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Mictlantecuhtli, a MythSource painting
Mesoamerican

Mictlantecuhtli

Lord of Mictlan · Lord of the Dead · God of Death

01Identity

Mictlantecuhtli in Mesoamerican tradition

As Lord of Mictlan, Mictlantecuhtli ruled the dark underworld with Mictecacihuatl after the gods created the world. He judged the dead and directed their souls towards different afterlives, while his imagery and associations included a skull-like face, owls, bats and spiders. When Quetzalcoatl entered Mictlan for the bones of an earlier human race, Mictlantecuhtli imposed a deceptive test involving a shell horn and four circuits.

Top questions

The quick answers

02Family

Mictlantecuhtli’s family, at a glance

Mictlantecuhtli

with Mictlancihuatl

03The names

The names Mictlantecuhtli answers to

Mictlan Tēcuhtli

Lord of Mictlan

SourceAztec Mythology

Tzontémoc

He Who Descends Headfirst

SourceAztec Mythology

Nextepehua

Ash-Scattering One

SourceAztec Mythology

04The myths

The myths of Mictlantecuhtli

2 myths, with sources recorded for each.

The Birth of Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl

After the world had been fashioned, the gods deposited Mictlantecuhtli and his equally hideous wife, Mictecacihuatl, in the gloomy underworld called Mictlan. In some creation accounts, the gods first formed the oceans and made Cipactli, a gigantic sea monster. They tore the creature apart by pulling from the four directions. One part became the thirteen levels of heaven. Another became the wide, flat earth, with its mountains, valleys, and lakes. The Aztecs called this land and seascape Cemanahuac, meaning “the land surrounded by water”.

Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl ruled beneath this world from a windowless castle. Bats, owls, spiders, and other creatures that lived in darkness filled their home. Their presence connected the two deities with animals of the night and with the darkness below the earth.

Mictlantecuhtli had a bony body like a skeleton. Blood dripped down his chest and arms. He often kept his eyes closed because he could see without them. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, he was fascinated by eyes. He wore a necklace strung with human eyeballs. Mictecacihuatl was also described as hideous, and shared the underworld kingdom with him.

Mictlantecuhtli had an important role in the fate of the dead. He separated the souls of deceased people into groups. Each group was bound for a different kind of afterlife. Mictlan was also the place where the human bones of an earlier race were believed to lie in deep, dark caverns.

The Birth of Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1Aztec MythologyT1
  2. 2the ancient sourcesT1

    Quote

    “Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl were set in Mictlan to rule the dead, whose souls Mictlantecuhtli divided according to their destinies.”

    the ancient sources

  3. 3Aztec MythologyT1

Mictlantecuhtli Challenges Quetzalcoatl

Water covered the earth in a great flood, and the people who had lived there became fish. When the waters receded, no humans remained on the surface. The gods had agreed that a new race, one that would last longer, should inhabit the earth. They chose Quetzalcoatl to lead this work. He knew that the bones of the former humans lay in the deep caverns of Mictlan.

Quetzalcoatl entered the underworld with help from his faithful dog, Xolotl. He crossed the nine rivers that formed the final obstacle for the dead and reached Mictlantecuhtli, the bony-headed ruler of Mictlan. The god had great power and enormous claws. Quetzalcoatl said that he had come for the precious bones. When Mictlantecuhtli asked what he would do with them, Quetzalcoatl replied that the gods wanted someone to inhabit the earth.

Mictlantecuhtli appeared to consider the request. He said that Quetzalcoatl could take the bones if he sounded his shell horn and went around the circular realm four times. The condition was a trick. The shell had no holes, so the god of the winds could not play it. Quetzalcoatl nevertheless sounded the horn and completed the required circuit. Mictlantecuhtli then sent a quail against him. The bird caused Quetzalcoatl to fall into a pit.

Mictlantecuhtli tried to stop Quetzalcoatl from escaping with the bones. Quetzalcoatl recovered them and fled from Mictlan. He carried the bones towards the earth. On the way, he passed through Tamoanchan, a paradise of tranquil forests and flower-covered meadows where gods often travelled. There he sought the aged mother goddess Cihuaoatl.

Mictlantecuhtli Challenges Quetzalcoatl, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1Aztec MythologyT1
  2. 2the ancient sourcesT1

    Quote

    “Quetzalcoatl went to Mictlan for the former humans' bones, overcame Mictlantecuhtli's test, and carried them back towards the earth for the creation of a new race.”

    the ancient sources

  3. 3Aztec MythologyT1

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Mictlantecuhtli, each on that figure’s page.