Santa Claus (also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, or Kris Kringle) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christmas Eve/December 24.
He flies on his sleigh with reindeers and comes down the chimney to bring presents to children when they are asleep on Christmas Eve, usually on the early hours of Christmas Day. Santa Claus will only come to children's rooms if they are fast asleep. If he spots children that are awake, He moves on to a different house until they fell asleep, then he comes back to their house to bring their presents. He gives lumps of coal to naughty children.
History Of Saint Nicholas[]
Saint Nicholas.
The story of Saint Nicholas goes back to the 3rd century. Nicholas is said to have been born about March 15, 270 A.D. in Patara, around Myra in modern-day Turkey. St. Nicholas of Myra is the focus of several stories because of his righteousness and generosity. He is reported to have given away much of his inherited money and spent his time travelling the fields supporting the needy and ill. One of the most well-known St. Nicholas tales is about how he rescued three impoverished sisters from their father's plans to sell them into slavery or adultery by supplying them with a dowry so that they might marry. Nicholas' fame grew with time, and he became recognized as the guardian of children and sailors. On December 6th, the anniversary of his burial (when he died on December 6th, 343 A.D.), his feast day is observed. This was once thought to be a lucky day for making big transactions or getting married. By the Renaissance, St. Nicholas had been Europe's most famous saint. St. Nicholas retained a good image, particularly in Holland, even after the Protestant Reformation, where saint veneration was discouraged.
Toward the end of the 18th century, St. Nicholas made his first foray into mainstream culture in the United States. A New York newspaper announced in December 1773 and again in 1774 that parties of Dutch families had assembled to commemorate his death anniversary. Nick's Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a simplified version of Sint Nikolaas, became Santa Claus (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). At the New York Historical Society's annual meeting in 1804, John Pintard, a founder, distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas. The engraving's backdrop features now-familiar Santa pictures, such as stockings stuffed with toys and fruit hanging over a fireplace. As Washington Irving alluded to St. Nicholas as the patron saint of New York in his book The History of New York in 1809, he helped to popularize the Sinter Klaas myths. Sinter Klaas was variously portrayed as a "rascal" wearing a blue three-cornered cap, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings to a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a "huge pair of Flemish trunk hose" as his fame rose.
Santa Claus, who first appeared in America in the 18th century, was not the only gift-giver influenced by St. Nicholas. Corresponding numbers and Christmas customs can be seen all around the globe. Christkind, also known as Kris Kringle, was said to bring gifts to well-behaved Swiss and German children. Christkind, who means "Christ boy," is an angel-like character who often joins St. Nicholas on his holiday missions. Jultomten, a jolly fairy, was said to carry presents in a sleigh pulled by goats in Scandinavia. Father Christmas is said to visit each home on Christmas Eve to fill children's stockings with holiday goodies, according to English legend. Père Nol is in charge of filling French children's shoes. A kindly witch named La Befana flies a broomstick down the chimneys of Italian homes to drop toys into the stockings of fortunate girls, according to legend.
Gift-giving[]
Santa Claus gift giving.
Since the early nineteenth century, when the festival was resurrected, gift-giving has become an integral aspect of the Christmas celebration. In 1820, stores started advertising Christmas shopping, and by the 1840s, newspapers had created special pages for holiday ads, which often included photographs of the increasingly fashionable Santa Claus. Thousands of kids flocked to a Philadelphia store in 1841 to see a life-size Santa Claus illustration. It was just a matter of time before shops started luring kids and their parents in with the promise of seeing a “live” Santa Claus. The Salvation Army requested funds in the early 1890s to provide for the free Christmas dinners they gave to poor people. They started dressing unemployed men up as Santa Claus and bringing them out onto the streets of New York to solicit donations. Since then, Salvation Army Santas have been ringing bells on street corners throughout the United States.
Chimney tradition[]
Santa going down the chimney.
Many European seasonal gift-givers follow the custom of Santa Claus supposedly entering homes via the chimney. On the solstice, Odin was said to reach by chimneys and fire holes in pre-Christian Norse mythology. The gift-giving witch is perpetually shrouded with soot from her journeys down the chimneys of children's homes in the Italian Befana culture. Saint Nicholas is said to have thrown coins through a window and, in a later version of the tale, down a chimney while the window was closed. Adults and toddlers gaze up a chimney with wonder in their eyes in Dutch artist Jan Steen's drawing The Feast of Saint Nicholas, as other children play with their toys. In primitive tradition, the hearth was held holy as a pillar of beneficence, and elves and fairies were said to carry presents to the house through this doorway. The poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," in which the author portrayed him as an elf, rendered Santa's entry into homes through the chimney on Christmas Eve a part of American tradition.
Christmas Eve Tradition[]
Santa putting presents under the tree.
In the United States and Canada, children leave a glass of milk and a tray of sweets for Santa to enjoy; in the United Kingdom and Australia, children leave sherry or cider, as well as mince pies. Rice porridge with sugar and cinnamon is commonly left for him by children in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Guinness or milk, as well as Christmas pudding or mince pies, are common in Ireland. St. Nicolaus (Mikulás) arrives in Hungary on the evening of December 5th, and the children receive their presents the following morning. If they were successful, they received candy in a bag, and if they were not, they received a golden coloured birch turn. On Christmas Eve, "Little Jesus" appears and bestows presents to everybody. On the eve of December 6, Saint Nicholas (Miklav) gives little presents to healthy children in Slovenia. On the eve of Christmas Eve, Boiek (Christmas Man) brings presents, and Dedek Mraz (Grandfather Frost) brings gifts on the evening of December 31, to be opened on New Year's Day.
Children in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Canada, and the United States often leave a carrot for Santa's reindeer and are warned that if they are not successful all year, they will earn a lump of coal in their stockings, but this tradition is now deemed obsolete. Children will "put out their shoe" for Sinterklaas, as is the Dutch tradition (leave hay and a carrot for his horse in a shoe before going to bed, sometimes weeks before the Sinterklaas avond). The hay and carrot will be supplemented with a present the next morning, which is usually a marzipan figpee. Naughty children were once advised that instead of candy, they would be given a roe (a package of sticks), although this tradition has since been stopped.
Other Christmas Eve Santa Claus traditions in the United States include reading A Visit from St. Nicholas or another Santa Claus tale, watching a Santa or Christmas-related animated programme on television (such as the aforementioned Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and similar specials, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, among many others), and singing Santa Claus songs like "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." Until heading to bed, children perform last-minute tasks such as aligning stockings on the mantelpiece or anywhere where Santa can see them, peering up the chimney (in homes with a fireplace), glancing out a window and searching the sky for Santa's sleigh, and (in homes without a fireplace) opening an outside door so Santa will reach the house safely.
Parents pretend to be Santa Claus and leave their presents under the Christmas tree until the children have fallen asleep. Before the presents are placed under the tree, the tags on the gifts for children are often signed "From Santa Claus" by their guardians.
Where does Santa Claus live?[]
Santa and Mrs. Claus, are known to have a house and workshop where he going to said is to make the presents, he is said to giving to great grandchildren at Christmas, often with the helper of elves or other magical creatures. According to certain myths and folklore, his house and store are surrounded by a community populated by his servants. Santa is said to reside at the North Pole in North American culture (in the United States and Canada), which, according to Canada Post, is located under Canadian authority in postal code H0H 0H0 (a nod to Santa's famous saying, "ho ho ho," while postal codes beginning with H are normally reserved for the island of Montréal in Québec).
Santa Claus was granted Canadian citizenship on December 23, 2008, by Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism. In an official release, Kenney said, "The Government of Canada wishes Santa the best in his Christmas Eve duties and wants to let him realize that, as a Canadian citizen, he has the automatic right to re-enter Canada once his journey around the world is complete."
In Alaska, there is also a city called North Pole, which has a tourist attraction known as the "Santa Claus House." The city's ZIP code of 99705 is used by the US Postal Service as the branded postal code for Santa Claus. A "sleigh fly across" has also been recorded by a Wendy's in North Pole, Alaska. Each Nordic nation believes that Santa's home is within their borders. He claims to remain in Drbak, Norway. He is reported to remain in Greenland in Denmark (near Uummannaq). Tomteland is an amusement park in the Swedish town of Mora. Children's letters for Santa are received at the national postal terminal in Tomteboda, Stockholm. Santa Claus Village and Santa Park are both situated near Rovaniemi, and Korvatunturi has long been established as Santa's home in Finland. Ded Moroz has a house in Belarus' Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park.
In Popular Culture[]
Santa Helpers
By the end of the 20th century, the reality of mass mechanized production became more fully accepted by the Western public. Elves had been portrayed as using assembly lines to produce toys early in the 20th century. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production and distribution facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by the elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as executives or managers. An excerpt from a 2004 article, from a supply chain managers' trade magazine, aptly illustrates this depiction:
Santa's main distribution center is a sight to behold. At 4,000,000 square feet (370,000 m2), it's one of the world's largest facilities. A real-time warehouse management system (WMS) is of course required to run such a complex. The facility makes extensive use of task interleaving, literally combining dozens of DC activities (putaway, replenishing, order picking, sleigh loading, cycle counting) in a dynamic queue the DC elves have been on engineered standards and incentives for three years, leading to a 12% gain in productivity. The WMS and transportation system are fully integrated, allowing (the elves) to make optimal decisions that balance transportation and order picking and other DC costs. Unbeknownst to many, Santa actually has to use many sleighs and fake Santa drivers to get the job done Christmas Eve, and the transportation management system (TMS) optimally builds thousands of consolidated sacks that maximize cube utilization and minimize total air miles.
In 1912 the actor Leedham Bantock became the first actor to be identified as having played Santa Claus in a film. Santa Claus, which he also directed, included scenes photographed in a limited, two-tone color process and featured the use of detailed models. Since then, many feature films have featured Santa Claus as a protagonist, including Miracle on 34th Street, The Santa Clause and Elf. Santa Claus is also a meetable character at all of the Disney Parks and Resorts during the Holiday season and can be seen during various parades throughout the parks. His grotto is usually located in Fantasyland.
In the cartoon base, Santa has been voiced by several people, including Stan Francis, Mickey Rooney, Ed Asner, John Goodman, and Keith Wickham.
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Tim Allen as Santa Scott Calvin
Santa has been described as a positive male cultural icon:
"Santa is really the only cultural icon we have who's male, does not carry a gun, and is all about peace, joy, giving, and caring for other people. That's part of the magic for me, especially in a culture where we've become so commercialized and hooked into manufactured icons. Santa is much more organic, integral, connected to the past, and therefore connected to the future."—TV producer Jonathan Meath who portrays Santa, 2011
Norman Corwin's 1938 comic radio play The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, set entirely in rhyme, details a conspiracy of the Devil Mephistopheles and damned figures of history to defeat the good will among men of Christmas, by sending the Roman emperor Nero to the North Pole to assassinate Santa Claus. Through a battle of wits, Santa saves himself by winning Nero over to the joys of Christmas and gives him a Stradivarius violin. The play was re-produced in 1940 and 1944.
Many television commercials, comic strips and other media depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. For instance, a Bloom County story from 15 December 1981 through 24 December 1981 has Santa rejecting the demands of PETCO (Professional Elves Toy-Making and Craft Organization) for higher wages, a hot tub in the locker room, and "short broads," with the elves then going on strike. President Reagan steps in, fires all of Santa's helpers, and replaces them with out-of-work air traffic controllers (an obvious reference to the 1981 air traffic controllers' strike), resulting in a riot before Santa vindictively rehires them in humiliating new positions such as his reindeer. In The Sopranos episode, "To Save Us All from Satan's Power", Paulie Gualtieri says he "Used to think Santa and Mrs. Claus were running a sweatshop over there. The original elves were ugly, traveled with Santa to throw bad kids a beatin', and gave the good one's toys."
In Kyrgyzstan, a mountain peak was named after Santa Claus, after a Swedish company had suggested the location be a more efficient starting place for present-delivering journeys all over the world, than Lapland. In the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, a Santa Claus Festival was held on 30 December 2007, with government officials attending. 2008 was officially declared the Year of Santa Claus in the country. The events are seen as moves to boost tourism in Kyrgyzstan.
The Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Santa Clauses is held by Thrissur, Kerala, India where on 27 December 2014, 18,112 Santas overtook the previous record. Derry City, Northern Ireland had held the record since 9 September 2007, when a total of 12,965 people dressed up as Santa or Santa's helpers. Prior to that, the record was 3,921, which was set during the Santa Dash event in Liverpool City Centre in 2005. A gathering of Santas in 2009 in Bucharest, Romania attempted to top the world record but failed with only 3,939 Santas.
In professional wrestling, on the 23 December 2019 edition of Monday Night Raw (filmed on 22 December), independent wrestler Bear Bronson dressed up as Santa Claus to win the WWE 24/7 Championship from Akira Tozawa at Columbus Circle in New York during a sightseeing trip. Santa later lost the championship to R-Truth via a roll-up at the Lincoln Center.
Related Holiday figures[]
- Amu Nowruz — "Uncle New Year"; Iranian gift-bringing figure associated with spring and the new year in the traditional Iranian calendar
- Ayaz Ata — Grandfather Frost in Turkic folklore
- Befana — a friendly witch who delivers gifts to children on 5 January
- Belsnickel — a German gift-giver and punisher of naughty children, a.k.a. Kris Kringle
- Christkind — Angelic German Christmas figure
- Ded Moroz — Grandfather Frost in Russian folklore
- Joulupukki — Finnish Santa Claus
- Krampus — Demonic Goat-man often called the Shadow of Santa Claus/Saint Nicholas
- Nisse — a household spirit that is responsible for the care and prosperity of a farm or family
- Olentzero — traditional Basque character who has recently been transformed into a Santa-like figure
- Sinterklaas — The Dutch adaptation of Saint Nicholas
- The Three Kings — The Biblical three wise men brings gifts on 6 January in Spain
- The Yule Lads — 13 mischievous pranksters
Powers & Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Holiday Entity Physiology / Holiday Manifestation
- Christmas Entity Physiology / Santa Claus Physiology
- Charisma: With the exception of notable individuals such as the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus has the ability to engender trust and inspire hope in others.
- Advanced Superhuman Physical Abilities
- Immortality: Santa Claus appears to be virtually immortal, having not aged beyond his traditional image for several centuries. As a Frost Giant/Elf hybrid, he is unable to die by age and is resistant to diseases and toxins.
- Ageless immortality: Ymir claims Jolnir is every bit as ancient as himself, which would make him thousands of years old, predating Thor, Loki and even Odin.
- Superhuman Strength: Santa's strength is like higher than the likes of Thor.
- Superhuman Durability: His durability that might equal or slightly surpass that of Thor's durability.
- Superhuman Dexterity
- Supernatural Stealth
- Fat Prime
- Immortality: Santa Claus appears to be virtually immortal, having not aged beyond his traditional image for several centuries. As a Frost Giant/Elf hybrid, he is unable to die by age and is resistant to diseases and toxins.
- Magic: Santa is stated to have magical powers, though the exact nature of this is unknown. The Prime Earth version is a powerful wizard, capable of hiding entire cities in ice.
- Magic-Based Powers: His hybrid elf/giant nature has gifted Santa with immense reserves of mystical energy. He is an extremely powerful sorcerer, capable of holding his own against even the likes of Loki.
- Healing: Santa's physiology allows for him to heal any being of their illness, injury, infection, intoxication, and disorder. This act of "rejuvenation" is often dubbed as a "Christmas Miracle".
- Space-Time Manipulation: Through his immense magical powers, he was able to slow down time to such a degree that time was almost halted. This is how he was able to deliver children of all the Nine Realms their presents in one night. He was even able to use such a power to teleport himself from one realm to another.
- Winter Magic
- Ice Magic: His Frost Giant side allows for him to have control over the forces of cold, snow, winter or ice. Through practice he has absolute control over such a power.
- Snow Manipulation
- Cryoscience
- Ecopresence
- Christmas Magic:
- Power Bestowal / Erasure
- Science-Magic Manipulation
- Magic Intuition
- Sympathetic Teleportation
- Container Teleportation; chimneys
- Portal Creation
- Pure Chi Magic
- Industry Magic
- Magic-Based Powers: His hybrid elf/giant nature has gifted Santa with immense reserves of mystical energy. He is an extremely powerful sorcerer, capable of holding his own against even the likes of Loki.
- Pure Heart: Though not indirectly a power, but despite Santa's immense powers which could allow him to achieve "Godhood" in a sense, he dedicated his existence to bringing joy to other beings of the realms. This extreme amount of humility is what makes him the most loved being in all of the Nine Realms. He didn't not even show or feel the slightest amount of anger even after Loki stole his power.
- Happiness Inducement: Though not indirectly a power but bringing Happiness to all of the beings of the Nine Realms is Jolnir's main purpose in life and sometimes requires the use of some form of magic to work.
- Omnibenevolence
- Superior Mystic Human Physiology
- Belief Empowerment
- Holiday Lordship / Physiology; via Christmas & St. Nicholas Day.
- Giver Deity Physiology / Patron Saint
- Sin/Misdeed Detection
- Coal Generation: If there are kids that have been naughty/bad, Santa gives coal to them.
- Holiday Manipulation
- Charity/Generosity Empowerment
- Wonder Embodiment
- Holiday Intuition
- Toymaking Intuition
- Allspeak
- Christmas Arts
- Guardian Arts
- Christmas Entity Physiology / Santa Claus Physiology
Abilities[]
- Supernatural Swordsmanship
- Dual Wielding
- Firearms
- Leadership Intuition
- Craftmanship
- Riders Aptitude
- Humor Intuition
- Exotic Technology
- Infiltration Intuition
- Stereobatics
- Elf Companionship: Santa has lots of elves that help make the toys for all the good little kids.
- Holiday Combat
- Toymaking Intuition
- Multiscient Hero
Paraphernalia[]
Equipment[]
- Toy Bag: Santa's toy bag is said to be able to carry enough toys for all the good little girls and boys.
Transportation[]
- Santa's Sleigh: a decorated sleigh drawn by 8-9 reindeer. The sleigh and reindeer are able to defy gravity and traverse continents, allowing Santa Claus to distribute the toys to the young children.
- Rocket Sleigh; sometimes
Weapons[]
- Coal Lumps: The precise nature of these lumps of coal is uncertain, but it generally has a emotional effect (damaging confidence, pride and motivation) on those that receive it.
- Shivs: During Lobo's misadventure with "Crusher" Kringle, he wielded two sharpened shivs against the Czarnian bounty hunter.
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Santa Claus from Comic Vine
- Santa Claus from DC Wikia
- Santa Claus & Jolnir from Marvel Wikia
- Santa Claus from Power Rangers Wikia
- Santa Claus from Polar Express Wikia
- Nicholas St. North from Rise of The Guardians Wikia
- Father Christmas from Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia
- Father Christmas from Thomas & Friends Wikia
- Santa Claus from Disney Wikia
- Santa Claus from Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
- Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree from Awdry's Railway Series Wikia
- Santa Claus from DC Universe Online Wikia but not from Marvel Heroes Wikia
- Santa Claus from The Fairly Odd Parents Wikia
- Santa Claus from Spongebob Wikia
- Santa Claus from Jimmy Neutron Wikia
- Santa Claus from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Wikia
- Santa Claus from Muppets Wikia
- Santa Claus from Oz Wikia
- Santa Claus from Heroes Wikia
- Santa Claus from Christmas Specials Wikia
- Santa Claus from Avengers Assemble Wikia
- Santa Claus from Phineas & Ferb Wikia
- Santa Claus from Wiggles Wikia
- Christmas Entity Physiology from Powerlisting Wikia
- Santa Claus from Supernatural Fanon Wikia
- Santa Claus from Culture Wikia
- Santa Claus from Tardis Wikia
- Santa Claus from Joke Battles Wikia
- Santa Claus from Scrooge McDuck Wikia
- "Santa Claus" from Home Alone Wikia
- Santa Claus from Super Mario Glitchy Wikia
- Santa Claus from Wikimedia Commons
- Santa Claus from Conservapedia
- Santa Claus from Wikipedia
- Santa Claus from TFWiki.net
- Santa Claus from Simpsons Wikia
- Santa Claus from Simpsons Wiki
- Santa Claus from EX515 Wikia
- Santa Claus from Heroes & Villains Wikia
- Santa Claus from Memory Beta Wikia
- Santa Claus from Memory Alpha Wikia
- Santa Claus from Ice Age Wikia
- Santa Claus from My Island of Sodor Wikia
- Santa Claus from Ultimate Pop Culture Wikia
- Santa Claus from Nightmare Before Christmas Wikia
- Santa Claus from Rankin/Bass Wikia
- Santa Claus from Other Holiday Specials Wikia
- Santa Claus from Rugrats Wikia
- Santa from Madagascar Wikia
- Santa Claus from Max & Ruby Wikia
- Santa Claus from Johnny Bravo Wikia
- Santa Claus from Dexter's Lab Wikia
- Santa Claus from Teen Titans Go! Wikia
- Santa Claus from The Mask Wikia
- Santa Claus from Barney Wikia
- Santa Claus from Jay Jay the Jet Plane Wikia
- Santa Claus from MGM Cartoons Wikia
- Santa Claus from Tom & Jerry Wikia
- Santa Claus from Inspector Gadget Wikia
- Santa Claus from Sonic Wikia
- Santa Claus from The Flintstones Wikia
- Santa Claus from The Jetsons Wikia
- Santa Claus from Smurfs Wikia
- Santa Claus from The Librarians Wikia
- Santa Claus from Pokemon Wikia
- Santa Claus from Mario Wikia
- Santa Claus from Non-Alien Creatures Wikia
- Santa Claus from Paw Patrol Wikia
- Santa Claus from Mickey Mouse Club House Wikia
- Santa Claus from Buzz Lightyear Wikia
- Toronto Santa Claus Parade Wikia
- Christmas Videos from HIT Entertainment Wikia
- Santa Claus from Narnia Wikia
- St. Nicholas / Santa Claus from Youtube
- Santa Claus from Archie's Weird Mysteries Wikia
- Santa Clause Wikia
- Santa Claus from Tim Burton Wikia
- Santa Claus from Gods & Demons Wikia
- Santa Claus from Demonic Paradise Wikia
- Santa Claus from 20th Century Studios Wikia
- Finding Santa & Saint Nicholas: the Boy Who Became Santa from Youtube
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