Cuauhtémoc (also known as Cuauhtemotzin, Guatimozin or Guatemoc; c. 1495) is the Mexica ruler (tlatoani) of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, making him the last Aztec Emperor.

The name Cuāuhtemōc means "one who has descended like an eagle", and is commonly rendered in English as "Descending Eagle," as in the moment when an eagle folds its wings and plummets down to strike its prey.

This is a name that implies aggressiveness and determination.

Cuauhtémoc takes power in 1520 as successor of Cuitláhuac and is a cousin of the late emperor Moctezuma II.

His young wife, who is later known as Isabel Moctezuma, is one of Moctezuma's daughters.

He ascends to the throne when he is around twenty-five years old, while Tenochtitlan is being besieged by the Spanish and devastated by an epidemic of smallpox brought to the New World by the invaders.

After the killings in the Great Temple, there are probably few Aztec captains available to take the position.