On Mary Sues.

[Abidusray]

Recently, in a private conversation I've been involved in with some of my friends, the topic of Mary Sues has come up. A Mary Sue is a term applied to a character that is a cliché in some form -- they lack flaws, have exceptional skills, or are unrealistic in some way. While it's common that all role play communities have some of Mary Sues, Blackstar is the first in which I have taken great lengths to make sure my characters are as realistic as possible.

I understand why Mary Sues are created. A role play, at its most basic form, is a story. We tell stories to make sense of things that happen to and around us, and to help us connect ideas. Epics feature heroes, characters who represent the ideal person to be. Beowulf and King Arthur are two examples of this: Beowulf is the savior, who kills the Grendel for personal redemption. Arthur is the personification of the Christ knight, the perfect, chivalrous knight who saves his people from some evil. Everyone aspires to be like a hero, to be loved by everyone, and so when we have a chance to create a character, a character who becomes our face in the community, there is immense temptation to make this character who you want to be. This is usually not a conscious choice; people don't sit down and decide that they're going to create their ideal person, but that's what happens.

At first, these characters can be fun to play. They seem like an extension of their typists, the infallible person who cannot be beaten. Playing them becomes a constant attempt to come up with a new way to use one of their many talents to get out of a tight situation, or a way to make themselves noticed so that they might be kidnapped. Inevitably, they become, or try to become, the center of attention of all role plays. Whether they blow something up or assassinate a main character, they shift the focus from the plot that the creator had in mind to something of their own devising.

Older, more advanced role players can pick Mary Sues out of the crowd easily. It's more difficult for novice players to notice this of others, and it's exceptionally difficult for them to notice this of themselves. This isn't a jab at their intelligence, it's the truth: humans are very poor at introspection. These older players know this, and many will try to make sure their characters are unique and flawed. In doing so, they make them harder to play, but like acting, playing difficult roles is what makes it so much fun. While it might be exciting to step into the shoes of a shape-shifting, trans-dimensional humanoid who is an exceptional swordsman, marksman, and is exceptionally rich, it's far more rewarding to play a man with a crippling fear of blood.

A Mary Sue litmus test exists. It's about 100 yes/no questions that quantify just how much of a cliché your character is. I urge everyone who reads this to take the test with their favorite character, and answer honestly. You'll never learn anything unless you acknowledge your mistakes. By creating a character who is realistic, you improve the quality of role plays you take part in, and make them more interesting both for people to read and to play in themselves.

This is not a personal attack on anyone who posts on Blackstar. Seriously, guys. It's a general observation, and something I think we should work on changing. I'm not innocent of this myself, nor do I claim to be, but I do try.

[visagepoissons]

Very good points there. I took the test and it certainly mucked up. I took it again though and I got a result that was far more reasonable. Remember it's not a failsafe way of knowing if your character is a Mary Sue (Or whatever the male equivalent is I don't remember).

[Abidusray]

Marty Stu is the term I've heard used. And no, it isn't a fail safe method, but it is a good guideline. I used my character Thresher and scored a 12. And of course, you could score 45 and not end up with a Mary Sue, if you play the character properly.

[visagepoissons]

I got 39 on one of mine! And she is DEFINITELY not a Mary Sue! *grumbles*

[Shaon]

Gods seem to be sues on concept.

My dearest Paranesia had a 78.

[Goron40]

I'm pretty sure we've already had a Mary Sue thread test somewhere around here, but I took this one anyways.

14.

Wooo.

[3kul]

HollowEyes gets a 19, though that's pretty fuzzy as a few of the questions were tricky for me to answer properly.

[LordPsycho]

I've taken the quiz as DP before, and got a horrid score - and I fail to see how a God of Insanity can be a Mary Sue - I mean, yeah he's a god, but the Blackstar concept about what is a god, what their pantheon, etc., is my own work.

But again, introspection is not a talent of the Human race, I very well could be looking over my own flaws.

[Intyalle]

Man that test takes forever. I need to go through and do some other characters, but I got a 34 for Anice over at OT. Mostly I think that's because she had a dormant power awaken at the start of the RP, even if it wasn't to get out of a tight situation, and another that she can't control or anything yet but is still there because of something that happened to her... either way. Unfortunately there was no question where I could mention that after any saving-of-the-day she does do, she has almost always fainted from over-exertion lol. Sometimes even before and some other character has to finish.

[visagepoissons]

I got 39 for Viz. 0_o

[Intyalle]

Haha you got worse than me and I was the one who disintegrated her 'magic-proof' bullets. After all, they weren't element-proof. You were so annoyed with me then lol.

How did you get such a high score for her?

[visagepoissons]

I don't know. I tried it again and got 26. That I was more satisfied with.

[EnDSchultz]

Hah, 43. I'm not at all surprised, honestly...

[visagepoissons]

[EnDSchultz]

Not by his standards, he's not.