The Panday (Filipino for smith) is a fictional Philippine comics character created by writer Carlo J. Caparas and artist Steve Gan.

In the 1970s, Carlo J. Caparas was thinking of a new comics adventure novel due to the wishes of his publisher Don Ramon Roces and then later he came up with a legendary folk hero named the Panday.

[7][5][1] The first comic stories do not contain fantastical elements and the Panday is just an ordinary blacksmith named Flavio who fights criminals by using his sledgehammer and a branding iron, marking enemies with an "X" akin to Zorro's Z.

[6] In the later stories, influenced by the first movie adaptation (which incorporated the Zorro-style mark in its first half), the Panday possesses a dagger that turns magically into a sword which he forged from a mystical meteorite.

[6] Caparas got the idea of the meteorite from his childhood where he and his playmates would find these kinds of rocks and break them open, revealing sparkling minerals that seem magical.

[8] The story of this comics was connected to the 2005 television series Panday aired at ABS-CBN and was still penned by Caparas but was drawn by Rico Rival and colored by Richard Bonzon.

[6] He forges its ore into a dagger (balaraw in Filipino), which magically turns into a sword when he raises it and points to the sky.

[6] Besides Flavio's love interest, recurring supporting characters in the franchise include a boy sidekick and an old hermit-like adviser.

[5] The Panday's initial enemies are ordinary bandits, criminals and soldiers and then later he battles supernatural beings including witches, ghosts, flesh-eating beasts and demons.

[7] Poe's Panday also appeared as cameo in other films including She-Man, Mistress of the Universe and Ang Pagbabalik ni Pedro Penduko.

[26] In 1993, Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr. headlined the film Dugo ng Panday ("Blood of the Smith") as a descendant and namesake of the original Flavio[27] and Edu Manzano as the antagonist.

[29][30][31] In the film, the Panday is absent and a stable boy named Pandoy became the new blacksmith and he gets rid of the pirates and white slavers led by villainous Redentor (portrayed by Joel Torre) who is terrorizing his town.

[7] A film in 1998 entitled Hiwaga ng Panday ("Mystery of the Smith") stars Jinggoy Estrada as Guiller, a gunsmith, and Kris Aquino as Emy, his love interest.

Mortally wounded after facing a criminal gang armed with automatic rifles, he was able to kill them nevertheless and plant his magic sword into the wall of a small chapel, and only one with a clean heart and noble intentions may pull it out.

[7] In the present day, Guiller, an expert gunsmith and protector of the poor, meets Emy after both are taken hostage by criminals.

[36] In 2011, a sequel, Ang Panday 2, was also shown in theaters as an entry of 2011 Metro Manila Film Festival, with the stars reprising their roles.

It features a young new Panday named Tristan, played by Jericho Rosales, Heart Evangelista as Eden, his love interest, and Victor Neri as Lizardo.

[49] The series is about the three young descendants prophesied to combat evil and preserve the Panday spirit by protecting the legendary sword.