Every child who celebrates Christmas knows who Santa Claus is. The amalgamation of holiday figures from multiple cultures, Santa is now known as a jolly man whose sole purpose in life is to fly around the world in a sleigh pulled by reindeer in order to bring joy to children every year by delivering presents to them on December 25.
This has led to multiple different representations of the beloved figure in all kinds of media. And while there have been some pretty terrible games where the man with the bag has been playable, the appearances here are by far his best.
9 Evil Santa - Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko
The Gex games take the player to various channels based on popular trends and genres and the first level of Gex 3 brings the wonder of Christmas specials to life. This includes naughty elves, a vandalized Christmas village, and an evil Santa.
Evil Santa is a mini-boss who jumps on his sack and launches presents at the titular gecko. All you have to do is hit them back at him with a perfectly timed tail whip a few times and you win! This is a small moment with St. Nick, but it is a bold choice to start a children's game with an evil version of their most beloved figure.
8 Spooky Santa - Phasmophobia
However, it's not as much of a bold choice to make Santa evil in Phasmophobia, a game all about humans investigating and hunting terrifying ghosts because it is human nature to put ourselves in danger for some reason.
In order to investigate this creepy old elf, you'll have to go to one of the holiday locations and then feed this adventide apparition cookies by getting unnecessarily close to it. If this were a thing in real life, it would easily be a big old "Nope." But since this is a video game, it's a fun tribute from a horror game to the holidays.
7 Jetpack Santa - ToeJam & Earl
After two menacing versions of Kris Kringle, it's about time for a helpful Santa, and his appearance in ToeJam and Earl definitely fits the bill. As ToeJam and Earl wander around the different levels of Earth searching for their rocket ship parts, they can find presents to help them deal with all of the Earthlings trying to harm them. These are left by one of the few good Earthlings, Santa Claus.
What separates this Santa from other renditions is the jet pack. This makes it so that he can quickly run away from children (or aliens) that sneak up on him. But even then, he makes sure to leave plenty of gifts for our heroes.
6 Six Santas - Too Many Santas!
If there's one thing we've learned from this list, it's that there are many different forms of Santa. We see this all the time in real life with different legends and appearances attributed to the more commercially recognizable red man. Even with this, only one game has multiple versions present and that's the aptly named dating sim Too Many Santas!
In Too Many Santas!, you run a toy shop during the holidays that isn't doing well. Suddenly, you're visited by six different Santas, each with an appropriately alliterative name. This includes Saintly Santa, Sassy Santa, Sleepy Santa, Sad Santa, Secret Santa, and, of course, Sexy Santa. You can date all of them with each one having a naughty or nice ending. So if you've ever wanted to be the mom in I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, this is the game for you.
5 Sgt. Winter - Fortnite
Of the many subcategories of Santa, none is more hype than action Santa. These Kris Kringles of killing are usually decked out in weaponry and ammo from their beards to their boots. Fortnite has an incredible rendition of this with Sgt. Winter.
A beloved Christmas skin, Sgt. Winter has red camo pants, a bulletproof vest, muscular tattooed arms, and a candy cane in his mouth like a cigar. And even though you can choose a Reindeer Llama or Battle Bus Balloon head for him, he looks best when he's rocking his goggles. With his tactical sleigh and wrapped-up guns and grenades, this is a Santa that everyone knows will get the job done no matter what it takes.
4 Nicholas St. Kringle - Sam & Max: Ice Station Santa
It must be heard to be the holiday's head honcho and Sam And Max realizes that. When the duo first meets him, he is firing a machine gun from his office because one of his elves is possessed by a demon after eating Sinful Jell-O. After they exorcise the elf, Santa himself becomes possessed and is "saved" by being sent to hell with the demon. Don't worry, Sam & Max eventually rescue him and bring him back to the North Pole.
Despite this ludicrous story, this Santa is actually pretty relatable. Nicholas St. Kringle didn't take on the job because he loves children, it's actually the exact opposite. Now he only has to see kids once a year. The rest of the time, he's at the North Pole. Despite being a more pessimistic take on the jolly red man, Nicholas St. Kringle is still an interesting and hilarious character.
3 Santa Claus - Hitman
The Hitman Holiday Hoarders DLC has Agent 47 stopping two thieves from stealing Christmas presents the only way he knows how: murder. But alongside these Home Alone-inspired thieves is the actual Santa Claus. And yes, you can kill him and take his suit to become Santa 47, but the man can do so much more.
Santa teleports from room to room placing gifts like he always does. However, if you wait for him to leave and open the presents, you'll find that they're tools to help Agent 47 in his quest to save Christmas. So while you can take advantage of his disguise to go pretty much anywhere you want, it'd be much more in the holiday spirit if you worked with Ol' Saint Nick.
2 Greatfather Winter & Great-Father Winter - World Of Warcraft
It turns out that even World Of Warcraft needs a little Christmas cheer and it's brought on by Greatfather Winter (or Great-Father Winter if you're a part of the Horde). While his story has been diluted and commercialized by the Jinglepocket Goblins, he was an actual figure of great importance to the Dwarves.
Greatfather Winter was a supernatural being who brought on winter from his billowing coat as he walked bringing the Winter Veil to Asteroth. Not only would this prepare the land for rebirth and renewal, but it would also bring communities together to share their supplies. This would often result in a single day of feasting and merriment. Even with its fantastical flair, Greatfather Winter truly understands the spirit of Santa.
1 Frost Gigas/Santa Claus - Secret Of Mana
There have been many fun renditions of Father Christmas, but only one game actually uses the Santa we all know and love to move the plot forward and that's Secret Of Mana. Here, you need to visit him in Ice Country, but he has taken on an evil form and attacks the player. But despite his villainous actions, this is still the Santa we all know and love.
Santa wanted to restore children's cheer, so he took the Fire Mana Seed and tried to use it to grow a giant Christmas Tree. However, it had a negative effect on him and turned him into the vicious boss before you. After you defeat him and reunite him with Rudolph, he thanks your party and goes back to his Santa-ly duties. Other games' Santas may be more creative or wackier, but this is easily the best pure version of Santa Claus in all of video games.
