The subject of this article is non-canonical. While created as part of licensed material, it has not been confirmed as part of the "real" Buffyverse continuity. |
Camazotz was a Mayan demon-god, the result of a union between an Old One with a higher being, and the leader of the Kakchiquels.[citation needed]
History[]
Background[]
Camaztoz was born of the union between an Old One and a higher being and became known as a demon-god and he was the creator of the vampire species. He was married to the goddess Zotzilaha and both were worshipped by the Mayans as gods. Camazotz was the god of bats and both gained strength from human worship. He was also the leader of the Kakchiquels, a subset of vampires that gained enhanced powers by feeding on his blood.[citation needed]
However, the destruction of Mayan civilization weakened both deities to the point that for centuries they couldn't manifest on this plane of existence. While his wife was content with that, Camazotz was not as he needed followers. Somehow, in the 1940s or 1950s by human reckoning, Camazotz managed to open a portal back to Earth and coerced Zotzilaha into going with him. Zotzilaha was miserable on Earth and grew to hate Camazotz so much that she attacked him one night, mutilating his wings. Camazotz was able to kill his wife's physical form, but she escaped him in spirit form before he could destroy that as well.[citation needed]
Willow would suggest that many ancient civilizations made things out of gold because they knew that it was Camazotz's weakness.[citation needed]
Visit to Sunnydale[]
Over the next decades, Camazotz and his followers hunted the spirit of his wife who sought a host powerful enough to elude or even destroy Camazotz. Having heard of the Slayer, Zotzilaha chose to seek her out by manipulating the spirit of Lucy Hanover while Camazotz, having also heard of the Slayer, kept her existence from his Kakchiquels so that they would not be afraid of her as many vampires were.[citation needed]
In 2001, Camazotz and his Kakchiquels chased Zotzilaha to Sunnydale, where, masquerading as the Prophet, she predicted that Buffy Summers would make a terrible mistake that would lead to a bad future. Buffy and the Scooby Gang had several encounters with the Kakchiquels, ultimately learning of Camaztoz's existence and presence.[citation needed]
Alternate future[]
While attempting to learn information from the local harbormaster on a ship that could potentially hold Camazotz's army, Rupert Giles was captured as the harbormaster was in fact a vampire loyal to Camazotz. Having become convinced that she needed to act on her own and not rely on her friends, Buffy had only reluctantly allowed Giles to accompany her and brought no backup as she normally would to such a meeting. Camazotz ambushed the Slayer and demanded her surrender in exchange for Giles' life. Convinced that they were both dead if she surrendered, Buffy believed that Camazotz would keep Giles alive as bait and fled, fighting off an army of Kakchiquels outside to barely escape with her life. Buffy subsequently gave consent to Zotzilaha as the Prophet, resulting in Camazotz's wife possessing her body and sending Buffy's spirit five years into the future that she had foreseen.[citation needed]
Buffy's friends eventually managed to track down the fleeing goddess to a bus station where Camaztoz and his army ambushed them. Camaztoz sucked his wife's soul out of Buffy and consumed her, destroying Zotzilaha and restoring Buffy's soul to its rightful place. To the horror of the Scooby Gang, they discovered that Camazotz had turned Giles into a vampire in retaliation for Buffy's defiance and Giles had the demon-god take Buffy captive instead of killing her so as to prevent the rise of another Slayer.[citation needed]
Over the next five years, Giles usurped Camazotz as leader of the Kakchiquels and took over Sunnydale as the Vampire King with intentions of taking over the world. Camazotz disappeared and unknown to everyone, had been imprisoned by Giles to act as a living battery for his followers, feeding them Camaztoz's blood and power as a means of inspiring loyalty in his army. Giles was able to get the story of the more recent events in Camaztoz's life from the demon-god and, retaining some of the human Giles' habits, wrote it all down.[citation needed]
Five years after being sent into the future, Buffy lead an assault by forces of the Watchers Council to retake Sunnydale and destroy Giles. Buffy, Xander, Oz and Willow discovered Camazotz held prisoner in the basement of the city hall, nearly blind and driven insane by his years of captivity. As the group slew the Kakchiquels feeding on Camazotz, they inadvertently released him from his chains. Though weakened by years of imprisonment and feeding by Kakchiquels, Camazotz attacked the Slayer and her friends, proving to be more than a match for them. However, Willow had learned of Camaztoz's weakness to gold over the years and used an alchemy spell to turn a crossbow bolt to gold. With the golden crossbow bolt, Willow killed the demon-god with a shot to the heart. Camaztoz's death resulted in the Kakchiquels losing the power they had drained from him and reverting back into normal vampires.[citation needed]
Final defeat[]
With the help of Willow, Buffy traveled in time to before Zotilaha had sent her into the future, armed with the knowledge of her mistake and Camaztoz's weakness. With the help of Lucy Hanover, Buffy was able to convince her past self to let her in and sent her friends well-armed to the harbormaster's office as backup. This time, when confronted by Camazotz, Buffy pretended to surrender to buy time before Willow, armed with a scimitar, attacked Camaztoz, seriously wounding him in the chest. Buffy slayed the harbormaster and turned on Camazotz, causing him to flee for his life.[citation needed]
The Scooby Gang subsequently trapped Zotzilaha in a snow globe, but not before convincing the goddess to give up the name of the ship that had carried the demon-god to Sunnydale. The Slayer and her friends launched an attack on the ship, slaying many of the Kakchiquels and drawing Camaztoz himself out. However, the present-day version of Willow, less powerful and confident in her abilities than her future self, was unable to perform the alchemy spell in order to create a weapon capable of killing Camazotz. With no other choice, Buffy decided to attack the demon-god and cut him into pieces, aware that he could potentially return someday but seeing no other option. Though powerful, Camazotz was slowed down and weakened by his injuries, giving Buffy an advantage in the fight. Camazotz then drew back the power he had given to his surviving Kakchiquels, dusting them and healing his injuries.[citation needed]
As Buffy struggled, Willow attempted the alchemy spell once again and succeeded in creating a golden stake for Buffy. Hiding her weapon, Buffy approached Camaztoz apparently unarmed, dodging his attack though she suffered a slight injury and pulling him close to her. Buffy stabbed out one of the demon-god's eyes with her stake and then drove it into Camaztoz's heart. By the time Camaztoz's body hit the deck, he was already dead and quickly began to decay. Even after Willow removed the golden stake and tossed it overboard, Camaztoz remained dead and didn't revive as Willow worried when she pulled the stake out.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
- In Mayan mythology, Camazotz is a bat god, associated with night, death, and sacrifice. The name means "death bat" in the K'iche' language.
- In mainline continuity, Camazotz was not the creator of vampires but rather this role was taken by the Old One Maloker.