Morning Myth - Revolt and Punishment and Purification

Mayan mythology is wholly different than that with which many in the west are familiar. Central and South American mythologies only came to be known to the west (and east) in the mid 20th century. Even so, the ancient myths are poorly understood and go though wholesale rewrites every generation. At least it seems so to me.

There is a monster/beast in Mayan mythology called the camazotz. It is sometimes now referred to now as the Batman deity. I think you have seen the pictures of a modern artist's rendering. He created a stunning 'mask' in honor of this most ancient of deities. 

The beast does not, in any way, conform to the Batman presented in DC comics.

Camazotz is a bat/human hybrid. It has a bat head, wings, and can fly as a bat. it also has the attributes of a human with legs and arms. outside of this we do not know much what it would like as it seems there were no cladisticians or taxonomists to render a more accurate description. it is know that it was a terrifying beast of the underworld that may come to the realm of man to enact punishment or sent as retribution for a crime humans committed.

To me, the most interesting aspect of this deity is its association with retribution. Presumably, the Maya people decided that they no longer wanted to be sacrificed to the gods or have sacrificial rites whereby people were killed to assuage the ever blood thirsty gods. So the gods sent the camazotz to the realm of man to let the Maya know how the gods felt about this. The sacrifices continued. Camazotz is the bogeyman. Without the sacrifices, he will come get you. 

There are other myths associated with camazotz. He bit of the head of one of the twins and used it in the ballcourt of the gods, he was the interlocutor between the gods and man (bringing man fire in return for sacrifice), lived in the underworld, and the destruction of the first me (this is sorta unclear as i can not recall the ages in Mayan mythology - I'll look that up in the morning).