A Girl Named Mary Sue
Mary Sue is young, beautiful, charming, extremely talented, and everybody likes her. She always saves the day and she always gets the answers right and she always lands that goooorgeous boy. To the casual onlooker, Mary Sue has it all and yet, anyone with a functioning frontal lobe avoids her. Shuns her. Loathes her. DETESTS her. But why? She seems so nice. This is because Mary Sue is not a real person. Mary Sue is a character archetype in stories and for a writer to stand accused of creating a character who is a "Mary Sue" is the kiss of death. Now why would sensible creators avoid such a darling girl? Stay. Take heed. Be educated.
A Mary Sue is a fictional character who is heavily idealized and favored by the author. She is often more beautiful than the rest of the cast, more talked about, more talented, and more likely to save the day for no reason at all. She is favored by the author because she functions as a wish-fulfillment fantasy and nobody seems to like this character but the author. Think Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
So why are we discussing Mary Sue characters today? The Mary Sue originates in Star Trek fan fiction, so what does this have to do with webcomics? I bring this up because this is, after all, a column about how what makes a good webcomic and I believe to know what can make a piece good, one must understand what can make it BAD. And oh, the Mary Sue is a mostly bad character to have. This quote best sums it up:
"The author of a Mary Sue Adventure operates on the simple principle of wanting to be liked, thus he or she makes their character likable. All the regular characters want to be friends with her or him and the author expects the readers to feel the same. Unfortunately that runs against the readers' fundamental wishes. The readers don't want a character they can like, they want a character they can identify with. The reason why Mary-Sue-ism is so annoying to everyone is because nobody enjoys seeing someone elses wishes come true. The most successful stories are those where the reader can put him- or herself into the role of the protagonist - but Mary Sues are designed to have nobody in them but the author, to be watched and admired from "outside" as it were." -- Source Article
The hit rate for Mary Sue self-inserts in the webcomics community is surprisingly high. Some of the most popular and revered works out there contain these painful archetypes, but just because some of these characters are popular, doesn't mean they're GOOD. To give writers the benefit of the doubt, I assume much of this wish fulfillment fantasy stuff makes its way into webcomics because most often webcomics are among a writer's first works in comics. They simply haven't developed the chops to know better, or so I'm guessing. For you neophyte writers out there who may just be getting started in your comics, here are some warning signs that one of your characters may be a Mary Sue.
Your character has unexplained talents
Look at your favorite character. Does he or she have many talents or super powers that seem to trump everyone else? Is he or she smarter than everyone? Faster? A better fighter? Are they the best engineer on the Starship Ersatz? If so, you might be in danger of developing a Mary Sue. When developing your characters' abilities, always keep in mind the level of realism that would go along with such an ability. For example a 14 year old is not terribly likely to be an engineering genius or hold a black belt in karate. However, someone further along in their years might have picked up enough experience to build these skills. Sure there are child prodigies out there, but usually children who have great gifts often have social handicaps, so for every plus you give your character, consider the backlash that goes with it.
Your character is devastatingly gorgeous
Does your favorite character seem to have a face carved by the angels? Does he or she have a perfect physique? If so, consider a few things. People who have fantastic figures often have to dedicate a significant amount of time to the up-keep. Your character cannot be a video gamer couch potato and still have the body of a "300" Spartan. It's not plausible. However, if this character is an athlete and trains constantly at a sport or a martial art, perhaps then they could have that marvelous physique. Again, their social life would take a hit with all that practice. As for a character who just has a beautiful face, consider the backlash that goes with this. Does your character attract a lot of jealousy with his or her looks? Do they try to get by on their looks? Do they get special favors for their looks? Do they face some resentment from other characters in the story because of said favoritism? If you're not considering these factors, your character may be a Mary Sue.
Your character has a traaaagic past
Somebody call the wah-mbulance. Does your character have a tragic background? Are we talking dead parents? Dead girlfriend? Dead dog? If so, I invite you to stand back and pause. Writers have been doing the tragic hero thing, especially in the comics industry, for decades. It's painfully overdone and often played for sympathy instead of genuine story development. Ask yourself, are you giving your character a painful, terrible past because it develops their character or because you want your audience to feel sorry for this person? If you're looking for a pity party, especially for a main character, stop right there. Pity grubbing and brooding does not develop character. It's very off putting to the average reader and will drive them away. This is not to say tragic pasts can't be done well, but it only works if it's treated realistically instead of allowing the character to whine about it or use it as an excuse to act like a total dick.
Your character gets away with murder
Speaking of horrible behavior, Mary Sues often manage to get with anything. Your character probably is a wacky prankster who plays a lot of tricks on his or her friends, or is a brooding badass who is very upset that his dog was murdered by the evil Nazi zombies. Either way, this character feels like he or she has the right to act like a jackass to everyone and often never face any consequences for this. If this is true in your story, you definitely have a Mary Sue and I urge you to step away from the keyboard before you cause any more damage. I understand that this is a universe of your creation, but you are the only one who thinks your Mary Sue is so very special and gets to treat everyone like dryer lint. STOP IT. It's fine to have a character who is a prankster or a snake, but make sure he or she faces some real consequences for his or her actions. Avoid the Mary Sue and give all your characters even accountability.
Other characters can't seem to shut up about your character
Another symptom of Mary Sue syndrome is if all the supporting characters for your special snowflake always talk about him or her when they're not around. He or she seems to have a huge influence on everyone's relationships, thoughts, and feelings. Stop that. It's self-important and stupid. In the real world, people are too busy thinking about their own problems to constantly worry about any one particular character. This doesn't mean that characters can't show concern or compassion for one another, but it gets to be a bit much when every time we pull away from said character, we have everyone rattling on about him or her and what he or she could be doing. If everyone's talking about your precious snowflake behind closed doors nonstop, you have a Mary Sue.
Your character always wins
This is probably the most major symptom of Mary Sue-ness, and it ties in with many of the other traits, such as getting away with murder and other characters constantly prattling about the character. Your character is invincible and cannot be defeated. Maybe there's some slight conditions for winning such as he or she has to try really, really hard, or worse yet, gets saved by some outside circumstance. Either way, this character never loses. If your character is faced with insurmountable odds, it's okay to let him or her lose sometimes. If they do win against said odds, don't let it be because they suddenly sprouted magic super powers that appear only for this particular fight. That's incredibly self-serving and silly. This also applies to arguments. If your character always wins debates, especially politically charged ones, then you're probably pushing your own agenda. Again, don't do that. Your story should not be a propaganda vehicle (even if it is, one-sided strawman arguments are definitely not the way to go about it, refer to the works of George Orwell). The best arguments between characters are well developed on each side and ultimately, leave the reader to decide who's right and who's wrong.
Overall, the best characters are balanced with strengths and weaknesses alike. Sure, we all get the urge to use our stories to help us feel better about ourselves or to take revenge on that one jerk who's always giving us trouble, but that is not what good storytelling is. Good storytelling engages the reader and provides them with characters with whom they can identify and root for. You'll notice I didn't give examples of any particular webcomics that do this, because I'd rather avoid the hate fest and let you make up your own mind on what webcomics do what. I'd rather skip all that and stick with dispensing the helpful tips. To make any creator a better writer, never lose focus on your goal to create a compelling story and that takes strong and balanced character development.
- Jules Rivera
Check out Jules Rivera's Series
www.marsh-rocket.com
Marsh Rocket is an action/black comedy web comic that takes place several centuries into the future. Marsh, a corporate hitman, must retrieve a mysterious briefcase for a sleazy loan shark at the risk of betraying his own people. With warring factions after Marsh, the briefcase, and each other, the blood, knives, and even breakfast foods are bound to fly.
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