Post by AmethystAuthor on Oct 18, 2014 6:11:14 GMT -8
There are a lot of rules on the site regarding the dreaded "Mary Sue" character type, and for good reason. A Mary Sue character is someone who so so perfect and amazing that they lose all relatability and realistic traits they may have had. This is a set of guidelines for the do's and don'ts of avoiding a Mary Sue character:
1. Flaws: When creating a character, you may be tempted to place your ideal traits on them: beauty, popularity, intelligence, etc. While it is realistic for a person to be very gorgeous, or popular, or whatever, it is equally as realistic, and important, that they have an equal, or preferably higher, supply of personality/physical flaws and traits as well. In short, perfection is the worst thing a character can have, and the only way to make a "perfect" character is to make them as imperfect as you possibly can.
2. Power: As with positive traits, the amount of power a character has can either make or break them. You must make sure that however many strengths you give the character, that whatever they are going against will be quadruple times more powerful than them. As my signature says: If you make Frodo into a Jedi, you must also give Sauron the Death Star.
3. Story: To keep a character from falling into Mary Sue territory, you can't be afraid to drag them through Hell...Uncover their negative traits, and maybe have them present a problem that they must now overcome with their positive. However this is very thin rope to walk on, as you do not want to expose too many negative things about them so often that the character becomes entirely unlikeable and unrelatable.
4. Evolution: It is important to keep your character moving along and changing; especially after they have completed a goal. Did they catch a shiny Agron? Did they meet up with that long lost brother of theres? Were they forced to kill someone or put someone they love out of their misery? Show it! If a character completes a goal, there should be a bit of appreciation and a motivation to move on to another objective. If they must break their moral code or go through a traumatic experience then it should show. You don't want your characters to wind up like those in How I Met Your Mother; make it so they realistically change and adapt to their surroundings.
5. Believability: This one can not be stressed enough. If your character is a scrawny, or even just not too muscular, then it is not realistic for them to be able to lift up a boulder or carry someone twice their weight. If a character is short then it shouldn't be possible for them to have a vertical leap of seven feet. If it's something you couldn't do with that handicap, then don't have them do it.
1. Flaws: When creating a character, you may be tempted to place your ideal traits on them: beauty, popularity, intelligence, etc. While it is realistic for a person to be very gorgeous, or popular, or whatever, it is equally as realistic, and important, that they have an equal, or preferably higher, supply of personality/physical flaws and traits as well. In short, perfection is the worst thing a character can have, and the only way to make a "perfect" character is to make them as imperfect as you possibly can.
2. Power: As with positive traits, the amount of power a character has can either make or break them. You must make sure that however many strengths you give the character, that whatever they are going against will be quadruple times more powerful than them. As my signature says: If you make Frodo into a Jedi, you must also give Sauron the Death Star.
3. Story: To keep a character from falling into Mary Sue territory, you can't be afraid to drag them through Hell...Uncover their negative traits, and maybe have them present a problem that they must now overcome with their positive. However this is very thin rope to walk on, as you do not want to expose too many negative things about them so often that the character becomes entirely unlikeable and unrelatable.
4. Evolution: It is important to keep your character moving along and changing; especially after they have completed a goal. Did they catch a shiny Agron? Did they meet up with that long lost brother of theres? Were they forced to kill someone or put someone they love out of their misery? Show it! If a character completes a goal, there should be a bit of appreciation and a motivation to move on to another objective. If they must break their moral code or go through a traumatic experience then it should show. You don't want your characters to wind up like those in How I Met Your Mother; make it so they realistically change and adapt to their surroundings.
5. Believability: This one can not be stressed enough. If your character is a scrawny, or even just not too muscular, then it is not realistic for them to be able to lift up a boulder or carry someone twice their weight. If a character is short then it shouldn't be possible for them to have a vertical leap of seven feet. If it's something you couldn't do with that handicap, then don't have them do it.
i'll see if i can make a character