In Maya mythology, Zipacna was a son of Vucub Caquix (Seven Macaw) and Chimalmat. He and his brother, Cabrakan (Earthquake), were often considered demons. Zipacna, like his relatives, was said to be very arrogant and violent. Zipacna was characterized as a large caiman and often boasted about creating mountains.
The Four Hundred Boys
The Popol Vuh tells the story that one day Zipacna was basking on the beach when he was disturbed by the Four Hundred Boys (possibly patron deities of alcohol), who were attempting to construct a hut. They had felled a large tree to use as the central supporting log, but were unable to lift it. Zipacna, being immensely strong, offered to carry the log for them, which he did. Although most translations of the Popol Vuh would seem to indicate this was done as a gesture of goodwill, it is generally agreed that Zipacna did so in a spirit of arrogance, mocking the boys for their inability to do so.
The Four Hundred Boys decided it was not good that one man had such strength, and that Zipacna should be killed. They attempted to deceive Zipacna by asking him to dig a hole for their post, intending to thrust the massive column into the hole and kill him. Zipacna realized their deceit, however, and saved himself by surreptitiously digging a side tunnel and hiding inside it when the boys dropped the post in the hole. To complete the illusion of his death, Zipacna cried out in pain, and later allowed ants to carry bits of his hair and trimmings from his nails out of the hole, satisfying the boys that he had been killed. He first appeared in the season 3 episode "Pretense", where he was described by Teal'c as being "one of the most loyal underlords of Apophis". He later returns in season 5 as a servant of Anubis, recruiting Osiris to represent Anubis at the System Lord summit and leads the sacking of Tok'ra's secret base.
- Zipacna is a Notorious Monster in the SquareEnix game Final Fantasy XI in Ve'Lugannon Palace. He drops an item used to spawn one of the Sky guardians, Genbu—the Black Tortoise/Black Warrior of the North.
- Zipacna is the protagonist in a storyline in the webcomic Luci Phurr's Imps. He is going around trying to gather his other gods to bring about "The End of the World" foretold by the Mayan calendar.
- In the 1987 book "The Haunted Mesa" by Louis L'amour, the protagonist, Mike Raglan, discovers that the Anasazi, or "Cliff Dwellers" who once occupied the Four Corners region of the American Southwest before vanishing, had travelled through a doorway to a parallel world ruled by a being known as "The Hand" and the Lords of Shibalba (also spelled Xibalba). The chief antagonist among them (other than The Hand, who was never seen), was known as Zipacna. He was defeated but his ultimate fate was never known nor that of a young rebel named Hunahpu who was attempting to organize his people to fight back against Zipacna's forces. There was some speculation, never confirmed, that Zipacna himself was The Hand.
- In "The Shadow Crosser", the third entry of The Storm Runner series by J. C. Cervantes, has Zipacna, spelt as Sipacna, as a supporting character.