Like in the original film, Cardo Dalisay's twin brother Ador was killed while conducting a police operation. He poses as Ador in an effort to avenge his brother and take down the crime syndicate responsible for his death. The series then deviates from this.
The first season was available on streaming
at Netflix at the time, where it is known under the English title, Brothers. However, it has since been removed.
On July 22, 2022, ABS-CBN has announced that it would air the last 15 episodes of Ang Probinsyano before it would end in August 12, 2022. Since that date, the show has ended, and it would be replaced by a Darna TV show with Jane De Leon in the lead role. Coco later went on to produce and star in a remake of another FPJ classic, entitled Batang Quiapo.
Tropes found in Ang Probinsyano include:
- Action-Hogging Opening: The Nandiyan na si Cardo (lit. "Here's Cardo") opening sequence shows Cardo in several action-heavy scenes such as fighting on top a train, destroying a helicopter using a rifle, being involved in a car chase, and figuring out in a gunfight at sea.
- Action Politician: Oscar Hidalgo, who would directly get involved in Cardo's operations during the Vendetta arc. Oscar later personally led the operation to hunt down and apprehend Lily Hidalgo—body armor and all—as he had personal beef with her and her cohorts. He and Cardo would later become the sole survivors of Task Force Agila's hunt for Renato Hipolito and Lucio Santanar, with Oscar personally killing Hipolito.
- Actually Pretty Funny: When he was briefly demoted into a traffic enforcer, Cardo becomes one of the "dancing enforcers". He really gets into the role that everyone, including his bitter rivals in CIDG, had a genuinely good laugh out of it.
- Adaptation Expansion: The first seasons of the show are more or less an extension of the original FPJ film, up until Ador's killer Joaquin dies. The later arc of Emilio Syquia resurfacing as Gustavo Toralba may have also been inspired by the film's sequel. The Pulang Araw and the Lucas Cabrera presidential story arcs among others were not part of the original film.
- The Alliance: At the peak of Vendetta, its members include not only former Pulang Araws, but as well as Cardo's various allies past and present.
- All-Loving Hero: Despite his ruthlessness towards his enemies, Cardo is not above caring for his friends, loved ones and those who seek his aid.
- Adaptation Name Change: In characters lifted from the original film, Carmen is Cardo's Love Interest, and Ador's widow is originally named Lily.
- Always Identical Twins: Cardo and Ador who are both portrayed by the same actor.
- Animal Motifs: Pulang Araw members uses animal names as their nom de guerre (e.g. Alakdan, Agila, Leon, Butetenote ) Homer Adlawan's motif being that of a scorpion is more prominent. His Pulang Araw nom de guerre is "Alakdan" which means "scorpion" in the Filipino language. His later group, Kamandag is Filipino for venom and also hangs a framed photo of a scorpion in his group's hideout. Later, Agila (Cardo's codename while with the Pulang Araws) is the name of the current Task Force.
- It's also telling that some animal names coincide with the characters' morality: Leon/Lion, Lawin (Falcon), Agila, Tigre are the good guys, while Buwaya (crocodile), Alakdan, Bwitre (Vulture), Uwak (Crow) are the bad. There are subversions most notably Daga (Rat) who left the rebels to safely raise a family and runs a minor crime ring, yet he remains a loyal supporter until his death, even providing shelter for the rebels when they seek refuge in Manila. Tellingly, his death was indirectly caused by a fellow ex-Pulang Araw member, Kwago (Owl, a known predator of mice and other rodents).
- Antagonist in Mourning: Lito arranges a funeral for Alyana who is gunned down to save Cardo.
- Anyone Can Die: Given the show has an absurd number of named cast, a lot of them end up dead. By the end of the series, the only cast who survived are Cardo and his remaining family (not counting Lola Flora), Oscar and his wife and Mara at the finale.
- Asshole Victim: What Armando's group did to Don Ignacio is pretty brutal and horrifying, but it's also pretty hard to feel sorry for the man. After all, this is the same man who massacred and burned down an entire village just to find his daughter.
- As Long as There Is Evil: Cardo firmly adopts this mindset during the finale, saying that the fight against evil will never be over. He then speculates that he managed to escape death so many times thanks to this trope, so that Cardo can continue the fight against villany as a Hope Bringer.
- Badass in Distress: Cardo and/or his cohorts wind up as such at times, but would eventually get themselves out of their predicament and thus save the day.
- Badass Normal: Obviously...Cardo. Ranging from: running miles per hour to the overpass and jumping on a bus, evading grenade launcher shots fired at him, and etc.
- Badass and Child Duo: Onyok and Cardo during the earlier arcs.
- Bittersweet Ending: Peace has finally come to the Philippines with the deaths of all the show's villains, but nearly all of Cardo's friends and family are dead.
- Book Ends: Cardo's adventures started in his home province, and ended there as he declined the President's offer to once again lead Task Force Agila, instead choosing to return to his hometown and humbly serve his precinct.
- Boom, Headshot!: Characters like: Aubrey Hidalgo, Ellen Padua, and Omar Cuevas die in this manner. Also counts as Pretty Little Headshots since none of the headshots are messy, especially Aubrey and Omar, who were shot in the head using high-caliber weapons.
- Bottomless Magazines: Surprisingly subverted. The guns used by the characters fire way more bullets than what their magazines could carry. Heck, they even show a revolver that can somehow fire more than 6 shots, as seen here in this scene where Romulo attempts to save Diana and Bubbles, which resulted in his death. However, the characters are shown reloading their guns or even run out of bullets in some scenes.
- Bowdlerise: Due to restrictions in using the seal of the Philippines, a fictional insignia was used instead. The seal of the country in the show is almost identical to the one used by the Japanese-sponsored Second Republic.◊.
- In season 9, the National Law Enforcement Agency is used as a stand in to the PNP, with black uniforms instead of blue.
- While the acronym of the PSG (Presidential Security Group) is unchanged, they are referred as the "Presidential Security Guards" in this show.
- The National Defense Agency, where Renato used to be the director of, could be seen as a stand-in to the Department of National Defense.
- Cain and Abel: Renato Hipolito and Romulo Dumaguit, complete with the former being a Green-Eyed Monster towards the latter for being Conrado Villegas' (their father figure) favorite and leadership of Pulang Araw.
- Canon Foreigner: With most of the cast apart from Ador, Cardo and Carmen.
- Canon Character All Along: Emilio Syquia, Cardo's biggest nemesis in the first half, would later adopt the name Gustavo Toralba, a baron in illegal mining. Toralba is also the name of the villain of Ang Pagbabalik ng Probinsyano film, also involved in illegal mining.
- Car Fu: How P/Cpt. Vicky Cruz was killed. In fact, she wasn't killed by the first impact, it took a second one, this time driven in reverse, to finally snuff her out.
- The Cavalry Arrives Late: Reinforcements from the PNF arrive in the finale to aid Task Force Agila, after nearly all of its members are killed and the Hukbo ng Malayang Bansa is dealt with.
- Christmas Episode: Given how this is a Filipino series and all, it's to be expected. In fact with the airtime of the show, a week-long string of Christmas episodes can be expected.
- Cool Car: The red Porsche Cayman that Jacob used to chase after Renato, who had stolen the car of one of his friends. Also worth nothing is the black Mercedes-Benz SLK, which inexplicably changes into a Maserati Gran Turismo in the car chase scenes.
- Marco Cabrera also owned a Maserati Gran Turismo, which he crashes into a truck during one of his mental outbursts.
- Some of the cars that Lily offers to the members of Vendetta in this scene.
- Marco Cabrera also owned a Maserati Gran Turismo, which he crashes into a truck during one of his mental outbursts
- Cool Old Guy: Delfin Borja, who also happened to be Cardo's grandfather but also the former CIDG Director, joins Vendetta, and served as the National Security Council advisor to the President.
- The Commissioner Gordon: Delfin Borja, Cardo's grandfather whose patience for him never wavers.
- The Corrupter: Lily Ann Cortez, who manipulates Oscar to defeat Borja and Olegario.
- Corrupt Politician: Several such as Lucas Cabrera, Renato Hipolito at the national level and Kapitan Bart and Congresswoman Gina Magtanggol at the barangaynote level.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Lily Ann Cortez, who is ostensibly allied with the president but is actually a mole in the Palace bent at taking Oscar down.
- Cowboy Cop: Cardo. Though his methods bite him back when he was chastised by his superiors for torturing an inmate whom they interrogated.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: Councilor Gina and her cronies, whose hammy schemes and patently false allegations towards Flora and Cardo's family were, unsurprisingly, to no effect.
- Cruel and Unusual Death:
- Don Ignacio is beaten within an inch of his life, doused in gasoline and gets tied to a tree. He is then burned to a crisp while Armando's group continues to shoot him.
- When Cardo ambushes Samuel with a sword, he stabs him in the gut before slashing his head two times and pushing his bloody corpse into the water.
- Ironically, Armando suffers a pretty brutal death much like his Arch-Enemy Don Ignacio. When Task Force Agila catches up to him, they beat the hell out of him and later rip his arms off by tying his arms to their vehicles and driving in reverse. Cardo then runs him over and finally kills him. By the end of it, his corpse is left armless, bloodied and flattened.
- Dark Is Evil: The "Black Ops" initially start out as misguided hero antagonists, but once their leader becomes much more amoral in his pursuit of Cardo so do they.
- Lolita, the wife of Armando, mostly wears dark clothing before and after she and the rest of her group betray the Task Force Agila.
- Death of a Child: Cardo's son was killed in a terrorist bombing and Bubbles gets a miscarriage in a later episode.
- Dead Person Impersonation: Cardo when he took on the identity of his slain twin brother to pick up where the latter left off.
- Dirty Cop: Several, such as Joaquin Tuazon, PNP Chief Alejandro Terante, and P/Maj. Albert de Vela and the Black Ops unit.
- Disguised in Drag: Cardo as Paloma.
- Dragon Ascendant: Renato Hipolito. Slighty played with since he allied with other criminal syndicates.
- Drugs Are Bad: As shown when the Vendetta raided drug labs and mercilessly iced the living daylights out of them.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: Lolo Delfin goes out like a total badass, taking on the entirety of Armando's squad despite being heavily outnumbered. He's only killed once he's absolutely riddled with bullets.
- Victor Basco, who managed to remove the rope tied to his hands and kill Eduardo, who's attempting to rape Roxanne (she was raped by Lucio before this scene), by bashing his head multiple times with a rock before Renato arrived and shot him to death. Sadly, Roxanne was killed shortly after.
- Dwindling Party: Cardo's team as Bungo kills them one by one.
- The Black Ops leadership. At the time of their introduction, there were 6 of them. After Lia discovered Albert's infidelity and was kidnapped by Cardo not long after, 2 of them died while trying to find her. They added 3 new members to aid in the search, but after Lia was found in her family's house, 2 of them died after Cardo attacked their HQ, meaning that there are now only 4 members left. Another member, P/Cpt. Vicky Cruz, was killed under the orders of Albert to prevent her from telling their crimes to the Internal Affairs. In the April 20, 2022 episode, 2 of them were killed by the Task Force Agila, leaving Albert to be the only member who's still alive. He would later add 2 new members to the leadership, and none of them would die until the Task Force Agila's raid on the Tierra del Diablo, where all of them were killed while trying to escape.
- Task Force Agila as a whole during the finale are killed one-by-one. It's absolutely heartbreaking, with each member trying their hardest to stay alive. The ones captured by the Hukbo ng Malayang Bansa in particular are given unceremonious deaths.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Gina may have been a thorn on Lola Flora's back and a crooked politician to boot, but she draws the line at murder. Case in point, she tries to stop Bart from hiring mercenaries to kill Alyana when he lost the election.
- Arturo Padua doesn't approve of Lucio's rather brutal methods in achieving his goals, and attempts to split from Renato to form his own faction. He's killed soon after.
- "Everybody Dies" Ending: Every season of the show ends with an untold number of named characters being killed. This includes all the bad guys throughout the season; Tomas, Joaquin, Don Emilio, Lucas and his sons, Homer, Renato Hipolito and his allies, Lily, Lito, Armando and the Black Ops. The good guys also suffered a massive causalities; General Borja and Lola Flora, Alyana and her family, Ador and his wife, every named members of Task Force Agila are all dead. The only characters who made it out alive are Cardo and his remaining family, Oscar and his lost wife and his daughter Mara who was alive at the end of the show, of course the rest who were Put On Bus survived.
- Every Car Is a Pinto: Particularly in the June 17, 2022 episode where Cardo and Lito duke each other out for the last time. A Black Ops cruiser which Cardo stole collided with a motorcycle Lito jacked from a random pedestrian, somehow causing a sizeable explosion on impact and decimating both vehicles as if they both run on nitroglycerin.
- Evil Is Hammy: Gina and Bart. Gina would at times harass Flora and her family, to the point that she'd stoop low enough to be engaging in illicit gambling and other morally and legally questionable practices, albeit portrayed in a rather hammy if not comedic fashion. Captain Bart also does these, but is also willing to kill an enemy candidate, something not even Gina is on board with. At the end Gina and Bart got arrested for their crimes against their barangay, giving justice to the Dalisay/De-Leon family.
- Evolving Music: After the Vendetta arc, the Nandiyan na si Cardo opening sequence had a lyric overhaul which understandably erases reference to the vigilante group now that its irrelevant.
- Expository Theme Tune: The opening theme to be specific.
- External Combustion: Vice-President Carlos Javellana ended up at the receiving end of a rather spicy tune-up to his SUV.
- Fake Twin Gambit: Cardo poses as his deceased twin brother, Ador.
- Fat Bastard: Most of the antagonists in the series are rather overweight, and have zero redeeming qualities to boot.
- Fictional Counterpart: Downplayed with the Pulang Araw, who is very, very loosely based on the real-life Maute group who raided Marawi in 2017.
- First-Episode Twist: Ador is the Decoy Protagonist the series focuses on in the first few episodes, before getting killed off and replaced by his twin brother Cardo. This is the very premise lifted directly from the source material.
- First Girl After All: Glen (Cardo's Childhood friend), Carmen (Ador's widow), and Alyana (CIDG's contact in the media). Cardo's eventual wife is the latter, since she was also Cardo and Ador's childhood friend before Cardo got separated from his family and even met Glen.
- Frame-Up: Cardo is framed for drug possession, serving his time at the New Bilibid Prison. Later Delfin by Lily Ann Cortez and Juan by planting drugs and millions of money.
- Foreshadowing: Most of Lily's scenes which in front of Oscar acts nice but she is a scheming government official trying to take Oscar down.
- Face–Heel Turn: Oscar Hidalgo. Due to Lily Ann's manipulations. He arrested Delfin Borja, fired Diana Olegario, scolds Elizabeth and reminds Cardo that it was the old days that Delfin is also good.
- Armando and his group in the ninth season. At first, they took Cardo and the Task Force Agila in, and were willing to help them in their missions. However, both Armando and his wife Lolita had planned to claim the bounties of the Task Force Agila, which they attempted to do in the June 13, 2022 episode (and failed, because Lucas informed the Task Force Agila about their plan before they could carry it out, and helped them escape), because of their greed.
- Subverted with Ramil in season 8. After an altercation with Cardo during a drinking session, their friendship seemingly fell apart. Alyana's death made the tensions between the two worse, as Ramil blamed Cardo for Alyana's death and later on left the Task Force Agila to work with Lito. It was later revealed that Cardo had apologized to Ramil for attacking him that night and ordered him to spy on Lito, as he knew that he was the reason why Alyana died.
- Falling Chandelier of Doom: In the August 3, 2022 episode, Lolita dies in this manner. Unlike most examples, she was shot in the back first while trying to escape, allowing the chandelier to fall and impale her.
- Frontline General: General Borja is always on the scene whenever a shootout breaks out to personally lead his men, and is shown to be a capable combatant despite his age.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Renato Hipolito, a constant thorn in Cardo's side and by far his most vile adversary, wears a pair of glasses (though he usually takes them off during gunfights). Other villainous characters that also wear glasses include: Arturo Padua, Don Ignacio Guillermo, and Lito Valmoria (though he doesn't wear them all the time)
- Golf Clubbing: Lito bludgeons a businessman named Mr. Reyes using a golf club, giving us a hint of his true colors.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Lily Ann Cortez-Hidalgo, the new First Lady. Seduces Oscar Hidalgo into marrying her, and corrupting him until he almost definitely Took a Level in Jerkass, and using her position to not only continue illegal operations, but also to make life hell for Oligario and Borja, and by extension the rest of the pardoned ex-Vendetta heroes.
- Gorn: Particularly in certain episodes where certain characters receive a rather gruesome death. Of note is Armando, who was tortured and had his arms ripped to death by Cardo and his posse, Mortal Kombat style.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Lucio became this for the earlier seasons. Through a series of flashbacks, it is revealed that he made the bombs used by villains like: Cong. Randolf Subito, Manolo Catindig and Homer Adlawan, to blow up various places in the Philippines. Oh, and he also made the bomb that was used to blow up the mall, which killed countless people, and Cardo's son.
- Hammerspace Police Force: Both the regular police force and the (supposedly) elite Black Ops units apparently have an endless supply of personnel at their disposal whom Cardo and his posse make short work of. As to how they are able to recruit new officers in a whim is quite a wonder.
- Hate Sink: Most of the antagonists in the show have zero redeeming qualities and are quite open about their villainy.
- Renato Hipolito is a corrupt, sadistic and overall sociopathic politician who is involved with multiple crime syndicates. He's shown to be very aware of his vileness, and even calls himself "Satan" when he kills General Terante.
- Lucio Santanar, leader of Hukbo Ng Malayang Bansa, is a monstrous terrorist who wants to take over the country. Shooting up schools, pillaging villages and raping innocent women, there is nothing likable about him.
- Happily Married: Ador and Carmen, Cardo and Alyana, Romulo and Diana.
- Heel–Face Turn: The Pulang Araw, whom Cardo originally infiltrated in order to avenge the death of his son. Upon realising that it was Alakdan's faction all along who was behind the mess, Cardo sympathises with them and their grievances, and they eventually reformed as a vigilante operation called Vendetta. It eventually got to the point where Hidalgo exonerated the group from their atrocities and gave the former insurgents an assignment as an elite task force group aimed at taking down criminals.
- Heroes "R" Us: The Vendetta, later reformed as Task Force Agila.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Cardo when he was framed of committing a crime by Don Emilio's syndicate and when he infiltrated the Pulang Araw. Also the Pulang Araw themselves and later Task Force Agila.
- Hypocrite: Councilor Gina and her cronies spare no time to point out and (
ham-handedly) accuse Cardo and even his friends and relatives of causing mayhem and/or corruption in their town, yet Gina herself and her cohorts aren't any better off than the ones they're accusing. It didn't help that those whom she sees as her enemies work for the government and directly answer to Oscar Hidalgo. - I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Lily's large safehouse, and her hideout spot when she's ousted from the palace is called "Tierra Del Diablo" which literally means Devil's Land. She lampshades this herself when she calls the place "the fiery pits of hell" where Cardo and friends will meet their end.
- Also worth noting is the Isla Muerte, the island where Don Emilio kept Cardo after he kidnapped him. The island's name literally means "Island of Death".
- I Have Many Names: Cardo, Ador, Paloma, Fernan, Agila, etc. Lampshaded in one of the openings.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy:
- There's one an episodes when Oscar Hidalgo escaped from crooked police officers under Lucas Cabrera's payroll. And that's despite the supposedly-deceased chief executive being in convenient range for assault rifle-toting gunmen and without any body armour to even protect him at all.
- Thrown in spades especially in later arcs, where scores and scores of "Black Ops" operatives fire countless rounds at Cardo and his cohorts, but are instead at the receiving end of Cardo and his cohorts' ammunition.
- In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: The full title of the series is "FPJ's Ang Probinsyano" to remind viewers that the series was originally based on the Fernando Poe Jr. film.
- Interspecies Friendship: For Caryok, a stray dog named after Cardo and Onyok, whom they took care of until he was given back to his previous owner.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Though this eventually led Cardo and his task force in hot water for their, ahem, less than ethical techniques.
- Killed Off for Real: Basically when an actor leaves the show, this is commonly what happens to their character. Even if they were a major character.
- The Leader:
- Heroes: Ricardo Dalisay, Delfin Borja, Romulo Dumaguit, Oscar Hidalgo,Alyana Arevalo-Dalisay, Flora Borja, Diana Olegario
- Villains: Tomas Tuazon, Lucas Cabrera, Renato Hipolito, Homer Adlawan, Dante Madarang, Gina Matanggol, Lily Ann Cortez
- Legally Dead: Oscar Hidalgo, who was presumed dead after an attack on him and his family.
- Mooks:
- The various criminal goons who worked for Joaquin, Don Emilio, Bungo and other crime lords were this in the earlier seasons. They were easily dispatched by Cardo and his police allies, with their bodies laid out all across the crime scenes.
- Ironically, when Cardo is on the opposite side of the law, the enforcers of the law become the disposable goons.
- The Mole: Cardo, multiple times notably when he joined the Pulang Araw. He also did this in relatively more minor story arcs such as when he poses as a woman to infiltrate a prostitution ring. And Lily in the post-Vendetta arcs.
- Moe Couplet: Cardo and Onyok, famously labeled as "Kanyok", endeared many fans to their adorable interactions.
- More Dakka: Oh, this show is made of it. It's rare, if ever, to see an episode without Cardo or any other Mook go guns blazing.
- Mythology Gag: Cardo's alias while in the Pulang Araws is Fernan, a.k.a. Fernando Poe Jr., the original Ang Probinsyano.
- Manipulative Bitch: Lily Ann Cortez. To the point where she uses charm to manipulate Oscar into taking drugs and also costs Delfin and Diana's jobs. And also the head of a drug syndicate and uses her power to let the country filled with drugs.
- Maybe Ever After: After multiple scenes of Ship Tease between Cardo and Mara, the series ends with Cardo unexpectedly reunited with Mara (who is presumed dead before) as they look at each other and smile, hinting that they'll start a relationship.
- The Mutiny: Borja's men on the CIDG got set up and later arrested.
- Never My Fault: Most of the villains blamed/framed the heroes for this.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: A common torture method in the show. Cardo also does this to Lemuel/Juan after he betrayed Cardo by slandering him to Alyana.
- Non-Indicative Name: The so-called "Black Ops" units Cardo and his cohorts frequently encounter in certain episodes are a far cry from actual black operations run by government agencies, which tend to operate from the shadows and are for the most part disavowed by their superiors due to the dubious legality of such schemes. The "Black Ops" personnel in the show on the other hand operate out in the open even when there are scores of bystanders in plain sight.
- On the Next: After each episode proper the "Abangan" (Next time on...) segment is shown. Along with rolling credits select moments of the next episode is shown to build up hype for the next episode. If it's a Friday episode the preview will cover the next five episodes of next week.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Cardo and Oscar emerged victorious after defeating Renato and Lucio in the final showdown, but at the cost of getting the rest of Task Force Agila killed in the process.
- Previously on…: Virtually every episode except the first. The series starts with the "Ang Nakaraan" (Previously) segment showing select and brief moments from the previous episode.
- Police Are Useless: Averted with Cardo, his crew and most others, though there has been scenes with crooked or just downright lazy or incompetent cops being shown (and given a lesson the hard way, no less).
- Puppet King: Camilio serves as Lily's puppet president when Oscar goes missing and Mariano is killed. He knows that he's completely powerless, but only goes through it because Lily threatened to kill his family. When he's captured by Task Force Agila and Lily tells him via phone that she's going to kill them, Camilio turns on her and joins Task Force Agila.
- The Purge: The Armed Forces launching a full assault on the Pulang Araws' mountain stronghold, killing most of its members as well as some innocent civilians they're protecting. Coincidentally, around this time Cardo/Fernan has been finally accepted by the Pulang Araws as a comrade and allowed to go home, but when he sees the approaching forces he chooses to go back and warn the rebels. This also led to his identity being exposed to both sides: to the general public that he's still alive and now aligned with rebels, and for the Pulang Araws thinking he betrayed them. The scene of the Pulang Araws' decimation is in the opening theme song as a sort of grim reminder.
- Playing Both Sides: Lily Ann Cortez. Serves as the first lady of the Philippines and a head of the drug syndicate.
- Put on a Bus: On rare occasions, characters whose actors left the show were not Killed Off for Real.
- Onyok went back to his real mother, Rowena, at Lola Flora's suggestion after Rowena went to get her son again.
- Pinggoy, Alyana's friend and cameraman during her reporter days, becomes a news reporter. Despite this, we never see a news reel that features him since he got the position.
- Marikit Flores owns a hair salon across the street from one of Lola Flora's houses. Her son, Dexter, was also good friends with the children. The two stayed behind when Flora's family decided to move from their home.
- Paco (Paquito's father) makes a near literal example as he becomes a Jeepeny driver. He's essentially driving the bus he was put on.
- Catherine Cabrera, Lucas's wife, flies to America to subside her hurt emotions after her son Marco was killed. No mention of her has been made since, even when her husband and stepson were killed.
- Jimbo wasn't present in seasons 8 and 9 because he was in America at that time. He never learns about the deaths of his sister, mother, and father because of this.
- In order to go into hiding, the rest of Cardo's adopted children (Dang, Ligaya, Paquito and Letlet) go with Wally and Elmo while Yolly and Lola Flora went seprately. Though we occaisionally see Flora and Yolly, Elmo's group went unseen for a long time.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: When Lito Lapid, who played as Romulo Dumagalit, had to run for a seat in the Philippine Senate, his character was killed off due to Philippine law restrictions on candidates' appearances in public television. The same went for Jhong Hilario who played Alakdan, where he was also killed off when he ran as a city councillor in Makati. Hilario's bid for public office also resulted in him leaving It's Showtime for a while due to said legal restrictions. Regardless, Lapid and Hilario's previous notoriety in the show resulted in them being elected due to name recognition alone.
- Raised by Grandparents: Cardo and Ador are raised under the care of Lola Flora.
- Reformed Criminal: Most notably Ramil Taduran a.k.a. Manager. From a drug kingpin in Bilibid to one of Cardo's most steadfast allies in and out of prison. He and some of Cardo's ex-teammates in Cebu willingly surrenders to the police and returns to prison but he's a changed man. He breaks out again but only so the inmate gang can rescue Cardo from Emilio Syquia's clutches and becomes one of the founding members of Vendetta, getting pardoned and eventually becoming an honest policeman along with the other members of the vigilante group.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Part of the show's appeal is that of the crimes in the series being based around those occurring in the country, particularly petty theft and drugs.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Oscar Hidalgo. Until his Face–Heel Turn.
- Renegade Splinter Faction: Homer forming "Kamandag" without the more honorable members of Pulang Araw knowing. After building up his forces (which Homer even boasts as having greater resources and numbers than the Pulang Araws), most of them get wiped out by Cardo all by himself.
- Rebel Leader: Leon Dumaguit, Homer "Alakdan" Adlawan and Ricardo Dalisay to name a few.
- Red Shirt Army: A particularly egregrious example happens during the assassination attempt on Romulo Dumaguit. The multitude of soldiers and cops guarding the hospital where he is held in are all gunned down by a bunch of private mercenaries hired by the Big Bad. The kicker? The mercenaries are all at full strength by the time they fight Vendetta and Borja's reinforcements its implied they suffered no casualties at all.
- Related in the Adaptation: Colonel Bernardo, the man who recruited Cardo into continuing his brother's mission, is now Delfin Borja, Cardo's great-uncle.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Cardo has been through this several times throughout the series, the latest being his quest to avenge Alyana's death.
- Serial Killer: Eric/Erwin and Jane, played by Paolo Avelino and Judy Ann Santos, respectively.
- Ship Tease: Cardo and Alyana, Romulo and Diana.
- Short-Lived Aerial Escape: Don Emilio, after he was shot by Cardo, tries to escape by helicopter. Cardo would later kill him by shooting down the helicopter he was in.
- This was how P/Maj. Albert de Vela was killed. He got inside the helicopter that was used by Lily's foreigner allies, and flew it away. However, instead of flying it out of the Tierra del Diablo, he flies it around the mansion while the Task Force Agila is trying to shoot it down, as if he was taunting them. The helicopter was later shot down by a well-aimed grenade launcher shot, killing him.
- Sickbed Slaying: Under the orders of Lily, Augustus (her bodyguard) kills a wounded and recovering Cassandra by suffocating her with a pillow .
- Sixth Ranger: Some police assets of Task Force Agila. Benny still counts until his Heroic Sacrifice.
- Sole Survivor: At the end of the finale, both Oscar Hidalgo and Cardo Dalisay are the only members of Task Force Agila left alive.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Pretty much the show's bread and butter.
- Survivor Guilt: Oscar and Cardo both have emotional breakdowns during the finale upon realizing that they are the only surviving members of Task Force Agila. The fact that Cardo learns immediately after that Lola Flora is dead makes it even worse.
- The Syndicate: The Big Bad Ensemble of the series in various forms.
- Through-the-Years Credits: The title sequences of the series counts.
- Terrorists Without a Cause: The Hukbo Ng Malayang Bansa have no justifiable motive other than "take over the country and kill everyone". This is lampshaded by Renato when he explains their backstory to Art.Renato: We were the rebels. They were the terrorists.
- Title-Only Opening: Initially this was the case as with other Philippine television series. But this was later replaced by a extended version showing a montage of scenes showing Cardo's graduation from the police academy and his select pursuits.
- Token Minority: Elizabeth, played by Whitney Tyson who is of African-American descent.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Cardo's favorite food is Kare-Kare.
- Tragic Villain: The deaths of Arturo Padua's children are what drove him to villany and onto Renato Hipolito's side. He blames himself and Cardo for this, and thinks that killing Cardo will avenge his children.
- Treacherous Advisor: Lily Ann Cortez to Oscar Hidalgo.
- The Bus Came Back: In the final episode, Elmo, Wally and all the children reunite with Yolly to be with Cardo. This includes Onyok, who hasn't been seen since he left the family at an earlier point in time.
- The Usurper: Vice-President Lucas Cabrera staged an assassination plot on President Oscar Hidalgo, allowing him to take office and thus continue his illegal activities with impunity. The plot was partly successful, with the general public believing that either Hidalgo is already dead at worse or missing at best. Cabrera then momentarily assumes presidency but was later killed by Cardo and Vendetta to return Hidalgo to his position.
- Too Dumb to Live: Cassandra. The moment she told Lily that she knew that Lily killed Clarice, she had already signed her own death warrant.
- Lily's foreigner allies in the August 3, 2022 episode. They were willing to support Lily at first, but when the Task Force Agila attacked the Tierra del Diablo, where their meeting with Lily is being held, they were panicking, and started to badmouth Lily right in front of her. Unsurprisingly, Lily and her men executed all of them.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: When the PNF arrive to extract Oscar Hidalgo, they find him kneeling with an empty stare. Given what just happened, it's hard to blame him.
- Unexplained Recovery: Mara was seemingly killed and her body is thrown into the sea by Armando. But at the end, Cardo is surprised to see Mara alive and well with no explanation of how she survived.
- Vice City: The locales where Cardo and his cohorts have sworn to protect and serve.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Senator Hipolito was initially this as Director of the National Defense Agency. He used the government's successful campaigns against the Pulang Araw group to boost his own image.
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating:Gina, Bart, Cronies: "We did it before, we do it again."
- We Help the Helpless:
- Cardo and his cohorts cite this as their motive for why they do this thing of theirs.
- As a meta-example, Coco Martin has been praised for this when he offered supporting roles to former actors who fell on hard times, a few of them namely comedienne Whitney Tyson, whose career declined and reduced to just appearances in town fiestas following a Broke Episode where she lived in a shanty under a bridge, and Baron Geisler, an actor who previously gained notoriety for his alcohol-fueled run-ins with the law, alleged sexual harassment on a number of actresses and repeated rehab attempts. It also helps that Martin himself came from a blue-collar background, having previously served as an overseas Filipino workernote in Canada prior to entering show business.
- We Used to Be Friends: Cardo has had a falling out with Hidalgo following the death of Alyana, and has vowed to put even President Hidalgo's head on a silver platter.
- Would Hurt a Child: The villains tend to go after their targets families. They tend to be merciless towards every family member, including young children.
- You Killed My Father: Emilio Syquia. Cardo eventually finds out about this from Alyana's father Teddy, and avenges his father's death.
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