WitchWRITER M.C. 
Post by Esmeralda on Jul 24, 2008 22:52:47 GMT -4
I saw this at another site and because Mary Sue and her brother Gary Stu will ruin a fanfic for me quicker than anything else, I decided to copy it.
Mary Sues (or Gary Stus)--they're the type of character no author wants to think they've created. Have you inadvertently created one? Take the Original Fiction Mary Sue Litmus Test to find out:
The Mary Sue Litmus Test
The test above is for original characters only. Remember to try to be as absolutely honest with yourself as you possibly can.
There's a link that will allow you to check off the items that are true for your character and will add the scores for you.
I did the test for my original character, Rori (aka Aurora...and most of her points came from her name and her power of retronition and the fact that I think most people would like her, since she's more like how I wish Billie was...), in my & Aurora & Scifi's sorta-novel and she scored a 12--a Non-Sue.
Funny, but my Patty Halliwell is a lot closer to being a Mary Sue than my original character is. Taking the test with her in mind, she was a 33, a Border-Line Sue.
But then I think a lot of the Charmed characters *are* Mary Sues/Gary Stus....Season 6-8 Piper, Chris, Wyatt, Brody and Drake are just a few who immediately come to mind. Billie is most definitely Brad Kern's Mary Sue, pushing Uber-Sue and even pushing Irredeemable Sue, which is why so few fans like her as written by Kern. Try taking the test with those characters in mind (as written on the show) and it's amazing how well they work out as Sues/Stus!
Oh, I wanted to add how I first found out about Mary Sue. The first fandom I ever joined was Star Trek, back in the 60's, long before there was such a thing as the Internet. In the late 70's, a bunch of fans put out a fanzine called "Trek", which actually helped bring Star Trek back in the form of the movies. Later the authors professionally published books called "The Best of Trek," and that's where I was introduced to "Lieutenant Mary Sue" stories. At that point, she was described as a character who either took the place of the author (although idealized...the person the author wish she could be, since most Sue-Trek fics were written by females) or represented the author's dream mate (if the fic was written by a male). Although she usually had a totally different name, she was usually the one who saved the ship through some special power of her own and then went off to have mad sex with whoever was the author's favorite character.
I was more than a bit embarrassed when I found out that the fic I had just written and that I was so proud was a Lieutenant Mary Sue fic. It starred Leyla, Captain Kirk's yeoman. She was an Alphan from Alpha Centauri and had perfectly round eyes and the power of empathy, which she used to save the ship while Captain Kirk fell madly in love with her and went nuts after Leyla sacrificered herself for him and the ship and died in his arms. Sound familar to anyone who has taken the test?? Yes, I made myself sick just writing this!
I took the test with Leyla in mind and she was an Uber-Sue!
So before you add an original character to your fic, be sure to take the Litmus Test on her/him. Let's try to make Alternate Charmed a "Mary Sue-free Zone"!
And if you want to take the test on one of your characters that is part of one of the stories already here and let us know the results, feel free!
Mary Sue, sometimes shortened simply to Sue, is a pejorative term used to describe a fictional character who plays a major role in the plot on such a scale that suspension of disbelief fails due to the character's traits, skills and abilities being tenuously or inadequately justified. Such a character is particularly characterized by overly idealized and clichéd mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as wish-fulfillment fantasies for their authors. Perhaps the single underlying feature of all characters described as "Mary Sues" is that they are too ostentatious for the audience's taste, or that the author seems to favor the character too highly. The author may seem to push how exceptional and wonderful the "Mary Sue" character is on his or her audience, sometimes leading the audience to dislike or even resent the character fairly quickly; such a character could be described as an "author's pet".
"Mary Sues" can be either male or female, but male characters are often dubbed "Gary Stu", "Marty Stu", or similar names. While the label "Mary Sue" itself originates from a parody of this type of character, most characters labeled "Mary Sues" by readers are not intended by authors as such.
Source: Wikipedia
"Mary Sues" can be either male or female, but male characters are often dubbed "Gary Stu", "Marty Stu", or similar names. While the label "Mary Sue" itself originates from a parody of this type of character, most characters labeled "Mary Sues" by readers are not intended by authors as such.
Source: Wikipedia
Mary Sues (or Gary Stus)--they're the type of character no author wants to think they've created. Have you inadvertently created one? Take the Original Fiction Mary Sue Litmus Test to find out:
The Mary Sue Litmus Test
The test above is for original characters only. Remember to try to be as absolutely honest with yourself as you possibly can.
There's a link that will allow you to check off the items that are true for your character and will add the scores for you.
I did the test for my original character, Rori (aka Aurora...and most of her points came from her name and her power of retronition and the fact that I think most people would like her, since she's more like how I wish Billie was...), in my & Aurora & Scifi's sorta-novel and she scored a 12--a Non-Sue.
Funny, but my Patty Halliwell is a lot closer to being a Mary Sue than my original character is. Taking the test with her in mind, she was a 33, a Border-Line Sue.
But then I think a lot of the Charmed characters *are* Mary Sues/Gary Stus....Season 6-8 Piper, Chris, Wyatt, Brody and Drake are just a few who immediately come to mind. Billie is most definitely Brad Kern's Mary Sue, pushing Uber-Sue and even pushing Irredeemable Sue, which is why so few fans like her as written by Kern. Try taking the test with those characters in mind (as written on the show) and it's amazing how well they work out as Sues/Stus!
Oh, I wanted to add how I first found out about Mary Sue. The first fandom I ever joined was Star Trek, back in the 60's, long before there was such a thing as the Internet. In the late 70's, a bunch of fans put out a fanzine called "Trek", which actually helped bring Star Trek back in the form of the movies. Later the authors professionally published books called "The Best of Trek," and that's where I was introduced to "Lieutenant Mary Sue" stories. At that point, she was described as a character who either took the place of the author (although idealized...the person the author wish she could be, since most Sue-Trek fics were written by females) or represented the author's dream mate (if the fic was written by a male). Although she usually had a totally different name, she was usually the one who saved the ship through some special power of her own and then went off to have mad sex with whoever was the author's favorite character.
I was more than a bit embarrassed when I found out that the fic I had just written and that I was so proud was a Lieutenant Mary Sue fic. It starred Leyla, Captain Kirk's yeoman. She was an Alphan from Alpha Centauri and had perfectly round eyes and the power of empathy, which she used to save the ship while Captain Kirk fell madly in love with her and went nuts after Leyla sacrificered herself for him and the ship and died in his arms. Sound familar to anyone who has taken the test?? Yes, I made myself sick just writing this!
I took the test with Leyla in mind and she was an Uber-Sue!So before you add an original character to your fic, be sure to take the Litmus Test on her/him. Let's try to make Alternate Charmed a "Mary Sue-free Zone"!
And if you want to take the test on one of your characters that is part of one of the stories already here and let us know the results, feel free!
2008 WitchWRITER
