Trese

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Trese is a Philippine comic, written by Budjette Tan and illustrated by Kajo Baldisimo.

From left to right: Basilio, Trese, Crispin, the local hordes of hell

When the sun sets in the city of Manila, don’t you dare make a wrong turn and end up in that dimly-lit side of the metro, where aswang run the most-wanted kidnapping rings, where kapre are the kingpins of crime, and engkantos slip through the cracks and steal your most precious possessions.

Tropes used in Trese include:

• Art Evolution - The new issues have color!
• Badass Family - Occult Detective father, Oracular Urchin mother, and her twin sister's soul was smelted into a dagger. For starters.
• Badass Longcoat - It has protective runes in the lining.
• Batman Gambit
• Blood From the Mouth - Mass Murders: An Act of War. Trese was ultimately suffering from a temporary deficiency of Badass Longcoat, but it became part of the plan.
• Cold Flames - Santelmo (St. Elmo's Fire) is summoned by Trese to analyze the scene of a burn victim.
• Crystal Ball - Investigations usually start with Trese requesting a glass of water in which to scry.
• The Chosen One - Trese
  • Which it sucks to be when she loses almost her whole family in what was probably the worst birthday party ever.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? - Talagbusao, a tribal war god
• Distaff Counterpart - Anton Trese got genderswapped in the brainstorm stage to distinguish him from John Constantine, Fox Mulder, and Kolchak the Night Stalker.
• Either/Or Prophecy
• Eye Remember
• Good Guy Bar - The Diabolical, of which Trese is the proprietress.
• Human Mom, Nonhuman Dad - The Kambal are Talagbusao's children.
• Interrogating the Dead
• Monster of the Week
• No Celebrities Were Harmed - One story involves analogues of two famous Philippine drama actresses. A later one includes a Manny Pacquiao-like figure.
• Occult Detective - When crime takes a turn for the weird, the police call Trese.
• Our Monsters Are Different - Being based in Filipino folklore, the monsters are very diferent from what's commonly put out in fiction.
  • Elemental Embodiment - Wind People are one of the races Trese encounters.
  • The Fair Folk - A lot of the creatures Trese deals with fall into this category. Duwende are hobbit-sized creaturs who live in unassuming places, but demand respect and give it in turn. They can grant gifts or cause misfortune depending on their disposition or how they are treated. They love sweets, but can be killed by 'tasting hate'.
  • Our Elves Are Different - Combined with the above, the "Elves" are, effectively, Tikbalang. In their natural states, they have horse heads and feet, but can use glamours to make themselves appear human. All the symbolism applied to horses fully applies to them. Deals/bargains can be struck with them.
  • Our Demons Are Different - They're called Manang.
  • Our Dragons Are Different - They appear to be of the Chinese variety, able to take human form and can breath fire.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different - With the right rituals, normal ghosts can be killed. Then there's the Tiyanak, monstrous baby-zombie-ghosts created by the deaths of unwanted or abandoned children...who come out of an underground abortion clinic.
  • Our Mermaids Are Different - Their bones can be used to bind ghosts and make them physical.
  • Our Vampires Are Different - The Aswang/Manangalan. They don't suck blood, they suck up viscera and, if they can, infants and the unborn. By day they are people, but at night they sprout wings and their torso detaches from their legs and their upper part flies off to feed. They claw open homes and use their long tongues to stab prey and suck out their nourishment. Manangalan are exclusively female, but effectively the same.
  • Our Zombies Are Different - Type R, but behave like Romero shamblers for the most part. They're controlled by a magic stone at the behest of a sorcerer.
• Our Souls Are Different - They can be sold, burned, taken...and are called "Kaluluwa".
• Paranormal Investigation
• Post-Modern Magik
• Power Limiter - The comedy/tragedy masks
• Shout-Out - One issue is an extended homage to Darna.
• Shout-Out Theme Naming - Crispin and Basilio.
• Strange Girl - Alexandra Trese. Maybe a little.
• Tag-Team Twins - The Kambal
• Urban Fantasy
• Who You Gonna Call? - See Above.
• World Tree - Rite of passage
  • In which it seems to be a Year Inside, Hour Outside
  • Or, possibly, Narnia Time
• Wreathed in Flames - The Santelmo
• Xanatos Speed Chess - Trese's default setting