Ahoy, mates! If you're reading this, you probably want to make a Pirates of the Caribbean OC who's not a Mary Sue. Or you've written a Mary Sue and want to learn how to fix her. Or you're just bored and had nothing else to do. In any case, welcome to this guide, and I hope you find it helpful!
Let's get started. Our first lesson will be on something that, because of its tendency to show up in summaries, can alert readers to the possible presence of a Mary Sue before they even click on the fic: the character's name.
Naming Your Character
Pirates of the Caribbean takes place sometime around the year 1730. Despite the very-clearly-not-modern setting, Mary Sue names tend to be made up, anachronistic, culture-confused, or just plain ridiculous.
Your character's name should not be any of the following:
Your real name or your username.
A name you made up. At best, these look silly; at worst, they're unpronounceable.
A name no one in the early 18th century would give to their daughter, or any of their children, period. (Some of our modern female names, such as Courtney, Lindsay, and Vivian, were male names back then.) If you are unsure about the history of a name, I recommend looking it up on sites like Behind the Name, Nameberry, or Think Baby Names.
The name of a gemstone.
The name of a bird or an animal.
A nature-related name.
A weather-related name.
A foreign name. If she's English, give her an English name. If she's French, give her a French name. If she's Spanish, give her a Spanish name. You get the picture.
A "special" version of an existing name, such as Cathrynne for Katherine.
"Okay," I hear you asking, "so what should I name my character?"
Don't worry. Remember that Google is your friend and can provide you with plenty of lovely period-appropriate names. These include but are not limited to:
Agnes
Amelia
Ann or Anne
Barbara
Beatrice
Berenice
Catherine or Katherine
Cecelia, Cecilia, or Cecily
Charlotte
Deborah
Diana
Dorothea or Dorothy
Eleanor
Elizabeth
Esther
Faith
Felicity
Frances
Gillian
Grace
Hannah
Helen
Hope
Isabel
Jane or Janet
Joan
Judith
Lillian
Lucy
Lydia
Margaret
Martha
Mary
Naomi
Phyllis
Priscilla
Prudence
Rebecca
Rosamond or Rosamund
Ruth
Sarah
Sophia
Susan, Susanna, or Susannah
Tabitha
Ursula
Verity
Winifred
With so many names out there, you're sure to find one you like.
Now that you've picked out a name, we can move on to the first thing people notice about your character, even before they learn her name: her appearance.
Describing Your Character
Another warning sign of a Mary Sue is the author describing her appearance in excessive and poetic detail. She is always ravishingly beautiful, never merely pretty, average-looking, or ugly. (The horror!) She is frequently the most beautiful woman [insert name here] has ever seen. Oh, who am I kidding? She's the most beautiful woman anyone has ever seen, even if she doesn't think so at first.
Now that you've learned what not to do, here are some more things not to do!
Don't describe your character's hair as raven, golden, fiery, chocolate, or any such nonsense. Just plain black, blonde, red, or brown is fine. Her hair will not be shiny or sweet-smelling. No one had hair care products in those days. Unless your character is a whore, she will not wear her hair loose. And unless she has access to a hairbrush, her hair will be tangled.
Don't give your character an eye color not found in nature, such as purple, golden, or silver. Don't compare her eyes to gemstones, the sky, the ocean, storm clouds, or chocolate. Green, blue, blue-green, blue-gray, gray, and brown are perfectly good eye colors that need nothing added. And don't give your character multi-colored or color-changing eyes, either. Hazel is also a perfectly good eye color.
Don't make your character's skin shimmer. No one's skin shimmers in real life. Give her normal skin instead of perfectly soft and smooth skin. There were no skin care products back then. If she has pale skin, don't describe it as alabaster, ivory, or porcelain. She will also likely get sunburned easily. She will probably not have a tan unless she works outside in the sun for long periods of time. (Tanned skin was actually considered unattractive in the 18th century.) Or maybe the above is irrelevant, because she isn't white. I will give you many, many points for making a non-white OC so long as she's not a racial/cultural stereotype.
That concludes the first chapter. Inspiration for this guide came from the heave_ho LJ community, The Many Faces of Mary Sue (can be found here at story ID 2480068), and my own encounters with poorly-written OCs. Comments and suggestions are welcome, and I hope to see you all soon.