Krampus

The Krampus is an old Christian character from old world Catholic Christmas traditions. The Krampus is one of the variations of St Nicholas’s helpers; a tradition where another character is assigned St Nicholas’s naughty list duties. The Krampus is a horned anthropomorphic goat figure with one human foot and a very long tongue who, in Central and Eastern Alpine folkloric tradition Christianity, is said to accompany Saint Nicholas on visits to children during the night of 5 December (Krampusnacht; "Krampus Night"), immediately before the Feast of St. Nicholas on 6 December. The Krampus knocks on the doors of children’s homes to warn them to be good, or otherwise he will return on Christmas Eve with St. Nicholas. In this tradition, Saint Nicholas rewards well-behaved children with small gifts, while Krampus punishes badly-behaved ones with birch rods.

After World War One, Krampus traditions began to be banned, and almost disappeared entirely as Europe replaced their St Nicholas traditions with the kinder version of the American Santa Claus. In the 21st century, a modern resurgence of Krampus has spread due to the popularity of a Hollywood movie and television shows. The modern adaptations of Krampus are slightly different, and their costumes are often confused with other Central European mythical creatures, such as Straeggle, Straggle, Pervhta, or Perchten. This is most likely due to Hollywood and TV studios mistakenly confusing the Krampus with the ornate Perchten masks from the Czech Republic.