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The Mary-Sues of Literature
Bella Swan, Clary Fray, Ever Bloom, and all you other wonderful excuses for heroines, come on up!
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A Mary-Sue is considered to be a "proxy" or wish-fulfillment for the author; the term basically describes when a female author writes a book in which the main character is a version of her own self, just perfect/better (this is not true self-insertion). A Mary-Sue is seen as too flawless/perfect to be interesting or relatable, and can be a poorly developed character. Mary-Sues are what the author wishes they could be: special, beautiful, loved by all, perfect, etc. etc.
There are times when an author may just do true self-insertion. When an author does such, the character isn't usually considered a Mary-Sue; rather, the character is simply the author herself, unchanged.
Some hints that a character may be a Mary-Sue:
~ Exotic hair/eye color
~ Magic/super powers (Even if it is in a fantasy world, the Mary-Sue may have some extra special, super-uber cool power that's extremely uncommon/rare)
~ Best at whatever she does
~ Unusually tragic past (i.e. Both parents died, whole family died, one parent left, etc. etc.)
Note, however, that sometimes in stories, features such as these are actually common, so some characters aren't really Mary-Sues.
Some other clues that a character may be a Mary-Sue:
~ Mary-Sue gets her true love, who may be extremely attractive/wealthy/cool/perfect (in some cases, just like her)
~ Mary-Sue shares similar features/behavior with the author
~ Mary-Sue will always win in fights against her enemies
~ Mary-Sue is one of the most knowledgeable and clever people, and cannot be bested
~ Mary-Sue may be a part of the "in-crowd," or is welcomed into a group where she is practically worshipped, generally after being an outcast
~ Mary-Sue is taken care of, and has to worry about little, since usually everything works out for her
Still, remember that not all of these features indicate that a character is a Mary-Sue; perhaps just a few.
In many books, the main character is special in her own way, which is why the book focuses on her. Just remember that a Mary-Sue seems to be too perfect in some aspects, and has too much luck in some scenarios, thus, causing her to seem one-dimensional and blah.
*This information came from both Wikipedia, and from information I've gleaned from books I've read/read reviews about, where the main character is widely considered to be a Mary-Sue.
~
A Mary-Sue is considered to be a "proxy" or wish-fulfillment for the author; the term basically describes when a female author writes a book in which the main character is a version of her own self, just perfect/better (this is not true self-insertion). A Mary-Sue is seen as too flawless/perfect to be interesting or relatable, and can be a poorly developed character. Mary-Sues are what the author wishes they could be: special, beautiful, loved by all, perfect, etc. etc.
There are times when an author may just do true self-insertion. When an author does such, the character isn't usually considered a Mary-Sue; rather, the character is simply the author herself, unchanged.
Some hints that a character may be a Mary-Sue:
~ Exotic hair/eye color
~ Magic/super powers (Even if it is in a fantasy world, the Mary-Sue may have some extra special, super-uber cool power that's extremely uncommon/rare)
~ Best at whatever she does
~ Unusually tragic past (i.e. Both parents died, whole family died, one parent left, etc. etc.)
Note, however, that sometimes in stories, features such as these are actually common, so some characters aren't really Mary-Sues.
Some other clues that a character may be a Mary-Sue:
~ Mary-Sue gets her true love, who may be extremely attractive/wealthy/cool/perfect (in some cases, just like her)
~ Mary-Sue shares similar features/behavior with the author
~ Mary-Sue will always win in fights against her enemies
~ Mary-Sue is one of the most knowledgeable and clever people, and cannot be bested
~ Mary-Sue may be a part of the "in-crowd," or is welcomed into a group where she is practically worshipped, generally after being an outcast
~ Mary-Sue is taken care of, and has to worry about little, since usually everything works out for her
Still, remember that not all of these features indicate that a character is a Mary-Sue; perhaps just a few.
In many books, the main character is special in her own way, which is why the book focuses on her. Just remember that a Mary-Sue seems to be too perfect in some aspects, and has too much luck in some scenarios, thus, causing her to seem one-dimensional and blah.
*This information came from both Wikipedia, and from information I've gleaned from books I've read/read reviews about, where the main character is widely considered to be a Mary-Sue.
Tags:
adult, angels, bad-heroine, blah, books-to-die-from, dumb, fantasy, immortal-boyfriend, love-triangle, mary-sue, middle-grade, my-brain-went-boom, non-feminist, paranormal-romance, perfect-character, rolling-my-eyes, sue, super-powers, teen, teeny-bopper, too-perfect, tstl, vampires, werewolves, worst-book, wth, ya, young-adult
Comments (showing 1-12 of 12) (12 new)
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Vampirella
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Apr 19, 2012 01:00am
Becca Fitzpatrick claimed that she's a little bit like Vee Sky, not Nora. =)
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How about a male version? The main chara from "Magic's Pawn" by Mercedes Lackey is absolutely excruciating. Silver eyes, good looks, magic powers, epic capacity for angst, other characters as are just foils for him. Blech.
Kat wrote: "How about a male version? The main chara from "Magic's Pawn" by Mercedes Lackey is absolutely excruciating. Silver eyes, good looks, magic powers, epic capacity for angst, other characters as are j..."Sure, why not? :) Be sure to check later for the list!
Faize wrote: "You kiddin' me? Jacky Faber from the Bloody Jack books is a total Mary Sue!!"Feel free to vote for any books you'd like!
And I've yet to read the series; I'd heard about it, but the concept didn't really grab my attention..
Kat wrote: "How about a male version? The main chara from "Magic's Pawn" by Mercedes Lackey is absolutely excruciating. Silver eyes, good looks, magic powers, epic capacity for angst, other characters as are j..."
Just to let you know, the Gary-Stus of Literature list has been made, so feel free to vote for the "male Mary-Sues!"
um, the ones at the top of the list seem to be mary-sues, there is one major difference (out of the books i've read). While the book isn't very well written, to be sure, Clary from city of bones is not a Mary Sue. She's not "hot" or "beautiful," she is often stupid and reckless, and she is completely ignorant of the shadowhunter world. She has her talents, and yes, she does have a "special gift," but that's why she's the protagonist. Jace, on the other hand, is a total Gary-Stu.
Rosemary wrote: "um, the ones at the top of the list seem to be mary-sues, there is one major difference (out of the books i've read). While the book isn't very well written, to be sure, Clary from city of bones i..."But she attracts amazing, perfect Jace and Simon without really trying so she's at least a little mary-sue-ish.
I'll admit that Nora Grey (Hush Hush) at the first book was a bit sue-ish, but in the rest of the books she's not. CLARY FRAY (City of Bones) isn't a Mary Sue! the fact that Simon and Jace are in love with her doesn't make her one, she wasn't "loved by everyone" neither Alec or Isabelle liked her much at the beginning and they aren't the villains. On the other hand, Elena Gilbert (The vampire diaries) is a COMPLETE Mary Sue and should be among the top 5.
I agree with all of these save Grace Brisbane (Shiver), Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games), and Tris Prior (Divergent).
How are Rose Hathaway, Karou, Rhine, Katniss, Tris, and Lena "Mary Sues"?I think this list is more like: Heroine I don't like = Mary Sue.
Although, I agree with 1-7.
It's a bit easier to spot Mary Sue in fanfiction (where the term originally came from) and to a certain extent tie-in novels.Big hints in those are: related to main character (especially if main character is explicitly an orphan with no close relatives in the original) or being the only *other* character with the specialness that made the main character important.
"Yes, Spock, I am the only other Human/Vulcan hybrid in the galaxy!"
Also, the other characters alter their behavior and personalities to have their lives revolve around Mary Sue. (Hermione suddenly dropping half her IQ points to let Mary Sue be the smart one in the story, for example.)
"~Unusually tragic past (i.e. Both parents died, whole family died, one parent left, etc. etc"How the hell does having someone die in your family make you a Mary Sue?
I agree with 1-7 but most of the rest of the books voted for makes me wonder if some of these people actually read the books they voted for.
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