Aztec rain god, highly revered and feared for his ability to bestow or withhold prosperity.
Five of the 18 months of the ritual year were dedicated to him, and children were sacrificed to him during two of the months. He could send out rain, provoke drought and hunger, and cause lightning and hurricanes. Dropsy, leprosy, and rheumatism were said to be caused by Tlaloc and his fellow deities. Those who died of such illnesses, or who had been killed by lightning, were granted an eternal and blissful life in his paradise, Tlalocan.