Xibalba

Xibalba's History

Xibalba is the secondary antagonist-turned-anti-hero in the film, The Book of Life.

He first entered the plot of the film when he and his wife La Muerte made a bet concerning which of the mortals, Manolo Sanchez or Joaquín Mondragon would marry Maria Posada. In the book of life 2, the director said that they will look further in Xibalba's and La Muerte's relationship.

Xibalba is made out of black tar and ectoplasm , with green eyes and blood-red skulls for pupils. He has a pair of large, black angel wings . He wears black gloves, a regal black cloak covered by a conquistador armor, and a silver crown with horns sprouting from the both sides, topped with black wax candles lit with green flames. Xibalba has a white moustache and beard. Xibalba's fingers are long, spindly and appear to be razor sharp.

When assuming a mortal disguise, he tends to take on the form of an elderly man.

Xibalba appears on the surface as sly, cunning and cruel. He is a manipulative trickster who will resort to lies and cheating to get his own way such. Despite this, he is not pure evil, rather mischievous than malevolent. He is very suave in manner and tends to be well spoken.

He believes that there is little to no good left in humanity and that it is beyond redemption. This may or may not be down to the jaded view he sees from his realm, the Land of the Forgotten.

He claims that the reason he meddles in mortal affairs is because it is the only fun he gets outside of ruling.Though he is calm and confident, he is too proud of himself. When Manolo angered him by shouting "He will pay for what he has done", Xibalba talks and approaches Manolo with pride stating " No one in any of the realms has ever talked to him in such a way and survived ", taunting him.

Despite his actions throughout most of the story, he truly does care for his wife, La Muerte and will attempt to please her, particularly towards the end. He also gains some form of respect for mortals who impress him. He's quite capable of selfless love and admitting when he's been proven wrong.

Jorge Gutierrez has described him as the jealous type .