Thread by @AtmanRyu

#marysue is trending... Once again in the most idiotic way possible.

Ok, time for a refresher I suppose...

(Thread)

For those who don't know, Mary Sue comes from a Star Trek fanfic in which the titular character appears out of nowhere, yet everyone loves her, is the best of the best of the best on everything, and achieved accomplishments that normally take a lifetime... At age 13.

Ever since then, that term is used to any character in media (normally in fanfics, but it does tend to seep into mainstream media...) who normally would be unlikeable in normal circumstances, but instead are treated like the center of the universe (mostly by the writer).

While this was initially used with women only (since again said fanfics happened to be written by girls), that term also applies to male characters (sometimes referred as Marty/Gary Stu) under the same circumstances.

Problem being that term is kept being misapplied to a point that now people use it to call on characters who do anything remotely badass (God forbid said badassery was hinted throughout the story...), and that in itself is annoying.

I.e. "Is Uber powerful/rich/popular, thus is a Mary Sue".

Which frankly is wrong to a degree.

While those are traits that you'd see in a Mary Sue, there's a definitive trait that applies to them, and I even mentioned earlier:

AUTHOR favoritism.

For an example of a Mary Sue in modern media, look no further than Alice from the Resident Evil movie trainwrecks.

So how is she a "proper" Mary Sue? Let's count the ways...

- Wife of the director (MASSIVE red flag)
- She's the main character of the movies, in a series which ALREADY have a large list of designated badasses.
- Ridiculously OP from the beginning, powers as the plot demanded, and even when depowered, kept doing the impossible.

- People who, AGAIN, are badass on their own, are relegated to cheerleader status every time Alice is on camera.
- THE DIRECTOR practically going out of his way to make Alice the second coming of Christ, even if it means fucking up the movie's continuity.

My point is, it is the WRITER who ultimately converts a character into a Mary Sue, not how the audience PERCEIVES said character.

Take for instance Batman. In itself, he's not a Mary Sue, but when written by, let's say Frank Miller, he definitely gains Mary Sue status.

Finally, Mary Sue is treated like an insult, when in fact is a PHASE.

Let's face it: Everyone at one point indulged into creating power fantasies involving their favorite series, and that in itself is NOT wrong. You're basically satisfying yourself.

The problem is when people don't grow out of said phase and in fact attempt to cash on it, but that's a discussion for another matter.

Thank you again for attending this unplanned TED talk...