In addition to being a guardian of the mountain, some legends also identify Laguna de Bay—and the fish caught from it—as part of her domain.

The mountain's various peaks are said to be Maria's face and two breasts, respectively, and her hair cascades downwards a gentle slope away from her body.

[6] As for the word "Makiling", it has been noted that the mountain rises from Laguna de Bay "to a rugged top and breaks into irregular hills southward, thus 'leaning' or 'uneven.'"

[1] Lanuza describes her as having "light olive skin, long shining black hair, and twinkling eyes."

While in just a few stories either her skin or hair is white, in most tales, it is her radiant clothing which makes people who have seen her think that perhaps they just saw a wisp of cloud through the trees and mistook it for Maria.

[1] In some stories, this hut is situated in the village, among the people, where Maria Makiling lived before she fled to the mountains after having been offended for some reason.

It is said that Makiling has fallen in love with that particular man and has taken him to her house to be her husband, to spend his days in matrimonial bliss.

The wise Maria recognizes the symptoms as signs not of disease, but of hunger brought about by extreme poverty.

When Maria discovered that he had met, fell in love with, and married a mortal woman, she was deeply hurt.

Realizing that she could not trust townspeople because she was so different from them, and that they were just using her, she became angry and refused to give fruits to the trees, let animals and birds roam the forests for hunters to catch, and let fish abound in the lake.

[5] In another version of the story, told by the Philippines' National Hero, Jose Rizal, Maria falls in love with a farmer, whom she then watches over.

Spurned, Joselito and Captain Lara conspired to frame Juan for setting fire to the cuartel of the Spanish.

The diwata quickly came down from her mountain while Captain Lara and Joselito fled to Manila in fear of Maria's wrath.

This threat passed when a navy of fast boats sped through the Pampanga River, and the taga-ilog ravaged the land.

Apung Suku led men to dam the Pampanga River, reversing the flow and trapping the invaders.

Henceforth, Apung Suku was known as Ápûng Sínukuan (literally "to whom one submits" in Pampangan), preserving the memory that the taga-ilog dayang surrendered to him.

This reversed the historical Tagalog matriarchy, for now their dayang submitted to a Kapampangan chieftain with patriarchal trappings.

A common story is that of a group of hikers who leave their camp dirty with human waste and empty cans and bottles.

Acclaimed stage and screen actor and director Behn Cervantes relates a reverse version of this legend, during the launching program for the UP Alumni Association's Maria Makiling Foundation, an advocacy group formed for the protection and conservation of Mount Makiling:[12]During our launch, we had a hair-raising experience.

When the remarkable Dulce (singer) reached the climax of her song of praise to Nature, she raised her arms as though in veneration of Maria Makiling.

"Maria Makiling is a common theme among Filipino artists, ranging from painters and sculptors to graphic novelists.