Support NeoGAF

[tokkun]

As to Kvothe, guys, I keep assuming that what spares him is that 1)Rothfuss knows Kvothe is one 2)The whole point is that Kvothe was a legend and now he's washed up and 3)Kvothe himself probably lies during large parts of the story.

But I mean, he's supposed to be one is all.

I went to a Rothfuss book reading, and he mentioned that he got the idea for the series when he was Casanova's autobiography, where he is basically writing this book that plays up what a great adventurer he was and how many women he slept with.

So it's possible that stuff like Kvothe being the world's greatest sex machine is really the invention of an unreliable narrator. It doesn't make it any less insufferable to read, though. The book is not set up for you to root against young Kvothe, because there is really no one else in the series to root for. At least in The Wheel of Time - another fantasy series with serious Mary Sue issues - you get a few non-obnoxious characters to balance things out.

 

[Imm0rt4l]

How is Golgo a Gary Stu? What sane human would ever wish to be him? Dude has no life, no roots, lives on the run, gets horrendously hurt on the reg, and his psyche is a patchwork of emotional scars.

Sure, he can kill anyone and is damn good at surviving, but at what cost?



To be honest, your short description is exactly why his comparison of Victor to Thanos was so apt. Victor is pretty much a human Thanos, only without the death fetish and y'know, with the love of his subjects and stuff.

3 million dollars a job and women.

 

[Musolf815]

This sounds amazing

Highly recommend Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. It's about a blowhard writer (I think he's based at least somewhat on Stephen King?) who makes a show about a paranormal hospital, casting himself as the lead. He's such a hilarious Gary Stu/Mary Sue character in it.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Highly recommend Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. It's about a blowhard writer (I think he's based at least somewhat on Stephen King?) who makes a show about a paranormal hospital, casting himself as the lead. He's such a hilarious Gary Stu/Mary Sue character in it.

How I never watched a show with cast from IT Crowd I'll never know. Added to watch list.

 

[King Tubby]

I never read the book(s), just watched the movie, and I fucking hated it because Ender from Ender's Game was such a Gary Stu.

 

[Boss Doggie]

On a related note, Jotaro Kujo is the blandest of the Jojos and is definitely a Marty Stu at that.

I guess that's why he's popular.

 

[CorvoSol]

I went to a Rothfuss book reading, and he mentioned that he got the idea for the series when he was Casanova's autobiography, where he is basically writing this book that plays up what a great adventurer he was and how many women he slept with.

So it's possible that stuff like Kvothe being the world's greatest sex machine is really the invention of an unreliable narrator. It doesn't make it any less insufferable to read, though. The book is not set up for you to root against young Kvothe, because there is really no one else in the series to root for. At least in The Wheel of Time - another fantasy series with serious Mary Sue issues - you get a few non-obnoxious characters to balance things out.

I mean, I'm not going to argue that "greatest wizard who ever lived, slayed dragons, also an excellent musician, descended from tribe of beautiful but overvictimized progressive plot critical gypsy folk, managed to outfuck a sex goddess before joining nympho ninja chicks and mastering their sexswordartsonline all before finishing high school" isn't an unbelievable and obnoxious combination, I just think that's the point. I definitely agree that it's barely kept in check (so far the only thing keeping him from being insufferable to me is that he's washed up now).

I never read the book(s), just watched the movie, and I fucking hated it because Ender from Ender's Game was such a Gary Stu.

On the one hand, Ender goes on to become one of the most influential people in human history twice and is basically a wandering prophet thereafter. On the other hand, he's also pretty broken up about what he did at the end of Game and spends the rest of the stories trying to make it right while fucking up in other ways along the way.

I can see how someone could see Ender that way at the end of Game, but I felt that by the end of Children of the Mind Card had actually managed to make Ender's flaws balance that out.

I kind of want to take this moment to throw L'ssa from Dragon Riders of Pern under the bus, but I don't remember now why I thought she was a crap protagonist compared to Menolly.

 

[TheSaddestSort]

Kenshiro time?

 

[Boss Doggie]

Kenshiro got his ass handed to him by his worthy adversaries though.

 

[BKatastrophe]

Been watching Power Rangers Samurai lately (Super Samurai, specifically) and this guy may very well qualify:

 

[Screaming Meat]

Squirrel Girl also kicked the shit out of Thanos. She doesn't count.

The worst thing about Doctor Doom is . If you do manage to defeat him, it really wasn't him. It was a Doom Bot!

The Power of Retcon!

 

[John Rabbit]

is like, Gary Stu: The Novel. it has a Gary Stu within a Gary Stu.

 

[striferser]

The most entertaining Gary Stu of all time.
Everything he did, he did it fabulously.

 

[HK-47]

I've been hanging on in hopes that the third book might slap Kvote down hard, but I don't expect it to

It should happen given how the story sets itself up. But its been so blatant so far I dont trust Rothfuss.

 

[MrCunningham]

captain janeway

purebred psycho

never wrong

loved by everyone

despite being a monster

How about this one: Lwaxana Troi; Deanna Troi's mother from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

She could visit the Enterprise whenever she pleased.
Captain Picard was powerless around her, despite being captain of the ship.
She could walk around any part of the ship without security clearance.
And she would also constantly meddle with everybody's affairs.

She was the Marry Sue of TGN. Though, I think Guinan may also be a Mary Sue as well, though a more permanent and less obnoxious one.

 

[HyperZone<3]

Duke Togo.JPG

Okay, I'm down for this. Just about every good Golgo 13 story has somebody (perhaps the villian in the split second before their head explodes) agog at the impossible shit he just did.

 

[Parallax]

Spoiler

Search your heart, you know it to be true

EDIT:

I can attest he's less Mary Sue after the whole....Namoor thing

i dont get how hes ever been a mary sue. ok, hudlin tried to make him into one.(what an asshole he was) but he loses a lot. and the things that he has earned he earned with either common sense, or hard work

 

[Sir Garbageman]

I mean, I'm not going to argue that "greatest wizard who ever lived, slayed dragons, also an excellent musician, descended from tribe of beautiful but overvictimized progressive plot critical gypsy folk, managed to outfuck a sex goddess before joining nympho ninja chicks and mastering their sexswordartsonline all before finishing high school" isn't an unbelievable and obnoxious combination, I just think that's the point. I definitely agree that it's barely kept in check (so far the only thing keeping him from being insufferable to me is that he's washed up now).

I think the unreliable narrator bit would work better if the reader was presented more evidence that the chunks of the tale Kvothe is spinning are BS, or other characters within the books call him out on it. If I remember correctly the book plays it pretty strait, hence the Gary Stu complaints.

 

[ZackieChan]

I'll go with two from books I've read recently.

There's Paula Myo from Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton. She's a detective that's

Spoiler

literally bred to be a perfect detective, always solves her case except ONE and it's only because there are corrupt officials making it impossible. She is beautiful, of course, and super intelligent.

Ridiculous character in an otherwise awesome book.

Then there's Shallan from Brandon Sandersen's Stormlight Archive series. She's beautiful, but doesn't know it. She's amazing at everything she does and is super "witty" to the point of annoying the fuck out of the reader whenever she opens her mouth. She's probably clumsy, too. She's an unbelievable character and it's sad that she's such a big part of, as before, an otherwise awesome series.

Edit: Yeah, Kvothe is a good example, too, but for some reason I didn't mind him...

 

[fertygo]

Gary stu duo
one is the physical batman, one is cheat code and unlimited plot device

 

[BajiBoxer]

is like, Gary Stu: The Novel. it has a Gary Stu within a Gary Stu.

Yeah, I read Ready Player One and liked it, but that book really hammers home the Gary Stu/Mary Sue trope. I think anyone who is slightly confused about what type of character these terms are referring to should read that book, lol.

 

[Slayven]

THIS MOTHER FUCKER RIGHT HERE



Doctor Doom is the Mariest of the Mary Sues in the entire Marvel Universe.

Has a mind that Rivals Reed Richards(Smartest man in the Marvel universe)
Has Technology that Rivals Tony Stark(Iron man)
Has magic on par with Doctor Strange(sorcerer supreme of Earth)
Rules an entire Country
Will Power is so strong Psionics have no effect on him

 

[Sou Da]

Spoiler

Skye from AoS.

 

[Coriolanus]

old doombot being racist

I counter with:

"now go back to your idiot mongrel wife tchalla!"
Oh reed.
No wonder tchalla hates the world.

 

[Principate]

On a related note, Jotaro Kujo is the blandest of the Jojos and is definitely a Marty Stu at that.

I guess that's why he's popular.

It was pretty annoying when he basically

Spoiler

defeated the villain of a part he wasn't even the MC of and a lot of the part was spent hyping him up.

 

[Sou Da]

I counter with:



"now go back to your idiot mongrel wife tchalla!"
Oh reed.
No wonder tchalla hates the world.

That's an edit.

 

[Coriolanus]

That's an edit.

nope, that's from the true civil war.

Why in god's name would you read the one not written by mightygodking?

 

[Sou Da]

nope, that's from the true civil war.

Why in god's name would you read the one not written by mightygodking?

It's just as unfunny as "Muh Phoenix". Also that page in particular reeks of Pymfuckery.

 

[Coriolanus]

It's just as unfunny as "Muh Phoenix".

Didn't know that was a a thing. Thanks for the tip!

Nope. Nopenopenope.

 

[Boss Doggie]

It was pretty annoying when he basically

Spoiler

defeated the villain of a part he wasn't even the MC of and a lot of the part was spent hyping him up.

Pretty much. It's the only reason keeping part 4 the best over 2.

 

[MartyStu]

I'm merely talking about how Decade was in his show. He mellowed out to me on his crossover appearances, but in his show himself? Pretty lame. Lacks the charisma Tendou has.

And yeah. They should really just man out and admit Batman's power is the ability to bend reality and make everything work in his favor. He's essentially a souped up Maxwell Lord.

Batman only ever reaches Marty Stu levels outside of his comics.

There, pretty much every writer fails to write a convincing Batman. They always overcompensate because they have trouble making him believably competent outside his context.

Within his own comics, his villains are actually much closer.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Batman only ever reaches Marty Stu levels outside of his comics.

There, pretty much every writer fails to write a convincing Batman. They always overcompensate because they have trouble making him believably competent outside his context.

Within his own comics, his villains are actually much closer.

I dunno, there are some dumb moments like Miller's comics. And some villains are really just there to hype him up.

"There is an insidious plot that leaves a question mark in the crime scene? It must be Riddler! Truly, we are facing the greatest detective!"

 

[MartyStu]

I dunno, there are some dumb moments like Miller's comics. And some villains are really just there to hype him up.

"There is an insidious plot that leaves a question mark in the crime scene? It must be Riddler! Truly, we are facing the greatest detective!"

Well it of course depends on the writer. Miller is one of the worst offenders.

When I first started reading Batman comics, I was actually quite disappointed to see that the 'Bat God' myth perpetrated by the Internet was not nearly as prevalent as I was led to believe.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Hilariously enough Superman/Batman has probably the best interaction between Batman and another hero, primarily because most of the entries there treat both equally.

 

[ultratruman]

Warhammer 40k thread?

 

[Coriolanus]

Warhammer 40k thread?

Who do you have in mind? Tzeentch?
Certainly not the Emperor, that gigantic pile of dead failure, or Robot Girlyman, with his two mouths.

 

[ultratruman]

Who do you have in mind? Tzeentch?
Certainly not the Emperor, that gigantic pile of dead failure.

Every faction is a Mary Sue, in their own way.

Except IG lol

 

[MartyStu]

Can we return to piling up on Kvothe?

For the crazy amount of love that Rothfuss gets, his characters are ridiculously broken.

 

[Coriolanus]

Every faction is a Mary Sue, in their own way.

Except IG lol

Depends on the writer, really. Every faction is also batshit insane.

Matt Ward Grey Knights and Draigo, tho, lol.

 

[Mxrz]

Spoiler

Search your heart, you know it to be true

EDIT:

I can attest he's less Mary Sue after the whole....Namoor thing

First one I thought of, but there's a lot of comic characters I'd nominate. .

 

[ultratruman]

Depends on the writer, really. Every faction is also batshit insane.

Matt Ward Grey Knights and Draigo, tho, lol.

Haha yes, but sometimes the craziest fluff is the best. liked this list:

Kaldor Draigo is famous for:

Killing a Daemon Prince in his first combat action.
Banishing Daemon Primarch Mortarion back to the warp, somehow carving the name of the previous supreme grand master Geronitan (a fucking long name) into the heart of said Daemon Primarch without contracting space daemon AIDS in the process. (to put this insanity in perspective, try cursive writing with a chainsaw)
Single-handedly holding off a demon horde for two days in real space.
Killing a Daemon Prince with a broken sword.
Killing one of Khorne's strongest Bloodthirsters with little to no weaponry.
Note: It is supposed to be impressive that Sanguinius, a fucking Primarch, and in fact, the fuckingist Primarch, managed to beat up a Bloodthirster on his own.
Taking said Bloodthirster's axe and reforging it into a sword for his own personal use WITH HIS MIND (you know, despite it being an obvious weapon of a Daemon and automatically a corrupting influence)
Slaying 6 of Slaanesh's chosen Daemonettes (when setting one's gaze upon them is enough to instantly force submission from any mortal, no matter how strong-willed)
Setting fire to Nurgle's garden (again, whilst somehow miraculously avoiding space daemon AIDS)
Walking into the City of Tzeentch and single-handedly smashing it to rubble, which, given that the City of Tzeentch comprises geometry which is literally impossible, MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE

 

[CorvoSol]

I think the unreliable narrator bit would work better if the reader was presented more evidence that the chunks of the tale Kvothe is spinning are BS, or other characters within the books call him out on it. If I remember correctly the book plays it pretty strait, hence the Gary Stu complaints.

True, true. You'd think at least one person would've been like "Wait. You outfucked the fuck Goddess, landed in a megahot tavern maiden's bed, then banged ninja vixens till they taught you their awesome ninja skills? Come on, bro, we're not 15 anymore."

The fun thing about Doom is I don't know if he's actually racist or just saying racist things to be a huge douchebag.

 

[googleplex]

The most entertaining Gary Stu of all time.
Everything he did, he did it fabulously.

Swagamoto

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Kvothe from Kingkiller Chronicles takes it to the next level

- One of the greatest musicians in the world
- Extremely clever and quick-witted
- Prodigy sorcerer
- Can speak in poetic verse
- Trained to fight by fighting masters in a land where everybody fights all the time

For a while, his weakness was that he was inexperienced with women, but then

Spoiler

he is kidnapped by a literal sex goddess and taken to the dimension of sex fairies where they have sex constantly for a year and he becomes a sex master then he is transported back to the normal world only time didn't pass in the sex dimension so the year of sex training didn't affect the story at all and he basically spins tavern wenches around on his dick for the next few chapters.

This

Though I didn't appreciate it because fuck him for being so god damn up his own ass.

 

[Coriolanus]

The fun thing about Doom is I don't know if he's actually racist or just saying racist things to be a huge douchebag.

That's a doombot, tho.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

That's a doombot, tho.

he programmed him with racism? lol

 

[Coriolanus]

he programmed him with racism? lol

Doombots aren't perfect copies. Which is why they lose, obv.
Also why tchalla is commenting about the lack of smell and all.

 

[CorvoSol]

That's a doombot, tho.

Does the actual Doctor Doom himself even know if he is the real deal anymore?

Who has more copies: Doom or Sinister?

 

[Coriolanus]

Does the actual Doctor Doom himself even know if he is the real deal anymore?

Who has more copies: Doom or Sinister?

Al Ewig really is an above average writer, i should track down other stuff he wrote some time.

This has also been a considerable plot point in Books of Doom.

 

[AnkiRendan]

A Mary Sue topic and this awesome girl hasn't shown up? What?