In Philippine mythology, the vampire-like creature that can separate its upper body and fly is the manananggal.
The manananggal is especially associated with Philippine folklore from the Visayas. Its name comes from the Tagalog root tanggál, meaning “to remove” or “separate,” describing its signature transformation. At night, it detaches its upper torso from its lower body, exposing its entrails, then sprouts large, bat-like wings.
Folklore commonly portrays the manananggal as a frightening female predator that hunts sleeping people. Some traditions associate it particularly with pregnant women or unborn fetuses, while other accounts emphasize its general vampiric appetite. The creature’s separated lower body is often treated as a vulnerability: disguising or moving it could prevent the flying half from rejoining it before dawn.
It is often confused with the broader term aswang, which refers to a family of supernatural beings in Philippine folklore rather than one single creature. Kapre and tikbalang are also Filipino beings, but they are not winged, self-separating vampires.