Mary Sue Gets Around (If You Know What I Mean)

First, I should clarify. "Mary Sue" is a literary concept; here's a definition that I can't add much to. I'll try, though: through a correlation with the 'unrealistic consequences' of a Mary Sue character or story, Mary Sues are usually based on the author or people within the author's life. To simplify it even further, Mary Sues always win and because they always win, writers insert ourselves into the story because WE want to always win.

Some (in)famous examples are Bella from Twilight, Superman, Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, James Bond, and Bella from Twilight again. Seriously, Bella's editor-in-chief of the official Mary Sue magazine. Well, she would be, if I hadn't just made it up.

It's so not fair that Bella tops the list, but she so does. Look, it wasn't my idea, blame Google!

It isn't difficult to imagine why people would create Mary Sue fiction; we all have our fantasies, and writing Mary Sue provides us with an outlet. It isn't difficult to comprehend what makes some Mary Sue fiction successful; if an author creates a story around a fantasy that lots of people share, then those people all have an outlet! It also isn't difficult to understand why people hate on Mary Sue; if you can't relate to a specific Mary Sue, then we have a knee-jerk 'oh, grow up!' reaction to all the people who love to watch Bella's dreams come true.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is: Mary Sue isn't difficult. In fact, she's kind of easy! (hey-oh)

Let's face it, without Mary Sue, we wouldn't have an industry. Fast and Furious grosses higher than There Will Be Blood for a reason, a reason involving fast driving and hottie-bangin'. By NOT exploring shallow characters, we can easily switch places with the main character, and then it's like we're the ones going on the adventure.

So what does any of this have to do with Arbiter? I doubt most authors ask themselves 'do I want to employ Mary Sue in this story?' when they sit down to write it. As it turns out, I DO find myself asking that. While I expect most people only find out what Mary Sue is after someone accuses them of it, I feel like I have one up by never having been stung by such an insult. Rather than deliberately avoiding her for fear of what others might think of me, I think I'll find a way to have some fun with her, instead. Let's face it; Mary Sue probably means different things to different people, so one way or another, somebody's gonna hit you with the term anyway.

Let's look at a creative example: Harry Potter. No, I don't think he's a Mary Sue (if he is, he isn't the worst one). Hogwarts is, though. Hogwarts may be one of the most easy-to-fantasize-about ideas ever conceived. It's safe to say a majority of its readers can relate to the magical feeling Harry feels the first time he boards that dumbass train, or shops in Diagon Alley. Each book treats us to a trainload of Mary Sue, but they do so with the setting, not the characters. The 'Unrealistic Consequences' that define Mary Sue are distributed freely to everyone in that world, and thereby, we aren't upset about one person who seems to be reaping an undue amount of rewards.

Using the term for a setting might be too liberal, though.

Or we could get cynical about things and have fun that way. What if we had a Mary Sue character who has all their dreams come true over and over again, but all the characters that the reader is supposed to sympathize with HATE the Mary Sue character for being a lucky asshole?

What if we made prolific use of 'Unrealistic Consequences' for only a specific character, and we even base that character on ME because I'm the author and I get to do whatever I want... but for a fun twist, we make all those 'Unrealistic Consequences' overwhelmingly negative. Nobody's done anything like that before, right?

It's so like me to ask such a question and then post a gif about a show famous for establishing a premise only to immediately beat it to death with a tire iron. Taste the chrome!

There's nothing reasonable about the things that happen to Frylock in this show.

Alright, that's enough of that. Ya'll feel like you have an idea about what Mary Sue is? Can ya identify any Mary Sues you've enjoyed, or more likely, can you name some you can't stand? Should it be avoided at all costs, or do we belong to the school of thought that says 'all fiction is Mary Sue!'? Are you angry with me for the distracting gifs yet? Let me know, you rat bastards.