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{{work|wppage=Aztec (novel)}}
{{quote|
"The Azteca were here, but they brought nothing with them, and they left nothing where they went." }}
[[File:Aztecbook.jpg|thumb]]
''Aztec'' is a 1980 historical fiction novel written by Gary Jennings. It is the highly lengthy life story of a noble Aztec (more properly Mexica) man named Mixtli, or "Dark Cloud." After the Spanish Conquest, Mixtli is asked by the Bishop of New Spain to tell his life story to a group of friars who are recording his story for the King of Spain. The novel is notable for being one of the first ever depictions in media of the Aztecs as heroes, rather than villains, though certainly there are plenty of both among the Mexica pre-Conquest. It is also notable for not shying away from graphic depictions of both sex and violence (and sometimes both at once), as might be expected from a society like that of the Mexica.▼
▲''Aztec'' is a 1980 historical fiction novel written by Gary Jennings. It is the highly lengthy life story of a noble '''Aztec''' (more properly Mexica) man named Mixtli, or "Dark Cloud." After the Spanish Conquest, Mixtli is asked by the Bishop of New Spain to tell his life story to a group of friars who are recording his story for the King of Spain. The novel is notable for being one of the first ever depictions in media of the Aztecs as heroes, rather than villains, though certainly there are plenty of both among the Mexica pre-Conquest. It is also notable for not shying away from graphic depictions of both sex and violence (and sometimes both at once), as might be expected from a society like that of the Mexica.
{{tropelist}}
* [[Abusive Parents]]: More on the maternal side, but both are extremely demanding on their children, even by Mexica standards.
* [[Achilles in His Tent]]: An interesting inversion: whenever Mixtli suffers a Heroic BSOD, he tends to ''leave'' and go wandering, rather than stay at home.
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* [[Aztec Mythology]]: Duh.
* [[Badass Grandpa]]: For someone who considers himself "a bag of wind and bones," Blood Glutton certainly qualifies.
{{quote|
** For those wondering, he's just ordering the last survivors of a band of brigands who hoped to fool Mixtli's party by pretending to be fellow travellers to eat the heads of their fellows, who Blood Glutton ambushed whilst they were waiting in ambush and decapitated them all without alerting the "bait" bandits.
* [[Big Bad]]: Lord Joy for the "childhood arc," {{spoiler|Chimali}} during the "traveler arc," and Cortez (duh) for the "conquest arc."
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: Intentionally invoked by Blood Glutton during a bandit attack. Also, averted by Narvarez and his troops, who at first seemed like this to the Mexica but, thanks to the [[Foregone Conclusion]], couldn't be. Also averted during Mixtli's "war" experience. He catches the Mixteca's biggest war hero by hiding behind a bush and cutting off the Mixteca's
* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: Plenty of random Nahuatl and Spanish is thrown around, although the Nahuatl is at least fairly easy to infer through context.
* [[Black and Gray Morality]]: On the one hand, we have the Mexica people, who have levied massive tributes from the surrounding villages, performed human sacrifices almost daily, and have made Mixtli's life a living hell on more than one occasion. On the other, we have Cortez and his troops, who have committed multiple acts of unprovoked slaughter, abused the ''hell'' out of Montecuzoma's hospitality, and show zero tolerance for any of the Mexica religious rites.
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* [[Dead Little Sister]] {{spoiler|(well, not ''quite'' dead...)}}
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Mixtli, often, especially to the Spanish priests transcribing his story. Also, the old soldier Blood Glutton gets his share of snarkiness as well:
{{quote|
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: Everything {{spoiler|Chimali}} does, especially after he had already "evened the score" with Mixtli.
* [[Doorstopper]]: The hardcover copy weighs in at 754 pages. One can only imagine what a paperback copy would look like...(It's just shy of 1000 pages. My well-loved copy fell apart under the strain.)
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* [[Dramatic Thunder]]: Invoked by the priests during a ceremony to the Rain God Tlaloc, using gigantic drums.
* [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]]: Blood Glutton, at least during the first arc.
* [[Duel to
* [[Dull Surprise]]: Mixtli sees most of the sacrifice rituals this way. Then again, he was raised in the culture, so it's probably [[Justified Trope|Justified.]]
* [[Dying Moment of Awesome]]: Blood Glutton.
* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: The smelly, dirty, hairy, hideous Spaniards, to the Mexica at least.
* [[Everything's Better
* [[Everything's Better
* [[Face Heel Turn]]: {{spoiler|Chimali}}, Malintzin, and Montecuzoma.
* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: {{spoiler|Tzitzi becoming the Tapir Woman.}}
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* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: Mixtli and Cozcatl.
* [[Hufflepuff House]]: Tlacopan, the third member of the Triple Alliance. Tenochtitlan and Texcoco both play important roles in the plot and are home to Mixtli at various times, but Tlacopan is just kinda there. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] near the end of the book, when Tlacopan's role as the third member of The Triple Alliance is explicitly spelled out for the readers...even though 700+ pages have already passed. It's just THAT unimportant.
* [[Humans Are
* [[I Found You Like This]]: After Mixtli is attacked by bandits during one of his [[Heroic BSOD]] wanderings, he wakes up in the care of Zyanya and Beu Ribe. He is, understandably, completely confused.
* [[I Gave My Word]]: And we all know how much Cortez's word is worth...
* [[Insistent Terminology]]: ''Mexica'', not Aztec. Mixtli is also constantly stopping to remind the friars recording his story how ridiculous and utterly nonsensical the Spaniards' new names for places really are. (Example: Texcala is turned into Tlaxcala, which means tortilla. And another pretty name gets changed to Cow Horn.)
* [[Ironic Echo]]
{{quote|
* [[Ironic Name]]: From the very first arc, we have [[Big Bad|Lord Joy]], among others.
* [[Kick the Dog]]: Happens repeatedly to Mixtli. See Break The Haughty above. Also, arguably done to the Mexica as a whole by the Spaniards.
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* [[Never Found the Body]]: {{spoiler|Tzitzi.}}
* [[Not Me This Time]]: A humorous example: Mixtli has by this point become so well-known for his sexual exploits that when the Bishop returns to hear the next part of his tale, Mixtli remarks:
{{quote|
* [[Omniglot]]: Mixtli's many travels made him one.
* [[Papa Wolf]]: Mixtli, although sadly {{spoiler|he's too late to do any good.}}
* [[Pet the Dog]]: Mixtli giving Cozcatl his freedom. Also, when Blood Glutton, previously a [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]], comes to their aid during the journey south.
* [[
* [[Prophecies Are Always Right]]: Everything the cacao-bean man tells Mixtli on his first visit to Tenochtitlan.
* [[Reinventing the Telephone]]: Mixtli, with the help of a crystalsmith in one of the southern lands, invents the magnifying glass and, later, the monocle. In the sequel, Mixtli's son Tenamaxtzin reinvents grenades.
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** Basically the entire point of the sequel.
* [[Romantic False Lead]]: [[Brother-Sister Incest|Tzitzi.]]
* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: Every single Mexicatl from the nobility must be this, even commoners who provide outstanding services to the empire can earn a noble rank. {{spoiler|Mixtli}} eventually becomes one.
* [[Shown Their Work]]: And how! Practically everything except Mixtli himself has some basis in Mexica history. (Yes, even Jadestone Doll's..."dalliances.") Not to mention every bit of Nahuatl, Mexica culture, warfare, government...heck, it would probably be easier to list everything that ''isn't.''
* [[Stealth Pun]]: Plenty of them, in both Nahuatl and Spanish.
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** {{spoiler|Also Chimali, to Mixtli's personal life.}}
* [[The Hero Dies]]: Goes hand-in-hand with the [[Foregone Conclusion]].
* [[
* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: Montecuzoma, although this was [[Truth in Television]]. Also, any of the nations that chose to ally with Cortez.
* [[Tsundere]]: Beu Ribe.
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[[Category:The Eighties]]
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