The Unofficially Official Hetalia Mary Sue Test!
Unfortunately, the Hetalia fandom has a reputation across the internet for making some of the worst, most Mary Sue-ish OCs known to man. And while, to some extent I believe this reputation is uwarranted or at least exaggerated, it's true that there are some absolutely terrible OCs out there!
Please remember that this is just for fun. In my experience, the premise of a character is very important, but the most important aspect is how they're actually written. Something that might sound Sue-ish on paper could actually make for a very interesting and well-rounded character in practice if done right. The reverse is true too.
Think of it this way: You are a sculptor. Your character is your medium, and your writing skills are your sculpting skills. You could be making something out of solid gold, but if you're a crappy sculptor, the final product will look a mess. On the other hand, if you're a master sculptor attempting to make a masterpiece out of cotton candy, you're going to have a really tough time working with it, and it will also turn out a colossal mess. Both aspects are very important, but the difference is, if you have a good medium to start with, you can practice and practice and make something really amazing with it in the end. But if your medium is poor, there's only so much you can do to make it great. Eventually you're just going to have to change the medium if you want to make it any better.
All that being said, these are just some guidelines to think about when creating your OCs. Having some of these characteristics is not a bad thing! All characters should have at least some of them! The problem arises when a character has too many of them, to the point where they become a walking cliché or are just not believable That said, the characteristics which stem from not being true/accurate to the culture of the place your OC reps will tend to have higher point values. Hetalia is about representing places, so getting that right is literally the most important part.
And yes, this was inspired by the Universal Mary Sue Litmus test, but is by no means a copy and paste of that! I took every effort to make this its own unique test specific to the Hetalia fandom.
IMPORTANT! Parts 1 and 4 are relevant to all Hetalia OCs. Fill out either part 2 OR 3 depending on whether your character is predominantly used for roleplay or fanfiction stories- Do NOT fill out both or else you will end up with a falsely high score! If you use your character for both fanfiction and roleplay, just pick the one you use them for more often.
So basically you will fill out either parts 1, 2 and 4, OR parts 1, 3 and 4.
PART 1: General questions
PART 2: Questions for Roleplay OCs
PART 3: Questions for Fanfiction OCs
PART 4: Miscellaneous De-Suifiers
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Part 1- GENERAL QUESTIONS
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Name:
Is the character's name your name, your screenname, your nickname, or any variation thereof? [You stop that right now! Go straight to Jail, do not pass Go, do not collect 200 dollars! Rule 1 of character creation- NEVER name your character after yourself. That just screams Insert-Sue.]
Do you think their name is super kawaii, badass, cool, or otherwise wish it was your name? [1]
Is it unusually long for the culture your character belongs to? [2]
Is their name a noun or adjective not normally used as a name? Such as Raven, Serenity, or Destiny. [1]
Did you choose their name specifically because it means something cool/pretty/ect? Such as Darcy (meaning dark), or Bella (meaning beautiful). [1]
Is it a fairly normal name spelled strangely for no other reason than to look cool? Such as Krystal, Vyncent, or Bryttyni. [1]
Is is a name that doesn't make sense for the place the character represents? For example, an Italian character named Sarah, or a Canadian character named Sakura. [10, and shame on you]
Does the character share a last name with a canon character that doesn't make sense given what they represent? Such as a former colony taking the last name of their colonizer despite historically having a really awful relationship with them. [4]
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Appearance
Is the character Asian (not including Russia) or African, yet have naturally blonde hair and/or blue eyes? [20, and again, shame on you. Also, if you try to give some eyeroll-inducing non-historical justification like 'well, see, an entity zapped her in her sleep and now she carries the spirits of all the lunar deities and it also made her hair blonde,' you will be keelhauled. And yes, I have actually seen that exact justification, though I won't say where.]
Do they have an unnatural eye color or heterochomia (each eye is a different color)? Note: I know some canon characters have purple eyes, but this only counts as 'natural' (by Hetalia standards) in places that are very far north. [3]
Do their eyes change color? [2]
Does your OC naturally have a hair color not normally found in nature? [4]
Is your character unusually pretty/sexy/handsome/cute/whatever? [1] Despite the fact that they're shown to eat unhealthily and never exercise, making their thin/fit body highly unlikely? [2]
Does your character wield a weapon which does not relate to their culture? [2]
Does your character weild a weapon which takes a significant amount of strength to use effectively, yet the character is small/waif-like? And this has no effect on their ability to use the weapon? [2]
Is your character excessively tall or short for their age, gender, and location? And no, I'm not talking about an American girl who's 5'7 when the average is 5'4, I'm talking about an Indonesian man who's 6 feet tall when the average height for a guy there is 5'2. [3]
If your character is female, are they particularly 'well endowed'? [1]
Is the character's skin tone inconsistent with the place they represent? [5]
Does your character have a small flaw that does not actually detract from their appearance, but that they are disproportionately self-conscious about anyway? [1]
Does your character commonly wear clothes that you consider to be really cute/badass/something you wish you had, despite not being appropriate for their culture? [4]
Is your character's country governed by Sharia Law, yet they frequently dress in revealing clothing? [5]
Does your character have an Italy curl? [1] More than one? [1 for each additional curl]
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Backstory/Personality
Is your character the same gender as you? [0]
The opposite gender? [-1]
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If your character has a mental illness:
-Is it a split personality? [1]
-Does it never/almost never actually have a negative effect on the character's life? [2]
-Does your character frequently angst about it? [2]
-Is it used as a justification for the character being an asshole? [2]
-Did you do little to no research about this particular disorder? [3]
-Alternately, did you spend at least a day, preferably longer, doing research so as to properly portray the illness? [-2] Does it has a real impact on their life and isn't romanticized or made to seem cool or edgy? [-2]
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Does your character's backstory contain non-historically related physical abuse? [3]
Does your character's backstory contain sexual abuse or rape? [4, and please reconsider if this is really necessary.]
Does your character act disproportionately angsty about their past for the sake of garnering sympathy from your readers or other characters? [3]
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Is your character in love with a canon character that they have had no real historical relationship with? [2]
Is your character in love with a canon character that they have had a historically bad relationship with? [4]
Is it a character you personally wish you could go out with? [1]
Do you get upset if another person does not support your ship/ ships the canon with someone else? [3]
Does your character have a gimmick that's the same as a canon character's? Such as being invisible like Canada or having a scary aura like Russia. (Yes, it counts even if your OC is related to the canon in question.) [3]
Is your character the love child of two (or more- yes, this is a thing!) canon characters? [2]
If your character has one or more canon parents, are they basically a copy of one of their parents, or a mix of their parents' personalities with very little to set them apart as an individual? [4]
Does your character behave in ways that are contrary to the established behavior of most canon nations, for no real reason? For example, they're not scared of Russia, they think England's food is awesome, ect. Ignore if there is a logical reason for their feelings- for example, if they're not afraid of Russia because their country has historically had a very good relationship with Russia. [2]
Does your OC frequently hang out with canon characters with whom they have no historical or geographic relationship? Such as an India who hangs out with the Nordics or the Bad Friends Trio. [3]
Do most of your character's hobbies and interests revolve around canon characters? For example, they fangirl over anime with Japan, stalk potential yaoi couples with Hungary, and cook with Italy. [3] Are they better at or more knowledgeable about these hobbies than the canon(s)? [2 for each occurrence of one-upmanship]
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Magic. I was originally going to include this with the backstory mini-section, but unfortunately, magic is just so abused within this fandom, I felt like this needed its own mini-section. Skip this if your character has no magical or supernatural abilities.
Can your character do magic, despite being a part of a canon country who is decidedly not magical? [2]
Is your character American or Canadian? [3, in addition to the 2 from the above question] (I'll be honest, with very few exceptions, I can't find any reason to justify characters from these places being magically inclined. It just doesn't make sense given the extremely negative attitudes towards the supernatural when they were founded, and the major decline in belief of the supernatural that soon followed due to the Enlightenment in Europe. Most places on earth have a least something related to their old folklore that might provide some inkling of justification for a character having some magical abilities, but for these two countries... no. I just can't see it. The exceptions to this rule would mostly relate to native tribes.)
Is their variety of magic very Hogwarts-esque and/or similar to the type of magic we see Arthur attempting in the show? Ignore if your character is English. [2]
Alternately, did you craft your character's supernatural abilities to make sense specifically for the place they rep? For example, a Hati that practices voodoo. [-2]
Does your character have a specific power or specialty, as opposed to a vague, all-encompassing 'they can do magic stuff'? [-2]
Is your character unusually good at whatever magic they practice? [3]
Are their powers so awesome that they can basically solve any problem singlehandedly? [20, and pls stop]
Is your character part demon/angel/dragon/other mythical being? [10]
Does your character's magic ever backfire or fail spectacularly? [-3]
When your character gets in a jam, do you suddenly whip out a new, previously unilluded-to power to get them out of it? [5]
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PART 2- QUESTIONS FOR FANFICTION OCS
Only fill this part out if your OC is predominately used in fanfictions.
Do the majority of the nations know the character despite them either not being a country, or being a small country who's not likely to know everyone personally? [1]
Do you describe flaws that your character has, but yet we rarely see those flaws demonstrated within the story? [3]
Are your character's main flaws stubbornness, a bad temper, and/or clumsiness? [2] Do these flaws have an honestly deleterious effect on the character? For example, their stubbornness gets someone else hurt, they take anger out on people who don't deserve it, or their clumsiness occurs at a critical moment and is not considered cute or endearing. [-2]
Do you describe in detail just how drop-dead gorgeous they are? [2] Do you ever use the phrases 'willowy frame,' 'cerulean orbs,' or 'raven locks' to describe your character? Yes, substituting another fancy color in for 'cerulean' or 'raven' still counts, those two in particular just happened to come to my mind first. [2]
Does more than one conversation occur where others talk about how awesome your OC is, or how pretty/handsome/sexy they are? [2]
Do other characters fight over your OC? [2]
How many characters fall in love with your OC throughout the course of the fanfic? [add 2 for each canon, add 1 for each OC]
Does everyone like your character- even nations like Switzerland who don't usually take to others very easily? [2] Despite the fact that your character is rude/mean/standoffish to almost everyone? [3]
Does your character hate on any of the canon Hetalia girls (especially Hungary or Seychelles) for no real reason? [2]
Is your character a jerk, yet none of the nations ever call them out on it? [2] Is the person they're mean to someone who has friends/family who wouldn't stand for it (like Liechtenstein or Sealand)? [3]
If your character is ever a jerk, is it played off as being totally justified due to their tragic past? [2] And anyone who calls them out on their behavior is considered stupid/mean/just plain wrong/ect? [2]
Are the only people who dislike your character the bad guys? [1]
Do even the bad guys like your character? [2]
In the course of the story, does your character die tragically? [2] By sacrificing themselves for some greater good? [1] By suicide? [1]
Do they come back to life? [2]
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PART 3- QUESTIONS FOR ROLEPLAY CHARACTERS
Only fill this part out if your OC is predominately used for roleplay.
How long will/did your character stay single from the time of their creation?* (See note at the bottom)
-I already had a ship planned for them before I even created them. [3]
-I don't have anything set up, but I'm working on it. It won't be long till I have them shipped. [2]
-If a ship comes their way, that's great, but I'm not really looking for one. [0]
-I plan on keeping the character single indefinitely. [-2]
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Does the plot of the roleplay somehow always wind up revolving around your character? [3] Even when there are much more important things going on that really need to be addressed? [3]
If another character has a big, important moment, does your character always seem to one-up them? 'Yeah you just slayed the dragon, but I just slayed a whole hoard of dragons!' [2]
Is your character always getting injured or needing to be saved? Ignore if this is directly due to the actions of other characters that you have no control over. [2]
Does your character step out of the spotlight to help others out with their problems, even when the person they're helping isn't a love interest and isn't likely to ever be one? [-1]
Does your character form close relationships that are not romantic in nature and will likely never become romantic? [-1]
Do you roleplay this character exclusively (or almost exclusively) with canon characters and refuse to rp them with other people's OCs? [3]
Is your character's life constantly full of excessive drama? For example, they survive a terrible tragedy, then get kidnaped and brainwashed, then contract a horrible disease, then get magically genderbent, then discover they're the Chosen One of a prophecy... you get the idea. [4]
Are your character's main flaws stubbornness, a bad temper, and clumsiness? [2] Do these flaws have an honestly deleterious effect on the character? For example, their stubbornness gets someone else hurt, they take anger out on people who don't deserve it, or their clumsiness occurs at a critical moment and is not considered cute or endearing. [-2]
Do you get upset or offended if someone points out inconsistencies or inaccuracies within the character's backstory, appearance, or personality? [3]
Does your character tend to divulge their backstory to almost everyone they talk to, even if they just met the person they're telling and the details of their backstory are not really something one would want to tell to a stranger? [2]
Do you use your character predominantly for the purpose of erotic roleplay? [2] If he/she is a virgin, are they awesome in bed and have great sex despite this? [2]
Does your character ever injure people without the expressed permission of your rp partner? [3]
Do you ever try to goad other characters into acting OOC-ly to garner sympathy for your character? For example, you might choose to purposefully have your character repeatedly and tactlessly needle another character about a touchy subject, trying to provoke them to snap at your character to make your character the victim. [5]
In the course of the rp, does your character die tragically? [2] By sacrificing themselves for some greater good? [1] By suicide? [1]
Do they come back to life? [2]
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PART 4: MISCELANEOUS DE-SUIFIERS
Does your character have real flaws that are not played off as cute or endearing? Flaws that are actually shown within the story to have a negative impact on the character? [-3]
Do they have one or more major physical flaws that detract from their appearance? Such as being noticeably overweight, having really messed up teeth, or having bad acne? And said flaw does not go away throughout the course of the story? [-3]
Does the character's appearance generally reflect the population and/or the stereotypes of the place they represent? [-2]
Does your character ever seriously misjudge someone else and have to own up to being wrong? [-2]
Are there one or more characters within the story who dislike your character, and they are not portrayed as being stupid/mean/just plain wrong, ect? [-2 if the person who doesn't like your character is also an OC. -3 if the person who doesn't like your character is a canon.]
When your character is faced with a difficult problem, are they sometimes unable to fix it on their own, and are forced to rely on the help of others? [-2]
Dos your character have a significant physical or mental disability, with nothing to make up for it? [-3]
Is your character hinderingly bad at something which is important to the plot, and it causes serious problems for them or for others? [-3]
Is your character genuinely wimpy? [-1]
Does your character have any odd quirks which do not disappear the moment they become inconvenient? [-1]
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Scoring! Time to add up all your point, and subtract points where applicable.
0-5: This character seems a tad spice-less. Unless this score is so low due to de-Suifiers, be careful that they're not underdeveloped or treading into AntiSue territory.
6-16: Not a Sue! All in all, your character seems well-thought-out and well-rounded, and likely isn't a Sue at all! Good for you, keep doing what you're doing!
17-25: There's only a low-to-moderate chance your character is a Sue. Generally a safe range to be in. Give yourself a cookie!
26-35: Uh-oh. Now we're getting dicey. There's a fairly high chance of Sue-dom, especially at the upper end of this range. Proceed with extreme caution!
36-45: I'm sorry to say, but it looks like you almost certainly have a Sue on your hands. But worry not! They're not beyond saving! Take a good look at why they're getting the majority of their points. Perhaps a little more research and incorporation of culture can save this character. Maybe they need something to differentiate them from the canons. Remember, your characters may have canon friends and family, but they should also have a life and interests of their own.
46+: Holy Sue-palooza, Batman! At this point, it might just be time to scrap the character. At the very least, a major overhaul is in order. But again, don't be discouraged! Everyone makes a Sue at least once in their life- God knows I made plenty when I was younger. It's a learning experience, and should be looked at as such.
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*Lest someone take this to mean I have something against romance, I don't! I love romance just as much as the next gal. What I do tend to notice is that when people make characters specifically for ships or are just generally quick to ship their character, they become more focused on the ship, and don't put as much effort into fully developing their character as an individual. Remember, even the most loving of ship-mates should have lives and hopes and dream outside of each other.
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I hope you all enjoyed this test! Post your scores in the review sections if you'd like, and let me know what you think!
Sincerely,
smile