The Very Annoying Mary and Gary-Sues

Have you ever read a novel that had the most cheesiest, predictable, stereotypical characters ever created? Do you cringe at the cliches, the overused quotes, the sexist roles?

I have seen a series of stories (some already beyond editing, may I add) that have these predictable roles. They drive me insane, I tell you! Because society feels the need to coin, phrase, and define every single aspect of our lives, they gave the name of these typical characters the Mary-Sues and Gary-Sues of a story. 

The Mary and Gary-Sues are men and/or women with typical, sexist roles that provide no uniqueness to the story. They are annoying, overused, and are often so shallow you can almost see them popping through the book's pages. 

In the case of a Mary-Sues, these are little, innocent, flawless girls that need the Gary-Sues to always save them. They are often beautiful and elegant. They are usually blonde with blue eyes, and have these perfect body forms that would lead all girls to deep envy. They are also usually very stupid, co-dependent, and lack the ability to think and act upon their own decisions. Mary-Sues often get into trouble and are continuous victims to villains. They get raped, abused, and do absolutely NOTHING about it. Why? Because they are Mary-Sues. They are the maidens in distress.

On the other hand, Gary-Sues are the macho, perfect, muscular, and often handsome protagonists of a story that never seem to lose. They don't have any problems, they always seem to know what to do, and they are powerful from beginning to end. They are often suckers for the elegant Mary-Sues, and will do anything to please them. While Mary-Sues are annoying and sexist, they don't necessarily ruin the story if used sparingly. On the other hand, Gary-Sues can KILL THE STORY. They don't add interest to the story because they are too perfect; readers can't relate to him, and conflicts are barely what they are because Gary-Sues seem to solve them right away.

Do you have any Mary or Gary-Sues in your story? If you do, I advise you to change them AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to prevent the oncoming of any angry readers. 

If you plan to create a character for your story, consider the following questions:

• What makes your character unique?
• What does your character hate about themselves?
• What is their purpose in the story?

Answer these questions as fully and as truthfully as possible.

What makes your character unique?

If you find that you can't think of anything here, then you already know you need to rethink that character. For uniqueness, you want to focus on anything from their personality, to their frequent thoughts, to their actions, etc. So if you're character used to be a rapist and just got released from jail, and is currently going to go visit his grandmother for revenge, then that's pretty unique! If you're character has been abused and raped, that is not unique (I can't tell you the endless amount of rape butt-hurt scenes that I have had to read. Trust me - having a character victim to rape is not so special anymore). If your character MUST be a rape victim in order for your story to unfold, then at least make how they reacted unique. So for example, since your character was a victim of rape for years and years, she was finally fed up with it and when her father was asleep, she sliced his genitals off. Now that's a story!

What does your character hate about themselves?

Again, if you cannot think of anything you need to redo your character. A character is depicted as something or someone with conflicts and feelings. Every character has to have SOMETHING they hate about themselves, or something that is imperfect in their lives they want to fix. You can come up with anything, and It does not even have to be mentioned in your story, either! As long you have this mindset about your character and can get into his/her role, then you'll have a better chance of making them appear believable, and relatible. 

What is their purpose in the story?

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. If your character has no purpose whatsoever in the story, get rid of them. They are just excess flying crap that your reader will have to dodge. Keep whoever is essential and that will be all that you'll need. 

Remember: When writing a story, uniqueness is the most important. Do not conform to the Cinderellas, the Princes, the Snow-Whites, and whatever Disney flung at you when you were an innocent child. Don't be afraid to branch out from the norm, and don't be afraid to express yourself through writing.

Good luck to you and your writing ventures!