What makes a character Mary Sue?
Mary Sue is a term used to describe a fictional character, usually female, who is seen as too perfect and almost boring for lack of flaws, originally written as an idealized version of an author in fanfiction.
What is a good Mary Sue?
The first definition is a self-insert fan fiction character with skills to rival the original characters. The Sue faces little to no challenge and often has special abilities that were rare or nonexistent in canon.
Why are all female characters Mary Sues?
Originating in fan fiction, a Mary Sue is often an author’s idealized self-insertion. The term Mary Sue was coined by Paula Smith, as a character’s name in the 1973 parody short story “A Trekkie’s Tale”, which satirized idealized female characters widespread in Star Trek fan fiction.
Can villains be Mary Sues?
A Mary Sue is utterly perfect and instantly liked by anyone. He/she are often self-inversions of the author. This is entirely possible for a villain. The greater the villain, the harder he is to beat, and the hero has to overcome more obstacles if the villain is perfect.
Is Batman a Mary Sue?
Batman cannot be termed a Mary Sue because the stories are supposed to be centered on him.
How do you identify a Mary Sue?
How to Spot (and Kill) Your Mary Sue Characters
- She has no flaws to speak of.
- She’s a fictionalized version of the author.
- She saves the day every. single. time.
- She’s drop-dead gorgeous.
- She’s a fictionalized version of who the author wishes to be.
Is Hermione a Mary Sue?
Originally Answered: Is Hermione Granger considered a Mary-Sue character? No. She was JK Rowling’s self insert. This is different from a Mary Sue, which is a character that warps reality.
Can Mary Sues be good?
I hope I have shown you that a Mary Sue can be a positive term and even the best way of handling a main character. Writing a Mary Sue does not make you a bad writer. Being bad at writing a Mary Sue does. Top Tip: Use our Character Creation Kit to help you create great characters for your stories.
What’s the male version of a Mary Sue?
Mary Sue (sometimes abbreviated “Sue”)is a term used to describe characters who are typically considered to be wish-fulfillment characters of the author. The male equivalent is known as a Gary Stu, Marty Stu, or Larry Stu.
Why is Bella Swan a Mary Sue?
Bella Swan from Twilight is often hailed as the archetype of all Mary Sues. She is described to look much like the author, Stephanie Meyer. Her only significant flaws are being clumsy (which everyone finds cute) and brooding (which draws her significant love interests in more).
Is Bella Swan a Mary Sue?
What is the male version of Mary Sue?
Is every competent female character a Mary Sue?
No, every competent female character isn’t a Mary Sue, and no, Mary Sue isn’t just a sexist term. It applies to male characters as well, though the alternative phrasing “Gary Stu” is sometimes used in order to relate the idea in that context. However, most people do misunderstand the concept of what a Mary Sue actually is.
What is a Mary Sue in literature?
[A Mary Sue] is what happens when a hero is too heroic—to pure, too powerful, too overwhelmingly good. A Mary Sue is an over-idealized and seemingly-flawless fictional character, one often recognized as either a self-insertion character for the author, or a vessel for wish fulfillment.
How do Mary Sue characters break stories?
Mary Sue characters tend to “break” stories, too, either by the actual rules of the world being different around them (e.g. magic works differently for them) or by effortlessly winning everything — without it ever feeling deserved or earned.
Is Anakin Skywalker a Mary Sue?
For comparison, there is one character in Star Wars who could be considered a Mary Sue: Anakin in The Phantom Menace. He could easily be considered a stand-in for the standard 10 year-old boy that George Lucas assumed his main audience would be made of.