However, his darker counterpartKrampushas stayed hidden in the shadows, disciplining the bad children.

Today, were bringing them both into the light to compare these two long-standing Christmas figures.

Thats kind of harsh for fighting with your siblings, isnt it?

Heres how they measure up to each other as the yin and yang of Christmas spirit.

Anad campaign from Coca-Cola started in 1931helped solidify this image so thoroughly that no oneeven remembered Father Christmas anymore.

Krampus, on the other hand, has had a tough time gaining any mainstream traction.

He has his own parties and traditions likeKrampusnachton the night beforeSaint Nicholas feast day.

According to some traditions, onKrampusnacht,Krampus would make his rounds doling out punishment.

In some versions of this legend, St. Nick and Krampus would actually traveltogether.

Santa would give out the gifts andKrampuswould give out coal!

However, as usual, Santa had some help.

Many cultures have attempted to ban him over the centuries.

For example,the Catholic Church attempted to ban Krampus celebrationsin the 12th century.

Of course, its hard to pin all the blame on Santa.

He also gets confused for Santa fairly often.

Krampus could use a better publicist.

In psychology, theres a theory known asoperant conditioning.

This theory describes the how different rewards or punishments can influence behavior.

You might have heard some terms associated with this theory like positive reinforcement but theyre commonly misunderstood.

For example, children are good all year, so Santa brings them presents.

Negative Reinforcement:This happens when the reward is the removal of some kind of stimulus.

Positive Punishment:This happens when a punishment is introduced after a behavior.

Negative Punishment:This triggers when the punishment involves the removal of something after a behavior.

For example, the children start fighting on Christmas, so the parents take away the toys Santa brought.

They still need the parents to pick up the slack sometimes.

However, Santa utilizes both positive reinforcementandpositive punishment.

Krampus only utilizes positive punishment.

Krampus only has (quite literally) the stick.

Of course, theres also the question of whether a once-yearly disciplinary system is effective at all.

Most children dontreallyremember to start being good until November anyway.

However, Santa still has the edge here.

Its hard to learn to be a good kid if youre in hell.

Santas definitely got that down.

But we have to talk for just a second about howinsanely metalKrampus is.

The above GIF is a scene from the 2015 movie Krampus.

In this film, a young boy gets in a fight with his family and wishes them away.

To answer the call, Krampus sends a cadre of evil toys and elves after them.

Everything about Krampus persona, though, is metal to its core.

Every scene hes in looks like it should bescored by Slayer.

Theres no real comparison here with Santa.

Mr. Claus doesnt aim to be cool or metal or face-meltingly awesome in the biblical sense of the word.

Thats a good thing.

But…man, look at this guy.

However, Krampus has gotten the short end of the stick over the centuries.

Though you might not want to give Krampus too much leeway in disciplining your kids.