What is Tikbalang?

A tikbalang is a shape-shifting spirit that haunts certain places of the country.   It is said to be a tall humanoid creature that dwells in the forests and mountains of the Philippines and often described as a reverse form of a centaur. They are said to like bamboo and banana groves and the tops of the Balite and Kalumpang trees. Sometimes they are seen sitting in the topmost branches of trees smoking tobacco.  Underneath bridges is also a favorite place for a tikbalang to live.Where the centaur has the body of a horse and the torso and head of a man, the tikbalang has the head of a horse and the body of a human.  One of the tricks of the tikbalang is to change its physical form into that of a relative, friend or someone closely associated to any traveler that it may come across in the wilds. It then appears to the victim in this familiar form pretending to know the way deceiving them into being led through the dark woods or along remote mountain paths to a place far from the help of others. Tikbalangs are believed to prefer to live in places where there are many trees and lots of dark, dense foliage and few humans.

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