Quetzalcoatl (The Winged Serpent)

"It's name is Quetzalcoatl... just call it Q. That's all you'll have time to say before it tears you apart!"

- The film's tagline describing Q.

Quetzalcoatl, or Q for short, is the titular secondary antagonist of the 1982 dark fantasy horror film Q - The Winged Serpent. She is a resurrection of the Aztec god.

History
During New York City's population growth in the early 1980s, a strange increase of bizarre police cases occur involving headless corpses found skinned alive with missing hearts. Also, rumors of a giant dragon flying around in the sun grabbing civilians on building tops grab the interest of Detective Shepard and Sgt. Powell, who believe the two cases may be related as an ancient sacrificial ritual. The dragon is Q, a reincarnation of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl awoken from her slumber by the sacrifices performed by a secret Aztec cult. The more victims sacrificed by the cult, the more victims Q drags to her lair to devour.

Meanwhile, Johnny Quinn, a crook on the run from his fellow gangsters after abandoning them following a diamond heist, hides at the top of the Chrysler Building, where Q happened to make her nest to nurse her egg. Jimmy realizes this and tricks the gangsters to climb up to the top, where Q makes quick meals out of them to Jimmy's satisfaction. Jimmy offers Shepard and Powell the location of Q's nest in exchange for cash.

As Shepard and the police force raid the Chrysler Building, Powell and his men storm an abandoned warehouse to find the Aztec priest about to commit his next sacrifice, but he gets away when the sacrifice fights back, only to be shot dead by the police. As they rush to the roof of the building after the priest, Q arrives and grabs Powell with her talons.

Sensing her baby in danger, Q drops Powell to his death mid-flight and rushes back to the Chrysler Building, only to discover her baby has already been killed by the police. This sends Q into a violent rage, resulting in the deaths of most of the police. However, despite her excellent strength and stamina, and the fact that she's a descendant to an Aztec god, Q is no match for the guns used by the police squad and succumbs to her wounds, plummeting down to the streets below.

Although Q has been killed, the crazed priest, revealed to be schizophrenic Indian Kahea, attacks Johnny in his apartment in hope to revive his goddess, but is shot and killed by Shepard. However, Kahea's plan ultimately succeeds, and a second egg laid by Q in the abandoned warehouse hatches.

Trivia

 * Although she's the titular character, Q has less than three minutes of screen-time.
 * Q's design as a stop-motion monster in a live action film may be a tribute to the late stop-motion animator, Ray Harryhausen.
 * Plus, Q may also be a homage to the Rhedosaurus from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, a creature edited by Harryhausen that also terrorized New York City.
 * In Aztec Mythology, Quetzalcoatl was one of the only gods that did not receive human sacrifices. Also, Quetzalcoatl was not a dragon like Q was portrayed as, but as a flying feathered serpent.