Which Aztec god was the personification of the morning star (Venus)?

Tlāhuizcalpantecuhtli was the Aztec god who personified the morning star, Venus.

His Nahuatl name is commonly interpreted as “Lord of the Dawn,” fitting Venus’s appearance as the bright morning star before sunrise. He was a major deity in Aztec religion and is also listed among the thirteen Lords of the Day, associated with the twelfth day of an Aztec trecena.

Tlāhuizcalpantecuhtli was closely connected with danger as well as brilliance. In the Annals of Cuauhtitlan, the morning star deity shoots darts that can harm people and affect weather. The star’s first appearance was therefore treated as a powerful celestial event, not merely a beautiful natural sight.

The traditions also connect him with Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl. In creation narratives, the deceased ruler Quetzalcoatl becomes the morning star, leading to an overlap between Quetzalcoatl and Tlāhuizcalpantecuhtli in some interpretations. That overlap can cause confusion, but the question’s canonical deity name is Tlāhuizcalpantecuhtli. Xolotl, by contrast, is more strongly associated with Venus as the evening star in some Mesoamerican interpretations.