What is a Mary Sue?

"Mary Sue" is a term for a character who is overly ideal, unrealistically perfect in every way and without significant character flaws. This character often serves as a stand-in for the writer, an idealized version of him- or herself. Although the term generally describes fan-created characters in fanfiction stories, it has been used to describe characters in published fiction, such as Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Anita Blake in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series.

The term "Mary Sue" originates from Paula Smith's fanfiction story "A Trekkie's Tale," first published in Menagerie 2 in 1973 (reproduced in Bodly Writing: A Trekker Fan and Zine History, 1967-1987 by Joan Marie Verba). The story is a short parody of the types of fan-created characters which would later become known as Mary Sues (or, for the male version, Gary Stu or Marty Stu). The parody Mary Sue is youngest lieutenant in Starfleet, able to attract Captain Kirk and out-logic Mr. Spock (did I mention that she's half Vulcan?), and dies saving everyone else, after which her birthday becomes a holiday on the Enterprise.

There are several Mary Sue litmus tests which attempt to help authors create more realistic and balanced characters. The tests try to point out particular traits associated with Mary Sues, such as purple (or color-changing) eyes, being the youngest at their chosen profession, and sharing the same name as the author. Each of these characteristics alone, however, does not make a Mary Sue, or even a terrifically idealized, flawless character. The essential characteristic of a Mary Sue in fanfiction is whether or not her presence warps the personalities of the canon characters. A true Mary Sue will take over the story from the canon characters, consistently doing their jobs better than them or leading them to react in unrealistic ways.

The concept of a Mary Sue is not without criticism. In her book Enterprising Women, a history of women in science-fiction fandom, Camille Bacon-Smith argues that, while the intention of pointing out "Sueish" characteristics is usually to promote better writing and characterization, it often instead leads female writers to avoid creating female characters at all. Many women complained that their female characters were dismissed as Mary Sues seemingly just for being female. This is an especially difficult problem when it comes to characters in published works, where the most important Mary Sue trait - how she interacts with the canon characters - is lost, as she is a canon character herself.

It is obvious that most characters labeled as "Mary Sue" are not the egregious exaggerations described by Paula Smith in "A Trekkie's Tale." Authors should not let fear of writing a Sue prevent her from creating female characters, as many characters are accused of Sueness undeservingly. However, authors should take common Mary Sue traits into consideration when creating a character in order to make sure that the character has a balanced and believable personality with realistic flaws.