| “ | My lord, you are perfect. But in your perfection, you cannot know how imperfect humans are... like snakes, spineless and slippery. They are as untrustworthy as rats, stealing and cheating with no remorse! Spinning webs of lies... like SPIDERS! | „ |
| ~ Tzekel-Kan's hypocritical hatred of humans. |
| “ | Now everyone will know the truth of your "divinity"! | „ |
| ~ Tzekel-Kan as he controls the Jaguar to destroy Miguel and Tulio. |
Tzekel-Kan is the main antagonist of DreamWorks Animation's 3rd full-length animated feature film The Road to El Dorado.
He was a native from the city of El Dorado, being its high priest and self-appointed "speaker for the gods". Deeply disdainful of all humans for their vices, Tzekel-Kan was very eager to sacrifice his fellow citizens in the name of the "gods" Miguel and Tulio, who are really Spanish conmen, upon their predicted arrival in the city.
He was voiced by Armand Assante.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- As El Dorado's fanatical high priest, he is implied to have committed several sacrificial murders prior to Miguel and Tulio's arrival to please the gods of the underworld Xibalba.
- Although sacrifice rituals were a commonality, Tzekel-Kan is the only one of the natives observed to be gleeful about the occasion, not only out of religious servitude but out of intense hatred for humanity because of their imperfections, showing his fanaticism is how he expresses his lust for bloodshed.
- While he does have some comedic moments, (unlike Hernán Cortés, who was played complete seriously) none of them detract from his villainy and he is played completely seriously in-universe.
- He stands out as the most heinous character in the movie, as he was willing to sacrifice the lives of his own people and attempted to commit genocide on the population of El Dorado, giving him a massive attempted kill count.
- While Hernán wanted to kill and/or enslave everyone in El Dorado too, he relies on Fridge Horror as the movie does not explore his plan in enough detail due to him not getting that far into his intended conquest. Even if he did, Tzekel surpasses him in heinousness due to having less resources given he only uses his magic powers to kill people, whereas Hernán has a huge army and arsenal of muskets, meaning that with or without Fridge Horror, Hernán fails the standard to Tzekel.
- Though he was fond of the two at first, after discovering Miguel and Tulio are mortals, Tzekel-Kan conducted a dark-magic ritual that made a jaguar statue his avatar to kill them with and to bring about the Age of the Jaguar.
- When he realized that the spell requires a human sacrifice for completion, he killed his henchman by pushing him into the concoction without hesitation, even though his henchman was completely loyal to him and definitely one of the very few inhabitants of El Dorado who liked him.
The Road to El Dorado[]
- He secretly planned to have Chief Tannabok deposed or even killed, as indicated by them constantly butting heads, Tzekel-Kan's threatening remarks and his suggestion to Miguel to have him sacrificed.
- He attempted to sacrifice a man to Xibalba in Miguel and Tulio's honor until stopped by them.
- Unbeknownst to Miguel or Tulio, Tzekel-Kan ordered a cleansing of the city of heretics on their behalf, with guards seen menacing a man who allegedly went against the orders of the "gods".
- After setting up an Ollamalitzli game between the "gods" and the cities best ballplayers, which consisted of the chief's strongest warriors, and Miguel and Tulio win by cheating for the most part, Tzekel-Kan tried to have the losing team sacrificed.
- After taking control of the jaguar statue, he attacked the city simply to get to the aforementioned characters, and declared everyone will now know of Miguel and Tulio's deception, destroying buildings and nearly devouring someone before chasing down Miguel and Tulio, confronting them on their lie and attempting to claim their lives before falling down into the whirlpool to "Xibalba".
- When he washed up in the jungle, Tzekel-Kan met up with the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his men, whom he believed to be a true god due to his powerful and vicious demeanor, subsequently submitting to his "lord".
- When Cortés inquired about Tzekel's gold earrings, he told him about El Dorado and lead him to the city's secret entrance without hesitation, betraying the natives as they would undoubtedly be enslaved if not slaughtered by the Spaniards.
- He shows zero care for his city as he just wants to rule it with an iron fist out of complete egotism, even if it takes destroying the city and killing everyone in it.
- His defeat of being taken away by Cortes and presumably being turned into a slave by him is played for karma and satisfaction as he deserved it for all his atrocious actions.
Trivia[]
- Tzekel-Kan is similar to Mola Ram from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, who is another Pure Evil.
- He is the only DreamWorks Pure Evil to come from a traditionally animated film.
External Links[]
- Tzekel-Kan on the Villains Wiki
- Tzekel-Kan on the DreamWorks Wiki
- Tzekel-Kan on the Road to El Dorado Wiki
- Tzekel-Kan on the Universal Studios Wiki
