Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
11
Premium Benefits
24/7
Access Available
21K+
Active Members
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
Trending
  • Pokemon Winds and Waves
  • New Games for 2026
  • Submit your game clips
  • GDC
  1. Games
  2. Action

The evolution of Santa Claus

Features
By Mikel Reparaz published 24 December 2008

A look back at the videogame career of Christmas' legendary fat man

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

Celebrated since the game’s debut in 2004, World of WarCraft’s Feast of Winter Veil provides an broad array of Christmassy activities for players, all of them ultimately headed up by the suspiciously cynical Greatfather Winter.

Sure, he’s just an old dwarf in a red coat that kind of looks vaguely like a medieval version of Santa. But what makes Greatfather Winter interesting is that there’s another version of him skulking around in Ogrimmar that looks nothing like any of the other Santas on this list:

OK, maybe he looks a LITTLE like them. There’s the red outfit and the beard to consider. But this is the first Santa (or Santa stand-in) we’ve ever seen that features tusks in its natural state. Let’s hope it’s not the last.

He may have a creepy stare, a shirt that’s falling off and an unnatural hunger for human flesh, but for our money, the zombie Santa from Infected is the best Santa ever:

Leave it to St. Nick to become the de facto mascot of one of the PSP’s best, most unfairly overlooked zombie shooters. In no other game is he quite this numerous, this menacing or this unforgettable. Secret of Mana’s mutant Santa has nothing on this monster, because left to his own devices, Santa’s zombie helpers will quickly turn into giant grotesques that are capable of much nastier things than just smacking you in the face with a bell.


A return to friendlier Santas, the version of Kris Kringle from The Nightmare Before Christmas (and specifically the NmBC-themed area of Kingdom Hearts II) is one of St. Nick’s more stylized appearances. He’s impossibly fat and his beard is improbably long, but this isn’t a dimwitted, confused Moron Santa or a cynical deliverer of lethal presents – no, this Santa is sincere, with a competent gleam in his eye that only comes from the experience of being kidnapped by goofy monsters in a mix-up over who gets to administer which holiday.


Above: Plus, those black gloves make him look about as badass as a Santa can get

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You could also argue that Jack Skellington there is a Santa as well, but while we’ve allowed a couple of impostors on the list already, one Santa (or at least one Santa type) per game is more than enough. Besides, Jack looks shabby and out of his element; it takes a real Santa to make that look work.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6

Current page: Page 5

Prev Page Page 4 Next Page Page 6
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming Nintendo PlayStation Xbox Platforms
PRODUCTS
Kingdom Hearts II NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams Bully: Scholarship Edition World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Mikel Reparaz
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.
Latest in Action
Sam Porter Bridges flexes for the camera in Death Stranding 2
Action Games Death Stranding 2 dev says Hideo Kojima "wanted more people to enjoy" the sequel
 
 
Kiln key art featuring colorful spirit-inhabited pots duking it out
Action Games I built the biggest, ugliest vase Kiln would let me and immediately got bullied by better potters
 
 
God of War
God of War Former God of War dev thinks "the plan was to do Egyptian at some point"
 
 
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed Shadows players have sunk over 334 million hours into the game and pet 26 million cats
 
 
God of War protagonist Kratos, splattered in blood, looks pensive
God of War God of War devs didn't expect to spend 4 years in development: They "crunched like motherf***ers"
 
 
The Legend of Zelda Overwatch co-creator Jeff Kaplan says Breath of the Wild is "the greatest game ever made"
 
 
Latest in Features
Screenbound screenshot showcasing the 3D world in the background with sky and clouds and Qboy in foreground
Platforming Games I wish I were melting my brain in Screenbound right now
 
 
Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter in HBO's Harry Potter TV show
HBO Harry Potter TV series release date, cast, trailer, plot, and more news
 
 
Marathon Thief shell in dark lighting
FPS Games I'm in a situationship with Marathon's "worst" gun, and after 80 hours I'm not letting the meta break us up
 
 
Mega Charizard X in Pokemon Champions.
Pokemon Pokemon Champions producer "really enjoyed" the Pokemon Stadium games, used them as a "reference"
 
 
Greninja and Sylveon fight in Pokemon Champions
Pokemon I made a competitive team in minutes in Pokemon Champions – this could open the door for newcomers
 
 
Crimson Desert screenshot of Kliff with an orange On the Radar overlay
RPGs I hope Crimson Desert never fixes its weird controls
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Resident Evil 4 remake protagonist Leon Kennedy looking at the camera
    1
    Resident Evil Requiem doesn't reunite Leon and the Merchant, likely because the shopkeeper was left 3 trillion in debt after their last encounter in Resident Evil 4 Remake
  2. 2
    Fan-favorite Steel Legion returning to Warhammer 40K after Armageddon book closes out current edition
  3. 3
    Warhammer 11th Edition officially revealed, and your old Codex army books will still work
  4. 4
    "F*** me, I guess": Hades 2 actor Ben Starr "hated" himself while playing the roguelike because his character Prometheus is a "hard boss"
  5. 5
    Disgaea dev's spooky new Stardew Valley-like is finally confirmed for a western release months after its Japanese announcement

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...