Panday (comics)
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The Panday (blacksmith in the Filipino language), whose real name is Flavio, is a fictional Philippine comics character created by Carlo J. Caparas and illustrated by Steve Gan. His adventures were serialized in the series Ang Panday in Filipino Komiks in the Seventies. The character took his place in Philippine pop culture when the comics were adapted to film. The most famous of these films starred Fernando Poe Jr. as Flavio and Max Alvarado as his archenemy Lizardo.
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[edit] Overview
After a meteorite falls from the sky, Flavio, a noble blacksmith, forges its ore into a dagger (balaraw in Filipino), which magically turns into a sword when he raises it and points to the sky. He uses this sword to fight the evil Lizardo and his supernatural minions, and other evil forces.
Flavio is a normal human and has no special powers or skills, except for his swordsmanship. He uses his magical sword to fight his supernatural enemies. The sword hums when danger is near and the dagger can cut through anything without resistance. The film Panday uses a shield on occasion, which is likewise forged from a meteorite.
Besides Flavio's love interest, he has a boy sidekick and an old hermit-like adviser. He wears a red vest and dark pants.
[edit] Influences
The character is probably named after Panday Pira, a historical blacksmith who lived in Pampanga. During the Spanish colonial period, Pira made cannons for an artillery foundry.
[edit] Other incarnations of the character
[edit] Films
After four films starring Poe, two films followed which continued the storyline of the original series. However, they seem to be independent sequels and do not share the same continuity.
- Flavio II — Dugo ng Panday (Blood of the Blacksmith) starred Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. as a descendant of Flavio who shares his name and Edu Manzano as the villain. This film was shown in 1993.
Centuries after the first Flavio's death, his descendant finds the balaraw because of his pure heart, and takes up his mantle as the Panday. Meanwhile, Lizardo's brain has been transplanted to an alien robot body (played by Manzano), while his head (still played by Alvarado) is preserved in a tank. Eventually, the new Panday destroys the robot and kills the head.
This Flavio was attired similarly; in addition he had a medallion bearing an image of a meteorite.
- Guiller — Hiwaga ng Panday (Magic/Mystique of the Blacksmith) starred Jinggoy Estrada as Guiller, a gunsmith, and Kris Aquino as Emily, his love interest.
As Flavio, the original Panday (presumably meant to be Poe's character; depicted as fighting the Japanese invaders in World War II) dies, he plants his magic sword in a wall, and only one with a clean heart and noble intentions may pull it out (much like the story of King Arthur). In the "present day" (presumably 1998, the year the film was released), Guiller, an expert gunsmith and protector of the poor, meets Emily after both are taken hostage by criminals. Guiller becomes the new Panday after he retrieves the balaraw and fights a kidnap-for-ransom gang. The sword is melted and reforged into a shotgun which fires bullets and stun rays. It turns back to a sword when needed.
Guiller wore contemporary casual clothes.
[edit] TV series
- Tristan — The Ang Panday TV series, which started airing in 2005, features a young new Panday named Tristan, played by Jericho Rosales, Heart Evangelista as Eden, his love interest, and Victor Neri as Lizardo. Philip Salvador plays a version of Poe's character who appears in the introductory episodes.
In this version Flavio forges his dagger and a church bell for his community from the meteoritic ore, and has a personal grudge against Lizardo, who murders his wife. After beheading his enemy, Flavio plants his weapon into the bell, and is taken up into the heavens. However, Lizardo's brain is still alive, and Tristan, a man from the present time, becomes the Panday in Flavio's stead.
Tristan and Salvador's Flavio were both attired similarly to Poe's Flavio.
[edit] Portrayals in other media
- Films
- Ang Panday original series:
- Ang Panday (The Blacksmith) (1981)
- Ang Pagbabalik ng Panday (The Return of the Blacksmith) (1982)
- Ang Panday Ikatlong Yugto (The Blacksmith, Part Three) (1983)
- Panday IV: Ikaapat na Aklat (Blacksmith IV: The Fourth Book) (1984)
- Dugo ng Panday (Blood of the Blacksmith) (1993)
- Hiwaga ng Panday (Magic/Mystique of the Blacksmith) (1998)
- Ang Panday original series:
- Television
[edit] Trivia
- Three actors who have played the Panday are connected with Philippine politics. Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada are currently members of the Philippine Senate, and Fernando Poe Jr. ran for president in the 2004 elections and officially lost. The elections were controversial due to allegations of cheating.
- Jinggoy Estrada and Kris Aquino, the leads of Hiwaga ng Panday, are children of former Presidents of the Philippines, of Joseph Estrada and Corazon Aquino respectively; the film was released in 1998, when Joseph Estrada was in office.
