Quetzal-Feather Headdress

The myth

Quetzal-feather headdresses were insignia of gods, rulers and high-ranking warriors. The long, iridescent green plumes arrived as tribute from the southern forests and were worked by the amanteca, the featherworkers, who mounted them on frames with gold and other colored feathers. The most famous surviving headdress, known as “Moctezuma’s Headdress,” is now in Vienna’s Weltmuseum; its direct link to Moctezuma is uncertain, and Mexico has requested its return more than once. The feathers symbolized the precious and the sacred.

Why it has this power

An Uncommon equip giving +700 ATK and DEF to a Bird or Deity monster. Every feather is a blessing from the sky. It is one of the deck’s best equips because it serves the mythology’s two strongest families: the birds, from the Sun Hummingbird to the Ancestral Quetzal, and the gods, from Nanahuatzin to Quetzalcóatl.

Did you know

The Vienna headdress has some 400 quetzal feathers and stands over a meter tall.

Connections

• In Citlali, Priestess of the Stars's deck
• In Tepin, Veteran of the Flower War's deck
• In Yolotl, Mistress of the Mirror's deck
• In Itzel, Guardian of the Fifth Sun's deck

Where to get it

• Daily Offering: 0.45% per pack (Uncommon 33% per card)
• Welcome Pack: 1.1% per pack (Uncommon 30% per card)
• Traveler's Pack: 0.96% per pack · 5.6% in the themed pack (Uncommon 29% per card)
• Bronze Reliquary: 0.94% per pack · 5.5% in the themed pack (Uncommon 29% per card)
• Silver Reliquary: 0.96% per pack · 5.6% in the themed pack (Uncommon 33% per card)
• Golden Reliquary: 0.94% per pack · 5.5% in the themed pack (Uncommon 35% per card)
• Daily Showcase: Shows up on about 0.98% of days · 400 gold
• Craft with card dust: 100 dust
• Crossing of Myths: Can be offered as a reward during a crossing (the card stays in the crossing deck).

Sources

1. El quetzal (Arqueología Mexicana) — Eugenia Pallares
2. Aztec Art — World History Encyclopedia — Mark Cartwright