Ah, Mary Sues. The plight of fiction writing, most notably fanfiction. A classic example is that… person who narrates "My Immortal" and thinks she's Goth. You know who I'm talking about. A Mary Sue is a character who has been given a number of traits and abilities to single them out as "special"-- they're well liked, attractive, the Chosen Ones, magical, noble, they have dark and troubled pasts, they have ethereal characteristics, they destroy villains with ease, and they represent the authors or who the authors would like to be. For a list of these traits, go here. Wikipedia defines it as an "idealized and seemingly perfect fictional character, a young or low-rank person who saves the day through unrealistic abilities. Often this character is recognized as an author insert or wish-fulfillment." Mary Sue characters are a trap that's easy to fall into, and yes, I've taken many quizzes online to determine whether or not my characters are Mary Sues.
Here's the thing- the people who make these quizzes seem rather disdainful of the Mary Sue character, because it is so cliche, but it's cliche for a reason. No, you don't want your character to be a Mary Sue (or at least not to this extent) but some aspects of Mary Sues are justifiable or even necessary. On the quizzes, I scored either very high (definitely a Mary Sue) or very low (not enough character development). It's nigh impossible to score perfectly on these quizzes. How do you find the sweet spot?
Most of these quizzes ask if your character has these traits/abilities, if they are placed in certain situations, and if they have relationships with people typical of Mary Sues. A lot of answers to these questions is "yes". Not all of them, but about half-- maybe more. I mean, who doesn't want their character to be magical and sexy? Some quizzes have de-Sueifier questions that counter Mary Sue traits, but most of them are just the inverse of the Mary Sue trait (e.g. "Is your character ugly?"). The problem with this is that certain Mary Sue traits can be easily countered by other, unmentioned traits or situations or sometimes by context alone.
For example, my character Astor is attractive, magical, royalty, violet-eyed, talented, a teenager, multi-lingual, not quite human, well-liked by his people, witty, charismatic, sexy, short-tempered, and awesome in battle. I often pretend to be him, he is my ideal lover, and he represents me… not always in the best way. He's also arrogant (and this is a defining character trait), reckless, lazy, selfish, spoiled, genuinely guilty of things he's done, and occasionally legitimately cruel. He has shady morals and he does not easily get out of tough situations. He has real responsibility expected of him, and when he avoids it he gets called out on it. When his sister criticizes him, she does not admit she is wrong (because she isn't). He isolates himself when he is angry, and it affects his relationships with others. He loves to feel special… because he has fragile self-esteem. He sometimes hurts people who are not villains, and takes out his anger on those who don't deserve it. Though his servant Willy loves him, sometimes Willy finds it difficult to put up with him. He is defeated sometimes, and when hungry for revenge, he goes overboard. Nyx, his love interest, does not initially trust him, and that was not to make him seem "edgy". Oh, and his character flaws do not involve depression or mental disorders. He also is not a chosen one who saves the world, and he does not have a dark or troubled past. He may even be seen as unattractive by someone who is really turned off by his somewhat dark, eccentric appearance. Astor may be idealized in some respects, but he is not perfect-- that's the essence of his character.
Some "Mary Sue" traits actually are not Mary Sue traits when they are justified in-universe, as opposed to just existing to make a character special. For instance, Ember may be attractive, strong, thin, athletic, and a fabulous singer, but so are all people of her race. Sure, she's the only demi-Seraph in existence and an Archangel's (grand)daughter on top of that, but this is explained logically and is the driving point of the plot. Currently, Ember has just enough development and justification to save her from being a Mary Sue, but she cuts it close. I'll need to balance out her strengths and weaknesses, and give her more quirks. I was trying to write a new type of character, and tried to make her fit the mold instead of letting her develop on her own.
If your character has Mary Sue traits, even a lot of them, don't panic. Every main character has at least a few of these cliche traits, but a Mary Sue has all of them, and nothing else. That is what makes her shallow and uninteresting. The definition of a "Mary Sue" character type is also a bit like the definition of a witch or a Goth: It differs, sometimes radically, between groups of people, genres, or individuals. Just because your character has a lot of Mary Sue traits does not mean that they don't have other traits to balance them out (which is different than just having inverted Mary Sue traits). Every protagonist needs something that makes them different or special, something that sets them apart from other characters so that the story is about them and not someone else. Are these traits justified, explained, and relevant to the story? Or are they just there for the sole purpose of making the character special and cool? Does the character respond realistically to bad situations, in a way that isn't exaggerated? Do they have real character flaws that have drawbacks? Are they genuine, rather than just a projection of who you'd like to be?
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