How often has Santa Claus been in Star Wars?

While Life Day is the traditional stand in for Christmas in the Star Wars galaxy, at one point, Christmas was a holiday that existed in Star Wars as well. And with Christmas, there comes Santa Claus. Despite his busy schedule of having to deliver toys to every house in the world, Santa has still had time to make a few appearances in a galaxy far, far away over the years. 

Christmas in the Stars

The Star Wars Holiday Special came out in 1978, but the first actual mention of Christmas was a few years later when the holiday album Christmas in the Stars was released. The album features several original songs that combine Christmas elements (bells and trees) with Star Wars elements (Wookiees and droids). The album features a framing device where C-3PO and R2-D2 work in a droid factory that works year-round making toys for S. Claus. Before each song, the characters will talk about a new element of Christmas in the Star Wars galaxy. Santa Claus himself never technically appears in this album. S. Claus appears at the end, and it's revealed that he is Santa's son because the whole galaxy is just too big for one Claus to be able to deliver all the toys in one night. However, with the appearance of S. Claus, we can consider this our first bit of confirmation that Santa Claus at lease exists in Star Wars Legends.

Star Wars: X-Wing

This 1993 computer game is largely a flight simulation game that takes place in space. However, between flying missions, the setup for missions takes place on the deck of the Independence, a spaceship in the Rebels fleet. If the calendar of the computer that Star Wars X-Wing is being played on is set to December 25th, Santa Claus will appear on the ship, alongside other Rebel soldiers. 

Knights of the Old Republic #50

In the 50th issue of the comic series based on the video game,  the characters visit Goodvalor's Little Bivoli, a restaurant on the plane Coruscant. While they are there, a man in a red suit with a white beard appears in the background. It's pretty unmistakable that the man is Santa Claus. And given the man's apparent immortality, it shouldn't be surprising that a person who was able to interact with C-3P0 and R2-D2 during the Galactic Civil War was also around four thousand years earlier as well. 

After Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012 and most of the Expanded Universe was relegated to a separate Legends Canon, Santa has only made two appearances, both in non-canon material. (Though admittedly, the canon status of Santa's previous appearances in Star Wars was loose at best.) 

Starting in 2012, author Jeffrey Brown released a series of non-canon picture books called Vader and Son, a series that featured Darth Vader trying to parent a very young Luke Skywalker and Leia, with mixed success. In 2021, a book called A Vader Family Sithmas would feature Santa Claus trying to deliver presents to Vader's children but having problems with the Death Star not having a chimney for him to use. 

The only other time Santa is referenced in Star Wars is in the 2022 video game LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. While Santa himself doesn't appear, certain codes will allow characters to dress up like Santa while they try and save the galaxy.

Santa has been surprisingly a staple in Star Wars. While he might not be canon, you better watch out because who knows the next time that Santa will return to a Star Wars town again.