Santa Claus
Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts to the homes of well-behaved ("good" or "nice") children on Christmas Eve (24 December) and the early morning hours of Christmas Day (25 December). The modern Santa Claus grew out of traditions surrounding the historical Saint Nicholas (a fourth-century Greek bishop and gift-giver of Myra), the British figure of Father Christmas and the Dutch figure of "Sinterklaas" (himself also based on Saint Nicholas). Some maintain Santa Claus also absorbed elements of the Germanic god Wodan, who was associated with the pagan midwinter event of Yule and led the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky.
List of recurring South Park characters
Santa Claus (voiced by Trey Parker) lives at the North Pole in his Fortress of Solitude, aided two months out of the year by the Underpants Gnomes. Santa is often shown with "South Park's" other Christmas-related characters, Mr. Hankey and Jesus. His relationship with the latter has been rocky. In the animated short, "The Spirit of Christmas", Jesus and Santa had a fight to determine what the true meaning of Christmas was—giving or Jesus' birth. With some advice from Brian Boitano, the boys told Jesus that Santa keeps the spirit of Christmas alive, and then told Santa that if it wasn't for Jesus there would be no Christmas at all. The two reconciled, though they would later fight again in "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics", when Santa felt unhappy that there are more Jesus-related Christmas songs than ones about him. Nevertheless, they made up again, and Jesus later lost his life to save Santa from Iraqis in "Red Sleigh Down". To commemorate his good friend, Santa declares that in every Christmas, everyone should remember Jesus.