Santa Claus makes an appearance in various Christmas events, and is responsible for delivering presents across the world each year. He lives in the Land of Snow, and is the father of Jack Frost. He is the enemy of Anti-Santa, who seeks to defeat Santa and put an end to holidays.
Events
2014 Christmas event
As a bearded stranger, he requests eight full puppet boxes from Diango, and the player delivers it to the stranger. When returning to Diango, the player is rewarded with hats and scarves. His appearance suggests that he is Santa Claus.
2015 Christmas event
During the 2015 event, he is located in the White Knights' Castle, accompanied by two of his bodyguards. Because Anti-Santa is on the loose, he claims that it is too dangerous for him to be out there, so the White Knights' are keeping him there until it is safe.
2017 Christmas event
During the 2017 event, he is on holiday, located in the Corsair Cove with his son, Jack Frost. He placed the Wise Old Man in charge of being Santa that year.
2019 Christmas event
During the 2019 event, he is standing in Varrock square, surrounded by grumpy children demanding gingerbread gnomes. To teach his son, Jack Frost, some responsibility, he placed him in charge of that year's Christmas, and requests the player help fix his son's mistakes.
2022 Christmas event
During the 2022 event, he is standing in front of the Christmas portal leading to his pub, The Nutcracker, just west of Barbarian Village. He is hosting the Festive Games to determine who gets entry to the pub.
Dialogue
This article on an NPC has an associated transcript list. Click here for a list of transcripts that this NPC speaks in.
Concept art
Early model of Santa Claus
Textured model of Santa Claus
Textured model of Santa Claus
Work-in-progress attack animations for Santa and Anti Santa
Textured model of Santa Claus
Trivia
According to an issue of the Postbag from the Hedge, a portion of the alchemised gold is "waylaid" by Santa Claus whenever someone uses High Level Alchemy on an item, as a means to fund Christmas present production.[1] Presumably, the percentage of gold siphoned off is equal to 40% of an item's value, that is to say the share not received by the player.
Santa appears to be capable resurrecting the dead. According to Santa's scribe, all of his employees at The Nutcracker are those who died, but were given the opportunity by Santa to stick around. He sustains their mortal bodies via his magic so they appear normal, rather than appearing as ghosts or zombies.[2]
The concept art and body type B model of the Santa outfit suggests the existence of a Mrs. Claus, though she has yet to make an appearance in any holiday event.
In RuneScape 3, there is also no Mrs. Claus. Santa's wife and the mother of Jack Frost is the Queen of Snow, who is the ruler of the Land of Snow.
References
^Santa. Postbag 14: "The woeful tale of the bunny ears.". letter 1. RuneScape Postbags from the Hedge. Jagex. "It does not cost me much to make so many presents, as we have a deal that I cannot completely reveal to you. All I can say is that when you 'High-Alch', as you call it, some of the material gets a little 'waylaid'."
^Santa's scribe in 2022 Christmas event. Old School RuneScape. "Alas, that was a long time ago. I've since passed away. (...) Oh we all are here! Santa gave us the opportunity to stay here in this sanctuary. (...) That's just the thing, while we are in here we can keep our mortal body with Santa's magic."
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