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Ahuizotl (creature)
Encyclopedia
Legendary creature
A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature.-Origin:Some mythical creatures have their origin in traditional mythology and have been believed to be real creatures, for example the dragon, the unicorn, and griffin...
in Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
belief.
Description
It was described as dog-like, with hands capable of manipulation and an additional hand on its tail. The ahuizotl was feared due to its liking for human flesh, especially nails, eyes, and teeth. It was said to live in or near the water and uses the hand on the end of its tail to snatch its prey.The ahuizotl included within Book 11 of the Florentine Codex
Florentine Codex
The Florentine Codex is the common name given to a 16th century ethnographic research project in Mesoamerica by Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Bernardino originally titled it: La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espana...
, which describes it as:
Ahuizotl in popular culture
- The ahuizotl was included as a monster in the Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
roleplaying game in the April 2003 edition of Fiend FolioFiend FolioFiend Folio is the title shared by three products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons...
, where it is described as a fiendish monkey, with a dog-like head and legs, and a tail ending in a fifth hand.
- The Xbox 360Xbox 360The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
video game, Culdcept SagaCuldcept SagaCuldcept Saga has sold 27,960 copies in Japan as of November 30, 2008. Culdcept Saga generally received scores in the "fair" range from the gaming press, with scores from unofficial player reviews being somewhat higher....
has a creature card named Ahuizotl which has a water element trait and an ability to change any land into a blue (water) element land. The creature is depicted as a sea serpent.
- A boss in the Arcade game Ocean Hunter is named after Ahuizotl. It is depicted as ElasmosaurusElasmosaurusElasmosaurus + σαυρος sauros 'lizard') is a genus of plesiosaur with an extremely long neck that lived in the Late Cretaceous period , 80.5 million years ago.-Description:...
.
- In ShadowspawnShadowspawnIn the world of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, Shadowspawn include a number of species, with varying levels of sentience, that have been created by the Dark One or other agents of the Shadow.-Trollocs:...
, Ahuizotl is a creature found in the Algavett Forest. It can use its tail-hand to steal the player's items, and must be killed in order to retrieve them.
- The Ahuizotl is featured in The Secret SaturdaysThe Secret SaturdaysThe Secret Saturdays is an American animated television series created by Canadian cartoonist Jay Stephens for Cartoon Network. It debuted on October 3, 2008, in the United States...
episode "The Thousand Eyes of Ahuizotl" with its vocal effects provided by Fred TatascioreFred TatascioreFrederick "Fred" Tatasciore is an American voice actor who portrays secondary characters as well as monstrous-looking types...
. This version is depicted as a humanoid creature with a fifth hand on its long tail.
- The PokémonPokémonis a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
Aipom may be based on Ahuizotl, as it is similar to a monkey with a hand at the end of its tail.
- Ahuizotl feature prominently in French author Aliette de BodardAliette de BodardAliette de Bodard is a speculative fiction writer. She is of French/Vietnamese descent, born in the USA, and grew up in Paris. French is her mother-tongue, but she writes in English. She is a Software Engineer specialising in Machine Vision....
's debut novel Servant of the Underworld, in which they are real creatures living in the water of Lake TexcocoLake TexcocoLake Texcoco was a natural lake formation within the Valley of Mexico. The Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan on an island in the lake. The Spaniards built Mexico City over Tenochtitlan...
, feeding on the eyes and fingernails of the drowned.