#pugot

Tabi Tabi Po (2021) #18: Pugot

Headless shapeshifter

The Pugot is a shapeshifting entity in Filippino folklore. It can take on many forms, including pigs, dogs and humans. Its most common form, and perhaps its natural form, is that of a black-skinned giant with no head.

The Pugot subsists on a diet of insects and snakes, which it eats via the hole in its neck. Despite its frightening appearance, the Pugot is not a threat to humans, though it does have the unfortunate habit of stealing women's underwear from clotheslines.

Image source.

Monster master list.

Image © Traci Shepherd, accessed at Arcane Beasts and Creatures here

[I miss Traci Shepherd​. She retired from illustration a few years ago, but fortunately left her material online instead of pulling it. If you’re unfamiliar with Arcane Beasts and Creatures, I recommend checking it out. She’s still active on Twitter, so I’m glad to know she’s still alive and well, but I do hope she’ll reconsider picking up her art again someday.]

Pugot CR 4 CG Fey This black-skinned giant humanoid is most notable for what it lacks—a head. Dark red fluid oozes from the naked stump.

Pugots are puckish shapeshifters whose horrific appearances belie a gentle curiosity about the world. They are fey of liminal landscapes, dwelling where civilization and the jungle blend together. As such, they prefer to live in places that have elements of both wildness and cultivation, such as abandoned houses or in the boughs of fruit trees. They are inquisitive and tactile, wanting to hold and touch, taste and smell as many strange and interesting items as they can. This can cause them to come into conflict with people who do not know of their relative benevolence, and a pugot is dangerous when riled or cornered.

A pugot’s primary weapon is fear. Their ghoulish appearance makes them look like some manner of undead, and those that see them are temporarily paralyzed with terror. Those that do not flee after that experience are met with defensive displays, mock charges and horrible wails. Only if injured does a pugot seek to injure in turn, but their great strength can render even a single blow from them life-threatening to common folk. Pugots are fast both on land and in the trees, and are often only seen as a shuddersome glance.

Pugots can take the form of animals, always predominately black in color. Befitting of their natures, these animals are always domestic or feral. They get the size wrong on birds, however, appearing as a pheasant or chicken that stands the height of a man.  Sometimes they will infiltrate sounders of domestic pigs or allow themselves to be adopted as a dog, primarily to experience the world in this fashion. A pugot mistaken for a potential meal will usually revert quickly when violence is about to ensue and escape in the confusion and terror, leaving quite the story for the unsuspecting humanoids. Pugots are omnivores with a taste for small animals, which they grab in their hands and shove down their neck hole.

for a final project for computer illustration I decided to do some creatures from Philippine Mythology!  🌟🇵🇭🌟

@thewinedarksea Mythology Meme ↳ 4d. Creatures | Pugot

The Pugot ("decapitated one") is a mythical fiend that is found in the Ilocos region of the Philippines. It can assume various shapes such as hogs, dogs or even as humans but it usually appears as a black, gigantic headless being. The creature usually resides in dark places or deserted houses. However, they especially like living in trees such as the duhat, santol, and tamarind. Aside from its shapeshifting abilities, the pugot can also move at great speeds, feeding on snakes and insects that it finds among the trees. It feeds by thrusting food through its neck stump. Although terrifying, the pugot is relatively harmless. However, the creature is fond of women's underwear and steals them while they are being dried on a clothesline.