Pop Culture References of Wizard101: Azteca – Neza the Poet

Neza the Poet – Nezahualcoyotl
https://www.wizard101central.com/wiki/Creature:Neza_the_Poet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nezahualcoyotl_(tlatoani)

The Shadow Queen has corrupted the Pyramid of Mother Moon. King Neza the Poet has been pulled back from his place of rest to fight on her behalf. Like most poets, Neza was never truly appreciated in his time.

Ohuaya! Ohuaya! It is time to remove your heart, Azure Shining One, to see if it continues to hold its light beyond life.

Neza the Poet

Nezahualcoyotl (Classical Nahuatl: Nezahualcoyōtl) (April 28, 1402 – June 4, 1472) was a scholar, philosopher (tlamatini), warrior, architect, poet and ruler (tlatoani) of the city-state of Texcoco in pre-Columbian era Mexico. Unlike other high-profile Mexican figures from the century preceding Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Nezahualcoyotl was not fully Mexica; his father’s people were the Acolhua, another Nahuan people settled in the eastern part of the Valley of Mexico, on the coast of Lake Texcoco. His mother, however, was the sister of Chimalpopoca, the Mexica king of Tenochtitlan.

He is best remembered for his poetry; for his Hamlet-like biography as a dethroned prince with a victorious return, leading to the fall of Azcapotzalco and the Triple Alliance; and for leading important infrastructure projects, both in Texcoco and Tenochtitlan. According to accounts by his descendants and biographers, Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl and Juan Bautista Pomar, he had an experience of an “Unknown, Unknowable Lord of Everywhere” to whom he built an entirely empty temple in which no blood sacrifices of any kind were allowed — not even those of animals. However, he allowed human sacrifices to continue in other temples.

The Nahuatl name Nezahualcoyotl is commonly translated as “hungry coyote” or “fasting coyote.” However, more accurately, it means “coyote with a fasting collar,” from nezahualli, a collar made out of bands of paper twisted together. It was worn by those fasting to show others that they shouldn’t be offered food.

The current list of all the (known) Azteca references are located here.

Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references, I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.

Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages.

Neza the Poet image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment.

Nezahualcoyotl bronze casting image is borrowed from Wikipedia. It is in the public domain.

Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.