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"Her eyes were black, not just brown, but truly black like the obsidian blade she was named for. Most master vamp's eyes are like drowning pools, things to fall into and be trapped, but her eyes were like solid black mirrors reflecting back, not something to fall into, but something to show you the truth."
Anita Blake[src]

Itzpapalotl, translated as Obsidian Butterfly, is the master of the city of Albuquerque and approximately one thousand years old. She is an Aztec vampire who believes herself to be the goddess Itzpapalotl. Her human servant is Pinotl. She owns the Obsidian Butterfly club.

Unlike many other master vampires, Itzpapalotl cannot tell when someone is lying. Anita believes this is because Itzpapalotl is lying to herself, since she truly believes she is a god. Itzpapalotl gave Anita a taste of her own power in order to get the information she wanted and the power left Anita with eyes that were completely black. Eventually, Anita's eyes changed back, but abilities Anita gained from her exchange with Itzpapalotl have lingered on and are usually accompanied by the change in eye color.

History[]

Itzpapalotl is close to a thousand years old. She believes herself a goddess and was worshipped as one by the Aztecs. Five hundred years ago, a group of twelve conquistadors entered one of her temples and raped four priestesses and left them to die. When Itzpapalotl found them, she turned them into vampires, and proceeded to hunt the twelve down. She turned them into vampires so that they would be punished for eternity. If the conquistador did not obey her, Itzpapalotl would order the priestesses to whip them. After 500 years only two remain, Diego and Cristobal.

For the last 50 years, Itzpapalotl has killed all the vampires and human servants that entered her territory, forcing the Council to ban entry into her lands. Anita is the only one who was not murdered, most likely because Itzpapalotl was intrigued by the triumvirate that Anita is a part of. Itzpapalotl exchanged the secret of manipulating certain forms of life energy for how the triumvirate was formed.

She also used Anita as bait for Red Woman's Husband, giving her the means to resist his powers, and hoping that she would kill him. Before Anita left town Itzpapalotl extended an invitation to Jean-Claude.

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Itzpapalotl is mentioned in Serpentine. Anita has traveled to Albuquerque to get a dress picked out and tailored for Edward and Donna's wedding, but she needs to be out of the city before nightfall to avoid any problems with Itzpapalotl.

Powers & Abilities[]

Itzpapalotl is an extremely powerful vampire. Anita notes that although she has meet other vampires over a thousand years old, none of them "leaked power, pure power" as Obsidian Butterfly. She was also able to hide her vampires from being detected by Anita Blake. Some of her most unusual powers include:

  • Power Draining - Itzpapalotl can drain the power or life force of others. She demonstrates this by draining the life of one of her servants during a show at her club.
  • Animal to call. Once she became a master vampire she discovered she could call werejaguars and jaguars.
  • Read Power - Itzpapalotl had the ability to instantly recognize the power of other preternatural beings. When she meets Anita she only needs a "look" to recognize that she is a human servant and part of a triumvirate.
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