Word Of God / The Book of Life

As evidenced below, Jorge Gutiérrez really likes to give tidbits of his characters/answer fan questions regarding The Book of Life.

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Tres Leches

• This was most likely for fun, but Gutiérrez said that had Manolo, Maria, and Joaquin existed in modern times they'd be big anime fans.
• The main three all have an artistic side: Manolo sings and plays music, Maria draws and paints, and Joaquin writes a lot - especially letters to his father.
• He also confirmed the protagonists' ages. Manolo, Maria and Joaquin are respectively 9, 8 and 10 in the prologue and 19, 18 and 20 in the story proper.
• Gutiérrez had said that Manolo and Maria will go on to have three children: two daughters and one son.
  • The daughters are the older twins, and one of them decides to become a bullfighter secretly and seeks to surpass her father while the other wants to become a soldier.
• After the movie Manolo and Maria moved in with her father, though it didn't last for long. They then move into Joaquin's mansion.

Joaquin

• Joaquin's rank in the military was Private First Class.
• Joaquin will gain the ability to see ghosts and other things through his bad eye, which will be both a blessing and a curse.
  • Said eye will also resemble that of a dead eye.
• As fans speculated, Joaquin is half-German from his mother Gertrude's side. She even taught him some of the language!
• Joaquin is the best dancer between himself, Manolo, and Maria.
• Joaquin is also possibly a smoker.
• Joaquin is also apparently skilled in calligraphy.
• Joaquin was going to say "No" at the wedding, but the kids announcing Chakal cut him off.
• Joaquin has recently been confirmed to be related (either as an ancestor or distantly) to Frida.
  • Probably direct; her full name is actually Frida Suarez-Mondragon.
• Joaquin's birthday is on June 26.
• Joaquin has a sister who lives with their mother in the capital city named Matilda.
• Joaquin's middle name is Emilio.
• Plata was the last gift that Joaquin received from his father (it was his graduation gift).
• At some point in the trilogy, Joaquin is going to find himself in the Land of the Cursed and Manolo will have to save him.
• As confirmed here, Joaquin is the reincarnation of Acat, Goddess of Tattoos from Maya and the Three.
  • He was also confirmed to later be reincarnated into Zoe Aves/Black Cuervo from "El Tigre"

Manolo

• Pepe, one of Manolo's band members, threw Manolo his guitar after the crowd got angry at him for refusing to kill the bull. Pepe intended for Manolo to catch it to defend himself, but his friend was distracted.
• Manolo met the Rodriguez brothers as kids in the town plaza.
• Manolo also will often give a lot of his things/donate to kids at the orphanage.
• Manolo's birthday is on January 25
• Manolo's middle name is Luis.
• As confirmed here, Manolo is the reincarnation of Prince Zatz from Maya and the Three.
  • He was also confirmed to later be reincarnated into Frida Suarez from "El Tigre"

Maria

• Maria's favorite color is red.
• Maria also loves and adores reading poetry and comics.
• Maria's necklace was given to her by her mother who lives in Barcelona.
• Maria is a vegetarian, due to her high love for animals.
• Maria's birthday is on January 9
• Maria's middle name is Gabriela.
• Maria is NOT an only child.
• As confirmed here, Maria is the reincarnation of Princess Maya from Maya and the Three.
  • She was also confirmed to later be reincarnated into Manny Rivera/El Tigre from "El Tigre"

Their Parents

• Manolo's mother Carmen was a singer/dancer at a cantina in Mexico City when she met Carlos. Part of the reason Carlos doesn't want Manolo to be a musician is that it reminds him too much of Carmen.

• Carmen's maiden name was Rivera (later confirmed to be the same Riveras from El Tigre).
  • Continuing on with this, Carmen was Justice Jaguar's sister.
  • She also had three other sisters, all of which became nurses.

• Carmen died protecting Manolo from the war.

• Carlos Sánchez and Captain Mondragon (Joaquin's father) were rivals since childhood. This is mainly because they both fancied Carmen until Mondragon met Gertrude (Joaquin's mother).

• Joaquin's mother could be described as "frigid and not the most caring" while his father was kind and loving yet consumed by war and the medal.

• When Captain Mondragon went mad from the medal, he chopped off General Posada's hand.

• Captain Mondragon and Chakal are not the same being as many fans had speculated, but they are most likely related (possibly brothers).

• Captain Mondragon was killed by Chakal.

• Captain Mondragon had the Medal at one point, but Chakal took it from him.
  • Captain Mondragon had also obtained a sword from Xibalba for being his champion.
  • Captain Mondragon was involved in three of Xibalba's wagers; he lost the last one.
  • The reason why Joaquin Sr. was not present in the Remembered has been revealed; he currently resides in the Land of the Unknown due to Xibalba losing the last bet (to his brother).

• For some reason, Joaquin's mother blames herself for what happened to her husband and eventually went mad from it. This is why Gutiérrez describes her as an "eternal widow".
  • She came from a wealthy family and demanded that Joaquin Sr. give her a lavished lifestyle, which most likely resulted in him and the medal. When he died, she retreated to her mansion in the city from guilt and only ever leaves to see Joaquin.
  • Here is Gertrude's character design.

• Maria's mother, Dora Luz, divorced General Posada and moved to Spain.
  • Dora Luz's maiden name is Ramirez.
  • Dora Luz was apparently on the train with her on the day Maria left San Angel, she photographed María and her friends, Manolo and Joaquín.

The Other Sanchez's

• Cousin Chucho died bullfighting because he became a Mexican Rodeo Bullfighting Clown.
• Grandmother Sanchez disguised herself to as a male bullfighter to get into bullfighting, and she was a BEAST in the ring.
• The name of Manolo's great-grandmother is Anita.
• Jorge and Anita are siblings
• At least one of Manolo's shown ancestors is LGBT.
• The Sanchez family live in the bullfighting ring.
• Jorge Sanchez lost his arm and leg as a result of him daydreaming about the opera during bullfights. His luck eventually ran out.
• Scardelita, Manolo's cousin, lost her eye taking a bullet for her sister.
• Two of Manolo's ancestors were happy when he picked up his guitar instead of his sword when facing the bull. His mom, and Jorge.
• Grandmother Sanchez was actually knitting baby socks throughout the film for Manolo's and Maria's children.
• The Sánchez curl was inspired by Elvis Presley (Jorge's a big fan of him).

La Muerte, Xibalba and other gods

• All of the gods are ruled over by an unknown higher power.
• Every god/goddess has human-like organs.
• Jorge R. Gutierrez and his wife (and muse!) Sandra Equihua based La Muerte and Xibalba on the Aztec death god-couple Mictecacihuatl and Mictlantecuhtli, rulers of Mictlan.
• The Candle Maker apparently has a brother, whose name is known as The Creator.
  • The Creator rules the Land of the Blessed. A land where angels and other celestial beings live.

• The Candle Maker is a friend of Xibalba and La Muerte, but he had "a thing" for the latter.
• The Candle Maker had a human disguise too. He was the bus driver that brought the detention kids to the museum. In fact, all of the gods played a role in causing the kids to get detention/be in that specific group.
  • The Candle Maker's human disguise's name is known as Mr C.
• As it turns out, the gods only went to that museum for the one day in order to talk to the kids; however, other gods tend to use the museum for similar reasons.

• La Muerte's candles represent her hope and love; Xibalba's candles represent his envy.
  • The candles on La Muerte's dress and hat are confirmed to be the candles of living beings.
• Both La Muerte and Xibalba are brilliant at playing Poker.
• Xibalba's snake is a part of him.
  • While it is a part of him, it does have a name: Mas y Menos.
• Xibalba's human disguise, which is the museum security guard who harasses the detention kids during their visit, is named Guicho.
• Xibalba is a few centuries older than La Muerte.
• Xibalba's neck is apparently made of Ectoplasm.
• Xibalba's wings are burnt angel wings.
• Xibalba had another nickname besides "Mi Amor" for La Muerte: Muertita.
• La Muerte actually had romantic relations with humans before, and it is part of why she loves mankind.

• La Muerte has an identical twin sister named La Noche.
  • La Noche is as beautiful as La Muerte, but more Aztec and Mayan.
  • La Noche's design was revealed on Jorge Gutierrez's Tumblr.
  • La Noche is basically going to be a "female version of Xibalba in terms of personality", according to Jorge Gutiérrez.
  • She's made out of rain.
  • La Muerte and La Noche are rivals in everything.
  • La Noche means "The Night" in Spanish.

• La Noche rules The Land of the Unknown, which hosts not only unknown people but unknown creatures.
  • So far confirmed are; Souls of John and Jane Does, souls of all the magical beings that have passed, and Alebrijes, (brightly colored fantastical creatures of Oaxacan-Mexican folklore).
  • The Land of the Unknown is filled with spiral shapes the way the Land of the Forgotten is triangles and the Land of the Remembered is circles.

• La Muerte and La Noche were created at the same time.

• La Muerte inherited the Land of the Remembered from her mother; it is also highly possible that the former King of the Unknown is hers and La Noche's father.

• The puddle in the Cave of Souls is not only 'alive' but also apparently made from the tears of a goddess... La Noche's tears, to be exact.

• Xibalba has an older and even more powerful/fearsome brother named El Chamuco.
  • El Chamuco's design was revealed via Jorge Gutierrez's Twitter.
  • El Chamuco is made out of lava◊ and has a dragon trident.
  • Xibalba and El Chamuco's relationship is “sibling rivalry on a god's level”.
  • El Chamuco wasn't the previous ruler of the Land of the Forgotten before Xibalba.
  • El Chamuco literally means "The Devil" in Spanish.

• El Chamuco rules The Land of the Cursed, which is supposedly where the most wicked dead reside.
  • The Land of the Cursed is a very hot place.
  • The Land of the Cursed is full of flame shapes.

• Xibalba is actually from Europe and came along with the Conquistadors. He also has other names besides Xibalba, which also applies to the other gods.

• Xibalba was once a knight for good, but he got cocky and paid the price.
  • The same applies to his brother, El Chamuco.
  • Xibalba and his brother were banished to the Lands of the Forgotten and Cursed as their punishment for doing something really, really bad.

• Xibalba tried to court La Muerte's sister La Noche, but when the latter finally paid any attention to him, he had already fallen in love with La Muerte.
  • Xibalba fell in love with La Muerte first.

• Xibalba and La Muerte officially met when they were both pretending to be humans on Earth.
  • La Muerte's necklace was a gift from Xibalba when they first met.

• Xibalba discovered La Muerte's fondness for wagers when he made a bet that he will win her heart, which he did.

• Xibalba went through with a punishment for La Muerte, which made her all the more devastated.
  • This is the reason of his burned angel wings.
  • Even worse, it was hinted that she was the one who was meant to be punished because she did something bad...

• La Muerte got addicted to Xibalba's charms, and she knows she's the only one who can change him.

• La Noche and El Chamuco started dating before La Muerte and Xibalba.

• La Noche and El Chamuco married on the same day as La Muerte and Xibalba.
  • La Noche and El Chamuco were both incredibly furious when they found out La Muerte and Xibalba married.
  • The reason El Chamuco and La Noche married is "complicated".
  • La Noche and El Chamuco do have feelings for each other but it's "...it's a very dangerous love. Especially for us mortals."

• El Chamuco was La Muerte's old flame.
  • He was more of a love interest than a boyfriend.
  • He still has feelings for La Muerte, although currently he is married to La Noche. Something that Xibalba, La Muerte and La Noche suspect it.◊.

• The reason that Xibalba was banished to the Land of the Forgotten in the first place was because he apparently cheated on La Muerte with other goddesses, because of insecurity. Word of God later revealed that he never actually did. It just appeared that way.
  • Xibalba was completely loyal and faithful to La Muerte even when they were separated.

• Xibalba and La Muerte have 9 children — 3 girls and 6 boys.
  • One includes a daughter named Sartana, who is also the "bad one" (and, yes, the one from El Tigre).
  • Sartana is the eldest, and Xibalba's favorite. And naturally, her little brothers and sisters are all jealous of her because of this. But thankfully, while Xibalba might play favorites, he still loves all of his kids.
  • It's possible that La Muerte plays favorites with her children too.
  • Currently Sartana is a teenager; when she gets older, she will do something so horrible in that she is stripped of her god powers and banished to the Land of the Living.
  • Apparently a broken heart caused Sartana's Start of Darkness.
  • The person who broke her heart, you might ask? None other than Puma Loco.
    • And how did he break her heart, you ask? He left her at the altar. TWICE.
  • Before she was stripped of her powers and banished, she had white angel wings. But they were cut off. The reason why? She did something terrible to one of her sisters.
  • Instead of just killing Puma Loco for breaking Sartana's heart, Xibalba is just waiting for him to die, so he can personally give him a Fate Worse than Death.
  • Xibalba is actually an overprotective dad.

• La Noche and El Chamuco do not have any children, while Xibalba and La Muerte had "quite a lot".
  • But Jorge hinted they might have children.
  • He later revealed that they do have children.
  • Much like their siblings, La Noche and El Chamuco also have 9 children, only they have 6 girls and 3 boys.

• La Muerte, Xibalba, La Noche, and El Chamuco make wagers on mankind all of the time, and because of this, have caused every single one of mankind's famous (and infamous) moments.

• La Muerte LOVES the Rivera family. Xibalba, not so much. Apparently Sartana has not been a very good daughter...

• While Xibalba is not a fan of either the Sanchezes or the Riveras (for obvious reasons), he does however have a soft spot for the Mondragons.

• Xibalba knew Joaquin's father very well. The reason? He won an earlier wager using Joaquin's father as his champion.
  • This was actually one of the two main reasons why Xibalba chose Joaquin as his champion in the first place. The other reason? Because in a way, Joaquin reminded him of himself.

• Apparently Xibalba and El Chamuco have another sibling: Lord Mictlan of Maya and the Three.
  • And Lady Micte is the sister of La Muerte and La Noche.

• According to a twitter thread from a fan that Jorge hinted was on the right track (spoilers for "Maya and the Three"): Upon learning of Lord Mictlan's killing of Lady Micte, La Muerte was absolutely beyond devastated. Wanting to make sure he would never cause his wife that much pain again or even risk killing her himself, Xibalba ripped out his snake form and transformed it into his two-headed snake staff Mas y Menos. Wow.

• Lord Mictlan’s mad hunger for power (and the casualties that resulted from it) is part of the reason why "The Ancient Rules" exist.

Other

• The museum that the detention kids visit, as well as where La Muerte and Xibalba work in human disguise, is in New York.
• The Land of the Remembered is the WHOLE world.
• The tree behind the school kids outside the museum is the same tree in San Angel. It has been mentioned to be the portals for the gods.
• The detention kids walk through the same walkway where Manolo and Joaquin reunite.
  • More than that, the Room Mary-Beth takes them to is filled with props from throughout the story
• The Detention Kids met each other on the day they served their detention.
• The Detention Kids all end up serving their detention because the gods made it happen.
• The Detention Kids are students at Saint Mary Maria Academy, the same school from Jorge's Failed Pilot Episode, Carmen Got Expelled!.
• The reason why Sasha wound up in detention was because she willingly took the blame for something a friend of hers had done.
• He has confirmed the ages of the Detention Kids: Sanjay (12), Joao (13), Jane (11), Sasha (7), and Goth Kid/Luka (10).
• He also revealed the real name of "Goth Kid" (the purple-haired boy in the group of Detention Kids): Luka Ramirez.
  • Luka is apparently related to Maria (through a sibling of hers).
• Joao is non-verbal.
• Jorge Gutierrez described the film as being set during "a magic-realist version of 1920" on his Twitter.
• Thomas, one of the other tour guides, is related to at least the Posada's.
• Apparently there is a The Book of Death, the Evil Counterpart to The Book of Life.
• There are no children in The Land of the Forgotten. They most likely will remain in the Remembered for eternity (makes sense, since La Muerte loves children).
• Apparently, this sexy lady is Chakal's daughter, The Bandit Princess Chela. If a sequel is made, she will be going to San Angel to avenge her father.
  • She also has a female wolf for a pet named Loba.
  • She was said to be an "interesting" rival for Joaquin before eventually being confirmed as his Love Interest.
  • If a sequel is made, she and Maria will face each other (while Maria is pregnant, no less).
  • One of her weapons is the Sword of the Seven Sins, which was given to her by Chakal when he killed Captain Mondragon. She also knows about the Medal of Everlasting Life.
  • Chela is NOT Chakal's biological daughter; he actually saved her when she was a baby during a battle. This also implies that Chakal was not always evil.
  • Chela is described by Jorge Gutiérrez as being like "a female Joaquin" in terms of personality.
  • Chela is the same age as Maria, which would make her 18 years old, and two years younger than Joaquin.
• There are 13 different realms in the Mexopolis universe; the seven revealed as of now are the lands of The Living, Remembered, Forgotten, Cursed, Blessed, Unknown, and the Cave of Souls.
• According to Jorge Gutiérrez from recent interviews, since the first movie focuses on Manolo, the second movie will focus on Joaquin, and finally the third movie will focus on Maria.