Who the hell is Mary Sue and why should I want to beat her viciously with a rusty crowbar?

Good question. Anyone who's read any amount of internet fan fiction has most likely stumbled across Mary Sue, but perhaps might not have realized it. Mary Sue is a actually a term used to describe or label a specific type of character that runs rampant through out the vast internet fandom of fan fiction. Although there are such things as "Garry Stu's" or "Harry Stu's", the character in question is most often female than male. She's usually named after the author in some way, and is sickeningly beautiful or roguishly handsome. Loved immediately by everyone who steps within a hundred mile radius of her and hated by no one, with the exception of her "great big, life-long arch nemesis" - who disturbingly enough, usually hates her specifically because they love or revere her in some way -, she is a figure of authority and manages to defy everyone and everything. She possesses extraordinary skills beyond mere mortals and has absolutely no flaws. She's most often related in some way to the author's favorite character, whether as a sibling, descendant, ancestor, or most commonly, lover. She has this terribly nasty habit of always saving the day, or dyeing heroically in the attempt, in which everyone around her falls into the deepest and most anguished mourning for forever and a day.

In a rather small, compact nutshell, Mary Sue is what everyone wants to be and no one actually is. And she is everywhere.

The term "Mary Sue" was actually originally derived from the Star Trek fandom years back and was a name created by the fans for the widely despised character, Wesley Crusher, who was an obvious self-insertion by the series creator, Gene Wesley Roddenberry. Ever since, it has spread through out other fandoms to label that certain brand of character, although I've found that the concept of Mary Sue's are not as familiar in the various anime fandoms. As a result, Mary Sue tests are seldom made for anime series' -- I scowered the internet for an Escaflowne revised edition, but there's none out there. Hence, the creation of this test for the community of Escaflowne fan fiction.

Taking the test is very simple: just read through the lists below for each category and give yourself a point for every question you can answer "yes" or "technically yes, but. . ." too. Be honest with yourself -- it doesn't help you any by reading a question and saying "but it doesn't really count because. . ." This test was made to help authors identify possible Mary Sue's and thus, be the difference between their work being a unique piece of writing or just another addition to the ever growing mess of fan fiction.

This original Mary Sue Litmus Test was made by and copyright Melissa "Merlin Missy" Wilson. This test was refigured from its original form specifically for the world of Escaflowne fiction and I am in no way attempting to take credit for its original creation.

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Section 1 - The Name Game

• Is the character named after you? (This can be your first name, middle name, or the name you go by in chat, irc, et cetera.) If so, stop now. Put your pencil down and turn in your test.
  

  DO NOT NAME YOUR CHARACTER AFTER YOURSELF.
  DO NOT NAME YOURSELF AFTER YOUR CHARACTER.
  I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR EXCEPTION IS.

• Is the character's name an unusual spelling of a more common name or word?
• Is the character's name unusual in another way? (Of course, many names from Escaflowne are rather unique - use your discretion.)
  • A female with a male-sounding name?
  • A name the character chose for him or herself, because s/he "didn't want to forget" or doesn't know their real name?
  • A noun or adjective not normally used for a name? (Again, use your discretion. Would any self-respecting character really want to go through life with this name?)
• Does the character have a really cool name that you wish you had?
• Is the character named after a regular in some way? (For example, Van's middle name "Slanzar" or a different spelling like "Dellandu" or "Delate", or even - heaven forbid - "Allen Jr." *shudder*)
• Is the character someone originally from one of the main featured countries like Asturia who had a different name back then?
• Does the character have more than one name? (Such as a nickname or a pseudonym that other you use to refer to the character.)
• Did you spend more than a day looking for just the right name?
• Have you considered naming your pet or child the character's name? *Sweatdrop*

Section 2 - Physical Attributes

• Is the character the same gender as you?
• Is the character from the same racial group as you? (Note: if the character is a magical or fate altered being, answer yes to this question.)
  • Is the character a hybrid of two or more species? (Such as a type of beastperson like Jajuka or the cat twins.)
• Was the character physically and severely injured in a battle?
  • Do they now or eventually end up recieving an artificial limb because of the injury?
  • Did the incident leave the character with a very obvious scar or physical blemish which is repeatedly referenced as some sort of "symbol" through out the story?
• Is the character a teenager or in her/his early twenties? (In Earth years, people.)
  • Does the character look like s/he is a teenager or in her/his early twenties for no apparent reason?
  • For a magical or special scientific reason?
  • Because they were selected to be one of the Dragonslayers?
  • That you plan on making a plot point later?
• Is the character the age you would like to be?
• Is the character beautiful or roguishly handsome?
• Does one or more of the regulars find the character highly attractive?
  • Do other regulars see him/her as a threat because of this?
• Does the character have an unusual eye color for no apparent reason?
  • Do his/her eyes change color from time to time?
  • Will this be a plot point later?
• Does the character have really nice hair that you describe more than once, or on the first page?
• Does the character have an accent which you do not share?

Section 3 - Personal Traits

• Is the character the long-lost child, descendent, ancestor, or sibling of a regular or recurring character?
  • Of Allen and/or Millerna?
  • Of Van and/or Hitomi?
  • Of Dilandau, Folken, or any of the Dragonslayers?
  • Of another original character for whom you intend to write another story or even another series?
• Is the character remarkably intellegent?
  • Smarter than Folken?
• Did the character get transported to Gaea and is originally from the Mystic Moon?
• Was the character adopted or did he/she otherwise live with people who were not his/her parents as a child?
• Is the character a member or a friend of a hitherto unknown country or tribe?
  • And is the last surviving member of that country/tribe?
• Is the character a past or current member of royalty?
  • Is the character destined to rule but doesn't want to?
  • Was their country or kingdom viciously destroyed?
• Did the character have a tragic youth? (Abuse, neglect, abandonment, sexual trauma, second or third-class cultural status, slavery, extreme poverty, forced criminality, or being the sole survivor of any calamity.) (Add an extra point for rape or other sexual abuse.)
• Was the character saved from certain death or brought in by a regular or recurring character early in the story?
  • Was Van, Allen, Dilandau, or Folken the one who saved/brought them in?
  • Is that how they originally meet?
• Does the character suffer from guilt about something terrible that s/he did in the past?
  • Do the other characters eventually convince her/him that it was not his/her fault?
• Does the character share your religious beliefs?
• Does the character have a morbid fascination with fire and destruction like Dilandau?
  • Because Dilandau is your favorite character?
• Did the character have an unusual birth? (Example: Genetically engineered, fate altered, magically created, et cetera.)
• Does the character have a twin, a clone, or a sibling of the same gender?
  • About whom you plan on writing another story later?
• Is the character rediculously good with a sword or guymelef?
  • Better than Allen or Dilandau?
• Does the character have a very good singing voice?
• Or play a musical instrument amazingly well?
  • The guitar or flute, for instance?
• Does the character do what you do for fun or profit? (This includes having the same job you have, or would like to have when you're older, or having a job that sounds like a lot of fun even though you know nothing about it.)
• Does the character make more wisecracks than Dilandau and/or Merle?
  • Because Dilandau and/or Merle is your favorite character?
• Does everyone end up liking the character (among the regulars you like)?

Section 4 - Super Powers

• Is the character at all or part shaman or god/deity?
• Is the character a Draconian?
  • But doesn't find out until the middle or end of the story, or will find out in a future story you already have planned?
• Does the character, not being shaman or god, have magical/mutant powers anyway?
• Does the character have telekinesis or telepathy?
• Does the character repeatedly experience visions or premonitions of things that to come?
  • Does the character have a magical pendent or other specific that resonates whenever this occurs?
  • Do they use a pendent or other magical item to help predict the future?
• Does the character just "know things" for no apparent reason?
• Can the character fly?
  • Without the aid of wings?
• Can the character heal with a touch and/or thought?
• Is the character a Zaibach sorcerer or some type of similar brilliant scientist?
  • Are they particularly interested in or work specifically in the field of fate-alteration?
• Do animals - especially fuzzy ones - instinctively like the character? (Take away two points if the only animals that like the character are non-butterfly insects and crawly lizard-types.)

Section 5 - The Love Connection

• Does the character fall in love with and/or have sex with another recurring character from the show? Allen and/or Van and/or Folken and/or Dilandau and/or any of the Dragonslayers? (If anyone writes a story with all five being "AND," send me a copy.)
  • With whom you would like to fall in love and/or have sex?
• Does the character have a striking resemblance or similar qualities to the series character whom they're in love with? (For example, a strange warrior woman who loves fire and has and unusual eye and hair color falls in love with Dilandau.)
• Do any of the regular series character's fall in love with the character because they coincidentally resemble a past, lost love? (For example, Allen falling in love with another - *sigh* - woman that looks uncannily like his sister, Celena.)
• Does the character fall in love with and/or have sex with another original character?
  • With whom you would like to fall in love and/or have sex?
• Does the story end with the character's wedding?
  • Is it attended by more than one of the regular series characters?

Section 6 - The Real World and Your Character

• Would you like to be friends with the character if you met in real life?
• Do you think everyone who reads the story should automatically like the character and want to be friends with the character?
• If someone tells you he/she doesn't like your character, do you take it as a personal attack on you?
• Do you ever pretend, just to yourself, that you are the character, with the same strengths and abilities?

Section 7 - The Fiendish Plot

• Do you introduce the character on the first page of the story?
  • In the first sentence?
• Do you tell the story from the character's point of view, all or mostly?
• Does the character meet someone from Asturia or Zaibach, and after a few tense pages of plot, become friends with them?
• Does the character manage to develop a friendship with an otherwise villainous character, and through this friendship, reform the other character?
  • Is the villain in question Dilandau or Folken?
  • Does the villain become evil again after the character dies, but retain some last vestige of goodness from his/her interaction with the character, evidenced in one selfless action at the end of the story?
• Is the character's main goal to avenge the destruction or defeation of their homeland?
  • Is the homeland in question Fanelia or Zaibach?
• Is the character enrolled as a soldier or knight into any of the featured countries armies and given their own guymelef?
  • Is the country in question Zaibach or Asturia?
  • Does the character instantly or eventually end up with a particularly high rank - such as captain or general?
  • Is the character happy becoming a soldier and guymelef pilot?
  • Do you wish you could be given a guymelef?
• Is the character transformed into a another species or into a magical or fate-altered being?
  • Is the character happier in her/his new form?
  • Is the character not even aware that s/he were subject to a magical transformation/fate-alteration?
  • Do people like the character better in her/his new form?
  • Do you wish you could be transformed because of the neat powers?
• Does the character save the day and/or another character's life?
  • Through magical or mystical intervention?
  • Through dying? (Slipping into a coma forever counts.)
  • Through almost dying?
  • Does everyone go into mourning for forever and a day?
  • Does s/he get not-dead by the end of the story?
  • Will s/he get not-dead in the sequel?
• Does the character end up leaving or getting transported to a faraway, neverheard of country in the end? (Doesn't count if they came from a faraway neverheard of country to start with.)
• Does the character end up living at one of the featured palaces/fortresses of either Fanelia, Asturia, or Zaibach?
• Do you plan to write many more stories revolving around this character?

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Possible Points: 107. . .or something like that (assuming some questions obviate the rest.) Preliminary testing suggests the following basic scoring scheme:

0 -14 Developed character, unlikely Mary Sue.
15 -19 Borderline character. Characters in this range are potential Mary Sue's, who can go either way dependent on the author's skill.
20 - 34 Mary Sue/Gary Stu. Proceed with greatest caution.
35+ Reconsider your character and plot. Please.

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All right, so perhaps the beloved character you've spent many devoted and grueling hours designing and writing has failed a test and you suddenly realize s/he is an obvious or potential Mary Sue. It isn't my place to tell you to immediately stop writing this fabulous story you have in your head. After all, not all personal characters who fail the litmus test turn out necessarily bad - it all depends on the authors skill and ability when writing the character.

This is not a personal attack upon anyone who's found them self writing Mary Sue stories -- I'm guilty of Mary Sue-age, myself. My motivation behind revising this test for the world of Escaflowne was not only to help other Escaflowne authors, but even more largely, to help myself as well.

I can't tell you what to do if you've found that your character is a typical Mary Sue, although I have a few bits of advice to offer from my own personal experience. Before you begin writing, take the time to think critically and be willing to change certain things or go a different way from your original plan. Ask yourself questions such as: does the character really have to look that way? Do you have to give them a tragic and traumatic past? After all, not everyone is physically abused or has their family and friends and hometown viciously destroyed as a child. Is the character even pivotal to the plot? Could the story be told just the same - or in some cases, even better - with one of the regular series' characters? Does the character necessarily need to save the day?

The biggest tip -- don't make your character perfect. No one is perfect. Everyone has flaws and weaknesses and make stupid mistakes. Try to give your character major flaws, and flaws that are not necessarily shared by you. Not being able to cook or sing is not a flaw. Being a soldier who faints at the sight of blood is a major flaw. Being a king or ruler that repeatedly brings misfortune to their land as a result of stupid decisions and bad governing is a major flaw. Being socially inept can also be a major flaw. Overall, don't try use self-insertion in the story, whether you insert yourself literally or the ideal image or dream you have of yourself. The best characters are characters who have a personality unique to themselves.

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Some links to other sites with info about Mary Sue:

The Original Mary Sue Litmus Test
Dr. Merlin's Guide to Fan Fiction
The Mary Sue Society
150 Years of Mary Sue
Self-Insertion and Mary-Sue-ism
Who is This Mary Sue Person, and Why Am I Supposed to Care About Her?