Aztek is the name of a fictional superhero in the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...

. Both versions are based out of the fictional Vanity City. Aztek is the champion of 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 Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

god

Quetzalcoatl Quetzalcoatl (, ; Spanish: ''Quetzalcóatl'' ; nci-IPA, Quetzalcōātl, ket͡saɬˈkoːaːt͡ɬ (Modern Nahuatl pronunciation), in honorific form: ''Quetzalcōātzin'') is a deity in Aztec culture and literature whose name comes from the Nahu ...

. The first Aztek first appeared in ''Aztek, The Ultimate Man #1'' in August 1996, created by

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 narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, w ...

Mark Millar Mark Millar (; born 24 December 1969) is a Scottish comic book writer and television producer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series '' The Authority'', published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written ex ...

and N. Steven Harris. Following the short run series, Aztek appeared in several issues of '' JLA'' also written by Morrison. The second Aztek appeared in ''

Justice League of America The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...

'' vol. 5 #20 in December 2017, created by Steve Orlando and

Ivan Reis Ivan Reis is a Brazilians, Brazilian comics artist. He is known for his work on comic books such as Dark Horse Comics' ''Ghost (Dark Horse Comics), Ghost'', Marvel Comics' ''Genis-Vell, Captain Marvel'' and ''Vision (Marvel Comics), Avengers Icons ...

, as the rival and later partner of the Ray.

Fictional character biography

Uno

Uno is raised from childhood by a secret organization named the Q Society to be the champion of the

god

to battle their enemy, 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 Ōmeteōtl, Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, the God of providenc ...

. He is given a magical suit of armor that bestows many abilities, complementing Uno's peak human mental and physical abilities. After his training is completed, he enters the United States and assumes the identity of recently deceased physician Curt Falconer. Aztek later joins the

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...

, but resigns when it is revealed that one of the mysterious benefactors of the Q Society is

supervillain 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 oft ...

Lex Luthor Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Lex Luthor originally appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (cover dated: Apr ...

. He is later blinded helping the League save the Earth in a battle against the planet-destroying machine Mageddon (apparently the Tezcatlipoca that the cult was referring to all along). Aztek ultimately sacrifices himself to allow Superman the chance to destroy Mageddon/Tezcatlipoca, during the

World War III World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical World war, worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use ...

story arc.

Nayeli Constant

A new version of the character appeared in ''

'' vol. 5 #20; instead of being Uno/Curt Falconer, the new hero is Nayeli Constant. She was a

software engineer Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term ''p ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

who was startled by the Aztek helmet bursting into her window and telling her about the millennia-long war against the dark god Tezcatlipoca. She decided to accept the role of the new Aztek and modified the armor to suit her purposes; eventually finding her way to Vanity after

The Ray The Ray is the name of four superheroes in the DC Comics Universe. All versions of the character have the superpower of manipulating visible light in some manner. The first Ray was Langford "Happy" Terrill, a Quality Comics character. When D ...

left the city to join the Justice League of America. When he returned from a mission, the two encountered one another and briefly argued about who should protect the citizens of Vanity but they teamed up to stop a criminal and decided that the city could use both heroes.

Powers and abilities

Aztek has peak human physical and mental conditioning. He wears an ancient helmet and armor (powered by a "four-dimensional mirror"), from which he derives flight, infrared and X-Ray vision, invisibility, intangibility, bodyheat camouflage, entrapment nets, plasma beams and density manipulation, as well as augmenting his peak physical abilities to superhuman levels. The helmet could feed information directly into his brain even after he was blinded in his first confrontation with Mageddon. The four-dimensional power source could self-destruct in a highly explosive manner.

Other versions

The Rock of Ages

Another version of Aztek, with the same abilities, known as Azteka was seen in

's run on ''JLA'' during the "''Rock of Ages''" storyline in which the JLA traveled to an alternate future overrun by

Darkseid Darkseid () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer-artist Jack Kirby to serve as the primary antagonist of his "Fourth World (comics), Fourth World" metaseries, and was firs ...

. She sacrifices her life to destroy Darkseid's lunar facilities.

In other media

Television

* Aztek appeared in ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 American superhero animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and ...

'', mostly appearing in brief cameos throughout the series. After making a very brief appearance in "Question Authority" (voiced by Chris Cox), he made a more significant appearance in "I Am Legion" (voiced by

Corey Burton Corey Gregg Weinberg (born August 3, 1955), known professionally as Corey Burton, is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake, Dale and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transforme ...

) where he helped

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

and

Shayera Hol Shayera Thal, later married with the name Shayera Hol, is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books during the Silver Age of Comics published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Joe Kubert, a ...

investigate where

had gone after escaping prison. Superman asked Aztek to scan the scene to see if he could find out where Luthor went, but had no luck after finishing his scan. King Faraday then appeared behind the trio and introduced himself to Aztek.

Video games

* Aztek appeared in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure'', as did his Battlesuit, a costume giving the player his powers.

Bibliography

The original run of the

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous title has been collected as a trade paperback: ''JLA Presents: Aztek, the Ultimate Man'' (by co-authors

and

, and pencils by N. Steven Harris, and inks by

Keith Champagne Keith Champagne (born August 4, 1970) is an American comic artist, who has also moved into writing, and is known for his work at DC Comics. Biography Keith graduated from Montville High School in Oakdale, Connecticut in 1988. He is a 1994 gra ...

, 1996; collects ''Aztek, the Ultimate Man'' #1–10, 240 pages, April 2008, ). Aztek also appeared in several issues of Morrison's '' JLA'' (5, 10–12, 15, 36, 38–41), as well as the final two issues of Mark Millar's ''JLA: Paradise Lost'' and his fill-in issue for ''JLA'' (27). He has profile entries in ''JLA

Secret Files and Origins ''Secret Files and Origins'' (abbreviated ''SF&O'') is a series of One-shot (comics), one-shot comic books and Limited series (comics), miniseries produced by DC Comics during the late 1990s and 2000s. Publication history The books are a combina ...

'' #1, ''JLA–Z'' #1, and ''The DC Comics Encyclopedia''.

References

External links

Aztek at the DCU Guide

Aztek History at Fanzing, by Alan Kistler
{{Mark Millar Articles about multiple fictional characters 1996 comics debuts Characters created by Mark Millar Comics characters introduced in 1996 Comics characters introduced in 2017 Comics by Grant Morrison Characters created by Grant Morrison DC Comics male superheroes DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics titles Fictional characters with density control abilities Fictional characters who can turn invisible Fictional Nahua people Mexican superheroes Mesoamerican mythology in popular culture Fictional software engineers Fictional characters from Austin, Texas