For those unfamiliar with the term, a Mary Sue is a character most often associated with fan fiction who is overly idealized. Recently, this label has been applied to characters in original fiction as well, perhaps most notably to Bella in Twilight. (I think no more needs be said?) Further definitions are here and here. This paper deals with the role of Mary Sues in a cultural context.
I don't pay much attention to the definition of Mary Sues in fanfiction. I figure that I will begin worrying about the Sueishness of one of my self-insert characters the moment that I actually show any of my fanfic to anyone, i.e. never. My issue is with characters in original fiction being branded as Mary Sues and accordingly abandoned. A new writer is highly likely to write a work with an idealized character, and having a new character or a new work be dismissed as 'A Sue' is highly discouraging.
Let us start with the Mary Sue Litmus Test. There are a lot of these on the internet. I use them frequently, because I find them amusing and I like procrastinating far too much. Here is one of the ones I use far too often. It's simple: you go down a list and click on the checkboxes next to things that apply to your character, and then the website evaluates how much of a Mary Sue your character is.
A bit ago, I used this test on one of my own characters, the love interest in a series of novels that I've been working on for a few years. Here are the rankings of Mary Sues that the site provides:
And here is what my character scored:
Now, said character, when evaluated in light of the afore-cited paper is not that much of a Sue. He's very similar to the rest of his species in regards to the scope of his powers, he has some serious failings, and most of the reason he's described as so physically attractive is that the novel is written in first-person from the perspective of a character who's deeply in love with him. I certainly don't think that starting over completely is the solution to this; I'll start worrying about that when his eyes start changing color or he starts sparkling. It should also be added that I tested the rest of the major characters in the novel, and they scored 36 and up (and then, out of curiosity, I tested myself. 41. I'm a Mary Sue. You can all flee now).
Nevertheless, it's a rather worrying result. I've workshopped this novel quite a lot, so I'm reasonably confident that this character is not off-putting in his abilities, but I must admit to a certain qualm when I first saw the result. If I had tested this character with this the minute I'd created him, I probably would have had a far more difficult time writing him, and felt highly discouraged about the results.
From the above, it is understandable that the critics of the label 'Mary Sue' in original fiction often say that the application of the trope actually stifles new writers--there are even some schools of thought that hold that the creation of a Mary Sue as a main character is the first step any beginning writer takes. Another problem is that the very term 'Mary Sue' is gender-biased; strong female characters are far more likely to run afoul of this accusation than male characters. Indeed, on many litmus tests, one of the questions has to do with whether the character follows expected gender roles.
Another issue with Mary Sues is that they're rather popular. Harry Potter, Irene Adler, Artemis Fowl and even Jean Valjean all classify as Sues. In David Weber's Honor Harrington novels, the eponymous heroine has often been accused of being a Sue. I haven't checked, but I'm willing to bet Katniss Everdeen has more than a few accusations of Sue-ness leveled against her.
In the end, accusations of this character or that being a Mary Sue begin to seem less like thoughtful literary critique and more generalized put-downs. So, discuss. Is a Sue a terrible horrifying thing that must be rooted out of all stories? A harmless wish-fulfillment starting point for a new writer? Extant only in fan fiction? Or a definition that has gotten entirely too broad and now includes many of the characteristics necessary in a main character? (Guess which camp yours truly is in.)
First, +5 Internets for mentioning Artemis Fowl.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I would argue that most of the litmus tests are simply just that. They aren't the end all and be all of a character becoming a Mary Sue. For starters, most of the online Mary Sue tests are written with Fan Fiction in mind. It is an unfortunate fact that many fanfic writers are not the best authors in existence, and many 'fics can descend into a self-insert romance, or altering the nature of the original universe so that the author's preferred couple actually get together.
Honestly, I feel that using the term to apply to characters in original works over-steps the original meaning and usefulness of the definition.
Now, with that said, I honestly do not agree with the "Overly-powerful character" as the definition of what a Mary Sue is. A Mary Sue (to me) is a character who either has no flaws or forms a black-hole of narrative focus, regardless of competency, and who never has anything that resembles a character arc. But that's just my 2 cents.