Ahuizotl

### Occupation

Huey Tlatoani ("Great Speaker"/Emperor) of Mexico-Tenochtitlan and leader of the Triple Alliance

## Appearances

### Debut

Codex Black - Chapter 4 (in a vision)

**Ahuizotl** ("Water Thorny") is the 8th Mexica Emperor of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, considered the greatest conqueror of his time due to his military prowess. He is the most powerful man of the entire Cemanahuac and inflicts both fear and respect in allies and enemies alike.

## Name

**Ahuizotl** is a Nahuatl name that literally means "Water Thorny", although it is also the name of a fantastical water monster that drowned people, from *atl*: "water", and *huitzo*: "thorny", "that has thorns".

His calendar name is **Chicome Ocelotl** (7-Jaguar), in the *Tonalpohualli* sacred calendar. (This is fictional, as Ahuizotl's true birth date is unknown).

## Character

### Appearance

Ahuizotl wears a stylized interpretation of a *Huey Tlatoani*'s traditional attire. The usual outfit of the Mexica emperor was predominantly blue, but in *Codex Black*, Ahuizotl's color palette is mainly a combination of blue and red, iconographically water and blood, although it also alludes to the concept of *in atl in tlachinolli* ("the water, the fire") which is a metaphor of war, as Ahuizotl is often described as a tyrant addicted to war.

He displays the *xiuhuitzolli*, a turquoise crown reserved for rulers, as well as a golden disk on the back of his head with red macaw feathers that somehow resemble blood splashes.

His *tilmatli* or cape is based on the *xiuhtlalpiltilmatli*, the traditional blue cape of the Mexica emperors, but Ahuizotl's upper half is red and emulates a blend of blood and water streams. It also has a representation of an ahuizotl, the water monster after which he is named.

Ahuizotl's flamboyant attire, including his unorthodox spiky haircut, contrasts with those of his officials' which are more closely based on what is shown in historical records. This is an expression of his outgoing and flashy personality, but also the feathers and spike motifs remind of the "thorny" part of his name.

### Personality

Ahuizotl is a complex character, both in history and fiction, often identified by his singular closeness to his warriors and a predilection for talent, feats and courage over the noble origin of each individual. This last characteristic has been often contrasted by scholars with Motecuhzoma's predilection for those of noble lineage to run his administration during his reign.

All in all, the Emperor is shown to be a whimsical and unorthodox ruler, holding in little regard certain rules and customs, much to his nephew's dismay. However, his military genius and overflowing charisma make him an emperor loved by his people, despite his shortcomings. The quick restoration of the empire's authority after the failures during Tizoc's reign, soon dissipated any clouds of doubt upon Ahuizotl's election as the new Great *Tlatoani*.

A description of Ahuizotl's character by Francisco Javier Clavijero closely illustrates the emperor's personality as it is depicted in *Codex Black*:

> [Ahuizotl] was an avid warrior and one of the kings who most expanded the dominions of his crown. [...] In addition to courage, he had two other royal virtues that made him famous among his nationals, which were magnificence and liberality. [...] When he received the tributes from the provinces, he gathered the people in certain places and personally distributed food and clothing to those in need. To his captains and soldiers who excelled at war, and to the ministers and officials of the crown who served him faithfully, he rewarded them in gold, silver, precious stones, and rich plumage. These virtues were darkened by other defects, because he was capricious, vengeful, perhaps cruel, and so addicted to war that he seemed to abhor peace. [...] He was, on the other hand, of a good humor and was delighted so much by music that neither day nor night was there a lack of said entertainment in the palace, which could not be without prejudice to the public good, because it necessarily stole much of the time and attention he was to employ in the government of the kingdom.
>
>

In the comic he's also described as a festive soul, and this is seen through his hospitality towards Itzcacalotl, as well as his greeting to Tliltototl, encouraging him to celebrate his birthday which just passed, all this in the middle of a military campaign. Historical sources indeed point out that during his reign, celebrations in the capital became more opulent than ever, and even though his military prowess lead the empire to expand to never seen frontiers, the expenses of the court increased as well.

Ahuizotl **despises cowardice**, and encourages his subordinates to have more confidence in themselves.

# Trivia

* Ahuizotl was the last Mexica Emperor who died before the contact with the Europeans.
* Most historical sources state that Ahuizotl's cause of death was an injury he received when he struck his head on the lintel of a door, while fleeing from a flood he provoked in Tenochtitlan. However, this is most probably a later invention that has little to do with reality. The flood after which Ahuizotl allegedly hit his head took place in 1498, but he died in 1502, so it's hard to say that it was said injury what killed him 4 years later. Even more, the story of the accident seems to have been taken from the case of King Charles VIII of France, who precisely **died in 1498 after he struck his head on the lintel of a door**. Historian Michel Graulich pointed at this coincidence to expose how sources must be "distrusted", as they tend to spice their stories with European motifs. Alternatively, friar Diego Durán states that Ahuizotl's cause of death was a fatal illness, which he would have contracted during his last campaign in the faraway land of Xoconochco.
* Probably one of the most beloved rulers of Tenochtitlan by his people, Ahuizotl has been often shown in a negative light by historical sources, perhaps in an attempt to darken his image. Among the early authors who sustain Ahuizotl's pitiful and even comical cause of death by the door lintel, is Fernando de Alva Ixtlixochitl, descendant of the royal house of Texcoco who is known for having a clear bias in his works against the Mexica, while holding his ancestors in a very high regard. Another episode for which Ahuizotl is remembered is the inauguration of Tenochtitlan's Main Temple's expansion in 1487, ceremony for which Spanish chroniclers stated that he sacrificed between 20,000 and 80,000 captives. However, most historians agree that these numbers were outrageously inflated, and this has contributed to depict Ahuizotl as a bloodthirsty, cruel tyrant. It's true that under his rule the empire expanded more than ever, in detriment of the nations conquered by the Triple Alliance, but Ahuizotl was most surely far from being the monster that history has made him to be.

# Gallery

Ahuizotl as seen at the end of Chapter 4 (color version)He has a scary sideAhuizotl commands users to read Codex Black. "Emperor of the world" was one of the epithets for the Mexica Emperor.Ahuizotl threatens users to read the comic.
1. ↑ Clavijero, Francisco Javier. *Historia Antigua de México*. Mexico: Porrua, 1964. p. 124. [Translated from Spanish]
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles\_VIII\_of\_France
3. ↑ Graulich, Michel. *El sacrificio humano entre los aztecas*. Mexico: FCE, 2016. p. 32.
4. ↑ Durán, Diego. *Historia de las Indias de Nueva-España y islas de tierra firme*. Volume 1, Chapter 51. Available at: http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/historia-de-las-indias-de-nueva-espana-y-islas-de-tierra-firme-tomo-i--0/html/514896e8-f194-46bb-95fc-ff8cca6a87ea\_420.htm [In Spanish]