History Main / TheThreeWiseMen

** Nor does it describe them as "kings" - the Greek word "magoi" which Matthew uses normally referred to Persian priests.[[labelnote: *]]Incidentally, that's where we get the word "magic" from - the Greeks distrusted the Persian priesthood and suggested they were doing witchcraft.[[/labelnote]]

According to Matthew, the magi followed a star which came to be known as the StarOfBethlehem. As they approached Jerusalem, Herod tried to trick them into revealing where Jesus was, so that he might be put to death. Upon finding Jesus, they gave him three symbolic gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. The tradition of gift giving for Christians dates back to this story. In many countries, they're the equivalent of SantaClaus. Furthermore, they have dreams from God warning them of King Herod's murderous true intentions for Jesus and return home by a different route to ensure they tell him nothing. Unfortunately, this inadvertently leads to Herod committing the Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem to attempt to remove this threat to his throne. (Of course, Jesus and his family manage to escape in time; NiceJobBreakingItHerod.)

The Eastern church gives a variety of different names for the kings. In the West, the kings are traditionally named Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, but the New Testament never explicitly identifies any of the Magi by name, nor, for that matter, does it say that there were specifically three, only that Jesus and his family received three different types of gift.

* In a {{cutaway}} gag in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', two of the wise men are upset that the third has brought an expensive gift of gold, upstaging their gifts of frankincense and myrrh which they bought assuming a $5 limit. They propose putting the three gifts together and labeling them collectively, but this starts an argument.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' ChristmasSpecial "Jingle Jingle Jangle", the Kanker sisters take on the role, bringing the Eds the gifts of "mold, franks and cents, and fur."

* TokenMinority: Melchior is often depicted as being Black.
** FiveTokenBand: Many versions actually make the three different races to symbolize the entire world coming together in awe of Christ. As noted above, in some Eastern Orthodox traditions, at least one of the wise men is described as coming all the way from China.

* David Jaffe originally planned for the ''Videogame/GodOfWarSeries'' to end with Kratos as well as his Norse & Egyptian equals becoming this after killing their respective pantheons together.

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[[caption-width-right:334:"Guys, I think we should go to that town..."]]

In Christian tradition the Magi (Greek: μάγοι magoi), Three Wise Men, Three Kings or Kings from the East are said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts. They are mentioned only in the Gospel of Matthew , which says that they came "from the east to Jerusalem" to worship the Christ, "born King of the Jews". Because three gifts were recorded, there are traditionally said to have been three Magi, though Matthew does not specify their number.

* In Creator/UmbertoEco's novel ''Literature/{{Baudolino}}'', the Magi are thought to have come from the legendary kingdom of Prester John. In order to get Emperor Frederick's support for an expedition to the kingdom, the protagonist produces the relics of the Magi, found in a church in Constantinople, though he and the canon he gets the relics from both acknowledge that they're not the real remains.

The Eastern church gives a variety of different names for the kings. In the West, the kings are traditionally named Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, but the New Testament never explicitly identifies any of the Magi by name, nor, for that matter, does it say that there were specifically three.

The Eastern church gives a variety of different names for the kings. In the West, the kings are traditionally named Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, but the New Testament never explicitly identifies any of the Magi by name.

* In ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' episode "Paladin of the Lost Hour" the old man who holds back doomsday from happening hints that he's really Caspar.

* David Jaffe originally planned for the God of War Series to end with Kratos as well as his Norse & Egyptian equals becoming this after killing their respective pantheons together.

* An ''Creator/{{SCTV}}'' Christmas show has an extended commercial with Edna Boil and her line of holiday fashion for dogs, modeled by little yappy dogs. Creepy enough, then she highlights the true meaning of Christmas with Magi costumes worn by "We Three Pups".

* In short film ''Film/StarOfTheNight'', which is a SettingUpdate of the Nativity story to the American southwest, they're three cowboys who bought Christmas gifts for no particular reason. They see a blinking star and follow it--turns out it's the sign atop a motel. Then a man and his heavily pregnant wife show up at the auto court...

* In MikeRoyko's humorous column "Mary and Joe: Chicago Style," the Nativity is set in 1960s [[TheWindyCity Chicago]], where the Magi are mistaken for hippies and detained for illegal possession of gold and suspicious herbs. Meanwhile, there's no room for a poor couple from out of town in any of the city's social services, but Mary gets treated for post-partum delusion when she mentions who the baby's father is...

* They appear in ''Film/FromTheMangerToTheCross'', a film about [[{{Jesus}} you-know-who]].

* They are the main characters of an eponymous animated movie made in Spain by 2D animators from Don Bluth and Disney who'd been put out of a job when Don Bluth's studio and Disney's European subdivision, respectively, were dissolved. It centers on the three's quest to ''get'' the gifts in the first place so that they can give it to "[[{{Jesus}} the newborn King of all Kings]]". Their efforts are countered by King Herode and his demonic advisor Belial.

* The three wise men appear during the opening of ''[[Literature/BenHur Ben-Hur.]]'' About thirty years later Balthasar appears again, looking to find Jesus a second time and befriends Judah, the main character.

The Eastern church gives a variety of different names for the kings. In the West, the names have been settled since the 8th century as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar.