Group
Affiliation: The Mexican Gods, ally ofApollo, 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.
In an alternate reality, Tezcatlipoca was again usurped by Quetzalcoatl
who even took his arraignments of leadership.In this timeline, Quetzalcoatl,
possibly representing Itzamna, met with the godheads to discuss Seth,
who had conquered Asgard in this reality.
Height: 6' 0" Weight: 425 lbs. Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown
Strength Level: In his humanoid form, Quetzalcoatl possesses superhuman
strength enabling him to lift (press) almost 50 tons, but as Kukulcan, he has
Class 100 level strength enabling him to lift (press) well over a hundred
tons.
Known Superhuman Powers: Quetzalcoatl possesses the conventional physical
attributes of the Mexican Gods. Like all of the Coatli, he is exceptionally
long-lived, but not immortal like the Olympian gods. He has
not aged since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. He
is immune to all Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If he were somehow wounded,
his godly life force would enable him to recover with
superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a
major portion of his bodily molecules to cause him a physical death. Even then,
it might be possible for a god of significant power, such as Itzamna,
Tezcatlipoca or for a number of Mexican gods of equal power working together to
revive him. Quetzalcoatl also possesses superhuman strength and his Coatli metabolism
provides him with far greater than human endurance in all physical activities.
(Coatli flesh and bone is about three times as dense as similar human tissue,
contributing to the superhuman strength and weight of the Mexican Gods.)
Quetzalcoatl
also has mystical abilities greater than any other Mexican god with the obvious
exception of gods like Itzamna, Tezcatlipoca and possibly Tlaloc. He can
tap into and manipulate elemental energies to control the weather, enabling him
to create rain storms and control the wind to fly. He can teleport between dimensions
and sense differences in the atmosphere. He can also change and alter his form.
As
Kukulcan, Quetzalcoatl resembles a great golden serpent of great size. In this
form, he has far greater strength and invulnerability and can fly through the
air by means of two small wings. He still has all his mystical powers in this
form since it is obvious he could not fly by just the size of his wings as
Kukulcan. In this form, he can stretch himself to appear as tall as the sky and
coil around mountains to cause earthquakes.
Abilities: Quetzalcoatl is a beneficent and charismatic god capable of
great compassion.
Pets: Quetzalcoatl has great reverence for living things and is often
surrounded by a variety of animals including birds and serpents.
Comments: In Thor #301, Gaea
admitted to being Coatlique as well as Jord to the Asgardians and Aditi to the Hindus.This
makes Quetzalcoatl siblings with Thor, the Titans, and the Adityas (ancestors of the Hindu Gods).
Clarifications: Quetzalcoatl is not to be confused with:
Hernando Cortez, Spanish conquistador mistaken as
Quetzalcoatl by the Aztecs,
Kulkukan, aka Conan the Barbarian, referred
to by Metemhoc,
a native of Antilla, @ Conan of the Isles
Quetzalcoatlus, a prehistoric pterosaur of immense size
Tigre,
opportunist possessed by mystical Aztec object, X-Men I#25
