Eagle Knight feet and arms plate

Eagle warriors or eagle knights

were a special class of infantry soldier in the Aztec army, one of the two leading military special forces orders in Aztec society, the other being the Jaguar warriors. They were a type of Aztec warrior called a cuāuhocēlōtl. The word cuāuhocēlōtl derives from the eagle warrior cuāuhtli and the Jaguar warrior ocēlōtl . 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 all of the Aztec warriors, they were the most feared. Eagle warriors, along with the Jaguar warriors, were the only such classes which did not restrict access solely to the nobility, as commoners or occasionally admitted for special merit.