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windfalcon β Mary Sue - How to Tell
Published: 2004-02-25 08:27:37 +0000 UTC; Views: 430645; Favourites: 7006; Downloads: 44654
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EDIT 3: 11/22/09 You guys are kidding me XD For goodness sakes, reaaaaad the liink here: [link] Every time I get a comment that reads "the one on the left is a Mary Sue because she has green hair and a power," I realize that they're not reading the description which contains this link: [link]tl;dr: If 'special' traits fit in with the universe, it doesn't automatically make the character a Mary Sue. What if everyone else in Ami Machida's universe has green/blue/purple hair? What if everyone else has a cat power? Does that make her a Mary Sue? Not necessarily.
Please, spare me the time from having to point you BACK to the silly description and just take a minute to read the link. You know, the one I linked to a bunch of times up above. And the link here: [link]
EDIT 2: 10/11/09 I suppose this is long overdue, but for those of you with confusion, here is an explanation on why I perceive the one on the left as not a Mary Sue: [link] For the love of god stop whining about it D:
EDIT: 6/21/09 Okay, everyone, please chill with all the 'hay is my character a mary-sue!?11" questions. I get about 3 a day now and one thing you need to understand - I AM NOT AN AUTHORITY ON MARY SUES. This picture is a parody. Just for fun. The one on the right is obviously an extreme exaggeration of a stereotype and not the definitive definition for a Mary Sue. D:
Please full view. You won't be able to read the text if you don't.
For those of you who don't know, a Mary Sue, in a nutshell, is a fanmade character that is usually extremely beautiful, powerful, smart, talented, and in plain words, perfect in every way.
These characters tend to be quite a bother in fanfiction and role playing, since they simply can't be beat, and thus become boring.
Have any of you ever been rping, and come across a character who is like, " oh, well, that planet in the way isn't a problem *blows it up*"
Or, is like, "well, Vegeta and Goten and Trunks and Goku ALL have a crush on my character"
Yep. That's a Mary Sue.
So, for people who still don't understand, I made this little picture/diagram. Usually, Mary Sues have TONS of talents and TONS of powers, and no weaknesses.
Enjoy ^_^
-Done in Copic Markers, with the background and text done on computer -
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Comments: 4629
no such thing as a person who can't draw, just people who haven't tried yet
fake platitudes aside, i think i'll be able to handle some mildly miffed people on the internet.
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I'd share your optimism too if the people in question didn't have their gallery covered in bases by anime or by someone else.
Good luck to you, just I'd share my agreement. Your points was good ones.
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it isn't optimism tho, it's a core ideology of mine. barring the actual inability to put a pen to paper, anyone can draw. plenty of professional/"""real""" artists build off the work of others, whether metaphorically or literally (as in the case of anime bases), and some art styles (like the Homestuck sprite art style) actually NECESSITATE using a base.
shit man i get derailed easily im 2 fighty for my own good. guess thats my quirky mary sue 'flaw'
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Each to their own.
and what you talkin about, Mary sues don't have flaaaws. You talk cray cray.
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So then Rade has a lot of colors but isn't a Mary sue-
Ok
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i cant tell if my OCΒ is a mary sue or not but I think that this will help me tone it down enough so that it's not so thanks a lotΒ Β Β Β
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I've been trying to "tone down" one of my characters, but a lot of the Mary Sue-ish qualities are kind of necessary for the story to work. For example, the fact that she's an incredible fighter: In my first draft, she was basically a goddess of war; now, her entire species is like that. Still very rough, but I'm working on it!
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It's ok if they're op in a category. For example a boss fighter. That's ok she just needs to have a flaw of some sort to balance them out. For example hubris, or they berserk when they fight and can't tell friends from foes. That sort of thing. But if they're the goddess of war but also have amazing people skills, a master artisan, and have a side business worth millions of dollars, that's a Mary-sue. Another thing is often women paragons are accused of being a Mary-sue hen they're not.Β
Also if your character's entire species are all boss fighter you may need to review the species. You don't want to have a planet of the watts sort of thing. (of you want to make sure your character isn't a Mary-sue here's a fantastic video explaining it-Β www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2-GIYβ¦
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I think Jasmyne shows a lot of potential as an arch villain.Β If I were her I wouldn't trust that disgruntled looking unicorn.
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Praise the art gods, someone gets it!
I am a firm believer that anything can be a good idea, if done correctly and thought out well. People have gone to using "Mary-sue/gary-stu" to apply to stereotypical rather than what it actually is, which you clearly defined here. 
Eep, I'm getting long winded, oops.
Long story short; I'm really glad this is being seen so much now, it makes clear a very fantastic point that needs to be known!
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Along with "Hair:" and "Eyes:", you need entries for "Ears:" (pointed or round, at sides of head or atop), "Tail:", and "Limbs:" (4 for Ami, 6 for Jasmyne).
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How true. Can't stand those things.
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Im older than this
By a monthΒ
(by the way this picture is awesome, its very helpful)
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I'm younger than this by a year and 10 days. XD
The picture is supposed to be a joke, comparing an ordinary and dull character to a ridiculously Mary Sue character, it's just for fun. Read the description:Β
"This picture is a parody. Just for fun. The one on the right is obviously an extreme exaggeration of a stereotype and not the definitive definition for a Mary Sue."
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i knew that it was an exaggeration, When i complimented the art i was not 100% sure if it was a Guide or not, so no wanting to be rude, i said it was helpful. i should of read the description, im sorry.
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I liked a flawed character... but no one likes me...Β Β
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I know a girl who made a character like the one on the right. LOL. This is funny! I think people are taking it too seriously, but it's funny!
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it's funny but I don't think it's helpful or accurate if someone actually has trouble identifying a mary/gary sue.
what I mean is that the left one could just as well be a mary sue, clumsy is the stereotypical mary sue "flaw".
It soely depends on how the character actually interacts with the world and other characters in it. the world pretty much revolves around a mary sue and logic bends around them, and they have no actual personality flaws (bad at math, clumsy, can't dance, are very superficial "flaws" and not an actual personality flaw, so for all intens and purposes your "not mary sue" on the left has no actual flaws either)
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Read the description:
"This picture is a parody. Just for fun. The one on the right is obviously an extreme exaggeration of a stereotype and not the definitive definition for a Mary Sue."
The left one is what some call an Anti-Sue. Anti-Sues are characters that have flaws but no positive and unique skillsets or mindsets that make them stand out from other characters. And Anti-Sues are sometimes just as bad as Mary Sues.
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i can somwhat relate to this...as my character might be what one would call a mary Stu due to His powerlevel and range of abilities...though to be fair he does have flaws in other ereas and it took him (approximately) 6,000 years to reach his measure of power.
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If your character has flaws that somewhat make him more relatable (such as lack of restraint, lack of confidence, etc.), then he's not a Gary Stu.
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I know dozens of people who could benefit from looking at this
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Such as the old me... LOL my character used to be a Mary Sue, with all the power that exists and being unable to die or be hurt.
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Just because a character can't die or get hurt does not mean that they're a Mary Sue/Gary Stu. As long as they have some flaws as well as unique powers, they're a good character.
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Yeah my character used to be a Mary sue though, she was way overpowered.Β But that was a long time ago,Β because I eventually got tired of being hated on.
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Yeah most people start out with shallow/Mary Sue characters, that's nothing to be tired or ashamed of! ^^
However, people who provide only hate without constructive criticism deserve to be reprimanded, it does absolutely no good for anyone. :/
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I was just hated on a lot back then, not that it's gotten any better since i became a furry.
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Hehe, there's no shame in that either! Haters gonna hate, no matter what you do :3
I'm lowkey scalie as well XD
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Yeah.
When I'm with haters:
"I'm a furry. Deal with it -.-"
LOL i know how to handle haters. Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way. But hey, the past is the past. Sometimes I can even trick someone into seeing a really cool furry or something and then saying "now ya still hate furries? xD"
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I'm a fox I know my tricks and pranks Β Β Β
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a character can have a crazy design and not be mary sue *oof*
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yea, they can. i have a character that has two eyes on one side of his face, crystals growing out of the other side, a glasgow grin, four arms, horns, and digitigrade legs. he's designed like that because i wanted him to look chaotic and disorienting. when that's done with mary sues they just look ugly
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It's just an exaggerated example..
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getting flashbacks from past ocs that were mary sues
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Father: Prince Vegeta
I broke out laughing when i read this.
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Lmaoooo some of y'all are for real getting worked up over something that was submitted in 2004, huh?Β
gotta love dA
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true im sobbing
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xD my character used to all be mary sue
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How can your mom be a queen and the dad be a prince?!
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Not justifying the sue, but there are a number of circumstances in which this could happen, provided obviously that the prince isn't her son. For example, in England the current queen is the sole monarch; to call her husband "king" would imply they were co-rulers, and so he is instead referred to as "prince consort".Β
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"Mother: Queen Serenity / Father: Prince Vegeta"
I died of laughing with thisΒ Β
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