Welcome to the hall of mirrors

A nuanced and ever changing figure, there are many names and manifestations of Tezcatlipoca. And the line between him and other deities can become incredibly blurred, every other Aztec deity is either sometimes him or has notable iconographic overlap with him. They have yet to invent an Aztec god who isn't at least 40% Tezcatlipoca, and with your support we can expand this to cultures that never interacted with the Aztec.

Tezcatlipoca's other names

One commonly seen other name for Tezcatlipoca is Titlacahuan, a general purpose name not linked to any specific aspect or function.

As patron of the days Ome Acatl and Ce Miquiztli, those are also names Tezcatlipoca may be referred to as.

Yelling about Yaotl.

Yaotl is a title applied to many deities, including Tezcatlipoca, but not every instance of Yaotl can be taken to refer to Tezcatlipoca. The world yaotl, meaning enemy or warrior, can be found in other titles more directly linked to Tezcatlipoca: Huitznahuac Yaotl, Huitznahuatl Yaotl, Tlacochcalco Yaotl, and Necoc Yaotl. The last one can be translated as 'enemy of both sides' and refers to his associations with luck and fate, he is the cause of both fortune and misfortune, a warrior's rise and fall.

There are not four Tezcatlipocas.

It is commonly repeated there are four Tezcatlipoca: black, white, blue, and red, with the latter three also being Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, and Xipe Totec. However, this is outdated scholarship based on a misunderstanding of the Historia de los mexicanos por sus pintras, which only names two of the four children of the primordial couple as being Tezcatlipoca, Tlatlauqui (red) Tezcatlipoca, and Yayauhqui (black) Tezcatlipoca. Tlatlauqui Tezcatlipoca is indeed associated with Xipe Totec, or Camaxtli while Yayauqui Tezcatlipoca is the one who can simply be called Tezcatlipoca.

While there is no evidence of 'Blue Tezcatlipoca' as a worshipped deity, there are literal blue depictions of Tezcatlipoca, and the relationship between Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca is one that often blurs the lines of individuality, with it being speculated that Huitzilopochtli may be an aspect of Tezcatlipoca later interpreted as a distinct deity.

As for Quetzalcoatl, although there is no sign of him being 'white Tezcatlipoca,' the name Yohuali Ehecatl has been found to refer to both Tezcatlipoca or Quetzalcoatl. They also share an association with the planet Venus.

Other Tezcatlipocas

The god Iztlacoliuhqui is used interchangably with Tezcatlipoca in the codices, who in turn is conflated with Cineteotl. There is also Ixtilton, who

Animal Associations

While the most well known animal association of Tezcatlipoca is with jaguars, it's not the only one. Turkeys, great horned owls, deer, monkeys, and coyotes can all be associated with him. Tepeyollotl, the lord of animals, is his jaguar manifestation, who notably has a lot of overlap with Tlaloc as jaguars were associated with the heavens and rain. Chalchiutotolin is his turkey aspect, and Huehhuehcoyotl is his coyote aspect (also a lewd old man). Deer are associated with him through Yohualtepoztli.

Tezcatlipoca the youth, and messiah?

Another of Tezcatlipoca's titles is Telpochtli, which can be translated as 'young man.' This title was also used as part of the tlatoani's identification with Tezcatlipoca, as they maintained their youth through the sacrifice of captives.

After the conquest of Mexico, this became the aspect of Telpochtli that syncretized with the imposed Christian religion the most. Saint John the Baptist for example. But the biggest example is with Jesus himself, who is identified so closely with Telpochtli that it can be difficult to distinguish them. Meanwhie other titles of Tezcatlipoca were appropriated for the Christian god. In this way Tezcatlipoca remained present even after the conquest.

Sahagun's bullshit

In the Spanish only section of the Florentine Codex, Sahagun compares Tezcatlipoca to both Jupiter and Lucifer. This was done for a Spanish audience with no respect for Aztec culture, especially the Lucifer part, which should be obvious considering the above section. You can tell he was the god they felt the need to demonize the most. The Jupiter comparison at least is more recognition of Tezcatlipoca's central role than most are willing to give him today.