Mary Sue: Conclusion

For the moment, I cannot find anything else to suggest to prevent, adapt or fix your Mary Sue. Just remember that there is SCIENCE behind appearance, conflict is good for the plot, not everyone finds your character beloved, and if the world works for the character, go for it. That one is probably the most important of all.

In the meantime, I'm going to polish up these blog posts, bring them together into a .pdf with some supplementary pages, stuff like worksheets to help you determine if your character is, in fact, a Mary Sue, and links to places where you can check the SCIENCE of appearance.

I'll post the download link on the blog, and it'll be available on both of my websites as well, for free.

I'm not sure where I'll go from here, with NaNoWriMo looming near, as well as the Election Season in full swing at my day job. (American politics...season ends Nov. 6). All I know is, I intend to keep working on this blog. It's rather fun, don't you know?

On Mary Sue: Universe

I've mentioned this over and over, but the universe or world your character is placed in has a great deal to do with whether or not your character is a Mary Sue. In a lot of ways, making a character fit into the world they find themselves in is your plot. Take superheros, for instance. How many of them do we have running around here on Earth?

On Mary Sue: Names

It may seem a little weird to devote one chapter of the Mary Sue series to names, but I think I can tell you a few things you've never thought of before.

First of all, with a Mary Sue, the name tends to be exotic, like Angel or Raven, or has an odd spelling like Myshel, usually in a world were Mary, John, Sue, and Amanda are common names. An exotic name is meant to convey that the character is special or worth noticing.

On Mary Sue: Interpersonal Relationships

While this particular section could also have been referred to as popularity, I find 'interpersonal relationships' lends itself better to the topic.

When people talk about Mary Sue, they use phrases such as "everyone loves her" and "all the (appropriate gender) were attracted to her".

On Mary Sue: Personality

Probably the most defining traits of the Mary Sue is her personality.

Mary Sues can be sweet, kind, bubbly, and perfect. They can be any extreme of personality, in truth, although most of them tends toward sweet and naive to be honest. They're the type of person most people hate. Although there are people out there who are sweet, kind, or bubbly, they also have flaws, which Mary Sue does not.

Think about the people you know, in general, you could probably list three things you like and three things you don't like about them. You could also find a mutual friend to make a similar list, but with completely different results. People react to each other differently, and it's the same thing with characters.

On Mary Sue: Exceptional Talents

I mean, I can't miss. ... I'm on a team with super-humans. And one god, in case you've forgotten. Even you...well, you climb walls really well. ... I gave up a lot for this life. I could have been happy with Mockingbir-- Bobbi. We could have had a good, simple life. But I wanted to play with the big boys. And if I miss it means I'm just another dude with a bow. It means I've been fooling myself this whole time. And that's why I never miss.

--Clint Barton (Earth-616) 

If you're a fan of the Marval comic books or the movies, you know who Clint Barton is, he's Hawkeye, the world's greatest marksman and he never misses.

Not every character can be Hawkeye though. I'm not saying that they can't be the best at their job, I'm just saying that Hawkeye was unique because of his talent. Whatever else Clint Barton might have been, he was known for his skill as an archer.

I feel obligated to point out that Hawkeye works because his universe worked for him. Therefore, it is not that you can't have a character who is best at a talent, but that they have to exist in a world where them being the best works.