Coco as he is about to subject you once again to years of daily action sequences.
FPJ's Batang Quiapo (lit. 'FPJ's Quiapo Kid') is a Philippine action series which started airing on February 13, 2023, replacing Mars Ravelo’s Darna. Fresh from the success of Ang Probinsyano, Batang Quiapo is based on the 1986 film of the same name by famed action star Fernando Poe, Jr..Unlike the previous FPJ adaptation where we follow the rather eventful life of a police officer from a far-flung province, Coco Martin steps in the shoes of someone from the other side of the law: a street rat and pickpocket named Tanggol whose increasingly daring exploits have earned him the (unwanted) attention of both law enforcement and his friends and relatives, set in the backdrop of the historic district of Quiapo, Manila
where the famed religious icon of the Black Nazarene is situated.
Tropes found in Batang Quiapo include:
- Anachronism Stew: The armored car chase flashback scene in particular, where Ramon and his crew are seen using 2000s-era Nokia phones as well as the E100 Corollas used by the police, and yet we see a glimpse of a third-generation Mitsubishi Pajero Sportnote parked nearby. Several cars that were made after the year 2000 can also be seen among the traffic.
- Abusive Parents: Tanggol's stepfather Rigor, especially as he refuses to acknowledge Tanggol as his own son and later attempts to give him a Multiple Gunshot Death when he finds out that he beat up David.
- Action-Hogging Opening: The intro sequence follows a similar concept as with Ang Probinsyano, highlighting Tanggol's exploits throughout the show's run. In earlier episodes, it showed a young Ramon Montenegro having a gunfight with the police.
- Adaptation Expansion: As what would inevitably play out like with Coco's previous take on an FPJ classic.
- Adaptation Name Change: Coco's character is given a new name: Jesus Nazareno "Tanggol" V. Dimaguiba aka Jesus Nazareno V. Montenegro
- Don Julian, a character from the original movie, is also given a new name here: Don Julio Montenegro.
- Affably Evil: Supremo, despite being a career criminal seeking revenge against Augustus, is a Benevolent Boss to his subordinates and is much more level-headed than most of them. He also holds no ill will towards Tanggol and his gang for their attempt to pickpocket him.
- All-Loving Hero: Tanggol, whose outlaw exploits earned him kudos from his neighbourhood.
- Attempted Rape: JP tries to rape Mokang twice, first while they are inside his car and second when he lures her into the bathroom. Mokang fights off the first attempt, and Tanggol saves Mokang from the second before giving JP the beating of his life.
- Big Damn Heroes: Tanggol and his group save Mokang from JP and his friends just before JP could rape Mokang. Ironically, they broke into her school to apologize and it's only when Jill tells them that she is going to apologize to JP that they realize what's going to happen.
- Blatant Lies: Tanggol and friends attempt to get into Mokang's school by lying to the security guard that they are students. Needless to say, it doesn't work and they have to sneak themselves in instead.
- Body Double: Played for Horror. Julio Montenegro's men kidnapped some innocent man who looked like Ramon, stripped him, beat him to near-death, dressed him in Ramon's getup and then finally garroted him to make Ramon a fake corpse that he could use to fake his own death and get the police off his back.
- The Caper: Ramon and his cohorts execute an elaborate robbery at the United Philippines Bank branch near Escolta.
- The Cassandra: Mokang pleads to the school board to not have her scholarship revoked after the bathroom incident, insisting that JP tried to rape her; the board did not buy into her alibi and sternly chastised Mokang for the violent acts she (indirectly) caused.
- Chase Scene: Plenty of them, given the series' premise.
- Child by Rape: Tanggol is secretly the bastard child of Ramon, who was conceived when the criminal mastermind raped Marites during his rampage through Quiapo.
- Childhood Friend Romance: What Tanggol so desperately wants with Mokang. Both of them had known each other since their childhood in Quiapo, and Tanggol used to defend her at all time.
- Cool Car: Some of the vehicles used in the series' chase sequences are actually from Coco's personal car collection, particularly the Mini which he had customised specifically for the show.
- Cranky Landlord: Roda is the Dimaguibas and Dimaculangans' landlord. Not only is he a Jerkass who charges way too much for rent and acts as condescending as possible, but he later uses his familial connection with Rigor's boss to put Tindeng behind bars.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The show uses a black and white filter in some scenes where characters are gravely injured or killed.
- Dirty Cop: Augustus, a crime boss who is also a high-ranking police officer. He is also looking forward for his promotion as Regional Director of NLEA's Metro Manila branch.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Tanggol has no qualms about committing petty theft, but he draws the line with Sexual Extortion as he dissuaded a friend—who is a computer technician by trade—from the idea of breaking into his clients' computers with the intent of leaking intimate images and coaxing his clients to pay up for said images to be rescinded. Thieving someone of their personal belongings is one thing, but sex offenses are far, far more devious.
- Despite having been idolised by street children around Quiapo especially for giving cops a royal headache, Tanggol would often tell the kids not to follow in his footsteps.
- Evil Wears Black: The Tondo gang that Tanggol and his group often come to blows with are always seen wearing dark clothing.
- Fat Bastard: Bochok is the most rotund member of the Tondo gang, and the man likes to occasionally joke about his insatiable appetite. Even when he's released from prison, his first complaint is about the quality of the prison food and their lack of extra rice.
- Foil: David and Tanggol may be brothers, but that's where the similarities end. David is unambiguously the family favorite, loved by both Rigor and Marites as a hard-working student. Tanggol on the other hand is the Black Sheep of the family, a criminal who always gets into trouble while being regularly abused by Rigor. David turns out to be a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, stealing Tanggol's money for his own use and later asking Rigor for more money while lying to him about what it's for. Tanggol on the other hand is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who does everything in his power to protect his loved ones and later adopts Tolits and Tala when they grow fond of each other. This is even shown in how they act to their respective love interests. David initially acts kind and projects the image of a gentleman to his crush Camille, only for him to rape her when she gets blackout drunk at a party. Tanggol, despite his constant flirting with Mokang, truly cares for her and strives to make her love him. In contrast to David, Tanggol actually stops Mokang from getting raped by the belligerent JP and comitting sexual crimes is one of the only things he actively refuses to dabble in.
- Government Agency of Fiction: The National Law Enforcement Agency (NLEA) stands in for the Philippine National Police (PNP) in here, just like ABS-CBN's most recent teleseryes.
- Heist Episode: This episode where they hijack an armored truck through an armed confrontation. The scene was pulled off with such realism that some of Coco's stunt crew were actually arrested by Real Life SWAT teams who mistook the filming for an actual heist; Coco and the staff had to explain the situation as a result of the apparent misunderstanding.
- History Repeats: Later on in the show, the same events that happened to Ramon before his escape from prison would also happen to his biological son Tanggol: he first attempts a robbery, gets into a shootout with police, gets shot by Rigor, and be sent to prison after his recovery.
- Interclass Friendship: Mokang grew up dirt poor in Quiapo and only studies at a high-end school due to being part of a scholarship program while her classmate Jill is heavily implied to be well-off and is initially uneasy with going to Quiapo. Still, both of them are good friends that aren't afraid to defend one another.
- Ironic Name: Tanggol, through his birth name Jesus Nazareno. Surely a man named after Jesus wouldn't even think about picking pockets and evading the law, right?
- Jurisdiction Friction: Averted. The barangay chairman and his tanods are familiar with the local policeman Rigor, and try to cooperate with him during the shootout at Mokang's debutante.
- Karmic Butt-Monkey: A lot of bad stuff ends up happening to Roda, who is so obnoxious and abrasive that little sympathy can be felt for him.
- Lawman Baton: The barangay tanods who come into conflict with Tanggol wield wooden sticks. While this allows them to corner Tanggol and his group when they are unarmed, one of them points out to their chairman that they're no match for them when they acquire guns.
- A Lighter Shade of Black:
- Tanggol and his group are criminals, dabbling in burgalary, pickpocketing and other crimes to make ends meet. Still, the group as a whole see each other as family, don't want to intentionally kill people and warn Tolits and Tala not to grow up like them. Compared to the much more ruthless gang from Tondo or the Montenegro Family who engage in drug trafficking and cold-blooded murder and they look much better in comparison.
- Supremo and his gang do much of the same crimes that Tanggol and friends do. Unlike them however, they're doing all of this in preparation for their revenge against Augustus and Amanda. Given that two's very first scenes are in the middle of covering up a massacre, it's hard not to root for the Affably Evil Supremo.
- Made of Iron: Ramon Montenegro, who, in his younger years, was hit with a dart in the leg, hit in the face with a blunt object, shot multiple times by Rigor before falling to the ground and beaten by an angry mob. He managed to survive all of that.
- The Musical: Averted in the adaptation, unlike the original whose action, comedy and drama sequences are interspersed with the occasional song and dance number.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Tanggol's birth name Jesus Nazareno, both in reference to Jesus and the image of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo where the series takes place.note
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Tanggol did this to his brother David after he found out that David was the one who stole his money.
- "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: David immediately dismisses Camille's concerns about her getting raped while drunk since the both of them enjoyed it, at least according to him.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The usually calm and collected Supremo lashes out at Lucio when he suggests that he just give up his revenge plot against Amanda and Augustus while letting bygones be bygones, showing just how dedicated he is to making them pay for what they did to him.
- Pistol-Whipping: After beating JP within an inch of his life, Tanggol brings out his gun... and smacks JP in the head with it. Twice.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Supremo and his group want there to be as little police casualties as possible, not out of morals like Tanggol, but since more dead cops would bring more heat on them when they are at a point that they have to lay low.
- Preppy Name: Invoked. Mokang likes to be known as "Monique" at her high-class school, and most of her classmates have similiarly upper-class names to match.
- Properly Paranoid:
- Chicky doesn't trust JP from the get-go, and tells Mokang to be wary of him since she's worried that he might end up hurting her. She's later proven right when JP tries to grope Mokang at the debutante, and later comes very close to raping her when him and his friends trap her in the boy's bathroom.
- Camille's friends are naturally wary of leaving her alone with David, but do so anyway after he tells them that he'll take good care of her. He does not take good care of her at all, to say the least.
- Questionable Consent:
- Rigor got so drunk with Lena that he couldn’t stand, and is taken to a motel by Lena where they both have sex. Rigor wakes up the morning after with absolutely no recollection of what happened the night before, and looks distraught upon being informed of the events (and that he fact that he took her virginity) by Lena.
- Averted when it came to Camille and David. Camille, despite being hammered, is still conscious enough to tell David that she's not ready to have sex with him when he takes her to a motel.
He goes with it anyway.
- Red Shirt: Any policeman that isn't Rigor or Mando, who are usually gunned down in droves by the main cast who are career criminals.
- Revenge: This is pretty much the goal of Supremo after he's released from prison. He wants to get revenge on both Amanda and Augustus, the people whom he believed to be responsible for him being sent to prison in the first place.
- Sadistic Choice: When Tanggol saves Mokang from JP and beats him up, he later points a gun at JP while threatening Mokang that he's going to kill him unless she takes her revenge. Mokang initially hesitates before getting her revenge.
- Screaming Woman: Mokang's female classmates (most notably Sarah and her haughty Girl Posse) all start screaming when a fight breaks out at Mokang's debutante, and later start hysterically screaming again when Tanggol and his gang beat up JP and his friends at their school.
- Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: See the page image.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Mokang may often berate Tanggol for his behavior, but she also pleads with him to change his ways and she genuinely likes it whenever Tanggol is making good on his promise not to get into trouble.
- Shameful Strip: A rare male example with JP. Tanggol and his friends strip his expensive clothing one-by-one until he's wearing nothing but his underwear in retaliation for his groping of Mokang at the Debutante.
- Shoot the Fuel Tank: Subverted when Ramon fakes his death. He uses a car filled with explosives and a body double to fool the police into thinking that he had died in his car's explosion, but had escaped moments prior and detonated the explosives before jumping into the water.
- Sole Survivor: Severino is the only member of Ramon's prison gang that escapes the prison break alive, apart from Ramon himself of course.
- Spoiled Sweet: Jill is relatively well-off like the rest of Monique's classmates and is initially uneasy with going to Quiapo like they were, but she's a genuine friend to Mokang and gradually warms up to its inhabitants like Chicky and Mokang's family.
- Street Urchin: Tolits and Tala, two child beggars who look up to Tanggol and consider him as a father figure.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Ramon, who turns out to be Tanggol's biological father, albeit in the flashback scenes where Coco Martin also plays the role of a young Ramon.
- This Is a Work of Fiction: The show's producers had to put up an all persons fictitious disclaimer especially after the gaffe they had over alleged stereotyping of Muslims to which they issued an apology for the incident, with Coco Martin himself personally reaching out to fellow actor and politician Robin Padilla—who is a prominent and outspoken Muslim—to explain his situation and offer his own plea for forgiveness.
- Too Dumb to Live: JP and his friends antagonize Tanggol even after knowing what he's capable of, and pay for it dearly. Sarah and her Girl Posse also antagonize Tanggol when he shows up to their school, and Tanggol makes it clear in very certain terms that he's not afraid of giving them a beating too.
- Turn of the Millennium: The robbery flashback scene where Ramon raped Marites takes place at the start of the decade (the year 2000). The Dimaguiba brothers are also born within this decade.
- Unexpected Virgin: Lena only reveals after the night that she and Rigor slept together that she's a virgin, and that she let Rigor take it as a sign of her love for him.
- Upper-Class Twit: Most of Mokang's classmates are richer than her, with JP in particular having a fancy car. Not only do JP and his friends antagonize Tanggol and friends despite Mokang explicitly warning them against it, but JP's idiot friends try to beat him up in the middle of a gunfight. Sarah and her Girl Posse are no better, since they later tattle on Mokang in an attempt to get her scholarship revoked and later try to dissuade Tanggol even when he threatens them.
- Villain Protagonist: Tanggol.
- Wretched Hive: Quiapo is shown to be full of all kinds of criminals and the main characters who live there are shown to be desensitized to the violence that occurs there daily.
