Hot Topics: Mary Sues (Anti-Sue)

On the other side of the Perfection Sue is the Anti-Sue and it's two subtypes Pathetic Sue and Jerk Sue.

Perfection Sues are easy to see, they’re the characters that don’t have to work at anything, however Anti-sues are harder to spot because on the surface they look like more three dimensional characters. Often they are less universally good, however they are just unbalance just swung in the opposite direction. Now, as the name implies, many of these Mary Sues developed as reaction to the sudden rise in awareness of Mary Suedom, however the writers of Anti-Sues still missed the boat.

First there is the Pathetic Sue. Don’t worry she’s pathetic at everything but being a Mary Sue.

Exhibit A: Mary Sue never did well at school and she isn’t pretty. No one ever notices Mary Sue. She can’t walk without tripping over her own feet and she really awkward with people. However despite being rather unremarkable and failing at life in general (if the character is exaggerated enough, her fails are so epic that would likely be her only claim to fame), she manages to still have all the boys in school ask her to the dance. She probably has to choose between two (hot) men who are in total and complete love with her. She may or may not come with a ton of friends.

Pathetic Sue is tricky. If she was written correctly she could easy come across as a three-dimensional character, but that's just the problem, most of the time she isn’t. The readers are told she’s plain, awkward and unremarkable, and she may or may not read that way on the page (ie she a boring character to read), but the main problem is that no one in the story treats her that way. She might not even act like how she’s described, or if she does it’s to ridiculous levels. Either way all the other characters still think she’s the best thing since sliced bread, except of course, the villains (This is what would normally be called an Anti-Sue.) Therefore she is still an unbalance character, who bends the story.

Exhibit B: Jerk Sue is mean. She walks all over everyone, breaks hearts without a second thought, and is generally a jerk. But for some reason no one ever says anything about it. In fact it’s like she’s not doing anything bad at all. She somehow always manages to keep friends and lives to fight on and torment more people without lasting, if any, consequences.

Jerk Sue is an interesting case. Likely one of two things are happening with a Jerk Sue, either a) the author is not thinking through what a realistic reaction to a character’s behavior would be or b) the author is trying to make an edgy character, and failed to understand what makes a dark character dynamic (namely good AND bad qualities). And sadly these Sues are further frustrating. Often if they do get taught a lesson it never sticks. They're like the sitcom character whose moral slate gets wiped clean every week, forgetting the lessons they learned episodes before. Perhaps even more interestingly characters meant to be seen as heroic can fall into Jerk Sue territory because the author is allowing they get away with morally questionably acts under the guise of heroic actions.

Do you see the problem with these Sues? They use more story bending powers then their perfect cousins, because they’re not likable. The side characters' reactions to them make even less sense then reactions to Perfection Sues, as least perfection sues are good people. As such no one reacts realistically to them! Just like Perfection Sues need flaws, Anti-Sues desperately need good qualities to balance their characters. Moreover people need to react realistically to their behavior.