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Klaus, also known as The Woodsman, is an incarnation of Santa Claus in the DC Universe and one of the main protagonists in the Batman - Santa Claus: Silent Knight comics. He is a craftsman from the realm of Asgard who hunted Norse beasts in the mortal world before becoming stranded on Earth.
Biography[]
Origins[]
In the days of Scandinavian vikings, beasts from the realm of Asgard would find their way to Earth and terrorise its inhabitants. The people prayed to the Norse gods for help and heroes from Asgard would appear every year to answer their pleas. They would get together to commence a wild hunt, scouring the world in spectacular fashion as they track down and capture the wayward beasts while slaughtering the most dangerous ones. Amongst the hunters that would appear was a mighty woodsman called Klaus who one day separated from the others to hunt down a dreaded beast-man known as Krampus lurking within the Earth's forests. But upon finding him, The Woodsman discovered that Krampus simply used his beastly visage to frighten the young for its own amusement and was not as dangerous than what was initially assumed. Klaus decided to help the creature back to his realm when the path to Asgard was destroyed by a bolt of lightning, leaving them stranded on Earth as the path would not appear again. The two choose to live among the mortals as time went on but Krampus continued to scare any children he came across, causing Klaus to make toys for them as a token of apology. This act of kindness eventually grew into a worldwide phenomenon as Klaus began delivering presents to people across the planet once every year during the Christmas season. Despite this, he would continue to hunt for mythical beasts that threatened the world and befriended a number of Huldufólk (or "Elves") to assist him in his workshop at the North Pole.
Batman - Santa Claus: Silent Knight[]
During one Christmas season, Klaus discovered that many Draug he managed to imprison underground had escaped and began wrecking havok in Gotham City. He soon arrived in Gotham to find Batman, Robin, and Zatanna fighting one of the vampiric beasts and shot it through the chest with his crossbow before accompanying them to the cemetery where more Draug have been spotted by Nightwing and Batgirl. Once the beasts were stopped and Zatanna had briefed other heroes on The Woodsman's history, Klaus explained that the Draug did not escape by themselves; someone used knowledge only he knew to let them loose into the world. Suddenly, a voice that Klaus recognised spoke from one of the Draug bodies as it sprouted a strange flower that shot poisonous liquid onto Zatanna. The voice belonged to Krampus who materialised before them and announced its intent to unleash all the horrors Klaus has captured over the years as revenge for banishing him to the void. The visage of Krampus vanished as soon as it appeared and Klaus left with Zatanna in a whirlwind of snow to find her help. He left behind a magical box that revealed more about his relationship with Krampus to Batman and his allies.
Klaus and Krampus once worked together to keep village children from misbehaving. Krampus would frighten and chase the naughty while Klaus would tell them to be nice or become the beast-man's dinner. They continued their routine for generations but people became less fearful of Krampus as they grew more aware of the act. Klaus was unaware of how much this upset the beast until one day Krampus fooled him into believing that he had actually eaten some naughty children, causing the horrified woodsman to immediately cast him away deep within the space between realms, far from the mortal world. Klaus realised his mistake soon afterwards when the children were found alive nearby and searched the void for years to bring Krampus back only to presume he perished until his reappearance at the cemetery.
Sometime later, a Huldufólk called Peppermint Jon went to fetch Batman and a number of other superheroes to assist Klaus in fighting a giant sea serpent released by Krampus. Superman and Blue Beetle manage to lift the monster out of the water while Klaus has them carry it to a large glacier where they find Krampus attempting to destroy it. The beast-man is quickly restrained by Superman as Klaus explains that the glacier contains various Norse beasts he has captured over the years that he did not have the heart to slay since they were the last of their kind found on Earth. At that moment, Batman notices unusual voices coming from Krampus that were not its own before they pass onto Superman and take control of his actions. The possessed Superman attacks the heroes then breaks the glacier apart to unleash all the monsters inside. Meanwhile, Krampus uses the moment to kidnap Robin by whisking him away through a magic portal. As the heroes fought against the escaped beasts, Blue Beetle managed to free Superman from possession as an accidental avalanche subdues most of their opponents. The Man of Steel explains he saw visions of his possessors, angry spirits that were previously trapped within the void he knows as the Phantom Zone. Hearing this makes Klaus realise that Krampus must of unknowingly freed the spirits when he escaped to Earth and were influencing his actions.
Klaus goes to help the Bat-Family find Robin while leaving the other superheroes to fight the beasts still active after the avalanche. He uses an ability which lets him hear people through the trees to locate Robin underground, but upon going there, they find Krampus trying to resist a spirit's desire to harm the boy. They all work together to pull Krampus away from the spirit and succeed in separating them, restoring the beast-man back to its normal friendlier self while banishing the hateful phantom that controlled him. With the threat of angered spirits gone and Robin safe, Klaus returns with the Bat-Family above ground where he decides to let all the Norse beasts roam free on a planetoid away from Earth rather than sealing them inside the glacier again. He then prepares for his yearly trip across the globe, letting Krampus and Robin join him in delivering gifts, while everyone else (including Zatanna, now recovered from her poisoning) get together for a Christmas supper.
Batman - Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns[]
Gallery[]
