Tlaloc of Lightning
teotihuacan-tlaloc-rayo
Period

Classic (350–650 CE)

Type

Mural painting / Incomplete image

Location

Tetitla

Deity

Deity of fertility, rain, and storms

Attributes

Goggles, upper-lip ornament, curved fangs, water lily

Classification

Tlaloc B ("War Tlaloc"): serpentine dart and chimalli shield

Dual symbolism

Water (rain) and fire (lightning); continuity into Postclassic cultures

This image is incomplete. What is missing cannot be reconstructed with certainty, and what remains is enough to identify the figure—but not to exhaust its meaning. That condition is, in a way, representative of the general state of knowledge about Teotihuacan: what has survived allows for precise questions, but rarely complete answers. What can be said with confidence is that this figure was part of a broader iconographic program within Tetitla. Seen in isolation, it is a deity with attributes linked to war, water, and storm. And even without knowing what once surrounded the Tlaloc of Lightning, the fragment that survived remains a fascinating one.