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Mary Sue: Difference between revisions

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== External Links ==
== External Links ==
* [http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm The Universal Mary-Sue Litmus Test]
* [http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm The Universal Mary-Sue Litmus Test]
* [http://www.wiccananime.com/marysue/amst.html The Original ANTI Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test]
* [http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue Mary Sue at Wikipedia]
* [http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue Mary Sue at Wikipedia]
* [http://www.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue Mary Sue -- TV Tropes and Idioms]
* [http://www.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue Mary Sue -- TV Tropes and Idioms]


[[Category:Writing terms]]
[[Category:NaNoWriMo terms]]
[[Category:NaNoWriMo terms]]

Revision as of 13:22, 9 February 2016

Mary Sue (sometimes abbreviated "Sue")is a term used to describe characters who are typically considered to be wish-fulfillment characters of the author. The male equivalent is known as a Gary Stu, Marty Stu, or Larry Stu. The term originates from a Star Trek fanfiction in which the eponymous fan-made character was introduced.

Mary Sues are often labeled as "perfect" characters and usually have no flaws, inconsistent flaws (the flaws vanish when they are disadvantageous to the Sue), or inconsequential flaws (like a small birthmark, or the character is rebellious but never gets punished for it.) They are often powerful, typically beautiful, and sometimes have tragic pasts for the purposes of eliciting sympathy from the audience or excusing bad behavior. Because of these traits, they are generally disliked in the writing community.

They are most often found in fanfiction, usually for the purposes of saving the day (upstaging the original cast in the process) or for the purpose of a romantic plot with one or more of the original cast. However, characters within an original work that display similar traits may often be considered to be Mary Sues (sometimes called Canon Sues): for example, Bella Swan from the Twilight series is often considered to be a Mary Sue.

During Nano, writers may be concerned that their character is a Mary Sue. However, since the objective of Nanowrimo is a word count and not a standard of literature, it does not preclude winning Nano.

External Links