Quetzalcoatl

Nahua feathered-serpent deity. Historia de los Mexicanos, chapter 1, places him among the four sons of Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacihuatl; chapter 7 gives him an unnamed son who becomes the sun. These are source-specific claims, distinct from accounts of the ruler Ce Acatl.

Parentage

Recorded default; alternative parentage accounts are listed separately below.

• parent: Ometeotl

Parentage accounts

Each account is a separate source claim. The parentage and children listed outside these accounts use the recorded default. Selecting an account in the interactive app updates its lineage, descent classification and inherited-power candidates. Linked pedigree accounts are selected together; other records retain their recorded parentage. Claims of ancestry are not proof of biological descent or attested powers.

• Historia de los Mexicanos, chapter 1: creator couple

  deity by descent in this account.

  • father: TonacatecuhtliHistoria de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas, chapter 1 (sixteenth-century account); Phillips 1883, pp. 616–617 (primary)
  • mother: TonacacihuatlHistoria de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas, chapter 1 (sixteenth-century account); Phillips 1883, pp. 616–617 (primary)
  Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas, chapter 1 (sixteenth-century account); Phillips 1883, pp. 616–617 (primary)

Children

• Solar son of Quetzalcoatl (Pinturas)

Children in alternative accounts

• Solar son of Quetzalcoatl (Pinturas): Pinturas chapter 7: father and explicitly no motherHistoria de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas, chapter 7; Phillips 1883, p. 622 (primary)

Names and tradition associations

• Tohil Maya · resolvedPopol Vuh, Christenson 2007 electronic edition, p. 215 and note 606: Tohil, Yolcuat Quitzalcuat and One Toh (primary)
• Q’uq’umatz Maya · resolvedChristenson, Popol Vuh (2007 electronic edition), pp. 50–51 note 20: Qucumatz and Quetzalcoatl comparison (secondary)
• Lord 9 Wind Mixtec · resolvedComparative navigation between the two recorded feathered-serpent portrayals. No parentage is transferred.H. B. Nicholson, Ehecatl Quetzalcoatl vs. Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl of Tollan (1979; reprint Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 59, 2020), pp. 213–220: imagery, ruler identification and Telleriano-Remensis fols. 8r, 10r–v (secondary)
• K’uk’ulkan Maya · resolvedDiego de Landa, Relacion de las cosas de Yucatan, section VI: Cuculcan and the foundation of Mayapan; Gates translation (primary)
• Ehecatl (Wind God) Aztec/Mexica · same recordMark Cartwright, Ehecatl, World History Encyclopedia (24 March 2017), Name and Associations and Creation Mythology (secondary)
• Ce Acatl Topiltzin (ruler narrative) Aztec/Mexica · resolvedHistoria de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas, chapter 1 (sixteenth-century account); Phillips 1883, pp. 616–617 (primary); Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas, chapter 8; Phillips 1883, pp. 622–624 (primary)

Variant accounts

• ehecatl-scopeEhecatl is recorded here as the wind aspect of Quetzalcoatl; the wind and Mictlan deeds do not automatically belong to the similarly named ruler Topiltzin.Mark Cartwright, Ehecatl, World History Encyclopedia (24 March 2017), Name and Associations and Creation Mythology (secondary)
• Distinction and fusion in colonial witnessesSome colonial witnesses distinguish the creator and ruler; others fuse their names and portrayals. Separate registry contexts preserve those differences.H. B. Nicholson, Ehecatl Quetzalcoatl vs. Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl of Tollan (1979; reprint Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 59, 2020), pp. 213–220: imagery, ruler identification and Telleriano-Remensis fols. 8r, 10r–v (secondary)
• source review correctionFeathered-serpent image; historical continuity with the named deity remains debated.H. B. Nicholson, Ehecatl Quetzalcoatl vs. Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl of Tollan (1979; reprint Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 59, 2020), pp. 213–220: imagery, ruler identification and Telleriano-Remensis fols. 8r, 10r–v (secondary)
• source review correctionFeathered-serpent imagery at Teotihuacan is not by itself proof of the later named deity.H. B. Nicholson, Ehecatl Quetzalcoatl vs. Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl of Tollan (1979; reprint Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 59, 2020), pp. 213–220: imagery, ruler identification and Telleriano-Remensis fols. 8r, 10r–v (secondary)

Domains

• wind
• creation and life
• priesthood and learning
• morning star venus

Powers

• Recreate humanity from ground bones and own blood
• Sweep the road and raise winds before the rains
• Bring cultivated maize to humanity

Epithets

• Ehēcatl nahuatl · Ehecatl'Wind', the wind-god aspect under which Quetzalcoatl was worshipped; he sweeps the road before the rain-godsSahagún, Bernardino de. Florentine Codex (General History of the Things of New Spain), Book 1, ch. 5; Book 7. Trans. Anderson & Dibble, School of American Research, 1950–82 (primary chronicle)
• Tlīltzin nahuatl · in Tlilpotonqui'the black, the besooted one' / 'feather-pasted in black' — priestly epithet of Quetzalcoatl as the Toltec high priest, in the huehuetlatolliSahagún, Florentine Codex, Book 3, ch. 3 (the Tula narratives); Book 6 (huehuetlatolli) (primary chronicle)

Relations

• iconographic comparison: Lord 9 WindShared iconography is a comparison, not proof of personal identity.Alfonso Caso, Reyes y reinos de la Mixteca (1977-79); Codex Vindobonensis Mexicanus I (Yuta Tnoho); Miller & Taube (1993) (secondary); H. B. Nicholson, Ehecatl Quetzalcoatl vs. Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl of Tollan (1979; reprint Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 59, 2020), pp. 213–220: imagery, ruler identification and Telleriano-Remensis fols. 8r, 10r–v (secondary)
• lover: MayahuelReciprocal of aztec_mayahuel.lover — Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl carried the maguey goddess down from the sky; they entwined as a forked tree.Histoyre du Mechique (primary)
• sibling: TezcatlipocaTwo of the four sons of the creator pair Tonacatecuhtli-Tonacacihuatl.Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas (primary)
• sibling: HuitzilopochtliBrothers among the four sons of the creator pair.Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas (primary)
• rival: TezcatlipocaCosmic antagonists whose alternating victories end the successive Suns.Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas (primary)
• rival: MictlantecuhtliMictlantecuhtli tried to trap Quetzalcoatl as he carried off the bones of past humanity.Codex Chimalpopoca (Leyenda de los Soles) (primary)
• killer of: TlaltecuhtliWith Tezcatlipoca he tore the earth-monster apart to form sky and earth.Histoyre du Mechique (primary)
• sibling: Xipe TotecReciprocal of aztec_xipe_totec.sibling — As the Red Tezcatlipoca, one of the four sons of the primordial creator pair.Miller & Taube, The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya (1993) (secondary)
• textual identification: KukulkanLanda VI reports Cuculcan’s worship in Mexico under the name Quetzalcoatl. The broader mechanism and chronology of cult diffusion are separate research questions.Karl Taube, The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan (1992), section on the Feathered Serpent (secondary); David Carrasco, Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire (1982) (secondary); Diego de Landa, Relacion de las cosas de Yucatan, section VI: Cuculcan and the foundation of Mayapan; Gates translation (primary)
• scholarly comparison: GucumatzChristenson note 20 compares names and feathered-serpent concepts; the K’iche’ creator retains its own narrative and family evidence.Dennis Tedlock, Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition (1996), glossary s.v. 'Plumed Serpent' (secondary); Allen Christenson, Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Maya (2003), notes on Q'uq'umatz (secondary); Christenson, Popol Vuh (2007 electronic edition), pp. 50–51 note 20: Qucumatz and Quetzalcoatl comparison (secondary)
• textual identification: TohilIdentification made by the Popol Vuh narrator at p. 215; it does not transfer parentage or all attributes.Popol Vuh (K'iche' text, c. 1550s), passage identifying Tohil as 'Yolcuat Quitzalcuat' among the Yaqui (Mexicans); trans. Christenson 2003 (primary); Dennis Tedlock, Popol Vuh (1996), notes on Tohil (secondary); Popol Vuh, Christenson 2007 electronic edition, p. 215 and note 606: Tohil, Yolcuat Quitzalcuat and One Toh (primary)
• distinct narrative context: Topiltzin Ce Acatl QuetzalcoatlNavigate between the creator deity in Pinturas1 and the Tollan ruler in Pinturas8; neither this link nor the shared name transfers parentage, powers or objects.Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas, chapter 1 (sixteenth-century account); Phillips 1883, pp. 616–617 (primary); Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas, chapter 8; Phillips 1883, pp. 622–624 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Sahagún, Florentine Codex, Books I, III, VI; Leyenda de los Soles (primary)
• Nahua feathered-serpent deity. Historia de los Mexicanos, chapter 1, places him among the four sons of Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacihuatl; chapter 7 gives him an unnamed son who becomes the sun. These are source-specific claims, distinct from accounts of the ruler Ce Acatl.: Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas, chapter 1 (sixteenth-century account); Phillips 1883, pp. 616–617 (primary); Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas, chapter 7; Phillips 1883, p. 622 (primary)