Hot Topics: Mary Sues (Misc)

And lastly, just a few more types or issues that don’t really belong under the classic Mary Sue banner, but should be addressed - the Self Insert character, the Villain Sue, the Mixed Type Sue and the Reverse Type Sue.

First there’s the Self Insert character. Self Insert characters that are meant to represent the author in the world and are often the main character. Now Self Insert character in and of themselves aren’t Mary Sues. However the problem is that very few authors who write Self Insert characters really write themselves; they often become Sues quickly, especially a Perfection Sue. Authors write prettier, faster, smarter, better versions of themselves and lose all the qualities that make then human.

The Villain Sue is basically a Jerk Sue who doesn't use his story bending power to get people to tolerant his awful personality, but to become unbeatable (and likely be way more wicked cool then the hero). Now people can forgive a little bit of Villain Sueness, we all love good villain, but the best thing about a good villain is watching them get defeated, otherwise the whole experience is just frustrating.

Then there's is the Mixed Type Sue. A character who is a little bit of everything as need, or author, requires. She doesn’t fit nicely into a model. Or she maybe she just flirts with another type, like an Action Sue that can and does act like a Jerk Sue at times. Now she might be more layered and realistic in theory, but all that is undone because she still rocks the story bending hard core. And more often then not, she just doesn't come across as having any distinct personality.

And lastly there's the... I'm going to call them, the Reverse Type Sue. She is that weird creature I mention in the introduction for this series. The Sue that actually kind of works because, she's even though she's not exactly a balance character, she doesn't bend her story. Let's take Giselle from Enchanted as an example. Within her universe she was a Classic Type Sue. This changed when she entered the real world. Now, her personality didn't change, but in the real world she is no longer bending the story to her benefit. In the real world she gets a wide range of realistic reactions to her behavior. This makes her work for two reasons:

1. It negates her story bending power and...

2. It strangely brings out some of her flaws. In the real world we see she is overly naive, a bit dizzy and has no control over her emotions.

Of course she's still kind of Sueish and really has no real deep flaws explored, but that's okay. Many famous characters have Sue qualities but work because of this same effect. A great example is Anne of Green Gables. She's a little hot tempered and stubborn, but she's also a little too good at a lot of things and wins almost everyone over. But she isn't universal loved and she does have to work hard and no one who dislikes her is evil.

This just show's you how much a Sue is truly made by how the character effect on their worlds, not just how they act. A character can have almost any personality just as long as other people's reaction to them is realistic.