Imortal

Imortal
Title card
GenreDrama
Horror
Fantasy
Action
Romance
Created byABS-CBN Studios
Written byMark Duane Angos
Arah Jell Badayos
Directed byJerry Lopez-Sineneng
Trina N. Dayrit
Chito S. Roño
Richard V. Somes
Lester Pimentel (Stunt Director)
StarringJohn Lloyd Cruz
Angel Locsin
Opening theme"Walang Hanggan" by Yeng Constantino and Ney Dimaculangan
Country of originPhilippines
Original languageFilipino
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes148 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersCarlo Katigbak
Cory Vidanes
Laurenti Dyogi
ProducersJanina Elaine Maquidang
Myleen H. Ongkiko
Sackey Prince Pendatun
EditorBren John de Leon
Running time30-45 minutes
Production companyStar Creatives
Original release
NetworkABS-CBN
ReleaseOctober 4, 2010 (2010-10-04) –
April 29, 2011 (2011-04-29)[1]
Related

Imortal (lit.'Immortal') is a Philippine television drama horror-fantasy series broadcast by ABS-CBN. The series is sequel to Lobo.[3][4][5] Directed by Chito S. Roño, Jerry Lopez-Sineneng, Trina N. Dayrit and Richard V. Somes, it stars John Lloyd Cruz and Angel Locsin. It aired on the network's Primetime Bida line up and worldwide on TFC from October 4, 2010 to April 29, 2011, and was replaced by I Am Legend.

The series is streaming online on YouTube.[6]

Plot

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Prequel

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Imortal is a sequel to the 2008 ABS-CBN fantasy series, Lobo. The previous series also starred Angel Locsin and Piolo Pascual. However, Lobo story-wise only included werewolves without any reference to vampires. Locsin's character in Imortal is the daughter of her character in Lobo.[2][7]

Synopsis

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In 1572, a group of powerful beings arrived on Philippine shores. Known as vampires, drinkers of human blood, their menace quickly spreads throughout the land. But unknown to them, a powerful clan of shapeshifters also lives in the islands—a group of beings who can transform themselves into powerful wolves - the Taong Lobos.

The Taong Lobos were the humans' protectors, and together, the two species formed an army to destroy the vampires. The blood drinkers were no match for the Taong Lobos. One by one, they fell. Those who survive go into hiding. Peace prevails among the humans and Taong Lobos, and the memory of the vampires fades. Around this time, the Taong Lobos deal with a crisis of their own giving way to the events of the first series of this trilogy, Lobo.

Unbeknownst to them, the vampires lay dormant for a reason: to organize and fortify their numbers until they are ready. They hold a dangerous secret: a prophecy, foretelling an epic battle between vampires and the Taong Lobos that will ultimately decide the fate of their respective bloodlines. The battle will be led by a powerful vampire and a powerful werewolf who are each other's nemesis and downfall. The vampires believe they have found their prophesied savior and are now preparing for the war to come. Meanwhile, the Taong Lobos have grown complacent and know nothing about the prophecy.

With the stage set for an epic battle, two individuals: Mateo (John Lloyd Cruz) and Lia (Angel Locsin) find themselves drawn to each other. As they grow closer, they unknowingly awaken the powers that are lying dormant within them—the same powers that will inevitably tear them apart.

Episodes

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Season (s) Episodes Originally aired
Season premiere Season finale
1 97 October 4, 2010 (2010-10-04) February 15, 2011 (2011-02-15)
2 51 February 16, 2011 (2011-02-16) April 29, 2011 (2011-04-29)

Cast and characters

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Main cast

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Cast Character Summary
Lia R. Ortega-Rodriguez

The main female protagonist of the series. The youngest daughter of Noah and Lyka. She is the chosen one of the werewolves. Her ability as a werewolf can burn vampires using her hands when touched. She has stronger powers than her mother Lyka who bestows on her a special protection against vampires just before she dies.[8]

Mateo Rodriguez

The main male protagonist of the series. The son of Roman, the vampire and Ceres, a mortal. He is the first known child born out of such a union. He is the only human child who lives with the vampire community in his first seven years. His father wants to integrate him with the werewolf and mortal community, but his attempts at peace talks with Lyka fails because he is double-crossed by Magnus. He is later adopted by Simon Teodoro and grows up in the Teodoro household with Lucas, Simon's natural child. He is the chosen one of the vampires as he is the strongest vampire. He turns into a vampire after he dies in a battle against werewolves. He loves Lia and together with her defeats Magnus, Lucas and the Hybrid army.

Samantha Imperial

Starts out as one of the minor antagonists of the series, she switches allegiance to Mateo and Lia and becomes one of their strongest allies. She is the adopted vampire daughter of Magnus Imperial. Her mother is bitten by Magnus while pregnant in a desperate attempt to sire the chosen vampire. Magnus raises her as the anointed “chosen one”, mistakenly believing Barang's prophecy that the savior would come from his lineage.[9] Samantha grows up believing that she is the strongest vampire who would lead her clan in the battle against the werewolves and their Chosen One. She eventually learns that she is mistaken, and the "Chosen One" is Mateo. Samantha falls in love with Mateo and fulfills the third part of the prophecy, "the bite of pure love", by turning a dying Mateo into a vampire to save his life. She joins Roman's community of righteous vampires, betraying her own father, Magnus. She becomes one of Mateo's and Lia's strongest allies. Lucas injures her in battle through his venom, and she chooses to kill herself rather than become a hybrid.

Lucas Ungson Teodoro †

The main antagonist of the series. He is the son of Simon Teodoro and adoptive brother of Mateo. His mother is a fourth generation Ungson clan, one of the powerful clans of the Wayas. He becomes a hybrid after Magnus bites him. He builds an army of Hybrids that threaten all vampires, humans and werewolves.

Supporting cast

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Cast Character Summary
Abraham Villamor

Lyka's colleague at the Waya Council and Lia's surrogate father and guardian after Lyka died. He protects Lia from the abusive Head Guardian / Lady Sentinel (term for female Lord Sentinel) Lucille Zaragoza. His daughter Miriam is Lia’s best friend.

Lucille Zaragoza †

The main female antagonist of the series. Former head guardian of the Waya who succeeds Lyka after Lyka resigns following her family's assassination by vampires. She will do everything to keep the leadership of the Waya council, going as far as destroying Lyka's legacy as the last guardian. She strips the orphaned Lia of her privileged status and relegates her to a life of servitude. She abuses and torments Lia. At the end, she realizes her errors and joins Lia and Mateo's forces. She kills Magnus but dies in the process.

Magnus Imperial †

The main male antagonist of the series. The founder and leader of Club Sangre, an organization of evil vampires that aims to eliminate all werewolves to save their race. He is Samantha Imperial's adoptive father. He is Roman's enemy who sabotages Roman's peace efforts with Lyka. He kills Lyka at the surprise raid of Lyka's home.

Imelda Fontanilla †

The female antagonist of the series. She is Magnus' lover, who turns him into a vampire because she is in love with him. She turns against Magnus at the end of the series and joins Mateo and Lia's alliances.

Clarisse Zaragoza

One of the minor antagonists of the series. The daughter of Lucille and a member of the Waya council. She has an antagonistic relationship with Lia since childhood and is desperately in love with Mateo. She chooses to align with Lia when she realizes her mother's self-serving actions. She saves Mateo from the public execution her mother orders, and joins the Luna forces in the last battle against Magnus’ Force.

Lydia

A righteous vampire colleague of Roman. She served as Mateo’s foster mother during his childhood. She leads Roman's community and helps vampires transition from human blood drinkers to animal blood drinkers.

Johnny Revilla
Simon Teodoro

The owner of Simon Landholdings Inc. He is father to Lucas and adoptive father to Mateo, who rescues him from the streets. He trusts Mateo over Lucas.

Roman Rodriguez †

Mateo’s father. He is founder of the community of righteous vampires, who only drink animal blood. He attempts to reach out to Lyka to begin peace talks between vampires and werewolves as he believes they can peacefully coexist. He believes vampires don’t need human blood to survive and his community proves this possible.

Dara
The secretary of Mateo and the aunt of Olive.

Tabitha Matute †
Lia’s surrogate mother after she is orphaned. She is a black werewolf.

Miriam Villamor
The best friend of Lia and daughter of Abraham.

Leandro Baldemor
Enrico "Tikboy" Kabigting

Jethro’s father, a seer who is powerless with foretelling future events but he passes the genes to his son Jethro. He is also in Lobo as a child, played by Nash Aguas who could communicate with animals.

Jethro Kabigting

Tikboy’s son who becomes a powerful seer. He is the blogger who posted the upcoming prophecy. Olive’s best friend who falls in love with her. His feelings are hurt when Olive chooses Gael over Jethro in the grand opening of La Liga Unida, an organization for the peaceful friendship of werewolves, vampires, and mortals.

Olivia / Olive

Dara's niece and Jethro's love interest. Her first love is Jethro until she meets Gael who turns her into a vampire. She ends up having a mutual relationship with Gael.

Bryan Santos
Gael Mercado

A vampire ally of Magnus. He falls in love and has a mutual relationship with Olive. He switches his alliance to Lia and Mateo.

Vergara

A member of the Waya's werewolf army and Lia's friend. He becomes Clarisse's boyfriend.

Jessica Arceo

A member of the Waya's werewolf army, Lia's friend and Vergara's assistant.

Rocky Salumbides
Tom Moreno †

The vampire best friend of Samantha who is in love with her.

Guest cast

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Reception

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Ratings

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On March 7, 2011, it was moved to a later timeslot to give way to Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin. Because of this, the show's ratings dropped to an average of more than 20 million viewers nightly from having more than 30 million viewers.[10]

Launch

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Imortal was launched as part of the half-term show line-up by ABS-CBN, launched as part of the 60th Anniversary of Philippine Soap Opera.[11] The production of the series started In 2010.[7][12]

Promotion

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DVD

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The DVD series is internationally distributed to Volumes 1-13 containing all episodes.

Pangil: The teleserye-based RPG

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Pangil (fangs) is an online role-playing game created in relation to the television show and was released before the premiere of the series was launched. The role-playing game involves around the character of Samantha (played by Maricar Reyes in the series) and players instruct her on her quest as she defeats the enemies. The locations on the game were also based on real locations in the Philippines such as Intramuros, Quiapo and Binondo.[7][13]

The Hidden Chapters of Imortal: Anino't Panaginip

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A series of webisodes were also released on the official website entitled Anino't Panaginip (Shadows and Dreams). It consists of 5 minute long episodes that were unreleased on television and was released every week as the series premieres.[7][13] There are currently 24 webisodes.

Sequel

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A sequel to the Moonstone series entitled La Luna Sangre, starring Kathryn Bernardo, Daniel Padilla and Richard Gutierrez premiered on June 19, 2017. The sequel series was first revealed at the company's trade launch on November 22, 2016.[14]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result
2010 ASAP Pop Viewer's Choice Awards Pop Kapamilya TV Characters John Lloyd Cruz as Mateo
Angel Locsin as Lia
Nominated
2011 2011 Golden Screen TV Awards[15] Outstanding Performance Of An Actor in a Drama Series John Lloyd Cruz Nominated
Outstanding Performance Of An Actress in a Drama Series Angel Locsin Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Jake Roxas Nominated
25th PMPC Star Awards for Television[16] Best Drama Actor John Lloyd Cruz Nominated
Best Drama Actress Angel Locsin Nominated
Best Primetime TV Series Cast Nominated

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Allan Sancon. "Imortal will have an unconventional ending on April 29". Pep.ph. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Shira Mae Barbadillo admits she feels pressured to make 'Imortal' as successful as 'Lobo'". Abs-cbn.com. 29 August 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Shira Mae Barbadillo admits she feels pressured to make 'Imortal' as successful as 'Lobo'". Abs-cbn.com. 29 August 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Courtesy of ABS-CBN. "ABS-CBN stars have fun in the rain for the new station ID". Pep.ph. Archived from the original on 10 August 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  5. ^ "Shira Mae Barbadillo doesn't need to teach John Lloyd Cruz how to act in a fantaserye". Abs-cbn.com. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010. [dead link]
  6. ^ Imortal Full Episodes. YouTube. ABS-CBN Entertainment. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d Abs-Cbn. "Imortal depicts the battle between the Waya and the Sangre". PEP.ph. Archived from the original on 4 October 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  8. ^ "Imortal: Lyka bestows powers on Lia episode 4". Youtube. 14 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Imortal: Samantha as a child episode 5". Youtube. 14 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  10. ^ ABS-CBN claims leadership in nationwide figures, based on data from Kantar Media retrieved on October 12, 2010 via www.PEP.ph
  11. ^ Courtesy of ABS-CBN. "ABS-CBN stars have fun in the rain for the new station ID". Pep.ph. Archived from the original on 10 August 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  12. ^ "Angel Locsin admits 'Imortal' requires a lot of hard work". Abs-cbn.com. June 10, 2013. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  13. ^ a b 'Imortal' Official Trailer (via ABS-CBN). August 26, 2010. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  14. ^ Felipe, MJ. "WATCH: Kathryn, Daniel star in 'Imortal' sequel". ABS-CBN News.
  15. ^ Ricky Calderon (29 October 2011). "Golden Screen TV Awards nominees bared". pep.ph. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  16. ^ Rommel Placente (29 October 2011). "25th Star Awards for TV nominees bared". pep.ph.
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