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The worst possible examples of a Mary Sue character
- Thread starter Nekofrog
- Start date
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John Cena is the culmination of numeral years of pandering to a whole country of people's jingoistic ideals, while burying any good competition, cleanly, and always coming out on top, unless he's "unfairly" beaten. It's silly how much of a Mary Sue this dude is.
It means there is no real substance to the character.
The Mary Sue-de Bro insertion character for the Call of Duty / MMA / Red Bull generation.
Ouch, did he really strap that on his nipples?
Oooh, yeah this is a good one.
Aside from all the other flaws of the book, whats-his-face is just retardedly sue-ish.
The Take Out Bandit
Member
Inconsequential in light of the pain and suffering the great Satan Jason Statham has inflicted upon film goers. >:O
Wouldn't Princess Ashe from FF12 be considered one? I can't think of her ever having an issue overcoming any hurdles thrown at her. The moment the prince died, she becomes one. Her and the team constantly win every battle and situation against mythical creatures no other could face, she can wield nethacite, and her biggest story 'flaw' is her need for revenge which she gets over in like a minute. She was an annoying character because of it.
Actually, this sounds a lot like FF12's cast.
Actually, this sounds a lot like FF12's cast.
BertramCooper
Banned
Being a Mary Sue has little to do with facing adversity. It's about having a distinct lack of character flaws, which makes them unrealistic and unrelatable.
For the life of me, I can't understand why Nausicaa fans are so defensive.
Mary sue-ness isn't about struggling or suffering. Bella was in utter anguish for the majority of book 2 iirc. She is still a mary sue my most people's definitions.
Deified Data
Banned
Yup.
I'm the greatest actor in the world. Oh, wait, also the best singer. Did I mention I'm also the best mage? That I can learn entire languages in a day? Remember that time I learned how to fuck better than anyone in the world? How about my leet swordsmanship skills?
Kvothe is just a Pat Rothfuss avatar. Biggest Marty Stu in fantasy. See? He can't even be second best at that.
Pie and Beans
Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Robin(ugh)
Gary Stu of The Dark Knight Rises
- Works out Bruce is Batman because his parents were offed also and recognises he has the same sad and angry face. Srsly.
- All of his hunches are correct, of course faces adversity because of this.
- He's doing this for the orphans!!
- Inherits mantle of Batman and all equipment because ?????????
- All of his hunches are correct, of course faces adversity because of this.
- He's doing this for the orphans!!
- Inherits mantle of Batman and all equipment because ?????????
Sort of expect Nolan's next film to be JGL in a brightly lit featureless white room masturbating for 2 hours to a dramatic Hans Zimmer soundtrack.
Kvothe is the quinqaessential Mary Sue character. The whole talk about being a prodigy instead is moot: he is both things, but one does not necessarily leads to another. For example, Ender, from the Ender's game is a prodigy with no traces of being a Mary Sue: he is not "cool" nor aspirational, he does not drives most events on the plot, he did have little, if any luck, he is not actively trying to gather the sympathy of the reader, and so on. The author might have some surprise in store for us, perhaps his saga will revolve about the de - construction of the hero archeotype, which could be great, but for Kvothe has yet to make any decision or move that makes me go "yep, he is a human too".
mysterio was worse, john cena atleast looked capable of competing with the super heavyweights.
John Cena is the culmination of numeral years of pandering to a whole country of people's jingoistic ideals, while burying any good competition, cleanly, and always coming out on top, unless he's "unfairly" beaten. It's silly how much of a Mary Sue this dude is.
This makes no sense. Not only is Kvothe also unlucky in the novels, but Ender IS very inspirational to the troops under him and definitely drives the events of the plot. I don't even know what the sympathy thing even means.
Acerac
Banned
This is exactly how it happens in the book. Its a children's book. For children.
Diprosalic
Banned
but nobody really cares for him. god what a terrible movie, what happened nolan?
To be honest, Halsey came across as a bit of a monster in Reach as well
I meant "aspirational", not "inspirational"
by that I meant that it reflects what a "winner" is to our society, hence the term "aspirational", since we aspire to be like him, which is a very strong trait of Mary Sue characters. Kvothe has all the traits of a sucessful college student: great at studies and great with the ladies, too. While he can present faults in other areas, he excell at the ones that the intended audience cares for and the people around him in his world too, since he does live in an University - like enviroment.The thing about driving the plot is also pretty obvious: Ender is just trown into a conflict that was already there before he was born, as an instrument to third actors (goverments of the world that were in dire need of a war genious). Yes, since he is the main character, he does have weight on the plot, but the whole plot does not revolves arounds him or exist for him: Ender or no Ender, the Insectoid war would have happened regardless, whereas Bella's love triangle or Kvothe's "all of this is my fault" post apocalyptic fantasy world were direct consequences of their mere existance.
Parallax
best seen in the classic "Shadow of the Beast"
Mr "I'm gonna beat you all at everything and prove I'm the best" is far worse. She isn't as much a mary sue as her fans a rabid and crazy bunch.
Of course it does. The implication is that the character is uninteresting and the writing poor. The original Mary Sue was an over the top self-insert fanfic character.
This is the whole reason people argue about what would otherwise be meaningless categorization.
Dark Octave
Banned
Would be nice if the OP described what a Marry Sue character is.
And this is where how to characterize a Mary Sue comes in. Being perfect and having no flaws does not necessarily mean a character is uninteresting. There's very rare cases where they can still have an interesting personality and be enjoyable to watch through the perfectness.
ChocolateCupcakes
Member
Isn't it purposely made that ridiculous though?
The Mary Sue-de Bro insertion character for the Call of Duty / MMA / Red Bull generation.
I meant "aspirational", not "inspirational"
The thing about driving the plot is also pretty obvious: Ender is just trown into a conflict that was already there before he was born, as an instrument to third actors (goverments of the world that were in dire need of a war genious). Yes, since he is the main character, he does have weight on the plot, but the whole plot does not revolves arounds him or exist for him: Ender or no Ender, the Insectoid war would have happened regardless, whereas Bella's love triangle or Kvothe's "all of this is my fault" post apocalyptic fantasy world were direct consequences of their mere existance.
Bolded: No, he isn't. Seriously, how do people not notice this when they read? Girls like him, yeah, but he is a complete tit and doesn't know how to handle it. Fela was standing in front of him, naked except for her bedsheet, inviting him in, and he said "No, I have books to read".
As for the rest, the insectoid war would have happened because I'm pretty sure Ender wasn't alive when it started. Things happened before Kvothe was born too, you know. And while Ender didn't start it, he singlehandedly ended the war, which is as huge an accomplishment as starting one. Both characters had legendary larger than life impact on their respective worlds.
The most you can say is that Kvothe doesn't have as much direct oppression as Ender. Ender was systematically controlled by his government and Kvothe is just what Ender would be if he was born into a more peaceful time and he was freer to pursue what he wanted...but honestly, Kvothe still faces plenty of opposition that he has to deal with.
Why do you hate fun?
I thought it was just me who thought this. I've tried to read The Name of the Wind three times now due to how much it's fans love it, and I just can't get through it. I honestly don't mind if a character fits into a certain trope or not, I just care that they are interesting, or that they create a tense situation. I never found Kvothe particularly interesting, and I never really felt that he was in danger, due to his defining characteristic being "I'm better than you". When I first started reading it, I was convinced it was going to be some sort of subversion of the trope, but upon talking to my friends that love it, I realized that it wasn't.
Which is terribly unfortunate. Rothfuss' prose is great, and I think that he could possibly become a favorite of mine in a future where he writes a different novel. I just find his protagonist to be terribly boring.
RatskyWatsky
Hunky Nostradamus
Katharine McPhee as Karen Cartwright on NBC's Smash.
Parallax
best seen in the classic "Shadow of the Beast"
Damien of course. I was upset about cass(especially being replaced with spoiler) but then the I ran across the fans.. I don't associate with them
The best mary Sue of all time. Tsukasa wishes he could be that awesome.
Kite
Member
Honor Harrington from David Weber's scifi books is the very definition of a Mary Sue. She is a genius tactical commander who almost never loses a battle, is fiercely loyal to the crown and incorruptible, is an expert with firearms, martial arts and the katana. She never loses her temper, her subordinates worship her and she is a noblewoman/countess in two different societies. Pretty much she is a fusion of Horatio Hornblower and Admiral Nelson.
Squirrel Killer
Member
Rayford Steele from the Left Behind series. Figures out what's happening to the world in literally a page and a half of text. Every female wants him. Incredibly skilled at whatever he does. Hell, even his name is obviously Mary Sue.
And for the record, I don't recommend anyone read them. I only read the first one to judge whether the criticism of the series was warranted. It totally is.
And for the record, I don't recommend anyone read them. I only read the first one to judge whether the criticism of the series was warranted. It totally is.
Deified Data
Banned
Elric of Melnibone tends towards this trope a bit in Moorcock's earlier tales, but anyone who reads on will realize this guy is flawed as hell. Forget Kvothe - Elric is an example of how you can make a character skilled, charismatic, egocentric, and still interesting.
Yeah Cass fans are interesting. That is why if I ever get into comics all my characters will be asian females.
You know you are awesome when the only time you admit defeat, the universe steps in and gives you a badass sword so you can win in one move.
The_Hitcher89
Member
Does Robert Langdon count?
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
I'm not sure if River Song counts as a Mary Sue. I think she was just written to appeal to a certain segment of the audience that really annoys me. I think her "spoilers" stichk was the worst of it, when they toned that down she became better. And then...rapidly worse again for completely different reasons.
KittenMaster
Member
IMO, the usual jarring examples are characters that have artificial worth that they either don't deserve or are unrealistic to achieve. The actual definition of Mary Sue (author's pet) is ridiculously vague and poorly defined though, so you can find a way to describe even good characters as a Mary Sue if you tried hard enough.
Whimsical Phil
Ninja School will help you
*sniff* I thought I was the only one. I thought I was the only one!
Also, am I the first person in this thread to bring up Firefly's River Tam? Not only is she super smart and super athletic, but she's emotionally damaged! And she can read minds! And she's the most bad ass fighter in the universe! And she looks so pretty and carefree as she dances around in her flowy dress!
Sorry, Whedon fans, but River's as Mary Sue as they come.
Parallax
best seen in the classic "Shadow of the Beast"
I wouldn't mind hyper mode if it wasn't so damn ugly.
Deified Data
Banned
Steele? Yes. Rayford? No.
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