Are there any actually GOOD Mary-Sue tests?

[ijustdontcareXD]

I've taken several for my characters, and I feel like they are not very good. The questions don't seem to be relevant at all, and I always get mixed answers.

[XxXI DA HOXxX]

No.

Even the Universal Limuis or whatever its called is not that great for determining a sue/stu.

Here's some things to think about:
-Is your character overly beautyful for no reason and no one else can come close to matching her/his beauty?

-Does every character love/admire her/him and the only ones that hate him/her are just jellous for no reason?

-Do all the girls/guys fight over her/him for no reason?

-Does she/he break the rules that where astablished in the story for no reason?

-Is her/his ONLY character flaw is his/her clumsyness?

-is she/he the only one to get spechal treatment from cops, teachers/bosses, etc... for no reason(or cause she's/he's hot/amazing/popular/ect...) Or does she/he get away with cheating/attacking/killing/whatever for no reason?

-Is she/he just spechal for no reason?

Thats basicly it. A characters name could be God(though not a good idea), and depending on how she/he is wriiten, she/he could proably not be a Sue/Stu. Also, there's nothing wrong with baseing a character off of you. It can make a character seem more real and relateable. Though if her only purpouse is wish fulfillment, then thats where it's bad.

Also, it's not always bad to have a Stu/Sue. Take Harry Potter for example. He's pretty much a Gary Stu, though despite all that, he still got some chatacter in him and got some fans with him. Also, Mary Poppins was a fun women that a lot of people irl loved, even though she's a Mary Sue. Just write what you want and don't worry about things like Gary Stu/Marry Sue.

[xx Cookie-Boots xx]

I'm a good sue-spotter.

Just tell me about your characters and I'll tell you what you need to fix, if anything, and why.

[Nanaran]

XxXI DA HOXxX

No.

Even the Universal Limuis or whatever its called is not that great for determining a sue/stu.

Here's some things to think about:
-Is your character overly beautyful for no reason and no one else can come close to matching her/his beauty?

-Does every character love/admire her/him and the only ones that hate him/her are just jellous for no reason?

-Do all the girls/guys fight over her/him for no reason?

-Does she/he break the rules that where astablished in the story for no reason?

-Is her/his ONLY character flaw is his/her clumsyness?

-is she/he the only one to get spechal treatment from cops, teachers/bosses, etc... for no reason(or cause she's/he's hot/amazing/popular/ect...) Or does she/he get away with cheating/attacking/killing/whatever for no reason?

-Is she/he just spechal for no reason?

Thats basicly it. A characters name could be God(though not a good idea), and depending on how she/he is wriiten, she/he could proably not be a Sue/Stu. Also, there's nothing wrong with baseing a character off of you. It can make a character seem more real and relateable. Though if her only purpouse is wish fulfillment, then thats where it's bad.

Also, it's not always bad to have a Stu/Sue. Take Harry Potter for example. He's pretty much a Gary Stu, though despite all that, he still got some chatacter in him and got some fans with him. Also, Mary Poppins was a fun women that a lot of people irl loved, even though she's a Mary Sue. Just write what you want and don't worry about things like Gary Stu/Marry Sue.

^ I think this pretty much covers all the bases you need to worry about. Those tests really are pointless because they're too general and backfire on the specific rules of your story.

Though I feel that one more thing should be added to this list and that's "is your OC needed?" This is something interesting that someone pointed out a long time ago (I don't remember who they are) but something else to consider is if said character is needed and why. Many Mary Sues exist just to exist, mainly because they're wish fulfillment characters, and end up disturbing the flow of the story rather than add to it.

[The Drunken Jester]

A sue character does not come from the traits of the character, but how you write them.

There is nothing wrong with a character being beautiful and talented and all around perfect sounding on a character sheet.
But their place in the story and how the other characters react to them makes all the difference.

[sohi_moon]

There will always be people who think that your character is a mary-sue, simply because they wouldn't get along with them in real life. Don't make the character too stereotypical (blond hair, blue eyes, tan, and ditsy). Make their personality be so strong that they couldn't possibly be anything else (I'll leave the interpretation of that up to you). And if someone thinks they're a Mary-sue, that's fine. Also, don't make them perfect. I know it's hard to want them to not have any problems, but I find the easiest way to get rid of that is to give them one major, crippling flaw. After that, it's easier to give them some small ones that stem off of it. Sorry for the long post. XD

[I_Write_Ivre]

Not a test, but...

Just remember a Sue is just a character that doesn't fit in the story because the context doesn't work.

[marshmallowcreampie]

In the words of Big Macintosh: "Eee-nope!"

The thing is, what a Mary Sue is varies from story to story. A character becomes a Mary Sue when they're so favored by the author that the rules and logic of the story universe get broken to benefit them. What might make a character a Sue in one story may be perfectly normal or logical in another story.

For example, say you have a story where you establish that it's impossible for someone to be half vampire and half werewolf. But then you decide to make your main character an exception, she's half vampire and half werewolf, and there's no good explanation for it. She's just speshul. The problem is that when you do this, it breaks your credibility as an author and narrator because you can't be consistent. It breaks the reader's willing suspension of disbelief. The reader wants to immerse herself in the story and the setting, while she's reading, she wants to believe that it's something that could actually happen. So when you break consistency, you push the reader out of the story.

This is why Mary Sue tests fail. Maybe in some story universes, it's possible for vampire-werewolf hybrids to exist, maybe such hybrids are even common. But the tests don't differentiate from stories where it is possible and stories where it isn't. They don't take context into account. In one of my stories, I have this one side character. He's very rich, he has many exotic pets, including those of the mythical variety, he has a nice, big wardrobe, lots of girls want him, he's skilled in various sports and instruments, and he's popular. Naturally, a character like this tends to score high on the litmus tests. Here's the problem: the character is a prince. It makes perfect sense to have all those traits. In fact, it would be weird if he DIDN'T have those traits. If a poor peasant had these traits, yeah, it might be an indicator of being a Sue. Because in that case, it would be breaking rules and logic of the story universe to favor the character. A peasant wouldn't logically have all those traits, he wouldn't have the money or time. A prince would, what's more, his parents might expect him to have many of those traits, he does have an image to uphold.

[Naked Bacon]

XxXI DA HOXxX

-Does every character love/admire her/him and the only ones that hate him/her are just jellous for no reason?

So then, you despite Snow White? Sleeping Beauty? Dorian Gray? (Define reason here.)

XxXI DA HOXxX

-Do all the girls/guys fight over her/him for no reason?

And every romantic story ever written?

XxXI DA HOXxX

-Does she/he break the rules that where astablished in the story for no reason?

A frequent point of conflict? By 'no reason' do you mean 'no explanation'? Explanation can also be assumed. Now, otherwise, that would be a storytelling issue and not a character issue.

XxXI DA HOXxX

-Is her/his ONLY character flaw is his/her clumsyness?

Because character need "flaws" to be good? They're called traits. They can be used however the author sees fit.

XxXI DA HOXxX

-is she/he the only one to get spechal treatment from cops, teachers/bosses, etc... for no reason(or cause she's/he's hot/amazing/popular/ect...) Or does she/he get away with cheating/attacking/killing/whatever for no reason?

Again, a frequent point of conflict, including hatred of one character against a nothing and such. Can be used for satire. When you say "no reason", it implies the author needs to be ttli srs all the time and that just isn't true. Fiction is often written for fun, or "no reason".

XxXI DA HOXxX

-Is she/he just spechal for no reason?

Every main character ever!?

This is why you don't need to pay attention to that "Mary Sue" crap. Just write good stories. Don't mistake your characters/settings for being real. Make it interesting. Edit. All that good stuff.

[Maltese_Falcon91]

Naked Bacon

Fiction is often written for fun, or "no reason".

Fiction? Yes. Good fiction? Maybe. But if there's no reason behind any of your character's actions then your plot is an illogical, contrived mess.

[Naked Bacon]

Maltese_Falcon91

Naked Bacon

Fiction is often written for fun, or "no reason".

Fiction? Yes. Good fiction? Maybe. But if there's no reason behind any of your character's actions then your plot is an illogical, contrived mess.

I'm mainly saying that the only way there would appear to be no reason is through bad storytelling, not a problem with the character itself. Common sense trumps any "Mary Sue" problems.

Oh, and good job pulling that nice pretentious "good writers don't know what fun is" thing.

[Maltese_Falcon91]

Naked Bacon

I'm mainly saying that the only way there would appear to be no reason is through bad storytelling, not a problem with the character itself. Common sense trumps any "Mary Sue" problems.

Isn't a character defined by his or her interactions with the setting? If there's no real reason given for why:

XxXI DA HOXxX

all the girls/guys fight over her/him

Then doesn't that make the character seem unrealistic, and annoying?

Naked Bacon

Oh, and good job pulling that nice pretentious "good writers don't know what fun is" thing.

Haha, what? Are you serious?

[Naked Bacon]

Maltese_Falcon91

Isn't a character defined by his or her interactions with the setting? If there's no real reason given for why

Then it's bad storytelling. The writer doesn't know how to drive the plot.

Maltese_Falcon91

Then doesn't that make the character seem unrealistic, and annoying?

How can I say without context? I could make stories I like sound "annoying" if I isolated parts of it, but it doesn't make the story suck.

Maltese_Falcon91

Haha, what? Are you serious?

That "Good fiction? Maybe." thing was so deep and introspective, man. It's like, life, or something.

[Maltese_Falcon91]

Naked Bacon

Then it's bad storytelling.

Agreed.

Naked Bacon

How can I say without context?

Okay. Have you seen Star Trek: The Next Generation? Wasn't Captain Picard a good character?

But! What if...

XxXI DA HOXxX

all the girls/guys fight over him for no reason?

Would he get kind of annoying then?

Naked Bacon

Maltese_Falcon91

Haha, what? Are you serious?

That "Good fiction? Maybe." thing was so deep and introspective, man. It's like, life, or something.

So... yes?

[RubyRedRhapsody]

This is how I can tell if a Sue-test is good or not. I go through the test with Sailor Moon and Goku. If either of them are pegged as sues by the test, then the test doesn't work.

But either way, it's better to have people look at your character and make judgements about them rather than a test. People are much smarter.