Fanfic / Marigold Saga

http://ladyanaconda.deviantart.com/art/Marigold-519619488

The Marigold Saga is a series of fanfics written by ladyanaconda based off of the 2014 Western Animated film The Book of Life.

T.o.D.a.J. Continuity: If La Muerte died giving birth to Marigold.

• Tears of Despair and Joy
  • Xibalba not only lost his wife, but now he's alone with a newborn baby girl which part of him blames for her mother's fate; however, spending a few moments with his child can change everything. Post-movie AU one-shots featuring Xibalba and his daughter.
• A Tale of Forbidden Love and Rituals
  • Sequel to ToDaJ. Marigold turns fifteen, and good friends with Juan Carlos, Manolo and María's son. However, when their friendship escalates into something more, Xibalba is less than thrilled that his baby is falling in love with a mortal, and will do anything to separate them. Meanwhile, an ancient enemy of Xibalba returns for vengeance for stealing the love of his life...
• Forever Yours
  • Marigold and Juan Carlos are married, things couldn't be happier for everyone. That is, until Aimé's latest scheme apparently works and Xibalba will be forced to take a tough decision. But dark secrets surrounding La Muerte's death come to light, and Marigold and her friends might find not everything is what it seems.
• Life Goes On
  • Months after Aimé's death, Marigold is a few days overdue in her pregnancy. However, the babies decide to come at a rather... unexpected moment. Xibalba and Juan are trapped in the former's library, the Sánchezes panic, and Zipacna and La Muerte must help her get to Aztlan before it happens.
• Algner Alert
  • Zipacna has never been fond of children who were not part of his family. Heck, he's not responsible enough to look after a child! Naturally, when he gets a little 'surprise' from one of his little 'escapades', he'll have to cope with his newfound fatherhood while Xibalba and the others deal with problems of their own. Co-written with Neagoieolivia.
• The Letter
  • One-Shot from ToDaJ continuity. Marigold laments the fact that she didn't get to know her mother, while Xibalba misses La Muerte and remembers one time when he was given something she left for both him and Marigold. A letter with her love.
• Words I Never Said
  • Another one-shot from ToDaJ continuity. Xibalba has not seen nor heard from his brother for centuries, so naturally he is surprised to find that Zipacna has decided to pay him a visit after so much time to try and rekindle their once strong-bond. But to forgive is not in Xibalba's nature... is it?
• Anniversary
  • Yet another One-Shot from ToDaJ continuity! It's La Muerte and Xibalba's wedding anniversary, but though La Muerte passed away, Xibalba finds he still has someone to celebrate it with.
• The Song
  • ToDaJ One-Shot. During La Muerte's last hours, before and during Marigold's birth, she reflects on the sacrifice she's making for the sake of her daughter, while Xibalba must learn to cope with her death.
• Words of Comfort
  • ToDaJ One-shot (yet again). Marigold says her first word, but it turns out to be unexpected for Xibalba.
• My Reason to Live
  • One-Shot. After a particularly frightening nightmare, Xibalba finds comfort in his daughter's company and reflects on how much they need each other.
• Mujercita
  • Marigold is going through puberty, the stage where she needs her mother the most, but with La Muerte's absence, Xibalba will have to cope with any way he can.
• I Had a Dream
  • One-Shot. Ever since her passing, going to bed every night has been a torture for Xibalba, having to go to sleep every single day alone, without his wife's touch, kisses, warmth. It appears this night will be the same as the ones before, until he starts to dream with his beloved La Muerte.
• A Father's Love
  • After a frightening nightmare, Marigold is afraid that her father doesn't love her, but Xibalba reassures his love and affection for her. A bit of AU in the beginning.
• Sortilegio
  • On Marigold's first birthday, Xibalba took her to the Day of the Dead celebration in San Ángel, where she met a little boy who unknowingly would become a part of her life.
• Prelude
  • During the first two weeks of Marigold's life, Xibalba refused to even look at her, isolating himself from everything and drowning in his own pain. However, it is up to his servants to make him change his mind about his daughter, the only thing he'll ever have left of his beloved wife. Angst with happy (or rather, bittersweet) ending.
• Papi's Little Angel
  • Father's day special. After a heated argument with her father, Marigold runs away and meets a Forgotten girl, who makes her realize how important fathers can be for daughters, even if sometimes they have to take tough decisions. I know it's a bit early, but happy father's day everyone!
• The Roots of Hate
  • Marigold is loved and well-liked in the Land of the Remembered, but even there a few families resent her existence due to La Muerte's death when she was born. As she suffers the first attempt at her life, Xibalba will do his best to protect her, but if he couldn't save her from getting hurt the first time, how will he protect her if it ever happens again?
• Past Wounds
  • Although emotional wounds tend to mend a bit with time, they never heal completely. After an emotional outburst in front of Marigold, Xibalba finds that his daughter has grown afraid of him, and now must remind her that no matter what happens he will always love her.
• En Su Sombra
  • Aimé has always lived under the shadow of her sister. She's always gotten in the way of what she wanted, and when a certain dark godling came into their lives, the feeling intensified as she did all in her power to call his attention, but once more La Muerte got in the way. One-shot featuring the love triangle between Aimé, La Muerte and Xibalba.
• A Visit
  • Marigold falls ill, and she must stay in bed. When she is by herself, she receives a rather unexpected visit from a mysterious figure that is closer to her than it seems. Short one-shot.

W.C.H.B. Continuity: If La Muerte survived giving birth to Marigold.

• What Could Have Been
  • Companion story to 'Tears of Despair and Joy'. Another side of it, actually, how things would have been if La Muerte had survived childbirth. One-Shots depicting Xibalba and La Muerte with their little Marigold. Non-cannon.
• Against all Odds
  • La Muerte and Xibalba are expecting their first child, and couldn't be happier. However, two characters from both their pasts return seeking vengeance, and their love will be put to the test once more.
• My Heart Belongs to You
  • To save her father and kingdom from paying the ultimate price for a wager, La Muerte agreed to marry Lord Xibalba, the Last of the Ancient Gods of the Underworld, famous for his cruelty and stone cold heart. Now a prisoner in her own golden cage, she soon realizes Xibalba isn't such a bad person, while Xibalba finds his cold heart melting away with the comfort of his new wife.
• An Unusual Christmas Carol
  • WCHB Christmas Special. On Christmas Eve, Xibalba and La Muerte tell their children the story of General Ramiro Posada, and the valuable lesson he learned when he received the visits of the three gods to help him become a better person. Based on A Christmas Carol.
• Maternal Instinct
  • A mother's love knows no boundaries, very few understand the true concept of motherhood and what a mother is can do for her children. A few weeks after Marigold's birth, the castle was attacked by Cursed Beasts, and La Muerte will do anything to protect her newborn child no matter what.

Other

• The Grieving Process
  • The loss of a child is the greatest pain a parent can feel. After the death of their first child at birth, Xibalba and La Muerte must learn to cope with the loss and stick together now more than ever. But it is easier said than done.
• An Unlikely Bond
  • Short-story. Ever since their child died, Xibalba has wanted nothing more to do with children. But when he meets a young human child with a past reminiscent of his own, he finds himself growing attached him and taking him under his wing.
• To Take a Life
  • La Muerte's fondness of children and babies is no secret to anyone, but when she learns of the horrible practice known as 'abort' she reflects on her baby and her wellbeing, wondering how can a woman be so cruel. Luckily, Xibalba and her baby are there for her.
• The Vow
  • After rejecting Víbora, La Muerte was nearly taken by force by him, but even though Xibalba rescued her in time the pain was still there. As she reflects on what happened and what could have happened, Xibalba makes her a vow.
• Your Mother and Mine
  • One-shot featuring Xibalba and Zipacna. Ever since he was born, Zipacna always wondered why his father never wanted him. What both he and Xibalba have in common, however, is that the both of them miss Selena deeply, unaware that she's been closer to them than they thought.
• The Best Servants
  • Short-fic. Xibalba's servants have been loyal and faithful to him, but they don't retain any memories of their time as living humans. When a chance to become human again comes in the form of a contest held in Aztlan, they will have to make a choice; remain under Xibalba's servitude, or turn into humans... at the cost of leaving their master forever. Co-written with Neagoieolivia.
• Faithful Servant
  • Horses are curious creatures. They are loyal to their masters, but they have their own thoughts regarding their lives and the events they witness. This couldn't be truer with Nezmal, who after being freed from Itzlacol's clutches realizes there can be kindness too.

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This series provides examples of:

• Abusive Parents: Akrinok. A literal dragon to his wife and sons that haunts Xibalba to this day.
• Afterlife Antechamber: The mythos is separated into many realms of the Afterlife.
  • The Land of the Remembered - a bright, colorful and fulfilling world where the Remembered dead celebrate in an endless fiesta.
  • The Land of the Forgotten - a dreary, lifeless world where the Forgotten dead wander aimlessly before turning to ash. While not exactly Hell, the place is no picnic either, given the incomprehensible lack of joy and the occasional monster wanting to tear you limb from limb.
    • The Pit is where Xibalba banishes souls too evil to let roam free, but not bad enough to be sent to the Land of the Cursed.
  • The Land of the Cursed - the realm Xibalba's brother Zipacna rules, a world of unending torture for those who were truly evil in life.
  • The Land of the Extinct - a vast, jungle-like afterlife where all plants and animals that have met extinction go to.

• And Now You Must Marry Me: Itzlacol reveals he was responsible for Xibalba's death, and threatens to kill La Muerte's family and the Lizards if she doesn't marry him.
• Animal Motifs: Many Gods are notable for this.
  • Zipacna has the head of a caiman, but seems to have a black-bird motif to him.
  • Epona, Celtic Goddess of Horses
  • Sobek, Crocodile-Headed God of Crocodiles
  • Camazotz and his family all exhibit trademark bat-like qualities.

• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Juan Carlos. He killed Víbora, who had in turn killed Camazotl, a bat god, and by Ancient Rules he earned the right to replace Camazotl in the Pantheon.
• Babies Make Everything Better: In My Heart Belongs to You, when Xibalba learns La Muerte is pregnant with his child, he does the impossible to win back her trust and love after driving her away to find someone better than him.
• Being God Is Hard:
  • Xibalba and Zipacna often have to deal with long paperwork piles, the dangerous creatures in their respective lands, new arrivals and the administration of their realms as a whole. Almost all Gods in the Aztec Pantheon who have realms of their own have to do this.
  • Epona is also a subject to this since she rules her own realm, which implies this applies to all Pantheons.
  • However, this doesn't seem to apply in the Egyptian pantheon because all the gods inhabit one single realm, and thus only their ruling deity goes through this.
• Big Bad: Each story has a different one, though in the different A Us they have different roles and portrayals.
  • Víbora Colorada: a Basilisk, and La Muerte's childhood frienduntil he tried to rape her out of jealously because she chose Xibalba over him. Antagonist in Against All Odds and A Tale of Forbidden Love and Rituals.
  • Itzlacol: the God of War and Fire, a vain, arrogant and cruel god who seeks La Muerte's hand in marriage only to rule the Land of the Remembered, even through underhanded methods. Antagonist in My Heart Belongs to You.
  • Aime: La Muerte's younger sister. She's obsessed with Xibalba, and will do anything to make him love her, even poison his wife and daughter to keep him all for herself. Antagonist in Forever Yours and Against All Odds.
• Born in the Saddle: Epona. Being the Goddess of Horses, she has been around them ever since she was born, so she knows everything there is to know about them.
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Xibalba is extremely protective with his daughter Marigold, to the point any of the guys who have tried to ask her out became victims of Xibalba's pack of hounds.
  • Ironically, after sabotaging Marigold's relationship with Juan Carlos, he tries to encourage his daughter to give one of those boys a chance, hoping she'll forget about Juan Carlos.
• Child by Rape: Xibalba, Zipacna and their unborn baby sister resulted from Akrinok raping Selena numerous times in his obsession for having a worthy heir.
• Childhood Friends:
  • Xibalba and La Muerte, they knew each other since they were children, and were although contrastingly different they were the best of friends.
  • In What Could have Been, Alastor meets a young girl named Feronia. The two become friends almost instantly and their friendship is most likely to turn into something more.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Xibalba and La Muerte. They were in love ever since they were children, even if none of them realized/accepted it until much later.
• Christmas Special: An Unusual Christmas Carol
• Cool Horse: Medianoche. A friesian horse with draft horse proportions. He is very intelligent and loyal, he and Xibalba have been together for centuries.
• Cool Uncle: Zipacna, Marigold's Uncle. He is shown to be much more laid-back and looser compared to his pessimistic and overprotective brother.
• Daddy's Girl: Marigold. She is Xibalba's whole world, his pride and joy. Proof of this is that he was willing to both break an Ancient Rule (by surrendering the Book of Death) and deliver his wife's body to his worst enemy to save her life.
• Death by Childbirth: La Muerte dies giving birth to her daughter Marigold. It is later revealed that she is alive, but comatose, and eventually awakens.
• Death Notification: Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca. They inform La Muerte and Zipacna respectively to let them know Xibalba has been declared dead after being missing for two weeks with no signs of him.
• Deity of Human Origin: Juan Carlos.
• Disney Death: Xibalba is held a funerary ceremony after being declared dead, during which La Muerte, Zipacna and Epona mourn him. However, he shows up just when La Muerte and Itzlacol are [[spoiler:about to be married].
  • It turns out he Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca were in league with him to get Itzlacol to confess to the murder attempt.
  • When they barely escape from Itzlacol, La Muerte momentarily snaps at Xibalba angrily for letting her suffer for his supposed death.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In My Heart Belongs to You, Set sees La Muerte and calls her Xibalba's whore only to get slapped in the face as a result. In response, he kidnaps her in the night and ties her to a pole, intending to drown her when the Nile's tide washes through it.
• Divine Date: Marigold and Juan Carlos in 'A Tale of Forbidden Love and rituals'.
• Doorstop Baby: Algner, Zipacna's son, was left in his doorstep by his unknown mother.
• Fake Kill Scare: Xibalba. It turns out he did survive Itzlacol's murder attempt.
• Feathered Serpent: Quetzalcóatl.
• Florence Nightingale Effect: In ''My Heart Belongs to You', after Xibalba saved La Muerte from Forgotten Beasts, he was severely injured and she took care of him. This is what sparked their later romance, since La Muerte learned a bit about Xibalba himself, and they opened up in a heart-warming talk.
• God's Hands Are Tied: The Aztec pantheon is bound by Ancient Rules that must be followed at any cost lest you want to receive a terrible punishment, though in My Heart Belongs to You it is implied that all the Pantheons in the world are bound by these rules.
• God in Human Form: In the series as a whole, all the deities in the world can take any human form of their choosing to pass as normal people in the Land of the Living.
  • One of the most important rules is that they can't directly interfere with mortal affairs or get romantically involved with humans. It is implied that constant violation of this rule is what caused the Greek Pantheon to disappear.
  • Curiously, while they can't interfere directly themselves, they may choose human 'champions' and have them do what they want. La Muerte and Xibalba tend to do this in their wagers.
• Heir-In-Law: Itzlacol's main reason for wanting to marry La Muerte is to rule the Land of the Remembered, and gain all the privileges it brings.
• Hell: The Land of the Cursed
• Hell of a Heaven: In The Roots of Hate, there is revealed to be a small faction of Remembered Souls that resent Xibalba's rule in the Land of the Remembered (despite a severe lack of anything bad to come out of it) and even try to kill Marigold for killing their beloved queen La Muerte. When Xibalba apprehends them, he banishes the ones responsible to the Land of the Cursed where they will be tormented for eternity.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: In 'Against All Odds', Víbora kidnaps La Muerte and tries to force her into accepting him, even using her unborn baby as a sort of blackmail.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: in My Heart Belongs to You, Xibalba was willing to drive La Muerte away thinking she deserved someone better than him, though he suffered greatly in doing so. Fortunately, he changed his mind when he learned La Muerte was expecting his child.
• Imperiled in Pregnancy
  • In Against All Odds, La Muerte is kidnapped by Víbora Colorada when she is close to the due date of the birth, and she fears for the child's safety so much that she even agrees to Víbora's demands in an attempt to save the baby's life. Thankfully, Xibalba came to rescue her just in time.
  • In Forever Yours, Aimé tries to poison pregnant Marigold.
  • In My Heart Belongs to You, La Muerte is endangered by Forgotten Beasts when she tries to return home to Xibalba in her early pregnancy stage. This endangers the baby's life.
• It Was a Gift
  • In A Tale of Forbidden Love and Rituals and its sequels, Marigold received her mother's gold necklace as a gift from Xibalba to remember her mother by.
  • In Forever Yours, After La Muerte is awakened from the coma, Xibalba gives her a silver pendant he commissioned for her.
  • In My Heart Belongs to You, La Muerte's gold necklace has a deeper significance, since it belonged to her dearly departed mother.
• Jerkass Gods: Camazotl tries to win Marigold over and become her official suitor, only to get on her bad side when droning on about how he thinks they gods are so much better than humans. Later, he teams up with the villain to spite his brother's success where he failed, only to get eaten by the same villain as a result.
• Just One Little Mistake: During La Muerte and Itzlacol's wedding, Tezcatlipoca finally confronts Itzlacol for all his crimes, mentioning various key factors Itzlacol didn't take into account when he committed them, including Xibalba's death
  • Adding insult to injury, Xibalba reappears at that very moment.
• Like Father, Like Son: Xibalba and Alastor. Alastor took mostly after his father physically, which becomes even more evident in his adulthood. They both are very intelligent (though Alastor's intelligence surpasses that of his father's), refined and cultured, and are very fond of horseback riding.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Xibalba and Alastor are a example of this. Though physically resemblant, their personalities and traits are contrasting. Xibalba is cunning, Alastor is honest. Xibalba is somewhat childish, Alastor is wise-beyond-his-years. Xibalba considers humans and lesser spirits inferior, Alastor sees them as equals. This eventually causes friction between them in Alastor's later years.
• Lost Lenore: Lady Selena, Xibalba and Zipacna's mother, and Akrinok's beautiful but abused wife. Even years after her death, she is dearly remembered by her two sons, especially Xibalba. She is occasionally mentioned, and when she is, it's with an air of nostalgia.

• Love-Obstructing Parents: Xibalba. He does everything he can to get Marigold away from Juan Carlos forever, from sabotaging their relationship by turning his staff snake into a woman and sending it to kiss Juan Carlos just when Marigold is watching to trying to wed Marigold to another man (not forcibly, though) so Juan Carlos will never have a chance with her ever again.
  • However, after Juan Carlos saves Marigold's life and ascends into godhood by killing Víbora, Xibalba finally accepts they are meant to be, though he still does not like Juan Carlos.
• Love Triangle: This is prominent in four stories.
  • Xibalba, Víbora and La Muerte in Against All Odds.
  • La Muerte, Aimé and Xibalba in Forever Yours.
  • Juan Carlos, Camazok and Marigold in A Tale of Forbidden Love and Rituals.
  • Xibalba, Itzlacol and La Muerte in My Heart Belongs to You.
• Maternal Death? Blame the Child!: Averted. In Tears of Despair and Joy, although Xibalba did blame Marigold for his beloved wife's death at first, soon he got over it and accepted it was not his daughter's fault.
• Mayincatec: The entire pantheon of the gods the series focuses on are primarily South American.
• Missing Mom:
  • Marigold grew up without her mother, La Muerte, due to the belief that she had died giving birth to her. However, later on La Muerte is proven to be actually comatose, not death.
  • In ''Algner Alert', the titular baby, Zipacna's son Algner, is abandoned by his mother in his father's doorstep, and there's no sign of the mother anywhere.
    • Later on, the mother-a water nymph named Nadia- reappears to reclaim her son, much to Zipacna's chagrin.
• Never Found the Body: The reason Xibalba was declared dead in the first place was his body wasn't found after two weeks.
  • The reason for this is because he was found by a forest nymph who nursed him back to health, but the catch was that he was put in a comatose state to speed up his healing. This nymph is an acquaintance of Quetzalcóatl.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: Xibalba to Juan Carlos at first, though eventually he comes to at least tolerate him.
• Odd Job Gods: Juan-Carlos "Juanoctis" Sánchez, God of Bullfighters
• Only the Leads Get a Happy Ending: In Papi's Little Angel, Marigold and Xibalba reunite after he saves her from a monster. However, the small forgotten girl Sophia (later revealed to have once been named Laura Pérez) is not seen afterwards. She befriended Marigold, told her how she was murdered by bandits and has wandered the Land of the Forgotten ever since trying to find her equally-dead father, having never experienced the Land of the Remembered. It is never said what happened to her afterward, but Xibalba convinced himself not to tell Marigold (and by extension, the readers) of her fate, but it is implied to be a sad and tragic one.
• Parental Marriage Veto: Xibalba is definitely opposed to Marigold's crush on Juan Carlos, and tries to forbid her from seeing him again. However, he does have some good reasons to oppose to the relationship.
  • Juan Carlos is human, while Marigold is a goddess. The Ancient Rules forbid any sort of romantic relationship between these two groups, lest they end up like the Greek Gods with too many demigods.
  • Marigold and Juan Carlos didn't know each other for that much time, only a few weeks. As far as he is concerned, their 'love' might as well be only a temporary crush, and they will move on from it later.
  • Marigold actually hid her relationship from him in the first place, and to any parent that means 'I'm up to no good'. If she had talked it out with him, perhaps he MIGHT have considered it, though in the end she still wouldn't have been allowed to have a formal relationship with Juan Carlos due to his status as a human.
  • He simply cannot bear that Manolo's son is trying to woo his baby girl.
• Parental Favoritism: partly subverted with Xibalba and Zipacna. While Akrinok notably favored Xibalba over Zipacna, he was even crueler to Xibalba because of this, wanting to shape him into 'worthy heir' for his throne. Zipacna was either ignored or abused by his father.
• Parental Substitute: Emilio and Regina. After the death of Selena, they took care of Xibalba as if he were a son, and curiously they are not even married, though Emilio does harbor some romantic feelings for Regina. Xibalba himself has come to see the two of them as a sort of adoptive parents.
  • In The Best Servants, it is this affection for their master that ultimately keeps them from accepting being turned into human to work in Aztlan as servants, since they are unable to leave their 'foster son'.
• Physical God: Almost all deities in the series are portrayed with human-like personalities, quirks and defects, and they can physically appear in the Land of the Living, either in their natural forms or in a chosen avatar form they choose.
• Pregnancy Scare: In Forever Yours, Aimé goes to Xibalba and tells him that not only is she pregnant, but that he is the father. Naturally, neither he nor any of the other gods believe her, but by the ancient rules he has to look after her and wait to see if she is correct or not.
• Pregnant Hostage: In Forever Yours, when Aimé realizes she has been exposed, she has her servants seize pregnant Marigold, along with the recently-resurrected La Muerte, Juan Carlos and Camazok hostage to protect herself.
  • When this fails, she holds herself hostage, threatening to kill herself, and her unborn child, but thankfully she went into labor before she could hurt herself.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Víbora's obsession with La Muerte worsens to the point he nearly tries to rape her after she rejected him. Thankfully, this failed.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Xibalba and Zipacna have conflicting views and ideals to each other despite being brothers, due to Zipacna abandoning Xibalba to the abusive nature of their father.
• Sibling Triangle: La Muerte and her younger sister Aimé, though this is mostly on Aimé's part, since La Muerte never saw her sister as a hated rival. The both of them are in love with Xibalba, though unfortunately for Aimé, Xibalba preferred La Muerte over her.
• Straw Misogynist
  • General Posada, while not possessing any malice or contempt towards women, makes a lot of out-dated remarks in a misguided attempt to get Marigold and his grandson together, offending Marigold and embarrassing Juan-Carlos.
  • Set, Egyptian God of Chaos. He shows great disrespect for La Muerte, and when she stands up to him, he tries drowning her in the Nile later.
  • Lord Itzlacol. In all his interactions with La Muerte in MHBTY, it is evident he considers women inferior, and sees them as mere tools to satisfy men's needs, in this case to give him ruling rights over the Land of the Remembered.
• Til Murder Do Us Part: Akrinok murdered his wife Selena because she was going to leave him and take their children with her to protect them. However, Akrinok did not mean to kill her, and he became especially regretful when he learned she was pregnant with a baby girl.
• Top God: In all the series, the two equal rulers of the Aztec pantheon are Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca, though the former is much more compassionate and considerate than the latter.
• Turn Out Like His Father: Various characters exhibit this.
  • Juan Carlos Sánchez. He inherited his love of music, most looks, kindness and courage from his father Manolo, which is the main reason Xibalba dislikes him.
  • Alastor. He is the one who resembles Xibalba the most, physically and in certain aspects of his personality. However, the few positive traits he got from his father was his determination and devotion to his family.
  • Algner. His striking physical resemblance to Zipacna is what gives the hint that Zipacna's the father.
• The Mourning After: in 'My Heart Belongs to You', Xibalba seeminglydies after disappearing for two weeks, and the characters have different reactions to the news.
  • La Muerte becomes depressed to the point she never leaves her room, always wears black and only eats because she still has a baby to look after.
  • Zipacna constantly drinks to try and forget about his emotional pain over the loss of his only brother, but Epona snaps him out of it.
  • The staff in the Land of the Forgotten are naturally very devastated over the loss.
• The Reveal: In Forever Yours, it is revealed La Muerte was never dead. Rather, she was in a comatose state because she was poisoned by her younger sister Aimé so she could have Xibalba for herself.
• Two Guys and a Girl: Xibalba and Víbora Colorada are pitted against each other for La Muerte's love in most of the stories' canon. However, La Muerte chose Xibalba without a second thought. Unfortunately, Víbora didn't take it very well.
• Villainous Crush:
  • Akrinok. He loved Selena obsessively, the reason he was cruel to her was because she didn't love him back, he even went as far as to rape her. It is revealed by Zipacna in My Heart Belongs to You that it was Akrinok who made Selena's blue roses in the garden immortal after her death, and would weep out of guilt and grief over losing her. It went to the point that Akrinok chose to be trapped in Selena's old room and being tormented by her memory for eternity rather than being cast into oblivion and never remembering her again.
  • Itzlacol also counts for this one. While he mainly seeks La Muerte's inheritance and status, he also has lustful feelings towards her. He also feels lust towards Epona, in particular because she is also a red-head like him.
• You Kill It, You Bought It: In 'A Tale of Forbidden Love and Rituals', Víbora killed Camazotl and absorbed his bat-like powers and abilities, and when Juan Carlos kills Víbora, he ascends into godhood because someone must replace Camazotl.

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