Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a Fabled spirit and one of the most famous and beloved icons of childhood folklore, whose name and visage has become symbolic with the holiday known as Christmas.

Happy, jolly, and generous to a fault, Santa is fueled by the power and faith of the children believing in him. On December 24th of each year, he would ride off in a sleigh famously powered by nine reindeer (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph) to distribute gifts to children around the world. To this end he maintained a census of which children were naughty and which children were nice, doling out his gifts accordingly.

Background
In the beginning, the-man-who-would-be Santa Claus was Agios Nikolaus, born in Patara, Lycia (Turkey) in 270 CE. As an adult, Agios was appointed the Bishop of Myra, where he developed a reputation for performing miracles, such as resurrecting the dead. He was also known for his benevolence, charity, and anonymous gifts to the poor. Agios Nikolaus passed away in 343 CE, when he ascended to sainthood. His remains were entombed in Myra until the 11th century when the Saracens invaded Turkey. The faithful disinterred Nikolaus’ remains and shipped them to the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy where they remained undisturbed for centuries.

Following his physical death, Nikolaus' spirit remained and became the spirited Fable known as St. Nicholas (aka Santa Claus).

Once a group of disgruntled thugs decided to kidnap Santa Claus out of revenge for giving them "inappropriate" gifts. The Sandman and his friend Jed liberated Santa from the group and then helped Santa to deliver presents to all of the children of the world that year. unfortunately, incidents such as this are not uncommon, however, Santa always manages to find helpful souls to aid him in either combating potential threats against Christmas.

One of Santa's primary rivals in sharing the affection and faith of the world's children, the Easter Bunny, once hired the intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo to assassinate Santa Claus. Accepting the Bunny’s payment, Lobo was only too happy to see the job through. He traveled to the North Pole and blazed a bloody trail of destruction as he massacred dozens of elves to reach Santa's throne room. The two faced each other in mortal combat but Lobo defeated the Fable by decapitating him. However, while Lobo left believing that he had completed the contract, Santa's immortal spirit remained and returned to continue spreading joy across the globe.

Trivia

 * Santa first appeared in Superman's Christmas Adventure #1 (1940).
 * John Constantine later located the skeleton of St Agios Nikolaus and arranged to have the remains shipped back to England for use in an occult ritual.
 * Although he seldom interacts with members of the super-hero community, there are those such as Superman and Kid Flash who can attest to Santa Claus’ existence.
 * Despite constantly advancing Apokoliptian defenses and weaponry, Santa Claus manages to personally give Darkseid a lump of coal every year.