History Main / PossessionSue

->''"Had I been on Pandora instead of Jake Sully, I would have done things differently. First of all, my legs work. Secondly, I would have seduced Princess Neytiri earlier on; it wouldn't take two hours of film for us to consummate. And thirdly, the movie would have had a good ending (the film's biggest flaw). Had I been among the Na'vi people, we would have gotten the unobtainium--all of it."''
-->-- '''''Series/TheOfficeUS''''', [[http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/dwights-blog/ Dwight's "Schrute Space" Blog]]

Every canon character in fanfiction represents the fan's re-interpretation of that character. They aren't the original author, so they don't have first-hand knowledge of the inner mechanics beyond what is shown in the released materials. The most they can do is try their best to emulate that character using the information they have, with varying levels of success. This trope refers to the more extreme situation, when a character's most basic, undeniable traits are flat out ignored in favor of the author's own views and/or desires. For example, a fanfic of a HaremAnime that takes the ShrinkingViolet character and has her all of the sudden grow a backbone and force her way into being the official romantic interest of the hero would definitely be a case of this trope. In short, it's as if a spirit (the author) [[DemonicPossession possessed their bodies]] and took over to create a '''Possession Sue'''.

The traits that mark a Possession Sue are just as myriad as the ones that mark a regular old MarySue. As a general trend, authors that make these characters also tend to strip away much of the original characterization in the process of "idealizing" their favorite character. They might [[InstantExpert be made uber-competent]], [[BeautifulAllAlong turn out to be extremely beautiful after all]], [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter outshine every other character]], [[StrongAsTheyNeedToBe gain new and previously unknown powers]], have a revelation of being someone's [[LukeIAmYourFather long-lost child]] and what have you from the CommonMarySueTraits. Other times, they're rewritten to resemble the original author more closely, such as having a similar family situation, or having identical tastes in fashion and music. Most importantly, though, is that the character is favored by the author to such a point that the same MarySue favoritism present in other characters and the universe come up.

The term most often used for this is actually "Canon Sue," but there's a second, different (if related) trope also known as CanonSue. Where a CanonSue is a canonical character that has Mary Sue traits in the original work, a Possession Sue is a canonical character that is ''given'' Mary Sue traits in a fanwork. When canon writers forcibly turn their own characters into Mary Sues, Possession Sue-style, it's a form of CharacterDerailment.

'''No examples are allowed! This only defines the term.'''

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The term most often used for this is actually CanonSue, but since there's a second, very different (if related) trope also known as CanonSue, (a canonical character with stereotypical Sue/Stu tendencies) they get their own separate pages.

When canon writers do this, it's a form of CharacterDerailment and often leads to the other type of CanonSue.

Usually, it's secondary characters that get this treatment, but it's not unheard of for main characters as well. For example, if a fanfic of ''InspectorGadget'' has the title character all of a sudden gain a near-omniscient level of detective expertise (hell, even just half-decent detective skills) and singlehandedly expose and arrest all of Dr. Claw's organization, ''without'' this being somehow subverted at the end and/or played for laughs, that would definitely be a case of this.

The term most often used for this is actually CanonSue, but since there's a second, very different (if related) trope also known as CanonSue, (a canonical CreatorsPet with stereotypical Sue/Stu tendencies) they get their own separate pages.

The term most often used for this is actually CanonSue, but since there's a second, very different (if related) trope also known as CanonSue, they get their own separate pages.

-->-- '''''TheOfficeUS''''', [[http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/dwights-blog/ Dwight's "Schrute Space" Blog]]

The traits that mark a Possession Sue are just as myriad as the ones that mark a regular old MarySue. As a general trend, authors that make these characters also tend to strip away much of the original characterization in the process of "idealizing" their favorite character. They might [[InstantExpert be made uber-competent]], [[BeautifulAllAlong turn out to be extremely beautiful after all]], [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter outshine every other character]], [[StrongAsTheyNeedToBe gain new and previously unknown powers]], have a revelation of being someone's [[LukeIAmYourFather long-lost child]] and what have you from the CommonMarySueTraits. Most importantly, though, is that the character is favored by the author to such a point that the same MarySue favoritism present in other characters and the universe come up.

Every canon character in fanfiction represents the fan's re-interpretation of that character. They aren't the original author, so they don't have first-hand knowledge of the inner mechanics beyond what is shown in the released materials. The most they can do is try their best to emulate that character using the information they have, with varying levels of success. This trope refers to the more extreme situation, when a character's most basic, undeniable traits are flat out ignored in favor of the author's own views and/or desires. For example, a fanfic of a HaremAnime that takes the ShrinkingViolet character and has her all of the sudden grow a backbone and force her way into being the official romantic interest of the hero would definitely be a case of this trope. In short, it's as if a spirit (the author) [[DemonicPossession possessed their bodies]] and took over.

The traits that mark a PossessionSue are just as myriad as the ones that mark a regular old MarySue. As a general trend, authors that make these characters also tend to strip away much of the original characterization in the process of "idealizing" their favorite character. They might [[InstantExpert be made uber-competent]], [[BeautifulAllAlong turn out to be extremely beautiful after all]], [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter outshine every other character]], [[StrongAsTheyNeedToBe gain new and previously unknown powers]], have a revelation of being someone's [[LukeIAmYourFather long-lost child]] and what have you from the CommonMarySueTraits. Most importantly, though, is that the character is favored by the author to such a point that the same MarySue favoritism present in other characters and the universe come up.