Aztec gods

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"I don't trust this. This is the mark of an Aztec god."
"Oh, good. That means we're on the right track!"

―Tumen and Jack Sparrow

The Aztec gods were deities worshipped by the Aztecs. The religion slowly died out after the Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire.

History

"So the heathen gods placed upon the gold a terrible curse."

―Hector Barbossa to Elizabeth Swann

When Hernán Cortés first came to the Aztec city, the emperor Montecuhzoma believed him to be the god Quetzalcoatl and welcomed him. However, the Spanish soon showed their true colors and began a bloodthirsty attack on the Aztecs.

In an effort to stop the bloodshed, the Aztecs gave Cortés a stone chest filled with 882 pieces of gold coins as "blood money". Cortés, however, refused to end his conquest, incurring the wrath of the Aztec gods. They placed upon the gold "a terrible curse", turning all who took from the chest into undead, unfeeling skeletons. Nonetheless, the Aztec civilization was crushed, Montecuhzoma was killed by his own people, still trusting Cortés, and the Spanish had firmly rooted themselves in the New World.

Cortés eventually died, and his spirit was placed in his sword. His cursed treasure ended up on Isla de Muerta, where Hector Barbossa and his crew happened upon it. The treasure was finally claimed by the sea following Barbossa's death at the hands of Jack Sparrow.

Cortés' sword eventually was sought after by many individuals, and this led to more incidents of "curses".

Years prior to this incident, the Aztec gods cursed Captain Torrents, in retaliation to Davy Jones branding him with a tattoo of Quetzalcoatl. Wherever he went from then on, Torrents was followed by storms formed from his anger.

Behind the scenes

The Aztec gods as seen in LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game.

The Aztec gods were first referenced through the heathen gods first mentioned in media relating to the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, namely Irene Trimble's junior novelization, based on Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's early screenplay draft, in which Captain Hector Barbossa described the effects of the Aztec curse. The term "Aztec god" was first mentioned and identified by name in the 2006 book Jack Sparrow: The Coming Storm by Rob Kidd.

In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, the sea goddess Calypso was described as a "heathen god" by Davy Jones, the cursed captain of the Flying Dutchman. According to Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, this was made to tie the trilogy's escapes from death to the same source, as well as a callback to Hector Barbossa describing the effects of the Aztec curse by the heathen gods mentioned in The Curse of the Black Pearl. Rossio later said that any God not of Barbossa's faith would be deemed "heathen" and Calypso had nothing to do with the Aztec curse, but in this case, it seemed likely a specific reference to Gods worshipped by the Aztecs, namely Huitzilopochtli (the sun and war god) or Mictlantecuhtli (god of "the Underworld" Mictlan), and Itztlacoliuhqui-Ixquimilli (god of frost, ice, cold, winter, and punishment), the latter being Rossio's opinion.

Appearances

• Jack Sparrow: The Coming Storm (Mentioned only) (First identified as Aztec god)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Indirect mention only)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization) (First mentioned) (Indirect mention only)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006 junior novelization) (Indirect mention only)
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (In flashback(s)) (Non-canonical appearance)

External links

• Aztec religion on Wikipedia
• Aztec mythology on Wikipedia