Père Fouettard
père fouettard french father whipper old man whipper pronounced pɛʁ fwɛtaʁ character accompanies saint nicholas round saint nicholas day december dispensing lump coal andor beating naughty child st nicholas give gift well behaved known mainly far north eastern region france south belgium frenchspeaking switzerland although similar character exist europe see companion saint nicholas happy father said bring whip spank naughty child misbehaved popular story origin père fouettard first told year innkeeper butcher version capture three boy appear wealthy way enroll religious boarding school along wife kill child order rob one gruesome version tell drug child slit throat cut piece stew barrel st nicholas discovers crime resurrects child père fouettard repents becomes st nicholas partner slightly different version story claim st nicholas forced père fouettard become assistant punishment crime another story state siege metz city eastern france effigy king charles v burned dragged city meanwhile association tanner created grotesque character also tanner armed whip bound chain punished child metz liberated charred effigy charles v character created tanner somehow assimilated known père fouettard event surrounding city liberation burning effigy coincided passage st nicholas hence père fouettard became bad cop counterpart père fouettard appeared united state translated name father flog spanky although almost identical original french personification father flog nothing christmas also female accomplice named mother flog two doled specific punishment specific childhood crime eg cutting tongue lying common depiction père fouettard man sinister face dressed dark robe scraggly unkempt hair long beard armed whip large stick bundle switch incarnation character wearing wicker backpack child placed carried away sometimes merely carry large bundle stick back jacques dutroncs song la fille du père noël daughter father christmas père fouettards son crush santa claus daughter another french pop star alain delorme mentioned song venez venez st nicolas restaurant named le père fouettard rue pierre lescot paris feature classic parisian fare robert schumann composed piano piece commonly known knecht ruprecht similar character see companion saint nicholas case piece called le père fouettard black phoenix alchemy lab line handblended perfume oil created limitededition yule scent named le père fouettard consisting whip leather coal dust gaufrette black licorice père fouettard renamed gruzzlebeard english translation main antagonist animated show secret world santa claus hallmark channel original film joyeux noel character mark played brant daugherty playfully attacked french child call père fouettard season episode six episode emily paris legend le père fouettard explained befana belsnickel krampus zwarte piet similar figure dutch folklore han von trotha german knight th century transformed folklore similar figure known han trapp alsace region pere fouettard pere fouettard christmas character origin legend httpswwwindobasecomholidayschristmascharactersperefouettardhtml