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Stamp: Mary-Sue Potential

Published: Nov 11, 2012

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Harry Potter. Batman. Samurai Jack. Doctor Who.

These are several characters I can think off right off the top of my head that fit a multitude of traits typically associated with Mary-Sues (Or Gary-Stus, if you want to assign gender-specific terms). The thing of it is, if you stop and think about it, almost every major protagonist, antagonist, and in many cases secondary characters usually have many of these traits. If they were fan characters, they would be considered the bane of their fandoms.

Harry Potter His parents were killed by the most feared wizard of all time. He survived a curse no one else has ever survived in all of history. He was raised by abusive relatives. He was famous. He had the respect and guidance of his school's headmaster. He was linked in destiny to the evil wizard who tried to kill him.

Batman His parents were killed right in front of him. He inherited a huge company and is filthy rich. He spent his whole entire life training in martial arts and science. He has a gadget for any situation you can imagine, and if he doesn't, he'll make one. He's basically the Chuck Norris of comic books.

Samurai Jack He's the prince of a fallen kingdom destroyed by a shapeshifting demon. He spent his whole life training in every martial art you can imagine. He wields a magic sword that can only harm those with evil in their hearts. He is the only person capable of harming said demon. He was flung into the future where he's now searching for a means back to his own time.

The Doctor He's the last of a race of aliens who are sensitive to the flow of time. When he gets killed, he just regenerates into a new body. He flies in a ship that can travel through time and space. He's met almost every important figure in history you can possible imagine. He has a screwdriver that can manipulate just about any sort of technology you can think of.

These are just a handful of examples.

How many characters have you heard of like this? How many licensed characters? How many fanchars? Think about it. The traits don't make a sue. Even what seems like a bad idea on the surface can have good solid potential for being well written and entertaining (Hell, many episodes of Doctor Who are the embodiment of that statement). Whether or not a character is a sue has nothing to do with whether or not they're a martial arts master, or a prince, or if their family is dead, or have a fantastic destiny, or whatever the hell other kind of example you'd like to give me. Certain things must revolve around characters a certain way to push the story forward. The only time this is unacceptable is if a fancharacter were to shift the focus of the story away from the canon characters to revolve around them.

So what makes a sue? Simple. A Mary-Sue is a character portrayed with no flaws. You've seen them. They're perfect in every way. They never make mistakes. They're beautiful/handsome. They can never be beaten. Any character that doesn't possess flaws is a sue. And even then, what makes a sue often boils down to perspective and opinion. Traits associated with sues, like those of the characters listed above, can have their "sueishness" cancelled out by good characterization and flaws that help to balance out their strengths.

Bottom line is: Folks, don't be quick to drop the sue hammer on a character's head, alright?