Juan Dela Cruz

Juan Dela Cruz is the main protagonist of the 2013 Filipino titular series, Juan Dela Cruz and its midquel My Little Juan. He is the current tagabantay (lit.guardian) who protects the townspeople from the aswangs with the legendary Bakal na Cruz, an iron cross that can transform into various weapons. He has romantic interest with Rosario. Juan also works with the Kapatiran, an organization who also protects people from the aswangs.

Origin
Juan was raised as an orphan in a church by the parish priest, Fr. Ramoncito "Cito" Gonzales. He was loathed by the townspeople due to his temper except by the priest who he considers as his father. At some point the priest was killed by a thief and Juan ended up in Quiapo. Juan carried the values that his surrogate father taught him. According to Juan his mother died during childbirth and was clueless of his father's current whereabouts.

Unknown to him, his father is the "Haring Aswang" (Aswang King) and the prophesized "Anak ng Dilim" (Son of Darkness), destined to lead the aswangs to take over the whole human race.

Personality
As a child Juan was mischievous but goodhearted. He was misunderstood as a child by the townspeople, in one instance tried to "help" a man reanacting Christ's passion as penance by pouring alcohol to the man much to the anger of the later. His classmates either bullies him or were told to stay away from Juan due to his delinquent behaviour. He was also branded as "Son of the devil" due to instances that he exhibits his superhuman abilities.

As a young man, Juan was a care-free, good-spirited and simple man. He also has a good sense of humor and retained some of his michievousness, often jokes around even to the point of taunting the Haring Aswang with an altered voice through a cellphone call. Through his experiences of being tagabantay though, he is gradually learning he should be more serious of his responsibilities.

Powers and Abilities
As a half-aswang he has above average agility and strength. He is also being trained by the Kapatiran in various fighting skills like Martial Arts. He has an ability to leap great heights, has keen senses including an acute sense of hearing, sight and smell which are further enhanced when night-time falls, typical of aswangs. He can also run at tremendous speeds and chase vehicles on foot. He is also a skilled warrior and was often seen being able to kill groups of aswangs all by himself together with the Bakal na Krus. And his strength is above normal as he is shown being able to go toe-to-toe against a stronger, more fiercer version of Kael.

Being a half-aswang/human hybrid means Juan is naturally immune to typical weaknesses of aswangs such as Holy-Water and Garlic. He also doesn't need to eat human flesh in order to survive. These traits are similar to a Vampire Dhampir eg. Alucard of Castlevania Symphony of the Night and Blade of Marvel Comics.

Weapons
He wields the Bakal na Krus, an iron cross that can transform into different types of weaponry and can have devastating effects on aswangs. The following are namely the 5 Weapon Types that the Bakal na Krus can transform to. The 5th weapon form that was recently unlocked suggests that the Bakal na Krus might have more hidden weapon forms that were not mentioned in ancient documentations kept by the Kapatiran.
 * 1) The Espada ng Katapangan (Sword of Bravery), the first and default weapon form of the Bakal na Krus. It symbolizes Datu Mangaraw's bravery. This is the most commonly used weapon form by Juan.
 * 2) The Pana ng Kagitingan (Bow of Wisdom), the second weapon form. With the help of the Kapatiran and the Engkantada Princess Mirathea who helped him in archery and a aswang kid named Tonton who had a change of heart he unlocked the next weapon of the Bakal na Krus.
 * 3) The Latigo ng Katarungan (Whip of Justice) is the third weapon form of the Bakal na Krus. Juan unlocked the weapon by shunning revenge and upon sparing Santana in a fight to rescue Princess Mirathea.
 * 4) The Sibat ng Kagitingan (Spear of Valor) is the fourth weapon form of the Bakal na Krus. It is unlocked by Juan when he was challenged to choose to kill Pepe, who begs to be killed when he became an aswang, to fullfill his duty as the Tagabantay. At first Juan, hesitates but he finally yet relunctantly killed Pepe with the spear to fullfill his duty.
 * 5) The Kalasag ng Angking Galing (Shield of Skill) is the fifth weapon of the Bakal na Krus. In the history of tagabantay from Datu Mangaraw, only Juan unlocked the fifth weapon. It was unlocked when Juan encountered the group of aswang on a pier.