The Mary Sue Talk

Evvy’s Final Opinion on the Mary Sue Question:

Recent questions from the following:

thisisatesttai asked: I read a question you answered about an Anon’s character in which you said to give them 3 weaknesses, 3 quirks, and 3 people who dislike them for a good reason, to counter Sue-ness. Could you elaborate? What kind of weaknesses; Kryptonite-style weaksauce, or things that they’re bad at, or character flaws? What constitutes as a quirk; physical tics, or sayings they tend to use, or odd interests? What are good reasons for them to be disliked? Does the disliker have to be a “good” guy?

Anonymous asked: Do you think a character is still a Mary Sue if it’s, say a love interest that is obviously being seen through rose-colored glasses by the main, kind of a “can do no wrong”? That the reader might pick up on certain traits as flaws but the main still adores them. Nothing terrible, abusive, or anything, just normal human flaws (maybe they’re a doormat, maybe they’re quick to judge, whatever) that the main might overlook because of their feelings? Does the main have a problem, then?

Anonymous asked: Is a character being a misanthrope Mary-Sueish if s/he has a background to why she hates the majority of the human race?

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Evvy here. 

Okay, let’s have a Mary Sue talk. 

Now, the term Mary Sue came about because some writers decided to throw real character development to the wind and just have fun doing whatever they wanted to. As a result, the author had a lot of fun writing in a way that was basically, to use a baking analogy, a complete diet of pink-frosted gummy bear topped cupcakes coated in colored sugar. The readership as a group quickly became nauseated by the sugar-heavy diet, and started demanding a balanced diet.

Likewise, in the world of the RP, Sue did not fair well, because, well, nobody likes someone that tries to hold a trump card at every hand. It’s not cohesive to group story-telling. I remember playing with my sister as a child- the narratives of our games quickly and inevitably turned to one-upsmanship held together by string. 

There is a reason why this type of character came about. It is because writing a Sue is essentially a power trip. I recommend this article to you, which deals with the psychology behind writing this kind of character. 

While people have tried, there is no definitive definition of the Mary Sue. There are many lists of traits that make someone ‘Sueish’. However, simply having traits such as these does not a Sue make. Really. Promise. 

#1 Rule of Every Art Form Everywhere: Talent Trumps All.

Some characters will obviously be harder to write, because it’s easy for readers to try and pigeon-hole them, as a Mary Sue, or whatever other label makes it easier to talk about them. In fact, ‘Mary-Sue’ can often be found used synonymously with ‘that female character that I dislike’ (because let’s face it, some male characters are called out for seeming too perfect, or talented, or etc., but it’s almost always the female characters who get labeled ‘Sue’). 

The thing is, in the real world, real people will jump out of the boxes that you make for them more and more as you get to know them better. I know that it would take me pages and hours to begin to describe my best friend to you all.

So what does ‘Mary Sue’ actually mean? It just means a badly developed character. 

Real people surprise you. Real people are hard to classify, hard to label, the better you get to know them. Aspire to write a character that seems real to your audience.