Mixcoatl

In Aztec mythology, Mixcoatl (Cloud Serpant) was a god of the hunt, the north star and war. He (as another form of Tezcatlipoca) invented fire using the heavens, revolving around their axes, as a drill.

His mother was Cihuacoatl. By Xochiquetzal, he was the father of Quetzalcoatl. By Coatlicue, he was the father of Huitzilopochtli.

There was also a legendary Chichimeca[?] leader during the Toltec period named Mixcoatl who, with Chimalman[?], gave birth to Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl[?] (see Quetzalcoatl.) The story of his life mirrors closely the story of his devine counterpart (they both slay the goddess Itzpapalotl and give birth to a Quetzalcoatl, for instance) and one may well have been the inspiration for the other.

His name means "Cloud Serpant", referring to the Milky Way with which he is identified.