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Santa Claws or Evil Santa is a boss enemy unique to the Duke Nukem 3D expansion pack Duke: Nuclear Winter. He is encountered in the last level of the expansion pack, Here Comes Santa Claws.

Description[]

Santa Claws was captured by the aliens and a group of Bad Elves known as the Feminist Elven Militia and they have brainwashed him so they can use him for their plans of world domination.

Santa Claws is armed with a number of weapons, much like Duke Nukem himself. Santa Claws's arsenal includes a Mighty Foot, an RPG, a Chaingun Cannon and a Shotgun. He also has a jetpack and steroids (the latter is used only if he is shrunk by the Shrinker).

Unlike most bosses Duke Nukem encounters; Santa is not killed when Duke defeats him; instead Santa is freed from the aliens mind control. Even if he is blown up of killed by freezing, the ending cutscene states that Duke rescued him.

Appearance[]

A jolly old fat man in a red suit with lots of weapons. Duke is firmly on his Naughty List.

Santa Claws' sprites are undoubtedly based on Duke Nukem's. His movements are the same and he even has the same gun sprite that Duke is seen with though it should be noted when Santa tries to kick the player the kicking animation is different from Duke's.

Santa's in-game quotes[]

As he is human, Santa Claws can speak and will say some phrases during his boss fight:

  • "You found my secret plans, now you must die!" (heard in distance, before he is encountered)
  • "What? No milk and cookies for Santa?" (said during the battle)
  • "Ho! Ho! Ho! It's not nice to shoot Santa!" (said during the battle)
  • "Oh! My face!" (said when defeated)

Although Santa Claus is being manipulated by the aliens, his dialogue implies that he had his personality altered and was led to believe he is helping them out of his free will. This is undone and he regains his senses after the battle, comically because Duke hit him on the head.

Combat Analysis[]

Weapon effectivenesses
Mighty Foot
MightyBootSprite
200 kicks
Pistol
PistolSprite
417 shots
Shotgun
ShotgunSprite
28 shots
Chaingun Cannon
ChaingunCannonSprite
277 shots
RPG
RPGSprite
10 rockets
Pipe Bomb
PipebombSprite
17 bombs
Shrinker
ShrinkRaySprite
Not effective
Expander
MicrowaveExpanderSprite
166 shots
Devastator
DevastatorSprite
65 rockets
Laser Tripbomb
LaserTripbombSprite
25 mines
Freezethrower
FreezethrowerSprite
125 shots
Incinerator
Incinerator
N/A
  • The values given for the Shotgun and the explosive weapons are minimum values only.
  • The Shrinker is effective, but Santa Claws will return to regular size immediately when shrunk.

Santa Claws has 2500 hit points, which is significantly lower than other boss enemies, but as he constantly moves very quickly, this weakness is mostly negated. Because of his constant movement, projectile weapons are unlikely to hit.

Santa Claws is the same size as Duke Nukem, and as such he cannot crush him underfoot.

Santa Claws has four methods to attack the player: a Shotgun, a Chaingun Cannon, an RPG and the Mighty Foot. He will use the Shotgun and Chaingun Cannon at close quarters, while at longer distances he will use the RPG . The Mighty Foot is, obviously, a melee weapon. He also has a jetpack, though he will only use it if the player is above him (like the Assault Trooper).

Despite the fact that Santa Claws is the only boss that can be shrunk by the Shrinker, he will quickly return to normal size by using steroids, so the Shrinker is rendered effectively useless.

Trivia[]

  • Santa Claws is the only boss enemy that can be shrunk by the Shrinker. However, he will immediately return to normal size through the use of steroids.
  • Santa Claws is the only boss enemy that cannot automatically kill the player when they get close enough.
  • Santa Claws has the most methods of attack of any enemy in any Duke Nukem game, with 4 different weapons.
  • He replaces the original Pig Cops as Santa can be encountered anywhere in the normal episodes or user maps where the original Pig Cops are normally encountered whilst playing Nuclear Winter.
    • His alert sound is exactly the same as the Pig Cops and can even be heard just after his speech is triggered; the speech that's heard before the fight with Santa is a soundclip Duke triggers and is not Santa's alert sound at all as you'll always hear the Pig Cop alert sound each time Santa appears which was either laziness or a mistake by Simply Silly Software; this is even more clear whilst playing a level from the original episodes or a usermap as the speech is absent (See Also: Pig Cop Trivia).
  • If killed by using the Microwave Expander or Freezethrower, Santa Claws will blow up and the final cutscene will not be shown. You'll be taken to the results screen and then back to the menu. (Confirmed on Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition)
    • When he is frozen by Freezethrower and destroyed, an atomic health spawns.
  • Santa Claws can be squished by the garage door where you encounter him. Killing Santa Claws this way will soft-lock the game.
Duke: Nuclear Winter
Levels Deja Vu | Where It All Began | Land of Forgotten Toys | Santa's Corporate HQ
The Backdoor | Christmas Village | Here Comes Santa Claws
Items Access Card | Holoduke | Jetpack | Night Vision Goggles | Portable Medkit
Protective Boots | Scuba Gear | Steroids
Health: Small Medkit | Large Medkit | Atomic Health | Armor
Weapons Mighty Foot | Pistol | Shotgun | Chaingun Cannon | RPG | Shrinker
Microwave Expander | Pipe Bomb | Devastator | Laser Tripbomb | Freezethrower
Enemies Common enemies: Assault Captain | Enforcer | Assault Trooper | Pig Cop
Protozoid Slimer | Shark | Turret
New: Flying Frosty | Frosted Battle Mobile | Groan | Grunt | Snowman
Boss: Santa Claws
Expansion packs
and add-ons
Duke Assault | Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach | Duke: Nuclear Winter | Duke It Out In D.C.
Duke Xtreme | Duke!ZONE | Duke!ZONE II | Plutonium PAK | Unofficial expansion packs
Main game: Duke Nukem 3D
Fan community User maps | Mods & Total Conversions | Speedruns
Source ports | High Resolution Pack
Other Difficulty | Hazards | Multiplayer | Cheat codes | Quotes | Music
Simply Silly Software | Duke Nukem | Feminist Elven Militia | Present
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