The Insufferable Mary Sue
Many writers have heard or fallen prey to the Mary Sue. The term is typically used to refer to a fictional type of female character who is depicted as unrealistically lacking in flaws or weaknesses. My sister and I have seen far too many annoying Mary Sues (in films, television, and literature). For the purpose of this article, I will mostly stick to Mary Sues in Literature–what makes one and how to avoid it in your own writing.
The Characteristics of a Mary Sue
No character flaws–nothing to complain about yet they still do: There is nothing more annoying than a character who complains for no reason about non-existent problems. I can think of a few examples for this negative character trait, all of which occur in middle grade female protagonists.
Piper Mclean from The Heroes of Olympus.
-Piper is a daughter of Aphrodite whose father is a famous movie star. She’s so beautiful everyone notices her even though she dresses like a tomboy and she can charm speak people to do what she wants. While I would find these things annoying, they aren’t bad enough to be a character’s only struggle. Piper often complains about the attention she gets, but it lends to more comedy than the gravitas of her character. Conversely, Annabeth from the first series is described by Percy as a pretty girl with her hair curled like a princess. But Annabeth has a negligent dad, a step-mom and step-brothers who start out disliking her; she’s tormented by spiders at night growing up and no one believes her so she’s forced to run away from home.
-Piper’s other main complaint is in regards to her boyfriend, Jason. At first, Piper and Jason are given false memories of each other so they’re not really a couple which rightfully depresses Piper. Jason, however, is immediately interested in Piper and there’s no obstacle in the way. They just get together fairly quick. Piper still spends later books doubting Jason’s feelings for no reason and being insecure despite how many times he reassures her of his affections. These might be things an ordinary girl would do, but they hardly suffice as a character’s only flaws.
2. Sophie Foster from Keepers of The Lost Cities.
Note: My sister did a whole article on this book in our Literature section, so check it out if you haven’t already.
-Sophie has a similar imaginary problem, like Piper: being so pretty it’s out of the ordinary. This is not a real problem with girls in our world! Any girl who gets a lot of attention or is even the most raved about woman in Hollywood doesn’t complain about being too beautiful. Typically, they are vastly insecure and no amount of attention is enough to make them feel good about themselves. Placing your value singularly on your physical appearance is no joke or mere annoyance. It places a heavy burden on the most vain of divas. Fiction likes to portray the issue as only a bother to girls who seem to be aware of how their looks distract others.
-Sophie also complains about her loving family who are ordinary, unlike her. They kiss her good night and have cute nicknames for her…how awful. Tell it to Sasuke Uchiha whose whole clan was slaughtered by his own brother.
3. Sadie Kane from The Kane Chronicles.
Note: Check out my article, if you haven’t already, on the Love Triangle in The Kane Chronicles in our Literature section.
-Sadie’s biggest struggle is having to choose between two amazing guys who have no issue with each other and they both have incredible patience in waiting for her to make that decision. I don’t have much sympathy for this so-called problem either. I understand why it’s done–for the same reason as the previous fabricated issues—it makes female readers want to identify with the character. The reader wishes they were so pretty everyone took notice; they wish they had such problems as which perfect boyfriend to choose. In both instances, the writer seems to be afraid to give their character an actual flaw or harsh struggle so they give them one in the form of compliment: you’re too pretty, too many guys like you, etc.
They are desired or envied by everyone for no reason: This is pretty self-explanatory. The Mary Sue is typically well liked by the majority of characters in the book, even villains and side characters give them undeserved attention to remind us they’re a big deal.
-Sophie Foster is another good example of this. In the first book, four different boys like her from just meeting her once.
-Elena from The Vampire Diaries. Everyone seems to either want to be with her or they’re jealous of her. She’s a selfish, petty, vain, flaky person, but we’re constantly reminded of what a good person she is by the other characters in the show.
They are either super powerful or conveniently saved from difficult situations: Mary Sue’s are known for being so powerful that they’re never really challenged or in any danger.
-Sadie Kane is able to handle most situations with ease while her brother struggles or gets embarrassed. She is also rescued by one of her two love-interests on more than one occasion.
-Piper Mclean, has an encounter with an ice goddess, Khione, who confronts her alone and yet doesn’t kill her. Piper spends a while talking down to her and claiming how tough she is but it’s mere plot protection and reasons why Khione doesn’t freeze her.
-Another example of this is in Tangled the series. The character of Rapunzel is made into a great swordsmen, a resourceful adventurer, horseback rider, the friend to all, loved by all, and everyone in the show attributes her far more agency than she merits. We never see Rapunzel work hard for any of these things, she’s just naturally skilled at them.
Mary Sue’s are created for either the author or the reader to live vicariously through them: This gets to the heart of the matter. Mary Sue’s exist to satisfy people’s insecure imaginations. They get to fantasize about being an attractive, desirable, all powerful character (It might work as a villain but not as a protagonist). The problem with this is–that’s not a relatable character. They’re not real. They don’t even resemble the struggles of a real life person. We need to see a character fail and have flaws in order to identify as them and be encouraged when they press on and prevail.
How to NOT write one:
No one relates to a character that’s perfect, allow your character flaws, insecurities, room for growth, etc. If they start out good at everything, desired by everyone, and then worse–complaining about all this attention and skills they have, it will be annoying.
People grow and change so let your character do that as well. It doesn’t matter if you feel like they’re in a phase where they’re weak, or unskilled–most beginners are and it’s played to be endearing in every movie where a protagonist trains (like Karate kid).
Don’t have everyone like them. No one is more annoying than that quirky person everyone loves, I’m talking to you Rapunzel.
Stop forcibly telling me how pretty they are and having them complain about it. Most girls need to be reassured they are beautiful and embrace however they look, not given a false standard of beauty by some annoying girl which is nearly always, “I’m too skinny, blonde and pretty it hurts so much…” What does this say to brunettes or girls with a sturdier figure? In Keeper of the Lost Cities she literally criticizes her family for being, “chubby brunettes.” I don’t know how many young girls didn’t just put the book down feeling insulted after that.
Writers are supposed to show and not tell. Don’t tell me how pretty, or how kind, or how great a girl is–just describe her to me and show me the character. If she’s actually kind, strong and pretty I’ll be able to decide for myself.
