After a mother duck's eggs hatch, one of the ducklings is perceived by the other animals as an ugly little creature and suffers much verbal and physical abuse. He wanders from the barnyard and lives with wild ducks and geese until hunters slaughter the flocks. He finds a home with an old woman, but her cat and hen tease and taunt him mercilessly, and once again he sets off alone.

The duckling sees a flock of migrating wild swans. He is delighted and excited but cannot join them because he is too young, ugly, and unable to fly. When winter arrives, a farmer finds and carries the freezing duckling home but he is frightened by the farmer's noisy children and flees the house. The duckling spends a miserable winter alone outdoors, mostly hiding in a cave on the lake that partly freezes over.

The duckling, now having fully grown and matured, cannot endure a life of solitude and hardship anymore. He decides to throw himself at a flock of swans, feeling that it is better to be killed by such beautiful birds than to live a life of ugliness. He is shocked when the swans welcome and accept him, only to realise by looking at his reflection in the water that he had been not a duckling but a swan all this time. The flock takes to the air, and he spreads his wings to take flight with the rest of his new family.

All published appearances of the Ugly Duckling from before January 1, )-(95)}} are public domain in the US.

Some notable appearances are listed below:

* New Fairy Tales. First Volume. First Collection (1843)
* The Orange Fairy Book (1906)

* Fairy Tales #11
* Four Color #68, 140, 1166
* Fairy Tale Parade #7
* Merry-Go-Round #1
* Hans Christian Anderson #1
* Kiddie Karnival #1
* The Funnies #2

*A Coy Decoy (1941)
*A Corny Concerto (1943) - The Blue Danube segment

* Confessions of the Lovelorn #92
* G.I. Joe (Ziff-Davis) #40
* Chamber of Chills #22
* Diary Loves #15
* My Secret Life #43
* John Wayne Adventure Comics #8, 18
* Hi-School Romance #32
* Boy Loves Girl #56
* Today's Romance #8

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ugly_Duckling Wikipedia]
*[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/ugly-duckling/4005-31900/issues-cover/ ComicVine]
*[https://fictional-characters-in-media.fandom.com/wiki/The_Ugly_Duckling Fictional Characters in Media Wiki]
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