Aswang

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This is my Aswang concept.  I wanted to create a carnivorous humanoid creature that would be at home in the jungle.  I gave it long arms and legs that would be suitable for climbing or running and my favorite part of it is the unhinging jaw that can shoot out a grasping tongue.  I wanted this apex predator to have many physical advantages in the jungle.  I used a cheetah, chimpanzee, and a frog for inspiration.

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Playing with a variety of looks and feel.  I wanted to show some belonging in more arid areas or swampy places; others could be underground and or habituates underwater.

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Some Progress gesture sketches.

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putting in darks.

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Aswang are nocturnal creatures.  This  is an early mixed media painting done in my sketchbook.

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Legends say that Aswang were once cursed people who tried to achieve immortality and instead gained an ever-lasting life in a horrific vessel that is always hungry.  They are considered by all the races to be the evilest and are the most feared.

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The Aswang are mostly feral creatures with the intelligence of a pack of wild beasts.  They are all very dangerous, possessing amazing strength and agility.  They have a body built for pouncing, climbing, and can sprint very fast.  They are ferocious predators and some old villagers say that they not only eat flesh or drink their victim’s blood, but also steal their victim’s souls…

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There are even stories of ancient Aswang who have regained their mind and can switch-forms.  These Aswang are even  more dangerous and sadistic.  They love luring villagers away in the night and taking their time toying with them in the jungles.  Some say the victims of these Aswang are either found the next morning mutilated as if tortured and then partially devoured or worse…

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A subtype variety of Aswang: Mananangal.

Mananangal is a worm-like parasite that has a detachable humanoid torso counterpart that flies and hunts for prey.

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Not all people fear the Aswang, some even revere them.

The Wakwak priests take dried bones, pieces of soul, the parts that are instinctual and hungry, and they weave it into the deadly Mananangal to plague the jungle and their enemies.