Snowlems: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
[[File:invadersfromtheiceworld.jpg|frame|The Magic Snowman. [[This Is Your Premise Onon Drugs|On Acid]].]]
 
 
{{quote|''"By the power invested in me by the mighty and awful snow demons, I command you to come to life! LIVE! LIVE! LIVVVE!"''|'''Calvin''', ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''. ([[Be Careful What You Wish For|It doesn't end well]].)}}
 
{{quote|''"He's chillin'...and killin'."''|Tagline for ''[[Jack Frost (1997 (Filmfilm)|Jack Frost 1997]]''. (It ends even worse.)}}
 
Snowlems (a [[Portmanteau]] of Snow [[Golem|Golems]]) are living snowmen, often complete with stovepipe hats, lumps of coal for eyes, and carrots for noses. Genre writers with a sense of humor may [[An Ice Person|cast them]] as [[Elementals|Ice Elementals]]. There are three varieties of Snowlems:
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== Anime and Manga ==
 
* One episode of ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' from the third season had crazy snowmen.
* Chilly from the ''[[Kirby]]'' [[Kirby of the Stars|anime]] falls under this trope. Gamewise, it's debatable.
* These are created in ''[[Berserk]]'' when evil spirits attack the [[Weirdness Magnet]] hero during a snowstorm.
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* Created by Giriko in ''[[Soul Eater]]'', they were used as the attack forces from [[Nebulous Evil Organisation|Aracnophobia]] during the battle for [[Ancient Artifact|"BREW"]].
* [[Digimon]] has had several different Snowlems, the most prominent being Frigimon.
* [[Ah! My Goddess (Manga)|Urd]] created a Snowlem to assist her in a [[Snowball Fight]] with Skuld in the OAV.
* A surprisingly good anime-only episode of ''[[Ranma ½ (Manga)|Ranma 1/2]]'' had both an uncontrollable snowlem and a friendly, but confused yuki-onna show up to cover the entire town in a blizzard. As it was made entirely of snow, it could regenerate any damage insantly. Its [[Achilles Heel|only weakness]] was [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|the red gem it used as an]] "[[Go for Thethe Eye|eye]]" --which, conveniently enough, was very vulnerable to Ryouga's Breaking Point technique. It still didn't stop until the yuki-onna used her flute to calm the monster down, at which point the eye became blue.
** In his introduction to the story, [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|Principal]] [[Cloudcuckoolander|Kuno]] disguised himself [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment|as a living, Engrish-speaking snowman for some unfathomable reason]] and went around trying to trim his students' hair.
 
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* ''The Snowman'' (see Western Animation) was originally a wordless graphic novel by [[Raymond Briggs]].
* The image at the top of the page comes from an issue of ''Strange Adventures'' called "[[media:invadersfromtheiceworldful.jpg|Invaders from the Ice World]]", which is a brain-breaking example of [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made Onon Drugs?]]?
** Also, [[media:supermansnowman.jpg|this issue]] of ''Action Comics'' has Snow [[Superman (Comic Book)|Superman]] fighting what appears to be a Gentleman Snowman.
* Supes also battles a literal snow golem (Hebrew words on the forehead and everything) in a recent DC comics holiday special.
* The Blue Snowman (an old [[Wonder Woman]] foe) looks like this, but is actually a human woman in a bulky costume.
* Adult comic ''[[Viz]]'' used to run a seasonal parody of ''[[The Snowman]]'', with a violent, foul-mouthed snowman taking the human boy on a drinking and gambling spree.
* An arguable example in [[Sonic the Comic]], which had a story where Amy Rose tangled with "the Snownik", one of Robotnik's odder (and dumber) creations. It was sort of a Snowlem with robot bits - whether the snow was just covering for an all-robotic interior or not wasn't revealed.
* In an issue of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage (Comic Book)|Tales of the TMNT]]'', the turtles, Splinter, Casey, April, and Shadow have their Christmas ruined by a snowlem sent by a Foot operative.
 
== Film ==
 
* ''[[Jack Frost (1997 (Filmfilm)|Jack Frost 1997]]'' had a serial killer become transformed into a snowman due to [[You Fail Biology Forever|ribonucleic acid]]. In the film, he ''rapes'' a woman in the shower ''with a carrot''.
** This was followed by ''Jack Frost 2: [[Ninja Pirate Robot Zombie|Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman]]'', a more humorous film, where Jack Frost is eventually defeated by ''a banana''.
* A bit lighter is ''[[Jack Frost (1998 (Filmfilm)|Jack Frost 1998]]'', where Michael Keaton has a car accident and wakes up as a snowman. Also notable for including three of Frank Zappa's four children. Woe to anyone who [[Similarly Named Works|intended to rent this film and rented the first one instead]]!!
* There was a 2005 made-for-video movie called ''The Legend of Frosty the Snowman'', a very, very loose sequel to the original [[Rankin/Bass Productions]] ''[[Frosty the Snowman|Frosty]]''.
* A ''[[Rudolph the Red -Nosed Reindeer|Rudolph]]''-[[Expy|style]] snowman has a bit part in ''[[Elf]]'' once Buddy (Will Ferrell) leaves the [[Christmas Elves]] behind.
* One of the creatures listed on the monster board in ''[[The Cabin in The Woods (Film)|The Cabin in Thethe Woods]]'' is "Snowman".
 
== Literature ==
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* Mr. Snow in the ''[[Mr. Men]]'' books was created by [[Santa Claus]] as an assistant.
* In [[Discworld]], the Ice Giants often mentioned to be at war with the gods have eyes of coal and snowmen are stated to be idols built by human racial memory.
** And then there's the [[Discworld (Literature)/Wintersmith|Wintersmith]]...
* One ''[[Goosebumps]]'' novel centered around an evil snowman who was really a [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can|monster trapped in that form by a witch.]] A group of regular snowmen are later animated to help combat the monster when it is freed.
 
== Live Action TV ==
 
* Fozzie builds a snowman who comes to life in ''[[A Muppet Family Christmas]]''. They're briefly a double act, but the snowman retreats outside due to heat and heckling.
** ''[[It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie|It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie]]'' featured Joe Snow (voiced by Mel Brooks), who was a parody of Sam the Snowman from ''[[Rudolph the Red -Nosed Reindeer]]''. He claimed to be the narrator, but the camera crew said otherwise.
* The ''[[Pee-Wee's Playhouse]] Christmas Special'' featured an interesting case: Pee-wee builds a regular snowman, and Cowboy Curtis suggests that it'll come to life if they stare at it long enough. And it does, exclaiming, "Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer!"
 
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== Newspaper Comics ==
 
* This page can't be complete without mentioning the ''[[Calvin and Hobbes|Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons!]]'' Calvin builds a snowman and decides to try to bring it to life. It works, and promptly starts trying to kill him. It then proceeds to start packing more snow onto itself, give itself extra arms and heads, and start making more. By the end of the story, there are about 17 of the things on his lawn and his parents are once again considering sending him to a therapist. {{spoiler|He finally defeats them by [[Kill It Withwith Water|spraying them with the hose]], causing them to freeze solid.}}
* ''[[Little Nemo]] in Slumberland'' had a great crowd of snowmen flinging countless snowballs at each other. Nemo takes a snowball on the nose while watching them.
* ''The Strange Adventures of Frappe, the Snowman, and His Papa'' features a mischievous yet friendly living snowman.
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== Video Games ==
* ''[[Bible Buffet]]'' featured killer snowmen as one of the villains. Because that was totally predicted in the Bible.
** Killer snowmen [[The Angry Video Game Nerd (Web Video)|whose heads you can fucking blow off]]!
* ''Noah's Ark'', a Konami game, features a killer snowman at the end of the Antarctica stages.
* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' has ''ninja'' snowman enemies.
** The multiplayer "clan dungeon" ''[[Hobopolis]]'' has a snowman hobo named Frosty as a mini-boss.
* Regice is a [[Pokémon]] made entirely of Antarctic ice, and it's one of the Legendary Golems.
* ''[[Snow Bros (Video Game)|Snow Bros]].'', a 1990 arcade game, had two snowball-throwing snowmen as the heroes.
* ''[[Clay Fighter]]'' had Bad Mr. Frosty, a badass [[Anti-Hero]] snowman.
* ''[[Super Mario 64 (Video Game)|Super Mario 64]]'' had some enemy snowmen in [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World|Cool Cool Mountain]] and go under the name 'Mr. Blizzard'.
** They're also in other games, and [[Dummied Out|were meant to be included]] in ''[[New Super Mario Bros Wii (Video Game)|New Super Mario Bros Wii]]''.
** ''[[Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Video Game)|Super Mario Galaxy 2]]'' featured a snowman miniboss named Sorbetti, who for some reason always disguised himself as an icy planet.
* Games created with [http://www.sawbladesoftware.com/ Power Game Factory] can include living snowmen as enemies.
* The Adventure game ''[[Simon the Sorcerer]]'' had one of these as an obstacle. You get past him by [[Fire-Breathing Diner|eating some mints]].
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* One of the unlockable skins in some of the ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' games is that of a snowman. A Snowlem with a [[BFG]]. You may quake in fear now.
* Various 'Winter Events' in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' have involved menacing Type III Snowlems of varrying sizes - including towering 'Giant Monster' versions that requires several entire TEAMS of Superheroes to defeat.
* ''[[Earthworm Jim (Videovideo Gamegame)|Earthworm Jim]]'' had a fire-breathing snowman as the [[Mini Boss]] of the <s> Hell</s> Heck level.
* Jack Frost is [[Atlus]]' [[Mascot]] for a reason; he appears in just about every ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' game, and he's going to beat the living hee-ho out of you.
** Except in in the ''[[Persona]]'' series where he's on your side.
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* In ''[[Animal Crossing]]'' you can make incredibly angsty snowmen who lament their creation and resent you for creating them.
** Only if you get the proportions wrong. Otherwise, they're quite happy with how they turn out.
* ''[[Adventure Quest (Video Game)|Adventure Quest]]'' has the recurring [[Harmless Villain]] "Frosty the Snow Golem." It's that kind of game.
* In ''[[Kirby]] 64'' you can turn Kirby into a walking snowman by inhaling the ice and bomb powers together. A walking, ''exploding'' snowman.
* The second big boss of ''[[Final Fantasy Mystic Quest]]'' is a hulking ice golem. The fastest non-magical, non-[[Kill It Withwith Fire|flammable]] way to defeat it is to chip away at it with [[An Axe to Grind|an axe]].
* One snow area in ''[[Star Ocean the Second Story (Video Game)|Star Ocean the Second Story]]'' had snowmen as random encounters.
* In ''[[Lightning Legend Daigo no Daibouken]]'', Yuki Shirogane, [[Our Fairies Are Different|a Snow Girl]] with great magic powers, is able to create those. She gave life to one named Yukidaruman (a Japanese pun between "Yukidaruma", Japanese for "snowman", and "Man") at the age of 3. She tried to create another, giant one at age 7, but her attempt failed horribly, the snowlem crumbling and burying her in snow; she narrowly escaped death thanks to her father rescuing her.
* ''[[Minecraft]]'' includes the ability to create snow golems (basically a snowman with a carved pumpkin head), who serve as a friendly mob, throwing snowballs at aggressive mobs to divert their attention and leaving trails of snow as they walk around.
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* In the level Frozen Altars in ''[[Spyro the Dragon|Spyro: Year of the Dragon]]'', there are a couple Type III Snowlems as enemies, who can only be killed by lasers.
* [[Terraria]] has an entire army of these, called the Frost Legion, which will attack you if you use a snow globe to summon them. They come in [[Knife Nut]], gangster and snowball-throwing versions.
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda: MajorasMajora's Mask (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask]]'' has Eenos, lumps of snow that hurl snowballs at you.
* You play a heroic snowlem in [[The Caverns of Hammerfest]]
* The [[Time Splitters]] series featured a character named the [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|Snowman]], who rides on a magic rug instead of running on legs. According to its [[All There in the Manual|gallery description]], it was brought to life by a child's [[Be Careful What You Wish For|wish]], who then proceeded to traverse time and space in search of death and glory <ref> ...and maybe some legs, too</ref>.
 
 
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* Christi from ''[[The Princess Planet]]'' creates a living Snowman because using dead body parts instead is [http://www.theprincessplanet.com/p1.html too hard and gross.]
* ''[[VG Cats]]'' [[Nightmare Fuel|hilariously]] subverts the tale of [http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=275 Frosty].
* ''[[The KA MicsKAMics]]'' had [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/5092717/ Frankie The Snowman]
* A side story in ''[[Jack (Webcomicwebcomic)|Jack]]'' features the characters attending the premiere of [[Stylistic Suck|the film]] ''[http://www.pholph.com/whole_arc_viewer.php?id=5&sid=1508 "Frigid McThunderbones"]''. A [[Shout-Out]] to the first ''Jack Frost'' is quick to be made once the characters realize the plot of the movie.
* The heroes of ''[[Keychain of Creation]]'' encounter one [http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0256.html in this filler strip].
* ''[[Axe Cop (Webcomic)|Axe Cop]]'': "The snowman came to life and started eating the kids."
* Mr Nutty of ''[[Pokey the Penguin]]''.
* ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]:'' Molly built a [http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20110301.html steam-powered snowman.] He melted, for obvious reasons.
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== Western Animation ==
* The original ''[[Frosty the Snowman]]'' animated television [[Christmas Special]] was aired on December 7, 1969. What followed were several [[Sequelitis|increasingly bad sequels]]: ''Frosty's Winter Wonderland'' in 1976, ''Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July'' in 1979, and ''Frosty Returns'' in 1992.
* They were all follow-ups to ''[[Rudolph the Red -Nosed Reindeer]]'', which was narrated by Sam the Snowman, a Version I snowlem [[Ink Suit Actor|patterned after]] Burl Ives.
* ''[[Bouli]]'' was a French animated television series that aired from 1989 to 1991, where the moon magically animated the snowman Bouli and his friends and they set up a snowman village in the woods.
* The ''[[Kim Possible]]'' half-episode "Day of the Snowmen" involved a weather machine and toxic water from Lake Wannaweep creating mutant zombie snowmen.
{{quote| '''Ron:''' ...They don't seem like jolly, happy souls.}}
* A classic 1968 Spider-Man short, "Trouble With Snow", also featured a giant snowman made from tainted snow and brought to life by downed power lines.
* ''[[Xiaolin Showdown (Animation)|Xiaolin Showdown]]'', "The Deep Freeze." It helps to have the mystical Heart of Jong that can animate inanimate objects.
* The first ''[[South Park]]'' short was called "Jesus vs. Frosty" and involved four kids animating a snowman - who turns out to be an insane killer who sprouts [[Naughty Tentacles|tentacles]].
* There was a short cartoon called ''[[Earth Versus Everything]]'', which featured giant mutant killer snowmen brought to life by [[I Love Nuclear Power|radiation from nuclear tests]]. It was a very silly cartoon.
* The famous British short film ''[[The Snowman]]'' ("we're walking in the air") features a living snowman who can even fly to Lapland for a snowman party. Shown every Christmas on [[Channel Four4]].
** There's a 1930-era cartoon ''[[The Snowman]]'' that starts off pleasantly enough as an Eskimo boy and his animal pals build a snowman, but it turns into a version III that goes on a psycho rampage (even eating one of the critters!) - the kid runs to a control room and starts up machinery that cranks up the sun, and the Snowlem melts in ghastly death-throes. Literal [[Nightmare Fuel]] for this troper as a kid.
* Used by Dao Lon Wong in the [[Christmas Episode]] of ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures (Animation)|Jackie Chan Adventures]]''.
* ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' had a small bit where two police snowmen were at a puddle:
{{quote| '''Officer A:''' That's all that's left of him, poor bastard.<br />
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** They also have an scene with "Composite Santa" who is half evil-Santa and half evil-Frosty. Temperatures over 32 degrees causes half of him to melt and kills him.
** "Haaaappy Birthd--'''OHGOD!!!'''"
* ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'' Did It, of course, in the episode where Homer and Burns were trapped in a cabin buried in an avalanche. Burns created armies of snowmen, which came alive and fought against Homer's army of former political figures he summoned by "political powers". [[All Just a Dream|It was all just a hallucination, but still...]]
** Earlier, a delirious Burns suggested that the snowmen they had made ([[Too Dumb to Live|and given their clothes to]]) to stave off cabin fever might be alive and try to kill them.
** In another episode, Bart has a dream that he visits the North Pole to get revenge on Santa. Two living snowmen try to stop him but he defeats them by simply turning up the heat.
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{{quote| '''Snow Man:''' "The name's [[Bond James Bond|Man. Snow Man.]]"}}
** He shows up in a later episode and freezes Courage's house and owners to make a cozy home for himself. Courage retaliates by {{spoiler|going to the North Pole, sewing up the hole in the ozone layer, and making it cold enough to revive the last snowman's snowfriends.}}
* The snow soldiers from the three part [[Christmas Special]] of ''[[Bump in Thethe Night]]''
* Arktos, the main villain of ''[[Tabaluga]]'', is an [[Evil Overlord]] snowman who wishes to cover the world in ice and snow.
* ''Der Schneemann'' or ''The Snowman'' was a short animated film made in [[Nazi Germany]] by Hans Fischerkoesen. (Excerpt [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T39J6RL1kXA here].)
* On ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', when Heloise hears about snow, her first thought is of her leading an army of these in battle.
* The Abominable Snowman from ''[[House of Mouse]]'' actually looks like this and nothing like [[Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti|an actual Yeti]] at all.
* The Abominable Snowkoopa from ''[[The Adventures of Super Mario Bros 3]]'' was created by Big Mouth to terrorize the penguins of Antarctica in the episode "7 Continents for 7 Koopas".
* An episode of ''[[Mona the Vampire]]'' had Chilly, a snowman with [[An Ice Person|freeze powers]] and the inexplicable ability to drive one of those big snow blower trucks.
* A group of these that showed up in the ''[[Martin Mystery]]'' [[Christmas Episode]] could [[Breath Weapon|vomit]] quick freezing slush.
* One of these is unleashed by [[Bad Santa|Santa's]] [[Christmas Elves|elves]] in the ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'' episode "For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls". It is blown up with a barrel of moonshine.
* Features in the ''[[Adventure Time (Animation)|Adventure Time]]'' episode "Thank You"; it's not exactly any of the above-mentioned types, being somewhere between types one and three, but not malevolent. The episode is about a chance meeting it has with a firewolf pup that hasn't learned to hate it yet (firewolves and snow golems being natural enemies) and the golem's quest to return it to its family in spite of the danger this poses the golem.