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Alexandra Trese is the titular protagonist of the Filipino comic book and the 2021 horror/action animated adaptation of the same name. She is the private detective who serves as the current Babaylan-Mandirigma, the protector of humanity from the underworld. Occasionally, she assists Captain Guerrero in cases that involve the supernatural, and lends her help in solving crimes that involve supernatural creatures and humans.
In the animated adaptation, she is voiced by Liza Soberano in the Filipino version, and by Shay Mitchell in the English version.
Appearance[]
Alexandra Trese is a slender woman in her late 20s, with pale skin and dark brown eyes. Her black hair is cut in a bob with a fringe that droops slightly past her eyebrows. Over a black tank top, she usually wears a white cuffed black coat with white piping on its asymmetrical collar. The cloak has four distinct pairs of white frogs that streak across the cloak's width.
Powers & Skills[]
Trese is a guardian of the paths between worlds. Prophesied before birth and raised by prominent occultist/detective Anton Trese to be his replacement; she can be considered the premiere expert on all occult matters in the Philippines (possibly even all of SE Asia), and especially the mystical creatures that live there.
Her power is that of the Mandirigmang-Babaylan (Warrior-Shaman) and her martial skills rival her mystical abilities, especially when it comes to wielding The Sinag. Due to her education by her father and grandfather, a professor of antiquities, she is a master ritualist and has learned quite a few esoteric secrets. After undergoing the Trial of the Great Balete tree, she was given even more secret knowledge unknown even to her father.
Trese is also an excellent detective. She can examine a crime scene and usually piece together what happened, verifying her suspicions with divination.
Personality[]
Trese takes her duty very seriously; as she usually bears a cold and distant countenance, especially when on a case. Yet she also tailors her reactions to whomever she’s speaking with. Trese can be incredibly polite and respectful when appropriate.
She treats elders (especially supernatural ones) with great old-world courtesy, following every proper form. She can also be quite kind and gentle, especially when consoling someone who has been victimized by something they don’t understand and aren’t equipped to handle. However, with anyone (especially Aswang) who treats her with disrespect, Trese becomes a ruthless and callous person. Then she’s so terrifying she scares the things that go bump in the night (literally). When she encounters an Aswang that’s not scared of her, she makes sure it doesn’t make the same mistake twice.
She can be just as unforgiving as The Underworld to those who don’t mind their manners with her.
History[]
Childhood[]
Trese was raised assisting her father on his occult investigations. She learned his trade and how to deal with the varying tribes of Aswang and Encantos. The Duwende, especially, were impressed with her from a very early age. It had become her father’s habit to bring them gifts of chocolate (which they love) when dealing with them. Trese would give them higher quality (foreign) chocolate compared to her father, which convinced them of her good taste.
When she was not helping her father with investigations, she spent most of her time reading her grandfather’s books. She quickly mastered many rituals, and would hide in her room summoning various spirits such as Santelmo to speak with and to learn even more than her father and grandfather could teach her. While most people are told bedtime stories about magical creatures, she was told bedtime stories by the magical creatures who had lived them.
Trese and The Kambal[]
One investigation she helped her father with was the case of Talagbusao. It seems the deity of bloodlust and war had found a way of entering the Terro Mundo by possessing a warrior who had killed all the men at a battle (including his own). It was in this way that Talagbusao had ravaged (perhaps raped) a fierce rebel named Ramona. She gave birth to twins.
Talagbusao knew that to remain in this world permanently he would need to consume the heart of his son and absorb his power. When he discovered he had twin sons, The Kambal, he was delighted. He would consume both their hearts and become even more powerful. While Trese and her father managed to save the twins from their father, their mother was apparently killed in the conflict.
Becoming detective and protector[]
Trese turned her attention to the city in order to learn what had happened in her absence and establish her ties amongst the varying tribes. The Kambal became her bodyguards and to this day accompany her practically wherever she goes. She has inherited a great deal of knowledge from her father and grandfather, as well as a restaurant/café called The Diabolical. Considered a neutral ground amongst supernatural entities, she has turned it into a nightclub. She retained the services of bartender and barista Hank Sparrow, who has worked for her family as long as she’s been alive.
Captain Guerrero of the police soon began to call upon Alexandra much like his predecessor (who apparently died with her father) had called upon her father. Whenever he encounters something that the police can’t explain, or the only apparent explanation seems to involve old “aswang tales,” he calls Trese. She turns her powers of observation and her knowledge of the occult to protect the people of the city.