Warning: spoilers for 2024’s Red One.
Red Onefollows the kidnapping and rescue of Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) in a story that mixes action, fantasy, and comedy, and it features a couple of monsters and real-life myths that many viewers are surely familiar with. Directed by Jake Kasdan,Red Onebrings together two of the most popular action stars in recent years: Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans.Red Onefollows Callum Drift (Johnson), the head of North Pole security, who, after handing in his petition to retire after Christmas, faces a major emergency: a black ops team breaks into the North Pole complex and kidnaps Santa Claus.
The director of the Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority (MORA), Zoe Harlow (Lucy Liu), tracks down hacker Jack O’Malley (Evans), the final piece in a chain that will lead them to the kidnapper. Callum and Jack are forced to work together, and they learn thatSanta’s kidnapper is Gryla (Kiernan Shipka), the winter witch. This sends them on an adventure to find Gryla’s lair and rescue Santa, and in the process, they come across another famous Christmas character, while also dealing with a famous Christmas myth and even learning of the existence of another famous character but from another holiday.
5Santa Claus
Santa Claus Is Played by J.K. Simmons
Of course, the main myth inRed Oneis Santa Claus.Red Onegoes for a different image from the classic Santa Claus one, asSimmons’ version is a very fit and healthy one who exercises and stays in great shape, unlike the typical image of a bigger and softer Santa.Red One’s Santa Claus is also a magical character, though exactly what his magical powers are is unknown, but he uses that magic to drive his sleigh and bring presents to all the kids on the “nice” list.
Santa Claus is also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, and Kris Kringle.
Although the figure of Santa Claus is mostly associated with Western Christian culture,the idea of him comes from folklore traditions around Saint Nicholas, a Christian bishop and patron saint of children from the 4th century. Saint Nicholas is said to have been a very generous man who secretly gave gifts, andthe modern concept of Santa Claus is a combination of Saint Nicholas and Father Christmas. The latter comes from English folklore and is a Christmas gift-bringer and the human representation of Christmas.
Santa Claus is a benevolent figure, associated with kindness, charity, and philanthropy. The idea of Santa Claus making the toys he gives to children at his workshop emerged in the early 20th century, and with time, this idea began to include elves that help him around the workshop. Nowadays, it’s tradition for children to write a letter to Santa Claus with a wish list of presents, with some postal services in different countries recognizing this and allowing children to hand in their letters.
4Gryla
Gryla Is Played By Kiernan Shipka
Although she might seem like a character exclusive toRed One,Gryla is actually a mythological character from Icelandic folklore. InRed One, Gryla is introduced as the winter witch and later revealed to be a huge troll with the ability to shapeshift. What Gryla wants inRed Oneis to get rid of every person on the Naughty List, and for that, she steals the “glaskafig”, a magical snow globe – but because the Naughty List is too long, she needs a toy-duplicating machine owned by Santa to create many of these snow globes.
Callum and Zoe, thanks to a tracker placed on Jack, find out that Gryla’s lair is underneath the North Pole, as that’s where Santa’s old workshop is, and the machine she needs is kept there. Gryla needs Santa’s magic to drive his sleigh so she can deliver the snow globes to everyone on the Naughty List, but she’s stopped by Callum and Jack. Gryla takes her true troll form and fights them and Krampus, who joins the fight. Gryla is eventually defeated after Santa recovers and calls his reindeer to attack her.
In the movie, Gryla had numerous sons who had her shapeshifting abilities.
Gryla falls into a pool of the snow globes she created, thus imprisoning herself in one of them. Zoe takes the snow globe with her, and it will be safely kept by MORA. As mentioned above, Gryla is a figure from Icelandic folklore, but she started to be associated with Christmas in the 17th century.Gryla is represented as a very ugly and greedy ogress, who wanders human settlements demanding charity, mostly asking for naughty children, who she then takes to her lair in the mountains.In some representations, she carries a sack where she keeps the captured children.
3Krampus
Krampus Is Played By Kristofer Hivju
If there’s someone as kind and good as Santa Claus, then there must be someone who is the complete opposite (for balance, of course) – and that’s where Krampus comes in. InRed One, Krampus is revealed to be Santa Claus’ estranged brother, who Callum believes to be working with Gryla. Callum and Jack visit Krampus at his castle, where it’s revealed that Krampus created the Naughty List (more on that in a bit) and he’s Gryla’s ex-lover. Krampus is hosting a party when Callum and Jack arrive, and they are horrified to see how he entertains his guests.
Jack and Callum eventually manage to trick Krampus and escape his castle, but to their surprise, Krampus shows up to help when Gryla reemerges in her true troll form. Although Krampus is unable to talk Gryla out of her destructive plans, he’s still of big help, and Santa Claus acknowledges him at the end, thus fixing their relationship. In real life, Krampus is a figure from Central and Eastern Alpine folkloric tradition, and he’s closely associated with Santa Claus.Krampus is a horned anthropomorphic figure, and he accompanies Santa Claus as he visits children.
These visits happen on the night of December 5, known as “Krampusnacht” (Krampus night), before the Feast of St. Nicholas on December 6.
During those visits, Santa Claus gives presents to well-behaved children, whileKrampus punishes those who behave badly with birch rods(yes, really). There are variations when it comes to Krampus’ physical appearance, but most agree that he’s hairy, black or dark brown, has horns like a goat, fangs, a pointed tongue, and one foot has cloven hooves. Krampus normally carries chains, bells, and a bundle of birch branches or whips. On Christmas Eve, Krampus carries a sack with him in which he keeps all the evil and naughty children, either to drown them, eat them, or take them to Hell.
2Santa Claus’ “Naughty List”
If You’re In It, You’re Not Getting Presents
A big part of the concept and tradition of Santa Claus is the Naughty or Nice List. InRed One, as explained above, the Naughty List was created by Krampus, who wanted to do the opposite of his brother and go after the children who had behaved badly. Gryla takes the Naughty List from the North Pole so she can see who she will send a snow globe, and on that list are Jack and his son, Dylan.The Naughty or Nice List is an addition to the tradition of Santa Claus, though its exact origin is unknown.
However, according toNational Day Calendar,it was first mentioned in the 1934 song “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”The idea of the list goes hand in hand with the idea of “nice” children getting candy, cookies, or other small gifts in their stockings, while “naughty” children find a lump of coal in theirs. It’s also believed that the Naughty or Nice List comes from many cultures and legends, all of them rooted in the concepts of good/bad and nice/naughty, along with the idea of how good behavior should be rewarded, while bad behavior brings unpleasant consequences.
Also according toNational Day Calendar, Santa Claus makes this list on December 4th.
For children to better understand the concepts of good and bad behavior along with the consequences of each one, the figures of Santa Claus and Krampus come into play. Santa Claus, the benevolent, smiley, soft figure is the one that will visit well-behaved children and reward them with presents, while those who behave badly will be visited by the demon-like Krampus, who can either eat them or take them to a very horrific place.
1The Headless Horseman
The Headless Horseman Makes A Brief But Memorable Cameo
An unexpected but brief appearance inRed Oneis the Headless Horseman. When Zoe captures Jack, she takes him to the North Pole to interrogate him and explains to him what MORA’s job is about. Of course, Jack doesn’t believe anything she’s saying… until he sees the Headless Horseman’s demon horse, the horseman himself, and his pumpkin head being taken into custody by MORA agents. Zoe explains to Jack that, as Santa Claus has been kidnapped, they will be interrogating all mythological creatures to get information and, hopefully, find Santa Claus.
The figure of the Headless Horseman became widely popular thanks to Washington Irving’s 1820 short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
The Headless Horseman is a mythical figure found in folklore in Europe since the Middle Ages, appearing in German, Irish, Scandinavian, and British legends. Headless horsemen are riders upon horseback who have no head, and whether they carry their head or are missing it altogether depends on the legend. Headless horsemen were seen as omens of ill fortune, and their victims were proud, scheming, arrogant people. The figure of the Headless Horseman became widely popular thanks to Washington Irving’s 1820 short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
It’s believed that Irving’s character was not only based on the above-mentioned legends but also on the headless corpse of a Hessian Jäger found in Sleepy Hollow and buried by the Van Tassel family in an unmarked grave.The Headless Horseman has since become a figure associated with Halloweenand has been adapted to all types of media, most notably film with movies likeThe Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toadand Tim Burton’sSleepy Hollow.
Source:National Day Calendar.
Red One
After Santa Claus is kidnapped, the North Pole’s Head of Security (Dwayne Johnson) must team up with a notorious bounty hunter (Chris Evans) in a thrilling, globe-spanning mission to save Christmas. This action-packed holiday adventure mixes comedy and festive magic, with an ensemble cast that includes Lucy Liu and J.K. Simmons.
