Santa Claus

SANTA CLAUS

Modern means of science and divination allowed researchers to uncover the history of many secrets and supernatural beings but there still are mysteries that are unsolved by mankind. Possibly the oddest of all mysteries is Santa Claus. While the great bulk of people denies the existence of Santa Claus even most of those who know about him do not know the entire truth. For Santa Claus is not a simple supernatural being but a powerful spirit determined to spread joy and peace all over the world. In the long history of the world this spirit took many different forms. He is gifted with unbelievable powers: he is able to transform into every form of his liking, to read the aura of people, to travel with the speed of light and to bend the grasp of time itself, which comes in handy when it comes to bringing presents to people all over the world in only one night.

## History

### **Ancient Incarnations**

While a connection to the omnipotent creator of the universe is not ruled out by historians and theologists, modern research indicates that the first form of the Spirit that would one day become Santa Claus was a jolly, light-hearted nature spirit called Tom Bombadil, living in a wooded region known as the Old Forest. Historians disagree about the location of the Old Forest: one of the two prevalent theories states that Bombadil hailed from a different plane of existence called Arda, while a conflicting theory assumes that the Old Forest existed during the Middle Earth period which is widely believed to have laid the foundations of the cultures of the Thurian and Hyborian Age. Regardless of his origins, there are only few things known about Bombadil. Most historians agree that during the Hyborian Age, the Spirit ran through his first recorded transformation: the nature spirit Tom Bombadil turned into Mitra, a benevolent, popular god among the Hyborian peoples. While certainly kinder than Cimmerian gods like Crom, Mitra nevertheless was much harsher than the merry, carefree Bombadil before. This change might be explained by his entanglement in the War of the Ring, a bloody conflict.

After the fall of the ancient nations of Hyboria, the Spirit of Joy appeared in Scandinavia where he became known as Woden. It is speculated Bombadil had died and was resurrected. Santa Claus, as a baby, was found in the Forest of Burzee by Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World (a supreme immortal), and placed in the care of the lioness Shiegra; but thereupon adopted by the Wood Nymph, Necile.

Upon reaching young adulthood, Claus was introduced by Ak to human society, wherein he saw war, brutality, poverty, child neglect, and child abuse. Because he could not reside in Burzee as an adult, he settles in the nearby Laughing Valley of Hohaho, where the immortals regularly assisted him, and Necile gave him a little cat named Blinky.

In the Laughing Valley, Claus became known for kindness toward children. On one occasion, his neighbors' son Weekum visited him; and Claus having made an image of Blinky to pass the time, presented him with the finished carving, calling it a "toy". Soon, the immortals began assisting him in the production of other carvings: the Ryls coloring the toys with their infinite paint pots (the first toy was not colored). When he made a clay figure reminiscent of Necile, he proclaimed it a "dolly" to evade naming Necile to the children ("doll" resulted when children shortened the name). Claus presented the first one to Bessie Blithesome, a local noblewoman, after consulting with Necile and the Queen of the Fairies about whether he should give toys to wealthy children. Later dolls resembled Bessie herself; and later still, counterfeit infant girls.

The Awgwas, evil beings who could turn invisible, stole the toys that Claus was giving to the children, because the toys were preventing the children from misbehaving. This lead to Claus making his journeys by night and descending through chimneys when he was unable to enter the locked doors. The Awgwas nonetheless prevented so many of Claus's deliveries that Ak declares war upon them. With the aid of Asiatic Dragons, Three-Eyed Giants of Tatary, Goozzle-Goblins, and Black Demons from Patalonia, the Awgwas believed their might superior to that of the immortals; but they and their allies were destroyed. Claus was not present for any of the battle. When it is concluded, Ak tells him simply, "The Awgwas have perished".

As his journeys continued, Claus was aided by two deer named Glossie and Flossie, who pulled his sleigh full of toys. With their aid, he reached the dominions of the Gnome King, who wanted toys for his children, but traded a string of sleigh bells for each toy given by Claus. In restriction of the deer's service to a single day annually, their supervisor Wil Knook decided upon Christmas Eve, two weeks away from the hearing, believing this will mean a year without taking the reindeer from their homes; but the Fairies retrieved the toys the Awgwas stole and brought them to Claus, allowing Claus's first Christmas to proceed in spite of Wil.

As Claus continued giving gifts, he earns the title "Santa" ("Saint" in most Romance languages).

Claus saw stockings placed by the fire to dry as a good place for his surprises; but when he found a family (sometimes taken to be Native Americans, or caricatures of the same) living in a tent with no fireplaces, he placed the gifts on the branches of the trees just outside the tent.

When Claus is in his 60s, the Immortals realized he was near the end of his life, and a council, headed by Ak (Master Woodsman of the World), Bo (Master Mariner of the World), and Kern (Master Husbandman of the World) gathers together the Gnome King, the Queen of the Water Spirits, the King of the Wind Demons, the King of the Ryls, the King of the Knooks, the King of the Sound Imps, the King of the Sleep Fays, the Fairy Queen, Queen Zurline of the Wood Nymphs, and the King of the Light Elves with the Princes Flash and Twilight, to decide the fate of Santa Claus. After much debate, he was granted immortality just as the Spirit of Death comes for him.

The immortal Santa Claus takes on four special deputies: Wisk the Fairy, Peter the Knook, Kilter the Pixie, and Nuter the Ryl.(*The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus*).

The transformation to Woden would mark the beginning of the modern depiction of Santa Claus for he was the first form of the Spirit looking like a kind, old man with a long white beard. Some historians claim that Woden convinced the Norse gods to revolt against the giants (the Norse cousins of the Titans) after becoming a loyal friend and adviser of father Odin himself. Anyhow, after the giants were overthrown by the gods, Woden influenced Odin to do good by filling the boots of children with gifts and candy, a practice which would survive until modern days. About at the same time, the cult of Mitra was revived far in the east in the Indo-Iranian realms. Mitra (called Mithra in ancient Persia) became an important deity of Indian religion and a yazata ("good power under Ohrmuzd the Greatest") of Zoroastrian belief. In the centuries to come he would find his way back to his own homeland in the form of Mithras, principal figure of the Greco-Roman mystery religion of Mithraism which would only become popular from the 1st to 4th centuries AD.

But the Spirit of Joy wasn't present solely in Europe and the Indo-Iranian area: using his powers he traveled the whole world spreading peace and good cheer as best as he could. He became known by many names and many shapes. In Japan the Spirit was worshiped as one of the spirits called Kami. He was identified with the god of foxes Inari Okami and his servants, the fox-like shape-shifting tricksters called Kitsune, might be related to modern Christmas Elves. Another Japanese form of the Spirit was Fukurokuju, one of the Seven Lucky Gods who represents happiness, wealth and longevity and is - similar to Woden and modern Santa Claus - depicted as a merry old man. Furthermore, the Spirit reached Africa where he worked together with the trickster god Anansi to spread good cheer. A similar relationship existed in the Americas where he was associated with plenty of benevolent trickster gods such as Heyoka and Coyote.

### **Birth of Christmas**

A major turning point in the life (or more precisely 'the existence') of the Spirit of Joy occurred when Jesus Christ was born in 1 AC. Foreseeing Jesus' potential of spreading good and peace all over the world, the Spirit traveled from his Indian temples westwards to witness the birth of the son of God in Bethlehem. On his way to Bethlehem the Spirit attracted the attention of three wise Arabian kings: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Believing the Spirit's aura of golden light to be a star wandering westwards they followed him as they believed he would be a miraculous sign to mark the birth of the Christ. On December 24, 1 AD, the Spirit and the Three Kings arrived at Bethlehem and witnessed the birth of the son of God. Convinced that this day would mark the departure of humanity into a better, peaceful future the Spirit declared this day to be his holy day: Christmas.

In the following one and a half millennia the idea of Christmas spread all over Europe and America and on every Christmas Eve the Spirit of Joy celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ by handing out presents and spreading the good cheer of Christmas. In these many centuries the shape of Woden evolved as it merged with the souls of dead saints such as the Three Kings, Saint Nicholas of Myra, Basil of Caesarea, Knecht Ruprecht and the Oriental figure of Nasreddin. While the form of the kind old man essentially remained true, this new form was known by many names: Santa Claus in America, Father Christmas in England, Weihnachtsmann in Germany, Père Noël in France, Joulupukki in Finnland, Ded Moroz in the Slavic area, Dada in India, Santa Halabuji in Korea, Ông già Noel in Vietnam and so on. But with growing influence and population numbers Santa Claus - as he will be referred to by now for the purpose of simplicity - had more and more work to do for even his powers were limited. Thus he made deals with some of the most powerful beings of the multiverse: God himself agreed to aid Santa Claus in his noble task by providing him with an angel who would assume the responsibility over parts of Middle Europe and Latin America. For a long time people wrongly believed this angel to be the newly-born Jesus himself which is why he earned names such as Christkind (German for "Christ-child"), Gesù Bambino (Italian for "Baby Jesus"), Jézuska (Hungarian for "Little Jesus") and similar others. Furthermore, Santa Claus struck a deal with the Grim Reaper himself in order to revive Nasreddin - in order to take on the job of fulfilling Santa Claus' tasks in the Middle East - and additionally to allow the spirit of Saint Nicholas (or Sinterklaas) to return to the world every December 5 in order to present the good children with sweets and gifts.

### **Kris Kringle**

A mortal man, Nicholas Kris Kringle was born in 295 and later became a saint and made immortal along with his family including his brother Fred Kringle, later Fred Claus. As an adult Kringle began delivering toys to everyone in the city of Sombertown during the reign of the tyrannic Burgomaster Meisterburger(*Santa Claus is coming to Town*). In his later years Kringle, fought a Krampus(*Klaus*), battled the evil Winter Warlock and into old age continued to deliver toys into his 50s. One night, Kringle, Anya and their two reindeer, Donner and Blitzen, were caught in a blizzard and succumbed to the cold weather. However, they were saved by elves and transported to the vast "ice mountains, way up at the top of the world." Their expected arrival was heralded with the appearance of several elves, or as Kringle's people called them in their legends, the *Vendequm*, led by the venerable and wise elf named Dooley. Dooley told Claus it was his destiny to deliver toys to the children of the world every Christmas Eve, which the elves will make in their large workshops. Donner and Blitzen were joined by six other reindeer trained by spirits such as Knecht Reprecht and fed magic food that allowed them to fly. The original eight reindeer became Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzwn. In time other reindeer would have the honor of flying Santa's sleigh including Rudolph, Robbie and Olive (who actually was a dog).  When Christmas Eve came, Claus was approached by the oldest of elves, the Ancient One, who renamed him as "Santa Claus". The mortal embodiment of the Spirit of Joy. (*Santa Claus: The Movie*) The elf known as the Great Ak convinced his fellow elves to grant him immortality by reciting a fictional story that made Santa into a member of the elf race(*The Story of Santa Claus*).

On his task, St. Nicholas was accompanied by the demonic but ensnared Krampus, who would sometimes be friendly to individuals such as Steve Smith yet also punish wicked children, including hunting down and murdering a family and attempting to rape Thaddeus Venture before being prevented from doing so by his bodyguard Brock Samson. St.Nicholas was also accompanied by le Père Fouettard, Black Peter and the fur-clad Belsnickel all of which punished naughty children on the day before Saint Nicholas Day along with the Krampus. Actively forging even more alliances with supernatural creatures Santa Claus gained the assistance of beings and spirits such as Knecht Ruprecht and his famous reindeer:

While Santa's activities are often limited to Earth, he makes an exception and visits the planet of Apokolips to give the ruler Darkseid a single lump of Coal.

Kringle passed away in 369 but his legacy would live on.

At some time in the 1100s, 1400s, or 1500s, when the Native American tribes of the American East coast became more and more numerous and thus more and more belligerent, Santa even took up a human form called 'The Great Peacemaker' (called Deganawidah by the natives) to unite the Iroquois tribes by forming the Iroquois confederacy.

In 1430, Santa Claus The Eleventh was born.

In 1491, Santa Claus The Eleventh died.

In 1529, Santa Claus the Thirteenth was born.

In 1628, Santa Claus The Fifteenth was born.

In 1634, Santa Claus The Thirteenth died.

In 1689, Santa Claus The Fifteenth died.

Around 1712, the original Santa, Nicholas St.North fought in a battle against the monstrous Pitch Black, defeating and imprisoning him.

In 1802, 25th December: Santa Claus XVI gave every child on Earth a sausage nailed to a piece of bark.

in 1803, Santa Claus The Seventeenth was born.

In 1823, Santa Claus was spotted by someone while going down their chimney(*Twas the Night Before Christmas*).

Santa even convinced the Grim Reaper to allow him to free the ghosts of the Three Kings for one night every Christmas. Every year these spirits haunt one person who has forgotten the value and the meaning of Christmas in the shape of the Spirit of Christmas Past, the Spirit of Christmas Present and the Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come. The best documented case of this Christmas haunting was the case of Ebeneezer Scrooge in 1843, but there are many others such as C. F. Kane, Scrooge McDuck and C. Montgomery Burns.

In 1845, A sleigh called Evie is built.

Kringle's first child was born in 1857 and named Jingle Belle. She grew up to, by the late 1990s, having aged to resemble a rebellious teenager despite her true age.

In 1864, Santa Claus The Seventeenth died.

In 1875, A man who would become the nineteenth Santa Claus is born.

In 1897, Santa Claus left his usual home - a little cabin just outside of the Finnish city of Korvatunturi - heading northwards deep into the Arctic (some say this was a reaction to the article "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus"). He settled down in the North Pole after purchasing it from the Baltimore Gun Club, being in contact only with natives such as the inhabitants of Hyperborea, the subterranean Arq people and the Polar Bear Kingdom. He adopted a shamanic way of life using secret rituals to spread joy around the world instead of merely delivering presents. In this task he was aided by his spirit guides who often are called his "Little Helpers" or "Christmas Elves". These loyal, hard-working creatures are a mystery to modern day geneticist and there are several conflicting scientific theories about their origins: some experts see the little helpers as elves, fairies, goblins or other nature spirits following Santa Claus since the day of Woden; alternatively it was suspected that they might be related to the kitsune that the Spirit of Joy ruled over while he was Inari Okami; a small minority of scientists thinks about possible relations between the Little Helpers and the Oompa-Loompas of Loompaland, while another group of experts considers the possibility that they originally hail from Neptune and last but not least a prominent theory depicts the Christmas Elves as an evolved version of the Homo elvis (greater elves) from the Middle Earth period, the age of Tom Bombadil.

in 1902, Santa Claus The Nineteenth was born(*Arthur Christmas*).

In 1904, a group of daemons kidnapped Santa. Wisk the fairy, Kilter the pixie, Peter the knook, and Nutter the ryl realized Santa was gone, and attempted to complete his mission and deliver the gifts. They generally succeeded, though with some mistakes; they delivered a toy drum to a little girl and a sewing kit to a little boy. Overall, though, they managed to save Christmas. Then they report Santa's absence; the queen of the fairies in the Forest of Burzee learned what had happened. An army of magical creatures was mustered to rescue the missing hero. Meanwhile, though, Santa was released from captivity by a Repentant daemon. Santa met the army on its way, and turned it back from attacking the daemons(*A Kidnapped Santa Claus*).

in 1909, Santa Claus attended the Birthday Part of Ozma of Oz(*Return to Oz*).

From 1920 to 1942, Santa Claus and his allies wrote regular Letters to the children of writer Reginald Tyler, often telling them why they didn't get the presents they wanted. Claus was also in persistent was with the Goblins(*The Father Christmas Letters*).

In 1923,Santa Claus XIX has a heart attack at the reigns of Evie(*Arthur Christmas*)

In the late 1920s the American soft drink company Cola-Cola funded an exploration team to encounter Santa Claus. After the explorers finally discovered him in 1931 on his isolated island, a brief but hard time of negotiations led to a contract signed by Santa Claus and Coca-Cola: the soft drink company constructed a modern workshop for Santa operated by his Little Helpers and in return Santa was forced to advertise Coca-Cola and to spread happiness by delivering presents instead of spiritualism and magic. In mere months Coca-Cola constructed Santa's Workshop which immediately began to produce vast amounts of toys, sweets and Coca-Cola advertisement (starring among others the sentient polar bears from the neighboring Polar Bear Kingdom). In this tasks Santa still was aided by his old allies such as Saint Nicholas, the Three Ghosts, his reindeer and the Christkind but an attentive observe could well detect the subtle changes: Santa's traditional brown and green suit was replaced by a red one, his staff was expanded by Mr. Jingeling, Mr. Bingle and Hardrock, Coco and Joe. Traditional valor and Christmas figures were overshadowed by commercialization and Santa's original message of peace and Christmas cheer was turned more and more into a feast consisting solely of material needs with only a small class of educated experts and Coca-Cola representatives even believing in Santa's existence. Coca Cola was not the only product which approached Santa as he also advertised Norelco razors, even given a giant version of the product he used as a Sleigh. Licensing his image helped Santa pay for all the toys.

At this time, Santa found himself facing off against foes that wished to destroy Christmas. Most of these individuals however would come to realize their view on Christmas was wrong. They had believed it was about Materialism and Commercialism and were pacified upon learning of the more sentimental meaning of the holiday. The most famous of these foes being the Grinch.

In 1939, during a particular intense Blizzard on Christmas Eve, Santa Claus met the Reindeer Rudolph with a glowing nose and asked him to guide his sled. Rudolph has been part of the team ever since.

Frustrated by the development of Christmas, Santa Claus made a radical decision. He chose to give Christmas to the mortals. Kris Kringle elected to retire the role and pass it on. By now he had a fairly large family which lived in the areas surrounding the North Pole and were likewise immortal, and passing it on was no problem.

In 1941, Santa Claus The Nineteenth died. Santa Claus The Twentieth was born(*Arthur Christmas*).

In 1943, Santa Claus was briefly interrupted while in New York(*Who Killed Who?*).

Kringle would visit New York City in 1947 and partake in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and later be engaged in a trial to prove his identity(*Miracle on 34th Street*). Kringle loved the role so much he would return to it several times despite that his age was beginning to catch up to him. He also appeared to revive Frosty the Snowman after the had melted in 1950(*Frosty the Snowman*)

In 1952, Santa Claus had a party at Frank Sinatra's lodge with the man himself and the Doctor(*Doctor Who*)

Kringle faced his toughest battle when he was threatened by a Demon which he was able to defeat with aid from children and Merlin in 1959(*Santa Claus*).

Kris Kringle gradually became fed up with how horrible Christmas has become for him- with no reindeer for his sleigh, no elves to make the toys, no workshop to make the toys due to a lack of insurance and a tax audit, people shooting at him with their guns, irradiation from nuclear plants, among other things, On Christmas Eve in 1960 he decided that he was going to retire and rode off on his rocket-powered sleigh, kicking the sack of toys off it in disgust(*Mad Magazine 1960*). The Sack was found by a man named Henry Corwin, who used Santa's magic bag and used it to deliver presents. He was chosen to be the new Santa that same night and had a successful tenure(*Twilight Zone Episode: Night of the Meek*). Unfortunately, there was another problem and it was what led to Kringle's resignation. People's belief in Santa was dwindling and Christmas Cheer was the very thing that powered Santa's Sleigh. The Claus family invented a high tech new engine to power the Sleigh but it was clear some changes needed to be made. Another mortal man, simply called Father Christmas was chosen to deliver gifts specifically within Great Britain, possibly only London. He treated the job like any other.

In 1962, The retired Santa Claus XIX takes Evie out for a ride and nearly starts World War III during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Santa Claus XX looks him in the eye and says Steve believes the sleigh shouldn't be used anymore(*Arthur Christmas*)

In 1964, Corwin faced his first major conflict as Santa when he was abducted by Martians who wanted a Santa on Mars. Imitating his own recruitment into the role, Corwin convinced a native Martian to act out the part(*Santa Claus Conquers the Martians*).

In 1967, while delivering presents to an Orphanage, Corwin found a baby had crawled into his magic bag. Not knowing what to do, the baby was adopted by an elf and became Buddy, growing up to believe he was an Elf.

In 1972, Corwin's sleigh, due to faltering belief was stranded on a California Beach. He was helped out by a lesser known cousin of the Easter Bunny, the Ice Cream Bunny(*Santa Claus and the Ice Cream Bunny*).

In 1973, a normal British Man took it upon himself to become Father Christmas in England. His final delivery is to the Queen in Buckingham Palace.(*Father Christmas*).

In 1974, Corwin became ill and almost did not make his deliveries, fortunately the Year without a Santa Claus never came to pass as he was convinced by a young girl's letter to make his deliveries.

In 1975, England's Father Christmas went on holiday. He converted his sled into a caravan and after misadventures in camping grounds in France and Scotland, he checked into a Las Vegas Casino resort for a very long stay, until he was reminded to get back to work by a child guest.

In 1979, Santa Claus met Casper(*Casper's First Christmas*)

In 1981, Christmas was saved(*Arthur Christmas*).

In 1984, Santa Overslept, forcing him to complete deliveries in 5 hours(*Special Delivery Atari Game*).

In 1985, Santa was called upon to fix a devastating rift that had appeared in the Grainger family that could have resulted in death for the members( and did before time was rewinded)(*One Magic Christmas*). While undergoing this mission, Santa Claus instructed the Polar Express to deliver the world's children to the North Pole where he would choose a lucky child to deliver the first gift of Christmas. The child in question asked for a bell from Santa's sleigh(*The Polar Express*). However, that Christmas would be faced with disaster as the toys designed by the Elf Patch began to fall apart and the Elf was fired. He found work under the manufacturing company B.Z. that tried to replace Christmas with a new holiday called Christmas 2, but their criminal activities were exposed and the company dismantled with those responsible arrested(*Santa Claus: the Movie*)

In 1986, Santa briefly encountered the Ghostbusters(*The Real Ghostbusters*).

In 1988, Santa Claus worked in costume as a Taxi Driver(*Taxi*).

By 1989, there are *thousands* of Santa. 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 handily evolved claws after hundreds of years of scrambling up chimneys(*Round the Twist*).

The villain Dr.Maybe briefly hijacked Santa's workshop(*James Pond 2*).

In 1990, The Nightmare Prince captured Santa Claus, and the Midnight Patrol rescued him, saving Christmas(*Midnight Patrol episode Santanapped*).

In 1993, Dorothy and Toto visited the mall to meet Santa Claus, only to be at first turned away by his elves. Dorothy said that she had a gold card and the elf commented "That's a card of a different color!" and let her in. She and Toto were met by a booming voice declaring himself to be Santa Claus, but was eventually revealed to be a skinny guy. He explained that Mrs. Claus put him on the SlimFast diet. "I used to have a belly that shakes like a bowl-ful of jelly. Now I just have shakes. One for breakfast, one for lunch, and a sensible skim milk and cookie for dinner. I can't stand it." He revealed that he and the elves no longer make toys at his workshop at the North Pole because they got undercut by the malls, and so he's just a middle-man who delivers toys now. He and his elves then launch into a parody of "If I only had a brain." "We thought we made it all, from Barbie dolls to rubber balls / But Betsy-Wetsy took a fall. / They marked her down! / She's at the mall!" After the song ended, Dorothy lamented his fate, but just then a savior showed up, hooking Santa up with a fax machine and pager and a cellular phone with voice messaging. Santa and his operation were saved, and Dorothy and Toto were left to lament how now he'll easily be able to check up on who's naughty and who's nice(*The Wonderful Kingdom of Claus*).

Corwin was ambushed by denizens from the otherworldly realm of Halloweentown, which happened to have a portal in a forest near Santa's workshop. Jack Skellington of Halloweentown took Santa's role for the year, fortunately not turning into Santa due to Corwin still being alive. Jack delivered horrifying presents. Fortunately Jack realized what he had done and Santa was rescued and able to restore Christmas.

In 1994, The Easter Bunny killed one of the intended Santa Clauses(*Holiday Wars*).Henry Corwin fell off a roof. The mortal Scott Calvin put on his suit and began to transform into the New Santa Claus. Many of the Claus family, and Calvin himself, were unhappy with this but grudgingly accepted it and continued to take turns deliver the Presents.

In 1996, Scott Calvin passed out upon discovering the sentient red and yellow M&Ms from the commercials he'd seen were in fact real as he had believed they were special effects. Thankfully he was only unconscious for a short time and resumed his activities.(M&M commercial). Sadly this had a lingering effect on Calvin as he would snap and go on a killing spree, which was undone by the magic of Christmas Eve. (*The Night Santa Went Crazy*).

In 1999, Santa's(Not Calvin's) teenage daughter, Jingle Belle, who resented her famous father, attempted to gain her own fame. She and her family also began to come into more contact with the Blizzard Wizard, who considered the Kringle family his enemies(*Jingle Belle*).

In 2000, Santa accidentally crash-landed in a wrecking yard in the beginning of December, and a band od people had to help him get his sled fixed in time for Christmas.Thus Santa was skinny and unable to grow a proper beard, with his famous look being a disguise he adopts so he'll better fit the public image of him (*Vazelina Hjulkalender*).

In 2002, Eight years into his tenure as Santa Claus, Scott Calvin was considered by the Elves to be the best Santa they ever had. However, a clause came to effect that Calvin was required to be married with Christmas Eve a month away or he would cease being Santa. Fortunately he fell in love with and married Principal Carol Newman, who became the new Ms.Claus.

In 2003, Scott Calvin sent Buddy the Elf to spread Christmas Cheer and power the Sleigh. Despite the Sleigh crashing into Central Park, the power of belief was able to get it off the ground again (*Elf*).

In 2006, Scott Calvin fended off an attempt to replace him from a now delusional Jack Frost. young girl Lucy Miller was able to show compassion to Frost and melt his heart, this led him down to a path of reformation (*The Santa Claus III: The Escape Clause*). Calvin as Santa also rescued the Moreau Sapien Toot (*Toot & Puddle: I'll Be Home for Christmas*). Dora the explorer was able to prevent a dark future in which Santa Claus put Swiper on the Naughty List(*Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure*). One of the Santa Clauses came to reside in Succa Village.

By 2007, Russia developed its own variation of Santa Claus, Grandfather Frost. The true Santa Claus lost his bag, which was returned by Winnie the Pooh and his friends (*My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Pooh's Super Sleuth Christmas Movie*)*.*

In 2008, Calvin's sleigh was sabotaged by the North Wind and the Miser brothers, embodiments of Heart and Cold, were forced to offer their assistance.

Hoping to prevent further potential disasters the Claus family began to take full operations led by Malcolm Claus, an in and out Claus over the years now on his 70th Christmas.

In 2009, while searching for her father Prospero, Miranda was seeking refuge from demons, she was guided into a mall and found that the Mall Santa really was Father Christmas. Later, she and Mab visited him to use his pool to look for some children. While there, she took a gift from an elf — usually a foolish thing, but she knew under his roof, it must be safe.

Santa also planned a complex scheme to grant several people their Christmas wish, including Phineas the chance to be Santa(*Phineas and Ferb Christmas Special*).

In 2010, Tegan Cassidy, a girl capable of finding the Holiday spirit was pursued by various holidays looking to use her to find the Holiday Spirit (*Holiday Wars*).

Santa tried to reconnect with his son Ronnie (*Whomp!*)

In 2011, His son's Steve and Arthur aided him in his endeavors with Arthur delivering a forgotten gift before the intended child awoke (*Arthur Christmas*). Santa also donned a jet pack to reach Space Marines on the moon(*Rocket Santa*).

In 2012, The original Santa Claus, Nicholas St.North, became aware of the return of the villain Pitch Black and united with a legion of Holiday spirits to defeat him (*Rise of the Guardians*). The original Santa, under the name Kringle, took part in a meeting of the council of Mab, the Queen of Winter. He was a bear-like, standing over seven feet tall, with jelly-like belly. He joined The Erl-King to lead The Wild Hunt each Halloween and was possibly an aspect of Odin(*The Dresden Files: Cold Days*). Santa also helped save Shaggy and Scooby Doo(*Scooby Doo! Haunted Holidays!*). Arthur Claus became the new Santa Claus (*Arthur Christmas*).

In 2014, Harry Dresden approached him for questioning on a case (*The Dresden Files: Skin Game*). That same year, Santa Claus encountered the Doctor (*Last Christmas*).

In 2014, Santa offered Doc Macstuffins a job but she declines(*Doc McStuffens Christmas Special*).

In 2018, Arthur Claus made Dez a Santa Sub while it was Christmas in July(*Wishfart*).

In 2019, Santa Claus (Arthur Claus) started giving away presents to all boys and girls, not just the nice ones. One man vowed to rectify this and became South Pole Santa Claus, stealing toys from naughty children (*South Pole Santa Claus*). Arthur Claus was forced to learn forbidden magic that allowed him to become Santa, complete with sleigh and Chimney Entry. The Library eventually caught and imprisoned him, because he had to steal from their forbidden archives to gain that knowledge (*The Magicians*).

By 2096,Santa operates as a wandering merchant.

Near the Year 3000, the Friendly robot Company designed plans for a mechanical gift-bringer - Robot Santa. For the Spirit of Joy that one day became Santa Claus has traveled with humankind since we left our caves and he will accompany us until we cease to exist.

## **SCP Foundation**

Four different users of the Santa identity have been contained by the SCP Foundation.

SCP-2412-J is a fairly straight example. They even let him out of his cell for a few hours on Christmas Eve to deliver toys.

SCP-1933 is a homeless man in a Santa suit that used to break into houses on Christmas Eve and deliver presents alongside bottles of his urine (he pees whiskey). He lives off a diet of whiskey and cream and drinking more than 25ml in one day will turn all your bodily fluids into whiskey.

SCP-4666 is an uncontained Santabomination that stalks and murders families around Christmas. It takes the youngest child to make toys from other children in its Elaborate Underground Base. Children who can no longer make toys, will become toys.

SCP-4255 is another straight example that uses time travel to be in multiple places at once. He can't be contained so the Foundation mainly covers his tracks and modifies parents' memories to make them think they bought the presents. When the Foundation managed to interview him, he confessed to being a criminal from the future who was sentenced to do it by the Time Police.

## **Interlude: Death on Christmas**

*1994*

Henry Corwin was a very confused individual. One minute he had been standing on a roof, doing the same job he had been doing for over thirty years and then that man had distracted him. He had slipped, fallen and…well, now he was in what appeared to be a void.

“EXCUSE ME, WOULD YOU HAPPEN TO BE MR. CORWIN?”

Well at least now Corwin knew where he was: quite clearly, he was dead. The figure before him was unmistakable, dark cloak, scythe, skeletal figure.

“Yes I am. And you are the Grim Reaper, I presume.”

“I PREFER NOT TO BE THOUGHT OF AS ‘GRIM.’ BUT AS FOR REAPER, WHY YES, I AM ONE. I SUPPOSE YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS OF COURSE.”

“I should assume it means I’m dead. So…where do I go next?”

“I’M AFRAID THAT IS OUTSIDE MY PURVIEW. I AM MERELY TASKED WITH FERRYING YOU TO THE ONES WHO MAKE THAT CALL.”

“And who would that be?”

“HMM…I BELIEVE YOU HAVE BEEN CLAIMED BY THE BIG MAN.”

“Huh…guess that means I did good then, huh?”

“I BELIEVE SO. YOU’RE CERTAINLY UP THERE AS FAR AS CLAUSES GO. FAR BETTER THAN THE ABOMINATION IN FINLAND.”
Corwin shuddered. He’d been informed of that one by the elves. He knew there were a few other “Santa Clauses” around the world and had met some of them—St. North had a lot of interesting stories (often about the Agwas his father had fought against or how the green—creature who worked for him used to hate Christmas) and Malcolm was a rather friendly fellow. Unfortunately, the abomination they were discussing was not so amiable.

“Well, that’s good to hear. I wonder where you stand as far as reapers go.”

“WELL, THERE’S MY SISTER—SHE’S HONESTLY PROBABLY A BIT BETTER THAN ME. I THINK I HAVE MORE GRAVITAS THOUGH.”

“Must be a lot of work for just two of you.” The skeletal figure beside Corwin laughed—somewhat uncannily.
“ODD THAT YOU THINK THAT IT IS JUST THE TWO OF US. THERE ARE MANY OF US TASKED WITH REAPING. THERE ARE BILLIONS OF SENTIENT BEINGS THAT MUST BE REAPED THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE AFTER ALL.”

Corwin supposed that made sense. “I see. How did I end up with you—taking care of me, so to speak?”
“YOU GOT STARTLED AND FELL OFF A ROOF.”

“I meant as opposed to one of the other reapers.”

“AH, WELL, WE HAVE SOME GEARED TOWARDS SPECIFIC REGIONS—SHINGAMI IN JAPAN, A FEW MINOR DEATHS DEDICATED TO PARTICULAR CAUSES. AND SOME OF US RARELY REAP DIRECTLY—THE HORSEMAN, FOR INSTANCE, IS NOT NEARLY AS PERSONAL AS MOST OF US. HOLDS A GRUDGE, THAT ONE—LOVES TO TRACK FOLKS HE BELIEVES CHEATED HIM.”

“And you? When do you reap?”
“I REAP WHO I’M SUPPOSED TO. NOT ALWAYS CLEAR WHY IT’S ME INSTEAD OF SOMEONE ELSE. IN YOUR CASE, I SUPPOSE IT’S BECAUSE I’VE BEEN IN YOUR SHOES.”

“I presume you don’t mean to refer to the incident two years ago? That was a nightmare.”

“NO, NO, MY EXPERIENCE WAS FAR FURTHER BACK. DIFFERENT PLANE, TECHNICALLY NOT EXACTLY YOUR JOB. BUT SIMILAR ENOUGH TO COUNT.”

“Alright. So, where do we go next?” The reaper stood silently for a moment, as if thinking about it.

“THERE’S ANOTHER JOB FOR YOU. DIFFERENT RESPONSIBILITIES, BUT THE SAME TIME OF YEAR. MORE ABOUT REDEMPTION, LET’S SAY.”

Corwin thought about everything up until this moment. Even with all the headaches—raising children who wandered into the gift sack, getting sued for causing an old woman amnesia, getting sick and having to be replaced by the Miser brothers—this job was perhaps the greatest in the world. He would miss it.

“Well, in that case, there’s no use delaying too long is there?”

And with that he followed the reaper into what came next.

### **References**

References-A Death At Christmas

Henry Corwin-Man who becomes Santa Clause in the Twilight Zone episode Night of the Meek

Standing on a roof-Corwin’s death is based off the death of Santa at the beginning of the film The Santa Clause, which came out in 1994

The (not-so) Grim Reaper-DEATH from Discworld

Abomination in Finland-“Santa Claus” from the film Rare Exports, who is in fact a borderline eldritch horror

St. North-Nicholas St. North from Rise of the Guardians

Agwas-Creatures from The Life and Times of Santa Claus

Green creature-The Grinch from How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Malcolm-Malcolm Claus, the current Santa in the film Arthur Christmas

MY SISTER-Death of the Endless from Sandman

Shingami-Japanese death gods, specifically inspired by the ones in Death Note and Bleach

Minor deaths dedicated to particular causes-A reference to the various death incarnations present in Irregular Webcomic!

The Horseman-One of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in part inspired by the one from Supernatural

Holds a grudge-Refers to death’s tenacity in the Final Destination films

In your shoes-Refers to the time Discworld’s Death took on the role of Hogfather

Two years ago-Refers to Jack Skellington taking on Santa’s role in The Nightmare Before Christmas

More about redemption-My intended implication is Corwin is going to become a new Ghost of Christmas Past from A Christmas Carol. There needs to be a few of those owing to how many places they go visit over the years

Raising children who wandered into the gift sack-Refers to how Buddy was adopted in Elf

Getting sued for causing old women amnesia-Refers to the plot of the film Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

Be replaced by the Miser brothers-Refers to the events of The Year Without Santa Claus