So, you're probably wondering by now why St. Nicholas looks completely different to every depiction or representation that we've seen of him. Good question. Considering his Turkish heritage, it would seem obvious that Saint Nicholas, who would later become the blueprint for the fictional Santa Claus, wouldn't have rosy cheeks and pale white skin. Instead he would be of a darker skin tone, which you can see from the CGI 3D recreation of Saint Nick.
In Western cultures it's not all too uncommon for people to assume the whiteness of historical figures. We mean, just look at Jesus. Born in Jerusalem and we still assume that he was white? It would seem that Saint Nick went under the same white washing. At least they got the beard and hair though, right? The eyes are pretty terrifying, though.