Markup View

Author: DieHard

Jun 6th 2008 at 4:00:29 PM

I already moved all of the straight canon examples I saw in both MarySue and MartyStu over to CanonSue.  The way I view it, MarySue and MartyStu represent the character type itself, so it's the proper place to put parodies and deconstructions within canon works (since the characters used in that fashion usually fail the litmus test of being both the center of attention and overwhelming the rest of the story).  CanonSue represents pretty much those two character types.

Also, while the article needs this written into it, MartyStu tends to have some deviances from MarySue as far as the tell-tale superficial traits go.  You almost never see any male character made out to be a FriendToAllLivingThings, have total purity that causes everyone to respect them, or the general "get things done exclusively by presence alone" that comes up exceedingly often in female ones.  In fact, I think the biggest difference between them is that whereas the textbook MarySue is meant to be the ideal female figure (with emphasis placed on perfection in form and spirit), the male version tends to basically be the RuleOfCool taken to the extreeeeeeeme.  Obviously, neither are exclusive to each other (there are plenty of God Mode females out there and it's probably not unheard of for a total purity male), but those are the general trends I've noticed.