Tezcatlipoca is a name used by two distinct fictional characters appearing as
supervillains
A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero.
Supervillains are often u ...
in
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
publications and related media.
The first Tezcatlipoca is a character based on
the eponymous Aztec mythological figure, a powerful deity of conflict, nighttime and sorcery, who commonly appears as a recurring adversary of the superheroes
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
and
Aztek. He debuted as a treacherous ally of Wonder Woman's foe
Circe
Circe (; grc, , ) is an enchantress and a minor goddess in ancient Greek mythology and religion. She is either a daughter of the Titan Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse or the goddess Hecate and Aeëtes. Circe was renowned for her vas ...
in 1984's ''
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
'' (vol. 1) #314 by writer
Dan Mishkin
Dan Mishkin (born March 3, 1953) is an American comic book writer, and co-creator (with Gary Cohn) of the DC Comics characters Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and Blue Devil.
Biography
As an adolescent, Dan Mishkin formed a writing partnership ...
and illustrator
Don Heck
Donald L. HeckComic_Media.html" ;"title="ic; actually Comic Media">ic; actually Comic Media/nowiki>, in 1952," Heck recalled in 1993, Hardy “called me up and asked me to join."Heck, ''Comics Scene'' #37, p. 55 Heck's first known comics work appe ...
, and went on to battle Wonder Woman several times as an independent agent. After ''
Crisis on Infinite Earths
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to Mar ...
'', the 1985 publication event that rebooted DC Comics' continuity, Tezcatlipoca was re-imagined by creative team
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for th ...
,
Mark Millar and N. Steven Harris as an enemy for Uno, the titular hero of their 1996 ongoing series ''Aztek, the Ultimate Man.'' As part of his 1999 ''
World War III
World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use since at ...
'' story line in ''
JLA'' #36-41, Morrison would reveal that Tezcatlipoca was in fact the planet-destroying machine known as Mageddon, whom Uno ultimately defeats by sacrificing his life. Tezcatlipoca would be returned to his roots as an Aztec god after DC's ''
Rebirth
Rebirth may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Film
* ''Rebirth'' (2011 film), a 2011 Japanese drama film
* ''Rebirth'' (2016 film), a 2016 American thriller film
* ''Rebirth'', a documentary film produced by Project Rebirth
* ''The Re ...
'' continuity reboot, squaring off against the combined might of Nayeli Constant (the second Aztek), Wonder Woman and
Artemis
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...
in 2018's ''
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
'' (vol. 5) #53-54.
The second Tezcatlipoca Chama Sierra, is not a deity but a human-turned-
werejaguar who believes himself to be the earthly avatar of the eponymous Aztec god. He has commonly appeared as an adversary of the superhero
Connor Hawke, debuting in 1995's ''
Green Arrow'' (vol. 2) #102, by writer
Chuck Dixon and illustrator
Rodolfo Damaggio.
Tezcatlipoca I
Fictional character biography
The Aztec god
Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca (; nci, Tēzcatl ihpōca ) was a central deity in Aztec religion, and his main festival was the Toxcatl ceremony celebrated in the month of May. One of the four sons of Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, the God of providence, he is a ...
was able to reenter the human world when he found a human host. He became a consort of
Circe
Circe (; grc, , ) is an enchantress and a minor goddess in ancient Greek mythology and religion. She is either a daughter of the Titan Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse or the goddess Hecate and Aeëtes. Circe was renowned for her vas ...
, aiding and ultimately betraying her as she battled the pre-
Crisis
A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
.
Tezcatlipoca, trickster god, was manipulating the U.S. government and its intervention in the affairs of the fictional Central American county Tropidor. Lt. Keith Griggs of Air Force intelligence was sent to investigate possible illegal arms sales from U.S. intelligence officers to Tropidor militants when he crash landed in Circe's hidden jungle lair. Wonder Woman's alter ego, Lt. Diana Prince, was sent to investigate, and waged battle with Circe to free Griggs and the other men enslaved in animal form.
When Circe called upon her unseen lover for aid, a powerful bolt of lightning came down from the sky. Wonder Woman used both her bracelets to deflect the lightning, but they were fused together. As she had just had her bracelets bound by a man, she was rendered powerless until she persuaded Griggs, trapped in the form of a ram/man hybrid, to charge her and use the force of his collision to break the bracelets apart. Wonder Woman deflected more lightning bolts, unwittingly sending the fiery bolts to burn down Circe's patch of immortality-granting herbs. Tezcatlipoca then imprisoned Circe in his obsidian mirror, turned Wonder Woman into a powerless Diana Prince, and revealed himself.
In the ensuing adventure, Wonder Woman discovered a hitherto lost tribe of Amazons under Tezcatlipoca's spell and freed them by releasing an eagle, the symbol of Amazon strength, from a mystical cage. Taunted by the trickster god in a hall of mirrors with various versions of herself, Wonder Woman reclaimed her confidence, smashed his mirror, and reemerged with her powers reclaimed. She sent Tezcatlipoca away by smashing a figurine of the god fused with a man, thus freeing his human host and banishing him to his godly realm, though not before he reminded her that he had already sown the seeds of madness in Tropidor.
When Lt. Griggs and fellow officer Lt. Lauren Haley were sent again to Tropidor a year later, Wonder Woman followed them and rescued them from Tezcatlipoca's clutches, after triumphantly breaking a time loop in which the mad god repeatedly slew Griggs. The Aztec temple scene they were in dissolved to reveal a world caught up in the ''
Crisis on Infinite Earths
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to Mar ...
''.
Although Tezcatlipoca has not been seen post-Crisis, his name was invoked in the series ''
Aztek'' as the malevolent force that the Q Society was bracing for. Aztek's story ended when Tezcatlipoca was apparently revealed to be the planet-destroying machine Mageddon.
Powers and abilities
Tezcatlipoca I wielded an array of godlike powers to warp time and reality to his whims.
Tezcatlipoca II
Fictional character biography
During the ''
Underworld Unleashed
''Underworld Unleashed'' was a multi-title American comic book crossover event released by DC Comics in 1995.
The main theme of ''Underworld Unleashed'' involved the new ruler of Hell, a demon-lord named Neron, offering first many of the DC ...
'' storyline, Chama Sierra made a deal with the demon
Neron for power in exchange for his soul. Neron gave Chama the powers and form of a jaguar, and Chama believed himself to be the
Aztec
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...
jaguar god,
Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca (; nci, Tēzcatl ihpōca ) was a central deity in Aztec religion, and his main festival was the Toxcatl ceremony celebrated in the month of May. One of the four sons of Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, the God of providence, he is a ...
. He attempted to use his powers for evil, but was stopped by
Connor Hawke, the second
Green Arrow. He managed to escape from the young hero.
Later, he met the villainess Panara and found a kindred spirit in the
leopard woman. The two fell in love and became a criminal pair until Tezcatlipoca was exposed to
Joker's "laughing gas" which made him insane. Tezcatlipoca and Panara went on a killing spree until they were stopped by
Robin and
Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes who appear in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the ri ...
and sent to prison.
[''Robin'' (vol. 4) #96. DC Comics]
Powers and abilities
Tezcatlipoca II has all of the natural abilities of a
jaguar. His strength, speed, and agility have been mystically enhanced beyond human levels. He also has retractable claws and night vision. He is prone to bouts of bestial rage, and has been known to attack and eat other humans.
See also
*
List of Wonder Woman enemies
This is a list of fictional characters from DC Comics who are or have been enemies of Wonder Woman.
Central rogues gallery
In alphabetical order (with issue and date of first appearance and when or if they were involved in Villainy Incorporated ...
References
External links
* Recaps of WW
313 * Recaps of WW
an
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tezcatlipoca (Dc Comics)
Articles about multiple fictional characters
DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
DC Comics characters with superhuman strength
DC Comics deities
DC Comics supervillains
DC Comics male supervillains
Mythology in DC Comics
Comics characters introduced in 1984
Comics characters introduced in 1995
Characters created by Chuck Dixon
Characters created by Don Heck
Fictional werecats