History Creator / HansChristianAndersen

* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: Knud in "Under the Willow Tree" falls in love with the girl next door, Johanna, only after she moves away. He eventually asks her to marry him, but they've chosen incompatible career paths. The story ends with [[spoiler:Johanna becoming engaged to someone else and Knud freezing to death as he tries to make his way home across Europe alone]].

Andersen was attracted to both men and women (admitting this in his writings). It's believed that his works about romantic incompatibility, such as "The Little Mermaid" and "Thumbelina", reflect his own short end in life. 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.

Anderson was attracted to both men and women (admitting this in his writings). It's believed that his works about romantic incompatibility, such as "The Little Mermaid" and "Thumbelina", reflect his own short end in life. 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.

It is believed that he was gay or bisexual and that his works about romantic incompatibility, such as "The Little Mermaid" and "Thumbelina", reflect his own short end in life. 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.

* The 1952 film ''Hans Christian Andersen'', starring Creator/DannyKaye, which describes itself as "a fairy tale about the great spinner of fairy tales" (a colorful way of saying it's almost entirely made up).

* "Literature/TheSixSwans"

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.

Born on April 2, 1805 (which is now "National Children's Book Day"), Hans Christian Andersen (abbreviated H. C. Andersen in Denmark) grew up to become to fairy tales what Creator/{{Shakespeare}} became to drama. His works range from the simple to the epic, are full of complex but meaningful symbolism, and span the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism.

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 very, very loose inspiration from the fairy tale (basically just the ice palace).

It is believed that he was also 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.

He passed away in August 1875, and never married or had children.

Wiki/TheOtherWiki says he was also 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.

** In "How to Cook Soup Upon a Sausage Pin," the mouse king declares that he'll marry whichever mouse can find [[LiteralMinded the recipe for making soup on a sausage pin]].

* EngagementChallenge: The princess in "The Traveling Companion" requires all her suitors to answer three impossible questions (the protagonist gets "What am I thinking about right now?"). The penalty for getting even one question wrong is death.

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

* "Literature/TheShadow"

%%* RageAgainstTheHeavens: "The Wicked Prince".
* RainbowLens: A lot of his stories are interpreted as subtext for his own same-sex romantic attractions and his frustrations at being unable to materialise them. The most well known case is ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'', widely accept to have been written in response to a male crush and essentially reading as a tragic gay story with the "gay" (or, in more modern readings, the "trans") element being instead a mermaid, but other stories like ''Literature/TheNightingale'' ad even ''Literature/TheUglyDuckling'' have also had similar if rarer readings.

** ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' went even further, it outright ignored what Anderson wrote.

** "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.]]
** "In the Duck Yard". An injured songbird is resting in a duck yard, where a proud and haughty Portuguese duck resides. The songbird makes the mistake of comparing the Portuguese to a cat, so [[spoiler: the duck decapitates the songbird.]]

* 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.

* CrazyEnoughToWork: The very premise of "Blockhead Hans". Taking [[NoodleImplements a dead crow, an old shoe, and a pocketful of mud]] to woo a princess makes him certifiably crazy. The "awesome" part is that he ''actually pulls it off''.

* * DisproportionateRetribution:

* {{Disneyfication}}: A lot of his works has been adapted into animated features for kids, most of them naturally being done by Disney. ''WesternAnimation/{{Thumbelina|1994}}'' also fell into this, [[FollowTheLeader despite being done]] by Creator/DonBluth. ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' went even further, it outright ignored what Anderson wrote.

* {{Disneyfication}}: A lot of his works has been adapted into animated features for kids, most of them naturally being done by Disney. ''WesternAnimation/{{Thumbelina|1994}}'' also fell into this, [[FollowTheLeader despite being done]] by Creator/DonBluth. ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' went even further, it utright ignored what Anderson wrote.

* {{Disneyfication}}: A lot of his works has been adapted into animated features for kids, most of them naturally being done by Disney. ''WesternAnimation/{{Thumbelina|1994}}'' also fell into this, [[FollowTheLeader despite being done]] by Creator/DonBluth.
* DisproportionateRetribution:

** A JustifiedTrope in "The Marsh-King's Daughter" (1858) by Creator/HansChristianAndersen: A stork watches a princess being dragged into a bog lake by the Marsh King (a swamp creature similar to a nix). The stork keeps visiting the lake and eventually notices a water lily growing up from the lake; on the lily there forms a large bud which finally opens to reveal a human baby. Realizing that the baby is the daughter of the abducted princess and the Marsh King, the stork takes up the baby and delivers it to a childless family living nearby, by reaching through a window and laying it on the wife's chest while she is sleeping; the couple is happy to adopt the baby. The stork [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] by musing that since people say he is bringing the babies, he might as well for once do it for real.

* DeliveryStork: A JustifiedTrope in "The Marsh-King's Daughter" (1858) by Creator/HansChristianAndersen: A stork watches a princess being dragged into a bog lake by the Marsh King (a swamp creature similar to a nix). The stork keeps visiting the lake and eventually notices a water lily growing up from the lake; on the lily there forms a large bud which finally opens to reveal a human baby. Realizing that the baby is the daughter of the abducted princess and the Marsh King, the stork takes up the baby and delivers it to a childless family living nearby, by reaching through a window and laying it on the wife's chest while she is sleeping; the couple is happy to adopt the baby. The stork [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] by musing that since people say he is bringing the babies, he might as well for once do it for real.