Shes usually a hollow character, but even characters of substance can be mary sues. This manual is for the growing fiction and fanfiction community on how to recognize and avoid creating a mary sue. Discussion in character development started by xboxlover. The reason i rarely read oc fanfictions is because of marysues. A mary sue or gary stu or marty stu is an idealized fictional character, a young or lowrank person who saves the day through unrealistic abilities. Apr 29, 2014 a mary sue is a stock character found in fan fiction that is an overidealized version of the author. I take that back, this is going to be a terrible oc, probably an author selfinsert. The official mary sue manual, a general fiction fictionpress. They may disregard previously established aspects of the fiction such as characterization and natural laws. In other terms, the author is inserting herself into the text through the character. The marysues of literature bella swan, clary fray, ever bloom, and all you other wonderful excuses for heroines, come on up.
In book three, eragon appears to be, literally, a sociopath, but im not at all confident that paolini even meant to write him this way. What people get wrong about mary sues fictional stories. First note that the term mary sue is not a neutral definition. The mary sue phenomena in published literature and popular. Television fandom and the creation of popular myth. Elminster is essentially a authorinsert gandalf the grey of the forgotten. But once in a while, mary sue and her male counterpart, gary stu makes it into an actual published book james bond. He cant quite bring himself to give eragon a substantial flaw, seeing as he has publicly stated that the character is an analogue for himself. She instantly gets to know how to repair anything, fly anything, be liked by everyone even the bad guy has the hots for her, and instantly learns how to do everything having to do with the force in an instant. The second book is about another mary sue i hate, the popular. I am not the most popular user here not by a long shot but id like to help people make better ocs and stay away from the horror that is mary sues. Mary sue plural mary sues fandom slang, usually derogatory a fictional character, usually female, whose implausible talents and likeability weaken the story.
At least in the first book, havent read the others. Elminster aumar is the gold standard of mary sue s in fantasy series, at least to me. The mary sue marty stu there are plenty of articles out there saying what not to do but all of the characters in popular culture display like this trope. The definition of a mary sue is difficult to nail down, because the meaning has. Cause when mary sue brings tears to our eyes, it should be tears of joy. Mary sue characters were first identified in fan fiction in 1973, but they have. Male mary sues are sometimes called marty stu or gary stu, often associated with james bond and superman. In several places throughout each book the characters clothing is described in detailas she dresses for dinner, dancing, or danger.
What can be agreed is that it started its life in fan fiction circles, where it was used to suggest that a protagonist was a thinly veiled. Sadly, there is a lot of misinformation about what the term actually means. Mary sue is a term used to describe a fictional character, usually female, who is. Leia is as much the child of darth vader as luke is, but only luke gets to use the force, be recruited by his dad and ultimately save the day. A mary sue can destroy a piece of writing or media, since the characters existence will often forcibly make the world and people around. Mary sues typically have dramatic backstories, awesome names, unique looks, and more often than not, upstage the main characters. Twilight by stephenie meyer, the selection by kiera cass, halo by alexandra adornetto, fallen by lauren kate, and hades by al. People have no problem labeling mary sues, even some women that dont deserve it i read a completely bonkers article on how maria from silent hill 2 was a mary sue. The most in famous mary sues in fiction by melissa albert october 28, 20 at 3. Is mary sue a label we are more inclined to slap on. But while many mary sues pass the mary poppins testpractically perfect in every waymany others seem to subvert this trope at first. People will often accuse a character of being a mary sue, especially when they dont like the book or movie. People will often accuse a character of being a mary sue, especially when they dont like the book or movie, instead of examining what is actually wrong with the writing.
Hopefully no mary sue or at least a very well hidden one. And within fan writing communities, people are going to bat for even the most selfindulgent mary sues, questioning why we shame young fans for making themselves the heroes of their own stories. The stories she is featured in are usually poorly written and overly simplistic. Who are the most notable mary sue characters in books.
Others think its a character meant to be an avatar for. Odysseus is not a mary sue, despite being the coolest wisest most tricky achaian who always knows what to do and never gets caught up in camp politics, because odysseus makes a mistake and gets fucking owned by poseidon on a hellcation around half the mediterranean. The series is, to be fair, not very good anyway, but its almost hilarious watching chris paolini wrestle with the character from book to book. She was abused by her mum and bullied by the school slut, jessica. And in fiction, there are still countless books to uncover like the plague by albert camus.
Mary sue is a derogatory term primarily used in fan fic circles to describe a particular type of character. Who are the most notable mary sue characters in books and. In fiction, a flaw should be something that hinders a characters progress and prevents him from achieving his goals. A mary sue is a generic name for any fictional character who is so competent or perfect that this appears absurd, even in the context of the fictional setting. And it is typically used by readers to describe a character that they think was done wrong. The original purpose of this list is to provide examples so the phenomenon can be studied, identified and as a result of the latter avoided. Really, the books all just go downhill and downhill forever and ever. They may excel at tasks that should not be possible for them, or they may upstage the protagonist of a fictional setting, such as by saving them. This post tries to explain mary sues and why they might make good protagonists. Accusations of narcissism that belittle womens writing rarely surface when it comes to male authors. How can i incorporate unethical experimentation on a character without making it seem tooangsty. Free novels and histories about pandemics the mary sue. In fan fiction, harry potter, aragon and canon characters are not mary sues. Mary sue plural mary sues fandom slang, usually derogatory a fictional character, usually female, whose implausible talents and.
A mary sue is a wishfulfillment character who the author clearly wants to be. Mar 31, 20 for the best answers, search on this site i havent been into mary sue fanfiction since i was 12 and now, reading harry potter slash mm doesnt provide much opportunity to be faced with such an abomination since most mary sues are found in the het category. Talisha aubrey and the other daughters of the istari, trained by alatar the blue come to middle earth at gandalfs bidding to help in the war of the ring. Which fantasy characters and gary stusmary sues and why. The marysues of literature, this books narrator is worse than bella swan. Feb 09, 2012 the definition of a mary sue is difficult to nail down, because the meaning has changed over time as the character type has migrated out of fanfiction and into canon works. Mary sue is most frequently used as a noun a mary sue or modifier a mary sue story, although it may also sometimes appear as a verb, to marysue, meaning to insert oneself into a fictional storycharacter. There are usually really muggle names for mary sues in pureblood families like olivia black and emma lestrange, along with superlong and elabourate ones like octavia sybella ariana flint etc. Unethical experimentation is another common angsty backstory excuse for mary sues, alongside rape, torture, and abuse. Any term intended as a criticism loses clarity of meaning over time, and like macguffin before it, the parameters of a mary sue protagonist are hotly debated.
A mary sue is a generic name for any fictional character who is so competent or perfect that this. A mary sue is considered to be a proxy or wishfulfillment for the author. Can you give us some examples of actual mary sues from popular works to contrast with the characters in your previous comment. Would it be possible or a good idea to split the article. Can any of the characters in harry potter books be considered a mary sue character. Its not so much a type of character, but rather a flatout insult. Everdeen are among other famous characters whove been called mary sues. Ayla of earths children series, anita blake of selftitled series, elizabeth bennet in pride and prejudice, luke skywalker of star wars, and my own character serbindi of circumstance. My mother likes mary higgins clark im not a fan of the genre, but shes good at what she doesall of her main characters are mary sues. Anything you can think of regarding mary sues, honor harrington has done it from start to finish in the honor harrington book multiverse. This is likely because of poorly written self inserts sidelining the franchises other characters and that traditionally published works have things like editors to weed out mary sues. This book is not in any way meant to be a hate book, i just want to help you. Rey is totally the most mary sue of all the mary sues. Quotes tagged mary sue few female characters get to be the chosen one in science fiction and fantasy.
Turns out a mary sue is a perfect character, usually acting as some sort of wish fulfillment for the author. You learn the color, the fabric, the brand namefrom scarf to shoes. A mary sue or gary stu for males is a character who is overly perfect. The mary sue has a strict comment policy that forbids. Sep 29, 2019 from the name of an intentionally overthetop character in the 1973 star trek parody fan fiction a trekkies tale by paula smith. The colourful hair, being pale, tall, skinny, are all mary sue traits, and how exactly does she look like ender man.
What is the mary sue, and when can you actually apply the. A mary sue is an original character in fan fiction, usually but not always female, who for one reason or another is deemed undesirable by fan critics a character may be judged mary sue if she is competent in too many areas, is physically attractive, andor is viewed as admirable by other sympathetic characters. Mary sues dont have to be perfect either,they are just written as being. What that character type is, exactly, differs wildly from circle to circle, and often from person to. Afflicted with such traits as unflinching goodness, inexplicable sex appeal, and comically overwritten good looks, mary sue is the character the author wishes she could be. Comic books are literature, and one of the biggest names in comic books right now. Usually found in fanfiction, these characters are nearly invincible, multitalented to the extreme, and loved by everyone except. For example this is a nice fit for childrens fiction. Heres a great definition of a mary sue by teresa nielsenhayden. If youve been around the fiction or internet scenes awhile, youve probably heard the term mary sue, and wondered what it is. One article, the main one, talking about the popular culture definition of mary sue and one talking about the fan fiction mary sue. Feb 18, 2016 first note that the term mary sue is not a neutral definition.
Are any of the characters in harry potter books a mary sue. Is creating a mary sue or a gary stu for the main character. The mary sue phenomena in published literature and popular culture. Mar 23, 2017 in an act of reclamation, one of the most popular femaleled geek sites on the internet took the term for its name. What that character type is, exactly, differs wildly from circle to circle, and often from person to person. Mary sue is a derogatory term primarily used in fanfic circles to describe a particular type of character. Most often found lurking in the pages of fan fiction, mary sue inspires rage in all who read her. Soon this derogatory term spread to other fanfiction created by other fandomsand eventually to canon fiction as well. We all know them, the perfect character we all have made at one point.
After the publication of a trekkies tale, the star trek fandom began branding similar characters as mary sues or, in some circles, gary stus if theyre male, and the fanfiction they appeared in as mary sue stories. Mary sues are often an authors selfinsertion or wish fulfillment. Soon this derogatory term spread to other fanfiction created by other fandomsand eventually to canon fiction. Mary sues have become a catchall phrase to describe poorly written. We know it, and we love to complain about it, because it makes us feel a little better to call a spade a shovel. I trust by now most of you know what a mary sue or gary stu is, its a character that is seemingly perfect, and the entire plot is always revolving around them. Deranged author who cant take criticism creates his perfect waifu, hands her the world, and refuses to edit the resulting masterpiece, and posts. You seem really nice and all, but i did happen to notice that you made this list right after commenting on my list, top ten most annoying mary sues, and i do feel like that is a tad bit sketchy. Some people think its a superpowered, almost perfect character. Typical mary sue names in fanfictionoriginal fiction.
List your top 5 mary sue characters in a scififantasy series. Usually found in fan fiction, these characters are nearly invincible, multitalented to the extreme, and loved by everyone except. Mary sues have become a catchall insult for poorly written characters. Sep 17, 2014 according to, mary sue is the derogative term for an original fan fiction character inserted by the author into an already popular series, usually to serve as some kind of wish fulfillment. From the name of an intentionally overthetop character in the 1973 star trek parody fan fiction a trekkies tale by paula smith. Often this character is recognized as an author insert andor wishfulfillment. Collins dwells on the double standard at the heart of mary sues. Mary sue is a term widely used in fan fiction, but has spread to mainstream fiction. At least the books gave the other characters more depth, enders feats took. Empress theresa is a good example of the waifu theory of mary sues and the doyalist definition of mary sues, where the authors relationship to the character is the defining factor. I think that mary sue is a more popular term than garymarty stu, yes. There are too many fucking mary sues in our games and fiction. A sue is usually used for ocs original characters in fan fiction, but people have been using it to describe canon characters as well.
The mary sues of literature bella swan, clary fray, ever bloom, and all you other wonderful excuses for heroines, come on up. She had no personality, is very beautiful, a useless damel in distress, smart and she only think about romance and how tragic her life was. Mary sue is most frequently used as a noun a mary sue or modifier a mary sue story, although it may also sometimes appear as a verb, to marysue, meaning to insert oneself into a fictional story character. According to, mary sue is the derogative term for an original fan fiction character inserted by the author into an already popular series, usually to serve as some kind of wish fulfillment. Grow among apes, stronger and handsome than any modern man, has all. This is an interesting trope, because shes usually a femaleinvented fantasy of the ideal heroine, rather than a maleinvented one. The definition of a mary sue is difficult to nail down, because the meaning has changed over time as the character type has migrated out of fanfiction and into canon works. In an act of reclamation, one of the most popular femaleled geek sites on the internet took the term for its name. For the best answers, search on this site i havent been into mary sue fanfiction since i was 12 and now, reading harry potter slash mm doesnt provide much opportunity to be faced with such an abomination since most mary sues are found in the het category. In essence, shes a protagonist around whom the plot and characters revo. A marysue is considered to be a proxy or wishfulfillment for the author.
Mary sues are possible to write about, but not everyone can write as brilliantly as neil gaiman. A mary sue is a character who is so perfect that he or she warps the world around them to display their perfection. A mary sue is a stock character found in fan fiction that is an overidealized version of the author. Mary sues tend to be a bigger problem for fan fiction. Smith acknowledges that it is possible for authorinsertion in works of fiction to be. Male mary sues are sometimes called marty stu or gary. The term is a derogatory one, as mary sues are universally denigrated in fan fiction. Its basically a character that is in god mode, for lack of a better word. List your top 5 mary sue characters in a scififantasy. Oct 05, 2018 collins dwells on the double standard at the heart of mary sues.
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