Mary Sue
From The Writerium - the wiki for writers
There are many opinions on what precisely defines a Mary Sue. Some say that it's extreme beauty or simply perfection, but there is much more to it than that. They can occur anywhere, from fan fiction to original fiction.
Characters deemed as Mary Sues are usually "author's darlings." The author spoils the character in some way, be it with too much talent, beauty, and/or charm, then writes the character and story in such a way that it becomes obvious that the writer intended the audience to feel obligated to like the character.
Everything about a Mary-Sue is ultimately self-serving: the loss of a parent is only a means to garner the audience's sympathy while giving the character an excuse to become friends with another character who has lost a parent. The exceptional beauty serves as a visual reminder of how unique and outstanding they are. Their amazing talents allow them to accomplish things that the rest of us can only dream of. If they are clumsy, their clumsiness will later endear them to another character. In short, a Mary Sue twists a potentially good and workable trait into an ostentatious display for attention.
Mary Sues may also be placed into situations contrived to make the reader feel sympathy toward them. However, these situations are often exaggerated and unrealistic.
They are often described with purple prose, even when other characters are barely described at all.
Everything will work out to their advantage in the end; even if they die they will be remembered lovingly or it will be a case of "now you're sorry I'm gone!"
They may also serve as mouthpieces for the author, bringing his or her enlightened point of view to the other characters. Any "sensible" character will begin to see things the Mary Sue's way sooner or later.
The term "Mary Sue" applies to both genders, although some people prefer to use masculine variations such as "Gary Sue" or "Marty Stu" in reference to male characters.
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What a Mary Sue is Not
It is possible for a self-insert to not be a Mary Sue, though many Mary Sues are also self inserts. In order for a self-insertion to not be a Mary Sue, the writer must have a keen sense of his or her own flaws and must be unafraid to use them in a deprecating manner.
A character can have many skills and still not be a Sue, provided that they worked for those skills, and provided that those skills do not solve every problem all of the time.
History & Origins
"Perfect" characters have been around quite possibly as long as storytelling itself. Several fairytale characters would be considered Mary Sues in modern times. (However, "perfect" characters are not part and parcel with old epics and fairytales - flaws were quite common.)
The term "Mary Sue" comes from the 1974 Star Trek fanfiction A Trekkie's Tale, which was intended to parodize the yet-unnamed archetype. This extremely short piece succinctly summed up the absurdity of many fan characters.
In 1997, Missy Reimer wrote the Mary Sue Litmus Test for Disney's Gargoyles. People found the test useful, but limited - and so they started adapting it to their own needs.
Exactly what defines a Mary Sue has evolved slightly over the years with many differing opinions. Some consider any original character to be a Mary Sue. Some consider the "bright and cheerful" archetype to be the definitive Sue. Many seem to agree that a Mary Sue is the "obnoxiously ostentatious author's-ego-on-legs" character.
Well-Known Mary Sues
- Maximum Ride from James Patterson's Maximum Ride series. Max, a 14-year-old genetic experiment who escaped from a research facility known as "The School" (assumably when she was eleven years old), is a human female genetically altered to have wings and the ability to maintain steady flight. She escaped from the School with her "flock", several other experiments who all have the same traits; she is their leader, and always seems to make the right decisions and have the good plans/strategies, even though she is apparently stubborn, hard-headed, and lacking in common sense the rest of the time. She's also destined to save the world, and has a chip implanted in her arm that constantly helps her out and reminds her of her quest. The entire flock lived isolated from civilization for several years, and yet Max is still completely up to date with politics and global matters, and seems to have no problem with preaching to Congress about it, dumbfounding experienced politicians in the process. She always has a spitfire/witty retort or humorous taunt to dish out to any of her opponents. People who disagree with her in any way usually end up beaten up and/or dead. Max also has her angsty moments, related to her crush, Fang. She seems to have this crush on him for no particular reason, considering he habitually annoys hell out of her and flirts with other girls. Max, who is a strong character the rest of the time, often finds herself sobbing her eyes out because of this boy. The romance adds nothing to the integrity of the story and only serves to let Max have more than her portion of angst.
- Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Named after Gene Wesley Roddenberry, young Crusher was a child prodigy who was probably smarter than Engineering's collective intelligence combined. His father died at a young age, leaving him free to latch onto Captain Picard as a father figure. Finally, Crusher came to realize that he was too awesome for Starfleet and ascended to a higher plane of existence. Seriously.
- Eragon from The Inheritance Cycle is an admitted self-insertion. Eragon is an orphaned 15-year-old prodigy in magic, swordplay, and dragon riding. Author Christopher Paolini stated that Eragon 'became his own character' because he had adventures and did things that Paolini could only dream about - yet another symptom of a Mary Sue.
- Kid from the video game Chrono Cross is a mary-sue. She is a young orphaned girl who appears in fully rendered cinematics in the series and is one of the few characters who is developed in the midst of an entire cast of neglected characters. There are many songs in the Chrono Cross soundtrack named after her (Star-Stealing Girl, Lost Child of Time, Orphan of Flame). She romantically likes the main character and flirts with him. She is a talented theif. She is the only character to faint on many occasions- part of the plot involves saving her from a disease. Many other sue tendencies exist in this character.
- Bella Swan from Twilight. Stephenie Meyer admitted that she was Bella (self-insertion), and she loved Edward. She is incredibly popular without even doing anything, has no likeable qualities although all the guys want her, and although she has a variety of 'flaws', these weaknesses are 'Moe Weaknesses', traits that are given to make the character look cute and innocent. She is immune to things that no other human has ever been immune to; she tends to brush off minor unpleasantries (such as almost being a victim of sexual assault) and concentrate only on things that give her something to angst about (such as her boyfriend leaving her). She is the very definition of Mary Sue-ism: "any author surrogate or highly-idealized character who plays a major role in a plot." It is also interesting to note that Bella's appearance is exactly like the author.
- Vic and Gwen from Crystal Doors by Rebecca Moesta and Kevin J. Anderson. Vic and Gwen are cousins, who were apparently human, but now seem to be the children of certain otherworldly beings. The authors couldn't be satisfied with that though...They also had to be the most powerful children ever found. *looks shocked and fanatic* Also, the bad guy tries to kill them (for no good reason for the whole first book, then kidnaps them near the beginning of the sequel. He needs them to open a crystal door, he says, needs both of them... then promptly goes on to tell them that "both of you aren't necessary. Cooperate, or I'll kill your cousin." about two chapters later.
Mary Sue Tests
Although Mary Sue tests are not generally considered to be the last word on whether or not a character is a Mary Sue, they can be very helpful in getting a general idea of whether a character is or not, as well as help a writer develop a sense of balance in character traits.
For links to various Mary Sue tests, go to this page.
