In the Aztec creation myth, Nanahuatzin sacrificed himself by jumping into a fire and became the sun.
Nanahuatzin was portrayed as humble, poor, and covered with sores, contrasting with the wealthy and proud god Tecuciztecatl. In the story of the Fifth Sun, the gods gathered at Teotihuacan and selected both gods to offer themselves in a great fire. Tecuciztecatl hesitated, but Nanahuatzin calmly leapt into the flames first.
His sacrifice transformed him into the new sun. Shamed by Nanahuatzin's courage, Tecuciztecatl eventually jumped in as well and became the moon. Because two celestial bodies appeared, one version of the story explains the moon's lesser brightness by saying that a rabbit was thrown into Tecuciztecatl's face.
The sun initially refused to move, so the wind god Ehecatl set it in motion. This detail highlights a central theme of the myth: creation required sacrifice, and the gods' deaths sustained cosmic movement and life. Spellings vary, including Nanahuatl and Nanāhuātzin; the suffix “-tzin” expresses respect or familiarity.