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Ahuizotl
Lakes and Rivers of Central Mexico
Danger Level: 8/10
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
Abilities
Aquatic AmbushPrehensile Tail HandDrowning VictimsTlaloc's Servant
Lore & Legend
The Water-Dog of Tlaloc
Sahagún's Florentine Codex describes the ahuitzotl as a dog-like water creature with extra hands, including one at the tail, that drowns people so Tlaloc may take them. Corpses are found without eyes, nails, and teeth. The Aztec emperor Ahuitzotl took the name. Sahagún's informants treat the drowning as a Tlaloc-claim, not a random lake accident.
Primary Sources
“The ahuitzotl lives in the water... it has a hand on its tail, and with it seizes people and makes them drown; the water folk belong to Tlaloc.”