Tezcatlipoca Facts for Kids

Tezcatlipoca in an ancient book called the Codex Borgia.

For other uses, see: Tezcatlipoca (disambiguation).

Tezcatlipoca was a very important god in Aztec mythology. His name means "Smoking Mirror" because he was linked to obsidian. Obsidian is a dark, glassy rock that the Aztecs used to make mirrors. These mirrors were sometimes used in special ceremonies.

Tezcatlipoca was connected to many things. These included the night sky, the wind, and even hurricanes. He was also linked to the north, the Earth, and ideas like friendship, arguments, and leadership. People believed he could see the future and was involved in magic, beauty, and war.

He had many different names, showing his different powers:

Titlacauan ("We are his Slaves")
Ipalnemoani ("He by whom we live")
Necoc Yaotl ("Enemy of Both Sides")
Tloque Nahuaque ("Lord of the Near and the Nigh")
Yohualli Èecatl (Night, Wind)
Ome acatl ("Two Reed")
Ilhuicahua Tlalticpaque ("Possessor of the Sky and Earth")

When artists drew Tezcatlipoca, he usually had black and yellow stripes on his face. Often, his right foot was replaced with an obsidian mirror or a snake. This is because of a story where he lost his foot fighting a monster. Sometimes, the mirror was shown on his chest, with smoke coming out of it. His special animal was the jaguar. When he appeared as a jaguar, he was called Tepeyollotl, which means "Mountainheart".

Tezcatlipoca's story is very old. Similar gods were worshipped by the Olmec and Maya people long before the Aztecs. For example, the K'iche' Maya had a god named Tohil. His name meant "obsidian," and he was linked to sacrifices. Another Maya god, K'awil, was shown with a smoking obsidian knife on his forehead and a snake for a leg. These older gods share many features with Tezcatlipoca.

Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl
Related gods
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Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl

Tezcatlipoca was often seen as a rival to another famous Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl. They were like opposites in many myths.

In one Aztec story about how the world was created, called the "Myth of the Five Suns":

Tezcatlipoca ruled the first world, "The Sun of the Earth." But Quetzalcoatl destroyed it by defeating Tezcatlipoca, who then turned into a jaguar.
Quetzalcoatl then ruled the next world, "Sun of Water."
Later, Tezcatlipoca destroyed the third world, "The Sun of Wind," by defeating Quetzalcoatl.

In other myths, four gods created the world. These were Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, and Xipe Totec. They were known as the Black, White, Blue, and Red Tezcatlipoca. These four gods were the children of Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, who were the lord and lady of everything. They created all the other gods, the world, and humans.