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Description
The “Mary Sue” GuideThis guide is meant to introduce and/or inform you of this threat that is currently attacking storywritting, drawing, Original Character creation (OCs) and fandom/fanfiction in general, not to say Originality itself!
During the course of this guide, you will learn what a Mary Sue is, you’ll identify one when sighted and, most importantly, you will not create one and hopefully you will help others in the subject, so they don’t create Mary Sues too.
I) Mary Sue 101:
-What is a “Mary Sue”?
“Mary Sue” is a title given to characters in fanfiction (and sometimes original, professional work) who are simply perfect: They are beautiful, smart, friendly, always willing to help for nothing in exchange even if they can die, powerful, important in one way or other...you get the point (I will explain on emphasis later). These characters are often created in Roleplaying forums/chatrooms or simply as OCs with a storyline. They usually are related to every canon character of the fanfic they are inserted into, and have major relevancy with every success that happens.
-Why not make a “Mary Sue”?
Although this is totally based on personal opinion, It is not recommendable to create one simply because “Mary Sues” are empty, boring characters with little to no space for development. Think of it: They are just perfect, and people just don’t enjoy reading that, in fact, it gets very boring reading about a perfect character everybody likes with no flaws or enemies whatsoever, I’ll make an example later.
-But why is it wrong if I want to create a good looking (natured) character?
Nothing, in fact, it is excellent that you want to create a nice character and storywrite/comic about it, however, making your character a Mary Sue is totally different: Making your character perfect in every sense of the word is simply stupid: There is no place for development, no place for events, no place for something interesting to happen, and no place for interesting relationships (as every character likes him/her and all the opposing sex cast has a crush on her/him), no place for anything that has not been written so far.
-Does it only apply to female characters?
No, “Mary Sue” is simply a title given to both male and female characters, but it should be noted that most Mary Sues are Females. People often make variations such as “Gary Stu”, but for the sake of understanding this guide, we will refer to both female and male as “Mary Sue”, AND also remember that all the examples will be refering to the Mary Sue to as female unless noted otherwise.
Does the author of the Mary Sue recieve a special title as well?
Yes, they are often called “Suethors” or “9-year olds with no originality”
Now that you got a basic concept of what Mary Sue is, we will advance to the next area:
II) Factors/Features:
Now I will explain a little in depth the factors and features that make a character a Mary Sue, as they are often seen in fanfiction: (For examples, We’ll refer to the Mary Sue as “Diana”)
Beautiful:
The character in question is much more beautiful than any existing canon character. Not only that, but every male in the series in question is also in love with this character, no exceptions. (I personally hate when Suethors do this)
I.E: Diana is put in the Dragon Ball Trilogy universe. Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Goten, Cell, Piccolo, Krillin, Broly, Frieza, Buu and Shenron are all in love with Diana and her goddess-quality beauty.
Saint:
Mary Sues are often the best person in the universe they are inserted into: they always forgive (given the case that someone actually did something to her), help even if it means a great risk, always give, never ask anything in return, is very understanding and thoughtful, you get the picture.
I.E: A kid in the village is ill, he is suffering from a lethal disease that can only be cured by the mythical herb that resides atop the mountain, guarded by a dragon, it’s familly, a guild of bandits and the U.S. Army. Going there is certain death, but Diana will go nonetheless and, naturally, she befriended all the guardians of the herb, and saved the kid. (and think of it, she probably could have cured the boy with her sweat, after all, that’s what a Mary Sue does)
Problem-solver:
Mary Sues arrive and solve any problem that might be taking place, even if it’s something really private and delicate. This is better explained in the example:
I.E: Two clans have fought with each other for 3500 years in bloody wars. Diana HAPPENS to arrive to that precise place and, after getting to know the royalty of both clans, befriending and getting their eternal trust in less than 15 mins, she starts an exaggerated, clichéd emotional speech that touches everyone’s hearts and solves the 3500-year problem in less than 1 day, then Diana leaves, waving her hand good-bye to the now pacific clans. Also, the whole royal familly fell in love with Diana.
Smart/Talent:
Mary Sues often have an IQ of 350, whooping everyone on everything. On High-school stories and fanfics, the Mary Sue will get the best grades on everything, will be better than everyone and won’t break a sweat while doing so
I.E: Diana is in High-School, her schedule for tomorrow is:
7 Exams, a Triathlon, rehersals on the play and is the drummer/guitarrist/Bassist on a concert. How did Diana do? 7 A+++, She ended on first place 6 minutes ahead of the 2nd place, knows the entire script backwards and gave an encore to the audience.
Potential:
Pretty self-explanatory, Mary Sues always learn a new thing with relative ease, and then master it completely in an hour, owning people that have dedicated their entire lives to the activity.
I.E: Diana has to go against Richard, 4-times national champion on ping-pong, while Diana has never played before. Diana has 7 days to train for the event with a master betrayed and defeated by Richard, in which everyone is impressed of her god-like potential to play the game and accept that she is better than them, when the day arrives, she wins 72 – 0 with relative ease.
Loved by everyone:
In any series the Mary Sue is put, every female character wants to be her friend and every male character is in love with her, this is usually linked with “Beautiful”, “Saint” and “Problem-Solver” as a combination of the three, but is still very lame, as even villians love the Mary Sue sometimes.
I.E: Does it really need one? Okay: She is put in Kingdom Hearts universe, Sora, Donald and Goofy simply fall in love with her, she befriends the Heartless and the Nobodies, Organization XIII have an internal struggle because they all fell in love with Diana, every planet she visits eagerlly awaits for her return...I think I explained myself (Mary Sues break the series apart...)
Unnatural Powers:
This one actually depends on the series in question; Sure, is perfectly fine if your character has superpowers in fanfics like DBZ, but...BLEH I’ll just give you the example.
I.E. Diana is put in Lucky Star universe, and past the part where she becomes everyone’s best friend, she goes off flying, transforms going through a rather unconforting scene, battles the cities’ bullies all by herself, and defeats them with freakin’ magic spells and finally summons fantastic animals and gifts them to each of the girls. (Can you break this awesome serie anymore? A Mary Sue can!)
Connection to a canon character:
This is one of the most common atributes of a Mary Sue: when the author is too lazy to explain where it’s character came from, they just come up with “She’s [Insert canon character] [insert relationship]”
Multi-I.E:
Uzumaki Diana is Naruto’s long lost sister, separated at birth.
Diana is Goku’s twin sister that got accidentally sent to [Generic planet] at birth.
Diana is Sonic the Hedg.... You get the point.
Insanelly Powerful:
Heh...I.E: Diana, fighting at her 50%, is an equal match for SSJ4 Gogeta...Do I need to say more?
Although there are even more factors, I will consider this ones as the most important components of a Mary Sue (Note that they all work toghether at the same time...making it more irritating)
III) Emphasis on the why/why not on “Factors/Features”:
This can be considered by as an “Attack” on the Mary Sue components listed above, I’m better just getting directly to the point, so here I go:
Beautiful:
It’s totally acceptable that you want to make your character beautiful, no one has a problem with that, sure, but there is people that just go too far by making stuff like “Diana is way sexier than any of the pre-existing characters in the whole series”... You can moderate yourself and make her as beautiful, or a bit more beautiful than the most beautiful character, but never go as far as saying that no other character can compare to half you character’s beauty.
Saint:
No one is so damn sainty as to do anything they get asked for, getting nothing in return and never seeming to have a flaw...FLAWS ARE NECESSARY IN CHARACTERS...THEY MAKE THEM INTERESTING!!! People don’t seem to understand that flaws are natural, and that naturallity is necessary for an interesting characters to be developed! Why would you want to read about a character that simply has no development at all? To see it solve everything with ease and no interesting stuff happening? Meh!.
Problem-Solver:
It’s perfectly fine if your character is understanding and thoughtful, but never exaggerate to freakin’ proportions such as the set example...this is usually seen in fanfic AS WELL as original works, which is pretty pathetic. And if you are going to do it, at least explain every detail and come up with something good, instead of saying that “Diana can see things from a “Big Picture” Point of view, so is easy for her to solve things”, don’t give up that stupid excuse for a character and a plot, and use your head to think something original.
Smart/Talent:
Nobody can be beter than everyone at everything, nobody can be good at everything at such a high degree. It’s natural that your character falls in some areas, maybe he is good at maths, but sucks at chemistry, or she is good at History but sucks at P.E.... COME UP WITH SOMETHING!!! It isn’t that hard.
Potential:
Please, this one is obvious, no one can master so many things in such a short period of time...It even sounds like a frustrated attempt at making something from the author. Learning something in a short period of time is already something, and is quite acceptable, but freakin’ mastering it? As in, being able to compete with professionals? Your originality sucks if you can’t come up with something better than this... at least say that your character has a huge stockpile of steroids or something.
Loved by Everyone:
Stupid, simply stupid... “everyone” means EVERYONE! Enemies, those generic emotionless characters...NO! SIMPLY NO! It’s humanly impossible!
Unnatural Powers:
Again, this depends on the series in question.
This one has many faces, one being Roleplaying: Lets say you are RPing in a nice forum, the RP consists on normal people on their lives, something really simple like that. Ok so you are enjoying yourself and suddenlly you see this new user that posted in your page, answering with crap such as “Elizabeth arrives from the skies, gently descending with her angellic wings and her dragon pet. Once she is on the floor, she waves her wings and shakes her tail, waving and saying “Hello!” while some flowers appear at her feet” and other nonsense that really screws the flow of the RP...I get an urge to slap these out-of-bounds people.
Connection to Canon Character:
This one relies entirelly on the author’s level to explain or create a scenario: I’ve seen incredibly nice fanfics describing every detail on how they are involved with a character in the series, but sadly, this is a minority, as most of the people that go with this format just say “[Sue] is [main character]’s long lost sibling” not even explaining what the hell happened...EVEN A 9 YEAR OLD CAN DO THAT!!! Before making a character, make sure you know what you are doing.
Insanelly Powerful:
Stupid, Unoriginal, Boring, Cheap, Fail. I don’t need to explain this, the title says it all, Insanelly powerful = insanelly unoriginal; You can’t develop your character in any way as she is beautiful, smart, talented, the best person in the world, so the best thing you think is making her unmesureably powerful? Something is wrong with you, my friend.
SUMMARY
For those who still don’t get it, Mary Sues are Beautiful, Smart, Understanding, Athletic, Talented and Powerful...or like some others like to sum it all toghether: Perfect.
Making a Perfect character is really stupid, you have nothing to develop, nothing to worry about, nothing to entertain the masses with, nothing to refine and polish until you get a nice outcome and enjoy it as you inspire people to create their own great characters, you have Nothing but a character that can do anything better than anyone... in other words, your character SUCKS.
Mary Sues are an offense to us creators and authors that actually put effort in creating a character that can get attention out of artistic skill.
That’s why Mary Sues are often shot in sight when caught by an author.
And if you still need a final example, covering everything like the difference between a nice OC and an ugly, enemy Mary Sue, I accept the challenge:
IV) Final Comparation/Example
Now, to finalize this, I’ll compare my OC to a Mary Sue in a very brief, basic, and simple way
Name: Nishiki Yurishizu (Not real name)
Nickname: The Red Rattlesnake
Age: 27
Hair: Red
Eyes: Purple
Species: Human (connection to Reptile Cycle)
Personallity: Yurishizu is an unpredictable individual belonging to the Reptile Cycle, Yurishizu is very cunning, sarcastic and mean, having few friends. He supports teamwork in activities if needed, but nonetheless, he will happily backstab someone (like he has done in the past) if he can reach a higher goal with less dificulty by doing so. Yurishizu loves listening to music a lot, but he dislikes and even hates most styles of art in general, such as drawings and stories. Yurishizu’s code of honor is rather unique: He will never betray his few friends or people he shares mutual respect with, but will readily backstab others that don’t fall into the mentioned status if he sees a gain in doing so. Yurishizu is also very protective of his ideology, and attacks other ideologies that confront his own. His fighting style include using weapons such as pipes and utilizing dirty moves. Regardless of this, if the opposition asks Yurishizu to fight fairly, Yurishizu will often do, complete with bowing, respect for opponent and sportsmanship, but even if he displays this kind of respect, this doesn’t mean he won’t use brutal or lethal moves.
He is a total fan of spicy food and sour food, and loves being lazy on Sundays (considering he can at the given time) and enjoys activities such as basketball, spending time with his pet Iguana or with some members of his family and doing rather mad things for his own pleasure. Yurishizu acts like a madman or a lunatic person sometimes when a “Mindsnap” occurs, showing a more brutal but less selfworrying version of himself, and often attacking nearby people he deems hostile (pretty much everyone) and generally shouting off his true intentions or plans. Has a rivalry with Majima Zabieru.
Special Abilities: Being part of the Reptile Cycle, Yurishizu can choose to exhibit reptilic physical features such as scales, a tail, reptile eyes, fangs, etc... He can also secrete neurotoxic poisons of varying levels, the stronger the poison, the harded it is to create it, creating poison tires Yurishizu quickly, although he has learned to create specific poisons for each body part, allowing him to disable opponents easilly, this tires him greatly too.
Weakness: Using Unexpected moves on him; Although he loves mixing his moves and doing improvised, unexpected moves to be sure to hit, Yurishizu’s not used to fight this kind of opponent (Ironic, he is weak against his own style), Yurishizu is also sucky against opponents that attack in quick succesion; He is not that much of an experienced fighter and needs some time to think his next move.
Okay...there’s one of the characters I use for a story I currently write: He has flaws, he has possitive things, he some weaknesses, he’s got that “past experience” thing (A rival, fake name) and has room for development (Or so I have been told). I didn’t go all detail mode because I said it was going to be as simple as possible, now I will proceed with the Mary Sue:
Name: Faery Diana Goldshine
Age: 16, but she is so mature she looks older and has better curves.
Hair: All colors known by humans and some undiscovered (Ultra Rainbow)
Eyes: Her eye color changes to match her mood.
Species: ½ Saiyajin ½ Tsufurujin ½ God ½ Catgirl ½ Angel ½ Desk ½ Mudkip ½ Dragon ½ Demon ½ Alien ½ Pure Essence 1/100000 Human (Mary Sues are Inmune to Maths if you didn’t notice)
“Personallity”: Faery is good at everything, everyone loves her Supermodel champion body and Saint personallity. She can learn new things in 30 seconds and master them to World-Champion level in 1 hour of procrastination. She is the best person in the world, and will always help even if it means scrweing up other’s dreams...as long as she can help that little kid, it’s all justified, right??? She is also very smart! Seriouslly! She had an IQ of 678 when she was born, and instead of being recieved by a doctor to this world, she got out of her mom by herself! When her true love (Mary Sue crap) is in danger, she can’t control herself until he is safe to confort her and stop destroying everything in her path.
Special Abilities: Faery can turn into Legendary Super Saiyajin 9, she has 4 oversized wings on her back; 2 angel and 2 demon, Faery can destroy galaxies and recreate Big Bangs if she sneezes, has extreme psychic powers, she can turn into any animal discovered and undiscovered by human and alien alike, she has all 800000000 Pokemons (all at level 100, naturally), Faery’s hair also provides WI-FI! Her sweat cures Cancer and her saliva heals AIDS... She can do any Jutsu, Spell, Tech, Overdrive, Hack and Guitar Solo known in existance...and she can also play goddess with our lives at will.
Weakness: Excuse me?
That is a Mary Sue, are you sure you want a character that poorly made? I’m sure you don’t.
WATCH OUT: The "Low-Profile!Sue"
As you might have thought, I'm explaining the majority of the cases in extremes...Because in reality THEY ARE that extreme... but there are some case in which the Suethor isn't that (enphasis on "that") dumb and actually make them more sneaky... They aren't that smart, but still smarter than everyone, and can do anything. They don't have that mad potential, but still can learn things to World-Champion level in a day... See? That kind of things. These are harder to detect (albeit slightly) as they require you to read more than the character description (and that is already painful). If you need an example...well, I already said them. Just look at the above sections, and water them down...Voila!
Of course, there's always the "smarter" Suethor (stretching the definition of "smart" a lot) that will have their Mary Sue not explicitly be better than everyone and their homeboys at everything, but still be undefeated at any particular event and dismiss it as "She's a quick learner" or "She got lucky". This obviously still paves the way to a perfect, undefeatable character that will make us good authors want to blow our brains out A.S.A.P..
V) Final Thoughts/Conclussion
All in all, we can say Mary Sue = EPIC FAIL and all it’s synonyms, it’s an excuse for character, and hopefully you understand and know what a Mary Sue is now, or know a little more about them, whatever, just make sure to pass on these Honorable Teachings to generations to come, so they don’t create Mary Sues. Now for some final tips before closing:
-PREVENT USING SELF-INSERT! Using Self-Inserts in fanfic/Original works might mean EPIC FAIL; There are few people that can actually insert themselves and not be Mary Sues/Story ruiners (Akira Toriyama!), and if you are decided to use a Self-insert, don’t make it based COMPLETELLY off you: Just have it have some of your qualities or simply create character based off you, but don’t use it on stories. Now, I was a little extreme over there, you CAN use a Self-Insert, but handle with care , only do so if you know what you are doing.
-Giving your character flaws is good, but there is some people that just try TOO hard and overdo it, creating the Anti-Sue, which is just as annoying as the Mary Sue...Balance is the answer.
-Again, Watch out for the Low-Profile!Sue. These are "low profile" Sues that usually have the above mentioned qualities, albeit in a most sneaky way... Like, for example, they won't be destroying the whole galaxy with their attacks, only 1/4, if you know what I mean.
If you read it all, thank you a lot and I hope it helped you.
Related content
Comments: 875
GreySidewinder In reply to ??? [2011-05-12 14:45:42 +0000 UTC]
Oh snap. Best way to deal with that is good writing. Just keep handing her her ass in a legit way, and the other users will acknowledge that you, indeed, can write for shit.
It has worked for me.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
lolly-pop-luver In reply to GreySidewinder [2011-05-12 18:42:49 +0000 UTC]
kay
other chars keep dropping hints that they hate her, they do it so well, they are really experienced with sues
I'm not XD
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Crazii4Anime In reply to ??? [2011-05-08 14:33:39 +0000 UTC]
What. A. Hypocritical. Cunt. Stick it to yer wan goood.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Crazii4Anime In reply to lolly-pop-luver [2011-05-08 19:18:59 +0000 UTC]
Lordy almighty, no no! Sorry, I meant yer wan who made the MS.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
lolly-pop-luver In reply to Crazii4Anime [2011-05-08 19:28:12 +0000 UTC]
ooooh my brain isn't in gear today XD
she critisizes everyone, there is one character who is afraid of water, and she points it out every time they are near water, and Mary sue has random fears that apear at crucial points, giant robot attacks, Oh no! mary sue is scared of robots, even though she kills them all the time and pesters helen (another of my ocs, mary sue wants to be her BMA) who is part robot, they are stuck in a dark cave Le Gasp! mary sue is afraid of the dark, even though she goes on night time missions alone with no torch all the time
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Crazii4Anime In reply to lolly-pop-luver [2011-05-10 17:00:53 +0000 UTC]
....F-ing hell, brb my brain broke.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Leukitanea In reply to ??? [2011-04-29 19:10:17 +0000 UTC]
I just hate it when people make Maru Sues on Naruto just to pair them up
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
GreySidewinder In reply to Leukitanea [2011-05-12 14:46:12 +0000 UTC]
IT HAPPENS ALL THE DAMN TIME
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Leukitanea In reply to GreySidewinder [2011-05-12 15:13:05 +0000 UTC]
That's the problem with society.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
WeepingPiano In reply to ??? [2011-04-20 18:29:53 +0000 UTC]
Seeing that you offered... would you mine looking at this for me? I need someone who is not my friend to judge whether this charater is a Mary Sue or not. [link] I would really appreciate it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
GreySidewinder In reply to WeepingPiano [2011-05-12 14:47:54 +0000 UTC]
Everything looks OK to me.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
WeepingPiano In reply to GreySidewinder [2011-05-14 05:18:16 +0000 UTC]
Thank you. I really appreciate it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Fire-Demon-Akatsuki In reply to ??? [2011-04-18 19:54:41 +0000 UTC]
This....Is the best thing I have ever read.
I honestly am SICK of all the Sues out there, though I shouldn't be talking, I've created a Sue once before, but I was 10! After doing countless hours of research, I've come up, and still can create, non-Sue characters. Sure, it's a lot of hard work, but it's all worth it because in the end you get a well rounded OC.
What really drives me crazy is how Sues act!
For one thing, it's hard to ever get a good plot for a Sue if there's always a happy ending. And what's with all the characters being in love with them?!? Also, lately as I have been RP-ing I've seen one girl's OC for Hetalia really just scream Mary Sue! I mean, she got shot in the head by Xanxus(It's a crossover RP xDD) countless times! And she didn't die because she was a country or something.
Also, if you could, could you check my OC, Rin, if she has the Mary Sue disease? I'm open to any opinions on how to make her better and/or less Mary Sue-ish.
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
GreySidewinder In reply to Fire-Demon-Akatsuki [2011-05-12 14:49:19 +0000 UTC]
"And she didn't die because she was a country or something"
God that made me laugh. What kind of imbecile writes a character like that?? I mean, just imagine:
"So then a Nuke fell and killed everyone. 'Cept me, because I'm a country."
WHAT.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Fire-Demon-Akatsuki In reply to GreySidewinder [2011-05-13 06:18:15 +0000 UTC]
I KNOW RIGHT!?! THAT SERIOUSLY TICKS ME OFF D<
I was comment stalking I swear I was just bored D:, and she got shot in the head OVER 10 TIMES by Xanxus and she was all like "*smiles insanely* I'm a state I can't die" Or something like that -.- >_> Not too sure though if that's EXACTLY what she typed...
And the latest Sue I found is a country as well 8D And can use chakrams like Axel from KH 8D, and is BEE-EFF-EFFS WITH DEMYX FROM KH 8D, is an insane psychopath due to something in the past 8D, And can defeat any enemy 8D, AND CAN TURN INTO A HALF CAT PERSON 8D ISN'T THAT TOTALLY AWESOME!?! *sarcastic*
Another Sue is Sasuke and Itachi's SISTER 8D AMAZING HUH!?! *dripping with sarcasm*
Sorry, I drank A LOT of chocolate milk, and that just makes me REALLY hyper >___>
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
GreySidewinder In reply to Fire-Demon-Akatsuki [2011-05-13 14:05:18 +0000 UTC]
If shitty character writing was a sport, they would have nothing but trophies. Like, DAMN.
Worry not, being hyper active is always a fun activity.
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
RoseOfTheNight4444 In reply to GreySidewinder [2011-05-22 08:07:32 +0000 UTC]
*LIKES*
oops I meant to do that on fb...LOL
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Fire-Demon-Akatsuki In reply to GreySidewinder [2011-05-14 07:04:06 +0000 UTC]
OHOH I'D WIN ONE IF I WAS 10 AGAIN xDD But I'm older and I KNOW how to make a good OC :>
Yes, yes it is C: *drinks more chocolate milk*
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Fire-Demon-Akatsuki In reply to Fire-Demon-Akatsuki [2011-04-18 19:57:14 +0000 UTC]
By the way, I'm faving this for a referance when I'm making an OC of any kind
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
WeepingPiano In reply to ??? [2011-04-17 05:22:01 +0000 UTC]
Favoriting to keep track of it for later ^-^
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Rankumander In reply to ??? [2011-04-14 23:33:47 +0000 UTC]
*goes to edit OC to help from being a Mary Sue*
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
GreySidewinder In reply to Rankumander [2011-05-12 14:49:36 +0000 UTC]
YOU CAN DO IT. STOP THE MS INFECTION.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
OtakuCarrie In reply to ??? [2011-04-13 15:58:46 +0000 UTC]
this is very helpful. I cant see how people make mary-sues. I love giving my characters flaws. It makes them seem a crap load more interesting.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
GreySidewinder In reply to OtakuCarrie [2011-05-12 14:50:42 +0000 UTC]
If a character isn't all powerful, there's drama. If there's drama, people get hooked. It's basic math, really. BASIC MATH SUETHORS CAN'T SEEM TO GET.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
tarbano In reply to ??? [2011-04-13 15:44:07 +0000 UTC]
Very well done
If anyone needs anther example of balancing out powers, here's one from my first OC
Power: OverBurst Transformation
Effects: Strength, Stamina, and Speed increased; cryo abilities enhanced*
Flaw: Unlike other super transformations it doesn't enable flight, and can only be active for roughly 45 seconds, due to immense strain on the internal organs. Any longer and the user runs the high risk of putting themself in a coma
*Cryo Abilities are NOT all powerful. Only basic projections and small structures can be created. Think Sub-Zero from MK rather then IceMan from the X-men
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
piesrgreat In reply to ??? [2011-04-05 19:40:16 +0000 UTC]
just wondering. can we do mary-sues if they are evil immortals in disguise or robots deliberately created by the villain in the story? :/
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
GreySidewinder In reply to piesrgreat [2011-04-05 21:13:54 +0000 UTC]
Mary Sue doesn't really refer to a type of character as much as how said character plays out.
A character can be a god and not a Mary Sue, the same way it can be just a simple human and yet still be a Mary Sue.
In other words, if you write said evil inmortal in disguise or whatever in such a way that there's still conflict present, you can avoid it being a mAry Sue.
But on the other hand, if it's a villain that goes around and thwarts every effort of the protagonists efortlessly, well, that's a Villain Sue. Not as annoying as a Mary Sue, but annoying nonetheless.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Cute-Girl17 In reply to ??? [2011-03-24 16:58:56 +0000 UTC]
Well, I wanna know if my UTAUloid is a Mary-Sue so here is her profile:
Name: Lia (her surname is WIP)
Gender: Female
Age: 14
Meaning of name: Lia - bringer of good news
Height: 160 cm (with heels), 155 cm (without heels)
Weight: 52 kg
Birthday: 5th March (based on when she was first shown)
Hair colour: Dark-brown
Hair style: Long, spiky hair
Eye colour: Green
Species: Humanoid
Nationality: Romanian
Body type: Normal
Likes: drawing, singing, listening to music, daydreaming, sunsets, nights, dawns, seasides, good music, singing and crossdressing (even if she doesn't do that often, but she enjoys it)
Dislikes: mean people, boring stuff, being accused of her music taste, being called ugly, bad music, INNA (a Romanian singer)
Weaknesses: shy towards some people, annoying (sometimes), crazy (sometimes), aggresive (sometimes)
Special abilities: can be invisible.
Good traits: active, creative, smart, outgoing and friendly
Altough if Lia (my OC) is a tomboy she still loves girly clothes.
Here is a picture of her character apperance: [link]
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GreySidewinder In reply to Cute-Girl17 [2011-05-12 14:51:52 +0000 UTC]
Looks ok, so far. Be sure to add a "flaws" section somewhere.
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m2cool In reply to ??? [2011-03-23 13:04:17 +0000 UTC]
Hi, I've read your guide and I feel that it has helped me immensely. I've also taken the Mary-Sue Litmus Test for my characters, but I really want some professional opinion; so I am requesting if you could spare some time to evaluate my characters' Sue levels and point out what could be done to remedy any problems you may find. Your kindness would be greatly appreciated.
Here are the links to my characters:
[link] and [link]
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Catastrophic-Success In reply to ??? [2011-03-22 18:34:24 +0000 UTC]
Good Self-Insert: AU Naruto Fanfic
Sasuke is a billionair and he is showing he friends around his glorious mansion or whatever the little prick does. He introduces them to the maid on duty, insert person here, She says hello and goes back to cleaning. The end. XD
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GreySidewinder In reply to Catastrophic-Success [2011-05-12 14:53:52 +0000 UTC]
NOBLE PRIZE.
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Catastrophic-Success In reply to GreySidewinder [2011-05-12 20:57:04 +0000 UTC]
Why thank you~
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DoubleRaineBow In reply to ??? [2011-03-07 01:12:51 +0000 UTC]
D: Can you check on my OC. I have the link to my OC Profile right here:
[link]
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GreySidewinder In reply to DoubleRaineBow [2011-05-12 15:04:53 +0000 UTC]
She's overpowered, but it's fixable. Mainly, tone down her physical resistance (the Superboy punch thing) and tone down her paralysis. It can be seen as Overpowered because she can control shadows, making it very easy for her to be able to touch her enemies and paralyze them for up to six (!) months.
She'll still be plenty powerful without those.
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LazuiArt In reply to DoubleRaineBow [2011-03-13 15:39:28 +0000 UTC]
here's a mary sue test [link]
you can chek it yourself xD
there are a lot of more test if you don't like this one
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linawifeofL In reply to ??? [2011-03-05 22:57:04 +0000 UTC]
Don't forget about the tragic past. Many Sues have been orphaned, raped, etc. just to squeeze sympathy out of the reader.
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GreySidewinder In reply to linawifeofL [2011-05-12 14:53:18 +0000 UTC]
"GUYS YOU SHOULD LIKE MY CHARACTER BECAUSE SHE WAS RAPED BY HER STEPPARENTS AFTER BEING KILLED BY HER REAL PARENTS AND REVIVED BY SONIC BCOZ HE WAS IN LOVE WITH HER ALL ALONG. SHE CAN ALSO TURN INTO A PURPLE DRAGON THAT SHITS RAINBOWS AND CURES AIDS WITH HER LASER EYES"
Totally not a Mary Sue.
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Rhapsody-Shaman In reply to ??? [2011-03-02 22:45:15 +0000 UTC]
I'd like you to review my character, please. Should I put it here or in a Note?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
GreySidewinder In reply to Rhapsody-Shaman [2011-05-12 14:53:26 +0000 UTC]
Just reply here : D
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Rhapsody-Shaman In reply to GreySidewinder [2011-05-12 21:03:56 +0000 UTC]
Sorry, but I'm in the process of revamping this character now. XD I found too many glitches in the overall story, and now I'm re-writing it. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. ^^
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Crescent-Winged In reply to ??? [2011-02-19 08:57:15 +0000 UTC]
I hate mary-sue's! I had to roleplay with one all the time and another mary-su/godmod too!
I was wondering if you could take a look at one of my characters? I'm just curious as to what you think. He is one of my very old characters who I had only just posted up once not to long ago and I could barely remember his info.
[link]
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GreySidewinder In reply to Crescent-Winged [2011-05-12 14:55:32 +0000 UTC]
Definitely not a Mary Sue, but you should flesh him out more. That's a basic description really, so there's not much to say. You're on the right tracks, though.
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DewyChewy In reply to ??? [2011-02-17 05:19:17 +0000 UTC]
agreed! reading Mary Sue fanfics is a very painful thing to do...
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GreySidewinder In reply to DewyChewy [2011-02-17 19:44:30 +0000 UTC]
I once read a fanfic so bad, I ended up in coma and unable to write anything.
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