Forums → Art, Music, and Writing → Mary Sue (test your character here!)
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Phew, I just almost got pwnt by a vacuum cleaner c.c
Anyway, Mary Sue was a 70s TV show character in which the premise was essentially that no matter what happened, she would always come out on top. This was found to have no literary credibility and therefore since then the term "Mary Sue" is taken to mean a character that is unrealistic for the world it inhabits because it appeals to so many cliches or has unreasonable powers/abilities. In general if your character is recognised as a Mary Sue, this is a sign of an incomplete character, immature or drastically overdone writing though sometimes this is more undesirable than other times.
Specifically Mary Sues are contextual and apply more to fanfiction characters as the typical Mary Sue author would be one who wants to write their character into a popular universe so much that they end up hijacking it to the extent that people just roll their eyes and call them a crap writer. However, the same characteristics carry over across various types of writing, so I've found the following guide to be extremely helpful:
The Mary-Sue litmus test
This guide is very handy if you are interested in developing a multi-dimensional character that people would actually be interested to read about without puking. As the author of this quiz does say, it's not perfect and a high score does not necessarily mean you have to kill the character or change it, but personally I encourage a healthy sense of detachment from your character's story so you are still able to tell what actually makes good writing and what just makes us say "yeah, right."
You are welcome to post your scores here and make comments naturally. For example, Orlestat, who is the main character in a novel I've just decided to rewrite (yes, rewrite) an entire book of, comes in at 17, which for my purposes is spot on. But he started out closer to a 30, and it took me a lot of angst and chipping away to get him right. Strop, on the other hand, comes in at 34 mostly because Strop is a highly autobiographical character and the target audience of the stuff he is involved in is already familiar with him, so I'm confident of getting away with that despite the score.
- 49 Replies
I just tested a new character named Chaik, and he got a 9. Yeah. I thought he would get like 29 or something. I guess they asked the wrong questions or something. He is being put into the Phil story after he gets out of AG, he is a stick figure just like Phil, and has 2 pistols that he bought from a gun shop one time. He is a terrible shot, but is very smart, and can fight like a madman.
I'm thinking of also adding a new character named Lane... I need to figure him out first... I think I know who my contestants are for the next MWT....
Thoad, if the quote was the basis of your question, then the answer is neither- that's just a general truth.
When I said you got reality-checked really harshly, it's because most, if not all teens go through a phase in their life called a number of things, including "invincibility complex" and "know-it-all syndrome" which leads to a general apathy and an unwilligness to actually learn anything worth anything. This is a natural byproduct of embaring on the road to self-discovery. It's only worrying if you don't grow out of it eventually.
From personal experience, I would say once you realise what the phrase "act your age" really means, then you're on the way.
Hm, typo which could result in my being misunderstood:
embaring was supposed to read embarking.
This needs to be alive again.
@Strop: Nothing to say here, just acknowledging your posts and the wisdom in your words.
Sllim: Good that you are making non-Sueish characters, and characters in general.
Thoad: Don't let it get you down. Just keep writing and drawing. With time, you will have plenty of good characters and interesting places to put them.
My other (actually serious) character got a 4. I thought he would get at least 20.
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