Mary Sue What Are You?

                When a writer creates a original character, they tend to wish to incorporate things from their personal life into that character. Sometimes these characters come out as just as fallible as the rest of the cast, others they come out as super powered gods, who can solve any situation, melt even the coldest hearts, and beloved by every other person in the story. These characters are called Mary Sue or Gary Sue. [1] Mary Sue traces her origins to fan created Star Trek stories originating in the 70s [2]. There adolescent stories were filled with characters who could do no wrong, and beloved by the cast. As such the editor of one of the fanzine's wrote a parody story for "Lieutenant Mary Sue". From then on the term grew to cover characters that were seen largely as wish fulfillment characters, and was not relegated to just fan created characters.

                However for the purpose of this blog post, we will discuss how to find a Mary Sue character, and how to confront a player about it. One of the quickest ways to spot such a character would be to read the sign up posted by the author. If the history of the character written down by the author seems too good to be true, that usually does not bold well for how the author will write the character in the present. For example, Lieutenant Mary Sue was described as being the youngest Lieutenant in the history of Star Fleet! Graduating at only the tender age of fifteen and a half. If there is a need of any more convincing, looking at the character's powers, weapons, or abilities could also yield a clue.  Such things should be balanced, giving a character time to grow, and not be something that could make the character a heroic power house the minute the RPG starts. If you suspect the character is a Mary or Gary Sue, the easiest option is to deny the sign up, or to work with the creator to make a more balanced and even character.

                However if the RPG starts and you find that a person's character is edging toward being Mary or Gary Suedom then problems can arise. Other players may complain about the character, or even ask for the player to be booted entirely. This can created unnecessary fights and damage between players that can be almost impossible to repair. However kicking a inexperienced player out of the story could create self doubt for the player, and may lead him or her to give up entirely. As such you should ask one of the fellow members if they wish to mentor the inexperienced writer, or even do it yourself. Explain calmly the problems with the character, and offer various ways to correct it, even writing a sample post or template for the writer could be invaluable. If problems continue however, the best would be to politely ask the writer to leave, and to write out their character in a respectful manner both to the writer and the story.

                Mary or Gary Sues are troublesome if not utterly annoying for other RPG players, and for a young writer they can be humiliating. But they also serve to teach on how to create a fallible character, and in the end that can create a greater experience for everyone.

[1] Merlin, Missy (01/07/2007); Mary Sue, Who Are You; Retrieved From: http://firefox.org/news/articles/6/1/Mary-Sue-Who-Are-You/Page1.html

[2] Verba, Joan Marie (2003); Boldly Writing: A Trekker Fan & Zine History, 1967-1987; Retrieved From: http://www.ftlpublications.com/bwebook.pdf