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Lista sa tubig ng isip

PALISTA lang ‘to ng anak…para sa Facebook-- 15 tauhan na kumintal sa isip, kumimpal sa lirip… the composite of characters that becomes seething ruthlessness, promethean patience and dedication…

1. Frank Bok, a character in Larry Alcala's "Kalabog and Bosyo" komiks series... he's a hunter who always brings to civilization quaintly comic species of plants and animals.

2. Perseus, demigod slayer of Medusa... saw a litograph print in Camilo Osias's "The Philippine Readers."

3. Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi Hunter in Ira Levin's "The Boys from Brazil." He's for real, though, and he's been scouring the far reaches of earth to bag his quarry.

4. Batman, the only superhero with no super powers-- just cutting-edge skills in jujutsu, kalaripayat, and Tibetan boxing.

5. Gandalf, the wizard in J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

6. Popeye really nudged me into eating vaginas, oops, veggies and shunning burgers which, as the cartoon says not so subtly, is for a Wimpy.

7. Dr. Hannibal Lecter for his skillful use of gryphon's claw, a short curved blade meant for the femoral and carotid arteries... such surgical precision in effortless killing.

8. Johnny Rico-- Pinoy siya at lumalabas na mula Nueva Ecija-- the Tagalog protagonist in Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" which was a treatise on what mettle it takes to be a citizen.

9. The ugly-looking female heroine in the 1960s komiks novel “Mga Balahibong Nangangalisag” (forgot the author and illustrator) who unleashed a gargantuan leech whenever she does bank heists... masaya pala talaga ang biological warfare.

10. The scientist in Frank Herbert's "The White Plague" who unleashed the virus that nearly decimated earth's female population... vengeance on a globe-sweeping scale after he lost his family in a terrorist attack... so methodical in madness.

11. “Herbert West, The Re-Animator...” so intently absorbed in his research on what constitutes life which is a recurring theme in most of Howard P. Lovecraft's tales and novels.

12. Tarzan in Pellucidar, the only instance when he had to stifle thoughts (pterodactyl-like predators heard thoughts as if thinking is broadcast in humongous sound blasters thus leaving every thinker vulnerable to attack). Mushin-- to think/speak with sheer instinct and from the heart. Ah, this is a reminder that we think lots and feel so less... kaya maraming manhid.

13. The Gary Cooper character in "High Noon" who fights off and does in apocalypse's four horsemen... tindi!

14. “Ambrose Dugal,” another 1960s komiks novel... here's a vampire who sucks out the life force of every female she gets to bed... every victim turns into a doddering dead senile... look, no fangs, no blood... just sheer force of psychic will.

15. Tintin, vintage 1920s journalist seeker of secrets and unraveler of mysteries.

Uh, here’s character profiling… Bruno Bettelheim’s life-script now goes by the term NLP— neurolinguistic programming. Here’s looking at you, kid… in the mirror.

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