José Rizal

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (Spanish: [xoˈse riˈsal, -ˈθal], Tagalog: [hoˈse ɾiˈsal]; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, author and polymath active during the twilight days of the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines. He is widely considered to be the national hero (pambansang bayani) in his native Philippines, though he is also well known as a man of many, many talents. An ophthalmologist by trade, he became a writer and a key member of the Filipino Propaganda Movement, which advocated political reforms for the colony under Spain.

He was executed by the Spanish colonial government for the crime of rebellion after the Philippine Revolution broke out; the revolution was inspired by his writings, which were banned by the colonial government for its criticism of authorities. Though he was not actively involved in its planning or conduct, he ultimately approved of its goals, which eventually resulted in Philippine independence.

• Ambiguous Situation:
  • Whether Rizal's alleged retraction of his scathing remarks towards the Catholic Church is authentic or not remains unresolved and thus a matter of intense debate especially in a predominantly Catholic country. Many historians accused the Church of fabricating the document, and nationalist historians as well as Rizal's brothers within the Freemasonry (whom the church has a long-standing beef with to this day) argued that his supposed rekindling of his faith with the Catholic Church would have meant that his rants at friars and Church authorities would have been All for Nothing, the narrative being that Catholic authorities desperately wanted to paint a different narrative surrounding Rizal's death even when Rizal outright exposed them as a corrupt cabal in his writings.
  • It was also alleged that Rizal retracted out of convenience so he could marry his common-law wife Josephine Bracken. Bracken later referred herself as Rizal's widow, which further complicated things; there is no evidence Rizal ever entered into a canonical Catholic marriage with Bracken, however.
• Badass Pacifist: Rizal sought to demand political and social reforms for the colony under Spain in a peaceful manner, but the friar bureaucrats who held the country's institutions by the neck were too riled up to care and demanded his prosecution due to his dissident activities.
• Bowdlerise: Even after independence, the Catholic Church in the Philippines expressed opposition towards legislation which made Rizal's novels mandatory for study at schools. Given the RCC's clout in the country, a compromise was made where only college students are required to read the novel in its full, uncensored glory and those at lower levels had to make do with the more watered down editions where most of the anti-Catholic criticism was excised or toned down.
• Cunning Linguist: Is conversant in twenty-two languages.^[1]
  • He smuggled out his final poem which he wrote in prison by hiding it in a miniature stove. The manuscript slipped passed the guards as he told his sister in English, "there is something inside." He also told her in English to check inside his shoes as well, but as his body was recovered too late, whatever it is that is in the paper in question (whether it's a repudiation of his supposed retraction or maybe just another copy of the poem is a mystery for the ages that will never be answered.
• Facing the Bullets One-Liner: Near-literally (as he was facing away from the firing squad) in his case when he quoted Jesus Christ in Latin, "Consummatum est" (It is finished/accomplished). This later served as an inspiration for the religious movements which deified Rizal post-mortem.
• Renaissance Man: Well known especially in his native Philippines as a polymath and a man of many talents, including poetry, sculpting, woodcarving and painting besides his career as an author and nationalist. He was an ophthalmologist by trade; he initially studied a preparatory course in law but shifted gears when his mother was losing her eyesight. Rizal's German friend Adolf Bernhard Meyer remarked his numerous skills and abilities as "stupendous".
• Shot At Dawn: Rizal was condemned to death and executed at 7 am the following day.
• Sobriquet: Is widely considered the Philippines' national hero (pambansang bayani), but no official proclamation or law has formalised this honour, which led to some controversy.
• Wrongfully Attributed: The poem "Sa Aking Mga Kabatà" (English: To My Fellow Youth) is often attributed to Rizal supposedly as a proof of the national hero's precocious talent, but is now believed to be a literary forgery. The phrase "One who does not treasure his own language is worse than a beast or a putrid fish" in the poem is often used to pressure Filipinos into solely using Tagalog, never mind the fact that there's a myriad other ethnolinguistic groups in the country and that Rizal himself is a polyglot. He did however write the poem "A la juventud filipina" when he was eighteen.

• Noli Me Tángere (1887)
• El filibusterismo (1891)
• Makamisa (unfinished)

Poetry:

• "A la juventud filipina" (1879)
• "Himno al trabajo" (1888)
• "Mi retiro" (1895)
• "Mi último adiós" (1896)

Anime and Manga

• A manga based on his life and eventual martyrdom was written by Takahiro Matsui and illustrated by Ryo Konno.

Film

As a Historical Domain Character, Rizal has appeared in countless biopics and period dramas set during the Spanish colonial era. Some of the films featuring Rizal are:

• Rizal sa Dapitan (1997), portrayed by Albert Martinez.
• José Rizal (1998), portrayed by Cesar Montano.
• Bayaning 3rd World (1999) - a mockumentary satirising and deconstructing various issues about Rizal, particularly his supposed retraction of his scathing criticism of the corrupt Spanish Catholic clergy, which may or may not have been a forgery. Also gained notoriety in recent years for this one scene where Rizal is seen running away from his executioners. Rizal is portrayed by Joel Torre.
• Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo (2014), portrayed by Jericho Rosales.
• A young Rizal appears in GomBurZa (2023), where he shows up as a witness of the execution of the three Filipino priests.

Live-Action TV

• Portrayed by Eric Quizon in the ABS-CBN educational series Bayani
• Portrayed by Jhiz Deocareza and Alden Richards in the 2014 TV series Ilustrado.
• The edutainment teleserye Maria Clara at Ibarra is largely based on Rizal's works but takes the form of a Portal Book series where a 21st century girl winds up in the universe of Rizal's novels after dozing off whilst writing an essay.

Religion and Mythology

• Rizal's literary works and martyrdom inspired a number of new religious movements across the country, collectively known as "Rizalistas". Rizalist adherents either believe that Rizal is either God himself, a reincarnation of Jesus Christ or a variation thereof.

Video Games

• Rizal appears as an unlockable secret character in the 1999 video game Medal of Honor.
• The character of Josie Rizal from Tekken 7 was made both as a nod to the national hero and the series' Filipino fanbase. Josie's inclusion in the game caused a bit of controversy when someone claiming to be from the country's National Commission for Culture and the Arts expressed their disapproval of the character; this was however debunked by the commission itself when they stated that they have not requested the deletion of Josie from the roster.
• The 4X strategy game Civilization VII features Rizal as a playable leader where he is voiced in his native Tagalog by Bryan Allan Encarnacion (who served as a Tagalog dubber for various Disney feature films).