Mary Sue
noun
a fictional character that is implausibly perfect
What does Mary Sue mean?
Mary Sue refers to a fictional character (as in a movie, story, or book), usually a woman, who is perfect in ways that seem implausible within the confines of the plot, fictional world, etc., or for whom everything in the story works perfectly.
Examples of Mary Sue
The whole concept of a Mary Sue is that the universe works in a way that progresses a female character without her doing anything to deserve that …
—@blossxma, Threads, 7 May 2006
It’s not just the male characters we find ourselves connecting to in Roth’s worlds. Elegy is formidable as she figures out what she believes and wants in Seek the Traitor’s Son, and many of us fell in love with Tris’ development throughout the Divergent series. These women can tackle problems without becoming Mary Sues, and I wanted to understand how Roth finds balance in that.
—No one wants to see a Mary Sue who effortlessly overcomes their challenges with their distinctly superior meta-abilities or interacts with their antagonist in a one-dimensional, conflict-driven manner.
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Where does Mary Sue come from?
Mary Sue has been traced to a 1973 Star Trek fan fiction story by Paula Smith, satirizing the tendency of other Star Trek fan fiction writers to write characters based on themselves, who also, self-flatteringly, tend to be implausibly perfect.
As explained by Joan Verba (1996), the term “Mary Sue” originated in 1973 with Paula Smith’s “A Trekkie’s Tale,” a Star Trek story satirizing a phenomenon that was already well-known to readers of fan fiction.
—… “A Trekkie’s Tale” by Paula Smith wherein she identified and satirized the “Mary Sue” story. This type of story … has one or more of the following elements: (1) a young … officer in Starfleet, who is (2) adored by everyone on the ship … (3) has extraordinary abilities, (4) wins extraordinary honors, and sometimes (5) dies a tragic or heroic death, after which she is mourned by everyone on the ship.
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The character’s name in Smith’s story is, of course, Mary Sue:
“Gee, golly, gosh, gloriosky,” thought Mary Sue as she stepped on the bridge of the Enterprise. “Here I am, the youngest lieutenant in the fleet—only fifteen and a half years old.”
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For years, Mary Sue was most commonly associated with fan fiction …
Mary Sue: A fan fiction character that may be based on the author. The character is often perfect. If a character is called a Mary Sue by fan fiction readers, it’s a slap to the author.
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… but eventually expanded in use to cover other types of fiction, as well as movies, etc.
Do you know a Mary Sue? Chances are you do, and she probably lies in the pages of one of your favorite books, or nestled in the plot of a favorite DVD. “Mary Sue” is the term used in fiction writing to describe a character created without any real flaws. Common examples include Bella Swan, Harry Potter, Captain Kirk, and even James Bond …
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How is Mary Sue used?
Mary Sue frequently features, as one might expect, in online debates about whether a given in character is or is not a Mary Sue. Such debates often invoke sexism and double standards in how female characters are portrayed and received.
The Force Awakens was criticized for Rey, the new lead, being a Mary-Sue (which resulted in a response suggesting double standards for female leads and male leads).
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There is a male counterpart to Mary Sue, however: Gary Stu (sometimes Marty Stu).
Luckily for her, the hopelessly unlikely Adam turns up, who is what fanfic writers would call a Gary Stu—a character created to be perfect—a sexy virginal ex-priest turned lecturer who is devoted to helping and healing her.
—… the amazing main character with his even more amazing loyal and quasi-supernatural sidekick didn’t turn into a Marty Stu, pretty much everything that happened was actually relevant to the plot and there were no blinding beacons of historical inaccuracy shooting from the pages.
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