"WARRIORS
OF THE SUN" (Guerreros del Sol)
"WARRIORS
OF THE SUN" (Guerreros del Sol)
Membership: "Chalchihuitl," "Coatl," "Flay," "Flood," "Obsidian," Salamander
Purpose: To protect and serve the Coyote
Aliases: None
Affiliations: The Coyote (Moctezuma)
Enemies: Hummingbird (María Aracely Josefina Penalba de las Heras), Huitzilopochtli, Scarlet Spider (Kaine)
Base of Operations: Mexico
First Appearance: Scarlet Spider II#15 (March 2013)
History:
(Scarlet Spider II#15) - The Warriors of the Sun were assembled by the Coyote
to protect him when Huitzilopochtli, or his avatar Hummingbird, or her protector
Scarlet Spider, came after him for attempting to murder Hummingbird as a
way of triggering the "Sixth Creation."
Comments: Created by Christopher Yost and Khoi Pham.
Salamander has enough appearances to warrant his own profile at some point in the near future. As for the rest, we've got exactly one panel to work from, plus what we can extrapolate from their sponsor, the Coyote, and from Salamander. Since Coyote seems to have some connection to the Teteoh, Salamander claimed to be empowered by the Fire Serpent Xiuhcoatl, and Coyote was trying to kill a girl chosen to be Huitzilopochtli (the "Left-Handed Hummingbird")'s champion, it seems reasonable to assume the rest of the group are similarly god-empowered/themed. We can rule out the two Teteoh already named in this paragraph since they already have champions.
The Coyote's goal of bringing about the Sixth Creation is another clue to the link to the Teteoh; per Aztec beliefs, there were five ages, each with a different sun god - hence Five Suns - and each ending in an apocalypse caused by fighting with the other gods. After the Teteoh progenitors Ometecuhtli and Omecíhuatl created the universe, they chose their son Tetcatzlipoca to rule the pantheon and be the First Sun, but his brother Quetzalcóatl deliberately wrecked it by unleashing jaguars to kill everyone (or, in another version of events, after Quetzalcóatl knocked him from the sky, Tetcatzlipoca took on the form of a jaguar and destroyed the world in a fit of pique). Quetzalcóatl was chosen to become the Second Sun, but a vengeful Tetcatzlipoca knocked him from the sky and destroyed civilization with powerful winds. Tlaloc, god of rain, became the Third Sun, but Quetzalcóatl rained fire down from the skies, once again destroying everything. Next was the turn of the goddess Chalchiuhtlique at the helm for the Fourth Sun, but this time the world was destroyed by a flood thanks to yet another conflict between the two brothers.
We're currently in the age of the Fifth Sun, jointly ruled by the siblings in the hope this would keep them from wrecking everything again. Neither of them is the sun this time round; instead the gods held a council and decided that the next sun, intended to be the final one, would have to sacrifice his life to ensure this time round the world and the people on it would not die again. Two gods, the humble Nanautul and Tecciztecatl, son of Chalchiuhtlique, both campaigned for the honor, and Nanautul was chosen, since the others considered him more expendable. Prideful, Tecciztecatl demanded the honor be his, but then hesitated four times to jump into the bonfire built to sacrifice him. Braver, Nanautul leapt in on the first go, and with his pride wounded, Tecciztecatl found his courage and followed suit. As a result, both became suns, but the other gods weren't impressed with Tecciztecatl's actions, and threw a rabbit at him, which dimmed his brightness, turning him into the moon, only visible at night and forever doomed to chase the sun. Nanautul ("full of sores") was given the more complimentary name Tonatuih ("movement of the sun").
So why is Huitzilopochtli named as the sun god in the Teteoh profile and handbook entries, and why did Coyote think killing his champion might be the first step in ending the age of the Fifth Sun and bringing about a Sixth Creation? Because pantheons are never simple. As the Aztec Empire grew and became more warlike, they needed a sun god who was a warrior, not humble. The Aztecs believed the sun couldn't move on its own, and needed sacrifices to keep it going. So while Tonatuih is the god who embodies the sun, Huitzilopochtli is the sun's warrior. Since every time creation gets wrecked, the rulership of the Teteoh switches, it makes sense that champions of whoever isn't happy with the current status quo (and maybe hopes to take over as boss) would be up for triggering another apocalypse.
For placeholder purposes, I've gone with Warriors of the Sun as the group name, since that's one of the names associated with the Aztecs, or Guerreros del Sol in Spanish, Mexico's most prolific tongue; I've not been able to find a translation into Nahuatl, the Aztec language which is still spoken by some of Mexico's population, but if one becomes available, that might serve as a better option.
As with similar profiles where names haven't been provided in the comics (yet), the placeholder names are in quotes for the headings, but I've dropped the quotes the rest of the time, simply to make the profiles readable; the names remain unofficial and subject to change as and when their creators or someone else at Marvel gets round to using them again. See the individual subprofiles for reasonings behind who they might be empowered by and placeholder names.
Profile by Loki.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Warriors of the Sun have no known connections to:
Chalchihuitl has no known connections to:
Coatl has no known connections to:
Flay has no known connections to:
Flood has no known connections to:
Obsidian has no known connections to:
Chalchihuitl was hired by the Coyote to serve as one of his enforcers, the Warriors of the Sun, assembled to protect him when Huitzilopochtli, or his avatar Hummingbird, or her protector Scarlet Spider, came after him for attempting to murder Hummingbird as a means of triggering the "Sixth Creation." Comments: I think this guy is a champion of Tonatuih, since said deity is frequently identified as the "Turquoise Lord" which fits with the light green skin seen here, plus Tonatuih is frequently represented by a sun disk, which matches the symbol round this guy's head; as a god who demanded sacrifices to move across the sky, he's also associated with warriors, so the massive sword this guy is carrying works too. Why would Tonatuih, the current sun representative, be trying to end this Age of the Sun and bring about another? Perhaps he's angry at Huitzilopochtli usurping his glory by being viewed as the main sun god, or perhaps Tonatuih is just tired of being the Sun and seeking a way to return to human form by bringing about the Sixth Creation. In case anyone thinks to mention it, yes, there is another Aztec god known as the Turquoise Lord; however, since that's Xiuhcoatl, who already has a champion in the group in the form of Salamander, big green here can't be Xiuhcoatl's champion. Another possibility is that he's the champion of Tlaloc, the storm god. If you check him out in the picture in the Teteoh profile, you'll see that he's got green skin just like this guy. However, while he was my initial choice for empowerer, the combination of Tonatuih's nickname and the glowing sunlike symbol behind this guy's head swayed me away from Tlaloc. Given his appearance, I've named him Chalchihuitl, the Aztec word for Turquoise. --Scarlet Spider II#15 |
Coatl was hired by the Coyote to serve as one of his enforcers, the Warriors of the Sun, assembled to protect him when Huitzilopochtli, or his avatar Hummingbird, or her protector Scarlet Spider, came after him for attempting to murder Hummingbird as a means of triggering the "Sixth Creation." Comments: This is one I struggled with; there are many Aztec goddesses, but none I'm seeing as an obvious match. However, few of the goddesses are considered warriors, so the combination of the sword at her side and what looks like a serpentine wrist band on her arm made me decide to go with Cihuacoatl, "woman serpent," a fertility goddess associated with midwives. Though more commonly depicted as a fierce old woman with a skull-face, Cihuacoatl was also often shown as a beautiful young woman, and more importantly portrayed carrying weapons and shields, an unquestioned warrior. Perhaps we're only seeing this champion in her "peace-mode" and her visage becomes more frightful when she goes into combat. I'm going with Coatl (serpent) as her codename. --Scarlet Spider II#15 |
Flay was hired by the Coyote to serve as one of his enforcers, the Warriors of the Sun, assembled to protect him when Huitzilopochtli, or his avatar Hummingbird, or her protector Scarlet Spider, came after him for attempting to murder Hummingbird as a means of triggering the "Sixth Creation." Comments: This is a tricky one to associate, given we can only see his head and one shoulder since he's standing behind the other Warriors of the Sun. However, the apparent scar running down his face and unusual crosshatched pattern on his shoulder, which also appears skin-colored and so suggesting it's not some clothing pattern, suggests a scary option - Xipe Totec. Considered a god of agriculture, seasons, goldsmiths and liberation, he might seem one of the nicer gods...until you realize his name translates as "our lord of the flayed skin." He supposedly flayed his own skin off to feed humanity, symbolic of how maize sheds its outer skin before germination. As a result was worshipped by human sacrifices where one chosen slave would have their skin flayed off and turned into clothing, while other sacrifices had their hearts cut out and their skins worn by Aztec priests. Depictions of Xipe Totec frequently show him wearing another's flayed hide as clothing, resulting in scars running down his face (or rather, the face of whoever he is wearing...), and scale-like, patchwork skin - and that seems to fit our guy here. For this reason, I've gone with Flay as his placeholder codename; that's not a cheery grin, that's the smile of a psychopathic killer. --Scarlet Spider II#15 |
Flood was hired by the Coyote to serve as one of his enforcers, the Warriors of the Sun, assembled to protect him when Huitzilopochtli, or his avatar Hummingbird, or her protector Scarlet Spider, came after him for attempting to murder Hummingbird as a means of triggering the "Sixth Creation." Comments: This match-up seems one of the more obvious (though that doesn't mean I can't be wrong); Chalchiuhtlique is the goddess of collected water (e.g. rivers, lakes and oceans), navigation, childbirth and newborn babies. She caused a cataclysmic flood that drowned the world of the Fourth Sun, hence the codename choice. --Scarlet Spider II#15 |
Obsidian was hired by the Coyote to serve as one of his enforcers, the Warriors of the Sun, assembled to protect him when Huitzilopochtli, or his avatar Hummingbird, or her protector Scarlet Spider, came after him for attempting to murder Hummingbird as a means of triggering the "Sixth Creation." Comments: Tetzcatlipoca, lord of the nocturnal sky, seems to be the most likely empowerer for this guy, "Obsidian." He's associated with the night sky, which fits with what appear to be stars dotted all over Obsidian; he's known as the "smoking mirror" and Obsidian is wreathed in a trail of smoke and wearing a belt with a buckle that looks fairly mirror-like; and he's associated with (among other things) being a ruler, which (and I admit this is reaching a little) seems to fit Obsidian's brooding stance. Since obsidian is another thing associated with Tetzcatlipoca, and our guy here has night-black skin, I've gone with Obsidian as his placeholder codename. One potential fly in the ointment with this match up is that Thor suggested the vigilante Toltec might be the champion of Tetzcatlipoca to Steve Rogers (Heroic Age: Villains). However, who is to say an important god like him couldn't empower more than one? After all, how many people has Odin given the power of Thor to? Or maybe Thor just got it wrong. --Scarlet Spider II#15 |
images: (without ads)
Scarlet Spider II#15, p20, pan2 (all images)
Appearances:
Scarlet Spider II#15 - Christopher Yost (writer), Khoi Pham with Neil Edwards
and Paulo Siqueira (pencils), Khoi Pham, Terry Pallot, Bit, Paulo Siqueira
and Victor Olazaba (inks), Tom Brennan (editor)
First Posted: 03/12/2019
Last updated: 03/12/2019
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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"Chalchihuitl" 
"Coatl"
"Flay"
"Flood"
"Obsidian"