Sumatra
Pangulubalang
Undead / Revenant Danger 3 of 5 · Frightening
- Form
- Bound boy-spirit in a statue/vessel
- Origin
- Toba Batak guardian spirit: the bound soul of a boy installed by a datu (priest) into a carved statue or vessel, kept as a village guardian and oracle. Documented in Batak ethnography (Tobing 1956; Warneck; Schuster 1975) and surveyed in a Met Museum collection essay.
- Behavior
- Guards the village, answers the datu's questions, and must be fed and honoured lest it turn restless.
- Deterrents and vulnerabilities
- It is a kept guardian, not an enemy; neglect is the danger, proper offering the management.
- Diet
- Non-consumptive
- Culture
- Toba Batak
- Region
- Sumatra
- Sampling
- Added in dataset v3–v5; first placed on a tree here.
Coded characters
◆ New entry coded by folklore synthesis. Sex: Unspecified.
| Human-like | Humanoid, witch, or human spirit |
|---|---|
| Sex | Male, unspecified, or variable |
| Death or birth origin | Death, childbirth, or infant origin |
| Incorporeal | Ghost, spirit, or undead |
| Flight | Grounded |
| Burial | None or weak |
| Children | None |
| Blood and organs | None |
| Theft and mischief | None |
| Hair or fur | None |
| Animal form | None |
| Detached head | None |
| Fire or light | None |
| Water | None |
| Forest | None |
| Settlement | Village, house, hospital, or road |
| Black magic | Black magic or witchcraft central |
| Widespread | Localized |
| Body plan | Humanoid spirit |
| Diet | Non-consumptive |
