History Main / Mayincatec

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

!!!'''Common Mayincatec traits'''
* HumanSacrifice: [[BeatStillMyHeart Cutting out the heart]] of a [[AndShowItToYou living victim]] atop a ziggurat (step-sided pyramid) is an especially favored image. In reality, they used a wide variety of methods; the sacrifice by cardiotomy was the most popular in the Aztec Empire, but not everywhere else.
* VirginSacrifice: In real life, men were usually the primary choice of sacrifice and virginity didn't factor into it. However, since European cultures find virgin sacrifices particularly abhorrent and dramatic, that's what Hollywood goes with. [[note]]The Inca practice of ''Capacocha''/''Qhapaq hucha'' could arguably be called virgin sacrifice. It involved taking selected children or adolescents to a mountaintop, drugging them out and killing, sometimes simply by leaving them there to freeze to death. The fact that it is hardly as visually striking as ripping hearts out on bloody altars probably had some influence on why this practice is not as well known as the Aztec way. [[/note]]
* ImAHumanitarian and CannibalTribe: The practice of trying to acquire mystical strength through the consumption of the blood, and specifically the heart, of one's enemies. Historically, many Pre-Columbian cultures did practice cannibalism, but again, not all, nor necessarily in ritual fashion.
* ReligionOfEvil: Lots of priests and religion, especially bloody, and [[EldritchAbomination monstrous gods]].
* Big stone temples with distinctive stonework, usually equipped with [[TempleOfDoom traps and underground labyrinths]], [[FromBadToWorse ready to collapse]].
* Feathered headdresses, clubs studded with chunks of obsidian, {{loincloth}}s.
* Corn harvests, [[ThePowerOfTheSun sun worship]].
* BloodMagic
* [[http://farm1.static.flickr.com/31/54228123_a22e719c1a.jpg Complex stone jewelry: earrings, necklaces, chest pads.]]
* Ornate and colorful decorations, lots of MysticalJade, geometric patterns. Intricate and scary carvings.
* HungryJungle settings and an abundance of wildlife: [[SnakesAreSinister snakes]], macaws, [[SpidersAreScary spiders]], [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile alligators/crocodiles]], [[BatOutOfHell bats]], [[PantheraAwesome jaguars]] and monkeys. In case of Incas, llamas and condors may pop up. May overlap with ArtisticLicenseGeography, as the Valley of Mexico is actually a temperate forest land, the nearby highlands of Hidalgo and Querétaro are a Mediterranean-like semidesert, and the Inca were a mountain-dwelling culture rather than a jungle-dwelling one.
* A drug culture -- coca and hallucinogens.
* Panpipes, and bands of panpipers.
* Conquistadores often feature as conquerors of the Mayincatec. Alternate history or fantasy variations have the Mayincatic seeking to slaughter and/or sacrifice their would-be conquerors. The conquistadors are also often used as villains in stories where the Mayincatec are the protagonists.
* Conquistadores [[GodGuise mistaken for gods]], leading to [[FalseFriend the downfall of the Mayincatec people]]. In reality, this is DatedHistory, as modern view is the indigenous might have mistaken the Spaniards for descendants of long-lost ancestors, but not gods (although there was always some inevitable speculation of supernatural involved, especially towards things like horses, steel and guns). Another discredited theory is that the indigenous worshipping conquistadores caused them to submit voluntarily, which is quite untrue in general lines.[[note]]Some tribes did let themselves be peacefully assimilated, but not by the reason of believing they were their gods.[[/note]]
* The conquistadores are integrally hostile, often with explicit intentions to [[FinalSolution exterminate the indigenous]] and/or [[RapePillageAndBurn plunder their riches]], and make no attempt to establish alliances, commercial relations, or merely to try to get things done by peaceful means, unless by demanding complete and unambiguous submission. This is a popular stereotype, but it goes hopelessly without saying real life was a bit different.[[note]]The description does unfortunately fit several real conquistadores, like Nuño de Guzmán, Pedrarias Dávila and the Habsburg German colonizers of Klein-Venedig, all of which were hated by Spaniards and indigenous alike. Otherwise, no conquistador generally achieved anything without deft diplomacy and the loyalty of indigenous civilizations, the more powerful, the better, whose alliances were usually upheld throughout the colonial era and the local chiefs were even recognized as noblemen of the Spanish Empire. For instance, UsefulNotes/HernanCortez was backed by the Tlaxcaltecs, the Totonacs and several others tribes; UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro allied with the Cañaris, the Huaylas, the Chachapoyas and many others; and so on.[[/note]]
* Desiccated bodies in ceremonial outfits, or unwrapped mummies. This is occasionally portrayed like AncientEgypt in the jungle rather than desert. In real life, his only happened in the Inca empire, which expanded into cold deserts that lent themselves to mummification.
* Gold, [[TreasureRoom lots]] and ''[[GoldFever lots]] and [[WorthlessYellowRocks lots]]'' of gold. Sometimes [[CityOfGold enough to build a city]]. And hidden treasure. Idols. {{Curse}}d [[ArtifactOfDeath artifacts.]]
* Sometimes [[LostTechnology hidden advanced technology]] and/or links to AncientAstronauts.
* Giant line drawings out in the desert, like the Nazca Lines.
* The Long Count Calendar, which has 394-year ''b'ak'tun'' cycles, one of which ended on December 21, 2012. The historical Mayans did ''not'' predict any sort of apocalypse on this date -- it is basically the Mayan equivalent of January 1st, 2000 -- but it has nonetheless resulted in the MayanDoomsday trope. Incidentally, the Mayan calendar is frequently erroneously mistaken for the completely different [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_calendar Aztec calendar.]]
* Sometimes, when the producers do a little cursory research, an extremely sophisticated grasp of astronomy, often somehow superior to our modern astronomical science.
* If they use a specific god, it'll most likely be the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, the [[FeatheredSerpent Plumed Serpent]], or his Mayan counterpart Kukulcán. Since they'll probably know [[SadlyMythtaken nothing beyond his name]], they'll likely show human sacrifice to him, even though he was perhaps the only god in many pantheons who didn't ask for it. The Mayan [[BatOutOfHell bat spirit]] Camazotz may also show up, especially if it's a story about [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Mesoamerican-themed vampires]].
* Likely due to the prevalence of the aforementioned serpent god, a Mayincatec FantasyCounterpartCulture will often by populated by LizardFolk (or even SnakePeople).
* Similarly, DomesticatedDinosaurs may appear in a Mayincatec FantasyCounterpartCulture even if they are not LizardFolk (possibly inspired by the infamous hoax [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ica_stones Ica Stones]]).

Please see UsefulNotes/PreColumbianCivilizations, Myth/NativeAmericanMythology, Myth/AztecMythology, Myth/IncaMythology, and Myth/MayanMythology.

** ''Comicbook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' has a literal example -- a statue on the Isthmus of Panama with Aztec, Incan, and Mayan influences in its design, commemorating trade across the isthmus.

* BMovie ''Film/AztecRex''. Conquistadores led by Hernán Cortés meet Aztecs who worship two surviving Tyrannosaurus Rex. Houston Yeah!

* ''Film/KingsOfTheSun'', a film about a deposed Mayan king escaping to the future United States and meeting another native American tribe led by Yul Brynner.

* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'': Beast and Jubilee are travelling around Peru, and come across an isolated tribe. Beast immediately notes that they are Mayan, not Inca, and about 3,000 miles south of where they should be.

* Right in the Midwest, the Mississippian civilization had large urban centers, a powerful priestly class, warriors associated with birds (though they were falcons rather than eagles), giant pyramids (of mud, not stone), and human sacrifice. They collapsed in the 15th and 16th centuries for not entirely clear reasons (though the plagues brought from Europe that killed off [[AfterTheEnd more than 90%]] of pre-Columbian North Americans likely didn't help). From their ruins emerged the BornInTheSaddle nomads that most people associate with prehistoric North America (note that horses weren't introduced in America until the 16th century!).

* During the Spanish conquest, many indigenous peoples allied with the Spanish re-settled in places far from their land of origin, like some Tlaxcalans in northern Mexico (and as far as New Mexico and Texas) and Nicaraguans in Peru. Tlaxcalans would end up composing the armies that [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfThePhilippines conquered Philippines]] and certain Mayan tribes.

* The Huastecs are a Mayan people who migrated in ancient times along the Mexican Gulf coast, from the Yucatan to the modern Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The Aztecs conquered them around 1470 and were so impressed with their fighting that they copied the Huastec battle dress for one of their ranks.

* If there's human sacrifice in pre-Columbian North America (the only case after Columbus being the Pawnee), it will most likely be attributed to Mesoamerican civilizations.

* VirginSacrifice: In real life, men were usually the primary choice of sacrifice and virginity didn't factor into it. However, since European cultures find virgin sacrifices particularly abhorrent and dramatic, that's what Hollywood goes with.

* HungryJungle settings and an abundance of wildlife: [[SnakesAreSinister snakes]], macaws, [[SpidersAreScary spiders]], [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile alligators/crocodiles]], [[BatOutOfHell bats]], [[PantheraAwesome jaguars]] and monkeys. In case of Incas, llamas may pop up. May overlap with ArtisticLicenseGeography, as the Valley of Mexico is actually a temperate forest land, the nearby highlands of Hidalgo and Querétaro are a Mediterranean-like semidesert, and the Inca were a mountain-dwelling culture rather than a jungle-dwelling one.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' receive an Olmec head of Xtapolapocetl in one episode. It frequently reappears as a FreezeFrameBonus. In an aversion of this trope, when Maggie sees the head, she [[BrainyBaby points to a card saying Aztec]], and Lisa corrects her, saying "Not Aztec. Olmec. Ol-mec."

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' features cursed Aztec gold with Aztec-style skull carvings. The figure carved on the treasure chest itself is the "Gateway God" from the Gateway of the Sun at Tiahuanaco, Bolivia, hundreds of years and half a continent away from the Aztecs.
** The treasure's backstory being an Aztec ransom paid to Cortes and then Cortes going back on his word and being cursed for it is actually closer to the story of [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfTheIncaEmpire Pizarro, Atahualpa and the Room of Gold]] than anything that happened during the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfTheAztecEmpire Conquest of the Aztec Empire]]. The Aztecs didn't even use gold as a currency. Cortes had a long, mostly prosperous life after conquering the Aztecs (other than being barred from returning to Mexico), while Pizarro's pals were marred by infighting and assassinations, including Pizarro's own.

* In the movie ''Film/{{Unrest}}'' (2006) all the horrible events are due to the curse unleashed by an Aztec goddess, after a cave was discovered with 40,000 bodies sacrificed in his honor ... in Brazil, far from Mexico (and even the figure of 40,000 skeletons product of human sacrifice is too exaggerated even for the Aztecs).

** "All That Glitters" revolves around an Incan CityOfGold in Peru.

Under HollywoodHistory, all historical UsefulNotes/PreColumbianCivilizations (ancient UsefulNotes/{{Mexic|o}}an, Central, and UsefulNotes/{{South America}}n nations) are lumped into one exotic and often barbaric people: the Mayincatec, featuring aspects of the Maya (in modern Yucatan peninsula and Central America), Inca (in modern UsefulNotes/{{Peru}}) and Aztec (in modern Central Mexico), plus many others (especially the Olmec, one of the oldest, as more continues to be discovered about them). It's a tossed salad of exciting bits from all their histories, with a topping of myth and fiction. And the dressing is [[ThePowerOfBlood blood]].

Under HollywoodHistory, all historical UsefulNotes/PreColumbianCivilizations (ancient UsefulNotes/{{Mexic|o}}an, Central, and UsefulNotes/{{South America}}n nations are lumped into one exotic and often barbaric people: the Mayincatec, featuring aspects of the Maya (in modern Yucatan peninsula and Central America), Inca (in modern UsefulNotes/{{Peru}}) and Aztec (in modern Central Mexico), plus many others (especially the Olmec, one of the oldest, as more continues to be discovered about them). It's a tossed salad of exciting bits from all their histories, with a topping of myth and fiction. And the dressing is [[ThePowerOfBlood blood]].

Under HollywoodHistory, all historical ancient Mexican, Central, and South American nations are lumped into one exotic and often barbaric people: the Mayincatec, featuring aspects of the Maya (in modern Yucatan peninsula and Central America), Inca (in modern Peru) and Aztec (in modern Central Mexico), plus many others (especially the Olmec, one of the oldest, as more continues to be discovered about them). It's a tossed salad of exciting bits from all their histories, with a topping of myth and fiction. And the dressing is [[ThePowerOfBlood blood]].

Ironically, this trope only became more valid after the Spanish conquest of America, as the political unification of lands from modern Mexico to modern Chile only intensified cultural exchange. For instance, Náhuatl, the language original to the peoples of Central Mexico, is spoken today in remote locations where few to no Nahua people ever lived, as a consequence of the Spanish Empire adopting it as an official language in order to facilitate administration and evangelization. The development of large cities, divested of the previous political differences, also led to various indigenous groups resettling to the same population centers and suddenly becoming neighbors. The presence of native artists, translators and scholars in the imperial expansion also mixed things even more, with native cultures intentional or unintentionally influencing each other before meeting the western filter.