Lapulapu is known for the 1521 Battle of Mactan, where he and his men defeated Spanish forces led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his native allies Rajah Humabon and Datu Zula.

[6][7] Magellan's death in battle ended his voyage of circumnavigation and delayed the Spanish occupation of the islands by over forty years[8] until the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi which reached the archipelago in 1565.

The only existing primary source mentioning him by name is the account of Antonio Pigafetta, and according to historian Resil B. Mojares, no European who left a primary record of Magellan's voyage/vessel "knew what he looked like, heard him speak (his recorded words of defiance and pride are all indirect), or mentioned that he was present in the battle of Mactan that made him famous.

[5][2] Pigafetta's account of Magellan's voyage, which contains the only mention of Lapulapu by name in an undisputed primary source, exists in several variant manuscripts and print editions, the earliest dating to around 1524.

[12] This further became Cali Pulaco in the 1614 poem Que Dios le perdone (May God Forgive Him) by mestizo de sangley poet Carlos Calao.

In 2019, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines' National Quincentennial Committee, tasked with handling preparations for the 500th anniversary commemoration of Magellan's arrival, stated that Lapulapu without the hyphen is the correct spelling of the Mactan ruler's name, being based on Pigafetta's original spelling, which they took to be Çilapulapu (approximately rendered as "Silapulapu", not "Kilapulapu", in equivalent Philippine orthography).

[2] The Aginid chronicle, whose historicity is disputed, calls him Lapulapu Dimantag, for di-mataga ("cannot be hacked"), which is also the surname of a prominent family in Mactan.

152, officially calling to change the rendering of the Filipino hero's name from "Lapu-Lapu" to "Lapulapu", to conform with earlier references.

[20] Another is from the book Aginid, Bayok sa Atong Tawarik ("Glide on, Odes to Our History") published in 1952 by Jovito Abellana, which supposedly records the oral chronicles from the reign of the last king of Cebu, Rajah Tupas (d. 1565).

The chronicle records the founding of the kingdom of Cebu by Sri Lumay (also known as Rajamuda Lumaya), who was a half-Tamil and half-Malay from Sumatra.

He asked Humabon for a place to settle, and the king offered him the region of Mandawili (now Mandaue), including the island known as Opong (or Opon), hoping that Lapulapu's people would cultivate the land.

When Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines in the service of Spain, Zula was one of those who gave tribute to the Spanish king while Lapulapu refused.

[21] In the midnight of April 27, 1521, Magellan led a force of around 60 Spaniards and 20 to 30 war boats (karakoa) of Humabon's warriors from Cebu.

According to Antonio Pigafetta, they faced around 1,500 warriors of Lapulapu armed with iron swords,[note 1] bows, and "bamboo" spears.

Magellan and 49 of the heavily armored Spaniards (armed with lances, swords, crossbows, and muskets) waded ashore to meet Lapulapu's forces.

While this may have been true in the Islamic sultanates in Mindanao, the Visayan societies were structured along a loose federation of city-states (more accurately, a chiefdom).

But the island of Mactan, the dominion of Lapulapu and Zula, was in a location that enabled them to intercept trade ships entering the harbor of Cebu, Humabon's domain.

The Victoria continued sailing westward, commanded by Juan Sebastián Elcano, and managed to return to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain in 1522.

He also records the consumption of pork, dog meat, and palm wine (arak) by the Cebuanos,[21][40] as well as the common custom of penile piercings (tugbuk or sakra).

[18][31] The Oponganon-Cebuano oral tradition effectively disputes this claim, saying his father was Datu Mangal of Mactan, indicating that Lapulapu a native of Opong.

17 creating the Order of Lapu-Lapu which recognizes the services of government workers and private citizens in relation to the campaigns and advocacies of the President.

[51] The government erected a statue in his honor on Mactan Island and renamed the town of Opon in Cebu to Lapu-Lapu City.

A large statue of him, donated by South Korea, stands in the middle of Agrifina Circle in Rizal Park in Manila, replacing a fountain and rollerskating rink.

[54] That street and others in the immediate neighborhood were renamed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors with names derived from historical Filipino heroes on August 31, 1979.

Fisherfolk in Mactan would throw coins at a stone shaped like a man as a means to "ask permission" from Lapulapu to fish "in his territory".

Another urban legend concerns the statue of Lapulapu erected in 1933 at the center of the town plaza of Lapu-Lapu when the city was still a municipality with the name Opon.

The statue faced the old town hall, where mayors used to hold office; Lapulapu was shown with a crossbow in the stance of shooting an enemy.