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How to Use This Test
1.Read through each item in each section, marking down the points for those that apply to your character. Take the points even if they only sort of apply; it's best to be brutally honest.
2.Add them up and compare to the scoring table at the end of the test. The higher the score, the higher the chance of Sue-ness.
3.If your character scores high, don't panic! Just about any character can be saved, with some tweaking and work.
4.Keep in mind this test is just to be fun and helpful. It's not a judgement of your creative skills, it's not criticism of your character.
Disclaimer
This test is made up of lists of common Mary Sue traits and concepts. However, none of these traits are inherently bad on their own. The problem comes from having too many at once. Don't panic if you use some of these traits; everyone uses them at some point. It all depends on how you use them.
This test isn't always accurate, either. Many well-made characters score high depending on how they are played and how well the particular traits work together. Are certain traits there just to be awesome or powerful, or are they absolutely necessary for the story to progress?
It's best to ask other people for their opinion. Sometimes we can be so attached to our characters that we become blind to the problems. Other people can see how boring, unoriginal, overpowered, or lame the character may really be.
Mary Sues
What is a Mary Sue?
A Mary-Sue is a specific kind of character that is usually considered literarily reprehensible and otherwise unpleasant for others to play alongside. A Mary-Sue is any character (of any gender, age, race, or species) who fits one or more of these descriptions:
A character who’s too perfect, lacking realistic or logical flaws, or whose flaws do not affect him in real ways.
A character who’s exactly like his creator, except idealized or made “better.” (E.g. more attractive, smarter, given skills, abilities and powers the creator wishes he could have.) Essentially, the creator is inserting himself into the story, but without the flaws, quirks & limits that make him interesting and real. Users are often discouraged from creating characters who would be described as, "He's based off me," especially since that comes with the extra risk of violating the avoid mixing ic and ooc rule.
A character who’s far too powerful, especially whose abilities exceed that which is possible for his/her race in the setting of the story. Particularly if said character has abilities that do not exist within the boundaries of the story’s world. Often these characters are technically legitimate, but are very, "Look at how unique and cool I am!"
A character who’s cliched, having qualities or characteristics that are overused by people trying to have a powerful/perfect/cool character. This includes but is not limited to the traits listed as Popular Role-Play Trends.
However, the name isn't entirely accurate for all of these, as the original and actual definition of a Mary-Sue is a "Wish Fulfilment" character (SEE- Description No. 2). True and accurate Mary-Sue's should be defined by the original Ensign Mary Sue from the parody story "A Trekkies Tale."
Why Does It Matter?
It can be very difficult to create a balanced yet unique character with realistic flaws and trials to overcome. Often we think of our characters as extensions of ourselves, and so why would we wish for them to suffer or have a hard time? Why wouldn’t we want them to be as awesome and powerful as possible?
The truth is perfect characters are uninteresting. Over-powered people are boring. A character who doesn’t struggle to get what they want or need gets old quickly. And often in roleplay we find cliched, over-used concepts which are obvious attempts to have the “best" or "coolest" character.
“Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.” Your character might be going lame from carrying around too much awesome!
This test is meant to be fun, but can be a great help in creating and maintaining excellent, well-balanced characters.
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Afraid that the character you created is going to be torn to shreds by some cranky MoDs?
Angry that we called your character a Mary-Sue when you believe that she truly isn’t one?
Then step right up lads and lasses, and take this test that’s been created to help YOU determine if your character will pass our scrutiny.
If you fail horribly, remember that you can always edit your character, or rewrite them before entry! If you have a thirty five, we ask that you DO revamp your character, as it will save you from being eaten alive by the cliche-deavouring monsters of the internet. They can see all! ^_^
HOW IT WORKS: Award one point for each of the following that applies to your character.
PART ONE: NAME
1. Is your character’s name one you’d like to have?
2. Did you spend hours dwelling on the perfect name?
3. Is your character’s name related to your own in any way?
4. Does your character’s name have a meaning related to their powers?
5. Does your character have an unusual or uncommonly spelled name?
6. Is your character named after something dear to you, a favorite author or actress perhaps?
7. Is your character’s name a noun that would not normally be used as a name?
8. Does your character not have a last name, or does not remember it?
9. As your Characters Nickname/Hero Name, is it something that seems to make no sense to anyone but you?
PART TWO: PHYSIOLOGY
9. Is your character the same gender you are?
10. Is your character from a place you’ve always wanted to visit?
11. Is your character considered attractive?
12. Do you wish you looked like your character?
13. Does your character have an unusual hair color that is not related to their powers?
14. Does your character have an unusual eye color that is not related to their powers?
15. Does your character have a style of dress that could not be considered modern? (EX- dressing like a samurai, or a pirate.)
16. Does the information you have given for your character’s physical description surpass what you have given for their history?
17. Does your character share some of the same traits you do? (EX- Height, hair color, skin tone, ect.)
18. Does your character appear to be a lot older than what you say they are? (Not a good thing to use a twenty-something year old model saying they are a teenager)
PART THREE: GENERAL CHARACTER INFORMATION
18. Is your character a twin or a clone?
19. Is your character in some way related to a canon character?(NOT ALLOWED)
20. Does your character have an abnormally high IQ?
21. Is your character rich, or very well off?
22. Is your character the sole survivor of some huge disaster?
23. Does your character have amnesia, or were their memories suppressed by some evil being?
24. Could your character’s past be considered full of angst?
25. Does your character have angst now?
26. Could your character be considered goth?
27. Was your character kicked out after their parents found out about their mutation?
28. Did your character run away from home?
29. Was your character ever forced into some form of slavery or prostitution?
30. Was your character physically or emotionally abused?
31. Does your character not know who their parents are?
32. Was your character raised in an orphanage/Are your character's parents dead?
33. Does your character feel guilty about something that happened in the past?
34. Did your character kill their parents, siblings, friends?
35. Is your character fluent in more then two languages?
36. Does the character excel in some abnormal field? (EX- Computer hacking, escape artist.)
37. Does your character have a pet?
38. Is that pet not a horse, dog, cat or bird?
39. Does your character easily learn anything ever taught to them?
40. Does your character excel at martial arts?
41. Does your character have an amazing singing voice?
42. Does your character play a musical instrument?
43. Does your character use a katana or a weapon like it?
44. Does your character have an accent?
45. Was the character born with their mutation?
PART FOUR: MUTATION
46. Add one point for each power below that the character has.
-Control over any of the elements
- Telekinesis
- Shape-shifting
- Telepathy
- The ability to fly (with or without wings)
- Super Strength
- Super Speed
- Teleportation
- Invulnerability
- Invisibility
47. Is your character an immortal/mythical being? (EX- A vampire, or a werewolf.)
48. Does your character have more then two powers?
49. Are the powers unrelated? (EX- Super Speed and telepathy.)
50. Does your character have virtually no weakness?
51. Is your character a half-breed? (EX- Half-vampire, Half-Demon)
52. Did your character come into their powers before puberty?
53. Is your character’s power similar to another canon character’s?
54. Does your character consider their power to be a curse?
55. Is your character limited socially because of their mutation?
PART FIVE: HISTORY
56. Did Professor Xavier find your character using Cerebro?(He's dead btw)
57. Does your character harbor a tragic past?
58. Was your character brought to the institute by a canon character?(They are all dead even Wolverine)
59. Is your character a young teacher or an old student?
60. Was your part of a genetic experiment?
61. Was your character ever kidnapped?
62. Did your character ever work for the government?
63. Were they forced to assassinate someone, or steal something against their will?
64. Did they ever live on the street?
PART SIX: PERSONALITY
65. Is your character depressed?
66. Is your character easy to get along with?
67. Is your character an introverted?
68. Is your character bitter?
69. Does your character tend to keep their distance from others?
70. Does your character have very few friends?
71. Is your character liked by everyone, enemies included?
72. Is your character a prankster?
RESULTS
0-10 : Very well off! Nice job creating an original character, you have a lot of creativity and thankfully strayed away from the clichés!
11-25: Your character is okay, could use some work, probably a few areas in the past or the power. Give those sections a second look.
25+: MARY-SUE ALERT! I would suggest you make some major edits to this bio, if you don’t want the MoDs to rip it to shreds. Try adding more weaknesses, changing the power slightly, or revising the history as these areas are always the one’s that tend to be problematic.
To follow is the list of common role-play rules that every role-player should understand and follow.
1. Do Not God-Mode:
Godmodding is when a character features god-like abilities, such as invincibility or mind control, or other unrealistic powers that don't fit with lore. It's also considered godmodding to refuse death in fights or ignore role-players in scenarios in which said role-players are attempting to attack you. Nobody's good at everything; try and keep yourself in check.
Non-Example: "I can kill you with a single touch." *She reaches to touch his skin, and if she succeeds, his flesh will fall off of his bones.*
Don't Do it...!!!
2. Do Not Metagame:
Metagaming is when a player applies OOC-retrieved information to their IC character, such as participating in a war that you only saw was stated to be happening on a clan's thread on the forums, or hearing whispering because you saw the text, and knowing a character's name because you saw their username. This is the most commonly broken rule of role-play and most infuriating for many.
Non-Example: ((after being sent a PM from Chad)) *Jeremy the necromancer teleports into the scene immediately and rushes to the corpse of his buddy Chad, just moments after the arrow pierced his heart.*
3. Do Not Auto (Autohit, Autowalk, etc):
Autohitting is when a player performs an action without giving the affected players a chance to respond. For example, running up to somebody and saying *Stabs in the heart* then running off would be autohitting. Auto also applies to non-combative actions to which another player might have a reaction. Saying, *The black knight slips past the guards and into the castle,* while white knights are guarding the entrance to the white knight's castle would be autowalking on the premise that, in all likelihood, those knights would stop you before you got past them. This can easily be fixed with a simple rewording. Add "tries to" or "attempts to" to clarify that your character intends to perform said action, but his success depends on the responses of those around him. More advanced role-players will go into detail with their actions and emphasize their attempts. This is a frequently broken rule by newer role-players.
Non-Example: *Melissa throws a lit match onto the bed of her unfaithful lover and his mistress, then watches spitefully as his hair quickly catches fire and the two begin to burn.*
4. Do Not Lorebreak:
Lorebreaking is when a character breaks lore, which is anything that likely affects a character or scenario. The basis for these commonalities is origin, culture, and known historical events. For example, a vampyre that is unaffected when crossing the holy salve barrier is a lorebreak because vampyres are weakened outside of Morytania where the sun shines. Lorebending, a similar term, is when existing lore is lightly modified (Hence the term lorebending), but not significantly or in a way that detracts from the role-playing experience. Often this has to do with ideas that are neither supported nor contradicted by existing lore; for example, one never comes across a goblin who excells with traditional magic in-game, but it is never explicitly stated that this can't ever be done - only that you rarely come across it.
Non-Example: *Broaven the Rellekan sailor is an established water mage and heads into the settlement to meet up with his other shipmates and use his magic to help them on their next trip.*
5. Do Not Powerplay:
Powerplaying occurs when a player operates someone else's character without the other player's consent. The most blatant example of this would be a player writing, "Your character falls off the cliff when he walks up to it." As you can see, you take active control of what the other character does. Not only is this not fair to the other player, but it's also discouraged because often players will misconstrue the behaviors and personalities of characters they didn't design. Powerplaying goes into more subtle situations, however. Saying, "Sally charges Jack so fast that he wouldn't be able to react enough to avoid it," can also be considered a violation of this rule since Sally's player has controlled Jack's abilities, possibly in a way that doesn't accurately represent his character. The appropriate way to word Sally's attack would be, "Sally charges Jack so fast that it's unlikely he could totally dodge it without equally inhuman speed." This leaves it up to Jack's player whether or not Jack is actually capable of avoiding Sally.
Non-Example: *Rex walks up to Jewel and moves to plant a kiss on her. Rex's rich, masculine musk overcomes Jewel so powerfully that she has no control over herself and kisses back.*
6. Avoid Mary-Sues:
A Mary-Sue is a specific kind of character that is usually considered literarily reprehensible and otherwise unpleasant for others to play alongside. A Mary-Sue is any character (of any gender, age, race, or species) who fits one or more of these descriptions:
A character who’s too perfect, lacking realistic or logical flaws, or whose flaws do not affect them in real ways.
A character who’s exactly like their creator, except idealized or made “better”. (E.g. more attractive, smarter, given skills, abilities & powers the creator wishes they could have.) Essentially, the creator is inserting themselves into the story, but without the flaws, quirks & limits that make them interesting and real. Users are often discouraged from creating characters who would be described as, "He's based off me."
A character who’s far too powerful, especially whose abilities exceed that which is possible for his/her race in the setting of the story. Particularly if said character has abilities that do not exist within the boundaries of the story’s world. Often these characters are technically legitimate, but are very, "Look at how unique and cool I am!"
A character who’s cliched, having qualities or characteristics that are overused by people trying to have a powerful/perfect/cool character. This includes but is not limited to the traits listed as Popular Role-Play Trends.
One way to test if you character is Mary Sue is by taking the test below.
7. Advanced Roleplay:
This is an Advance Roleplay so please refrain form One-liners. It is highly disrespectful towards the other roleplayers giving them nothign to go off of, the MoDs expect to see at least three lines per post in the Roleplay.