- "She was an Archon scientist and a great beauty. But she experimented on herself and her experiments turned her hideous and insane. Now she's like a ravenous beast. Out of her own DNA she created the original blood drinkers who eventually became your race. Coatlicue was the first vampire."
- — Sophie Newman on Coatlicue in The Necromancer
Coatlicue is a powerful Archon, who is also called the Mother of Gods. Once a beautiful scientist, she performed experiments on herself, which eventually transformed her, both physically and mentally. She is now a hideous and mentally unstable monster, bent on the destruction of the Elders. Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl are her twin sons.
History[]
While still an Archon scientist Coatlicue often used herself as a test subject. This lead to her turning into a monstrosity. She despises the Elders and once lead an Archon army against their Shadowrealms, destroying everything in her way. Based on the memories of Clarent, Marethyu and a red-headed female warrior (likely Aoife) defeated her. Afterwards a collection of Elders sealed her within a distant and dark Shadowrealm which is comprised of a flat disk of rock. She has remained there for thousands of years in a sleep-like state, dreaming of her past and the world of old.
Appearance[]
Although she was described as once being a "great beauty", she has been transformed into a form, which shows little to no resemblance to a human anymore. Her body is vaguely female but has many reptillian traits. She has crocodillian claws and two giant snake heads coming up from her thick neck. Her body is covered in a robe which is composed entirely of twisting snakes. Whether the robe is separate from her body or not is unknown.
After being charmed by Dr. John Dee, Josh sees Coatilcue in a different form: She is described as beautiful and being almost 2.5 metres tall. She has long black hair that has been cut into bangs. Her dark brown eyes are painted with black eyeliner and her skin has the colour of copper. Her nails are painted to resemble snake scales and she is dressed in a simple white dress. Overall, her appearance is said to resemble an Egyptian princess.
The Necromancer[]
Coatlicue is introduced near the end of the book. Josh summons her using the four elemental swords under the instruction of Dee, who promised that she would teach him Necromancy. In truth, Dee only wanted her free to use as a catakyst in extraction of revenge against the Elders who threatened to punish him for his constant failures. In order to gain control over Coatlicue, Josh was to be sacrificed to her (unknown to him), his body and aura consumed. She is stopped soon after her summoning by Sophie, Aoife, and Niten. Aoife manages to pull Coatlicue back into her prison, but is badly wounded and dragged into the Shadowrealm as well.
Powers and Abilities[]
As an Archon and one of the oldest living beings on Earth, Coatilcue is a frighteningly powerful individual, despite her apparent lack of magical powers.
- Immortality: Coatilcue is biologically immortal, and cannot die from age, illness, starvation or oxygen deprivation.
- Enhanced Strength: Despite countless millenia of being immobilized, Coatilcue still had enough strength to resist Aoife, a powerful Next Generation Elder, for a brief time. At her full potential, it is said that no Elder could stand up to her.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Coatilcue was said to be impossible to kill. Being slashed with Perenelle's Gorgon Whip, caused her pain, but it failed to truly injure her, despite the dreadfull sharpness of the whip.
- Corrosive Saliva: Coatilcue's snake heads are capable of spitting corrosive white liquid, albeit at a very short range.
- Genius Intellect: Before being imprisoned by the Elders, Coatilcue was a scientist of great reknown. She created the vampire clans on the basis of her own DNA, and managed to alter her appearance to monstrous ammounts, damaging her sanity in the process. Despite this, Coatilcue retained enough wits to manipulate Josh into approaching her and turn against his sister after being injured by her.
Trivia[]
- In Nahuatl her name means "She of the Snake Skirt".
- Although Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl are her only known children, her epithet as Mother of Gods seems to suggest that there are more. In Nahuatl spirituality these include amonbg others Coyolxauhqui, Huitzilopochtli (who is canonically Mars Ultor) and the Centzonhuitznahua.
- Quetzalcoatl confirms that he is related to Scathach in some way in Billy the Kid and the Vampyres of Vegas. This seems to be a reference to Coatlicue being the creator of vampirism.
- It is possible and likely, albeit unconfirmed, that the way Coatilcue was presented to Josh reflected her original appearance.