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You never cease to amaze me, mi Amor

—Xibalba to La Muerte

Xibalba is the anti-heroic central antagonist of the 2014 computer-animated film The Book of Life. He is the sinister lord of the Land of the Forgotten and the estranged husband of La Muerte who first entered the plot of the film when he and his wife made a bet concerning which of the two mortals Manolo Sanchez or Joaquín Mondragon would marry María Posada.

In The Book of Life 2, the director said that they will look further in Xibalba and La Muerte's relationship.

Appearance[]

Xibalba is made out of black tar and ectoplasm [4] with green eyes and blood-red skulls for pupils. He has a pair of large, black angel wings [5]. He wears black gloves, a regal black cloak covered by a conquistador armor and a silver crown with horns sprouting from the both sides, topped with black wax candles lit with green flames. Xibalba has a white mustache and beard. Xibalba's fingers are long, spindly and appear to be razor sharp.

When assuming a mortal disguise, he tends to take on the form of an elderly man.

Personality[]

Xibalba is a very sly, very clever, very cunning, cruel, very charming, somewhat suave, highly manipulative, very persuasive, cheating and lying ancient, immortal god of death, decay, manipulation, trickery, tar and darkness. He truly thinks and truly believes the heart of mortal, humankind is impure and not-so-true, sinful and full of sin, and beyond redemption like himself.

He is quite selfish as seen when he used his double-headed snake staff to kill Manolo Sánchez so he could win the wager with his wife La Muerte. Xibalba is also a troublemaking trickster and troublemaker and mischief maker who loves tricking mortals into making sophistic deals with him. He also loves meddling in the lives and affairs of mortal, humankind and mortal beings because it is the only fun and enjoyment he ever gets, as a result of his punishment for having cheated in a past wager with his wife La Muerte.

But despite his very fearsome, very infamous and very notorious reputation, Xibalba is more mischievous and amoral than he is evil. He comes across as fearsome and heartless, but there is also a sweet, kind, tender, very loving, very caring, compassionate side to him that he only ever shows to his wife La Muerte.

Xibalba is also a silver tongued smooth talker. Xibalba has a truly pessimistic, truly negative view of mortal, humankind and mortal beings but despite his beliefs and views of mortal, humankind and mortal beings Xibalba still has a admittedly grudging respect for some certain individual mortal beings like Manolo. Xibalba can also be impressed by some certain individual mortal beings if the mortal beings leave a good enough impression for him.

He claims that the reason he meddles in mortal affairs is because it is the only fun he gets outside of ruling. Although he is calm and confident, he is too proud of himself. When Manolo angered him by shouting "He will pay for what he has done", Xibalba talks and approaches Manolo with pride stating "No one in any of the realms has ever talked to him in such a way and survived", taunting him.

Despite his actions throughout most of the story, he truly does care for his wife La Muerte and will attempt to please her, particularly towards the end. He also gains some form of respect for mortals who impress him. He's quite capable of selfless love and admitting when he's been proven wrong.

Jorge Gutierrez has described him as the jealous type, which was demonstrated when he scowled at La Muerte’s support of Manolo during the latter’s bull fight in the arena [6].

Abilities[]

Xibalba is extremely powerful as expected from an immortal god where he is shown to be very adept in magical activities. It is also shown that Xibalba is deceitful, cunning and very intelligent, being able to devise elaborate plans that tilt the scales in his favor. Your knowledge of a person's nature makes it easy for him to manipulation.

  • Xibalba can quickly teleport from one place to another by transforming himself into a gooey puddle of black tar.
  • Xibalba is capable of floating without moving his wings to suspend himself in the air.
  • Xibalba can transform into anything he wishes to be; as in an old man or a guard of the Museum.
  • Xibalba's physical strength is worlds beyond a mortal as shown in the part where Manolo Sánchez infuriated him and Xibalba effortlessly sent Manolo flying with a flick of his finger. 
  • Xibalba can teleport others to any place he wants, such as when he sent Manolo to the bullring in the Land of the Remembered with a snap of his fingers.
  • With the arcane magic he possesses, Xibalba can resurrect any soul he wish with the help of La Muerte (the Queen of the Land of the Remembered) and the Candlemaker (the Keeper of Balance).

Relationships[]

La Muerte[]

La Muerte is Xibalba's wife whom he has a complicated relationship with due to their different beliefs and the completely different natures of the realms they rule; La Muerte believes that mortalkind still has some good in it while Xibalba believes there is no good.

Xibalba truly loves his wife and he quite literally melts at her touch. However, he has become very insecure around her ever since he cheated in their previous wager. He has shown to regret that decision and was more than willing to enter a new bet with her in order to keep her interested.

In the end, after Manolo Sánchez and María Posada are finally married, Xibalba gave La Muerte a heartfelt apology for his behavior and asked her to forgive him. She gladly accepted and pulled him in for a kiss. In the present day, he is still on good terms with La Muerte, apparently having renounced his old ways forever and redeemed himself once and for all. When the children from the museum tour leave, he and his wife share a tender moment and a very passionate kiss.

Candle Maker[]

The Candle Maker and Xibalba seem to be good friends, although they have not been seen to interact much on the screen.

Near the end, the Candle Maker embraces both La Muerte and Xibalba, proving he has no grudge against for the latter's trap in his bet with La Muerte. Instead, Xibalba seems to find him irritating and annoying, but tolerable.

El Chamuco[]

El Chamuco is Xibalba's older brother where the two have a sibling rivalry [7] as Xibalba usually makes bets with El Chamuco; one of which ended with the champion of Xibalba, Captain Mondragon, being sent to the Land of the Unknown [8].

La Noche[]

There was a time when Xibalba was interested in La Noche and tried to woo her, but by the time she began to pay attention to him, Xibalba had already fallen in love with La Muerte [9].

Captain Mondragon[]

Xibalba knew Joaquín Mondragon’s father very well, in fact Captain Mondragon had won him a previous wager with his wife La Muerte [10] [11]. If both were get to form a friendship, it is not yet clear. It is unknown how affected to Xibalba the fact that his champion was sent to the Land of the Unknown.

Etymology[]

  • The name Xibalba was the Mayan term for the underworld.
    • Xibalba's name comes from the K'iche Maya word or term for the Maya underworld, Xibalba, which means, "place of fear".

Trivia[]

  • Xibalba is made out of tar and everything icky in the world.
  • According to animator and director Jorge R. Gutierrez on his Twitter account page, he based Xibalba on the Aztec god of the dead, Mictlantecuhtli, who was one of two rulers of Mictlan. Mictlantecuhtli rules Mictlan alongside his wife, the Aztec goddess of the dead, Mictecacihuatl.
  • Xibalba was once a knight in the heavens but he got cocky and was punished [12] [13].
  • Xibalba is European. He came over with the conquistadors [14].
  • Xibalba and La Muerte met on earth at a party where both pretended to be human [15].
  • Xibalba was already ruling the Land of the Forgotten when he meet La Muerte [16].
  • Xibalba discovered La Muerte's fondness for wagers when he made a bet that he will win her heart, which he did [17].
  • Xibalba is a few centuries older than his wife, La Muerte [18]. However, he is younger than the Candle Maker [19].
  • Xibalba's blood-red skull eyes can swivel in Xibalba's eye sockets depending on what direction Xibalba is facing.
    LaMuertexXibalbaKiss - 2

    The Sacred Heart (El Sagrado Corazón) formed from Xibalba's wings and La Muerte's hat

  • When Xibalba and La Muerte kiss at the very end of the movie, his black wings and her hat form The Sacred Heart (El Sagrado Corazón). 
  • La Muerte's nickname for Xibalba is "Balby."
  • Although Xibalba has wings, he doesn't necessarily need them to fly [20].
  • Apparently, when Xibalba touches a mortal, the person dies.
  • Xibalba was completely faithful to La Muerte while they were separated [21].
  • A quote from The Art of the Book of Life: “His flames burn green with envy. The only red in his design is in his skull-shaped irises, because he only has eyes for La Muerte" [22].
  • Xibalba plays a non-speaking role in a flashback in Gutierrez's 2021 Netflix series, Maya and the Three. There, he, La Muerte, and Candlemaker are seen attending the wedding of Mictlan, the God of War, and Micte, the Goddess of Death. According to a Twitter post by Gutierrez, Lord Mictlan is one of Xibalba’s brothers.

Gallery[]

Concept art[]

Screencaps[]

Animations[]


Toys[]

References[]

  1. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/553842052417720320
  2. https://78.media.tumblr.com/be98f33619ef40314097b92249928264/tumblr_o6xtxuXZPq1t8js5oo1_500.jpg
  3. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/statuses/614590163260346369
  4. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/statuses/591079499493584897
  5. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/551247831751598081
  6. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/539910763784069120
  7. https://78.media.tumblr.com/47d4333cdc4f8bfd6024c3912e70c22a/tumblr_njb7yhFS6W1rk7pizo1_500.jpg
  8. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/562676873222950913
  9. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/552339610236616704
  10. https://78.media.tumblr.com/908bf08b3334d74734b524450b358b83/tumblr_nhqqy5s6T01sfz7lfo1_500.png
  11. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/552339961304072192
  12. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/564875287301611520
  13. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/552227762325295104
  14. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/588515145174765571.
  15. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/570411657165348864
  16. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/563036354414911488
  17. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/552345394416738304
  18. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/552219729134227456
  19. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/statuses/566017899307872256
  20. https://78.media.tumblr.com/51c3fea872b3a578c7ee22ee08c716df/tumblr_nisnjdsmJ41si71aho1_1280.jpg
  21. https://78.media.tumblr.com/2ee3d63bedd7ce1b5332609686cae7e2/tumblr_inline_nfzoacy44w1r2vqft.png
  22. https://twitter.com/mexopolis/status/991824335147909120
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