History Main / Mayincatec

* 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 Tlaxcala people, UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro allied with the Cañaris, and so on.[[/note]]

In RealLife, the Maya, the Inca, and the Aztec (which is merely an exonym; the people called themselves Mexica) were all distinct Pre-Columbian cultures. The Maya and Aztec were comparatively close together (they both lived in what is now Mexico) and did engage in cultural exchange, but this is no reason to conflate them. Meanwhile, the Inca were thousands of miles away from them, their capital being in today's Peru, so conflating them doesn't make much sense. Their actual history is interesting and diverges from the trope quite a bit. There seems to have been some long-distance contact between the cultures (at a minimum, maize had been introduced to the Andes from Mesoamerica), but it was tenuous enough that the Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations were only vaguely aware of each other at best. However, keep in mind that the trope is frequently also valid in modern Latin America.

* A complication in this trope is that it is often plainly apparent that there was a lot of cross-cultural exchange going on between the various city-building cultures of Mesoamerica. Elements like the Ball Game, some form of blood sacrifice (anything from token drops of blood to ripping out the hearts of whole village's worth of people one after the other), and substantial portions of basic mythological structures are often shared between multiple civilizations. As we can trace back complex civilizations in this region for at least a couple of thousand years, it would be quite surprising if there wasn't substantial appearance of similar cultural themes. But between Mesoamerican and South American cultures, not so much.
* Quite a few zoos, particularly those in the US, [[labelnote:Examples]][[https://www.google.com/search?q=palm+beach+zoo+mayan&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj9xMnbidT5AhU6tXIEHQePAYMQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=palm+beach+zoo+mayan&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECCMQJzoFCAAQgAQ6BggAEB4QBToECAAQGFCHA1jBC2CbDWgAcAB4AYAB8ASIAZ0MkgELMi4xLjEuMS4wLjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=KB8AY_2QKbrqytMPh56GmAg&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA752CA752 The Palm Beach Zoo in Florida]] and the [[https://www.google.com/search?q=audubon+zoo+jaguar+jungle&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiPyP2YitT5AhXys3IEHSW1BH4Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=audubon+zoo+jaguar+jungle&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECCMQJzoFCAAQgAQ6BAgAEBhQkApY6x9gjSJoAHAAeACAAXyIAc0LkgEDOC43mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=qR8AY8_PG_LnytMPpeqS8Ac&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA752CA752#imgrc=fsWLSY-xVeQu2M Audubon Zoo]] in UsefulNotes/NewOrleans[[/labelnote]] have Latin American sections that are themed around Mayan Ruins even though most of the animals on display are found in South America (and thus also qualify as MisplacedWildlife).
* 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.

* Most Nahuan languages (close relatives of the Aztec language, Nahuatl) are spoken in central Mexico, but some can be found as far as southern Chihuahua (Mexicanero) and northern Nicaragua (Nicarao). Nahuan languages are in turn part of the Uto-Aztecan language family, which includes many languages in the western United States, like Shoshone and Comanche.
* 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.
* [[https://cookjmex.blogspot.com/2011/08/exporing-jalisicos-old-haciendas-part-3.html Etzatlan in the Mexican state of Jalisco]] is made of the name of the Itzas, the Maya people who built Chichen Itza in what is now the Mexican state of Yucatan, and the Nahuatl (the language The Mexica and many other Aztec peoples spoke) prepositional suffix, "tla/tlan," which means, "place of."
* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalena_Solis Hernández Brothers Sect]] in 1960s Mexico was a scam that took advantage of the ignorance of their illiterate victims to claim "tributes" in exchange for favors from mysterious "Inca gods in the mountains" (victims and scammers alike being unaware that the Incas lived in South America). It went off the rails when the brothers, in order to keep TheMasquerade when two victims were becoming wary, decided to bring in an AxeCrazy prostitute, Magdalena Solís, and present her as the incarnation of the "Inca goddess" they were prophets of. Solís rapidly seized absolute control and, [[HiddenDepths being actually versed in Aztec mythology]], presented herself as the goddess [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coatlicue Coatlicue]] and demanded human sacrifices by [[AndShowItToYou removal of the heart]]. [[FromBadToWorse Oops.]]
* In architecture, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayan_Revival_architecture Mayan Revival]] makes use of techniques and iconography from various Mesoamerican cultures in a Modernist and ArtDeco milieu.

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

* Ornate and colorful decorations, geometric patterns. Intricate and scary carvings.
* HuggryJungle 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.

* Jungle settings and an abundance of wildlife: snakes, macaws, spiders, [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile alligators/crocodiles]], [[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.

* 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.
* Likely due to the prevalence of the aforementioned god, a Mayincatec FantasyCounterpartCulture will often by populated by LizardFolk (or even SnakePeople).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' is pretty definitively set in the Incan Empire, although the word "Inca" is never said, and Kuzco's theme song guy refers to them as "Mesoamerican", which the Incans really weren't. Still, the mountain-and-jungle setting, the farming of llamas and alpacas, and the overall art style are all specifically Incan, as is Kuzco's name; Cusco (or Cuzco) was the Incan capital (and is still a provincial capital in Peru today). The animated series ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'' has decided to be a bit more specific and explicitly confirm that they are Incan, usually by way of jokes such as "[[Series/AmericanIdol Incan Idol]]", though extensive use of GratuitousSpanish is present. And characters will have either Spanish or Pseudo-Quechua sounding names.
** The first draft of the story, ''Kingdom of the Sun'', was much more explicitly Incan, and involved the mythology. Yzma here was a {{necromancer}} with an army of mummies, and as she had a grudge against the sun god Inti (and by extension Kuzco the emperor), she planned to help the underworld god Supay bring about TheNightThatNeverEnds.

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]].

* Jungle settings and an abundance of wildlife: snakes, spiders, alligators/crocodiles, [[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.

* Sometimes hidden advanced technology and/or links to AncientAstronauts.

* The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse competely reinvents ComicBook/NamorTheSubMariner and his corner of the Marvel world by giving them a Mesoamerican overhaul. The city of Atlantis is now called Talokan, which is named after an Aztec underworld.

* ''Film/TwentyTwelve'' draws heavy inspiration from the 2012 phenomenon, Mayanism and the Mayan Long Count Calendar. Naturally, they erroneously present the Aztec calendar instead of the actual Mayan Long Count Calendar. Surprisingly, the Mayans themselves never actually appear, though footage of the pyramids in Mesoamerica does briefly show up in the opening.

* [[ComicBook/TheAdventuresOfTintin Tintin]]: ''The Seven Crystal Balls'' and ''Prisoners of the Sun.'' The Incas are portrayed rather sympathetically, as even though they try to sacrifice the heroes, their interactions with outsiders have rarely been positive. Oh, and they suck at astronomy, as a plot point. On the whole Hergé, who got a lot of his information from ''National Geographic'' does not mix up the Inca with the Maya except with reference to the prophetic inscription mentioning the retribution that will befall the violators of Rascar Capac's tomb, which plays a large part in ''[[Recap/TintinTheSevenCrystalBalls The Seven Crystal Balls]]''. The Incas, unlike the Mayas and Aztecs, had no system of writing. The original version of ''The Seven Crystal Balls'', serialized in ''Le Soir'', also contained a lead disc with symbols "resembling Aztec or Inca signs", but Hergé excised the panel that showed it and texts that mentioned it when the album version was produced.

* Inversely, the Manteño-Huancavilca culture complex in coastal Ecuador was once suggested to be of Mayan origin, due to some artistic influences and a local native myth about civilization being brought to the region by a foreign king who came from the sea.

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

* A complication in this trope is that it is often plainly apparent that there was a lot of cross-cultural exchange going on between the various city-building cultures of Mesoamerica. Elements like the Ball Game, some form of blood sacrifice (anything from token drops of blood to ripping out the hearts of whole village's worth of people one after the other), and substantial portions of basic mythological structures are often shared between multiple civilizations. As we can trace back complex civilizations in this region for at least a couple of thousand years, it would be quite surprising if there wasn't substantial appearance of similar cultural themes. But between Mesoamerican and South American cultures, not so much.

* 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.

* ''LightNovel/RokkaBravesOfTheSixFlowers'' sets its anime in a fantasy world full of Mayincatec buildings and clothing (at least among the common people).

* In ''Film/ThePumaman'' the villain wears a golden Aztec mask containing alien mind control circuitry. He is fought by Puma Man, a "man-god", sired by ancient alien Aztec pumas and equipped with a magical Aztec golden belt. Most of the real fighting is done by his mentor Vadinho, an Aztec priest to the space gods... who lives in a temple in the Andes. Inca territory. Gah!

In RealLife, the Maya, the Inca, and the Aztec (which is merely an exonym; the people called themselves Mexica) were all distinct Pre-Columbian cultures. The Maya and Aztec were comparatively close together (they both lived in what is now Mexico) and did engage in cultural exchange, but this is no reason to conflate them. Meanwhile, the Inca were thousands of miles away from them, their capital being in today's Peru, so conflating them would cross into CriticalResearchFailure territory. Their actual history is interesting and diverges from the trope quite a bit. There seems to have been some long-distance contact between the cultures (at a minimum, maize had been introduced to the Andes from Mesoamerica), but it was tenuous enough that the Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations were only vaguely aware of each other at best. However, keep in mind that the trope is frequently also valid in modern Latin America.

* The closest to a real life example of a Mayincatec culture is probably the rarely discussed Tarascan Empire in Western Mexico, a traditional enemy of the Aztecs. The Tarascans (who to this day call themselves ''P'urhépecha'', or "Newcomers") speak a language isolate, were the first in Mesoamerica to work copper and bronze, and made ceramics with apparent Andean stylistic influences. It's been suspected for a long time that they descend from pre-Inca South American peoples that sailed to Mexico from what is now Colombia and Ecuador.

* 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.

* The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse competely reinvents ComicBook/NamorTheSubMariner and his corner of the Marvel world by giving them an ancient South American overhaul. The city of Atlantis is now called Talocan, which is named after an Aztec underworld.

See Also: HollywoodHistory and VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory. Compare {{Spexico}}, LatinLand, TheCapitalOfBrazilIsBuenosAires and BananaRepublic, for when this happens to modern Latin American countries. Also compare InjunCountry and TipisAndTotemPoles for composite versions of Native American cultures from North America. European equivalents include AncientGrome, when Roman and Greek cultures are mashed up together in AncientRome and UsefulNotes/AncientGreece settings, and {{Scotireland}}, where distinctly Scottish and Irish elements are mixed up indiscriminately. See EgyptIsStillAncient, which is when you have Egypt depicted as if it were still a land of Pharaohs and gods.

See Also: HollywoodHistory and VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory. Compare {{Spexico}}, LatinLand, TheCapitalOfBrazilIsBuenosAires and BananaRepublic, for when this happens to modern Latin American countries. Also compare InjunCountry and TipisAndTotemPoles for composite versions of Native American cultures from North America. The European equivalent is AncientGrome, when Roman and Greek cultures are mashed up together in AncientRome and UsefulNotes/AncientGreece settings. See EgyptIsStillAncient, which is when you have Egypt depicted as if it were still a land of Pharaohs and gods.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' the leaders of the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Red Court]] follow the Maya/Aztec variant, [[GodGuise impersonating]] or replacing certain Mayan and Aztec gods - their King going by Kukulkan (a god who fits the concept of the Feathered Serpent deity that was shared with the Aztecs, in the latter as Quetzalcoatl, so it could be an InUniverse case of IHaveManyNames). Of course, as BloodMagic using vampires native to South and Central America, the sacrifices are only to be expected. And while Kukulkan/Quetzalcoatl didn't generally ask for human sacrifice, it's implied that the Red Court's leaders - who were extremely bloodthirsty - usurped the pre-existing gods, [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly exploiting the universe's rules on divinity to do so]].

* Music/NeilYoung's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOR0zLL7UlU Cortez The Killer]] is all sorts of confused. It mentions Cortez, Montezuma and human sacrifice - so Aztecs, right? But the very next verse (yep, right after the stuff about ''human sacrifice'') we have "[[NobleSavage Hate was just a legend/ And war was never known]]". So maybe not [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy the Aztecs]]. The Inca certainly "lifted many stones"... but they never met Cortez. The Incas, being the biggest empire with the ''biggest and best equipped army in the Americas'' before the Europeans showed up, don't seem to have "never known" about war, either.

* ''Webcomic/TheWaterPhoenixKing'' has been described as a formerly high-fantasy world where the Spanish Conquistador-equivalents ''switched sides'' and allied with Tenochtitlan to conquer Europe - and then the Abrahamic God screwed everything up.

* While the feathered serpent ''was'' a pretty widespread god (and pretty much the only one non-experts can name) it was - ironically enough - almost universally described as abhorring human sacrifice, even during times and in cultures that were otherwise quite fond of ripping out hearts and whatnot.

* Quite a few zoos, particularly those in the US, [[labelnote:Exaples included]][[https://www.google.com/search?q=palm+beach+zoo+mayan&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj9xMnbidT5AhU6tXIEHQePAYMQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=palm+beach+zoo+mayan&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECCMQJzoFCAAQgAQ6BggAEB4QBToECAAQGFCHA1jBC2CbDWgAcAB4AYAB8ASIAZ0MkgELMi4xLjEuMS4wLjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=KB8AY_2QKbrqytMPh56GmAg&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA752CA752 The Palm Beach Zoo in Florida]] and the [[https://www.google.com/search?q=audubon+zoo+jaguar+jungle&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiPyP2YitT5AhXys3IEHSW1BH4Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=audubon+zoo+jaguar+jungle&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECCMQJzoFCAAQgAQ6BAgAEBhQkApY6x9gjSJoAHAAeACAAXyIAc0LkgEDOC43mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=qR8AY8_PG_LnytMPpeqS8Ac&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA752CA752#imgrc=fsWLSY-xVeQu2M Audubon Zoo]] in UsefulNotes/NewOrleans[[/labelnote]] have Latin American sections that are themed around Mayan Ruins even though most of the animals on display are found in South America (and thus also qualify as MisplacedWildlife).

* [[http://farm1.static.flickr.com/31/54228123_a22e719c1a.jpg Complex stone jewelry: earrings, necklaces, chest pads]].

* 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]].

* The ancient Ord tribe whose semi-ruined temples ([[spoiler:well, ''entirely'' ruined temples by the time the BigBad has messed them up]]) are featured in ''Anime/ExplorerWomanRay'' seems to be pretty much along these lines. It's claimed they used to worship the Sun and their temples have hidden treasure which no-one was able to find; their true secret is much more interesting.

** The Maya-style temple in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull''. [[spoiler: The film has aliens living with the ancient Maya and teaching them about agriculture, never mind that the characters are in Peru, closer to the Inca than the Maya, and even so using Inca may have been inaccurate geographically speaking.]] The civilization is supposed to be an {{Expy}} of El Dorado located in UsefulNotes/TheAmazonRainforest, with references to the Maya and other Mesoamerican cultures. The temple also included artifacts from civilizations all over the world. It should also be noted, that apparently Indy picked up Quechua riding with Pancho Villa!

* In Creator/OrsonScottCard's ''Literature/PastwatchTheRedemptionOfChristopherColumbus''', where the author has somewhat [[ShownTheirWork Shown His Work]] in researching the Native American cultures, specifically Mesoamerican and Caribbean ones. He then postulates what would happen if [[UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus Columbus]] never sailed West (the Tlaxcalans, even more bloodthirsty but much more progressive than the Aztecs, [[spoiler: would rise to power, conquer their continent and then cross into Europe to TakeOverTheWorld]]). Except that the Tlaxcalans were nowhere near as bloodthirsty, war-loving or expansionist as the Mexica, the main ethnic group of the Aztec Empire.

* Music/IronMaiden's ''The Book of Souls'' has artwork and the such based on Mayan mythology. Yet in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F7A24f6gNc the first single's music video]], once they get to a Mesoamerican temple an Aztec sun stone is clearly seen.

* Quite a few zoos, particularly those in the US [[labelnote:Exaples included]][[https://www.google.com/search?q=palm+beach+zoo+mayan&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj9xMnbidT5AhU6tXIEHQePAYMQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=palm+beach+zoo+mayan&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECCMQJzoFCAAQgAQ6BggAEB4QBToECAAQGFCHA1jBC2CbDWgAcAB4AYAB8ASIAZ0MkgELMi4xLjEuMS4wLjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=KB8AY_2QKbrqytMPh56GmAg&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA752CA752 The Palm Beach Zoo in Florida]] and the [[https://www.google.com/search?q=audubon+zoo+jaguar+jungle&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiPyP2YitT5AhXys3IEHSW1BH4Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=audubon+zoo+jaguar+jungle&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECCMQJzoFCAAQgAQ6BAgAEBhQkApY6x9gjSJoAHAAeACAAXyIAc0LkgEDOC43mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=qR8AY8_PG_LnytMPpeqS8Ac&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA752CA752#imgrc=fsWLSY-xVeQu2M Audubon Zoo]] in UsefulNotes/NewOrleans[[/labelnote]], have Latin American sections that are themed around Mayan Ruins even though most of the animals on display are found in South America (and thus also qualify as MisplacedWildlife).

* The conquistadores are universally hostile, often with explicit intentions to exterminate the indigenous and/or 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. It goes hopelessly without saying real life was a bit different.[[note]]This 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. UsefulNotes/HernanCortez was backed by the Tlaxcala people, UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro allied with the Cañaris, and so on.[[/note]]

* HumanSacrifice: [[BeatStillMyHeart Cutting out the heart]] of a [[AndShowItToYou living victim]] atop a ziggurat (step-sided pyramid).
* VirginSacrifice: Men were the primary choice of sacrifice and virginity didn't factor into it. However, since Western-born cultures find virgin sacrifices abhorrent and dramatic, that's what Hollywood goes with.
* ImAHumanitarian: The practice of trying to acquire mystical strength through the consumption of the blood, and specifically the heart, of one's enemies. Mesoamerica either originally invented it, or invented it separately from the rest of the world.
* CannibalTribe
* Lots of priests, religion, and [[EldritchAbomination monstrous gods]].

* 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 Spaniards for descendants of long-lost ancestors, but not gods (although there was always some inevitable ambiguity involved, especially when the indigenous saw 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]]Indigenous-conquistador relations depended heavily on the case -- the Tlaxcala people viewed UsefulNotes/HernanCortez as an equal and struck an alliance with him to defeat the Aztec kingdom, which was upheld throughout the colonial era and had the local chiefs were even recognized as nobles of the Spaniard kingdom. In western Mexico, Nuño de Guzmán, a sort of TokenEvilTeammate among conquistadores themselves, did abuse his position straight to exterminate local tribes. UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro in Perú made the Inca empire a fiefdom of the Spanish crown by smartly presenting himself to the Inca's tributaries as a liberator.[[/note]]
* Desiccated bodies in ceremonial outfits: unwrapped mummies. This is occasionally portrayed like AncientEgypt in the jungle rather than desert. (This only happened in the Inca empire, which expanded into cold deserts that lent themselves to mummification)

* Sometimes, when the producers do a little cursory research, an extremely sophisticated grasp of astronomy.

Generally the Mayincatec are more likely to be the villains than the heroes, and as such they are prone to HistoricalVillainUpgrade. The exception, of course, is if the story involves [[EvilColonialist the Conquistadors]], in which case they'll instead be portrayed as tragic victims of European expansion. Some AlternateHistory stories have them survive to the modern day, resulting in a ModernMayincatecEmpire.

In RealLife, the Maya, the Inca, and the Aztec (which is merely an exonym; the people called themselves Mexica) were all distinct Pre-Columbian cultures. The Maya and Aztec were comparatively close together (they both lived in what is now Mexico) and did engage in cultural exchange, but this is no reason to conflate them. Meanwhile, the Inca were thousands of miles away from them, their capital being in today's Peru, so conflating them would cross into CriticalResearchFailure territory. Their actual history is interesting and diverges from the trope quite a bit. There seems to have been some long-distance contact between the cultures (at a minimum, maize had been introduced to the Andes from Mesoamerica), but it was tenuous and the Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations were vaguely aware of each other at best. However, keep in mind that the trope is frequently also valid in modern Latin America.

See Also: HollywoodHistory and VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory. Compare {{Spexico}}, LatinLand, TheCapitalOfBrazilIsBuenosAires and BananaRepublic, for when this happens to modern Latin American countries. Also compare InjunCountry and TipisAndTotemPoles for composite versions of Native American cultures from North America. The European equivalent is AncientGrome, when Roman and Greek cultures are mashed up together in AncientRome and UsefulNotes/AncientGreece settings. See EgyptIsStillAncient, which is when you have Egypt depicted as if it were still a land of Pharoahs and gods.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The blood mages from ''TabletopGame/CastleFalkenstein''
* Several ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' sourcebooks, including ''Deities & Demigods'', have presented versions of the Aztec pantheon suitable for use in campaigns.
** The jungle continent Xen'drik in the TabletopGame/{{Eberron}} campaign setting has a [=Mayincatec=] flavor.
** The ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' campaign setting features[[note]]Well, ''featured'' after the Spellplague, ''TabletopGame/{{Maztica}}'' being switched with the counterpart on an alternate dimension, until it was brought back again[[/note]] the continent of Maztica, far to the west across the ocean from Faerun, with a dominant culture, the Nexalans, based closely on the Aztecs. It was subject to invasion by the Amnians and their admiral Cordell and became the site of a burgeoning Faerunian colony. Based [[FantasyCounterpartCulture so closely]] on the Aztecs, in fact, that it might technically not count as [=Mayincatec=]: rather than generic ancient South American culture, the Nexalans ''are'' [[ShownTheirWork Aztecs]]. With a quick word-find-and-replace for proper nouns and a light sprinkling of taking the mythology at face value (this was Creator/{{TSR}} policy at the time, though Maztica was one of the most severe offenders). Additionally, the sourcebook ''Serpent Kingdoms'', describing the society and history of the yuan-ti (a race of evil snake people) gives them some distinctly Mesoamerican-inspired architecture and culture.
** A classic adventure set in the ''[[TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}} World of Greyhawk]]'', ''Lost Shrine of Tamoachan'', has the {{Player Character}}s exploring the ruins of a Maya-themed temple. Later, the Olman people from Hepmonaland and the Amedio Jungle in the distant south were introduced with a culture that was pure Mayincatec.
** The Hollow World of the ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'' setting, being a collection of {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s, has the Azcan as Mayincatec.
* ''TabletopGame/EmpireOfThePetalThrone'', (1975) published by Creator/{{TSR}}. It's set in the world of Tekumel, created by M.A.R. Barker (see the entry in Literature).
* There are several examples of this in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', as well. Firstly, the characters used to represent the language of Old Realm are pretty much directly based off of Mayan hieroglyphs. Also, the First Age was either completely loaded down with this trope, or it was mostly limited to the areas in the Southeast around Rathess, depending on your edition. The Dragon Kings go deeper into that aesthetic, sacrificing hearts to the Unconquered Sun, constructing geomantic temples and mastering astrology.
* ''TabletopGame/FengShui'': The Darkness Pagoda from the Netherworld styles itself after the Aztec Empire, and its ruler, Ming I the Queen of Darkness, is one of the vilest villains of the entire Feng Shui setting.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'':
** In the plane of Alara, which has been splintered into different shards each lacking two of the colors of mana. Naya has Red, Green and White mana but no Blue or Black, resulting in a sunlit jungle world with no need for progress and ambition. Its inhabitants are content to worship giant beasts as gods, down to occasional HumanSacrifice, and are fairly hedonistic. They are deliberately modeled after the Aztec and these aspects of their culture, but as the world as a whole lost their drive for more complex civilizations and has in fact lost their former empires they also resemble the Maya in this regard.
** Ixalan is a more complete world, and has ''two'' factions that more properly resemble their real world counterparts: the Sun Empire, modeled after the Aztec with a few Incan trappings (alongside their brighly colored, feathered dinosaurs), and the River Heralds, a group of merfolk that is the local analogue of the Maya. Plus Vampire Conquistadors called the Legion of Dusk (as well as Pirates to round out the fourth faction)
* Several Aztec gods are featured in the ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' sourcebook: "Pantheons of the Megaverse". "World Book 9: South America Two" features the Empire of the Sun, a Magic- ''and'' Technology-using state ruled by the actual Incan gods. In addition, they also have several Nazca influences, not due to poor research, but rather an alliance and assimilation with the ancient Nazca Line Makers and their descendants.
* One of the pantheons player characters can choose from in the tabletop RPG ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'' is the Aztec one. It features Mictlantecuhtli, God of death and the underworld, who is a sadistic SOB even by the standards of Myth/AztecMythology, and that is saying something. The "Aztlanti" pantheon are not the only Central American pantheon; they're just one of the last ones left following the war with the Titans. Others are still around, but not nearly as powerful. The Atzlanti signature character, Dr. Aaron Tigrilla, is fairly sympathetic -- he was a surgeon who got around that "necessary blood sacrifice" bit by sacrificing the leftovers of heart surgery to Tezcatlipoca. As you can imagine, this didn't go over too well when the board found out. He eventually becomes the god of extirpation, and works to patch up soldiers in the war against the Titans [[note]]and dealing with the annoyance of his closest compatriot being a ''little'' too quick to MercyKill them[[/note]].
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': Aztlan. Something of an invoked trope in that it's explicitly noted in-universe that the Aztlan powers-that-be have deliberately thrown random motifs from old Latin-American cultures together to create a national identity to suit their own ends. One of the narrators of the Aztechnology sourcebook sarcastically notes that most of the Aztlan leadership are descended from European ancestors and have little to no grounding in the "ancient culture" they've "revived" at all.
* ''TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion'' is unusual in having sympathetic Aztec ghosts. The Flayed Lands - the Dark Kingdom ruling over Central America, sometimes referred to as "the Dark Kingdom of Obsidian" when others bundle the North and South American Dark Kingdoms into it - operated on a semi-theocratic system that allowed them to reap [[{{Mana}} Pathos]] freely from mortal devotion. Unfortunately, wraiths fleeing Stygia saw this system and were all sorts of horrified - Renegades because it reminded them of the empire they were fleeing, Heretics because of the associated sacrificial practices - and went all Cortez. The destruction of the Flayed Lands is part of what set off [[WorldWreckingWave the Third Great Maelstrom]], so nobody won there.
* The Lizardmen in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', FantasyCounterpartCulture of the [=Mayincatec=]. Culturally they're closer to the Maya, with the interest in astronomy and prophecies and the like; however one of their major gods is based on Quetzalcoatl (since they're, you know, Lizards), and the jewelry they often carry is more Aztec-inspired, as is their focus on blood sacrifice. To complete the hat-trick, they have a habit of mummifying dead rulers and displaying them as relics, which is taken from the Inca (said mummified remains are haunted by Slann's spirit and are the most powerful magic users in the setting).
** Meanwhile, [[TabletopGame/WarHammer40000 in the grim darkness of the far future]], the Rainbow Warriors space marine chapter are [[DependingOnTheWriter inconsistently]] depicted as taking after native South American cultures. Also interesting to note is that the ubiquitous [[ChainsawGood chainsword]] used by the space marines and occasionally other factions is (probably coincidentally) extremely similar in both concept and appearance to the iconic macuahuitl, a wooden paddle with obsidian razor blades embedded in the sides, used throughout Pre-Columbian South America, most notably by the feared Jaguar Warriors. Just as obsidian is terrifyingly sharp but far too brittle to make an entire sword out of, the chainsword's teeth are usually made from [[SharpenedToASingleAtom mono-molecular]] materials that would be difficult if not impossible to forge into a single blade of usable length, not to mention easily breakable and costly to repair, which the Adeptus Mechanicus compensates for by attaching many tiny ones to a larger device.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'':
** The game does largely avert the trope, but [[NecessaryWeasel has to use it to a certain extent to make the game function properly]], such as using Eagle Warriors as a common unit to Mayans and Aztecs rather than just Aztec. Also, while both civilisations have exactly the same architectural style, this is due to putting its societies into aesthetic groups: East Asians (Chinese/Japanese/Koreans/Mongols), Western Europeans (British/Celts/Franks/Spanish), Eastern Mediterraneans (Byzantines/Saracens/Persians/Turks) and Central Europeans (Huns/Goths/Vikings/Teutons) all look the same too. Both Aztec and Maya wonders are pyramids, but are in totally different shapes that are accurate to their respective cultures.
** Further avoided by the programmers since they did consider adding an Inca civilization in the x-pack, but decided to drop it when they found that it would require a completely different architectural style (the other reason was that they already had trouble designing two playable factions with no cavalry, and felt that they couldn't do a third that would come as different enough from either of them).
** In the Aztec campaign the real life Tlaxcalans, [[UnreliableNarrator whom the narrator describes as "wicked",]] are built using the Aztec civ. [[JustifiedTrope Understandable]] because the Tlaxcala were [[GeniusBonus also Nahuatl speakers]], with the same religion and weapons.
** On the other hand, the campaign also has the line "even the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl demands more sacrifices" and the Aztecs taking the Spanish for gods, at least initially. But also the Aztecs winning by adopting cavalry and gunpowder, so...
** The Aztec units' dialogue seems to be some kind of Mayan language, possibly [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign not-completely-accurate]] Yucatec. Mayan units do speak accurate K'iche' Mayan, though.
** Giving the name "Eldorado" to the Mayan Unique Technology is inexcusable. This seems to pursue the Mayas for some reason: When the fan-made x-pack ''Forgotten Empires'' (later [[AscendedFanon officialized]] as ''The Forgotten'') gave civilizations a second UT, the Mayans got one called "Tlatoani" - the title used by ''Aztec'' emperors. When fans complained, it was changed to "Obsidian Arrows", which also makes more sense as a name for the technology (a boost in archer damage to buildings). Later, "Obsidian Arrows" was found to be overpowered and was replaced with "Hul'che Javelineers", which allows skirmishers to throw two javelins instead of one (Hul'che is the Mayan version of the Atlatl, which is also the name of an Aztec tech buffing their skirmishers, though in a different way).
** ''Forgotten Empires''/''The Forgotten'' does include an Inca civilization. It uses the same Mesoamerican building style and eagle warriors (who get even more obvious Aztec skins than in the previous x-pack), but it also has ''two'' unique units (Kamayuks and Andean slingers), units that speak Quechua, and in the final version the player even begins every game with a free llama.
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'' has playable Aztecs and Incas with completely different buildings and units roster, and even a hidden Mayan faction that is unlockable by launching two consecutive revolutions as the Mexicans (based on the Yucatán Caste Wars of the 19th century). Aztecs still speak bad Mayan.
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'': The Atlantean civilization partially has this aesthetic when it was added as a playable culture in ''The Titans'' expansion pack, for example their trading caravans use llamas. This is probably based on a theory that the Atlanteans were the first to reach the Americas and build colonies there.
* Averted in the Real-Time Strategy game ''VideoGame/AmericanConquest''. All three civilizations have unique bonuses, building architecture and units.
* In ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonders3'', the [[LizardFolk Draconians]], particularly their cities, have this design.
* ''VideoGame/{{Aztec}}'': an early videogame from the Apple II era. The Franchise/IndianaJones-like protagonist had to explore the Tomb of Quetzalcoatl in search of a jade idol, facing beasts, snakes, spiders, traps and fearsome blowgun-toting warriors rendered in all their '80s graphics glory.
* ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'' has Mayahem Temple, where sports like archery and kickball are practiced. In RealLife, while Mayans played Mesoamerican ballgames, they never practiced target shooting (and especially didn't worship a target shooting god).
* ''VideoGame/CallOfJuarez'', a Western-themed FPS has the protagonists seeking and finding Aztec treasures.
* Various ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' games have played with this trope, but mostly avert it. The Aztec, Maya, and Inca are portrayed as different factions and typically have very different focuses--the Aztecs are an aggressive warmonger with a religion focus, the Inca are based around powerful infrastructure and food production, and the Maya are oriented towards scientific discovery through observatories. ''VI'' adds the relatively obscure Mapuche to the mix for good measure.
* ''VideoGame/CurseOfTheDeadGods'' features a temple to the titular Gods of Wonder (and [[spoiler:BigBad X'belz'aloc]]) that has Incan rope bridges, a huge emphasis on Aztec blood sacrifice, and a giant rotating stone wheel-door that bears much similarity to the Mayan long-count calendar. Justified, as the temple was built by the in-universe [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Chatac]] civilization, which is implied to have influenced the other cultures in Mesoamerica in a weird inverted example of CultureChopSuey.
* The ''VideoGame/DancingLine'' level "The Maze" seems to take place in this setting, as it has various imageries (i.e. pyramids and golden statues) placed along the map.
* ''VideoGame/DiabloII'': Kehjistan combines Mayincatec building elements with South Asian jungles. It is also the seat of power of a monotheistic, very Christian influenced world religion, and most of it has a very DarkestAfrica feel. They do practice blood sacrifice - to the prime evil Mephisto, probably without even knowing it.
* Huitzil from ''VideoGame/DarkStalkers'' is a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Mayincatec space robot]].
* In ''VideoGame/DeadfallAdventures'', the final chapter of the game takes place in Guatemala, in and around Xibalba, the Mayan "city of the dead". The game's mythology is correct regarding the city and its rulers, but here it's a real place, with a failed expedition of conquistadors (and their sailing ships, [[ItMakesSenseInContext high in the mountains]]), one of whom's diary you can read.
* Sauria in ''VideoGame/{{Dinosaur Planet|Rare}}'' and ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' is a combination of this and {{Prehistoria}}.
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' has Angry Aztec, with a llama in the middle of a tropical jungle in an island with no mountain high enough to match those of the former Aztec domains in historical Mexico. The level itself is mostly a desert. While Mexico does have coastal dunes, llamas reside in the mountains that are nothing like the Aztec themed desert of the work at hand.
* Bloodseeker from ''VideoGame/{{Dota 2}}'' has a vaguely Aztec motif. His gods require cubic furlongs of blood just to be satiated, and Bloodseeker contributes to that by shedding other heroes' blood and transferring its energy to his gods.
* In the HD remake of ''VideoGame/DuckTales'', the lock mechanism to access the Incan TempleOfDoom in the Amazon stage is an Aztec calendar stone.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** Cyrodiil, homeland of the [[HumansAreDiplomats Imperials]] and the heart of the various Tamriellic Empires throughout history, was stated originally have been a lush jungle and home to the Nibenese, a [[CultureChopSuey cross between]] a Mayincatec culture with some early Chinese Empire influences as well, with jungles, rivers, rice fields, tattoos, and stone cities. Later depictions transform it instead as a FantasyCounterpartCulture of ancient Rome. This is justified as Tiber Septim, [[FounderOfTheKingdom founder]] of the Third Cyrodiilic Empire, would use his powers [[DeityOfHumanOrigin post-apotheosis as the deity Talos]] to perform a CosmicRetcon, transforming Cyrodiil into a temperate forest as a thanks to the [[BadassArmy Imperial Legions]] who served him so well in life. As shown in the prequel ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'', this change was retroactive, making it so Cyrodiil had ''always been'' a temperate forest.
** Black Marsh, home of the [[LizardFolk Argonian]] race has aesthetic influences to this effect. There are some suggestions in the lore that some of its ancient stone cities and pyramid structures were not built by the Argonians themselves, but older civilizations which have since been wiped out.
* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth 2'':
** The three civilizations represent the Mesoamerican civilizations, sharing the same design for buildings, units, and wonders (including two pyramids), differing in their unique units (Bola Throwers, Eagle Warriors, Jaguar Warriors, etc.) and minor combat bonuses.
** The tutorial campaign features the Aztecs actually beating Cortes and eventually establishing a nation parallel to the United States, while the Incas become a fascist nation allying with Nazi Germany.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'' (Released in America as ''Indigo Prophecy''): BigBad The Oracle is [[spoiler: a Mayan priest who performed human sacrifice, magically living on into the present day.]] The other BigBad is suspiciously [[Film/TheMatrix Matrixish]] Artificial Intelligences the Maya fight against. It's a ''weird'' game.
* ''VideoGame/ForTheKing'': The inhabitants of the jungle continent, featured in the Lost Civilization quest, are an indiscriminate mix of several different Central and South American cultures, including the Maya and the Aztecs.
* ''VideoGame/{{Gift|2001}}'': The world of Paztec.
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun: The Lost Age'' has the city of Contigo, which is in this style. Bizarrely, it's also the birth hometown of [[spoiler: Ivan, who lives in Kalay and looks European, and Hama, who lives near Xian and looks Chinese. And they're siblings.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Greendog}}'': the protagonist is a cool surfer dude unfortunately cursed with an amulet that prevents surfing. He must track down a lost Aztec civilisation and recover six pieces of treasure in order to lift the curse.
* ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'': the Carja tribe displays many of these traits. Their capital city Meridian is a hybrid of several South American styles of architecture, and before the beginning of the game they were also said to have offered ritual sacrifices to the sun on behalf of their ruler, who is known as the Sun-King. Their priesthood is also frequently seen wearing elaborate headdresses.
* In ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia,'' the first two main dungeons see you venturing into the ruined Incan city of Machu Picchu and then after traveling halfway across the ocean on the Incan ship of gold, visiting the Nazca lines, which are revealed to be [[AncientAstronauts a landing strip for the Moon Tribe's flying Sky Garden]] (never mind the fact that Machu Picchu and the Nazca lines are actually quite close to each other in Peru in reality, while they're on different ''continents'' in the game- [[AWizardDidIt the Comet did it]]).
* ''VideoGame/{{Inca}} 1992'', [[{{Creator/Sierra}} Sierra On-Line]]. Inca and Conquistadors at war in space!
* ''VideoGame/{{Kolibri}}'''s last few levels (Penetration, Extraction, and Remission) take place around and in what appear to be Maya ruins.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroANewBeginning'': The Tall Plains are a jungle-covered TempleOfDoom area home to armadillos, Apes wearing feathered headpieces and decorated armor in a pseudo-Aztec style and wielding clubs loosely resembling Aztec weaponry, and a native population of anthropomorphic llamas.
* ''VideoGame/TheLostVikings'': The jungle levels in the second installment include distinctive ruins riddled with traps and spear-throwing savages, and a shaman who needs to collect some ingredients for supposed time travel.
* ''[[VideoGame/MarioSuperstarBaseball Mario Super Sluggers]]'': K. Rool's new outfit has a marked pre-Columbian influence.
* ''VideoGame/MarlowBriggsAndTheMaskOfDeath'' is set in the ruins of one of these civilizations. Ruins that are being dug up by a giant mining operation.
* Refreshingly averted in ''VideoGame/Medieval2TotalWar'' Americas Campaign. The Aztecs and Mayas are both playable and are shown to be very different but with some overlapping features, for instance both worship the Feathered Serpent but call him Quetzalcoatl and Kukalkan respectively.
** The Inca are nowhere to be found because the map doesn't go south of Guatemala, but the Tarascans are present and they originated in the Andes.
** While the Aztecs are [[SmallReferencePools the only Nahuatl speakers]] most people know, the Tlaxcalla and Chichimeca are also present.
* [[DishingOutDirt Block Man]]'s stage in ''VideoGame/MegaMan11'' is a ChichenItzá-like pyramid with [[FunnyBackgroundEvent Aztec-styled murals]] [[BlackComedy of Mega Man getting killed by an army of several of the enemies found in the stage, led by Block Man himself]].
* ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'': the very first thing Marco and co. see in the series is a gigantic Olmec head in the background at the start of the first game's first level. ''Metal Slug 5'' features Aztec-like shamans and their temple full of traps.
* One of the new characters to be featured in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' is Kotal Kahn, who looks like a straight example of this trope at first glance, but he is an overall faithful representation of [[Myth/AztecMythology Huitzilopochtli]], and his name bears resemblance to Quetzal'''coatl'''. Although in his backstory he actually ends up [[BeenThereShapedHistory playing the role of]] the ''Mayan'' war god, Buluc Chabtan.
* The ruins of ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' appear to be located in Latin America and at first appear to be the work of ancient indigenous people. The boss Palenque is based on a famous Maya bas-relief often interpreted by cranks as evidence of AncientAstronauts. The final year of the Aztecs' fifth age (2012) figures in one of the puzzles.\\
\\
Unusually, the mix of South American cultures is explicitly explained in the [[AllThereInTheManual backstory]]; the ruins of La-Mulana are the birthplace of ''[[{{Precursors}} all civilizations.]]'' Every area contains elements of different cultures and mythologies, suggesting that these cultures actually borrowed theological, architectural, and mythological elements from La-Mulana. Lemeza notes this in [[http://la-mulana.com/en/blog/al-005.html one of his lectures on the Wiiware remake blog.]] Being an [[AdventurerArchaeologist archaeologist]], he is quick to point out the images, structures and elements, seen in multiple ancient cultures including the Mayan, Teotihuacan, Aztec, Tiwanaku, Inca, and even ''Persian'' civilizations.
* ''VideoGame/OutRun 2006'' has a Mayincatec race track. It ends with the atlantes from Tula, Hidalgo sitting next to the pyramids of Teotihuacán a few miles north from Mexico City, after crossing the pyramid of Chichén-Itzá in the Yucatán peninsula, which is next to the Major Temple in downtown Mexico City, and throughout the track you'll see Olmec heads from the southern Gulf Coast.
* ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'' has the ancient Vaal civilization, one of the first civilizations to develop on Wraeclast and the first to discover thaumaturgy and the use of Virtue Gems. The Vaal made extensive use of human sacrifice and BloodMagic, developed advanced {{Magitek}} technology, and built great cities and pyramids. The ''Incursion'' update brings these traits to the fore and centers around raiding the TempleOfDoom Atzoatl for its treasures. Alva, your NPC companion for incursions, has a very strong conquistador style to her design.
* ''VideoGame/Persona2'' has "mystical" ruins created by Mayans mysteriously appear after the publication of a book of such rumors. [[spoiler: Those ruins never existed before that. ''The book's release brought them into reality.'']]
%%* ''VideoGame/PitfallTheMayanAdventure''.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Game Freak loves America so much, they've dedicated at least one {{mon|s}} to each continent. The Kanto region gives us Zapdos, a thunderbird. Natives of Johto can get Natu, a quetzal, that evolves into Xatu, a totem pole. And in Unova, which ''is'' in the United States, you get Sigilyph, which looks like a living Nazca Line drawing.
* ''VideoGame/RiseOfLegends'' has the Cuotl, a race of jungle dwelling natives led by [[AncientAstronauts alien gods]], who use animate stone jaguars and snakes as combat units.
* ''VideoGame/RiseOfNations'' features the Mayans, Inca, and Aztec all separately, but the Aztecs do get the "Power of Sacrifice" as their starting power.
* One of the scenes in ''VideoGame/{{Sanitarium}}'' takes place in a very Mayincatec village, where the villagers are terrorized by a bloodthirsty rampaging Quetzalcoatl. Except it's really your nemesis, so there's an excuse for out of character behavior. Also, you are at the time Olmec, a stone warrior god. Also, [[spoiler: it all only exists within your mind]].
* The first half of ''VideoGame/SeriousSam: The Second Encounter'' takes place during the Mayan age, while ''The First Encounter'' took place entirely in {{Ancient Egypt}}. The player gets to visit Palenque and Teotihuacan, with the boss of the episode being the wind god Kukulkan aka Quetzalcoatl. While there are a few artistic liberties taken in the depiction, overall it's impressively accurate. Worth mentioning is that Kukulkan avoids two stereotypes: he is presented as a giant wind elemental spirit instead of a feathered serpent and the ingame bestiary explicitly says that he isn't evil or aligned with [[BigBad Mental's]] armies at all, instead he's simply doing his job as a guardian of a time portal and will even disappear after beaten as a sign of respect for the player. There are also references to several deities (Ixchel) and real historic people (Montezuma).
* ''VideoGame/{{Shadowbane}}'' has a bunch of lizardmen who inhabit heavily Aztec influenced ruins. While the blood sacrifice aspect isn't played up much, the game lore say that they were up to something pretty bad - that is, until the centaurs killed off their priesthood.
* ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheTombRaider'' has this as the theme of Lara's adventure trying to stop the Mayan apocalypse she started by taking a mystic dagger. It especially becomes a plot point midway through the game, after she finds the hidden Mayan city of Paititi in Peru, that's been kept far away from civilization since the Conquistadors. She outright hangs a lampshade on it when she begins finding Aztec, Mayan, and even Inca relics and ruins hundreds of miles from the extents of their historical empires, noting they shouldn't be there.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' frequently includes Mesoamerican and South American gods in its Demonic Compendium, but they are almost always well-researched and specifically tied to their cultural origin. Of particular note, ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' (which takes its demon designs from the former) use Quetzalcoatl's "pale-skinned Caucasian priest" form rather than the too-literal (but inaccurate) "snake with wings" of the original series and the ''Persona'' subfranchise (Quetzalcoatl's "feathered serpent" form is actually Gucumatz, another name for the Mayan version of Quetzalcoatl, Kukulcan, and is depicted as a separate demon in the games.)
* The SealedEvilInACan in ''VideoGame/{{Shivers}}'' originated from an unspecified ancient Central American civilization.
* ''VideoGame/TheSims4: Jungle Adventure'' has Selvadorada, where your Sim can go to find "Omiscan" ruins in an ''Franchise/IndianaJones''-esque fashion.
* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' features the Ixa'Takans, a primitive Mayincatec FantasyCounterpartCulture complete with an invasion by the very Spain-like Valuans.
* The Mayan Pantheon was added to ''VideoGame/{{Smite}}'' in order to fill the role of a Mesoamerican culture. However they avert this trope by being faithful to the surviving records of real world Mayan mythology. Though worth mentioning is that one of the playable characters- the winged serpent god Kukulkan has an alternate costume referencing Quetzalcoatl, his more popularly depicted Aztec counterpart.
* ''[[VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune Soldier Of Fortune II]]'' has a level in Colombia that has Mayan temple ruins, which is [[ArtisticLicenseGeography a gross failure in geography]].
* The [[TempleOfDoom Mystic Ruins]] and [[FloatingContinent Angel Island]] in the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series. The ancient Knuckles Clan are based on the ancient Mayans and some are named after Central and South American locations. During the development of ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', Sega paid a few developers around $250,000 ''each'' to go down to Mexico and base the Mystic Ruins after the Mayan temples.
* ''VideoGame/{{Spelunky}}'' has every Mayincatec trope in the book. Human sacrifice, priests with feather headdresses worshiping evil gods, [[TempleOfDoom underground trap-filled stone temples]], and even a gold city. Oh, and throw in an Olmec head for good measure.
* In ''Videogame/{{Starbound}}'', one of the playable alien races are the Avians, a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin bird-like]] civilization with all the Mayincatec trappings, that is deeply religious, usually doing blood sacrifices for their god Kluex.
* Walled City in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' has a very clear Mayincatec look, complete with the pyramids, though its inhabitants don't have any Mayincatec traits. It is a likely cross between this and Asian architecture, which may explain the presence of dragon heads near the Arwing. Likewise, Cloudrunner Fortress is a blend of Greek, Japanese and Mayincatec elements.
* Ogre of ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' is based on the real-life Aztec god of war Huitzilopochtli. The story claims that he's created by the AncientAstronauts eons ago.
* In ''VideoGame/{{temtem}}'' [[FantasyCounterpartCulture the island of Tucma]] is a rather unusual example. It is based on northern Argentina and its Incan heritage, but many of its names are in Nahuatl and a cenote is plot relevant. Ultimately it eschews typical trappings like pyramids or blood sacrifices.
* The Lost Kingdom park in ''VideoGame/ThemeParkWorld'', which name-drops Incan, Mayan, and Aztec cultures simultaneously.
* The RTS/civilization game ''VideoGame/{{Theocracy}}'' is set in and around the Aztec empire. In the campaigns you play the Aztecs or other nearby tribes.
* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderI'': The City of Vilcabamba is based on the real-life last outpost of the Inca. It contains a gold idol modelled on a Tumi, a ceremonial knife used in sacrifices, as well as an Aztec sun stone.
* ''VideoGame/TombsAndTreasure'' is a first-person graphical adventure game that has the ruins of Mayan city Chichén Itzá as a setting.
* In ''[[VideoGame/TonyHawkProSkater Tony Hawk's Underground 2]]'', one of the sections of the Pro Skater level has an ancient temple with native [=NPCs=] holding spears and wearing headdresses.
* Mayincatec is the general aesthetic for trolls in ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' and ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. Different types of trolls emphasize different Mesoamerican influences.
** The cult of Hakkar, sometimes also called The Blood God, brings in the Aztec influence. Hakkar takes the form of a feathered serpent, referencing Quetzalcoatl. However, at least at present, Hakkar is highly hostile to living creatures. Technically, "blood god" is a misnomer because it's the souls he eats not the blood. This cult is most popular among the jungle trolls: but because the trolls are declining (they used to rule most of the world), they are turning to worshipping Hakkar in larger numbers.
** The Zandalari trolls in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', especially the ''Battle for Azeroth'' expansion, are Mayincatec [-[[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs WITH DINOSAURS!]]-]. With them, the emphasis is on the Inca part: lots of gold and everything is enormous. ''Battle for Azeroth''also introduced the Blood Trolls who are Aztec with a side of Chthulu cult. they worship the "Old God" Ghuun.
* ''Videogame/Wizard101'' has Azteca, which was [[RealitySubtext appropriately enough]], released in [[MayanDoomsday late 2012]].
* ''VideoGame/WorldsOfUltimaTheSavageEmpire'' has a liberal sprinkling of this trope. The primary example is the Nahuatla tribe, who live in a city called Tichticatl. There's also a lost underground city formerly inhabited by the Kotl, who were Mayincatec ''lizard people''.
* Mayincatec designs show up a lot in ''VideoGame/YumeNikki''. It's [[MindScrew anyone's guess]] ''why'' Mayincatec gods/symbols/[[EldritchAbomination abominations]] feature so much in the dreams of a Japanese {{Hikikomori}}.
* ''VideoGame/{{Zuma}}'' is a color-chain matching game given a Mayincatec design theme. The aesthetic is mostly Mayan, but it references both Aztec (Ehecatl, Centeotl, Tlaloc, Quetzalcoatl) and Mayan (Kukulkan) gods. There is even a passing mention to the Mixtec, another unrelated Mesoamerican civilization.
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* Jungle settings and an abundance of wildlife: snakes, spiders, alligators/crocodiles, [[PantheraAwesome jaguars]] and monkeys. In case of Incas, [[EverythingsBetterWithLlamas 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.

** ''Forgotten Empires''/''The Forgotten'' does include an Inca civilization. It uses the same Mesoamerican building style and eagle warriors (who get even more obvious Aztec skins than in the previous x-pack), but it also has ''two'' unique units (Kamayuks and Andean slingers), units that speak Quechua, and in the final version the player even begins every game with [[EverythingsBetterWithLlamas a free llama]].

[[folder:Theme Paeks]]

* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/XMen'': 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.

* Conquistadores [[GodGuise mistaken for gods]], leading to [[FalseFriend the downfall of the Mayincatec people]]. (In reality, it depended on the conquistador -- the Tlaxcala people viewed Hernán Cortez as an equal and struck an alliance with him to defeat the Aztec kingdom, this alliance was upheld throughout the colonial era, and the local chiefs were even recognized as nobles of the Spaniard kingdom; Nuño de Guzmán in western Mexico did abuse this straight to exterminate local tribes; and Francisco Pizarro in Perú made the Inca empire a fiefdom of the Spaniard crown).

* ''VideoGame/TombRaider'': The City of Vilcabamba is based on the real-life last outpost of the Inca. It contains a gold idol modelled on a Tumi, a ceremonial knife used in sacrifices, as well as an Aztec sun stone.