History YMMV / HansChristianAndersen

* DesignatedHero: ''Little Claus and Big Claus'': Little Claus starts the conflict by basically irritating Big Claus to his wit's end, and over the course of the story he proceeds to scam people using a horse's hide and ''his grandmother's corpse''. Granted, Big Claus isn't too sympathetic either, but still.
* EsotericHappyEnding: In ''The Cripple'', a paralyzed boy manages to drag himself out of bed and attempts to walk so that he can save a caged songbird from a cat creeping up on it. Everyone celebrates the child's improved state, but in true Andersen fashion [[spoiler:"the bird, of course, had died of fright."]]
* HarsherInHindsight: One of Andersen's lesser-known fairy tales, ''The Little Green Ones'', is about a large constantly multiplying army of small soldiers in green uniforms who invade a rose bush and are puzzled, offended, and rather hurt that humans hate them so much and give them such revolting names (wood lice). [[ThoseWackyNazis A Norwegian editor, who printed the story in a magazine, was sentenced to prison during the German occupation]].

** ''The Fir Tree'' is about a fir tree that dreams of being a Christmas Tree because of the honour and the glory. Getting cut down hurts like getting your legs cut off. It has one evening of Christmas glory... then it is stuck in the attic to slowly die, like Christmas Trees do.
** And the literal nightmare in ''Aunt Toothache'', featuring the AnthropomorphicPersonification of aforementioned ailment, [[spoiler:who has drills and tongs and similar implements for fingers]]. It is possible to go on...
** Pretty much the entirety of ''The Rose Elf''. Between the heroine's evil brother stabbing her lover to death and cutting his head off, to her exhuming his head and burying it in a flower pot with a jasmine plant on top, to the brother being killed in his sleep by the flower's spirit, it's understandably not a very common bedtime story.
** ''Little Claus and Big Claus'' is the story of two men with very little morals, with Big Claus being a SmallNameBigEgo AxCrazy StupidEvil miser with GoldFever, while Little Claus is a ManipulativeBastard ConMan who is extremely ruthless in trying to make money and brings about the death of three people.
** ''The Bishop of Børglum Cloister and His Kinsmen''. The first thing we hear of the title character is: "There is a shipwreck on the coast. The Bishop of Børglum's men are already on the beach, and those sailors who survived the merciless sea do not survive the bishop's men." Later there's the equally nightmarish aftermath of [[spoiler:Jens murdering the bishop and his servants]]. And the falling action leaves it not entirely clear whether Børglum is haunted by ghosts of vengeance or it's just the wind.
* ValuesDissonance: One of the people Andersen lionizes in ''The Thorny Path'' is UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus. The view Andersen presents was common in Western histories in most of the 19th and 20th centuries, but is now commonly criticized as glorification of an imperialistic colonizer figure.

** ''The Bishop of Boslashrglum Cloister and His Kinsmen''. The first thing we hear of the title character is: "There is a shipwreck on the coast. The Bishop of Børglum's men are already on the beach, and those sailors who survived the merciless sea do not survive the bishop's men." Later there's the equally nightmarish aftermath of [[spoiler:Jens murdering the bishop and his servants]]. And the falling action leaves it not entirely clear whether Børglum is haunted by ghosts of vengeance or it's just the wind.

* DesignatedHero: Literature/LittleClausAndBigClaus: Little Claus starts the conflict by basically irritating Big Claus to his wit's end, and over the course of the story he proceeds to scam people using a horse's hide and ''his grandmother's corpse''. Granted, Big Claus isn't too sympathetic either, but still.
* EsotericHappyEnding: In Literature/TheCripple, a paralyzed boy manages to drag himself out of bed and attempts to walk so that he can save a caged songbird from a cat creeping up on it. Everyone celebrates the child's improved state, but in true Andersen fashion [[spoiler:"the bird, of course, had died of fright."]]
* HarsherInHindsight: One of Andersen's lesser-known fairy tales, Literature/TheLittleGreenOnes, is about a large constantly multiplying army of small soldiers in green uniforms who invade a rose bush and are puzzled, offended, and rather hurt that humans hate them so much and give them such revolting names (wood lice). [[ThoseWackyNazis A Norwegian editor, who printed the story in a magazine, was sentenced to prison during the German occupation]].

** Literature/TheFirTree is about a fir tree that dreams of being a Christmas Tree because of the honour and the glory. Getting cut down hurts like getting your legs cut off. It has one evening of Christmas glory... then it is stuck in the attic to slowly die, like Christmas Trees do.
** And the literal nightmare in Literature/AuntToothache, featuring the AnthropomorphicPersonification of aforementioned ailment, [[spoiler:who has drills and tongs and similar implements for fingers]]. It is possible to go on...
** Pretty much the entirety of Literature/TheRoseElf. Between the heroine's evil brother stabbing her lover to death and cutting his head off, to her exhuming his head and burying it in a flower pot with a jasmine plant on top, to the brother being killed in his sleep by the flower's spirit, it's understandably not a very common bedtime story.
** Literature/LittleClausAndBigClaus is the story of two men with very little morals, with Big Claus being a SmallNameBigEgo AxCrazy StupidEvil miser with GoldFever, while Little Claus is a ManipulativeBastard ConMan who is extremely ruthless in trying to make money and brings about the death of three people.
** Literature/TheBishopOfBoslashrglumCloisterAndHisKinsmen. The first thing we hear of the title character is: "There is a shipwreck on the coast. The Bishop of Børglum's men are already on the beach, and those sailors who survived the merciless sea do not survive the bishop's men." Later there's the equally nightmarish aftermath of [[spoiler:Jens murdering the bishop and his servants]]. And the falling action leaves it not entirely clear whether Børglum is haunted by ghosts of vengeance or it's just the wind.
* ValuesDissonance: One of the people Andersen lionizes in Literature/TheThornyPath is UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus. The view Andersen presents was common in Western histories in most of the 19th and 20th centuries but is now... controversial, to put it lightly.

* DesignatedHero: "Little Claus and Big Claus": Little Claus starts the conflict by basically irritating Big Claus to his wit's end, and over the course of the story he proceeds to scam people using a horse's hide and ''his grandmother's corpse''. Granted, Big Claus isn't too sympathetic either, but still.
* EsotericHappyEnding: In "The Cripple," a paralyzed boy manages to drag himself out of bed and attempts to walk so that he can save a caged songbird from a cat creeping up on it. Everyone celebrates the child's improved state, but in true Andersen fashion [[spoiler:"the bird, of course, had died of fright."]]
* HarsherInHindsight: One of Andersen's lesser-known fairy tales, "The Little Green Ones," is about a large constantly multiplying army of small soldiers in green uniforms who invade a rose bush and are puzzled, offended, and rather hurt that humans hate them so much and give them such revolting names (wood lice). [[ThoseWackyNazis A Norwegian editor, who printed the story in a magazine, was sentenced to prison during the German occupation]].

** There's a story about a fir tree that dreams of being a Christmas Tree because of the honour and the glory. Getting cut down hurts like getting your legs cut off. It has one evening of Christmas glory... then it is stuck in the attic to slowly die, like Christmas Trees do.
** And the literal nightmare in "Aunt Toothache", featuring the AnthropomorphicPersonification of aforementioned ailment, [[spoiler:who has drills and tongs and similar implements for fingers]]. It is possible to go on...
** Pretty much the entirety of "The Rose Elf." Between the heroine's evil brother stabbing her lover to death and cutting his head off, to her exhuming his head and burying it in a flower pot with a jasmine plant on top, to the brother being killed in his sleep by the flower's spirit, it's understandably not a very common bedtime story.
** "Little Claus and Big Claus" is the story of two men with very little morals, with Big Claus being a SmallNameBigEgo AxCrazy StupidEvil miser with GoldFever, while Little Claus is a ManipulativeBastard ConMan who is extremely ruthless in trying to make money and brings about the death of three people.
** "The Bishop of Børglum Cloister and His Kinsmen." The first thing we hear of the title character is: "There is a shipwreck on the coast. The Bishop of Børglum's men are already on the beach, and those sailors who survived the merciless sea do not survive the bishop's men." Later there's the equally nightmarish aftermath of [[spoiler:Jens murdering the bishop and his servants]]. And the falling action leaves it not entirely clear whether Børglum is haunted by ghosts of vengeance or it's just the wind.
* ValuesDissonance: One of the people Andersen lionizes in "The Thorny Path" is UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus. The view Andersen presents was common in Western histories in most of the 19th and 20th centuries but is now... controversial, to put it lightly.

* EsotericHappyEnding:
** In "The Cripple," a paralyzed boy manages to drag himself out of bed and attempts to walk so that he can save a caged songbird from a cat creeping up on it. Everyone celebrates the child's improved state, but in true Andersen fashion [[spoiler:"the bird, of course, had died of fright."]]

* MainstreamObscurity: Just about anyone would be able to identify Hans Christian Andersen as a prolific fairy tale writer; however, a lot of those would be stressed to be able to name over five of his stories. Most people also would be surprised to hear of the cruelties in the original tale, as the retellings and adaptations tend to omit these.

* DesignatedHero:
** The protagonist of "Literature/TheTinderBox" seems a bit too murder-happy, as demonstrated with the witch and the royal family. Not to mention that he uses the titular tinder box's power to abduct a princess and, in some versions, mistreat her in payment for how her father the king mistreated him.
** "Little Claus and Big Claus": Little Claus starts the conflict by basically irritating Big Claus to his wit's end, and over the course of the story he proceeds to scam people using a horse's hide and ''his grandmother's corpse''. Granted, Big Claus isn't too sympathetic either, but still.

** A number of Andersen's stories end with the protagonists dead, but this is considered [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth a good thing because they are going to a better afterlife, leaving the miseries of this world behind.]]

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Though very popular and well-known in his native Denmark, his fairy tales have a dedicated audience in some unexpected overseas countries:
** Adaptations of his stories crop up every few years in Japan. "Literature/TheLittleMermaid" fits very well with Japan's own history of mermaid stories and "Literature/TheLittleMatchGirl" is often referenced in other works.
** Andersen is one of the most translated Western authors in China and several of his stories -- [[https://gbtimes.com/how-hans-christian-andersens-tales-changed-on-the-journey-to-china particularly those that could be interpreted for the Communist Party's use]] -- are considered classics there.

** The hellish punishment in "The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf."
** "The Red Shoes," where the heroine is only saved from damnation by having ''[[spoiler:her feet chopped off]]''.

* SacredCow: His works are held up to a ''very'' high standard in his native Denmark, to the point that when adaptations of his stories deviate from the source material too much, they tend to be [[AmericansHateTingle flops in Denmark]].

* TheWoobie: Most of his protagonists.

* 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" and even "Literature/TheUglyDuckling" have also had similar if rarer readings.

* HilariousInHindsight: For a modern viewer, depending on taste, it can be very easy to read "Literature/TheEmperorsNewClothes" as a parody of certain types of modern minimalist art.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: Andersen was a master at tugging the old heartstrings.

** The protagonist of "Literature/TheTinderBox" seems a bit too murder-happy, as demonstrated with the witch and the royal family. Not to mention that he uses the titular tinder box's power to abduct a princess.

** In ''The Cripple'', a paralyzed boy manages to drag himself out of bed and attempts to walk so that he can save a caged songbird from a cat creeping up on it. Everyone celebrates the child's improved state, but in true Andersen fashion [[spoiler: "the bird, of course, had died of fright."]]

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Though very popular and well-known in his native Denmark, his fairy tales have a dedicated audience in some unexpected overseas countries.

** Andersen is one of the most translated Western authors in China and several of his stories - [[https://gbtimes.com/how-hans-christian-andersens-tales-changed-on-the-journey-to-china particularly those that could be interpreted for the Communist Party's use]] - are considered classics there.
* HarsherInHindsight: One of Andersen's lesser known fairy tales ''The Little Green Ones'' is about a large constantly multiplying army of small soldiers in green uniforms who invade a rose bush and are puzzled, offended, and rather hurt that humans hate them so much and give them such revolting names (wood lice). [[ThoseWackyNazis A Norwegian editor, who printed the story in a magazine, was sentenced to prison during the German occupation]].
* HilariousInHindsight: For a modern viewer, depending on taste, it can be very easy to read ''Literature/TheEmperorsNewClothes'' as a parody of certain types of modern minimalist art.

** The hellish punishment in ''The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf''. ''The Red Shoes'', where the heroine is only saved from damnation by having ''[[spoiler: her feet chopped off]]''. And the literal nightmare in ''Aunt Toothache'', featuring the AnthropomorphicPersonification of aforementioned ailment, [[spoiler: who has drills and tongs and similar implements for fingers]]. It is possible to go on...
** Pretty much the entirety of ''The Rose Elf''. Between the heroine's evil brother stabbing her lover to death and cutting his head off, to her exhuming his head and burying it in a flower pot with a jasmine plant on top, to the brother being killed in his sleep by the flower's spirit, it's understandably not a very common bedtime story.
** ''Little Claus and Big Claus'' is the story of two men with very little morals, with Big Claus being a SmallNameBigEgo AxCrazy StupidEvil miser with GoldFever, while Little Claus is a ManipulativeBastard ConMan who is extremely ruthless in trying to make money and brings about the death of three people.
* 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.

* MainstreamObscurity: Just about anyone would be able to identify Hans Christian Andersen as a prolific fairy tale writer, however a lot of those would be stressed to be able to name over five of his stories. Most people also would be surprised to hear of the cruelties in the original tale, as the retellings and adaptations tend to omit these.

** The protagonist of "Literature/TheTinderBox" seems a bit too murder-happy, as demonstrated with the witch and the royal family. Not to mention that he uses the titular tinder box's power to basically kidnap a princess.

** This is most notable in Japan, where adaptations of his stories crop up every few years. "Literature/TheLittleMermaid" fit very well with Japan's own history of Mermaid stories (though Japanese mermaids are ''much'' scarier). "Literature/TheLittleMatchGirl" is often referenced in other works.

** Americans like Andersen's fairy tales too… but often are only familiar with the [[{{Bowdlerize}} Disney]][[{{Disneyfication}} fied]] versions.

* MainstreamObscurity: Just about anyone would be able to identify Hans Christian Andersen as a prolific fairy tale writer, however a lot of those would be stressed to be able to name over five of his stories. Describing things from his body of works that aren't often adapted sometimes triggers surreal reactions in the unknowing.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: One of Andersen's lesser known fairy tales ''The Little Green Ones'' is about a large constantly multiplying army of small soldiers in green uniforms who invade a rose bush and are puzzled, offended, and rather hurt that humans hate them so much and give them such revolting names (wood lice). [[ThoseWackyNazis A Norwegian editor, who printed the story in a magazine, was sentenced to prison during the German occupation]].

* CrazyAwesome: The titular character 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''.

** The protagonist of ''Literature/TheTinderBox'' seems a bit too murder-happy, as demonstrated with the witch and the royal family. Not to mention that he uses the titular tinder box's power to basically kidnap a princess.
** ''Little Claus and Big Claus'': Little Claus starts the conflict by basically irritating Big Claus to his wit's end, and over the course of the story he proceeds to scam people using a horse's hide and ''his grandmother's corpse''. Granted, Big Claus isn't too sympathetic either, but still.

** This is most notable in Japan, where adaptations of his stories crop up every few years. ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'' fit very well with Japan's own history of Mermaid stories (though Japanese mermaids are ''much'' scarier). ''Literature/TheLittleMatchGirl'' is often referenced in other works.

* HarsherInHindsight: Pretty much his entire canon really, particularly "The Little Match Girl". Also "The Red Shoes" – in this age of consumerism and 24-hour advertising, a girl condemned to a painful death for wanting a nice pair of shoes can be outright NightmareFuel.

* ValuesDissonance: Many of his Lutheran morals strike a bit hollow in this secular age, particularly those about death being better than life.

** ''Little Claus and Big Claus'' is the story of two men with very little morals, with Big Claus being a SmallNameBigEgo AxCrazy StupidEvil miser with GoldFever, while Little Claus is a ManipulativeBastard ConMan who is extremely ruthless in trying to make money and brings about the death of 3 people in the story.

** Andersen is one of the most translated Western authors in China and several of his stories - particularly those that could be interpreted for the Communist Party's use - are considered classics there.[[https://gbtimes.com/how-hans-christian-andersens-tales-changed-on-the-journey-to-china]]