A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Laura Watson Benedict’s collected Bagobo accounts place Buso in large branching trees and graveyards. In How to See the Buso, they excavate a newly buried body with their claws and consume its blood and flesh, leaving the bones. They gather with their children, and are usually invisible; a brief glimpse resembles a shadow. The story explains this separation through an ancient quarrel: Buso once helped humans avoid death, but after the conflict humans could no longer see them.

Other tales show different encounters within this category. In Buso and the Woman, a Buso attempts to impersonate a woman’s absent husband; she arranges for a comb to answer him while she escapes. The Buso’s Basket has a tree-dwelling captor carry children away in a burden basket. Their escape depends on replacing the children with stones. Benedict’s named Tigbanua and Tagamaling accounts distinguish types within the broader Buso category.

Tree dwellingsGraveyard feedingUsually invisibleFamily groupsImpersonation
01

Origins & earliest records

Philippines; Bagobo collected traditions

02

Records & interpretation

Directly read identified historical collection; narrative and collector classifications distinguished.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Bagobo Myths

    Laura Watson Benedict · 1913

    Bagobo Myths: How to See the Buso; Buso and the Woman; The Buso’s Basket; Journal of American Folk-Lore26:13–63

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Bagobo Myths

Bagobo collected traditions. Bagobo Myths: How to See the Buso; Buso and the Woman; The Buso’s Basket

Actual historical narrative read directly; no generic ethnic photograph substituted for creature illustration.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical collection / primary recorded narrativeBagobo Myths — Bagobo Myths: How to See the Buso; Buso and the Woman; The Buso’s BasketResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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