Which Aztec god was the patron deity of the Mexica people?

Which Aztec god was the patron deity of the Mexica people? Huitzilopochtli was the Mexica’s patron god.

Huitzilopochtli was associated especially with warfare, the Sun, fire, and sacrifice. Mexica tradition portrayed him as the divine guide who led their ancestors from Aztlan toward a promised homeland. Priests carried his sacred image during the migration.

According to the foundation legend, Huitzilopochtli instructed the Mexica to settle where they saw an eagle on a prickly pear cactus. That sign appeared on an island in Lake Texcoco, where they founded Tenochtitlan. His shrine occupied one half of the Templo Mayor, alongside the temple of Tlaloc, the rain god.

A common mix-up is to identify Quetzalcoatl or Tezcatlipoca as the Mexica patron deity. Both were major Mesoamerican gods, but Huitzilopochtli held the distinctive patron role for the Mexica and their capital.