Mary Sue Persuasive Speech

Have you ever come across a character that has virtually no flaws? Maybe they can take out waves, and waves of enemies with just the tap of their finger? Maybe they have a terribly traumatic backstory that should give them some sort of PTSD, but they aren’t in any way affected? Are they simply just perfect in every way? Well, that kind of character is called a Mary Sue (female) or a Gary Stu (male). I’m here to tell you why Mary Sues/Gary Stus are horrible, period. They’re boring, unrealistic, and tryhards in character form. Let's just cut to the chase. Mary Sues are boring. If they have no flaws, they’ll always do something the reader won’t disapprove of; same with the other characters, no one will disapprove of their actions. It also doesn’t

A real person can’t just have no flaws. A real person can’t just have a depressing or traumatizing backstory just for pity points. They’re emotionally, psychologically, and sometimes physically affected. Example, Sally was physically abused by her parents. Let’s just think of all the possible mental illnesses that can spring from that backstory, shall we? Well, according to the Blue Knot Foundation’s article on abuse related conditions, we have PTSD, depression, panic attacks, DID, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, the list goes on. Now, you’d think Sally would have at least one of these mental illnesses, right? I mean, abuse is pretty traumatic. But no, once again, Sally is unaffected, and she really only has the backstory so she can cry and get pity points. How else is she supposed to make friends and get with that one one guy everyone likes but for whatever reason can’t get a date with? This is really just the tip of the iceberg. I could get into a whole thing on how most Mary Sues show a romanticized version of mental illness and how people should do their research, but to spare you the time I won’t. The point I’m getting to here is that a real person is flawed, they aren’t perfect. If you want your character to be relatable, a fan favorite, or just a good character, give them flaws. Make them human. Humans have beliefs, morals, motivations, opinions, etc. If you really want to help flesh out your characters,

Multiple times I have collaborated with other people to write a story, and have had to deal with not only a Mary Sue, but their creators as well. Their characters are such tryhards it makes me cringe. Whether it be trying to force a romance, have their character get their way, etc. One example of this I experienced is someone who was trying to not only start a romance out of nowhere, but was trying to get my character to open up about their insecurities, even though the characters had only known each other for a day. It was in such a tryhard way I’m lucky I was able to get myself out of it and prevent any unwanted (and not to mention pointless) romance. Love at first sight is cute and everything, but when you try and force it with one of the characters being someone that isn’t a love at first sight person, it’ll seem not only forced, but confusing and out of character. When you force an out of character romance, it makes the relationship that’s supposed to be legitimate and authentic, seem more like something the author just threw in there to please the fans. I could get into a whole other thing on fanservice with couples as well, but that’s not what we’re talking about. Let the relationships between characters develop naturally, give them as much time as you think is necessary. Some characters will be the type to fall head-over-heels for someone in a short amount of time, while others will need to become friends with the other