Wister's unique combination of characters and plot in The Virginian helped to establish the literary convention of the "formula Western," the components of which, according to Etulain, can be summarized as follows: "an idealized hero, the conflict between the hero and a villain, and the romance between the hero and the heroine — all set against the romantic background of the frontier West."

Over the years, many writers such as Zane Grey, Max Brand, and B. M. Bower have produced works which closely follow this formula, and these popular imitations have since contributed to what has become widely recognized as Western fiction. Because Wister's The Virginian was the first novel to combine these dramatic elements, it remains the touchstone of this still vigorous literary genre.