A toyol or tuyul is an undead infant in

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

and Malay folklore. It appears in the mythology of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

and is invoked as a helper by shamans ( dukun or bomoh) by the means of black magic. The creature is used to rob people of their riches, which is similar in nature to Babi ngepet.

Names

The toyol is known by different names across Southeast Asia. The

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

word toyol is in

, in Javanese, and in

Sundanese Sundanese may refer to: * Sundanese people * Sundanese language * Sundanese script Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...

. It is known as ''cohen kroh'' in Khmer, and ''kwee kia'' in

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

. In

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

, the male is called '' kumarn-thong''. A similar creature exists in

Philippine mythology Philippine mythology is the body of stories and epics originating from, and part of, the indigenous Philippine folk religions, which include various ethnic faiths distinct from one another. Philippine mythology is incorporated from various ...

known as '' tiyanak''.

Appearance

The toyol is traditionally described as looking no different from a near-naked toddler. Modern depictions often give it a goblin-like appearance with green or grey skin, pointed ears, and clouded eyes.

In popular culture

Film

* Malik Selamat directed a 1980 Malay horror film '' Toyol'', starring Sidek Hussain and Mahmud June. * In Billy Chan's 1987 Hong Kong film ''Yang Gui Zi'' (roughly translated as "feeding a child spirit", also known by its English title ''Crazy Spirit''), a jewelry store owner, wishing to have an heir, travels from Hong Kong to Thailand to obtain a spirit baby from a Taoist master, who seals it in an amulet. The amulet, on its way to Hong Hong, gets lost in transit and is found by a woman trying to conceive a child. She accidentally cuts her finger, causing her blood to drip on the amulet and releasing the child spirit. * The 2011 Malaysian comedy film '' Alamak... Toyol!'' features a toyol as its plot device. * In the 2013 Singapore horror film ''

Ghost Child ''Ghost Child'' (; formerly called ''Inside the Urn'') is a 2013 Singaporean horror film directed by Gilbert Chan starring Chen Hanwei, Jayley Woo and Carmen Soo. The film revolves around a family fighting against the titular "Ghost Child" (a toy ...

'', a family is troubled by a toyol which arrives from Indonesia in an urn. * In the 2016 Indonesian horror film '' Tuyul: Part 1'', a new family moves into an old house of the wife's mother after she died. The husband finds a bottle hidden mysteriously underneath the broken wooden floor, which is home to a creature that could endanger them.

Television

* In season 1 of the HBO Asia Original horror anthology series ''Folklore'', episode 5 is titled "Toyol (Malaysia)" and features a toyol.

Other

* Drivers for

gig economy Gig workers are independent contractors, online platform workers, contract firm workers, on-call workers, and temporary workers. Gig workers enter into formal agreements with on-demand companies to provide services to the company's clients. In m ...

services in Southeast Asia, such as Grab and Gojek, use third-party grey market apps called "tuyul" to optimize their work experience.https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kvpng/delivery-drivers-are-using-grey-market-apps-to-make-their-jobs-suck-less The apps are so named because like the tuyul in folklore, they help earn money through potentially illegal means.

References

{{Mythology of Malaysia Indonesian legendary creatures Malay ghost myth Ghosts Malaysian mythology Jinn