Complete Monster: Talagbusao is a sadistic War God out to cause as much chaos and murder as possible. After fathering twin boys, Basilio and Crispin, with a human woman before being sealed away, Talagbusao anticipates the bloodshed they will cause to free him, whereupon he murders his former lover and tries to eat the hearts of his children to become stronger and bring new nightmares into the world. Defeated, he later returns to attack the now-adult twins, Alexandra Trese's bodyguards, by causing a string of suicide bombings to lure in his prey.
Cult Classic: The comics began in 2005 with the first issues being photocopied not printed, and has acquired a small but loyal fanbase. It's one of the most well-known indie comics in the Philippines, with exposure through popular bookstore chains, but the state of the Filipino comics industry itself is what's keeping it "cult" and not truly "mainstream" like say newspaper comic strips. But these days, all published comics in the Philippines are pretty much "indie", including comic strip compilations, because there are no big comic publishers anymore like in the US so everything is funded by the makers.
Harsher in Hindsight: A one-shot allegorized boxer Manny Pacquiao's "unifying" position in Filipino popular culture, with the No Celebrities Were Harmed version supposedly making a Deal with the Devil for fame and success with fighting demons in an underground fight club. Later decades would see Pacquiao become more polarizing in Real Life with his stint as a senator who ran for president in the 2022 national elections, as well as his zealously religious oratory by way of his conversion to Evangelical Christianity (e.g. a comment he made towards same-sex marriage in 2016, which was all but controversial). Though he is still a well-beloved figure in boxing.
Datu Talagbusao is the savage War God who has caused countless instances of death and destruction in a quest to end the world. Upon being summoned to meet his twin children, Talagbusao murdered their mother and tried to consume them, only being imprisoned again by the power of Lakan Anton Trese. Returning later to manipulate mayor Sancho Santamaria to terrorist activity, ripping his way out of his host General Villars, Talagbusao attempts to corrupt Alexandra Trese so they might end the world and destroy every living thing upon it, even enslaving his own sons to assist.
Mayor Sancho Santamaria is a crooked politician who murdered his mistress and then murdered her ghost as well. Having slums burned down to enslave the locals, he also tricks residents of lower income areas into "relocation", but all go to the same place: the markets of the Aswang, where the rapacious monsters will keep them caged and devour them while Santamaria profits. Returning in prison, Santamaria organizes a series of terrorist attacks across the Philippines, intending to see the nation burnt down so he may take control.
The Kambal, Crispin and Basilio. Fans are so enamored by the demigod twins upon the show's release that they trended on Twitter and prompted a wave of fanart and fan content. Local news sites took note of the attention the two are getting, too.
Maliksi, the tikbalang (humanoid horse demon) prince that races Trese in one case.
Estrogen Brigade: The series ended up becoming popular for female fans not only because of Trese being a compelling Action Girl but also the Kambal, who are attractive and badass in their own way.
I'm already watching the sequel, Katorse.Explanation The title being Trese (Filipino for "thirteen") has to led to jokes about other shows being sequels to Trese due to also being named for numbers in Filipino. The most common variant of the joke uses Katorse ("Fourteen"), a short-lived Filipino show from 2009-2010.
Oversized Choc-Nut when?Explanation Choc-Nut, ChocNut, or Choc Nut (unclear, as it's stylized Choc★Nut) is a milk chocolate candy bar popular in the Philippines since the 1970s, made with cocoa and crushed peanuts which gives it a signature choconutty flavor, and usually the individually wrapped pieces aren't much bigger than the square of a typical large solid chocolate bar, like Hershey's for instance. But after Alexandra was seen offering a similarly-sized large bar of Choc-Nut to Nuno in the first episode, fans of the confection were left salivating and began demanding it be Defictionalized. There's some Fridge Logic involved since Choc-Nut is also well-known for its crumbly texture, prone to falling apart as one unwraps it, which probably accounts for its small size. But this just adds to its appeal.
Mayor Sancho Santamaria represents the worst aspects of Filipino politicians where he burned down a squatter's area to make room for his infrastructure projects. Then, he provides shelters for the affected residents to make himself look benevolent in public but he's actually providing them as food to the aswang clan, who helped him deal with his enemies. When the captured residents call out for help from him, he ignores them completely and doesn't care that they're being slaughtered by the aswang.
Nova made her doctor friend abandon her baby to die in the woods and Nova later stabbed it to death when it came back as a Tiyanak. Alexandra considers her to be the true “Monster” not her Tiyanak child.
Nightmare Fuel: This series really shows the supernatural beings that Filipinos usually listen from their ancestors' stories truly exist and live among the humans.
What the aswang did to former residents from the burnt squatter's area is completely horrifying where most of them are locked up in cages and some are brutally slaughtered and eaten. When Trese enters the compound, she saw a little girl about to killed by the aswang. If she hadn't arrived on time, that poor girl would suffer the worst fate.
One-Scene Wonder: The Aswang Leader first seen in the flashbacks for episode five has received a lot of attention online considering he's the most attractive Aswang in the series, and has been appropriately named''Hot Aswang Leader'', the same can be said for the Manananggal leader that accompanies him.
Questionable Casting: Filipinos have criticized their dub for their flat delivery, particularly towards Liza Soberano as the titular character, the voice of Alexandra. It's suspected that Soberano was chosen due to the marketing power behind having a lead voiced by a Celebrity Voice Actor in addition to her ill-fitting delivery and accentnote Soberano was raised in the United States and still maintained an American accent even after launching her career in the Philippines, though it's been argued that her performance is justified due to Alexandra being The Stoic and that it gets better as the series goes on.
The death of Trese's mother, Miranda. When her mother tells her to hide in the cave, armed with the kris knife, Alexandra reluctantly complies. While in hiding, Alexandra is scared as she hears the noises of the aswang. After her father, Anton, finds her, they go out and sees Miranda dead. Then, Anton tries to shield his daughter's eyes from looking at Miranda's corpse. Do remember that Alexandra is eight years old at that time and she saw her mother's dead body.
Alexandra's reaction to her father's death is much worse. After getting out of the Balete tree, she saw that Hank is the only one who is waiting for her. Then, she learns from Hank that she's been in the tree for five years and her father passed away in that timeframe. And to make matters worse, he sacrificed his life to prevent anyone from going to the Balate tree. Because of this, Alexandra quietly mourns for her father while she takes a shower.
Sinag, Alexandra's stillborn twin whose corpse was crafted into a kris for her sister. Worsened when it turns out Sinag wasn't stillborn, but was killed by her own father, who feared she would fulfill the prophecy to end the world with Alexandra had she lived.
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The twist of Talagbusao revealing to Alexandra thatAnton murdered Sinag as a baby because she was going to become a prophesied mass murderer who will end the world with Alex as opposed to being a stillborn left a bad taste on many of the fans that have read the original comics. The depiction of Sinag in the anime is a complete 180° from the comics which is stated by the authors to be benevolent and the polaropposite to broody Alexandra and the fact that she even has a prophecy about her (in the comics, she's the only Trese child with no prophecies that the seers mentioned so far). This made many of the comic fans think that Talagbusao is most likely gaslighting and lying to Alex just to get her on his side.
Unconventional Learning Experience: The show got a lot of attention from non-Filipino viewers who became interested in Filipino mythology and folklore.
Watched It for the Representation: Filipinos worldwide have rallied behind the show as one of the first Filipino-centric cartoons presented on a global stage and one that focused on their mythology to boot.
took note of the attention the two are getting, too.