Character page for Trese and its animated adaptation.
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The Trese Family
Alexandra Trese
"Tabí-tabí po."
Voiced by: Liza Soberano (Filipino), Steffi Graf Bontogon-Mola (Filipino; young), Shay Mitchell (English), Rebeca Gomez (Latin American Spanish), Ryōko Shiraishi (Japanese)
A private detective who serves as the current Babaylan-Mandirigma, the protector of humanity from the underworld.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She is a beautiful raven-haired woman with an aloof demeanour.
- Action Girl: Just like her father before her, she regularly defends humankind from the various supernatural threats that inhabit the underworld.
- Badass Longcoat: Alexandra wears the the Cloak of Takipsilim (twilight), a black mystical cloak that serves to protect her in her duty as Babaylan.
- Brainy Brunette: Has black hair and one of the most intelligent characters.
- Dark Is Not Evil: She’s an Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette dressed in black and Villainous Widow's Peak hairstyle but is the protector of humanity from the underworld.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: She has pale skin and black short hair and she investigate supernatural mysteries.
- Evil Me Scares Me: Datu Talagbusao shows Trese a vision of herself should she embrace her prophesied role as his "judge", lording it over the ruins of Manila and a horde of humans and monsters.
- Good is Not Nice: At one point, she threatens to hurt Jobert when he keeps losing focus on the topic at hand.
- Goth Girls Know Magic: She wears smokey make-up, is gloomy and uses multiple spells throughout the series.
- Kung-Fu Wizard: Alex is trained in both martial arts and magic.
- Hereditary Hairstyle: Both Alexandra and her father possess a similar hairstyle that frames their faces in such a ways as to resemble devil horns, the resemblance is more obvious in the comic illustrations
than the Netflix series though. - Non-Standard Character Design: Alexandra has bigger and more detailed eyed than any human character, her looks bringing in mind Re-L Mayer from Ergo Proxy.
- Occult Detective: She's called in to help investigate things when there's a case that's suspected to have a paranormal angle.
- The Stoic: Hardly shows any emotion when doing her job.
- Villainous Widow's Peak: Inverted. Alexandra has her hairline in the center of the forehead, covered by her bangs, but she is the hero of the story.
Anton Trese
Voiced by: Eugene Adalia (Filipino), Carlos Alazraqui (English), René García (Latin American Spanish), Ken Yanai (Japanese)
Alexandra's father and the previous babaylang mandirigma.
- Offing the Offspring: In the animated series, he sacrificed his own daughter Sinag, Alexandra's older twin sister, and turned her into a kris, as she was destined to bring the end of the world. This is not the case in the comics, as Alexandra's twin was stillborn.
- Parents as People: While he certainly loved his daughter, he was a man with many flaws, willing to take extreme actions if it meant protecting the world.
- Posthumous Character: Already dead by the present day, having sacrificed himself to protect the Great Balete Tree, where Alexandra took her trial.
Miranda Trese
Voiced by: Cheska Aguiluz (Filipino), Nicole Scherzinger (English), Alma Juarez (Latin American Spanish), Kiyoko Yonekura (Japanese)
Alexandra's mother, a woman from a remote clan that worshipped Maria Makiling.
- Adaptational Hairstyle Change: In the show, she has long straight hair, while in the comics she had a '20s Bob Haircut.
- Ink-Suit Actor: She greatly resembles her english voice actress, Nicole Scherzinger.
- Missing Mom: She was killed by a group of aswang when Alexandra was young. Her death still haunts her.
- Mama Bear: She fought of screen with the aswang to protect her daughter.
- Nice Girl: Alexandra remembers her mother a mild-mannered woman with a lot of patience.
Allies
The Kambal
Couldn't let you have all the fun this time, bossing.
Voiced by: Simon dela Cruz (Filipino), Griffin Puatu (English), Ratana (English; young), Yoshihisa Hosokawa (Japanese)
Crispin and Basilio, the twins, or kambal, are the bodyguards of Alexandra Trese.
- Affectionate Nickname: "Bossing" for Trese, which is English "boss" plus a Filipino diminutive "-ing" which is one (sort of old-fashioned) way to make Filipino nicknames (ex. Lucia = Lucing, etc.)
- Annoying Younger Siblings: They are younger than Alexandra and loved to annoy her when they were young. Nowadays, they merely tease her, having come to respect her more.
- Basilio is a more straightforward example towards Crispin, teasingly saying that he loves to travel by Dragon Gates because they make Crispin throw up.
- Antagonistic Offspring: A heroic example. They utterly despise their birth father, the war god Talagbusao, for killing their mother and wanting to devour them for power and so have zero hesitation in fighting and attempting to kill him.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Both wear black suits with white ties, even in the middle of the heat of Manila.
- Bilingual Dialogue: "Kambal" is just Filipino/Tagalog for twin or twins. But the comic which is originally in English and thus the English version of the show treats it as a cool title with the definite article, "the Kambal". This looks kind of odd vs. the Filipino version because Tagalog nouns have no plural form and such cases are expressed entirely in the grammar, thus "mga Kambal". In "Taglish" they could be "the Kambals", or in plain English "the Twins", but the comic/show doesn't do that.
- Blood Knight: Being bastard sons of a wargod, they have his bloodlust running through their veins, and the older they get, they become more unstable, fortunately, the Treses put on the masks as a Power Limiter.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Crispin and Basilion wear black suits, have black eyes with no white and are the sons of an evil War God. Nonetheless they are good guys though they didn't start out that way.
- Divine Parentage: Their father is the War God Talagbusao.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Crispin is more taciturn and reliable, whereas Basilio gets into trouble easily. This can be attested since Crispin is older than Basilio. When looking at their battles, Basilio often takes more hits than Crispin since he's the first one who will charge forward and gun monsters down.
- Guns Akimbo: They both dual-wield handguns, in the comics they are called the Arma Infinitum.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Their mother was the leader of a cult worshiping Talagbusao, and their father is Talagbusao.
- Happily Adopted: Anton took them in after their father killed their mother, pitying their origins and believing raising them right could change them. Alexandra, initially reluctant due to them being Tyke Bombs, warms up to them after Anton explains his reasoning to her, and by the time of the present day, they're loyal to her and care about her.
- Healing Factor: They can regenerate from most wounds, which is useful given how often they get injured.
- I Have No Son!: Inverted. The twins don't see Talagbusao as their father as they were raised by their mother and he killed her when she tried to prevent him from killing them. When he returns in the present and calls them his sons, the twins scoff and say that they're more of "momma's boys".
- Polar Opposite Twins: Downplayed, Crispin is the gloomier and the more responsible of the two, while Basilio is the reckless, happier sibling. But they'll eventually give in to each others' schemes. In Day of the Dead oneshot, Basilio mentions that Crispin is shy, but it's most likely said in jest to impress the women they're hitting on.
- Semi-Divine: Their father is a War God.
- Shout-Out: Their names are a reference to the brothers in the classic Filipino novel Noli Me Tangere.
- Sibling Team: They are a pair of twins and Alexandra's allies.
- Tyke Bomb: Inheriting the bloodlust of their war god father, they were raised to be this by their equally Ax-Crazy mother, knowing how to wield a shotgun and giant blades when they were small children.
- Undying Loyalty: To Trese. Despite Alexandra's reluctance of accepting them as family, they still care for her. When Talagbusao controls them for a short time, they manage to shrug it off which shows their camaraderie and friendship with Trese is much stronger than their blood ties with their father.
Captain Guerrero
Voiced by: Apollo Abraham (Filipino), Matthew Yang King (English), Jose Lui Miranda (Latin American Spanish), Ken Uo (Japanese)
- Badass Normal: Has no powers yet he shot at a war god with a regular gun.
- The Commissioner Gordon: Was Anton's Friend on the Force when he was only a sergeant, and now as captain he's this for Alexandra.
- Death by Adaptation: Is killed by Talagbusao in episode 6 of the animated series. Case 13 ended with him wishing Alexandra a happy birthday.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: He has no problem dealing with the supernatural despite being an ordinary cop. He's willing to any arsenal he can get to fight them, whether they are pistols, shotguns, or rocket launchers. Even though Datu Talagbusao strangles him to death, he is able to inflict enough damage on him.
- Friend on the Force: He's the reason why the Manila Police Department is actually quite helpful to the Treses in defending the country from the supernatural rather than obstructive.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He cares about bringing justice and recognizes the injustices that many authorities practiced today. He even scolds one of his men for being rough against a drunk suspect. This trait shows why Trese respects him because, in her words, he's a good man.
- Unfazed Everyman: Took the crazy supernatural stuff Alexandra deals with pretty easily, even telling his nephew Marcos not to think too hard about all the crazy shit they're experiencing.
Hank Sparrow
Voiced by: Christopher Carlo Caling (Filipino), Jon Jon Briones (English), Cesar Beltran (Latin American Spanish), Yuki Sanpei (Japanese)
- Abhorrent Admirer: Hank has a celebrity crush on Nova and tags along with Alexandra and the Kambal for the case because he wants to meet her, a reflection of the celebrity worship culture in the Philippines. Downplayed in that outside of almost being a Dirty Old Man, Hank looks pretty decent, actively helps in the case, and isn't infatuated with her the whole time. He stop crushing on her after learning she’s Ax-Crazy and an Abusive Parent.
- Badass Normal: No powers but has a lot of guns.
- The Bartender: His job at the Diabolical.
- Named Weapons: Has a special triple-barrelled shotgun named "Ama, Anak, At Espiritu Santo" (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), forged by the Metalaro who also made Sinag.
- Old Retainer: Used to be the Trese family's cook and current bartender of their bar, the Diabolical.
- Undying Loyalty: He waited at the Great Balete Tree everyday for Alexandra's return from her trial five years after she went in.
Lieutenant Tapia
Voiced by: Jeff Manabat (English)
- Number Two: For Captain Guerrero, being the only other police officer that actually takes seriously protecting the people.
Marco Guerrero
Voiced by: Jose Amado Santiago (Filipino), Darren Criss (English), Noriyuki Tsuyuki (Japanese)
- Canon Foreigner: Created especially for the animated adaptation.
Jobert
Voiced by: Jeff Manabat (English)
- Composite Character: In the animated series, Jobert replaces Jeremy Gotianleung (a dragon who lives under the Robertson Mall) as Alexandra's tech contact for the Tiyanak case.
- Friendly Ghost: He's the ghost of a geek who died near an internet cafe, and now he spends most of his un-life playing video games while helping Trese when she needs tech support.
Others
Mayor Sancho Santamaria
Voiced by: Rene Tandoc (Filipino), Lou Diamond Phillips (English), Pedro D'Aguillon Jr. (Latin American Spanish), Yasuhiro Kikuchi (Japanese)
- Adaptational Villainy: In the comic, Santamaria was already in prison before the series began on charges of smuggling and suspicion of child trafficking and didn't have any underworld connections until his possession by Talagbusao.
- Body Horror: After being sent to prison, he gains the ability to mind control people who eat his flesh. By the time he's seen again in Episode 6, he's cut away most of his previously fat belly, leaving bloody flesh in its place.
- Cannibalism Superpower: Bizarrely inverted. He gains the ability to mind control people who've eaten his flesh.
- Corrupt Politician: He cares more about staying in power and getting reelected than helping people. It's even revealed that he made a deal with a local aswang clan by providing them their food in exchange for dealing with his opponents and covering his tracks.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: By the end of episode 1, he got arrested for grounds of arson, human trafficking, and murder of his mistress. The testimonies from the surviving informal settlers, who were imprisoned by the aswang, sealed his fate.
Nova Aurora
Voiced by: Leslie-Anne Panaligan (English)
Tropes that apply to the comic:
- The Diva: As her duwende helped bring her to stardom, she let the fame get to her head and losing the favor of the duwende.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Her case in the comics, she's still the familiar of a duwende, but as her career entered its twilight years she ironically lost the favor of the duwende to an up and coming actress cast to play her in her own biopic. Eventually her jealousy drove her to kill the actress, and inadvertently kill the duwende when her tear fell on a piece of Chocnut she was offering as a bribe infecting it with such sadness that it killed the duwende when it ate it.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After killing Heather Evangelista, Captain Guerrero finds Nova at her mansion in a manic state repeating statements of regret.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Her name is a reference to Nora Aunor, the "Grand Dame of Philippine Cinema". Her film Ang Huling Himala (The Last Miracle) is also a Shout-Out to Himala, Aunor's most famous work.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Has a reputation as a Chocnut-o-holic, because she feeds them to the Duwende that chose her as his familiar.
- White-Dwarf Starlet: She doesn't accept that her fame had faded away, and is one of the factors in her jealousy-driven murder of Heather.
Tropes that apply to the animated series:
- Abusive Parent: Nova had a illegitimate baby and hated it for ruining her figure for nine months as well as putting her career at risk (as it is highly frowned upon in the Philippines to have a child out of wedlock), and had her friend secretly leave it in the woods to die. When it comes back as a tiyanak, she tricks it into letting her get close enough for her to personally stab it to death, even adding more fake emotion to be extra cruel.
- Right before she stabs the Tiyanak, she reveals that her grandmother, who raised her after her mother's death, used to whisper "You may come from me, but you are worthless and I want nothing to do with you" in her ear as she slept.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the comic, her case was different and uninvolved with the Tiyanak case, in which Dr. Gallaga was the main target as a OBGYN providing illegal abortions and improperly disposing of the remains rather than a dermatologist. Since abortion is more controversial in the Philippines than most Western countries, and due to the Compressed Adaptation which combined her case and Dr. Gallaga's in the animated adaptation, Aurora abandons her baby in the woods instead.
- Age Lift: The Comic Nova was an older actress reaching the twilight of her career, this Nova is an up and coming star.
- Asshole Victim: Nova is killed by a swarm of tiyanak as revenge for her killing her tiyanak child again. Because she is a shallow and murderous bitch who cared more about figure and career over her child, no one feel sorry for her.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At first, she seem to be a Spoiled Sweet Actress who is involved in charity. In reality, she’s actually a shallow and vain bitch who care more about her fame and figure over her own child. After showing her true colours by killing her own child, Alexandra consider her to be the true monster.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the comic Nova dies of a stroke during her trial for the murder of Heather Evangelista, and instead dies at the hands of a swarm of tiyanak.
- Hate Sink: While the comic Nova could be considered a tragic figure in some ways, the same can not be said of the animated version of Nova Aurora.
- Jerkass: A shallow, vain and self-centered bitch who care more about her beauty and career than her child. She doesn’t regret, show remorse and feel guilt when she made her friend abandoned her baby to die in the woods and killing her baby when it's return as a Tiyanak. After showing her true colours, Alexandra considered her to be the real “monster” not her Tiyanak Child.
- Karmic Death: At the end of Episode 3, she is killed by a swarm of tiyanak as revenge for her killing her tiyanak child again.
- Offing the Offspring: Had her baby abandoned to die in the woods. When it comes back as a tiyanak, she tricks it into letting her get close enough for her to personally stab it to death. All of this she did without remorse.
- Sleeps in the Nude: She was seen dropping her towel after coming out of her bath without even dressing the moment she reaches her bed.
- Would Hurt a Child: She made Petra abandon her baby in the woods, and she has no problem stabbing her Tiyanak child to death when it comes back to her.
Ramona
Voiced by: Sumalee Montano (English)
The leader of a cult that worshipped Datu Talagbusao and sought to bring him back to Earth. She is also the mother of his children, Crispin and Basilio.
- Even Evil Has Standards: She may be an Ax-Crazy Blood Knight cult leader who wants to bring about the apocalypse, but she makes a line in the sand at her lover wanting to kill their sons.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Marrying a war god and summoning him to Earth did not include mention of sacrificing her sons.
- Far East Asian Terrorists: Implied to be a pro-communist terrorist who used a supernatural ritual after wiping out Colonel Hidalgo and his soldiers and responsible for summoning Talagbusao.
- Mama Bear: She might have wanted Talagbusao to raze the world, but she wasn't going to let him kill their sons to gain more power.
Raul Lazaro
Voiced by: Rodney To (English)
- Everybody Has Standards: He's initially horrified by the zombies that his magic stone creates, but continues to let them swarm the police station.
General Villar
Voiced by: Earl Baylon (English)
- Demoted to Extra: From his comics counterpart General Ramon Lanares apart from his role as host of Talagbusao.
- Old Soldier: Placed in charge of the security cordon during the New Bilibid Prison riots. Captain Guerrero says he's old school and by the book.
The Underworld
Nuno
Voiced by: Christian Verlarde (Filipino), Eric Bauza (English), Juan Alfonso Carralero (Latin American Spanish)
The Nuno sa Manhole ("Nuno in the Manhole"), also known as Nuno the Snitch.
- Adaptational Villainy: Was only ever Alexandra's informant in the comics, and not the Man Behind the Man of Mayor Sancho Santamaria.
- Bilingual Dialogue: His name or rather title is an example of code-switching, in this case mixing classic Tagalog/Filipino and English, informally called "Taglish". (The entire original comic is itself an example, as it's mostly in English with Philippine language-derived terms as needed.)
- Our Dwarves Are Different: In Filipino folklore, the nuno sa punso (roughly meaning "old man/elder in the mound") is a small dwarf-like creature or spirit believed to live in ant or termite mounds. Those walking through their territory would say tabi-tabi po (similar to saying "excuse me" or "pardon me" when moving past other people) to avoid offending them or even stepping on such beings when they're invisible. The manhole is an Urban Fantasy twist on the classic anthill.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Nuno is what he is, not his proper name.
- Evil All Along: Episode 5 reveals he made Mayor Santamaria his familiar and was allied with Talagbusao all along.
Santelmo
Voiced by: Elrey Martin (Filipino), Carlos Alazraqui (English)
A fiery spirit that Alexandra summons with her cell phone.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Like Nuno, he is addressed as what he is. There are other santelmo in the comics, but the animated series has only featured the one described here.
- Fire Purifies: He seems to play some role in guiding lost souls to the afterlife, incinerating their earthly remains in the process. Alexandra summons him for this purpose in Episode 3, and her mother is preparing to do the same in Episode 1. (Filipino folklore says santelmo are lost souls themselves.)
- In episode 4, he takes on a horde of zombies. While it's more offensive in nature, he's still giving their souls a proper sendoff.
- Supernatural Phone: Alexandra's preferred summoning method. The number references a historic fire in Manila.
- Wreathed in Flames: He's a floating head made of fire, mostly where his hair would normally be.
The Emissary
Voiced by: Jo Anne Orobia-Chua (Filipino), Deedee Magno-Hall (English)
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Appears in Episode 1 of the animated series, which partially adapts "13 stations" from Volume 7 of the comics.
- Afterlife Express: Which she uses the ferry the souls of the dead, it's also more reliable than the MRT it shares its route with.
- Balancing Death's Books: When souls start missing their scheduled departures on the train, Ibu sends the Emissary to ask Alexandra for an explanation.
- Dark Is Not Evil: She might be ominous and dress in black, but she's neutral at worst and only obeys her duty as emissary of Ibu.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: Dresses akin to the Filipina/Hispanized version of one: her outfit is a pretty accurate 18th century traje de mestiza.
- Mouth of Sauron: For Ibu, the Manobo Goddess of Death.
- Mysterious Veil: Dressed in a heavy veil, the Emissary never shows her entire face.
- Psychopomp: She helps Ibu ferry the souls of the dead, using the same lines as the MRT.
Maliksi
Voiced by: Steve dela Cruz (Filipino), Manny Jacinto (English)
- Hypocrite: Doesn't mind using his powers to win races, but when Trese beats him also using magic, he refuses to accept defeat until Trese appeals to the code of honor of his tribe.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he takes drag racing way too seriously, he shows he's not such a bad guy when he warns Alexandra in the name of his father that the treaties are being voided, and he alongside Hannah and Ammie help Trese and her allies fight against Datu Talagbusao.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: His human form has long hair and he's not bad looking.
Senor Armanaz
Voiced by: Carlos Alazraqui (English)
- Large and in Charge: He's much taller than the other tikbalang and undoubtedly their leader.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: One of the very first among the council to agree on Anton's idea of sparing the Kambal, and even helps Alexandra against Talagbusao.
Hannah and Ammie
Voiced by: Tania Gunadi (English)
- Blow You Away: As Wind-people they can turn and control the wind.
- Chekhov's Gunman: In their introduction scene, Alexandra recognizes them as Wind-people, but it initially seems there's nothing more to them. Then in the climax, when Alexandra races the cheating Maliksi, it is revealed Alexandra had them hide as the wind around her car to boost her speed.
- Curtains Match the Window: They have silver eyes and silver hair.
- Meaningful Name: Named after the two seasons of wind, Amihan (northeastern monsoon) and Habagat (southwestern monsoon).
- Ms. Fanservice: They dress in skimpy outfits to fit in at the drag races.
Bagyon Lektro
Voiced by: Christopher Carlo Caling (Filipino), Eric Bauza (English), Alejandro Ortega (Latin American Spanish)
A lightning Elemental and the CEO of a power company.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Maliksi shoots him in the eye with an arrow, which causes him to explode.
- Face–Heel Turn: Betrays the alliance and joins Datu Talagbusao because Trese and her allies killed his son (in self-defense).
- Moral Myopia: Wants payback on Alexandra for killing his son Kulimlim, even though Trese killed him in self-defense after warning him that she would fight back for breaking the treaty, besides receiving human sacrifices. He even has the gall to call out Alexandra for not offering his son the same courtesy he offered the tikbalang even though Alexandra gave him plenty of chances to back down.
- Skull for a Head: In his true form his face is a skull.
Bagyon Kulimlim
Voiced by: Dante Basco (English), Hector Mena (Latin American Spanish)
The loyal son of Bagyon Lektro.
- Delinquent Hair: His human form has a mohawk.
- Psycho Electro: He's a lightning elemental who accepts human sacrifices.
- Skull for a Head: Like his father, his true face is a skull.
- Spoiled Brat: Downright called one by Alexandra when he attacks her.
Datu Talagbusao
Voiced by: Bryan Encarnacion (Filipino), Steve Blum (English)
- Adaptational Villainy: The Bukidnon Talagbusao is actually not evil. He (or they, since this is a term applied to war spirits) can be pretty honourable in the original oral traditions.
- Archnemesis Dad: He is the father of the twins but he has no regard for them because he sees them as food. When he meets them again at present, the twins didn't hesitate to attack him since he killed their mother.
- Big Bad: The main antagonist of the show. Even though he was sealed away by Anton and Alexandra, he eventually returns.
- Blood Knight: As expected from a war god, he relishes in combat and bloodshed.
- Chest Burster: How Talagbusao likes to emerge from his hosts, bursting from his victim's various extremities before tearing off their skin like it was Superman's shirt.
- Destroyer Deity: God of destruction and rebirth.
- Healing Factor: He can be injured like his sons, but also regenerates nearly as quickly.
- Jerkass Gods: Even without the thirst for blood and desire to cleanse the world, Talagbusao is a humongous prick.
- Sealed Evil in a Duel: How he was defeated in the comics, Alexandra tricks him into a dragon gate that takes him to Jobert's Eternos server where he funnels the entire player base of Metro Manila to keep him sated with battle, with the player bases of Japan and South Korea on standby just in case.
- War God: For the Bukidnon in Mindanao, he also claims that he's the god of destruction and rebirth.
