LOOK: Meet Matay, the first Pinay vampire slayer

MANILA — From shape-shifting demons to tobacco-smoking tree giants, the Philippines has no shortage of mythical creatures that are said to haunt rural villages and even urban dwellings.

So wouldn’t it be unsurprising if we had our own stake-wielding vampire slayer?

Apparently, the Philippines’ first vampire slayer is a “hilot” or local healer from the year 1910 -- at least based on the one-shot comic book Buffy: Every Generation #1 by Boom! Studios.

The graphic novel is anchored on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer prophesy: “Into every generation, a Slayer is born; a Chosen One. They alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. They are the Slayer.”

The three stories in the comic book show off three slayers from different generations.

Instead of a stake, the Philippines’ first vampire slayer was armed with a bolo and the traditional practice of herbal medicine.

But unlike the stereotypical hilot who is old and wrinkly, Mayat is a young, kick-ass warrior who definitely knows how to wield a weapon.

Written by Morgan Beem and Lauren Garcia, “The Hilot of 1910” shows Matay as a hilot who visits a village that is plagued by unexplained deaths.

Like the rest of the Buffy series, the story shows off female power and plot twists that involve the breaking of stereotypes.

It is perhaps the most interesting story in the comic book, with its colorful art and references to centuries’ worth of Filipino folklore. Filipino fans will be delighted to see the appearance of a duwende (dwarf) and a manananggal (a vampire-like creature), among others.

Despite being produced by a foreign publisher, the story feels very much like it was set in the Philippines.

FILIPINA INFLUENCE

Garcia, an American writer whose parents hail from the Philippines and Mexico, said she drew inspiration from folk stories from both countries.

“Both parents are natural storytellers. They have a spirit of inquiry into the many myths and legends of both cultures so sometimes my understanding of stories and these creatures have mixed and evolved. I was told about dwende and el cucuy (the Mexican bogeyman),” she said in an exclusive interview with ABS-CBN News.

Garcia pointed out that both cultures feature white ladies and witches that live in the mountains. “I truly believed they could be found on my hikes, in our backyard, and I have a vivid memory of running through a coyote tunnel with my cousin and coming upon a mythical creature who traded secrets for acorns,” she whimsically recalled.

“My mother would tell me stories about her childhood, how she only wore chinelas to go on her adventures. It was important to me that the heroine could fight in slippers,” she added.

It was also from her mother that she learned about the manananggal and the aswang.

“Her titas would tell her stories to scare her into coming home when the sun went down, so, when she would pass these stories onto me, she would ask me what I thought about these female creatures who would eat or hunt girls and together we would reimagine them as misunderstood. We would talk about why they were believed to be monsters when something or someone else cursed them,” she said.

Garcia said she is “particularly drawn” to the folklore, especially to the “aswang.”

“I think their history has been twisted by colonialism, gaslighting, and abuse. Too often a powerful, beautiful, smart woman is condemned as crazy, as monstress. I want to continue to uncover her history and story,” she said.

Garcia, who is also an actor and playwright for Bindlestiff Studios, the cultural epicenter for Filipino-American performing arts in the Bay Area in San Franciso, incorporates her family’s culture in her art.

“Being Filipinx influences everything I do,” she said, using the gender neutral and collective term for Filipinos that is commonly used in the United States.

“It influences the lens for which I write; the privilege, the oppression, the indigenous, the effects of colonialism, the colors, the smells, the food,” she went on.

VARIANT COVERS

Although still unnamed then, the first Filipino vampire slayer made a brief appearance in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Issue #5 last year as a variant cover. Slightly different from the latest version of the character, the hilot then was wearing a Maria Clara outfit while holding a stake in a one hand and a skull of an aswang on the other.

That particular cover prompted local comic book store Filbar’s to reach out to BOOM! Studios, in the hopes that the publisher would develop the character.

The result was “The Hilot of 1910,” which is Matay’s first full appearance. A variant cover of this comic book was designed by Kajo Baldisimo, artist of the popular Filipino graphic novel “Trese,” whose heroine is a detective who deals with crime involving supernatural beings.

Baldisimo said then that he was excited to work on the cover since, like Trese, "the protagonist is also a cool Filipina who's wielding something pointy and charging towards unseen monstrosities.”

• READ: LOOK: Buffy the Vampire Slayer releases exclusive PH cover featuring Pinay slayer

The Filbar’s exclusive cover, which will be available in July, shows a more detailed drawing of Matay and the creatures she meets in her the story.

Will Matay be back for another adventure? We don’t know for sure. But she sure is one hell of an unforgettable slayer.