Fanfiction: the definition of Mary-Sue

[Niphredil Baggins]

Someone somewhere asked what is a Mary-Sue. I’ll respond the best I can:

A Mary-Sue can be a fanfiction story of any fandom.

Typical characteristics in a Mary-Sue:

-the hero is a girl
-she has an exotic name
-her eyes, hair or both are an unusual colour
-the writer’s favourite character falls in love with her
-she has all the good characteristics the writer would like to have herself (usually the writer is a girl)
-she has none or very few flaws in her personality: she is kind to everyone, brave, beautiful, sickeningly sweet…
-she often has immense supernatural abilities
-everything in the story is centred around her
-she makes other characters behave uncharacteristically
-she often sings (but not all singers are Mary-Sues)

A Mary-Sue is the writer’s daydream and a reader’s nightmare: the reader can’t identify with Miss Perfect, but wants someone human, regardless of species.

A ‘Lord of the Rings’ Mary-Sue could be like this.

Her name is Caralinda. She is a High School student in California. Her eyes are bright green, her hair is flaming red. One day she inherits from her grandmother a diamond ring. When she puts it in her finger, she enters Middle-Earth. There she joins the Fellowship of the Ring. Legolas falls in love with her and starts composing love poetry. Aragorn is jealous, and the friendship of Gimli and Legolas is jeopardised because of her. She gets captured by orcs and rescued by Boromir. Frodo opens his heart’s troubles to her. No-one thinks any evil thoughts about her, because she is so adorable and sincere. She can prophesy the future and offers her visions in riddle-songs. In the end her actions save Frodo and it is she who destroys the ring.

Give your thoughts and definitions, and I claim no copyright to the story-idea above; however, if you steal it, please keep your story away from good fanfiction sites. I stole no ideas fom no particular writer, if you recognise your character, no fault of mine.


<font size=1 color=339966>[Title edited by moderator]

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 4:33 AM December 29, 2003: Message edited by: Estelyn Telcontar ]