Averting a Mary Sue

Hey, I'm writing a book in which, long story short, the protagonist is starting to seem like a Mary Sue. Does gaining powers seemingly at random, having a positive attitude and not having anything world-shatteringly bad happen make a Mary Sue?^* Ack, awkward sentence. If not, what kind of traits should I give a character that's nearing Mary Sue territory?

FYI, I there is a literal Mary Sue, but I'm just wondering how to avoid an unintentional one.

edited 20th Jul '14 9:13:30 PM by Dimentiosome

Sort of depends on the rest of the context and the story really

No, that sounds like a Kamen Rider or a Shonen hero.

In my opinion Mary Sue characters don't exist as ANY character (yes even Bella and Ebony) can be made interesting in the right hands.

What makes a "Mary Sue" is the authors blatant favoritism towards a character.

Characters like superman, batman and the doctor are textbook examples of mary sues (according to litmus tests) but they wouldn't have had existed if their authors cared about "making mary sues".

EDIT: by that definition Eris from Sinbad is a Mary Sue and she was basically the most interesting character for many in that movie.

edited 20th Jul '14 11:16:10 PM by fallenlegend

I'd say Mary Sue describes more a type of narrative than a type of character. Per the above, Superman isn't a Sue on his own, at least not in his regular element of beating the stuffing out of giant monsters or alien warlords. However, when a story regularly bends over to either provide him with New Powers as the Plot Demands, or lines up contrived coincidences to assist his efforts, then he becomes a Sue.

Similarly, when Batman's prep-time antics start stretching credibility, or anyone questioning his moral code is derailed into villainy so as to invalidate their own stance, then it's hard to ignore that the real "hero" in the story isn't Batman, but Batman's writer.

In short, a Mary Sue isn't a matter of character traits, but of people's reactions and overall story developments stemming from them. And it's pretty easy to avert - give the protagonist a solid challenge, let them overcome it by themselves, and don't have everyone else gush over them or hate their guts without a relatively rational reason.

Honestly, I think these two tumbler posts and this video would be helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnokGcoUOmE

http://valkyrstudios.tumblr.com/post/90722342864/do-you-think-the-term-mary-sue-can-ever-have-any

http://valkyrstudios.tumblr.com/post/92273627359/how-to-i-make-sure-my-character-doesnt-turn-out-to-be

So...I just need to make sure I don't show favorites and have any Contrived Coincidences or New Powers as the Plot Demands and I should be okay?

edited 21st Jul '14 8:50:54 PM by Dimentiosome

Yes. Alternatively, you can have New Powers as the Plot Demands and Contrived Coincidences, but not in favour of a particular character and not while contradicting the universe's rules.

Don't worry too much about avoiding a Mary Sue. Just focus on making your character interesting and memorable on their own right. As long as they still have their own struggle to go through (as opposed to having things handed to them every step of the way as happened to a certain vampire girlfriend), you should do alright. Admittedly I'm writing this as someone who was pretty much raised by the Disney Animated Canon and Tintin, but I like to think that they lend an array of perspectives on how to write Ideal Hero types and still have their story turn out exciting.

So basically: give them the gift of adventure, and have fun writing it. Good luck!