Wattpad brings you a guest post from Maree Anderson, author of the paranormal romance “Lightning Rider”:
“There’s nothing more boring than a perfect heroine!” So claims Drosselmeyer, the main antagonist of the anime Princess Tutu. Mmm. I wonder if Drosselmeyer is referring to a “Mary Sue”?
The term “Mary Sue” originates from a character in “A Trekkie’s Tale” a parody written by Paula Smith in 1973 for her fanzine Menagerie #2. Lieutenant Mary Sue was “the youngest Lieutenant in the fleet—only fifteen and a half years old”. A couple of years after this parody was written, Menagerie editors made it known how much they disliked these sort of characters in stories:
“Mary Sue stories—the adventures of the youngest and smartest ever person to graduate from the academy and ever get a commission at such a tender age. Usually characterized by unprecedented skill in everything from art to zoology, including karate and arm-wrestling. This character can also be found burrowing her way into the good graces/heart/mind of one of the Big Three [Kirk, Spock, and McCoy], if not all three at once. She saves the day by her wit and ability, and, if we are lucky, has the good grace to die at the end, being grieved by the entire ship.”
They hope she has the good grace to die at the end of the story? Ouch. Poor Mary Sue!
Nowadays a Mary Sue character is typically exotically gorgeous, with an unusual (but still beautiful!) hair or eye color. She has a cool and unusual name to go with her tragic or unusual (but still way cool!) upbringing or past. She’s sweet and kind and funny (in a nice way, of course—no dissing other characters ’coz that would be just mean). She’s über-talented in so many things it’s beyond ridiculous. All her friends and the other characters are in total awe of her, and end up standing by open-mouthed with admiration as she solves the previously-unsolvable-until-she-came-along problem. And as for flaws…. What flaws? Oh, wait. She does have a couple. But instead of being annoying, they’re endearing. Everyone lurves her to bits! Awwwww.
Ensign Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, is often referred to as a typical example of a Mary Sue character.
And, just like the Menagerie editors who couldn’t bear to read yet another submission featuring a too-good-to-be-true “Mary Sue”, when I’m reading, this sort of character makes me want to roll my eyes and put down the book. (BTW, male Mary Sues are often called a Garry Stu, Larry Stu or sometimes Marty Stu… and I don’t really want to read about them, either.)
So what’s wrong with reading about perfection? Isn’t that what we all strive for? Well, let me put it this way. Perfection is pretty darned boring.
Who wants to read about a character who:
- is so gorgeous it hurts to look at her;
- never lies;
- is improbably lucky;
- is obscenely wealthy and never wants for anything;
- always gets her man;
- always defeats the bad dude;
- always knows just how to solve that unsolvable problem, and
- never, ever fails to achieve anything she puts her mind to.
And let’s be honest, if I’m describing your BFF right now, you secretly loathe him or her, don’t you?
Hey, don’t feel too guilty: editors and reviewers loathe them, too. Because these sorts of characters are “poorly developed” and “too perfect and lacking in realism to be interesting”.
So make your characters realistic. Make sure you give them flaws, because that’s what makes them interesting! And, like me, your readers will love you for it.
Check out Lightning Rider to read the adventures of a non-Mary Sue heroine!
Andie dies in a lightning strike and is miraculously healed and brought back to life. But now she’s sharing her body with an alien—the same alien who rode the lightning bolt that killed her. (Third place, Utah Romance Writers Heart of the West award, paranormal category; Highly Commended, RWNZ Clendon Award for full-length romantic manuscript.)