Mary Sue
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Originally a Mary Sue is a character that is a shameless self-insert, poorly developed, without flaws and stupidly overpowered. /tg/ hates Mary Sues.
Unfortunately, after so much rage and so many troll threads, /tg/'s definition of Mary Sue has become blurred; no one can agree on what the phrase means, to the point where the mere mention of Mary Sue is enough to set off shitstorms across the board.
Some accept nothing less than the above description, and will sooner gut you then look twice if you say it's anything else. Others prefer a more generalized definition, which refers to an overly-idealized character who exerts an unjust amount of influence upon their respective setting or story. Others still carry this meaning out to extremes, and use the term to describe anyone who isn't a homeless junkie or a brooding sociopath with an alignment of chaotic neutral.
The term is commonly used by trolls, and can most easily be spotted by a blanket accusation of a character being a Sue without attempting to justify actual reasons behind it. More clever trolls will attempt to offer some explanation that is deliberately intended to get under the offended party's skin.
Though very rare, it is possible for a really good writer to actually pull off a Mary Sue, resulting in few fans actually giving a shit.
Never Ending List of Mary Sues
(Note: please post Mary Sues in alphabetical order, so they don't fight about who's the better Mary-Sue.)
- All Na'vi
- Alucard from Hellsing Ultimate (Not that prissy shit of an anime series).
ALL NECRONS. How are completely mute perfect killing machines devoid of all emotion that can't be ki- oh. Oh...New codex completely changed this.- Bella
- Bilbo Baggins (Back when being sophisticated and wholesome was a good thing)
- C'tan
- Cordell Walker from Walker Texas Ranger (the source of all the Chuck-Norris jokes)
- Kaldor Draigo. two simple words: Matt fucking Ward.
- Drizzt (Deep down inside, you know it's true)
- Edward
- Elves, especially their heroes.
- Elminster Aumar (Forgotten Realms)
- Eldrad, and what's worse: he knows he is, and is a complete dick about it.
The Emprah, before the Horus Heresy. Now he's just a cripple, but still the most awesome half-corpse in the universe.Bullshit, he was a Bryonic Hero who's flaws were his tremendous pride and unerring psychopathy. He's not a Mary Sue, the Imperium is the grimdark shitpit that it is because he was a fucking terrible father and lea--*BLAM!* HERESY!!!- Ember Storm
- Force Commander Vanilla Ice- As in from the DOWII game where the player names him whatever they want, often their own name. By definition, yes. But Sergeant (later Captain) Aramus from the book (the one not written by Goto)? No.
- Frodo Baggins (Successfully seduced the straight hobbit Sam Gamgee, into homosexuality.)
- Golden Aquilas.
- Green Lantern, especially Hal Jordan.
- Harry Potter. Just.... Harry Potter.
- Jacob.
- Kenshiro, nothing can kill him and he's morally flawless, superior to everyone-fucking-else.
The Lich King from World of Warcraft. Wait, isn't he a Villain Sue?He got beaten by a group of adventurers with easily countered tactics, he fails at being flawless.- Link from the Zelda vidya gaems
- Luke Skywalker
- Marneus Calgar, Marneus, Mar-n-eus, (e and s swap places) Mar-n-sue, (turn the n upsidedown), Mar-u-sue, (give the u a tale): Mary sue
- Master Chief from the Halo Trilogy.
- Med'an from World of Warcrack. Part-Human, part-Orc and part-Draenei, inheritor of the top-spot in Azeroth mages, even beyond (-)any(-) High Elf mage. Also related to several lore characters in one way or another.
- Mordenkainen (Gary Gygax's personal avatar in the Greyhawk setting and a level 30 wizard who never fucking ages past 50 despite being a hundred fucking years old without turning into a lich, he became bald for some reason, which makes him look evil, but he remains stupid neutral).
- Rhonin, archmage of the Kirin-Tor, World of Warcrap.
- most 13 year-olds's RPG characters.
- Richard, from the Sword of Truth series (he's not as b.s. in the t.v. series)
- Space Marine smurfs.
- Spider Man ( Search your feelings, you know it to be true!).
- Superman.
- Thrall, Orc raised in a humie internment camp, became Azeroth's premiere shaman and leader of half the world. World of Warcramps.
- The Unholy, half-crow cowgirl in Vampire: The Requiem
- Wonder Woman, when she's actually a main character and not just 'token female member.'
- Young main characters in crappy Japanese animes and manga.
- any White Wolf employee that shows up at a Vampire LARP session is automatically playing a millennia-old demigod vamp. (I wish I was exagerating; they've waded into living-city LARP games as antediluvians and permanently killed people's Camarilla characters.)
(More to be added later (sounds of crying editors))
How Can I Tell If My Character Is A Mary Sue?
- Does she start the story at the pinnacle of achievement?
- Is there any way for the character to grow or improve during the story?
- Is it a fan character that is better than the canon characters?
- Does she ever make bad decisions? That don't end up being surprise correct choices later?
- Do you use absolutes like "always," "everybody," or "never" when describing her abilities?
- Did Matt Ward write this character?
Gallery
External Links
- TVTropes' article on Mary Sues, that discusses the phenomenon and its many forms in detail.
- sup/tg/ archive of a hilarious thread with ultimate Mary Sue and PURE ENERGY in it.
- sup/tg/ archive of the Ultimate Mary Sue thread continued.
- sup/tg/ archive; ITT, the most grimdark setting ever conceived.