Sponsored by

QUETZALCOATL

Real Name: Quetzalcoatl

Occupation: God of sun, wind, wisdom and culture, Patron god of Tollan (Modern Tula). former ruler of Teotihuacan

Legal Status: Citizen of Xibalba

Identity: The general populace of earth is unaware of the existence of Quetzalcoatl except as a mythological character. He is well known in Mexico.

Other Aliases: Ehecatl (the god of wind), Kukulcan (Mayan name), The Green-Feathered Serpent, The Plumed Serpent

Place of Birth: Mount Coatepec, located somewhere in modern Mexico

Marital Status: Married

Known Relatives: Mixcoatl (father), Gaea (mother, alias Coatlique), Hurakan (foster father), Xolotl (twin-brother), Chalchihuitlicue (wife), Quetzalpetlatl (daughter), Nanauatzin (son, deceased), Huitzilopochtli, Thor, (half-brothers), Coyoxauhqui (half-sister), Tezcatlipoca, Xipe Totec, Camaxtli (uncles), Ahpuch (cousin)

Group Affiliation: The Mexican Gods, ally of Apollo, Horus, Indra, Shango, Tawa, and Thor

Base of Operations: Xibalba, formerly Celestial Teotihuacan ("City of the Gods"), also Mexico City

First Appearance: (as Kukulcan) X-Men I#25, (as Quetzalcoatl) Thor Annual#10

History: Quetzalcoatl is the son of Mixcoatl, a member of an extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Coati who were worshipped as gods by the Aztecs and Mayans. Mixcoatl had seduced the earth-goddess Gaea in her role as Coatlique, the Aztec mother-earth, and Gaea gave birth to three known children by him known as Quetzalcoatl, Quetzalpetlatl and Xolotl. He has been connected to the older wind-god, Hurakan, son of Itzamna, who might have been his foster father or mentor.

Mixcoatl was brother to Camaxtli, Xipe Totec and Tezcatlipoca and each of them represented a cardinal point of creation in the ancient calendar of the Aztecs and the Mayans, each of the them had a point on the celestial compass and a corresponding color. Tezacatlipoca was the black god of the north, Mixcoatl was the white god of the west, Camaxtli the red god of the east and Xipe Totec, the blue god of the south. Queztalcoatl overthrew his father's position in this hierarchy as did his half-brother and cousin, Huitzilopochtli, who replaced his father Camaxtli. The rain-god, Tlaloc, a supporter of Tezcatlipoca, replaced Xipe Totec. In later myths, Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc were often confused as brothers.  

As Kukulcan, Quetzacoatl was one of the Mayan gods of Ancient Mexico until around 800 AD when the Aztec Empire first began to grow in importance and began assimilating all the smaller races of the Yucatan. Tezcatlipoca took the head of the newer pantheon out of the ashes of the Mayan race and many of the Mayan gods served roles in both cultures. Quetzalcoatl, however, supported Itzamna, Ruler of the Mayan Gods, as Tezcatlipoca demanded blood sacrifices from the Aztecs. Tezcatlipoca hated the young god for his loyalties to the older heritage and the two warred for centuries. Quetzalcoatl was actually able to depose Tezcatlipoca and, after changing him into a jaguar, dumped Tezcatlipoca into the ocean.  During his rule, Quetzalcoatl tried to turn the Aztecs away from committing blood sacrifices, but he was in turn deposed by Tlaloc, the water-god, working for Tezcatlipoca. Tlaloc's wife, Chalchihuitlicue, however, deposed Tlaloc and replaced him on the throne of Teotihuacan with Quetzalcoatl as her new husband. 

Quetzalcoatl and Chalchihuitlicue had two children, a son named Nanautzin and a daughter whose name is unrevealed. According to myth, Quetzalcoatl cast his son Nanautzin into flames and he emerged reborn as a sun-god. Tlaloc did also tossed his son, Tecciziecatl, into the flames as well. Because Tecciziecatl didn't shine as bright as Nanautzin, he became the moon-god instead.

Tezcatlipoca, however, eventually returned to Teotihuacan posing as a peasant named Toueyo in order to overthrow Quetzalcoatl and once again seize power for himself. His appearance so dismayed Quetzalcoatl's daughter, Quetzalpetlatl, that he called upon Toueyo to calm her not realizing that Toueyo was Tezcatlipoca in disguise. Tezcatlipoca instead took Quetzalcoatl's daughter to bed and became his son-in-law and heir. From behind these auspices, Tezcatlipoca carried out several misfortunes to oust Quetzalcoatl from power. With very few followers left to him, Quetzalcoatl was forced to flee Teotihuacan and Tezcatlipoca once again regain his throne.

Quetzalcoatl and his followers fled to Anahuac, the home of his ancestors. Tezcatlipoca, however, sent demons to terrorize him en route. Some of the demons convinced Quetzalcoatl that they would only stop terrorizing him if he sampled their wine. It was then that Tezcatlipoca once again became involved by impersonating a god named Titlacauepan and introduced Quetzalcoatl to wine, making him so drunk that he raped his own daughter, Quetzalpetlatl. By tasting wine, Quetzalcoatl had broke one of his priestly vows. Tezcatlipoca revealed to Quetzalcoatl in his smoking mirror that he had become an aged decrepit man as a result of his degradation. Taking his true form as the feathered-serpent, Kukulcan, Quetzalcoatl fled, forcing himself into self-imposed exile promising to return in a certain number of years.  

In 1518, Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez landed in Mexico and was welcomed by King Montezuma II, mortal ruler of the Aztec Empire. They confused Cortez as the returning Quetzalcoatl, and Cortez used the confusion to more better conquer the Aztecs for their gold and land. The Aztecs belief that Cortez was their returning god made it that much more easier for the Spanish Conquistadors to conquer the Aztec Empire in the name of the Spanish Government.

Despite his absence from earth, Quetzalcoatl was still worshipped by a tribe known as the Apaco, who were deceived in modern years by a American opportunist named Jim Derry into obeying a phony statue of Kukulcan given voice by Derry's men so that he could steal their treasures, but Derry was exposed by the Atlantean woman named Namora who revealed the nature of the deception to the Apaco. A treasure hunter who called himself El Tigre meanwhile found and located the two halves of the Sacred Pendant of Kukulcan, one in the Pyramid of Kukulcan in the Central American jungle and the other at the City Museum in New York).  When he joined the two halves together, El Tigre was overcome by and transformed into a mortal reincarnation of Kukulcan. He then also set out to find the Solar Stone, a large gem set in the Feathered Serpent idol in San Rico, to increase his power. Clashing against the X-Men, Quetzalcoatl appeared on earth as Kukulcan and knocked the Feathered Serpent idol into a large chasm, causing El Tigre's powers and essence to fade and return him to his normal form.

Sometime later, Quetzalcoatl was sent by Itzamna to aid Thor and many other gods against the menace of Demogorge the God Eater, who had been raised from the dawn of time by Ahpuch and the death-gods of other pantheons.  Unable to affect the entity in battle, Quetzalcoatl was consumed with the death-gods as well as with his allies but was freed when Thor caused a shift in the creature's palate. Becoming Atum once more, his true being, Demogorge released Quetzalcoatl as well as all of the other swallowed immortals.  

Quetzalcoatl was later returned to earth by the Olympian god Phobos. Working for the sorceress Circe (not to be confused with the goddess with that name), Phobos used a mystic gem contained in Superman's Fortress of Solitude to unleash Quetzalcoatl upon earth as Kukulcan. Controlled by Circe, Quetzalcoatl became convinced that Superman was a servant of Tezcatlipoca but realized he had been deceived after watching the Man of Steel risk his life to save the people of the small Mexican republic of Tattamalia. To undo the damage he had done, Kukulcan ascended into the sky to create rain and then returned to Xibalba as Quetzalcoatl once more.