Christmas characters

Santa Claus 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. Christmas elves are said to make the gifts in Santa's workshop, while flying reindeer pull his sleigh through the air.

Saint Nicholas of Myra, also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia during the time of the Roman Empire. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, toymakers, unmarried people, and students in various cities and countries around Europe. His reputation evolved among the pious, as was common for early Christian saints, and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the folklore of Santa Claus through Sinterklaas.

thumb|alt=Photograph of a classic-style snowman in scarf and hat with pipe and carrot nose, in Winona Lake, Indiana, USA|A classic three-ball snowman in Winona Lake, Indiana|Winona Lake, [[Indiana]] thumb|Making snowman in Kõrvemaa, Estonia (January 2021)

Christmas figure in Slavic cultures

literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen

thumb|upright|1900s illustration of Saint Nicholas and Krampus visiting a child The Krampus () is a horned anthropomorphic figure who, in the Central and Eastern Alpine folkloric tradition, is said to accompany Saint Nicholas on visits to children during the night of 5 December (Krampusnacht; "Krampus Night"), immediately before the Feast of St. Nicholas on 6 December. In this tradition, Saint Nicholas rewards well-behaved children with small gifts, while Krampus punishes badly behaved ones with birch rods.

duke and saint

right|upright|thumb|Snow Maiden (1899) by Victor Vasnetsov

Gawain ( ), spelled many ways, is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legendary cycle. The prototype of Gawain appears under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest Welsh sources. He has subsequently appeared in many Arthurian tales in Welsh, Latin, French, English, Scottish, Dutch, German, Spanish, and Italian, notably as the protagonist of the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Other works featuring Gawain as their central character include De Ortu Waluuanii, Diu Crône, Ywain and Gawain, Golagros and Gawane, Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle, ''L'âtre péril

thumb|A wooden puppet depicting the Befana In Italian folklore and folk customs, the Befana () is a witch-like old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to Santa Claus or the Three Magi. The Befana is a widespread tradition among Italians and thus has many names. She is a part of both popular national culture and traditional folk culture and is akin to other figures who roam about sometime during the Twelve Days and reward the good, punish the bad, and receive offerings. The Befana is a mysterious, contradictory figure o

fictional male reindeer

A Caganer () is a figurine depicted in the act of defecation appearing in nativity scenes in Catalonia and neighbouring areas such as Andorra, Valencia, Balearic Islands, and Northern Catalonia (in southern France). It is most popular and widespread in these areas, but can also be found in other areas of Spain (Murcia) and Portugal.

humanoid mythical creature of Nordic folklore

straw Christmas goat in Gävle, Sweden

sculpture or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves

Scandanavian decorative Christmas straw goat

upright=1.2|thumbnail|Peruchty in , Kingdom of Bohemia, 1910 ' or ' ('Bertha'; ), also commonly known as '''''' () and other variations, was thought to be a goddess in Alpine paganism in the Upper German and also Austrian and Slovenian regions of the Alps. Her name may mean 'the bright one' or 'the bearer' (, from Proto-Germanic *berhtaz) and is probably related to the name , meaning 'the feast of the Epiphany'. Eugen Mogk provides an alternative etymology, attributing the origin of the name to the Old High German verb , meaning 'hidden' or 'covered'. The exact origin or time of origin is unkn

thumb|Christkind The Christkind (; ), also called Christkindl, is the traditional Christmas gift-bringer in Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Southern Germany and Western Germany, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the eastern part of Belgium, Portugal, Slovakia, Hungary, parts of northeastern France, Upper Silesia in Poland, parts of Latin America, in certain areas of southern Brazil, and in the Acadiana region of Louisiana.

The Grinch is a character created by children's author and cartoonist Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the titular main protagonist of the 1957 children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! He has been portrayed and voiced by many actors, including Boris Karloff, Zero Mostel, Hans Conried, Bob Holt, Walter Matthau, Anthony Asbury, Jim Carrey, Rik Mayall, Benedict Cumberbatch, Matthew Morrison, David Howard Thornton, and James Austin Johnson.

Yule log in catalan Christmas tradition

Folkloric personification of Christmas in several English‐speaking parts of the world

fictional character in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

personification of frost and cold weather

fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm

reindeer which pull Santa Claus' sleigh

huge cat in Icelandic folklore

companion of Saint Nicholas in the folklore of Germany

thumb|185px|A figure of Olen being carried through the streets of Barakaldo Olentzero (, sometimes Olentzaro or Olantzaro and Olenchero) is a character in Basque Christmas tradition. According to Basque traditions, Olentzero comes to town late at night on 24 December to drop off presents for children. In some places he arrives later, for example in Ochagavía – Otsagabia on the 27th and in Ermua on the 31st.

wife of Santa Claus

thumb | Mascot costumes of Grýla (left) and Leppaluði (right) In Icelandic folklore, Grýla is a monstrous entity who lives in the wilderness of Iceland. The name Grýla is first attested in medieval sources. The earliest unambiguous references to Grýla's gender and her association with Christmas, though, date only from the 17th century. In 17th-century poems about Grýla, she is generally represented as a hideous and greedy troll-like crone, who wanders between human settlements and demands charity from those she encounters, often asking for naughty children. Modern depictions of Grýla tend to f

The kallikantzaros () is a malevolent creature in modern Greek folklore.

thumb|right|Joulupukki and his wife. '''' () is a Finnish Christmas figure. The name literally means or in Finnish; the word comes from the Old Swedish word bukker'', a cognate of English "buck", meaning . An old Nordic folk tradition, the figure is now often conflated with Santa Claus.

fictional character from the film The Nightmare Before Christmas

novella by English author Charles Dickens; published 1845

one of the Biblical Magi; in 16th-century paintings generally portrayed as an old man with white hair kneeling at the feet of the Madonna & Child

Arthurian legendary character

9th episode of the 1st season of South Park

according to Christian tradition, a king of India and one of the three Magi (younger than Melchior, older than Balthazar) that visited Jesus, who gave the gift of frankincense

according to Christian tradition, a king of Arabia and youngest of the three Magi who visited Jesus and gave the gift of myrrh; usually portrayed in paintings with the darkest hair of the three kings, or the darkest skin of the three kings

Christmas-giftbringer in the French-speaking world

type of mythical character said to carry naughty children away in bags

1861 short story by Hans Christian Andersen

decorative christmas toy, tool and figure of German origin

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short story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

German knight

fictional character in Dickens' A Christmas Carol

Saint Nicholas in the European folklore

Companion of St. Nicholas in folklore

Christmas song written and composed by Walter Rollins and Steve Nelson

2005 picture book by Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell

novella by English author Charles Dickens; published 1848

Delibird (; Japanese: , Hepburn: ) is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Delibird first appeared in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver and most of its subsequent sequels. Designed by Game Freak's development team and finalized by Ken Sugimori, it has also appeared in various spin-off titles, such as Pokémon Go and Pokémon Stadium 2, and animated adaptations of the franchise. Delibird is a penguin-like, Santa Claus-inspired Pokémon with a tail that resembles a sack. In the Pokémon anime, Delibird has been voiced by SungWon Cho and Katsuyuki Konishi for the En

Belsnickel (also known as Belschnickel, Belznickle, Belznickel, Pelznikel, Pelznickel, Bell Sniggle) is a crotchety, fur-clad Christmas gift-bringer figure in the folklore of the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany along the Rhine, the Saarland, and the Odenwald area of Baden-Württemberg. The figure is also preserved in Pennsylvania Dutch communities and Brazilian-German communities.

Book by J. K. Rowling

Romanian Christmas folkloric character

folk song

Hispanic version of Santa Claus popular in parts of the United States, sometimes referred to as a "Tex-Mex" version of Santa

folkloric figures who accompany the gift-bringer

fictional character