Typical Mary Sue Traits and How to Make Them Good

by NinjaEeveeKitty

I've recently been possessed by the spirit of the late 2000s to the early 2010s, so let's dig into the deep archives and talk about Mary Sues. I'm gonna take Mary Sue traits and teach you how to make them good, with a healthy dose of salt and personal opinion. Now complete!

1. Introduction: Mary Sue, Who Are You?

Introduction: Mary Sue, Who Are You?

I've recently been possessed by the spirit of the late 2000s to the early 2010s, so let's dig into the deep archives and talk about Mary Sues. I've figured out the most common traits people pin as Mary Sue traits, and instead of just rattling them off, I'm going to rattle them off and then tell you how to make them good. Mary Sue, after all, is a sign of bad writing, not just a character.

Modern Sue is a lot harder to pin down than her parodic ancestors – and yes, her. Lots of people use "Mary Sue" as an insult against any female character they don't like or a reason to not like her. You see it most commonly in modern heroines (literally most of the stuff I've seen said about Rey is about how she's a Mary Sue). People who use this insult tend to ignore the fact that male characters do the same thing.

This will be more of a ramble because I will go off-topic a lot, but I'll try to circle back around to what I was saying to begin with. With that in mind, let's get into the common Mary Sue traits in the Percy Jackson fandom.