Santa Claus

Origin

Santa Claus is most likely the most well-known holiday figure in America, if not the world. He has nine flying reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and the most famous : Rudolph.

Traditionally Santa uses the magical deer to pull his sleigh giving presents to all good children in the world and coal to the bad.

In modern times he is depicted as rotund, jolly, dressed in red with white fur trimmed clothing.

Major Story Arcs

The Road to Oz

Santa Claus visited the Emerald City of the Land of Oz where he was an honored guest at Princess Ozma’s birthday party. He was accompanied by a band of Ryls and a dozen Knooks, and during his stay Ozma loaned him the Sawhorse so he could travel around the city and see the sights.

Fables

Stationed at the North Pole, Santa Claus is a Fable who can magically be at every house in the world at the same time on Christmas night. Following an attempt by Jack Horner to steal the naughty and nice list in 1956, Santa has left the list with Bigby to put in a safe place every year since. He is said to be one of the most powerfully magical of the fables, and plays an important role in beginning Flycatcher‘s quest to restore his Homelands kingdom. It is also implied by Rose Red that Santa is the guardian of a gateway from the Homelands. Santa has also been revealed to be a Paladin of Hope, specifically the Hope for Justice, and the Hope for Reward as well as the hope that everything will turn out all right in the end, claiming that this is why Christmas takes place at the end of the year.

Rise of the Guardians

A Russian version of Santa Claus was featured as a Guardian in the Dreamworks film Rise of the Guardians. He was depicted as jolly, and an above-average hand-to-hand combatant. He is generally accepted as the leader of the Guardians, as well as the most popular. He is also shown to be a master in swordsmanship.

Klaus

Guards of the town of Grimsvig found a baby in the arms of his frozen mother. Miraculously, the baby was alive. He was named Klaus, meaning ‘victory of the people’. He became friends with Dagmar, the daughter of Grimsvig’s Lord Alrik. Klaus grew up to be the captain of Grimsvig’s guard. After Magnus had poisoned his Lord Alrik and blamed it on Klaus, he was banished from Grimsvig. Believed to be killed by wolves, Klaus survived however. Years later, he would return to Grimsvig, discovering that the townspeople had lost their cheer under the strict rule of Lord Magnus. Klaus was able to overthrow Lord Magnus by giving gifts to the townspeople, thereby making them revolt against their dictator.

Powers and Abilities

In most versions, Santa Claus is fueled by the power of children believing in him, and has a sleigh powered by nine reindeer (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph). His personality is often depicted as happy, jolly, and always generous.

However, in some versions he can be extremely violent (such as his battle with Lobo in DC Comics) or with a minor twist, such as the Russian take with Rise of the Guardians.

He is also real rich.