He’s the chief deity of the Aztecs, a formidable War God who blazes away in the sky.

Huitzilopochtli was born of Earth Mother Coatlicue after she was impregnated with a ball of feathers. Sadly they both missed out on the mother-child bonding process, as she was decapitated by a host of evil villains before he was born.

When he finally burst from her womb, he was armed to the teeth and ready for action. Hearing nasty family gossip about his mother, he discovered that his own sister and brothers were responsible for murdering his mom. So, teaming up with a fire serpent, he went on a murderous rampage.

His brothers (who went under the catchy name of Centzonhuitznahua) just happened to be the stars. It took a while, but he killed all four hundred of them. His step-sister Coyolxauhqui was next. She was given a head start in her new career as Moon Goddess — sans body.

Huitzilopochtli went on to become the fiercesome Warlord of the Aztecs. Mascot: a humming bird. Team colors blue and yellow. His followers adored him. He stole their hearts away. Up to 70,000 hearts could be sacrificed in one go.

Keep your eyes open — if you spot an eagle carrying a snake, it could be him. In which case you may find yourself unexpectedly founding a new Aztec nation. Best to double-check. Is the eagle perched on a cactus? Then it’s probably him. Our advice is not to get involved. Walk away. Pretend you haven’t seen him.

Meanwhile, conflicting reports suggest that Huitzilopochtli is really the Sun God son of Ometecuhtli and a nice friendly Creator of Life and Vegetables. Bit of an identity crisis there. But one thing’s for sure, under the name Mexitl, he became the Top God of Mexico.

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Article last revised on April 09, 2019 by Rowan Allen.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders

References: Coming soon.

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