioned that in my second cartoon.
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Richie is a half-horse, half-human being creature
called "Tikbalang". They are
pranksters that make people get lost in the woods. That's why I try to portray Richie as lightly as possible.
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Lovejoy is a smart and bookish "puting dwende" or in
english, a "white dwarf".
White dwarves are usually depicted as rational, helpful dwarves to
human beings.
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Unlike LoveJoy, Anger, Fury and Contempt are triplet
"itim na dwende", or in english, "black dwarves". They are creatures who punish human
beings who offended them, sometimes irrationally. True to their type, this trio loves causing trouble!
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Neko is a marketing-guru "aswang". He also hails from a tech-savvy "lost tribe". There are a lot of aswang varieties but in
my comic strips, Neko is the animorph type and I have yet to expound on this.
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Billy, like Jake, is a mummy. He appears rarely since he just visits Jake
from time to time but whenever he visits, he's bound to get into an adventure!
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Sarah is Jake's too smart, trouble-making little sister. She's the worst charge a baby-sitter could ever hope for and so far the only one up to the challenge is Kap.
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Stripes is Richie's "cat".
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The Lion is Kap's ferocious pet... not!
He was formally living in a zoo but he took such a special liking to Kap that the zoo officials let him keep him! The Lion is a vegetarian and has a soft heart, just like his master.
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