Santa Claus: Difference between revisions

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[[File:~~santa_reindeer_sleigh_5423~~.jpg|frame| Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!]]

[[File:santa reindeer sleigh 5423.jpg|frame| Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!]]

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The best known (at least in modern times) mascot of Christmas, developed in the United States as an amalgam of the story of St. Nicholas of Myra and various other seasonal folk heroes, with many aspects provided by the classic poem ''A Visit From St. Nicholas'' (popularly known by its first line, '' '[[Twas the Night Before Christmas]]'').

The Santa Claus myth is based largely on the Dutch holiday of "Sinterklaas" (a hastily pronounced "St. Nicholas", who comes down the chimney on the 5th/~~6th of~~ December) and the imagery of the Saint in question carried over to his North Pole incarnation. In the original stories, Sinterklaas was accompanied by black slaves; these have become demons ([[The Krampus]]) in German-speaking culture, and [[Christmas Elves|friendly elves]] in the USA. In the Netherlands, the black companians are nowadays portrayed as St. Nicholas' friends and employees. Note that in several countries in Europe, Sinterklaas and Santa Claus are now considered two entirely different characters, each with their own elaborate holiday. It should also be noted that his transition from badass Turkish saint to "jolly old elf" was influenced by another winter gift-giver: Odin. Yes, for some reason, in pre-Christian Europe, the king of the gods would sneak into people's houses on the Winter Solstice and leave gifts for the children, who were expect to leave carrots or oats for Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir. During the Christianizing of Europe, this was merged with the story of St. Nicholas giving a father some gold so he wouldn't sell his daughters into prostitution. And that's where Santa comes from.

The '''Santa Claus''' myth is based largely on the Dutch holiday of "Sinterklaas" (a hastily pronounced "St. Nicholas", who comes down the chimney on the 5th/6 December) and the imagery of the Saint in question carried over to his North Pole incarnation. In the original stories, Sinterklaas was accompanied by black slaves; these have become demons ([[The Krampus]]) in German-speaking culture, and [[Christmas Elves|friendly elves]] in the USA. In the Netherlands, the black companians are nowadays portrayed as St. Nicholas' friends and employees. Note that in several countries in Europe, Sinterklaas and Santa Claus are now considered two entirely different characters, each with their own elaborate holiday. It should also be noted that his transition from badass Turkish saint to "jolly old elf" was influenced by another winter gift-giver: Odin. Yes, for some reason, in pre-Christian Europe, the king of the gods would sneak into people's houses on the Winter Solstice and leave gifts for the children, who were expect to leave carrots or oats for Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir. During the Christianizing of Europe, this was merged with the story of St. Nicholas giving a father some gold so he wouldn't sell his daughters into prostitution. And that's where Santa comes from.

Santa Claus is universally envisioned as a [[Big Fun|festively overweight]] old man with [[Badass Beard|a long white or silver beard]], who wears a red suit [[Pretty in Mink|with white trim]] (originally a red bishop's robe and [[wikipedia:Camauro|''camauro]]) and a matching [[Nice Hat|cap]], black boots and a vast black belt worn across his belly. He lives at the North Pole (or in Lapland, or in Spain, or somewhere else depending on your culture - the original St. Nick was Greek, from a city in what is now Turkey) in a large workshop staffed by elves (diminutive commercial-friendly elves, not tall proud Tolkien-type elves) who are often [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|far older than they look]], which produces toys year round, and every Christmas Eve he sets out in a flying sleigh pulled by eight reindeer named Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen (with an option on a ninth, in the form of [[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer|Rudolph]], on nights with poor visibility), and delivers toys and other gifts to the children of the world out of the [[Bag of Holding|improbably roomy sack]] he carries with him, entering their houses by the chimney, filling their stockings, partaking of whatever food and drink the family left out for him, then leaving how he came in.

Officially, Santa only delivers present to children who have been good and coal to those have been bad, (the idea being that they can [[Boring but Practical|burn the coal in their furnaces]] and avoid freezing over the winter, letting them try again next year; not as much of a raw deal as it might seem to those of us who no longer burn coal ourselves)<ref>And lives on in the form of still giving kids who don't deserve toys practical items like tube socks</ref>. In even older traditions, he carried a bag of switches for whipping the naughty children. In the Netherlands and Belgium, Sinterklaas is famously accompanied in his work by a servant named [[Scary Black Man|Zwarte Piet (Black Pete)]], which tends to cause headaches with foreigners unfamiliar with the tradition and quite aware of the [[Unfortunate Implications]] he represents. (Note that in the Dutch tradition, there is no racist connotation ''whatsoever'' to dressing up as a jolly blackface servant and threatening to beat people up. Seriously.) Zwarte Piet himself is a softening of an even earlier tradition in which Saint Nicholas used the services of an enslaved devil. Austria and southern Germany have [[The Krampus]] instead. Many other cultures that still look to Santa Claus as an actual saint still include this devil or imagine Santa Claus as doing battle with the devil on Christmas Eve, leading to even ''more'' strange reactions from foreigners who wonder what Satan himself is doing in, say, a children's Christmas film.

Officially, Santa only delivers present to children who have been good and coal to those have been bad, (the idea being that they can [[Boring but Practical|burn the coal in their furnaces]] and avoid freezing over the winter, letting them try again next year; not as much of a raw deal as it might seem to those of us who no longer burn coal ourselves).<ref>And lives on in the form of still giving kids who don't deserve toys practical items like tube socks</ref> In even older traditions, he carried a bag of switches for whipping the naughty children. In the Netherlands and Belgium, Sinterklaas is famously accompanied in his work by a servant named [[Scary Black Man|Zwarte Piet (Black Pete)]], which tends to cause headaches with foreigners unfamiliar with the tradition and quite aware of the [[Unfortunate Implications]] he represents. (Note that in the Dutch tradition, there is no racist connotation ''whatsoever'' to dressing up as a jolly blackface servant and threatening to beat people up. Seriously.) Zwarte Piet himself is a softening of an even earlier tradition in which Saint Nicholas used the services of an enslaved devil. Austria and southern Germany have [[The Krampus]] instead. Many other cultures that still look to Santa Claus as an actual saint still include this devil or imagine Santa Claus as doing battle with the devil on Christmas Eve, leading to even ''more'' strange reactions from foreigners who wonder what Satan himself is doing in, say, a children's Christmas film.

[[How Can Santa Deliver All Those Toys?|The traditional explanation for Santa's ability to achieve his annual deliveries]] is that [[A Wizard Did It|he is a magical being]]. However, modern stories dealing with Santa give him access to a [[Magitek|combination of magic and supertechnology]]; some versions even do away with the magic altogether (for example, the [[Christmas Special|Christmas ep]] of ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'' has his supertech being used by the villains to commit tons of felonies). In addition, modern depictions of Santa's home have his workshop being a fully mechanized factory run by the elves. A common variation is to have Santa portrayed as not a single magical being, but as [[God Job|a god-like office held by a mortal]], such as [[Ernest Saves Christmas]], where Santa is a normal person who spends a large chunk of his (possibly slightly magically lengthened) lifespan as Santa Claus, then passes the title off to someone else.. Surprisingly, despite all that focus on Santa's delivery process, the one aspect of the legend that has rarely, if ever, been called into question is how Santa could accomplish such fits, and still have huge numbers of people (often a numerical majority, even in fiction) refuse to believe that he exists.

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The name "Santa Claus" comes from a Dutch variation of the name "St. Nicholas", "Sinterklaas". It is ''not'', despite what fundamentalist [[Moral Guardians]] like to claim, an anagram of [[Satan]]. Well, it is, but that's decidedly unintentional. And his last name is spelled C-L-A-U-S, ''not'' C-L-A-U-S-E; the latter is part of a sentence or part of a legal contract. This was the basis for a famous Marx Brothers joke. ("There ain't no sanity clause!") The title of the movie ''[[The Santa Clause]]'' was an intentional pun on this.

An additional note, often in England and Australia Santa Claus is called "Father Christmas" (such as the C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien examples above). Although Santa Claus and Father Christmas have picked up many attributes from each other, and are now considered the same person, they were originally distinct characters. Father Christmas was an incarnation of Christmas, particularly of the feasting and drinking, and wore a robe rather than the suit that Santa Claus wears. He was considered to be as old as the first Christmas (unlike St. Nicholas who lived in the fourth century)<ref>As Wiccans will be happy to tell you, he may even be older than that, as the Yule Father, the dating is ambiguous though</ref>. Examples of Father Christmas from before his merger with Santa Claus can be found in the Ghost of Christmas Present in ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'' by Dickens, and in the traditional plays of English [[Mummers]].

An additional note, often in England and Australia Santa Claus is called "Father Christmas" (such as the C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien examples above). Although Santa Claus and Father Christmas have picked up many attributes from each other, and are now considered the same person, they were originally distinct characters. Father Christmas was an incarnation of Christmas, particularly of the feasting and drinking, and wore a robe rather than the suit that Santa Claus wears. He was considered to be as old as the first Christmas (unlike St. Nicholas who lived in the fourth century).<ref>As Wiccans will be happy to tell you, he may even be older than that, as the Yule Father, the dating is ambiguous though</ref> Examples of Father Christmas from before his merger with Santa Claus can be found in the Ghost of Christmas Present in ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'' by Dickens, and in the traditional plays of English [[Mummers]].

Compare [[Mrs. Claus]], [[Christmas Special]], [[Mall Santa]], [[Bad Santa]], [[Badass Santa]], [[Santa Clausmas]], [[Easter Bunny]].

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=== Appearances: ===

== Appearances ==

* Santa Claus is a popular character in [[Christmas Special~~|Christmas Specials~~]]; the most well-known are the [[Claymation|stop-motion]] films by [[Rankin/Bass Productions|Rankin-Bass]]. Often times [[Subbing for Santa]] is invoked with the main characters of the holiday special.

* Santa Claus is a popular character in [[Christmas Special]]s; the most well-known are the [[Claymation|stop-motion]] films by [[Rankin/Bass Productions|Rankin-Bass]]. Often times [[Subbing for Santa]] is invoked with the main characters of the holiday special.

* Santa Claus as a character is [[Popcultural Osmosis|widespread even in countries that aren't Christian]], like Japan and China. In Japan, he's called not surprisingly "Santa Kurasu" and in China he's called "Old Man of Christmas".

* In the webcomic *[[Holiday Wars]] the Easter Bunny kills Santa Claus and declares war on all the other holidays.

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* It is revealed that there are ''thousands'' of Santas in ''[[Round the Twist]]''. As Santa #115,302 notes, "It'd take more than ''one'' Santa to get down all those chimneys in one night, get real!" Also, Santas have [[Incredibly Lame Pun|handily evolved claws]] after hundreds of years of scrambling up chimneys.

* The model for the infamous old man on the lying cover of [[Phalanx]] had just come from a Santa shoot.

* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Prospero's Daughter|Prospero Lost]]'', when Miranda is seeking refuge from demons, she is guided into a mall and finds that the [[Mall Santa]] really is Father Christmas. Later, she and Mab visit him to use his pool to look for some children. While there, she takes a gift from [[The Fair Folk|an elf]] ~~-- usually~~ a foolish thing, but she knows under his roof, it must be safe.

* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Prospero's Daughter|Prospero Lost]]'', when Miranda is seeking refuge from demons, she is guided into a mall and finds that the [[Mall Santa]] really is Father Christmas. Later, she and Mab visit him to use his pool to look for some children. While there, she takes a gift from [[The Fair Folk|an elf]]—usually a foolish thing, but she knows under his roof, it must be safe.