Soon I shall edit this thread to give a detailed and comprehensive lesson on how to create an interesting and non-cliched character. On top of that, I shall describe in detail the nature of the 'Mary Sue' and her brother the 'Gary Stu' and how to avoid being one.

For now, I leave you with this. The Mary Sue and Gary Stu are the most hated nemesis of the writing and RPing communities as wholes and especially amongst those of us that like to believe we are 'Literate' or even 'Advanced Literate'. It is, therefore incredibly important in order to receive RPing fulfillment for both you and your partner to avoid being one of these demons. The Mary Sue is the all around 'perfect' character. Every non player character loves them for indescribable reasons. They have skills they really shouldn't have ((IE: A 15 year old girl who has the magical prowess only 60 years worth of magical study could bring)). They have a cliched back story ((Parents killed by antagonist, lost memory etc.)). However, it is not possible to write a character with no Sueish qualities and even those that most people would call a 'Mary Sue' can still be an interesting and well written character depending on how they're written. The key is to find a balance.

In the following days I'll be requesting that every one of the students ((Not to mention the teachers)) do two things:

1. Fill out a character sheet ((I'll be posting a character skeleton shortly)), just go nuts!

2. Put that character through a Mary Sue test ((I'll be making my own, and posting links to several Mary Sue Litmus Tests)). Once you put them through, post your score.

((Note: Extra points for putting your character for the guild RP through the test!))