The Not-Quite-Official Mary-Sue Litmus Test:

By WordsxOfxWisdom

Have you ever wanted to create your own original character but been too afraid because you didn't want it to be a Sue and get attacked by angry mobs? Well, I certainly know how you feel. So that's why I created this Mary-Sue Litmus Test. You can create your character, then go through and answer these questions about your character then count your 'yes's and 'no's. All right, so here are the questions! By the way, there will be about ten questions in total.

Question 1: Is your character the child of one of the Big Three or a virgin goddess? Frankly, I have no problems if you want a child of Hestia, Hera, Artemis or whatever in your story; just come up with a way for her to have the child without losing her virginity. And no 'Athena taught her how to have a brainchild' because a) that power is special to Athena and b) its also plain unoriginal. As for the Big Three, again, I have no problems if you give them a child in a story set in the future, just don't have them break the vow.

Question 2: Is your character unusually beautiful or handsome for a child of *insert godly parent of character*? I understand that the gods and goddesses were all incredibly beautiful. But none of their demigod children are that attractive. Ever notice how Aphrodite took Percy's breath away when he first met her? Did Annabeth, when he first saw HER? No. Point is, not all of your characters are going to be children of Aphrodite. And even they aren't THAT beautiful. So, just...give them a realistic appearance, please. Also, on that topic, please give them a reasonable height and weight for their age. You're not gonna find a five foot six, ninety nine pound, sixteen-year-old. That's practically a skeleton.

Question 3: Are they incredibly nice, smart and athletic? Come on people, Annabeth has brains, but she's also proud and stubborn. Piper is beautiful, but she has major emotional issues. Clarisse is amazingly athletic and strong, but she's a total bitch. Honestly, no one is perfect.

Question 4: Do they have oddly-colored eyes or hair? Look, if someone dyed their hair bright fuchsia pink, it will be brittle and weak. It won't look healthy, no matter how much of it they have. So there goes the 'long, luscious' hair your character had. And don't even tell me it's natural. Also, contacts are uncomfortable. Very. So they probably wouldn't wear contacts every single day if they were just for eye color. People, rainbow eyes do not exist in nature! Nor are people naturally born with red eyes. The least I think is acceptable is color-changing eyes, which are strictly an Aphrodite-child trait.

Question 5: Are the only 'flaws' your character has 'temperament' and 'sarcasm'? Okay, I'll admit its fun to have a narrator who uses sarcasm a lot. But it's not really a flaw. Nor is temper, which usually involves the character being super tough and scary. A four foot seven, ninety two pound girl is not scary! She is TINY; for the record, there's no way she would be able to punch well. Temper is indeed a flaw, but you have to do it right. Have your character get angry for stupid things. Or our tiny girl from up there could have her temper, but she would just throw pathetic little punches and people would laugh. However you do it, though, a temper must be an overreaction. Because that's honestly what it is.

Question 6: Is your character an amazing fighter for a child of *insert their godly parent*? Again, this goes along with the beautiful/handsome thing. A child of Aphrodite is probably not going to fight as well as a child of Ares. Just keep things realistic.

Question 7: Is your character the sibling of a canon character? It's a given-at some point, in every story that involves a canon character having a sibling, said sibling turns into a Mary Sue. It's harsh, it hurts, I know, but please, just don't write about them. It'll make things so much happier in the world.

Question 8: Does your character have a particularly tragic history? Rape. Abuse. Neglect. If someone went through these things as a child in real life, I can tell you right now they won't be a Mary Sue. They most likely would end up in a mental hospital. Also, avoid Disney Princess Syndrome if you can. Not all step-parents are going to hate their stepchildren.

Question 9: Is your character 'wanted' by the gods for something? Not for sex, mind you, though that would make them a Sue. Anyways, I mean that the gods want to kill them for some reason. I know the gods wanted to kill Percy since he was a son of Poseidon, but that's exactly why you shouldn't; it's basically copying Rick Riordan himself. Again, no Percy wannabes.

Question 10: Is your character hopelessly in love with Nico di Angelo, Leo Valdez or Travis/Connor Stoll? Or, better yet, Percy Jackson or Jason Grace? This is one of those other characters that will almost positively develop into a Sue throughout the course of your story.

Question 11: Is your character a self insert? This is basically a more kick butt, perfected version of yourself. Instead of having plain green eyes and thin, papery brown hair, the character will have sparkling emerald green eyes and flowing brown hair like a chocolate fountain. And instead of crying when people make fun of them, like you, they beat up people who tease their friends, who are exactly like yours but with more flaws, which makes your character seem even more perfect. Got that? Then good, now please don't do it.

Chapter 12: Does your character have a name that is uniquely spelled, naturalistic or over three names long? This would be like Abbigayle instead of Abigail, a name like Krystal or Winter, or Ava Elizabeth Destinee Claire.

Okay, so here's how the scoring works. You count the number of 'yes's and that's your score. The scores are listed below:

12-8...My eyes, they burn!

8-6...Danger! Danger! Your character is officially listed as a 'Potential Sue'

6-3...Consider revision, then check back, 'kay?

3-0...Cleared for writing; nice job