History Creator / OHenry

* WhyWasteAWedding: In "The Marquis and Miss Sally", the cowboys get a little too rambunctious in busting the chops of the pair, and shanghai the two into a mock wedding. [[spoiler: But when they rope an actual judge to do the whole thing, "Miss Sally", who's figured out that the "Marqis" [[SweetPollyOliver is actually a Miss Sally]](him being an actual Marquis and all), asks her to go through with it for real.]]

For some inexplicable reason--at least partially having to do with two [[FilmOfTheBook film adaptations]], which are quite good--he is [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff most popular in the former USSR republics]], where phrases such as "Bolivar cannot carry double" have become stock quotes.

William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his PenName O. Henry, was an American writer of chiefly short fiction (his most famous story being "Literature/TheGiftOfTheMagi"), as well as one novel (''Cabbages and Kings''). His stories are famous for their [[MandatoryTwistEnding Mandatory Twist Endings]], along with their warm characterization and wit.

William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his PenName O. Henry, was an American writer of chiefly short fiction (his most famous story being "Literature/TheGiftOfTheMagi"), as well as one novel (''Cabbages and Kings''). His stories are famous for their [[MandatoryTwistEnding Mandatory Twist Endings]], warm characterization and wit.

[[quoteright:278:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ohenry_6605.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:278:Clearly a man who likes his twist endings.]]

William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), PenName O. Henry, is an American writer of chiefly short fiction (the most famous piece being "Literature/TheGiftOfTheMagi") and one novel (''Cabbages and Kings''). His stories are famous for their [[MandatoryTwistEnding Mandatory Twist Endings]], warm characterization and wit.

The "Oh Henry!" candy bar (later associated with Hank Aaron) was partly named in homage to him. (And partly named for a boy who flirted with the girls at the candy factory.)

** The film version inserts a failed love affair as part of the reason for Johnsy's collapse, probably so people wouldn't think they were together (good luck with that).

* LoveTriangle: The subject of "The Hypotheses of Failure". A divorce lawyer sees three clients in a row, who are all involved in the same case: a woman is unsatisfied with her husband and has left him in pursuit of another man. The lawyer sees the other man first, then the woman, and then the woman's husband. [[spoiler:Or so he thinks. The first man is actually the husband, who is [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy willing to grant his wife a divorce.]] The second man is the other man in the relationship, who sees the woman as an AbhorrentAdmirer and is desperate to get rid of her.]]

* IllGirl: In "The Last Leaf," Johnsy is seriously ill with pneumonia, but recovers eventually.

* ThatManIsDead: "A Retrieved Reformation," in a way. When wanted safecracker Jimmy Valentine gives up his life of crime to go straight and get married, he changes his name to Ralph D. Spencer.

* BittersweetEnding: "The Last Leaf" ends with [[spoiler: Johnsy recovering from her illness, as seeing the titular "leaf" in place gave her the will to pull through. However, said leaf was actually ''painted'' on by the elderly Behrman during the night, and he contracted - and eventually passed - from pneumonia himself, having finally painted his "masterpiece" that saved Johnsy's life]].

* BittersweetEnding: "The Last Leaf" ends with [[spoiler: Johnsy recovering from her illness, as seeing the titular "leaf" in place gave her the will to pull through. However, said leaf was actually ''painted'' on by the elderly Behrman during the night, and he contracted - and eventually passed - from pneumonia himself]].

%%* LukeIAmYourFather:

* PunnyName: William Pry and Violet Seymour, a pair of ghoulish gawkers or 'rubberers' in ''A Comedy in Rubber''.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Wentworth Caswell]] in "A Municipal Report" and [[spoiler:Rob Chandler]] in "The Marionettes", both of whom are abusive husbands. Played with in "The Last of the Troubadours", as [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceDoorSlam King James had actually changed his mind on finding out that Ellison was related to him and was willing to go into business with Ellison, but Sam - the troubadour - isn't aware of this and shoots him dead]].]]

* DeadlyDoctor: "The Marionettes" features one, though in his case, it turns out to be a good thing. [[spoiler:The doctor is also a burglar and safecracker. His patient turns out to be an abusive husband who has been depriving his wife of money, and after killing the husband, the doctor gives the safe combination to the wife and claims that the husband has left her the money inside as a parting gift.]]

** In "The Love Philtre of Ikey Schoenstein", both Ikey - a chemist - and Chunk McGowan are in love with the same woman, Rosy Riddle. Chunk asks Ikey for an aphrodisiac for Rosy as he wants to elope with her and worries she might get cold feet, but Ikey gives him a sleeping powder instead and tips her father off. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Chunk has a change of heart, decides to woo Rosy by honest means and - to Ikey's horror - puts the sleeping powder in Rosy's father's drink instead.]]

* MockMillionaire: "Transients In Arcadia"; "The Policeman O'Roon."

* ReplacementGoldfish: In "A Double-Dyed Deceiver", the Llano Kid acts as this for a grieving mother whose son is missing, as part of a plot with the local US consul to steal a load of money from the family safe. He ends up [[BecomingTheMask warming to his new 'mother']] so much that he ultimately decides to stay behind and live as her son, and threatens to kill the consul if he makes trouble. [[spoiler:It also turns out to be a case of KillAndReplace, because the reason why he's in the area in the first place is because he killed a man in a bar fight and skipped town. And the man he killed? ''The missing son.'']

* BrattyHalfPint: Johnny Dorset from "The Ransom of Red Chief." He makes his kidnappers strongly regret abducting him, and in fact have to pay his parents to take him off their hands.

* CantGetInTroubleForNuthin: In "The Cop and the Anthem," the protagonist Soapy tries to get himself arrested so he can spend the winter in a warm jail cell. He tries everything from vandalism to petty theft to disturbing the peace with no success. The TwistEnding of this short story shows Soapy deciding to reform and find a job, only to be arrested for vagrancy right when he decides on his HeelFaceTurn.
* ConMan: Jeff Peters and Andy Tucker, protagonists in a cycle of stories, most notably ''The Gentle Grafter''.

* DomesticAbuse: "A Harlem Tragedy," which, despite its title and its now politically-incorrect subject matter of spousal abuse, is a very light-hearted story.

* DrivenToSuicide: A particularly dark example of this in [[spoiler:"The Furnished Room." The woman the protagonist was looking for killed herself in said room - a fact the landlady covered up - and he also gasses himself to death.]]

* LetOffByTheDetective: Happens in "A Retrieved Reformation." Wanted safecracker Jimmy Valentine, being hunted by detective Ben Price, changes his name and gives up his life of crime to marry and get a legitimate job. Eventually, Ben tracks Jimmy down, but before he can arrest him, Jimmy's niece locks herself in a bank safe. Jimmy breaks it open to rescue the girl while Ben looks on, revealing his identity -- but the TwistEnding sees Ben refuse to arrest Jimmy when he turns himself over, acting as if he doesn't recognize him and letting him go.

* BrattyHalfPint: Johnny Dorset from "The Ransom of Red Chief." He makes his kidnappers strongly regret kidnapping him, and in fact have to pay his parents to take him off their hands.

* BigApplesauce: A popular setting of many of his stories; the short story collection ''The Four Million'' is set there.

* {{Cowboy}}: Normally of the Working Cowboy varieties, protagonists in many stories.

* DomesticAbuse: "A Harlem Tragedy," which, despite the title and the subject matter, is a very light-hearted story.

** A lesser-known O. Henry short story, "An Unfinished Story," used this to create the author's trademark twist ending. On Judgment Day, the narrator sees a long line of men waiting to go to Hell. Then the reader hears a sad story about a shop girl who only earns $5 a week. The story goes into details about her budget, how she sometimes goes hungry without anyone noticing, etc. She's about to accept a date from a rich man who has a taste for shop girls (whether he's a Romeo pimp or just likes to have kept women is not specified), but changes her mind at the last moment. The narrator says her story won't end until a night when she's feeling a little hungrier. Meanwhile, an angel tells the narrator that the long line of men are store owners who only paid their shop girls $5 a week, and asks "Do you belong with them?" "Not on your immortality," the narrator replies indignantly, "I only burned an orphanage and robbed a church!"

* FlashSideways: "The Roads We Take" starts as the story of a ruthless criminal who wonders what his life would have been like if he hadn't come West -- then he wakes up, and from then on it's the story of a ruthless businessman who dreamed about what his life would have been like if he hadn't come East.

* LukeIAmYourFather:

* StupidCrooks: As mentioned immediately above, the kidnappers in "The Ransom of Red Chief." They're dumb enough to kidnap an obviously evil child, and he's such a terror that they end up having to pay his father to take him back.

* TomatoSurprise: "After 20 Years" has the revelation that [[spoiler:the main character is an infamous criminal.]]

* BeleagueredChildhoodFriend: In "After 20 Years," two childhood friends Jimmy Wells and Bob part ways and agree to meet at the same spot two decades on. Jimmy, who is now a wanted criminal, arrives at the same spot only to be questioned by a policeman, who moves on. Another detective shows up shortly after, passes himself off as Bob, and arrests Jimmy; in a twist, it is revealed that the first policeman was actually Bob, but didn't have the heart to arrest Jimmy and sent a colleague to do so instead.

* CantGetInTroubleForNuthin: In "The Cop and the Anthem," the protagonist Soapy tries to get himself arrested so he can spend the winter in a warm jail cell. He tries everything from vandalism to petty theft to disturbing the peace with no success. The [[MandatoryTwistEnding twist ending]] of this short story shows Soapy deciding to reform and find a job, only to be arrested for vagrancy right when he decides on his HeelFaceTurn.

* LetOffByTheDetective: Happens in "A Retrieved Reformation." Wanted safecracker Jimmy Valentine, being hunted by detective Ben Price, gives up his life of crime to marry and get a legitimate job. Eventually, Ben tracks Jimmy down, but before he can arrest him, Jimmy's niece locks herself in a bank safe. Jimmy breaks it open to rescue the girl while Ben looks on, revealing his identity -- but the twist ending sees Ben refuse to arrest Jimmy when he turns himself over, acting as if he doesn't recognize him and letting him go.

* ThatManIsDead: "A Retrieved Reformation," in a way.

* TomatoSurprise: "After Twenty Years" has the revelation that [[spoiler:the main character is an infamous criminal.]]

* WildWest: Another popular setting; usually limited to Texas ranches.

--> "Around the first corner Stuffy turned, and stood for one minute. Then he seemed to puff out his rags as an owl puffs out his feathers, and fell to the sidewalk like a sunstricken horse."
* BananaRepublic: ''Cabbages and Kings'' is the TropeNamer.

* ExasperatedPerp: "The Ransom of Red Chief."

* LetOffByTheDetective: "A Retrieved Reformation."

* NoNameGiven: What the hell does that "O" stand for?