Xolotl was the sinister god of monstrosities who wears the spirally-twisted wind jewel and the ear ornaments of Quetzalcoatl.

Xolotl accompanied Quetzalcoatl to Mictlan, the land of the dead, or the underworld, to retrieve the bones from those who inhabited the previous world (Nahui Atl) to create new life for the present world, Nahui Ollin, the sun of movement.

[7] His empty eye sockets are explained in the legend of Teotihuacan, in which the gods decided to sacrifice themselves for the newly created sun.

[9] In art, Xolotl was typically depicted as a dog-headed man, a skeleton, or a deformed monster with reversed feet.

Dogs were often subject to ritual sacrifice so that they could accompany their master on his voyage through Mictlan, the underworld.

The name "Xoloitzcuintli" references Xolotl because this dog's mission was to accompany the souls of the dead in their journey into eternity.

[14] In the Aztec calendar, the ruler of the day, Itzcuintli ("Dog"), is Mictlantecuhtli, the god of death and lord of Mictlan, the afterlife.

[16] In the Mayan codices, the dog is conspicuously associated with the god of death, storm, and lightning.

[19] Xolotl was originally the name for lightning beast of the Maya tribe, often taking the form of a dog.

Some scholars argue the ballgame symbolizes the Sun's perilous and uncertain nighttime journey through the underworld.

For example, in the Codex Mendoza we see him playing with the moon-god, and can recognize him by the sign ollin which accompanies him, and by the gouged-out eye in which that symbol ends.

Seler thinks "that the root of the name ollin suggested to Mexicans the motion of the rubber ball olli and, as a consequence, ball-playing.

It is typified by bouncing balls, pulsating hearts, labor contractions, earthquakes, flapping butterfly wings, the undulating motion of weft activities in weaving, and the oscillating path of the Fifth Sun over and under the surface of the earth.

[24] A jade statue of a skeletal Xolotl carrying a solar disc bearing an image of the Sun on his back[25][26] (called "the Night Traveler") succinctly portrays Xolotl's role in assisting the Sun through the process of death, gestation, and rebirth.