Jaguar Warriors or Jaguar Knights were members of the Aztec military. They were an elite military unit similar to the Eagle warrior

Eagle warrior

Eagle warriors or eagle knights were a special class of infantry soldier in the Aztec army, one of the two leading military orders in Aztec society. These military orders were made up of the bravest soldiers of noble birth and those who had taken the greatest number of prisoners in battle. Of...

s. The jaguar motif was used due to the belief that the jaguar

Jaguar

The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...

 represented Tezcatlipoca

Tezcatlipoca

Tezcatlipoca was a central deity in Aztec religion. One of the four sons of Ometeotl, he is associated with a wide range of concepts, including the night sky, the night winds, hurricanes, the north, the earth, obsidian, enmity, discord, rulership, divination, temptation, jaguars, sorcery, beauty,...

, god of the night sky. Aztecs also wore these dresses at war because they believed the animal's strengths would be given to them during battles. Jaguar Warriors were used at the battlefront in military campaigns. Many statue

Statue

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...

s and images (in pre-columbian

Pre-Columbian

The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...

 and post-Columbian codices

Codex

A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...

) of these warriors have survived. They fought with a wooden sword studded with obsidian

Obsidian use in Mesoamerica

Obsidian is a naturally formed volcanic glass that was an important part of the material culture of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Obsidian was a highly integrated part of daily and ritual life, and its widespread and varied use may be a significant contributor to Mesoamerica's lack of metallurgy...

 volcanic glass blades, called a Maquahuitl. They also used spears and atlatl

Atlatl

An atlatl or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing.It consists of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart. The atlatl is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup...

s.

To become a Jaguar warrior, a member of the Aztec Army had to capture at least four enemies during battles. This was said to honour their gods in a way far greater than killing enemy soldiers in the battlefield.

The Aztec Jaguar warriors were showcased on the American TV show Deadliest Warrior

Deadliest Warrior

Deadliest Warrior is a television program in which information on historical or modern warriors and their weapons are used to determine which of them is the "deadliest" based upon tests performed during each episode...

, where they competed against the Zande tribesmen.