History Creator / HansChristianAndersen

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: As the writer of so many beloved fairy tales, his works fall right off the idealistic end of the scale. Some of his stories, however (Such as"Literature/TheShadow") turn out to be surprisingly cynical.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: As the writer of so many beloved fairy tales, his works fall right off the idealistic end of the scale.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: More than one of his characters ponder this, with ''truth'' as the third platonic entity in the mix. ''The Philosopher's Stone'' plays it straight.

* CrankyNeighbor: A mild variety, mostly on the subject of UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} and UsefulNotes/{{Norway}}. Mostly in "The Rags", where the two nationalities lash out towards eachother, with an ironic twist. Also in ''The Elf Mound'', where the Norwegian Troll King is trying to get a bride from the more Danish fairy stock. She finds the Norwegian trolls rude.

* DeliveranceFromDamnation: In ''The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf'', the eponymous girl Inge is ultimately saved from Hell thanks to the prayers of a virtuous woman (the only one who has pitied Inge since childhood).

* EvilVersusEvil: Describes the story and relationship between the titular characters in ''Big Claus and Little Claus.''

%%* LeafBoat: ''Thumbelina'' is probably the UrExample.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: In his story, "The Galoshes of Fortune", the eponymous shoes grant the wishes of whoever is wearing them. This usually ends badly, as the characters are unaware of their power.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: More than one of his characters ponder this, with ''truth'' as the third platonic entity in the mix. ''The Philosopher's stone'' plays it straight.

Wiki/TheOtherWiki says he was also quite possibly bisexual, so that's fun too. It's also noted that Andersen himself, his eccentric behavior and arrogance usually led to him getting kicked out by the various nobles who housed him.

* ''[[VideoGame/FateExtra Fate/Extra CCC]]'' and ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', where he is a Caster-type Servant. Contrary to fellow famous writer Creator/WilliamShakespeare, his appearance is that of a [[OlderThanTheyLook child]] but with [[VocalDissonance the baritone voice of a fully-grown man]], representing how he has a childish mind capable of writing his fairy tales, but still carrying all his adult life experiences. He also loves [[{{Deconstruction}} tearing down the motivations of those around him]] [[{{Reconstruction}} but fully capable of acknowledging their strengths as well]].
* ''[[VideoGame/GrimmsNotes Grimms Notes Repage]]'', where he is one of the Story Tellers, and a playable character.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1992'': In the episode "Metal Fish", he as a young man explores the ocean in a primitive submarine and is rescued by Ariel and her friends when his submarine crashes and he nearly drowns. His experience inspires him to write ''The Little Mermaid''.

** "The Storks". A young boy leads several other boys into singing a song that taunts a family of storks. As revenge, [[spoiler: the storks refuse to bring any of the boys baby brothers or sisters... except for the boy who led the song. The storks bring him a dead baby brother.]]

* GossipEvolution: "It's Perfectly True" shows how the true story evolves into so many different versions with every teller still insisting, it's Perfectly True.

%%* AnIcePerson: The Ice Maiden.

* MutualEnvy: In "The Galoshes of Fortune", the titular galoshes cause wishes to come true (although no one who wears them is aware of this property). A watchman puts them on and, looking up into a lieutenant's window, wishes he was the lieutenant. He enters the consciousness of the lieutenant -- and the lieutenant, looking down enviously, wishes he was the watchman, which restores the watchman to himself.

* NatureIsNotNice: "A drop of water" is about a scientist who looks at a drop of water in a magnifying glass and is horrified to find it full of tiny EldritchAbomination like creatures tearing each other apart.

* ScareEmStraight: Present in many of his works. The most egregious example would be "Ole-Luk-Oie". Simplified, writing a "C" (and worse) in school will get you to hell after death. Yes, a "C".

The most familiar version of "The Little Mermaid" in the western world is probably Disney's, which deviates strongly from the original: Hans Christian's protagonist has NoNameGiven, no bikini top made from seashells, and no {{Non Human Sidekick}}s, but does have a grandmother, and wants to marry the prince for "an immortal soul" (yes, in the Christian sense) as much as for romantic love. Not to mention the minor fact that said prince marries another girl, meaning she'll die unless she stabs him, which she doesn't. And then there's a bit of disconnected DeusExMachina {{Aesoptinum}} MoodWhiplash, but [[FanonDiscontinuity we don't talk about that]].

Interestingly, Creator/OscarWilde still thought the story too upbeat and penned an even darker version, "The Fisherman and His Soul" as a reaction. In this charming tale a human must [[DealWithTheDevil sell his immortal soul]] in order to marry a mermaid.

Other works have come through the adaptation process about as reasonably intact as can be expected. "The Snow Queen", basically an epic {{Gender Flip}}ped RescueRomance heavy on the symbolism, has been turned into a science-fiction novel, an animated movie, and an anime by NHK, ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura's'' network. The Disney film ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' was originally meant to be an adaptation of "The Snow Queen", and even had it as its WorkingTitle (and it's still titled that in some countries), but ended up developing into its own original story with inspiration from the fairy tale.

Remember that bedtime story about the ugly duckling who became a swan? The image of a princess sleeping on a ton of mattresses... and a pea? The FairyTale about a mermaid who sold her voice to a sorceress to try to win the love of a human prince? Meet the Danish author of all the saddest and sweetest of the fairy tales we all grew up with, tales seen referenced in pop culture so frequently that many people have no idea they were written by the same author.

* AnimateInanimateObject: The shoes in "The Red Shoes" not only compel the poor heroine into an InvoluntaryDance, they dance off with her severed feet after she has them amputated.

** ''The Red Shoes'', in which the protagonist is punished for paying more attention to the title objects than to her family or to church sermons by being forced to dance in them until she dies. Oh, and the shoes keep on dancing, [[spoiler: even after her feet get chopped off!]]

* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: Most obviously in "The Red Shoes," where the heroine has her feet chopped off because her cursed shoes won't come off and won't stop dancing.

* {{Irony}}: In "Red Shoes", all the protagonist wanted to do was dance. This was literally all she could do.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: Many modern adaptations of "The Red Shoes" have Karen finding a less painful way of removing the title ClingyMacGuffin, and the story ends with her still alive.

* MutualEnvy: In "The Goloshes of Fortune", the titular goloshes cause wishes to come true (although no one who wears them is aware of this property). A watchman puts them on and, looking up into a lieutenant's window, wishes he was the lieutenant. He enters the consciousness of the lieutenant -- and the lieutenant, looking down enviously, wishes he was the watchman, which restores the watchman to himself.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid'': In the episode "Metal Fish", he as a young man explores the ocean in a primitive submarine and is rescued by Ariel and her friends when his submarine crashes and he nearly drowns. His experience inspires him to write ''The Little Mermaid''.

Other works have come through the adaptation process about as reasonably intact as can be expected. "The Snow Queen", basically an epic {{Gender Flip}}ped RescueRomance heavy on the symbolism, has been turned into a science-fiction novel, an animated movie, and an anime by NHK, ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura's'' network. The Disney film ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' was originally meant to be an adaptation of "The Snow Queen", and even had it as its WorkingTitle (and it's still titled that in some countries), but ended up developing into its own original story with inspiration from the fairy tale.

* ''Literature/DavidCopperfield'': Some scholars believe that Creator/CharlesDickens based the character of Uriah Heep on Andersen as a TakeThat. Andersen had been Dickens' houseguest but overstayed his welcome by several weeks. If true, it's a very unflattering portrayal.

* EvilVsEvil: Describes the story and relationship between the titular characters in ''Big Claus and Little Claus.''

* ''[[VideoGame/FateExtra Fate Extra CCC]]'' and ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', where he is a Caster-type Servant. Contrary to fellow famous writer Creator/WilliamShakespeare, his appearance is that of a [[OlderThanTheyLook child]] but with [[VocalDissonance the baritone voice of a fully-grown man]], representing how he has a childish mind capable of writing his fairy tales, but still carrying all his adult life experiences. He also loves [[{{Deconstruction}} tearing down the motivations of those around him]] [[{{Reconstruction}} but fully capable of acknowledging their strengths as well]].

** The early English translations did their best to remove anything deemed inappropriate for children, such as FamilyUnfriendlyDeaths and violence in general, less than moral behavior by protagonists, adultery, and any appearances by the Devil (who in some cases was replaced by "a most wicked magician"). This, in combination with the generally poor quality of the translations, which were often based on German translations rather than the original Danish text, gave Andersen a reputation as harmless childrens' entertainment and nothing more in the Anglosphere until a long time into the 20th Century.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: When companies adapt his works, most writers attempt to remove the DiedHappilyEverAfter trope with varying results.

* ''[[VideoGame/GrimmsNotes Repage]]'', where he is one of the Story Tellers, and a playable character.