Qualpopoca (or Quetzalpopoca) is an Aztec administrator and military commander whose operations on behalf of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin against the Spanish conquistadors at Nauhtla prompt the crisis in Aztec-Spanish relations that provides Hernán Cortés with the pretext he needs to capture Moctezuma and overthrow the Aztec state.

Qualpopoca kills and captures a number of conquistadors in a battle close to Nauhtla after a dispute about tribute, and thus is the first (and one of the very few) Aztec commanders to have any success against the Spanish.

In revenge, Cortes forces the captive Moctezuma to order his arrest, return him to the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan and subsequently burn him alive in front of the Templo Mayor.