Mary Sues

From UnknowableWiki

Jump to: navigation, search

Mary Sues (and their male counterparts, Gary Stus) are archetypical characters found in all genres of storytelling. Their traits often include, but are not limited to, poor, shallow characterisation, flawless beauty, charm, genius beyond reason, outstanding magical powers, and the infallible ability to make canon characters act remarkably OOC. Sues flourish with alarming frequency in fanfiction, chiefly due to the characteristic amateurism of every novice ficwriter.

In addition to that, most (but not all) fics with such characters in them tend to be of poor quality in all other areas, including spelling, syntax, dialogue, and plot development. For this reason, Sues tend to be viewed with scorn and contempt among seasoned readers, and are often the object of sporking and parodies in places such as Deleterius, Pottersues, and the aptly named Mary_Sues.

It is important to note that Sues can be either original characters (OCs) or distorted forms of canon characters.


Contents

History

The usage of the name Mary Sue to identify the aforementioned annoyingly perfect character has its roots in the Star Trek fandom, in the 1970s [1]. Since then, several tell-tale signs of the presence of Sues and Stus were systematised by canon and good literature-loving fanfiction enthusiasts in every fandom.

An important landmark of this effort was the creation and popularisation of the Mary Sue Litmus Test in 1997—an objective, checklist-style quiz that listed common warning signs as a means of helping authors evaluate their own characters. This test, originally referring to the Gargoyles fandom, was adapted to fit many others; our own Harry Potter fanfiction community, plagued as it is by thousands of Sues, has several Potterverse-specific versions hosted on the web.


The danger of a Sue

The presence of a Sue is hazardous to the quality of any fic, because Suethors tend to have their stories revolve around her. That burdens both the plot and readers' attention span: since the character is unreal, her emotions and the events in her life can never truly matter to the reader. It is difficult to build a believable and solid plotline—especially in a reality as inherently fantastic as the Potterverse wizarding world—around an underdeveloped and shallow character.

Identifying and purging Sues from one's work is always a fundamental first step in improving a writer's quality. Because of this, the study of recurring Sue traits has been a primary focus of the Unknowable Room Mentoring Program since its creation. Telwyn Dubois, one of the oldest members of The Great Break, wrote an essay on the subject, located here.

Self-insertion

Self-insertion is the most common origin of Mary Sues. Even though the vast majority of authors draw from their personal experiences and tastes when writing, there are some who exaggerate, and create a vastly idealised version of themselves in the universe of their choice.

The reasons behind the writing of self-inserts are similar to those that drive many fans to fanfiction in the first place. Potterverse, much like other fantasy and sci-fi universes, has a notoriously open structure with few ground rules when compared to, say, Lord of the Rings. This fact leaves room for daydreams of escapism and mental games of what-if; few Potter fans have never wondered what it would be like to study in a wizard school.

The two greatest problems of self-insertion are these:

  • Self-inserting authors tend not to reproduce their own flaws, crafting instead an unrealistically perfect personality that bears little interesting resemblance to their actual selves.
  • The events and happenings in a self-insert's fictional life often mirror the fantasy life the author dreams of having. This leads to a boring storyline and a tediously omnipotent protagonist.


Identifying Harry Potter Sues

It is likely that your original character is a Mary Sue or a Gary Stu if some of the following traits are present:

Appearance

  • Former or temporary ugliness that suddenly becomes an amazing beauty;
  • Magically changing eyes, hair or robes;
  • Shimmering or flawless hair;
  • Unblemished, pearly white skin;
  • A powerful scar, in some way similar to Harry's;
  • Effortless elegance and dressing style;
  • Eyes and a voice expressive enough to drive any other character mad with passion.

Skills

  • Animagus;
  • Veela or part-Veela ancestry;
  • Legilimency or Occlumency;
  • Incredibly advanced powers for someone his or her age;
  • Fantastic Muggle skills without having any such education (e.g. mathematics, physics, pick-pocketing, driving, mechanics);
  • Random proficiencies that serve no purpose other than that of mesmerising other characters (e.g. dancing, singing)
  • The ability to fly, to affect the weather or to perform magic of any sort without a wand;
  • Charm enough to rob all canon characters of their wits and personality.

Accessories

  • A unique and very special pet (e.g. phoenix or unicorn);
  • Age-old magical objects of great power (e.g. Invisibility Cloak);
  • A trinket or piece of jewellery of immense mystical value.

Past

  • A transfer student (usually from the United States);
  • A tragic past (e.g. abandonment, a history of physical abuse, deaths in the family, involvement with drugs), which will in all likelihood affect him or her astonishingly little (when it does affect the Sue, it transforms him or her into a rebel, emo and angsty teenager);
  • A mysterious and instantaneous connection with a great wizard, eventually revealed to be a previously secret family tie;
  • Blatant family ties with main characters (e.g. Snape's daughter, Voldemort's great-niece, Dumbledore's great-great-great-granddaughter, Harry's long-lost sister, Remus' twin);
  • Fame and popularity enough to rival Harry, thus enabling her to "understand him better".


A Sue's personality

Most common Sues in the Harry Potter fanon have several of the characteristics listed in the section above. Nonetheless, all things considered, appearance and skills are secondary in identifying a Sue; her main attribute is her personality, or lack thereof.

A Sue's personality, like most of her other aspects, is surreal, shallow and glamorised.

She has an incredible intellect and can always outwit the likes of Draco Malfoy or Severus Snape, should the author choose to have her antagonise Slytherins. On the other hand, she is fascinating enough to captivate everyone she needs to, and becomes close friends with the author's favourite characters very fast.

A recurring trait in many Sues is rebel behaviour and a disregard for authority. This results in many Sues' terrible attitude (which, of course, never prevents them from being close friends with Hermione Granger or McGonagall's favourite student), a good deal of anachronistic emo posture and Simple Plan or Evanescence listening habits.

Many Sues are self-indulgent; most are extremely self-centred, and strongly (and correctly) believe that the entire story and, indeed, the whole world around them exist solely for their benefit.

Despite this fact, other characters in the story talk and think about no one else. The Sue is the undisputed centre of all attention; the plot is twisted around her mood, love life and adventures.


Avoiding Mary Sues

A well-rounded and balanced characterisation is the best way to avoid Mary Sues. It is important to remember that every person has flaws—not only "adorable imperfections", but real flaws, which define interactions, likes and dislikes.


Tips

  • Don't waste too much time choosing the name for your OC. Simple and ordinary names are usually better; the wizarding society is an age-old and traditional one, and chances are that canon has already revealed the surnames of most pure-blood families in Britain.
  • Other countries have their own wizard schools. Transfer students are probably extremely rare at Hogwarts; it is a risky and extremely overdone plotline, which should be avoided.
  • Avoid long-winded and detailed descriptions of any character’s appearance. Obsessive behaviour regarding such minutiae is a customary Suethor mannerism, and it indicates two things: that the author has spent an extraordinary amount of time thinking up the character’s physical attributes, and that he or she cares about conveying the character’s wonderful looks.
  • Students who constantly break rules and face their teachers with contempt and disrespect are not likely to have the best of relationships with all of them. Similarly, those who make a point of having perfect marks and of being extremely diligent and studious are not likely to be the most popular Hogwarts attendees.

Sues vs. Heroes

After examining the characteristics that define Mary Sues, it is clear that a few characters in the books fall under that category, starting with Harry Potter himself. It is important, therefore, to distinguish a Mary Sue from a typical hero.

The life journey of a Mary Sue follows that of a hero in some of its major themes: she is special or chosen from birth; she has skills beyond those of her peers; she faces a difficult adventure, an adversary bigger and better trained than her, and succeeds. Magical objects of wondrous powers are given to her at some point in her life to help in her journey.

The similarities, however, end there. The hero archetype allows for much more complexity and character development than an ordinary Mary Sue reveals. A hero has to work hard to achieve the level of training necessary to defeat his nemesis; a Sue does not.

The many difficulties and trials a hero has to face in life shape his character, as well as the always troubled story of his family and birth. He is always flawed in many ways; a frequent fault is hubris—an excessive amount of pride and self-confidence—, but many others can be present.

The magical objects that aid the hero in his quest are less important to the outcome than the hero's character itself. He receives them as a boon, a reward for his efforts or a solace to aid in the adversities that are bound to follow.

A good example of this is the Marauder's Map in the books: it is important to Harry in that it allows him to plan and put in practice his rule-breaking, but it is not an essential part of his personality, nor does it define his interaction with fellow Hogwarts students.

A Sue's "special" trinket, however, has no practical value, nor does she come to be in possession of it for any sensible reason. When it does, the object is ridiculously powerful and goes against every rule of wizardry or of the Potterverse as we know it. This item can be, for instance, a magical set of robes that change colour according to her mood, or a sword she will eventually use to kill Voldemort.

A hero may often attract people of the opposite sex—and, depending on the author, of the same, as well. Nevertheless, this charisma in general means little or nothing to him, nor do conquests play a large role in his tale. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule (e.g. romantic heroes, such as Don Quixote, Don Juan or Captain Jack Sparrow).


Canon Sues

Despite the mentioned distinctions, several people are still of the opinion that the Harry Potter canon is rife with Mary Sues and Gary Stus, among which:


Links

Retrieved from "http://wiki.unknowableroom.org/Mary_Sues"
Personal tools