The Aztec gods apparently formed roughly a pyramid structure according to their power/age/descent/whatever. I'll attempt to classify them
The Creator Gods
Ometecuhtli: the creator god. Husband of Omecihuatl, father of Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca, Huitzilopochtli and Xipe-Totec. With Omecihuatl, represents the duality of nature. [GodChecker page]
Omecihuatl: wife of Ometecuhtli or, depending on your source, the other half of the creator god. [GodChecker page]
The Four Tezcatlipocas
Note: this is a rather confusing area theologically. Some reports have the four secondary gods as elements of a single force. This is confused by the fact that Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca were reported to hate each other with a vengeance. Another area of complication is parentage - either the four were born of Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, or Coatlicue. Additional complication comes in the form of legends that Coatlicue is Quetzalcoatl's daughter.
The four Tezacatlipocas were:
Red = Xipe or Mixcoatl
Black = Tezcatlipoca
White = Quetzalcoatl
Blue = Huitzilopochtli
Tezcatlipoca, "Smoking Mirror" (of obsidian), characterized as the most powerful, supreme deity, was associated with the notion of destiny. His cult was particularly identified with royalty, for Tezcatlipoca was the object of the lengthy and reverent prayers in rites of kingship. [GodChecker page]
Quetzalcoatl, "quetzal (feather) serpent," had dozens of associations. It was the name of a deity, a royal title, the name of a legendary priest-ruler, a title of high priestly office. But its most fundamental significance as a natural force is symbolized by the sculpture of a coiled plumed serpent rising from a base whose underside is carved with the symbols of the earth deity and Tlaloc. The image of the serpent rising from the earth and bearing water on its tail is explained in the Nahuatl language by a description of Quetzalcoatl in terms of the rise of a powerful thunderstorm sweeping down, with wind raising dust before bringing rain. [GodChecker page]
Huitzilopochtli, the deified ancestral warrior-hero, was the Mexica-Aztec patron par excellence. His temple (next to that of Tlaloc) on the Main Pyramid was the focus of fearsome sacrifices of prisoners captured by Aztec warriors. Victims' heads were strung as trophies on a great rack, the Tzompantli, erected in the precinct below. Son of Ometecuhtli according to one report; son of Coatlicue according to another. [GodChecker page]
Xipe-Totec: son of Ometecuhtli, was the God of Spring and Agriculture. Every spring victims were flayed alive in his honour - I haven't found out why yet. [GodChecker page]
Other Gods
Tonatiuh, the fifth sun, was perceived as a primary source of life whose special devotees were the warriors. The warriors were charged with the mission to provide the sun with sacrificial victims. A special altar to the sun was used for sacrifices in coronation rites, a fact that signifies the importance of the deity. The east-west path of the sun determined the principal ritual axis in the design of Aztec cities.
Tonatiuh was formerly known as Nanahuatzin, "The Pimply One", and acheived his high status primarily through becoming the fifth sun (see [AztecGospel/Stories].
Huehueteotl, "the old, old deity," was one of the names of the cult of fire, among the oldest in Mesoamerica. The maintenance of fires in the temples was a principal priestly duty, and the renewal of fire was identified with the renewal of time itself.
Tlaloc, the rain deity, belonged to another most memorable and universal cult of ancient Mexico. The name may be Aztec, but the idea of a storm god especially identified with mountaintop shrines and life-giving rain was certainly as old as Teotihuacan. The primary temple of this major deity was located atop Mt. Tlaloc, where human victims were sacrificed to fertilize water-rocks within the sacred enclosure. In Tenochtitlan another Tlaloc temple shared the platform atop the dual Main Pyramid, a symbolic mountain.
Xilonen, "young maize ear," and Chicomecoatl, "seven serpent," were principal deities of maize representing the chief staple of Mesoamerican peoples.
Tonantzin, "honored grandmother," was among the many names of the female earth-deity.
Coatlicue. I'll give info on her when I have a clue what the hell is up with the genealogies.
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