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| Have you created any Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters? |
| Yeap |
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47% |
[ 11 ] |
| Nope |
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39% |
[ 9 ] |
| What's that? |
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13% |
[ 3 ] |
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| Total Votes : 23 |
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 Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:13 pm
How to NOT create a Mary Sue/Gary Stu: If you already know what Mary Sue/Gary Stu's are, then obviously this guide is not for you. If you know what they are AND still choose to continue producing these idealistic, annoying-a** characters... well, that's not my problem then. This guide is for the newbies, who have never before stepped into the world of roleplaying and or fanfiction– and with that, let's start at the beginning!
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Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:15 pm
→ Definition• Mary Sue/Gary Stu:
"...in literary criticism and particularly in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a wish-fulfilment fantasy for the author or reader. It is generally accepted as a character whose positive aspects overwhelm their other traits until they become one-dimensional." (Wikipedia)
So, basically:
A Mary Sue is YOU.
(hey! I rhymed, haha, that was pretty cool) → So why shouldn't I create these 'Mary Sue's'? I want to be put into my own roleplaying/fanfiction!:• Why shouldn't you, you ask? Well, aside from the fact that these characters are freaking annoying and no one will like you for using them because of said annoying-ness, you're connecting yourself too much into your writing. ROLEplaying is when you play as someone else, not yourself. A Mary Sue or a Gary Stu is basically YOU writing yourself as the perfect person that you want to be. Think about it.
Also, in some roleplay's there are a lot of fighting sequences. Sometimes your characters will get hurt, and sometimes they won't. But really? Please don't create some kind of invincible character that cannot get hurt like, EVER. That, being a main indication of a 'perfect' Mary Sue/Gary Stu, gets old really fast and no one will like you. It's just NOT possible for your character to be able to dodge every single attack– it just isn't! So don't do it!
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Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:35 pm
→ Okay, okay, so how do I NOT create a Mary Sue/Gary Stu?:• How, you ask? Well, it's fairly simple isn't it?
FLAWS
Come on now, you know everyone has them. I don't care what the songs are saying nowadays about you being perfect and whatnot, but that's just a lie. Nobody is perfect in this world. I'm not saying that that's a bad thing, mind you, I'm just saying that everyone had specific traits– either good or bad –that make them... well, them.
To NOT make a Mary Sue/Gary Stu, throw some flaws onto your character. They could be beautiful and radiant and everything gorgeous in this world, but so very, very, very stupid. They could come from a rich old family, but never have the joy of making their own friends, or living their own lives, or even never seeing their parents. Your character could be popular, but emo and secretly angsty while no one is looking because they think people don't understand them. Stuff like that.→ But that stuff sucks! Why would I want to make my characters all depressing and crap!:• Hey now! Let's not bring out the 'S' word here! There are little kids reading this, you know!
My answer to this however, is that it doesn't have to be all bad. Your character could come from a dirt poor family, but he's kind and handsome and is well-liked because he works hard. Things like that isn't that bad, right? It makes more of an interesting bio that just something boring like 'Mary Sue comes from a super rich family, with parents who love her, friends who adore her, and a personal dinosaur to walk her to school everyday!'.
THAT'S BORING.
(okay, well, the dinosaur part was a tad interesting haha)
Breathe life into your character and give reasons. Why is he/she loved? Is he/she kind? Smart? Noted for creating something that got rid of world hunger? Something to make them interesting, something to make them stand out from the crowd, just– something other than 'she's beautiful and rich and well-loved'.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:02 am
→ Okay, so... what should I watch out for if I don't want to create a Mary Sue?:• Things you should watch out for is something I like to call:
THE THREE P'S.
1.) PERFECT History/Background
2.) PERFECT Personality/Traits
3.) PERFECT Name
Notice the trend we're making here? Basically, the things to watch out for in general is the word, or the idea of, PERFECT. Your character has a perfect life? Throw in some angsty crap that makes people feel bad (ex. parent's dead, shadowed by elder/younger sibling's shadow, parents don't give a crap). Your character has a perfect personality? Throw in some stuff that people can relate to (ex. pet peeves, stubborn mind, secretly hates people, really two-faced). Etc, etc, etc.→ Okay, those I get– but perfect name?:• Yes, this is the part which I would like to stress the importance of.
DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT, name your character something like:
Emmalyn Geraldine Sara Elizabeth Jayden Josephine Lillian Gregorian.
Do you see that? Do you see the pure ridiculousness of it all? I mean– what the hell is that?! It's like the poor girl has like 50 names or something! Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, don't do it! If you character had more than a first, last, and middle name– then you know straight off that it's going to be a damn Mary Sue/Gary Stu. It's in the name– I'm telling you! Just don't do it.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:18 am
→ Okay. I got it:• Do you really? If so, I'm glad then, haha. But if you don't there here is a helpful checklist that you can do for your character.
And remember: Everyone has created a Mary Sue/Gary Stu in their lives. EVERYONE. It's too tempting to NOT put yourself into the story, but just don't do it– trust me. Everyone isn't perfect, we're all humans here, and while your character might be some elf princess from the planet Zophaloid in the eighteeth hemisphere of the Northern Buttery Way or something, she's going to be hella boring if all you do is write about her perfect traits.→ That's it, then?:• Yeap. That's it :] don't forget to vote in the poll above (and answer truthfully now!). If you have any questions, comments. critiques– post it below and I will try to help in any way that I can.Happy Roleplaying~!
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 2:58 pm
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 11:48 am
You do understand that everything listed in that test is negotiable, right?
The question you SHOULD be asking is, "Can I get away with it?"
Using the example you gave, set up a charrie with a perfect past.
And then screw them over completely a different way.
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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:47 pm
Thanks for putting these up here! There are plenty of mary-sue guides floating around on Gaia, but sometimes it's just good to run a character through a test yourself instead of trying to just determine it based on a guide. And now I don't have to go hunting very far for the links to the tests. ^^
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The Feeling After Surgery
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The Feeling After Surgery
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:57 am
MiDNiGHT rhapsody xx You do understand that everything listed in that test is negotiable, right?
The question you SHOULD be asking is, "Can I get away with it?"
Using the example you gave, set up a charrie with a perfect past.
And then screw them over completely a different way. You're right about the test being negotiable, and the test(at least the top link) even admits to it in the intro. A lot of things are situational, but that test can be really helpful for keeping a few of the major "mary sue" traits in check. In the end it's all up to us to use our better judgement to try and avoid creating mary sue characters. And personally... I don't think that creating a perfect character and then tacking on some "angsty" things to get sympathy is a good idea either. Most of the time(as you probably know seems you were able to critique the test) that just ends up making other people irritated with that character. XP
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:59 am
Angst qualifies as Sue Points.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 4:07 pm
The Feeling After Surgery Look at Draco Malfoy from the HP series. He had a near perfect rich boy past. He had two parents, a good home, friends. So JKR added some whine and angst in to make him a little more human, and he came off as a whiny little b***h. While I'll be the first to agree that it's not the best example, it is still an example. And I know the 'can I get away from it rule' is valid, but this guide is one opinion out of a sea of them. But you probably know that already. sweatdrop Thanks for posting yours. It's well appreciated!
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