How Onyx Equinox draws characters, gods, and attitudes from Mesoamerican myth

Onyx Equinox, the third original production by anime distributor Crunchyroll, is a bloodshed animated fantasy series exploring temples, gods, and rituals from Mesoamerican history and mythology.

Creator Sofia Alexander, previously a storyboard artist for Infinity trainsays Polygon, “I hope the love I have for Mexico and our culture and heritage is translated correctly.” Alexander grew up in the Mexican southern state of Quintana Roo, home of the Mayan ruins, and spent her early years immersed in Mesoamerican iconography.

She was nervous about throwing at first Onyx Equinoxwho started out as a comic book due to the lack of Mesoamerican animation Victor and Valentino be one of the few exceptions. “There are stories about Mesoamerica for a reason, right?” Alexander remembers thinking. “Nobody cares. So why?” Fortunately, Marisa Balkus, a Crunchyroll executive, loved Alexander’s Pitch, and the show was the first original series to be produced entirely from within Crunchyroll Studios.

Onyx EquinoxPremiering on Saturday, November 21st at 1 p.m. PT, follows young Aztec boy Izel, the reluctant hero of mankind in training. While one of the gods is devouring humanity, others turn their eyes to Izel to close the five gates of the underworld and stop annihilation. Izel has to put aside his doubts about his fellow man in order to save his world.

While the series is a lofty fantasy indulging in a violent spectacle, Alexander’s legacy is tied into the storytelling. In the run up to the premiere, here are just a few of the places, names, and basic facts you should know.

Capture Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica generally refers to pre-Columbian “Central American” societies in the regions of North America. Over the millennia, starting with hunter-gatherer societies, civilizations before the Spanish conquest and colonization of the worlds flourished around the 16th century with innovations and inventions in mathematics, art, architecture, astrology, calendars, and codes. The past Mesoamerica is a rich historical theme to this day. Many of his living descendants, such as the Mayanstry to overcome cultural oppression and preserve their culture, language and medicine.

In order to build a plausibly lived world, Alexander and her team sought resources from National Institute of Anthropology and History restore the vitality of these cultures. It had to convey that “they are not ruins, they were colorful and populated by millions of people.”

Interestingly, Izel and his sister Nelli are Aztecs who early mention that they are from Tenochtitlan and now live in a Mayan city as servants of a Mayan master. Studies on the skulls of Mayan victims suggest they came from “all over Mexico and far beyond,” which means they may not have come from the place where they were sacrificed. The fact that the siblings are portrayed as outsiders who live with fear makes the world feel even more alive.

The gods of Onyx Equinox

Quetzalcoatl
As the god of the “feathered serpent” is his first appearance in a human shell full of feathers and scales. He makes the bet with Tezcatlipoca to find the human champion who will close the five gates of the underworld.

Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca or “Obsidian Smoker’s Mirror” exhales carving smoke. He hires his trusted Jaguar envoy, Yaotl, to oversee Quetzalcoatl’s human champion. Fun fact: the bony left foot of its human shell alludes to a battle in the creation myths.

Mictlantecuhtli
“Lord of Mictlan” is the god of the underworld. He greedily devours the city of Danibaan, exacerbating the bloodlessness among the gods and the gradual annihilation of civilizations.

The Onyx Equinox locations

Danibaan
A Zapotec city known today as Monte Alban. It is the city where Zyanya fled when the lord of the underworld Mictlantecuhtli swallowed her people.

Uxmal
A Mayan city and Izel’s home. It shows the five-layer pyramid of the magician, with its elliptical base and rounded sides, which were considered unusual for Mayan architecture. Legend has it that the name of the pyramid was given because it was built in a day.