Is an Original Female Character always doomed to be a 'Mary Sue'? (r) -- La Femme Nikita Fan Fiction Message Board

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Date Posted: Tuesday, February 01, 02:04:07am
Author: Genevieve
Subject: Is an Original Female Character always doomed to be a 'Mary Sue'? (r)

Firstly, for anyone unfamiliar with the term, here's a quick definition from this site:

A Mary Sue is an utterly perfect character. She stands in for the author and performs every heroic feat known to fandom, often outdoing the main characters of the story. She is beautiful, fit, wise, and incredibly intuitive. She is either the best friend, lover, or unrequited love of the most handsome and desirable male character. She often has psychic or supernatural powers, which she uses in the most predictable and boring ways. She is introduced without preamble, has not a single weakness or flaw, and can kick the butt of the most powerful person in the story. In short, she's annoying and cliched. Many first-time authors make this mistake (I know I did) and live to regret it. It's possible to introduce original characters with depth and intelligence, but they must be carefully drawn and FLAWED - that's the key.

So, okay. The challenge of writing an original female character that doesn't ding the readers' collective Mary Sue radar is something that fan fiction writers have been facing since the dawn of fandom. So how is it done? What are the main pitfalls to avoid? How do you believably mesh a strong, original female character with the canon cast without going to the other extreme, ie making her so bland and non-special that she may as well not be in the story at all?

Oh, and are we more tolerant of Mary Sue's male counterpart, Gary Stu? If we are, why is that? *g*

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Replies:

I'm very, very wary of OCs in general...(r) -- Swatkat, Tuesday, February 01, 02:39:02am
The reason I read fanfic in the first place is (r) -- JayBee, Tuesday, February 01, 12:47:38pm
I don't think so. In LFN I actually think self-inserts are a *potentially* bigger pitfall (r) -- Nell, Tuesday, February 01, 04:19:48pm
Mary Sues do have their uses.... -- Rox, Tuesday, February 01, 05:41:47pm
- Agreed (r) -- JayBee, Tuesday, February 01, 06:13:42pm
  - It is an experience "thing" -- Rox, Tuesday, February 01, 08:49:28pm
    - I think only partly. (r) -- JayBee, Tuesday, February 01, 10:02:41pm
There is *one* characteristic of LFN Mary sues that I can't abide (r) -- Nell, Tuesday, February 01, 08:15:02pm
I hope not -- sk, Thursday, February 03, 03:18:21pm