Xolotl was the dog god of the Mexica people, commonly known as the Aztecs. He is represented in codices, statuary, and other extant examples of Aztec art as a dog or a god with the head of a dog. While this figure might seem obscure, his name and role echo into the present day through a critically endangered amphibian, a scruffy but loyal companion on an adventure to the afterlife, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, a breed of hairless dog.

Etymology & Associations

The name Xolotl comes from the Nahuatl language and is pronounced “SHOH-lot”, with the emphasis on the penultimate syllable as is usual with words in Nahuatl. Xolochaui, another word in the Nahuatl language, means “to wrinkle or double over,” and Xolotl himself is often depicted in art with deep grooves in the skin of his face.

His name was synonymous with the Nahuatl term for twin, xolotl, and appeared in the word for the double maguey, mexolotl, a plant that had a number of uses in Aztec culture, including bloodletting rituals, the creation of fibrous rope, and the brewing of pulque.

While twins were generally seen as a bad omen and viewed with trepidation in the Aztec civilization, Xolotl was the patron god of twins and individuals with physical abnormalities, which were a subject of fascination in Mesoamerican cultures. “In Olmec art representations of dwarves and hunchbacks abound. Rather than being objects of derision, these individuals are often portrayed with great supernatural powers” (Miller & Taube, 75). According to one source, individuals with physical abnormalities were referred to as xolome. Indeed, xolotl is also the Nahuatl name for courtly pages. These pages were often individuals with physical abnormalities, some of whom, like those in the court of Motecuhzoma II (commonly known as Montezuma), entertained the tlatoani and sometimes advised him on matters pertaining to Aztec religion and government. Likely referencing Xolotl, two-headed dogs and figures with hunched backs and dwarfism appear frequently in the Protoclassical ceramic art of West Mexico.

Psychopomp & Companion to Quetzalcoatl

While dogs were primarily bred in Mesoamerica for use as food and were considered by the Aztecs to be unclean and unvirtuous creatures, they were also regarded as companions and guides to their masters in death. As Miller and Taube note, “In both Aztec and Maya belief, dogs, perhaps embodying the role of Xolotl, guided their masters into the Underworld after death and were of particular use in crossing bodies of water” (80).

As the canine companion to the powerful god Quetzalcoatl, also known as Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl in his manifestation as a wind god, Xolotl is depicted in art wearing the wind god’s emblematic conch shell pectoral, which was known in Nahuatl as ehecailacacozcatl, “wind jewel.” Through this relationship, Xolotl was associated with the evening star, mirroring Quetzalcoatl’s identification with the morning star under which role he was called Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, “Lord of the Dawn.” According to Manuel Aguilar-Moreno in his book Handbook to Life in the Aztec World, Xolotl accompanied Quetzalcoatl on his mission to retrieve bones from the underworld in order to create humanity, a role consistent with his canine nature in the Mesoamerican imagination.

Creation of the Fifth Sun

Xolotl also appears as a reluctant sacrifice in the Aztec myth of the creation of the fifth sun. After the destruction of the four preceding suns, the gods come together at Teotihuacan to witness a sacrifice that will create a new sun and moon. This fifth sun – Nahui Ollin, meaning 4 Motion – and its moon are born from the sacrifice of two gods, Nanahuatzin and Tecciztecatl, respectively. But even after the sun and moon are created, the gods find that they will not move without further sacrifice, at which point they begin to line up to give their lives to the cause. Aguilar-Moreno writes, “While both celestial bodies had appeared, neither moved. Understanding this as a sign of their fate, the gods freely accepted death, sacrificing themselves…and offering their own blood, or chalchiuatl (precious water) to generate movement of the Sun” (Aguilar-Moreno 2006, 161)

Whether in the form of a Pokémon, psychopomp, or puppy, Xolotl has left a small legacy in the modern world, providing an opportunity for those aware of his unique history to look into the living likeness of an Aztec god.

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