Krampus. Know him?

Steve Schulze

It occurs to me that this might be a smarter place to ask than on my limited selection of Facebook friends.

I'm trying to gauge whether a cultural reference is too obscure for it to be worth developing into some kind of Team Fortress Christmas related model/s. Reference being the character Krampus. I'm assuming that there'll be plenty of Europe-centric folks who'll know of Santa's devilish helper but I'm wondering whether it's spread further afield and in particular to the US.

cholden

Krampus rules! Go beat up some unruly teens!

teaandcigarettes

Andreas

Never heard of him, had to google him.

Davision3D

Knecht Ruprecht?

Zipfinator

I have heard of him and I am a united statesman! I don't know much specifically about him but I am aware.

Andreas

Is this an american thing, or an northern European thing...

Zipfinator

Andreas wrote: »

Is this an american thing, or an northern European thing...

After a quick look at Wikipedia it originated in Europe and was mainly spread there and in Australia. I think it used to be more common in America in the 50's though.

Justin Meisse

I doubt Krampus ever had any type of mainstream popularity in the US - more of an underground internet meme - I recall a joke campaign called "Keep Krampus in Christmas".

He's as well known as Bob Dobbs - a few internet wizards will recognize who it is a sagely nod your way in appreciation.

Sukotto

I know him and I'm from the US! He's my favorite Xmas character, forget Santa! I think a Krampus mode in TF2 would be awesome. Would he be similar to the Horseless Headless Horsemann?

PolyHertz

Andreas

I'm even more confused now :P

Steve Schulze

He's a character from Austrian/Hungarian mythology - a devilish kind of guy who accompanies Santa Claus. Santa gives the good kids gifts, Krampus gives the naughty kids coal, whacks them with his bunch of sticks or if they're really naughty, shoves them into his bag and carries them off to Hell.