Who Is Mary Sue and Why the Heck Should You Care?

[Myracuulous]

I've already had a few guys confess to male Mary Sues after readin' this, I assumed it was sort of implied. The majority of Sues are female, and I didn't want to keep using "him/her", hence the pronoun choice. I guess if some people are confused, I can add a line about them being male or female.

Actually, slash roleplay "male" sues are an interesting case, since that's the only place where you frequently find cross-gendered characters being used as author place-holders. Not that you don't find cross-gendered sues elsewhere, but they're usually created for other reasons.

[Blarg E Blarg]

And SHPLAM

[Myracuulous]

Added a banner...

[Blarg E Blarg]

I take it deliberately that funny-lookin'.

[Myracuulous]

Yea. Despite their wordily described beauty, Mary Sues are ugly things xp

[Blarg E Blarg]

True, true.

Actually, what's really odd with me is that I think my Sues tend to be, well, not exactly aesthetically pleasing. I mean, they're just kind of ugly-lookin'. The words 'reminiscent of a hairless gorilla' and 'short' and 'bulky' come to mind.

[Myracuulous]

That's kinda nifty. I once had an HP Sue who was sorta iffy in the aesthetics department. Late thirties, overworked, prematurely greying... not ugly, really, but definately not the traditional gorgeous. But pretty Sues are the general norm, especially around here...

[Myracuulous]

Bump

[[Stellar]]

-reads-

I need new characters. .___.

Thanks for all the tips, though. =D

[Myracuulous]

[Stellar]

-reads-

I need new characters. .___.

Thanks for all the tips, though. =D

You can usually salvage some parts from old characters, but it's always good if you recognize your characters' faults.

Teen Titans is a major Sue spawning ground >.<

[Blarg E Blarg]

Amazingly, the Titans haven't so mu been a home for my Sues as a place where they try desperately to fit in.

You know you have problems when you create an entire Sparklypoo species. Well, if not for the regrettable fact that they're allergic to antibiotics... rolleyes

[[Stellar]]

Myracuulous

[Stellar]

-reads-

I need new characters. .___.

Thanks for all the tips, though. =D

You can usually salvage some parts from old characters, but it's always good if you recognize your characters' faults.

Teen Titans is a major Sue spawning ground >.<

Unless its mostly the canon characters. I've been a member of a site that was very literate and most of the characters were put together well.

But yeah, there were a lot of Sues and Stues. Don't get me started on Gaia...D=

[Organized Empath]

Wow, this was a great board.

I have to admit that my characters have some elements of Sue dom. Tragedy, talent and abilities. But I've attempted to downplay them as much as I can, or give legitimate reason. Ie, my character plays the violin because I love the sound and am learning myself, the only reason that she's good at it is that she's been learning for seven years and practices when she gets a chance. For abilities (Ie in a Harry Potter roleplay) she's struggling to learn how to gain control on them and can't do six things at once. Things like that.

Do you have any other tips for me? I'd like some help on really determining whether or not my charactes are Sues or not.

[Myracuulous]

As a general rule, Elven, strip your character of every power and ability they don't directly need for the plot. "Struggling to control her unusual powers" is a common Sue-flaw, one I should probably work into the list, and usually ends up as an excuse for extra powers and angst, all rolled into one. Especially with Harry Potter-verse, where extra powers are rather uncommon (amongst students, Harry's the only one with any sort of special power, maybe the marauders and Fleur too if you're being generous. With adults, there are a few animagus, mostly with relatively common animal forms, and one Mary S-er, I mean metamorphmagus, then Voldemort who's a supervillain and, as such, doesn't get to count.)

A good writer shouldn't need extra powers to make their character special or interesting, you can do that with personality and common abilities. Potterverse offers a great selection of themes to explore with a character- muggle/wizard relations, house relations, wizarding jobs, etc., none of which need powers or abilities, or even a traumatic!past when done right, to explore.

[Organized Empath]

True. That's a good point. I've just had her with the abilities for so long that it's a hard part to take away. For some roleplays it fits just right, with others not so much. Thanks for the tip, I'll try that.

What would you suggest replacing the ability to control lightning with? I could take that away and have her be talented in a certain class (DaDA, or such.)

Apologies for the questions, but I'd like some creative criticism.