Forums » RP Discussion » Fairy Tales/Myths from Different Countries

IIRC the predecessors of Santa Claus are Saint Nicholas and Father Christmas. Saint Nicholas was a bishop famous for gifting the poor and Father Christmas was signified as the good spirit of Christmas that brought joy in 16th century England. There are other variations of this prominent figure, all of them bringing the same concept which is gift giving.

You're not exactly wrong on the Coca-Cola part. He was more popularized by the company because of an artist's depiction of that very figure where he wears red and white, the colors of their brand. His illustrations were used for promotion which explains the ad you remembered seeing.

Yup, and he gets dressed differently in different parts of the world where those versions are being used. Sometimes he looks more like a traditional local, sometimes he looks like some sort of wizard or druid... And he's often not notably fat.

Our concept of him is part ad campaign, part specific character reference (The Night Before Christmas), which... is a pretty freaking American way to do it.

Here in Michigan we have the Dogman. It's said that every seven years he comes out of hiding and will sometimes kill whoever he comes into contact with, usually by way of an attack or with the people that have seen him dying of fright. I'm not an expert on it by any means or anything and will not do extensive research because truthfully it does scare me so I encourage anyone to do their own of they want further information.

There is actually a song written on the legend.

Huh. I grew up in Michigan, but never heard of the Dogman. Is it regional? I pretty much kept the the pinky/ring finger tips when I was there.

(The link won't load for me. Not even a bad page, just nothing for some reason.)

Plenty claims about Bloody Mary in mirrors, vanishing lighthouses, ghost ships, and fragments of local indigenous legends (like the Sleeping Bear dunes, the Mackinac Island turtle, etc), though.

Has anyone mentioned those running deer women in various Native American lores yet? They run through the woods, then turn into deer when men try to follow them. Sometimes they're malicious, sometimes not, and not a lot is known about how they work or where they come from a lot of the time.