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A Mary Sue who exists to be given sympathy. Like most other subtypes, it can be male or female, but generally tends towards the latter since women are perceived to be more sensitive and vulnerable. She'll usually be mopey and depressed while constantly Wangsting all the time. She may go through Deus Angst Machina either in her backstory or in the actual stories she is in. Parental Abandonment, Abusive Parents, Doomed Hometown, All Of The Other Reindeer and Rape As Backstory are popular reasons for all kinds of characters to angst and Mary Sue has suffered them too.
Otherwise, there are all the regular Mary Sue things: Authorial intrusion, plot favoritism, unnatural magnetism, and such often also with a lack of perceivable flaws and a strong tie to the author. It's just that there's something for her to be overly and usually unrealistically depressed about.
Please note that you can create an angsty character who isn't a Mary Sue. An unhappy past and a gloomy personality aren't the only things that make a Sympathetic Sue.
But Sympathetic Sue's unhappy past doesn't really match up with how much she angsts over it. Often, it doesn't even have any real permanent implications. She'll talk about it constantly and as soon as possible, often blatantly ignoring all the positives in her life. Self-blame is often irrational, but Sympathetic Sue takes it to the extreme by blaming herself for her parents dying in a plane crash. The other characters will never get tired of trying to cheer her up, even if it's totally out of character for their personality. Characters who don't will get chewed out. If they're not near her, they'll probably be discussing how sorry they feel for her. She never attempts to do anything to relieve the emotional pain herself - other characters do all the work for her. And most of all, the story comes to an end as soon as the angst is gone.
A good angsty character will be portrayed with their pain being debilitating and not stylish. When bugged repeatedly by somebody they trust deeply, and they do talk about it, it will probably be reluctantly and infrequently. They often only have one core reason for their depression, while other bad experiences may stem from it. Their feeling of guilt will make sense, usually because of psychological scarring. Perhaps, just perhaps though, they were responsible for something that happened to someone else and are dead on with their remorse. They might have tried to do something to relieve the pain in the past, even if it failed. And canon characters do other things as well as comfort the angsty character. Even after the angst is gone there's still a story to be told.
Pairs well with Jerk Sue, since angst can fuel anger and acting out sympathetically. Generally shows up in Hurt Comfort Fics.
- Fay of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle has a tendency to turn into this type of thing if written badly, and needs his seme Kurogane to help fix him. This type of characterization ignores the fact that in canon he's more or less gotten over what caused said wangst, and even when it was effecting him it wasn't anywhere near the level most fans seem to think it was. (I.E., Fay is not a cutter. Anyone who thinks that needs to reread the bloody story!)
- There was a time in Codename Kids Next Door fandom where you couldn't take a step on your average fanboard without hitting nine or ten stories about how chaste, vulnerable, depressed KUKI FRIGGING SANBAN has a deep dark secret and needs the healing love of Numbuh Four to cure her anorexia/rape-induced post traumatic stress/cutting/chronic wangst. (I suspect this time may still be going on. I haven't checked.)
- There is a sub-genre in Real Person Fics starring The Beatles: "Paul in Pain." McCartney doesn't have to be a Sympathetic Sue for this to work, but it helps. John Lennon hurt/comfort happens as well, and breeds Sympathetic Lennon Sues.
- Does this have anything to do with the occasional instances of Emasculated!Max in Across The Universe fanfic? No matter that he's a drug-addled, emotionally crippled veteran already, as well as distinctly averse to being emo and womany. Throw some Wangst at him and see what sticks. It opens the door for a lot of potential hurt/comfort.
- A TON of angsty Danny Phantom fanfics contain at least one of these. Usually it's going to be a canon-character like Danny, Sam, or Vlad...though Fan-characters show up from time to time. IE: Danny's parents will NEEEEVER accept him as a ghost-boy or Sam's parents are too meeaaaan to understand her gothic lifestyle or Vlad just wants luuuuuuv....
- To be fair, the middle one is practically canon, and her parents seem almost to have moral views akin to Jack Chick.
- One of the most popular character mods for Baldur's Gate II is Kelsey, a handsome young sorcerer from Baldur's Gate who will happily fall head over heels for a female protagonist-or for the protagonist's sister if the protagonist is male or is female but rejects him. To listen to him, you'd think he's the only sorcerer in the world with issues controlling his powers, unpleasant circumstances surrounding his discovery of his powers, parental issues, other family issues, and a strong dose of I Just Want To Be Normal, all of which gets exceedingly ironic in light of the protagonist's own issues.
- That said, Kelsey is still perhaps the single most popular mod character out there, seriously rivaled only by The Woobie-Xan, in his modded romance. Maybe the mod writers are onto something...
- Readers should also note that the creator of the Kelsey mod also made the pedophiles wet dream that is the Saerilith romance mod, a 15-year-old God Mode Sue who is so angsty that even ANOMEN looks weak by comparison. Most of her dialog with other characters essentially involves them beating the emotional crap out of her at every possible oppertunity for no reason except to give the PC a chance to extole on her various (nonexistant) virtues.
- No, Jason Compton, the creator of Kelsey, most definitely did NOT create the Saerileth romance. A woman whose screenname is Sillara did. And the Kelsey character is popular because, though he's angsty, he's also written pretty well, has something of a sense of humor (which does not go with true wangst), and is an anti-Anomen in a lot of ways.
- Several Rocky Horror Picture Show fanfics tend to portray Riff Raff and Magenta in a more sympathetic light than they really should. More often than not, they're portrayed as either A.) Being outcasts amongst ALL other Transylvanians due to their incestuous relationship, B.) Being abused/harassed by Frank N Furter to absolutely unrealistic levels (Frank is only shown physically harming Riff only ONCE in the film and he's othewise apathetically indifferent towards Riff and Magenta), C.) Having some sort of tragic backstory, or D.) All of the above. Keep in mind that this is Riff Raff and Magenta we're talking about, two characters who MURDERED three of the main characters (IE: Rocky, Frank, and Columbia) without so much as a second thought.
- Just as often, there are fanfics that portray Dr. Frank N Furter in a ridiculously sympathetic light. Nevermind the fact that, in the movie/stage show, Frank is completely and utterly psychotic and has few, if any, morals whatsoever. This could be due to the fact that his final song, I'm Going Home, is a desperate attempt to make everyone feel sorry for him (The fact that it DOESN'T work and he ends up being killed anyway speaks volumes about the character).
- Also, there are fanfics that portray Columbia in this way. More often than not, the writers of said fanfics often depict her as having some sort of "tragic past" before she ended up being Frank's groupie.
- About five years ago, this editor used to play on a text-based RPG set in Middle-earth shortly before Lord Of The Rings. The player who controlled Frodo seemed to think the game was her personal fanfic—Frodo was constantly bedridden with some disease or another (this was when he was supposed to be a strapping young fellow, before the wraith-knife and spider-bite, mind you) and dragged the players for Sam, Merry, and Pippin into roleplay sessions where they had to heap pity on her character.
- This Troper was in an Axis Powers Hetalia RP and one of the players pretty much made all of her OC's and canon characters a mix of this and God Mode Sues. The more obvious Sympathetic Sues were her renditions of Norway (who went from the methodic Deadpan Snarker he is in canon to a clingy, cockblocking, egocentric Yandere who slobbered all over Denmark despite him having a boyfriend in-game, acted unbearably wangsty when the other wasn't around, and verbally abused a girl he once had sex with in the past) and her China (who treated the Taiwan This Troper played like a child who should be kept in a gilded cage, then put all of the blame on her when she got fed up and snapped at him). Every time the charas were confronted in-game, they'd whine and scream about how they were misunderstood and nothing was their fault, and more that once the player would threw bitchy tantrums and threatened to leave since she couldn't take any criticism... yet had no problem bitching other characters/players out when it suited her.
- In Hetalia fanfic, Lithuania is the character most prone to this treatment by people who forget that there's more to his history and personality than being The Woobie victim of Russia's abuse. Canada also gets this kind of portrayal at times (when he's not being taken to the other extreme, that is), with America becoming the Evil Token Abuser.
- The So Bad Its Good Harry Potter wangst-fest Dark Secrets has one of these as the lead character. She discovers that her boyfriend, none other than Ron, is a Death Eater, and in order to prevent her from spilling his dark secret he... antagonises her. With a ridiculous string of Deus Angst Machina abuses. Of course, Draco Malfoy is there to make it all better.
Anime
- Chris Thorndyke of Sonic X. He constantly goes emo about having 'No real friends' and being lonely, despite the fact that he does have friends at school who are never portrayed as anything less than genuine, his loving Grandpa with Tails-esque intelligence, doting house maid and butler for company. And while his parents aren't always around, they do show up sometimes and they're BOTH famous and rich. And yet he still thinks his life will suck without Sonic holding his hand, regardless of being the richest kid in town, who is beloved by all.
- In the Cyborg 009 2001 series, the adaptation of the manga chapters concerning Princess Ixquic (a Pale Skinned Brunette Robot Girl who befriends Joe aka 009 when he gets into an area of ancient ruins) was so badly handled by the writers that 009 was subjected to severe Character Derailment through it ( wtf, you spend the last scene after Ixquic's disappearance claiming that 007, who had lost one of this best friends from his past life, should STFU because Ixquic was soooo lonely?) and Ixquic became one of the most hated characters of the series, either because 009 x 003 fans were out of her blood (009 ignored 003's temporal depowerment to swoon over her), or because fans couldn't stand how 009 was simply Not Himself when around Ixquic.
- Although in Yu-Gi-Oh 5ds there are many characters who could be interpreted as Canon Sues, Aki Izayoi is something of a personification of the Sympathetic Sue, constantly whining and wangsting over an arguably tragic past throughout the whole first two seasons.
- You cannot think Yu-Gi-Oh and this trope without thinking of Seto Kaiba and how he pours on the industrial strength Wangst over putting behind his childhood during the Battle City semifinal match vs. Yami Yugi, even though he already long surpassed the man responsible for said miserable childhood, Gozaburo Kaiba. He reacted even worse after losing, to the effect of wanting to blow up the tower immediately. Especially considering that Jou, Mai, and Rishid were brought to the brink of death because to the tournament, the former two due to Yami Malik's penalty game, and he didn't care about those more presently tragic cases, let alone lift much of a finger.
Film
- Almost every Woody Allen movie he acts in features him as a blatant Sympathetic Stu - often one who much younger women are inexplicably attracted to, which became a Funny Aneurysm when his relationship with Soon-Yi came to light. Many of his contemporaries have remarked on the fact that he openly plays himself in his movies, a slightly neurotic character out of place in the world who's supposed to draw the viewer's empathy. In recent years he's acted less in his own movies, but still typically casts title roles in the same light.
( When asked by an interviewer if he thinks his signature role will ever stop being funny) "Well, no. Because if I wake up, I'm going to be funny, because it's me. It's not that I put on a thing to do it... that's what I do, that's me. So it would have to be a complete personality change for that to happen."
- "Inexplicably attracted to"? Even Scarlett Johannsen admitted an attraction to him. Woody Allen hardly does this, either. Watch Deconstructing Harry and tell me if he comes off as sympathetic, or if he ends up with the girl. The only woman he's able to charm is a hooker he paid to have sex with.
- Undoubtedly her "admission" had nothing to do with being paid to act that part. The fact remains that whether one movie is spun as an actual or backhanded deconstruction, by his own words this is his stock-in-trade.
Literature
- Rhiannon o' the Dubhslain (of the Rhiannon's Ride trilogy): She's a Half Human Hybrid who starts out being reviled for looking too human. Once she's among humans, she gets grief for having been Raised By Wolves. In the second book, she's on death row for having killed a royal guard in self-defense. But she ends up not only going free, but in a position of respect...and everyone who started out disliking her (including a romantic rival) has had a change of heart, died, or both. She also turns out to be the long-lost bastard daughter of a nobleman. And on top of all that...she's got a flying horse.
- Laciel from Sharon Green's Far Side of Forever series is a powerful sorceress that can imitate her teammates' abilities, has a pet demon, and spends an entire book not understanding that every male teammate of her is in love with her. Because she has no experience with men, you see. And she was raped. More than once but the second time was to teach her her place.
- Even more of a Wall Banger is that her 'no experience with men' was actually a magically-inflicted mental block. Because her master thought that was the best therapy for her original rape, you see.
- In Perelandra, the Un-Man tells Tinidril stories of Sympathetic Sues as part of his temptation scheme. Of course, nearly all are, in realty, Designated Heroines.
- BJ Vaughan, in Nick O'Donohoe's otherwise-good Crossroads trilogy, is insecure but seems to almost never be wrong. She's nearly unfazed by seeing various mythical creatures for the first time. Early in the series, she's diagnosed with Huntington's Chorea...and if she leaves a magical safe zone for too long, it'll progress at an accelerated rate and kill her. And by the end of the second book, she's effectively become a goddess.
- Flinx, the main protagonist of Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth universe. Orphan. Wangsts over finding his parents, and even more when it's revealed that he doesn't have any. Psychic Powers in a world where most humans don't have them. Wangsts about having the aforementioned powers. Always, always has the particular skill or power (especially in the later novels) to save the day; or when he can't save it, his magical allies show up to do it instead. Has a Cool Starship and an infinite bank account, thanks to his Sufficiently Advanced Alien allies. Has an incredibly rare and lethal Bond Creature for a pet. Fluent in several extremely difficult languages. Explores Death Worlds by himself with little preparation, inexplicably survives things that would kill any other character, and befriends the natives. Gets the coolest girls in the story to fall for him despite being an avowed loner. Out of nowhere, suddenly becomes the Chosen One to deal with the Ultimate Evil. Wangsts even more about that. On his journey, ancient Precursor artifacts and Lost Superweapons respond to his presence and his alone. Singlehandedly negotiates peace between The Federation and The Empire with an Exposition Beam. Oh, and everyone who opposes him throughout the entire series ends up dead, insane, or having a change of heart. Despite (or perhaps because of) all of these, the Flinx and Pip series still manages to be a very entertaining bit of Space Opera.
- Those who don't like Jodi Picoult's My Sisters Keeper often accuse the main character, Anna, of being one of these.
Live Action TV
- Captain Jack Harkness, but only in his Torchwood incarnation. The character as originally created by Steven Moffatt for series one of the new Doctor Who was a lovable rogue. Once the Torchwood writing staff got their hands on him, he became tortured and angsty, had pretty much the entire team making googly eyes at him, and by the end of the series had become an almost messianic figure. Note that his later guest appearances on Doctor Who brings him back to the original characterization, regardless of what happens to him on Torchwood.
- ...Which evaporates the second he's back on his own show. After his Christlike antics in the finale of the first season, at the end of the second he spends some time being tortured in a cruciform pose for a while (again) then allows himself to be buried alive for TWO THOUSAND years of continual death and revival - OUTDOING Christ in terms of suffering by a considerable margin- by his crazy long-lost brother. Then he ROSE FROM THE TOMB, with his sanity, clothes and haircut completely intact, to utter the words "I forgive you."
- To be fair, the Torchwood writers were effectively told "Here, have this guy. We don't know who he is, where he came from, or why he acts the way he does, except that he's missing two years of his life due to the work of an organization he trusted and he's pissed about it." And it's always possible that hanging with the Doctor brings out the best in him, whether that's the main part or not.
- Which makes it seem even more odd that he's a) never seen to do anything at all about trying to find out what happened in those two years, and b) perfectly happy to erase the memories of anyone else who knows too much about Torchwood, including ex-members, who would end up losing years of their life due to an organization they etc etc. It's possible this last is meant to be ironic, but as his own missing years are almost never brought up, it's hard to conclude they actually are.
- Looking at a list of episodes, and noting which ones had the largest amounts of Jack-Wangst, it's tempting to blame the whole thing specifically on Chris Chibnall. But then we get Children Of Earth, where Rusty himself gave Jack even more wangst by having him cross the Moral Event Horizon.
- Reading a recent interview with Russell in the official Torchwood magazine, he apparently doesn't see what Jack did as in any way morally dubious. In fact, he's convinced that Jack's ability to sacrifice an innocent in a situation where many other people would freak out makes him so much more heroic, brave, admirable, and noble than any ordinary person could ever hope to be. Your Mileage May Vary to the umpteenth power.
- Davies has apparently been drinking the same water and smoking the same crack that Joe Quesada has.
Web Comics
- Luna from Dominic Deegan: Oracle For Hire. She's perfect in every way except for a pair of tusks, which don't really provide any impairment and look more like a fetish point than anything that detracts from her appearance. In spite of both the fact that this is a minor annoyance at worst and how it could be resolved within minutes (I guess "alterists" must be really creepy), this (and her cruel family that fixated on this exact same problem) leads to her having extremely low self esteem and even attempting suicide. This is all handled with the subtlety of a jackhammer and just completely ignores that she's otherwise beautiful, smart, and highly skilled in magic. Single Issue Psychology at its worst. Let's not even get started on the virginity loss storyline...
- Eventually, this aspect of her is pretty much dropped when she gained some self-esteem and she becomes the same sort of combination Purity Sue (everybody that isn't Obviously Evil™ loves her) and God Mode Sue (every single spell she casts works to maximum effect regardless of logic) as every other primary character. Of course, there is the occasional callback to this characterization every now and then.
Western Animation
- From Hey Arnold, Helga's beautiful and brilliant, but neurotic and dangerously out-of-reality older sister Olga. Depending on the episode, she seems to walk the thin line between being a real Sympathetic Sue and being a deconstruction of the Purity Sue concept.
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