A little activity for all you readers out there: Mary-Sue vs. Mary-Sue?
Which Mary-Sue is worse and why? (I copied this from a website, btw)
Victim!Sues: The Victim!Sue is your whiny, wimpy, pathetic female character who can't seem to do much of anything except cry and get herself into trouble that the romantic interest of the fic has to rescue her from.
Warrior!Sues: The Warrior!Sue is usually loud, obnoxious and (of course) an amazing warrior. She'll usually have some tragic past that led her to become a warrior, and she'll upstage all of the Canonical characters with her mad Sueish powerz.
Mage!Sue: Similar to the Warrior!Sue, the Mage!Sue has amazing stregnth in magic, or has a magical power that nobody else has. She'll usually wind up upstaging all of the magical characters of the series.
Punk!Sue: Also called Noncomformist!Sue or Goth!Sue, the Punk!Sue is usually written by female beginners in the 11-15 age group. The Punk!Sue is loud, obnoxious, annoying and generally the type of person who you'd want to send off to boot camp for six months. The Punk!Sue almost always has angst coming out of her ears and isn't really a bad person, she's just oh!-so-angry at whatever tragic past the author has chosen to give her. The Punk!Sue is based on what the 11-15 year old author thinks is "cool" and wishes she could be. This includes Evil!Sues.
Misfit!Sue: This includes all Sues who are supposedly geeks, nerds, misfits, etc. Usually, the Misfit!Sue doesn't start out as inhumanly beautiful, but winds up getting a makeover and finding out she had the potential to be a guy-magnet (or girl-magnet, depending on the genre) all along. Also includes the "My parents want me to do this but I want to do that and it's not fair!!one!" type of Sue. Usually, this Sue is very bookish and smart, but will find some sort of physical talent nobody expected and become a star as a result.
BQ: Which Sue is the LEAST cliche and why? BQ2: Editor Camille Smith said that "the fear of creating a "Mary Sue" may be restricting and even silencing some writers." Do you agree with this statement? Do you think that writers should restrict their characters do avoid them becoming a Mary-Sue?
Seal2010-12-21T22:50:25Z
Favorite Answer
Ehhh Mage Sue... Dang it :/ I was working up ideas for my MC who has magic, trying to think of something cool, and I think she's getting a little close to the all-powerful the One who learns in one day what all the other Masters took seven years to learn. :/ I'd say Mage Sue is the one I see the most often... as long as they're not TOO powerful I think they're alright, but the Misfit Sue can be kind of annoying. But sometimes the Misfit Sue was "beautiful all along" but either had terrible self-confidence (which is saved by the charming boyfriend) or was put down by other girls who were extremely jealous of her. Or she just needed a haircut >.>
BQ - I think I see Punk Sue the least, though it may be because I tend to lean toward medieval-ish fantasy (as in with swords, horses, and the rest). Misfit isn't the most common either, but Misfit's very annoying. BQ 2 - Hmm maybe... it depends how much you restrict your characters, when there's a super powerful Mage Sue it calls for disbelief, but when it's tuned down somewhat it's alright if the rest of the story is good.
I think victim aka whiny sue is the absolute worst. Perfect example is Bella Swan from Twilight. I can't stand to read about characters with no flaws whatsoever and who are completely helpless damsels who need a male to rescue her all the freaking time.
BQ: Well they all are in some way cliched but I'm gonna say misfit sue because out of all of those they are the most realistic and have potential to become a good character. BQ2: Yes I agree. A lot of potential writers are afraid that their own characters will be a Mary Sue/Gary Stu but as it has been said a lot of the greatest characters are one but what makes them great characters is the plot and/or their actions. I think writers shouldn't care if their character is a Sue/Stu but write from the heart. A lot of people worry that their work is cliched and get discouraged that their own character is a Sue/Stu
Victim!Sue is the most annoying. I mean, get out there and do something, woman!!
BQ: Misfit!Sue is probably the least cliche, but I'd rather read about Warrior!Sue.
BQ2: Agreed. A lot of people here seem to worry about whether or not their character is a Mary Sue or Gary Stu and list everything about the character like their talent, hair colour, eye colour, etc. Well, that doesn't make a character a Sue/Stu, it's their actions and stuff that happens to them. So take a chance and write!
The Warrior!Sue or the Mage!Sue. Either one is the worst..
BQ: I think the Misfit!Sue! just because you don't see them as often BQ2: Yes...a lot of authors (me included) are worried about cliches and Mary-Sue(s) they need to be worried about the plot and the story not the things they can go back and fix...
Warrior!Sue OHMYGOD. so. freaking. unrealistic. clearly, the authors who write warrior-sues have never seen actual men and actual women, or there would be no way they would make this mistake. i'm female...and i ride horses about as much as fantasy 'warrior' ever would, and i'm extremely physically fit. with that, a decently normal fit man could still beat the crud out of me in an instant. men are stronger, more powerful, and bigger than women, and thus more physically dominating than the average woman can be...that's just science. i'm all for women's rights and strong female characters, but even a 'warrior-sue' woman CAN NOT just take out a group of armored male soldiers. ridiculous. plus, warrior-sues have the least individuality of the sue-types: they all hate pink, hate men, don't like girly girls, hate skirts, and hate doing anything womanly (cook, sew, *be clean*), love to read, and love their independence to the point of hating anyone who tries to tell them what to do, even if its in warrior-sue's best interest. they're all the same. ugh.
BQ: i think punk-sue is the least cliche, just because they're usually the most realistic. most of the punk/goth/alternative kids i know actually *do* act like angsty on the surface but are actually quite nice if you get to know them. some people in real life just don't react well to their past (even if it wasn't all that tragic) and just get kind of angsty. BQ2: yes, i agree with statement, no, they shouldn't restrict. if a wannabe writer is so scared of fleshing out a character in case said character becomes a mary-sue, they have no business writing at all because they clearly don't understand humans enough to write about characters. if that scares them off writing, good. spare the world. a good writer isn't 'restricted' by mary-sues because they know how people actually behave...they can create full-bodied characters with no problems. heck, a good writer can take a mary-sue and write about them so well no one cares that the character is a mary-sue!